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Tag: GOP

  • Debt-limit plan won’t be changed, House GOP leaders tell holdouts

    Debt-limit plan won’t be changed, House GOP leaders tell holdouts

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    “We will pass it this week,” the Minnesota Republican vowed.

    There’s no question it’s a fluid situation for GOP leaders; the conference is not exactly known for ideological harmony, and the margins they’re operating under are tight. Yet McCarthy and his team have been bullish about their ability to pass the massive debt measure this week, after months of internal deliberations with members about their expectations and concerns with the proposal.

    And Republican leadership has a warning they hope will keep the conference in line: Failing to unite behind a debt plan will only empower President Joe Biden and the Democrats.

    “Your choice is literally going to be, do you want to have a solution and avoid default? Or do you want to give Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer a blank check, with no fiscal reforms whatsoever?” Emmer said. “This is literally putting Republicans in charge of solving the debt ceiling.”

    As for the GOP holdouts so far? Emmer argued that they would, ultimately, decide to back McCarthy’s goal of presenting a united front against Biden: “I think all those people understand this is a team effort.”

    The list of possible GOP holdouts includes Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Chip Roy
    (R-Texas), according to people familiar with their thinking and public statements.

    There are several sticking points in the plan — which would include across-the-board spending cuts and tightening access to government benefits for low-income people — that have rankled some in the GOP’s slim majority.

    One member, granted anonymity to speak candidly and avoid endless whip phone calls, said they are currently a “no” vote because the plan doesn’t do enough to address debt reduction or immediately enact some of the stricter work requirements.

    Meanwhile, vulnerable Republicans, especially those in districts Biden won in 2020, are dismissing those concerns posited by their more conservative colleagues. The elimination of certain tax breaks, in particular, is causing headaches for the GOP whip team. The plan would kill some clean-energy tax credits that were included in Democrats’ sprawling policy package last year, including financial incentives for biodiesel that Republicans in midwest states are now adamantly defending.

    “The ethanol issue is real. It’s a tough vote for Midwest members,” said one House GOP lawmaker, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. The lawmaker noted GOP leaders and Emmer’s whip team have been talking to a handful of members “all weekend” who’ve raised concerns about the ethanol-related measures.

    Midwestern Republicans with ethanol plants in their districts are especially worried — including Rep. Brad Finstad (R-Minn.), according to three people who were granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Finstad has worked to beat back strong GOP primary and Democratic challenges since he won a special election in 2022. Looking soft on ethanol gives both sides ample ammunition against him.

    One of the people familiar with conversations said Finstad has raised serious concerns about the ethanol-related provisions, “but not to the point he’s a no.” A spokesperson for Finstad did not respond to a request for comment.

    Emmer, for his part, noted that Republicans are already “on record voting against many of these tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act,” as part of the GOP’s energy bill.

    Senior Republicans say they expect to alleviate the ethanol concerns without changing any text, reminding members they‘ve already voted against the measures once. Other Republicans involved also say they’ve privately pointed out to concerned members that “this is a starting point and the odds are truly stacked against any of this stuff remaining throughout the process,” according to a second GOP House member.

    But Republicans are quick to note that any lingering concern at this point threatens the legislation, and their negotiating stance, as they push for a final vote.

    “We have a four-vote majority. I have concerns on everything,” the GOP lawmaker said.

    If Republicans can successfully pass the debt measure this week, it’s a far cry from defusing the debt crisis altogether. McCarthy still needs to convince Biden and Democrats to come to the table — and both groups have already trashed the Republican proposal as a nonstarter. Any further negotiations that could actually earn Democratic support are sure to further rankle the House GOP.

    But Republicans would still consider passing their own plan through the House a win, even if it’s just a first step.

    McCarthy on Sunday stated confidently that they will be able to do it: “We will hold a vote this week and we will pass it,” he told Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. “I cannot imagine someone in our conference that would want to go along with Biden’s reckless spending.”

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    #Debtlimit #plan #wont #changed #House #GOP #leaders #holdouts
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • He’s got the most thankless job in Congress — writing a GOP budget

    He’s got the most thankless job in Congress — writing a GOP budget

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    After throwing cold water on Arrington’s plans to move a budget, McCarthy reached out with a peace offering and consolation prize, making him chief sponsor of the 320-page fiscal measure House Republicans will push to pass this week. When the speaker called about that gesture, Arrington said in a recent interview, he did not address the private drama that escalated over the past several weeks as McCarthy spurned Arrington’s eagerness to vote on a budget and relied increasingly on his own posse of advisers.

    That leaves Arrington in a touchy spot. He’s still publicly committed to drafting a budget that could lay out the GOP’s fiscal aspirations for the next decade — even as McCarthy forges ahead with his own separate plan. The chair is still meeting with his committee about advancing his budget.

    “These budget resolutions are not easy,” Arrington acknowledged in an interview. “They’re complicated by the fact that you have a diverse group of members, it touches virtually every policy in every program in the federal government, and we are so deep in the debt hole.”

    While Arrington wouldn’t commit to a future markup of a House GOP budget, he stressed that “we are making very good headway.” But even if he can finish writing one, a budget would promptly saddle Republicans with political liabilities galore: Including internal fights over taxes, entitlements and the desire among some conservatives to pare back Pentagon spending.

    Knowing those drawbacks, President Joe Biden has spent months calling on House Republicans to release a budget as a marker in the debt talks. McCarthy has sidestepped that gambit by rallying his members instead around the package of spending cuts, deregulatory moves and a short-term debt hike that is slated for a floor vote this week.

    All of that makes Arrington’s entire effort now appear fruitless, with GOP appropriators preparing to write annual spending bills based on the funding totals outlined in the McCarthy-driven package.

    Still, a number of Republicans say they want to adopt a budget, even if it amounts to more of a pure party messaging exercise than in years past. Arrington said friends in the conference have flooded him with calls and texts of support amid rumors of conflict with McCarthy.

    The 51-year-old chair is hardly the first budget chair who’s seen tension with House leaders. The role is often seen as undesirable, rendered feckless by an eroded federal budget process but still serving as a mouthpiece for the majority party’s fiscal goals.

    Four years ago, then-Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) faced a similar quandary as Democratic Budget Committee chair. Leaders of Yarmuth’s party in 2019 wanted to lay down an opening bid as they faced off with the Trump administration over the debt limit and budget caps. After weeks of painstaking work and a nail biter of a committee vote, Democrats were forced to yank the budget from the floor amid a revolt from progressives and moderates.

    “That’s the position I found myself in,” Yarmuth said in a phone interview. Arrington, he observed, is “just going to have to sit there and take the abuse.”

    Yarmuth said he recommended Arrington for the Budget gavel before retiring last year “because he’s basically a reasonable person and someone I never had a problem talking to or working with.” Lately, the Kentucky Democrat sees Arrington’s predicament as even tougher than his own previous dilemma.

    “He has a double-edged problem,” Yarmuth said. “One is that leadership is trying to herd more cats than we ever had to herd, and he’s got mandates to [enact] things that would be highly unpopular and can never get done.”

    Arrington didn’t dispute that passing a budget would force his colleagues to make painful, potentially unpopular choices to back up their goal of massively paring back federal spending.

    “These are not easy decisions. So most people, they avoid them,” the 51-year-old said in last week’s interview.

    He sent confusing signals earlier this year — first promising to release a budget in April and then May, only to later walk back any definitive timeline. Arrington also told reporters that Republicans were preparing a “deal sheet” outlining the party’s debt limit demands, prompting confusion when McCarthy later said he had no knowledge of any such thing.

    Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack, a former GOP budget chief and top Republican appropriator, said he has spoken to Arrington about how to navigate the “gymnastics” of writing a budget, keeping leadership happy and shepherding Republicans’ debt limit offer.

    “He has advocated for some things and put some talking points out that may have ruffled a few feathers — I don’t know, that’s between Jodey and the leadership team,” Womack said. “You’re the budget chair. You need to lead your committee to do its mandated duty.”

    Arrington vowed that he has “the confidence and trust of the members” in doing that job. Yet it’s undeniable that the budget chair can most effectively wield power when one party holds both chambers of Congress, thereby putting the party-line maneuver known as reconciliation into play.

    Democrats used that filibuster end-around during the last Congress to pass last year’s health, climate and tax bill without a single GOP vote, in addition to Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan. Republicans tapped the process in 2017 to pass a massive tax overhaul.

    But under divided government, Arrington’s influence is limited — if still meaningful. He’s a senior lieutenant in McCarthy’s drive to force Democrats into spending concessions in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling.

    And the speaker’s recent repair of their relationship underscores how crucial Arrington’s buy-in is to projecting the appearance of harmony among House Republicans, despite internal dissonance amplified by the slim margin of their majority.

    Asked about McCarthy’s call to seek his chief sponsorship of the debt bill, Arrington downplayed any fractiousness with McCarthy: “No, no, no, no. Look, he and I are both focused on the mission,” he said. “And the mission is to rein in the spending, reduce our debt, grow our economy, and save this country from a debt crisis.”

    “All this other stuff,” he added, “is a distraction.”

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    #Hes #thankless #job #Congress #writing #GOP #budget
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Trump killed the ‘values voter’ wing of the GOP. It isn’t coming back in 2024.

    Trump killed the ‘values voter’ wing of the GOP. It isn’t coming back in 2024.

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    Unlike in Republican presidential primaries past, just two candidates — Pence, the former Catholic turned evangelical, and Scott, who speaks of finding a “God Solution” to the country’s racial divide — stand alone in making explicit appeals to Evangelical voters. Trump and DeSantis, meanwhile, are relying solely on their reputations as brute-force brawlers in the culture wars.

    Their success — and the difficulties Pence and Scott are having courting voters, according to recent polls — reflects a major change in the evangelical bloc of the GOP electorate in the Trump era. When five GOP presidential candidates take the stage at Iowa’s Faith & Freedom Coalition in Clive on Saturday, vowing to take on the woke left will likely mean more than reciting the Apostles’ Creed.

    “Evangelicals have changed and have become more populist and more renegade and wanting to fight more and engage in Christian culture,” said David Brody, the chief political analyst for Christian Broadcasting Network, who wrote the “The Faith of Donald J. Trump.” “Trump has a following who wants to fight because they see culture going to hell in a handbasket, and that’s what’s winning the day in politics. And that’s why he is winning with them.”

    Kristin Kobes Du Mez, a historian at evangelical Calvin University in Michigan and the author of “Jesus and John Wayne,” referenced DeSantis’ “God Made a Fighter” ad as an example of the shifting evangelical soil.

    “That’s what evangelicals are looking for now — any personal testimony is kind of a bonus, but not necessary,” Du Mez said. “What matters to evangelicals is they are looking for the best candidate to further their agenda.”

    In previous presidential campaigns, GOP candidates like George W. Bush, Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson made explicit appeals to values voters. They regaled them with their personal testimonies and, in the case of Cruz, worked stages in the style of a megachurch pastor.

    Though evangelicals were initially skeptical of Trump, he slowly gained their trust. His running mate in 2016, Pence, gave them permission to look past his crude remarks and reputation for philandering, among other concerns, and embrace Trump as an unlikely but effective champion of their top moral causes.

    With Trump’s election as someone only glancingly familiar with the faith, evangelicals no longer rely on kicking a candidate’s theological tires.

    “Evangelicals support Trump because of his policies. He doesn’t pretend to be pious, which is refreshing. He doesn’t pretend to be something he is not, but he has been the most pro-life, pro-religious liberty, pro-Israel president in history,” said Robert Jeffress, pastor at the First Baptist Church in Dallas and an evangelical ally of Trump who is in regular contact with the ex-president.

    Trump has the critical Republican voting bloc of white evangelical Christians — about 14 percent of the voting population — to thank for propelling him to the White House in 2016. In 2020, eight of 10 evangelical voters cast a ballot for Trump.

    And the church-going crowd is largely still standing with him, polling shows. A Monmouth University survey last month — in a four-way matchup between Trump, DeSantis, Pence and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley — found Trump with 47 percent support among self-described evangelicals, compared to DeSantis with 35 percent. Pence and Haley registered in the single digits.

    But Trump’s relationship with evangelical voters has largely been transactional. He promised to stack the Supreme Court with conservative judges who would topple Roe v. Wade and protect religious liberties — and it happened. After the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion rights, Trump lashed out at Christian leaders who weren’t automatically lining up for him in 2024.

    “There’s great disloyalty in the world of politics, and that’s a sign of disloyalty because nobody … has ever done more for ‘right to life’ than Donald Trump,” he told the Christian Broadcasting Network.

    Despite the occasional tensions between some evangelical leaders and Trump, Jeffress predicted that evangelical voters will coalesce around the former president again in 2024.

    “I don’t see anyone who has announced so far who has a chance of capturing the vote of evangelicals other than Trump,” he said.

    “No Republican can win the primary without self-identified evangelicals,” said Michael Wear, the former evangelical outreach adviser to President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign and founder, CEO and president of the Center for Christianity & Public Life. “What Trump showed is that there are ways to get self-identified evangelicals that do not include directly Christian appeals, particularly the kind of the kind of extensive offering of one’s personal testimony that was so important to George W. Bush’s rise.”

    Following Saturday’s forum, Pence will head south to Atlanta, where he’ll speak at The Church of The Apostles. He’s expected to release his second book later this year, which will center on his faith journey. For two decades as an elected official, he kept a copy of the Bible and Constitution on his desk and held prayer meetings while in the White House.

    “Evangelical leaders appreciate him and his sincerity,” Du Mez said of Pence, “And at the same time, they would prefer him not to be in charge of the country.”

    Scott regularly talks about his personal Bible studies — including in a video featured Wednesday on the Christian Broadcasting Network, a tribute to the late Rev. Charles Stanley, a giant of the Southern Baptist Convention. Scott advisers told POLITICO his strategy involves making a direct appeal to evangelical voters in Iowa.

    Besides DeSantis, Haley is another notable name sitting out this weekend’s faith forum in Iowa. Rather than convening ministers and church groups, the former governor has instead organized meetings in Iowa with farmers and women’s groups, a sign that Haley is counting less on the evangelical vote.

    Despite not making as overt an appeal to evangelicals, DeSantis and Haley are still being embraced by parts of the Christian right. Each has been tapped to give speeches at two of the country’s top evangelical colleges — DeSantis last week at a Liberty University convocation, and Haley early next month at Regent University’s convocation.

    Bob Vander Plaats, Huckabee’s former 2008 campaign chair and president and CEO of The Family Leader, an influential conservative Christian organization in Iowa, said some of his constituents support DeSantis, who grew up in a Catholic family and writes in his memoir that it was “nonnegotiable that I would have my rear end in church every Sunday morning.”

    “He’s very much your constitutional conservative who is a man of deep faith, but that’s not what he’s going to reference as he’s applying it to leadership,” Vander Plaats said. “He’s going to go back to basic conservative principles and constitutional foundations versus inserting a lot of Scripture.”

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    #Trump #killed #values #voter #wing #GOP #isnt #coming
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • GOP tries to paint Biden’s labor nominee as radical, hoping to turn Dem votes against her

    GOP tries to paint Biden’s labor nominee as radical, hoping to turn Dem votes against her

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    A handful of Senate Democrats have yet to commit to confirming Su, who stepped in as acting secretary after Marty Walsh left the Labor Department’s top job in mid-March to take over as head of the NHL players’ union.

    Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), one of Su’s chief proponents, downplayed concerns about her confirmation, saying her endorsement from Walsh, who was popular with some Republicans, and meetings with senators will help convince moderates to vote for her.

    “She’s doing the best job of the whole thing, which is she’s sitting down and making herself available and she’s had a very good meeting with a large number of” senators, Duckworth said in an interview. “And so I think it’s progressing very nicely.”

    Duckworth added: “I think she’s making the case for herself. And I think Marty Walsh coming out as strongly as he has in support of her work, is a very helpful voice to have out there.”

    Su told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which is weighing her nomination, she would be an honest broker in the job.

    “I have been a leader dedicated to finding and expanding the vast areas of common ground between employers and employees,” she said. “I believe that the Department of Labor should make it as easy as possible for employers to keep workers safe on the job.”

    Business groups have targeted Su, fearful that she would pursue regulations that would have major ramifications for app-based companies like Uber and Lyft, franchise restaurants and other employers. The gig-job companies, for instance, are battling efforts to make it easier to reclassify some workers as as employees, which would strain their business models.

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who chairs the Senate committee considering Su’s nomination, cited that industry pressure in his opening remarks Thursday praising Su.

    “The debate over Ms. Su really has nothing to do with her qualifications,” he said. “This debate really has everything to do with the fact that she is a champion of the working class in this country.”

    Republicans spent much of Thursday’s hearing trying to poke holes in Su’s record at the Labor Department and as a top labor official in California before that, hoping to crack Democratic unity.

    Republicans hammered Su for her stewardship of California’s unemployment insurance system, which issued tens of billions in wrongful or fraudulent payments in the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. As labor secretary, Su would be in charge of the federal-state partnership on UI.

    “The buck stops at the top,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said. “You’re the person running UI, you’re the one who decided to waive the guardrails … the idea of promoting a person who’s had that experience to a position of leadership of the entire Department of Labor makes no sense at all.”

    GOP senators also pressed Su for regulatory commitments on independent contractor and joint employer regulations. Su reiterated the Labor Department’s position that it does not have the authority to impose a test similar to California’s controversial “ABC” test for whether a worker is an employee or not and said that the department does not plan to pursue a joint employment rule, which could make companies like fast-food chains liable for violations at their franchises.

    “There’s not a joint-employer rule on our regulatory agenda,” Su said, adding that she understands the value of the franchise model given her family’s experience running a pizza shop after immigrating from China.

    Republicans also criticized her for a relative lack of experience brokering collective bargaining negotiations — a specialty of Walsh’s — a move geared at sowing doubts among the undecided cohort that includes Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

    Su’s nomination is a high-stakes test for Sanders, who took the committee’s gavel in January, as well as the White House, which has at times struggled to shepherd labor nominees through the narrowly divided Senate.

    The HELP committee has scheduled a confirmation vote for Su next Wednesday, which would clear the way for a final floor vote later in the year.

    Kelly and Tester both said Thursday they’re still undecided on whether they will support her for the position, with Tester saying that he plans to meet one-on-one with Su next week “hopefully.”

    Democrats’ calculus is further complicated by the ongoing absence of Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), who is recovering from shingles and has not been in Washington for several weeks.

    When asked about any concerns to get Su confirmed, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer dodged the question and said: “She’s a great nominee and we’re working hard to get her confirmed.”

    Su has won the support of some business groups, such as the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, but her strongest support comes from labor unions and organizations representing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. If confirmed, Su would be Biden’s first AAPI Cabinet secretary and join three other AAPI Cabinet members.

    Unions have recently begun stepping up their efforts on behalf of Su. The AFL-CIO is rolling out a six-figure campaign that includes ads in D.C. and Arizona — home to Kelly and Sinema, both of whom voted to confirm Su as deputy secretary but are on the fence — and is considering whether to expand to other states.

    “This is the time for them to show who they stand with: Is it workers, or is it big corporations?” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler told reporters Wednesday. “If you voted for her as deputy secretary, the only thing that’s changed is that she has actually more experience and more expertise.”

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    #GOP #paint #Bidens #labor #nominee #radical #hoping #turn #Dem #votes
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Appeals court presses pause on House GOP subpoena to former Trump prosecutor

    Appeals court presses pause on House GOP subpoena to former Trump prosecutor

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    Bragg then sued Jordan and the Judiciary panel, seeking a court order preventing the House from enforcing the subpoena.

    While the Judiciary committee has contended that it wants to study the potential effects that the threat of a future prosecution could have on a president while he is in office, Bragg argued that the House had no legitimate legislative purpose in issuing the subpoena and instead intends to examine the district attorney’s internal deliberations regarding the Trump indictment.

    On Wednesday, a federal judge in Manhattan declined to block the subpoena to Pomerantz. “The subpoena was issued with a ‘valid legislative purpose’ in connection with the ‘broad’ and ‘indispensable’ congressional power to ‘conduct investigations,’” U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil wrote.

    Bragg’s legal team appealed immediately to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which ordered that Pomerantz’s deposition be put on hold. Jordan and the committee must file briefing to the appeals court by Friday, with Bragg’s response due Saturday.

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    #Appeals #court #presses #pause #House #GOP #subpoena #Trump #prosecutor
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • House GOP debt limit plan would block Biden’s student loan agenda, prohibit future relief

    House GOP debt limit plan would block Biden’s student loan agenda, prohibit future relief

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    house republicans mark 100 days in the majority 15000

    The legislation would also bar the Biden administration from moving forward with a new income-driven repayment plan that cuts monthly payments for most borrowers and shortens the timeline to loan forgiveness for some borrowers.

    In addition, the GOP plan would permanently prohibit the Education Department from issuing any significant regulation or executive action that would increase the long-term cost to the government of operating the federal student loan programs.

    Such a sweeping prohibition would imperil efforts by the administration to provide additional relief or benefits to student loan borrowers. That would include any backup option for canceling large amounts of student debt if the Supreme Court rejects Biden’s student debt relief plan in the coming months.

    Key context: The provisions are among dozens of policy changes and spending caps that House Republicans included in their 320-page legislation to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or until March of next year, whichever comes first.

    Republicans have argued that they want concessions from the administration that lower the federal deficit and reduce spending in exchange for their votes to raise the nation’s borrowing limit.

    McCarthy said he hopes to pass it in the House next week. But the proposal stands no chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate.

    Biden swiftly dismissed McCarthy’s proposal as a nonstarter. “That’s the MAGA economic agenda: spending cuts for working and middle class folks,” Biden said of the plan on Wednesday. “It’s not about fiscal discipline, it’s about cutting benefits for folks that they don’t seem to care much about.”

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    #House #GOP #debt #limit #plan #block #Bidens #student #loan #agenda #prohibit #future #relief
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Judge OKs subpoena from House GOP to former Trump prosecutor

    Judge OKs subpoena from House GOP to former Trump prosecutor

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    The district attorney’s office planned to ask an appeals court to intervene quickly and stop the deposition, a spokesperson for the office said.

    The ruling came in response to a lawsuit from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and the Judiciary panel, which he chairs. Bragg sought a court order preventing the House from enforcing the subpoena, arguing that the House had no legitimate legislative purpose in issuing the subpoena and that it intends to examine the district attorney’s internal deliberations regarding the criminal case it brought against Trump last month.

    But Vyskocil, who was appointed by Trump, found that Jordan and the committee “have identified several valid legislative purposes underlying the subpoena,” including the committee’s interest in investigating federal forfeiture funds used in connection with the investigation of Trump, as well as possible legislative reforms to “insulate current and former presidents from state prosecutions.”

    The Judiciary committee also has contended that its purpose in issuing the subpoena is to study the potential effects that the threat of a future prosecution could have on a president while he is in office.

    And though Bragg argued that the true purpose of Jordan’s inquiry was to “undermine and obstruct” the case against Trump, the judge said the motivations of the committee were “irrelevant.”

    At a hearing in Manhattan federal court earlier Wednesday, the judge challenged lawyers for both sides aggressively and focused extensively, as she did in her written ruling, on a book Pomerantz wrote about his experience investigating Trump at the district attorney’s office.

    At the hearing, Vyskocil questioned whether Pomerantz had already disclosed privileged information in his writings and in related television interviews, at one point holding up a copy of the book, “People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account,” which had been heavily bookmarked with colorful flags.

    And she questioned whether the district attorney’s office had taken steps to prevent or address Pomerantz’s disclosures. Leslie Dubeck, Bragg’s general counsel, said that after publication, the office had alerted the New York City Department of Investigation to potential misdemeanor violations by Pomerantz in disclosing certain information.

    “Does it preserve your confidences?” the judge asked Dubeck of Pomerantz’s book. After a pause, Dubeck replied, “no.”

    In her written decision, Vyskocil found that the district attorney’s office had taken no action either before or after the publication of Pomerantz’s book to protect privileged information. “This repeated inaction constitutes acquiescence to the disclosure of any otherwise privileged information,” she wrote.

    Though Pomerantz has argued that if he is deposed he will be caught between either violating privilege rules or potentially being held in contempt of court, Vyskocil offered no sympathy.

    “Pomerantz is in this situation,” she wrote, “because he decided to inject himself into the public debate by authoring a book that he has described as ‘appropriate and in the public interest.’”

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    #Judge #OKs #subpoena #House #GOP #Trump #prosecutor
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • House GOP plows ahead on risky immigration plan

    House GOP plows ahead on risky immigration plan

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    The border bill and Mayorkas impeachment already faced heavy skepticism from a coalition of GOP centrists that’s showing no signs of fading. Centrists have raised fears that the immigration plan goes too far in limiting asylum claims, while also blanching at conservative demands to take the historic step of impeaching a Cabinet official.

    Though neither House GOP effort has a chance at success in the Democratic-controlled Senate, a failure to get border security measures through the one chamber of Congress they control would mark a significant stumble for Republicans on an issue highly important to their base.

    “I am confident leadership will not bring anything to the floor that does not have the votes to pass. … However long that takes, that’s what you want,” said Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), a vocal critic of the Judiciary Committee’s bill.

    Criticism from purple-district Republicans amounts to a political tee-ball pitch for Democrats, who are all too happy to cite their GOP colleagues in making their case against the immigration legislation.

    “This bill has no chance of being enacted into law, and most of its provisions cannot even pass on the House floor because of opposition from Republicans,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), his party’s top member on the Judiciary panel.

    In a nod toward Gonzales, Nadler added that Republicans “should heed the advice of one of their own.”

    While the intra-GOP fight has blasted to the forefront, given the Judiciary Committee’s advancement of the border security bill Wednesday, Gonzales remains locked in a monthslong public spat with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who has vocally pushed more conservative immigration measures.

    Though Roy’s bill isn’t in the Judiciary package, pieces of the committee’s proposed changes to asylum laws closely reflect sections of the Texas Republican’s plan.

    Many Republicans defended the Judiciary Committee bill, arguing it was needed to push back against more than two years of Biden administration policies and, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) added, “to restore the successful Trump policy.” Republicans argue the border influx was much more manageable under the former president, when the Trump administration placed drastic limits on migrants’ ability to claim asylum.

    Meanwhile, Democrats aren’t making it easy for Republicans to pass the legislation, offering a slew of potential changes that could appeal to skeptical centrists.

    The first Democratic amendment would have stripped out so-called e-verify requirements, which require that certain businesses check the citizenship status of their employees — a bid to turn agriculture-minded Republicans like Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) against the broader bill.

    That failed in the Judiciary Committee along party lines. A second amendment from Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) that would have delayed the implementation of the e-verify mandate also failed.

    “I’m surprised that this bill is in here, frankly. … It’s never been able to pass on the House floor,” Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said.

    The immigration package is likely to clear the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday without getting tangled in GOP infighting, in part because the panel is stocked with conservatives. But what can clear that panel, Republicans acknowledge, isn’t automatically reflective of what could get 218 votes on the House floor.

    And Republicans have set an ambitious goal to clear legislation through the chamber by the middle of next month.

    In the meantime, the House Homeland Security Committee will hold a vote on its own border bill next week. The Rules Committee is then expected to merge the two proposals, allowing Republicans to make more changes before a final product gets to the floor.

    The Homeland Security panel had initially been expected to hold a vote on its proposal this week, but that was delayed by Mayorkas’ scheduled testimony. And Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), the panel’s chair, reportedly told donors this month that he believed his committee was making the case for Mayorkas’ impeachment — a move that would require near-total House GOP unity to succeed.

    Republicans have so far rolled out two impeachment resolutions against Mayorkas, and neither has won over even close to a majority of the House GOP conference.

    One, from Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas), currently has 42 cosponsors, while a separate resolution from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) has 32. Democrats, and some GOP lawmakers, have warned that their colleagues are equating a policy disagreement — namely, that Mayorkas isn’t appropriately handling increased migration levels — to a high crime or misdemeanor.

    “I was dismayed to see that, speaking to a group of campaign contributors last week about today’s hearing, the chairman said, and I quote, ‘Get the popcorn, it’s going to be fun.’ I think that tells Americans all they need to know,” said Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee.

    During Wednesday’s hearing, Green zeroed in on the GOP’s argument for impeachment, telling Mayorkas that “you have not secured our borders, and I believe you’ve done so intentionally.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • GOP puts MTG ‘on an island’ over Pentagon leaker case

    GOP puts MTG ‘on an island’ over Pentagon leaker case

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    2023 0417 gop 100 3 francis 1

    “It’s a separate conversation whether a lot of this stuff is over-classified — that’s probably true. And it’s a separate conversation about whether or not this administration has misled the public about what’s happening in Ukraine — that’s probably true,” Hawley said.

    The influential conservative added that claims Teixeira has “exposed stuff the public should know’” might be “fair enough, but is the way he did it the right way to do it? No.”

    As lawmakers received their first detailed classified briefing on the case Wednesday, the degree to which Greene stands alone marks a significant line in the sand for a Republican Party that’s increasingly split over commitment to defending Ukraine against Russia. Regardless of their stance on the Ukraine war, and on over-classification across the government, GOP lawmakers across the ideological spectrum agree that Teixeira should be held to account.

    “They’re on an island with regard to serious policy people,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said in an interview regarding Greene and Carlson. “Unfortunately, they’re on an island of influence. But there’s not a lot you can do about that.”

    The FBI arrested Teixeira over his alleged involvement in the leak of the classified documents last week. The documents included sensitive intelligence on Ukraine’s spring plans in its war against Russia, as well as a trove of other information on global hotspots. Teixeira has since been charged with two federal crimes over his actions, which have attracted attention from the highest levels of the federal government.

    Senators left their briefing saying it revealed little new information. But many suggested the scope of the breach indicated Congress would have to step in to revamp how the federal government handles classified information. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters he thought “there have to be some improvements” without elaborating what those would be, and Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) noted that “I think it’s time that Congress has got to step in.”

    “I didn’t learn much more than they’ve already leaked,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said after the briefing, echoing the comments of other Republicans.

    Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he still had a lengthy list of questions and he “wasn’t satisfied with any plans they have in place to prevent this from happening in the future.”

    “The core challenge we have on our hands right now is whether Congress is going to — on a bipartisan basis — assert not just our right, but our obligation, to come together to conduct oversight over these agencies, which we cannot do without full access,” he said. “It’s getting harder every day and cases like this make it even worse.”

    Top officials who briefed lawmakers on the leak included Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and others in the intelligence and defense communities.

    Earlier Wednesday, Warner and Rubio sent a joint letter to Haines and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding a host of information about the leak. Among their requests: copies of all documents obtained and disseminated by Teixeira; details on why it took so long for the government to identify the leak; and whether the airman should have had access to the classified information.

    Rubio said in an interview earlier in the week that time would reveal the leaker’s motives but added that his alleged actions were indefensible.

    “It was illegal. It was a crime,” Rubio said. “I can’t be supportive of someone committing a crime.”

    Greene, for her part, called Teixeira “white, male, christian, and antiwar” and asked who is “the real enemy” in an April 13 tweet. She moderated her defense slightly in a Monday appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast, saying the leaker has “got to face some penalties for what he’s done — I’m not saying he shouldn’t,” but insisting that more of the U.S. actions in Ukraine should be exposed.

    Carlson, in response to the leak, said at the top of his April 13 show that “telling the truth is the only real sin” in Washington.

    Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was the first to publicly bash Greene, accusing her of making “one of the most irresponsible statements you could make” in defense of the young guardsman.

    And a flurry of congressional Republicans also made clear that viewing Teixeira’s alleged actions in the context of his criticism of U.S. involvement in the Ukraine war is a mistake, given that the leak endangered lives in various conflicts.

    “In terms of defending him as a hero, he’s anything but that,” said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “He’s compromised our sources and methods. He’s compromised American lives on the ground — our assets on the ground that report intelligence to us.”

    Even those Republicans skeptical of government actions in intelligence gathering wouldn’t back Greene’s position carte blanche. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he wasn’t familiar with the specifics of Teixeira’s case, noting it did not appear to be an “organized thing,” but said he saw it differently from that of Edward Snowden, whom Paul described as a whistleblower routing material through the media.

    “There have to be rules about releasing information, but I think also there sometimes are hard questions,” he said in an interview, noting he was not making an analogy between the two cases.

    Democrats, across the board, bashed Greene and Carlson for offering any sort of political cover for the actions of the leaker.

    “I don’t know which nation-state they’re loyal to,” Warner said.

    Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are broadly interested in revisiting how much information is classified by the federal government, as well as how many people have access to it, in light of Teixeira’s alleged leaks. They predicted the episode would inject bipartisan momentum into legislation revisiting classification procedures.

    In addition, Congress has begun to investigate the leaks. House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) pressed the Defense Department for information about the disclosures in a Tuesday letter.

    While that oversight moves ahead, Republicans broke from Greene to argue that the leaker must be punished as harshly as possible, regardless of what any loud voices on their party’s right might suggest.

    “If you leak classified documents, you’re going to suffer consequences of the law,” Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said in an interview. “Regardless of what the purpose is, we’ve made that statement for decades. We shouldn’t change that now.”

    “Someone who does that needs to be punished to the full extent of the law,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) echoed.

    Asked about Greene and Carlson’s defense of his actions, Sullivan replied: “I stand by my statement. As someone who served in the military for almost 30 years, I know a little bit about what I’m talking about.”



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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • GOP drops $1M on Manchin as Justice preps run

    GOP drops $1M on Manchin as Justice preps run

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    Manchin is bristling on a near-daily basis at Biden’s implementation of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act and keeps declining to support the president’s reelection. But Republicans are making clear that last year’s multibillion-dollar bill will be the centerpiece of their campaign to defeat him.

    Splicing in clips of Manchin close to Biden during the law’s signing ceremony, the new ad push claims that “100,000 West Virginia jobs are at risk thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin falling in line with D.C. liberals to pass the Inflation Reduction Act.” And One Nation is signaling more is to come.

    “The so-called ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ will hurt Americans’ quality of life in a lot of ways, and One Nation will continue to advocate against bad policies,” said the group’s president and CEO Steven Law.

    Manchin has not yet announced his own reelection plans, saying he won’t decide on his future until the end of the year. In the meantime, he’s fighting openly with the Biden administration over its implementation of the law he helped write, dinging a missed deadline on stricter sourcing requirements for electric vehicles. On Tuesday he called new EPA emission standards “dangerous.”

    He’s also acknowledged Republicans were likely to come after him for supporting the party-line bill. Manchin cut a slimmed-down deal with Schumer last summer after rejecting a more sweeping plan known as “Build Back Better” in 2021.

    “I’m fighting the administration for trying to implement a piece of legislation we didn’t pass,” Manchin said in an interview, alleging that Biden’s team is stretching the intent of the smaller bill that passed to a more progressive extent. “The intent of the bill was for energy security. And we were not energy secure … Just implement the bill that was passed, not the bill you think you wanted.”

    Manchin has faced tough races before and should never be underestimated, even in a state Biden lost by nearly 40 points. While 2024 could be even more challenging, particularly if Justice gets in, Manchin does have a couple cards up his sleeve: He has nearly $10 million in his campaign account and the support of national Democrats if he runs.

    “West Virginians know Joe Manchin’s work has decreased the deficit and made prescription drugs more affordable. One Nation should save their cash for a bloody primary that will pit Club for Growth’s carpetbagger against Mitch McConnell’s ethically challenged pick,” said Sarah Guggenheimer, a spokesperson for Senate Majority PAC, which is aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

    Polls show Manchin with an early lead against Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) in a hypothetical matchup, but with work to do against Justice. And Justice is close enough to jumping in that he’s looking at several dates for his launch, including April 27, as well as several other days.

    “I do think the governor made a decision,” the Republican strategist close to Justice said, speaking candidly on the condition of anonymity. “It’s only a matter of time.”

    However, Republicans in the state and in D.C. cautioned that Justice is a seat-of-his-pants politician, and a campaign kickoff isn’t final until the moment the governor decides. Not to mention that plenty can change in the GOP primary over the next year; the state’s attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, lost to Manchin in 2018 but decided to run for governor next year after flirting with another Senate bid.

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    #GOP #drops #Manchin #Justice #preps #run
    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )