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  • JD Vance ‘disrespecting the dead’ with bump stock remarks, Nevada senator states

    JD Vance ‘disrespecting the dead’ with bump stock remarks, Nevada senator states

    Political ripples from the supreme court’s choice to reverse a Trump White House-era restriction on sales of “bump stocks” – a spring-loaded stock that utilizes recoil to in result turn a semi-automatic gun into a gatling gun – continued to radiate on Monday when Jacky Rosen complained talk about the concern made by his Republican coworker JD Vance.

    Vance, the Ohio senator and possible vice-presidential choice as Trump looks for a 2nd presidency in November had actually dismissed efforts by senior Democrats, consisting of Chuck Schumer, the Senate bulk leader, to pass legislation prohibiting the gadgets as “a substantial diversion”.

    Vance went even more. “What is the genuine weapon violence issue in this nation, and are we legislating in a manner that fixes phony issues? Or fixes genuine issues?” Vance stated, before including: “My extremely strong suspicion is that the Schumer legislation is focused on a PR issue, not something that’s going to meaningfully minimize weapon violence in this nation.”

    Rosen, the Democratic senator, countered, dealing with re-election this year in politically purple Nevada, the website of the 2017 Las Vegas show shooting that eliminated 58 and triggered Trump to prohibit the rapid-fire gadget.

    “This is not a phony issue,” she informed press reporters. “Let him concern Las Vegas. Let him see the memorial for those individuals who passed away. Let him speak with those households. It’s not a phony issue. Those households are dead.”

    Rosen stated Las Vegas, the betting capital and significant source of Nevada’s income, had actually been “altered permanently because of what the shooter did, and the bump stocks assisted him”. She welcomed Vance to go to memorials to the victims in addition to to speak with very first responders. “Pity on him,” Rosen included, noticeably furious. “Pity on him for disrespecting the dead.”

    In its judgment recently, the conservative bulk on the supreme court ruled that the executive branch of federal government did not have the power to utilize existing guns laws to forbid bump stocks. However the justices permitted lawmakers to pass brand-new laws prohibiting the device.

    Schumer and other senior Democrats have considering that stated they would rapidly relocate to do so.

    Protest from Democrats installed after Vance reasoned that an expense to prohibit bump stocks would “wind up simply preventing the rights of obedient Americans” and mused about the number of individuals would still have actually been eliminated if the greatly armed video poker gamer Stephen Paddock had actually not equipped his armory with the objected to gadgets.

    “The number of individuals would have been shot additionally? And you need to ask yourself the concern: will anybody really pass by a bump stock due to the fact that Chuck Schumer passes a piece of legislation?” Vance stated.

    After Vance made his remarks, Schumer answered back: “Speak to individuals in Las Vegas who lost enjoyed ones.”

    The supreme court judgment offers both sides of the weapon concern red meat for the election project, though it is made complex by the preliminary restriction originating from the Trump White Home. Lindsey Graham, the Republican politician South Carolina senator, informed NBC News he will obstruct the Democrats’ step. And Vance questioned Democrats’ legal top priorities.

    Chris Murphy, the Democratic Connecticut senator who has actually promoted harder weapon laws after the Sandy Hook grade school shooting in 2012, stated Republican politicians in his chamber must have no issue choosing the step prohibiting bump stocks.

    “Is it great politics to make it much easier for possible mass killers to get their hands on gatling gun? Most likely not,” Murphy stated. “The concept is to attempt to make this appealing to Republicans. And we would be a lot much better off if psychopaths couldn’t get their hands on gatling gun.”

    In Between Friday – when the supreme court’s judgment on bump stocks returned weapon control to the top of the nationwide discourse – and Monday, there were 17 mass shootings reported throughout the United States, according to the Weapon Violence Archive.

    Amongst those was a shooting Saturday in Rochester Hills, Michigan, in which 9 individuals – consisting of 2 kids – were injured at a city-run splash pad that households regular to cool down in the summer season. Authorities stated the attack was performed at random by a shooter who later on passed away by suicide.

    Another shooting on Saturday in Round Rock, Texas, saw 14 individuals injured and 2 eliminated. There, the shooting emerged after a run-in in between 2 groups of individuals – the victims were uninvolved onlookers, authorities stated.

    The non-partisan Weapon Violence Archive specifies a mass shooting as one in which 4 or more victims are injured or eliminated.

    There have actually been at least 230 such shootings reported in the United States up until now this year, a high rate which has actually sustained public require more significant weapon control however which Congress for the a lot of part has actually not observed.

  • Almost half of Democrats authorize of Biden border action, survey discovers

    Almost half of Democrats authorize of Biden border action, survey discovers

    President Joe Biden’s executive action on migration isn’t a slam dunk with citizens, however it’s not totally pushing away Democrats and independents either, according to a brand-new Monmouth University survey.

    Democrats’ views of Biden’s border crackdown follow citizens throughout the board: 40 percent of signed up citizens authorize of the relocation, 27 percent are opposed and 33 percent state they have no viewpoint. The executive order revealed recently, which secured down on migrants looking for asylum by developing a numerical limit that sets off closure of the Southern border in between ports of entry, has the approval of 38 percent of Democrats, 40 percent of independents and 44 percent of Republicans.

    The findings come as Biden looks for to enhance citizens’ understanding of his handling of the border simply months before the November election. The president is intending to merge a Democratic base split on migration, interest independents looking for a harder hand and act to reduce Republican politicians’ project benefit on the concern.

    Almost half of Democrats, 49 percent, view Biden’s executive action as “about best” when it pertains to attending to prohibited migration, according to the survey. Twenty-four percent of Democrats see the order as “too hard,” and 19 percent state it is “not hard enough.” In general, 22 percent of Democrats oppose the action.

    Of the Democrats who state they oppose Biden’s relocation, 82 percent called it “too hard.” That’s in line with the views of a singing faction of disappointed progressives who advised the president to pursue other type of migration relief. In action, the administration is thinking about brand-new actions for undocumented immigrants, with a specific concentrate on a “parole in location” policy for undocumented partners of U.S. residents.

    Despite whether they prefer or oppose Biden’s action, Republicans are unified in their desire for a more powerful crackdown on prohibited migration, with 74 percent calling the relocation “not hard enough.” Simply 4 percent explain it as “too hard,” and 17 percent of Republican politicians state it is “about right.” Republican politicians are wagering that Biden’s low approval scores on migration will assist the celebration peel citizens far from the president’s union, while Biden is looking for to hammer Republican politicians on their blockage of a bipartisan border offer previously this year.

    “Honestly, I would have chosen to resolve this concern through bipartisan legislation,” Biden stated when revealing the relocation, “however Republicans left me without any option.”

    The survey discovered that a minor bulk of citizens authorize of Biden’s action — higher than the portion of citizens which authorized of a Home migration costs and a bipartisan Senate border costs previously this year, the latter of which was hindered by previous President Donald Trump’s opposition.

    Biden’s executive action, which is still being executed, enables the president to close the border when crossings go beyond approximately 2,500 daily over the duration of a week. When typical crossings have actually reached 1,500 or less for 7 successive days, DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas can resume the border 2 weeks later on. Throughout these high-volume durations when the border is closed, migrants dealing with apprehensions along the border will not be permitted to look for asylum.

    Regardless of the more aggressive method on migration, Biden’s approval numbers have actually not enhanced, the Monmouth survey discovered, with 38 percent authorizing his task efficiency — down partially from 42 percent in April.

    The Monmouth University survey was performed June 6-10, surveying 1,106 grownups by telephone. The margin of mistake is plus-or-minus 3.8 portion points.

  • The Senate filibuster is a difficulty to any nationwide abortion expense. Democrats are campaigning on it

    The Senate filibuster is a difficulty to any nationwide abortion expense. Democrats are campaigning on it

    CHICAGO (AP) — Sen. Tammy Baldwin, dealing with a hard reelection battle in among the races that will figure out control of Congress, has actually made safeguarding reproductive rights a foundation of her project, and she wants to back that up by promising to alter the Senate filibuster guidelines if Democrats keep control of the chamber.

    The Wisconsin Democrat stated taking that action is required to make sure that females in every state -– not the federal government -– can choose on their own whether to have an abortion. As part of her project, she cautions that Republicans may likewise target the filibuster to enforce a nationwide abortion restriction if they dominate in November.

    “Republican politicians have actually revealed time and once again that they will stop at absolutely nothing in their pursuit of managing females’s bodies – and I think them,” she stated.

    Democratic incumbents and oppositions running for the Senate this year state they wish to bring back a nationwide right to abortion, and numerous, like Baldwin, honestly state they would support suspending the filibuster to do so. It’s ended up being an essential talking point as they attempt to profit from the across the country fight over abortion rights that has actually typically assisted Democratic prospects given that the Supreme Court reversed constitutional securities 2 years back.

    Republicans have actually slammed Democrats for wishing to alter the guidelines and are emphatic they would refrain from doing so if they win the presidency and Senate.

    Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, 2 popular Republican advocates of abortion rights, have actually presented legislation indicated to codify the securities that had actually been developed by Roe v. Wade. In a declaration, Collins stated she “will oppose any effort to deteriorate the legal filibuster” by either celebration.

    Senate guidelines need 60 votes to end dispute over an expense, successfully making it the minimum variety of votes required to pass legislation, as a way to supply an examine the bulk. In an age of polarization and political gridlock, this number, rather than an easy bulk in the 100-member Senate, has actually been an obstruction for the celebration in power to promote its program on concerns such as ballot rights and migration.

    However whichever celebration has control of the Senate can alter the guidelines and take exceptions to the filibuster with just an easy bulk vote. That action has actually been described as the “nuclear alternative” in the couple of times it has actually been used.

    Democrats, under then-Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, did this for all judicial elections however the Supreme Court in 2013, when Democrat Barack Obama was president and Republican politicians had actually consistently obstructed Democratic candidates. GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky stated Reid would be sorry for that choice – and Republicans later on altered the filibuster guideline for Supreme Court candidates when they reclaimed control.

    That permitted Republican politician Donald Trump, while in the White Home, to put 3 conservative justices on the court, consisting of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was verified about a week before the 2020 election. She assisted form the court bulk that reversed Roe v. Wade.

    While neither celebration has actually presumed regarding alter the guidelines for legislation, numerous Democrats in Senate races this year have actually enthusiastically supported doing so, specifically to secure abortion rights.

    “If NASA had the guidelines of the United States Senate, the spaceship would never ever leave the launchpad,” Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly stated in an interview this month with NBC News. “So sometimes, at the proper time — I believe this is among them -– I would think about altering those guidelines to make certain that females can get the healthcare they require.”

    Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey stated “he has actually been on the record for many years” that the guidelines need to be altered and still supports that position. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has actually consistently required removing the filibuster to secure abortion and ballot rights given that Roe v. Wade was reversed.

    Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who formerly served one term in your home and is the leading Democratic Senate prospect in Florida, stated in an NBC News interview this month that she is “quite in favor of stopping briefly the filibuster and ballot for a female’s right to select to codify Roe v. Wade.”

    Her challenger, Republican politician Sen. Rick Scott, railed versus Mucarsel-Powell’s assistance for stopping briefly the filibuster. He did not discuss whether he would support stopping briefly the filibuster to limit abortion nationally however has actually staunchly protected it in the past, calling it “an important and required guideline to secure minority celebration rights.”

    “Should it be ‘stopped briefly’ to pass the Green New Offer? What ready to stack the Supreme Court or remove the Electoral College?” Scott stated in a declaration to The Associated Press that referenced his challenger. “Should we eliminate it completely or just pause it when (Senate Bulk Leader) Chuck Schumer informs her to? Be sincere with individuals of Florida about where you fix a limit on ‘stopping briefly’ democracy, Congresswoman.”

    It’s not simply Democratic legislators and prospects. In 2022, President Joe Biden stated he supported a carve-out to the filibuster to codify abortion rights, a concept warded off by 2 moderates who chose versus running for reelection this year, Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, a Democrat turned independent.

    Political specialists state there may be heavy pressure from anti-abortion groups to raise the Senate filibuster if the GOP gains complete control in Washington, however nationwide companies have actually de-emphasized the concern, a minimum of openly.

    When asked last month in a Time publication interview if he would ban an expense that would enforce a federal restriction, Trump did not respond to straight. Rather, he stated “there will never ever be that possibility” due to the fact that Republicans, even if they reclaim the Senate in November, would not have the 60 votes required to get rid of a filibuster and bring the expense to a vote.

    Kristi Hamrick, representative for Trainees for Life, stated steering around the filibuster is not a “sensible circumstance” due to the fact that the group has actually not seen collaborated efforts underway to do so. Rather, she stated if Trump is chosen, the group would press him to think about taking administrative actions to limit abortion, consisting of prohibiting the mailing and online sale of abortion tablets.

    Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee, stated the company has actually never ever taken a position on the concern and rather implicated Biden of being “intent on preventing the filibuster.”

    Democrats and abortion rights groups state they are hesitant Republicans would not try to raise the filibuster guideline for a federal restriction.

    Mini Timmaraju, president of the nationwide abortion rights company Reproductive Flexibility for All, stated the GOP and anti-abortion forces “are prepared to utilize every tool in their tool kit to prohibit abortion across the country, which consists of preventing the filibuster.”

    Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., likewise alerted of a nationwide restriction if Republicans win the presidency and Congress.

    “We cannot rely on anything that Donald Trump states when it concerns abortion,” Whitmer stated just recently. “So nobody must take any convenience in the reality that yes, he desires an abortion restriction however he won’t get it due to the fact that he doesn’t believe we’ll have 60 votes in the Senate. Baloney.”

    Trump has actually voiced conflicting views on the guideline, depending upon whether his celebration managed the Senate. In 2017, his very first year as president, he required an end to the filibuster to move his program forward, consisting of reversing the healthcare law enacted under Obama and constructing a border wall. However in 2021, a year after he lost his reelection quote and with Democrats managing Congress, he stated eliminating the filibuster would be “disastrous for the Republican politician Celebration.”

    A number of high-ranking members of the Senate GOP — consisting of Sens. John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and John Barrasso of Wyoming — have actually stated they are strongly versus raising the filibuster. Thune and Cornyn are going to change McConnell when he steps down from management after the November election.

    Sen. Jim Lankford, R-Okla., stated this previous week that GOP senators have actually gone over the concern throughout personal conferences, which he and others have actually stated they desire guarantees from those running for leader that they will not alter the guidelines.

    “It is something distinctively American to be able to have a location in federal government that both sides need to belong of,” Lankford stated.

    ___

    Associated Press author Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington added to this report.

    ___

    The Associated Press gets assistance from numerous personal structures to boost its explanatory protection of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy effort here. The AP is exclusively accountable for all material.

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  • The FBI stat shuffle, Google’s leftist antisemitism and other commentary

    The FBI stat shuffle, Google’s leftist antisemitism and other commentary

    Crime watch: The FBI Stat Shuffle

    “Americans can be forgiven for suffering from whiplash regarding law and order,” notes James Varney at RealClearInvestigations, with Democrats using “declines in violent crime statistics to argue that America is becoming a safer place.”

    That’s even though the 2023 figures “represent a large increase over the recent past, before the pandemic and racial upheaval set in motion in 2020.”

    Why the disconnect? Well, “crime stats have become notoriously incomplete in recent years,” with big cities failing to report to the FBI.

    Add in a “dramatic decline in arrests” and the “reductions in the size of many [police] departments,” plus “surging increases in response times to calls.”

    The result: It’s all too possible the headline crime figures “fail to capture what is really happening.”

    Libertarian: National Energy Code? No Way!

    As inflation and high interest rates deepen the housing crisis, the Biden administration is still pushing states to “implement the International Energy Conservation Code, which would require new homes to meet stricter energy efficiency standards,” grumbles Jason Sorens at Reason.

    Supposedly, “the new rules could significantly lower energy bills for homeowners and renters.”

    But “energy efficiency codes inflate construction costs” too, so it can take decades to come out ahead.

    “The federal government could do many things to lower housing costs, from cutting tariffs on supplies to ending subsidies that push up prices.”

    That would be far “better policy rather than imposing new regulations that make the situation worse.”

    Defense beat: We’re Running out of Gunpowder

    “Congress must back the commonsense approach of the Ammunition Supply Chain Act and enable American manufacturers to replenish our gunpowder supply to counter a growing Chinese advantage,” warns Robert Pittenger at the Washington Examiner.

    “The United States is running low on modern gunpowder” thanks to “the war in Ukraine and supply-sourcing complications.”

    This makes “ ‘guncotton,’ a key production material for modern gunpowder, increasingly scarce here at home.”

    Worse, “China is emerging as the foremost producer of guncotton”; “Russia’s imports of nitrocellulose from China” doubled from 2022 “to $7.18 million” in 2023.

    The proposed Ammunition Supply Chain Act “is designed to identify and address faults in the gunpowder supply chain” by enabling “ammo manufacturers to resolve a national issue before it becomes a national security crisis.”

    Eye on China: Beware of What You Whistle

    “A sure sign that you’re living in a dictatorship is that the government dictates what you can sing,” roar The Wall Street Journal’s editors after Hong Kong moved ahead with banning “Glory to Hong Kong.”

    The song grew popular “amid pro-democracy protests, and Hong Kong has warned that even posting it online can violate national-security and sedition laws. Authorities have arrested a housewife and a delivery worker who posted the song on social media.”

    With a submissive court OK’ing the ban, Google and other platforms in Hong Kong “will now be under pressure to make sure the song never appears when you search.”

    And be careful what you whistle: You could end up behind bars, “like publisher Jimmy Lai and other political prisoners.”

    From the right: Google’s Leftist Antisemitsm

    In a viral video, a Google AI fails to answer “What was the Holocaust?” but drops a pro-Palestinian response to “what was the Nakba?” Google told The Post it was a “bug.”

    Hah! fumes Issues & Insights’ editorial board: “It was not the result of some innocent coding error, or the work of a rogue programmer. It was the result of intentional biases fed into the program by teams of woke Google staff and management.”

    That is, “Google’s AI was taught to respond in a blatantly biased way when asked about Jews. It’s the same reason Google’s AI produced such comically inept images, such as black Confederate soldiers.”

    Fact is, “antisemitism fits right in there with all the rest of the neo-Marxist claptrap that long ago took over colleges” and spread “as graduates of these colleges made their way out into the world.”

    — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board

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  • NYC weed shops crackdown is great news, but without wider reform will just be Whack-a-Mole

    NYC weed shops crackdown is great news, but without wider reform will just be Whack-a-Mole

    An illegal NYC weed shop saw the hammer come down last week as part of a wider city crackdown on such stores: Good — but not good enough. 

    Western Green, a Queens store operating in flagrant violation of the laws prog legislators assured us would make the retail pot market safe, got raided and shuttered, its copious inventory confiscated. 

    One down — 2,900-plus to go. 


    NYPD officers raiding the “Western Green” unlicensed cannabis shop in Kew Gardens, Queens on May 9, 2024. Carl Campanile/NY Post

    The city’s in this mess thanks to the total botch Albany made of New York’s legal pot rollout.

    The Legislature wrapped that effort in suffocating “equity” red-tape, meaning that those wanting to set up illegal shops were guaranteed a massive head start. 

    Then, lawsuits driven by the equity nonsense — many triggered by the incompetent Office of Cannabis Management’s bizarre push to hand licenses to former crooks first — slowed things even more. 

    Plus, the state’s legal-pot law made it basically impossible for local cops to fight back against illegal sellers in the city. 

    Add in the best efforts of pro-crime progressives to wreck public safety generally, and here we are: an open black market in weed, with neon signs blazing loud and proud where it used to just be corner boys. 


    Cannabis products seized by police during the raid in Queens.
    Cannabis products seized by police during the raid in Queens. Carl Campanile/NY Post

    Don’t forget that a big chunk of these stores’ weed products come in packaging that mimics popular snacks — i.e., they’re aimed at literal children

    Gov. Hochul showed real spine on the issue and fought for a new law, now enacted, to make crackdowns against illegal shops a bit easier; she’s also cleaning house at OCM in the wake of a damning investigation.  

    And every small blow for public order is a good one, so bravo to that and the shutdown of Western Green and every other illegal shop caught in the dragnet. 

    But playing whack-a-mole against these community-wrecking scofflaws is not a viable strategy.

    Trouble is, thanks to the crime-lovers among New York’s Democrats, that’s still pretty much the only tool available to law enforcement. 

    Until that changes, we fear the number of illegal pot shops will stay sky-high. 

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  • Johnson Survives Greene’s Ouster Attempt as Democrats Join GOP to Kill It

    Johnson Survives Greene’s Ouster Attempt as Democrats Join GOP to Kill It

    WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday easily batted down an attempt by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to oust him from his post, after Democrats linked arms with most Republicans to fend off a second attempt by GOP hard-liners to strip the gavel from their party leader.

    The vote to kill the effort was an overwhelming 359-43, with seven voting “present.” Democrats flocked to Johnson’s rescue, with all but 39 of them voting with Republicans to block the effort to oust him.

    Members of the minority party in the House have never propped up the other party’s speaker, and when the last Republican to hold the post, Kevin McCarthy, faced a removal vote last fall, Democrats voted en masse to allow the motion to move forward and then to jettison him, helping lead to his historic ouster.

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    This time, the Democratic support made the critical difference, allowing Johnson, who has a minuscule majority, to avoid a removal vote altogether. While for weeks Greene had appeared to be on a political island in her drive to get rid of yet another GOP speaker, 11 Republicans ultimately voted to allow her motion to move forward.

    That was the same number of Republicans who voted in October to allow the bid to remove McCarthy to advance — but back then, they were joined by every Democrat.

    “I appreciate the show of confidence from my colleagues to defeat this misguided effort,” Johnson told reporters shortly after Wednesday’s vote. “As I’ve said from the beginning and I’ve made clear here every day, I intend to do my job. I intend to do what I believe to be the right thing, which is what I was elected to do, and I’ll let the chips fall where they may. In my view, that is leadership.”

    “Hopefully,” he added, “this is the end of the personality politics and the frivolous character assassination that has defined the 118th Congress.”

    The lopsided vote solidified the dynamic that has defined Johnson’s speakership, like McCarthy’s before him: Each time the Republican leader has been faced with a critical task, such as averting a government shutdown or a catastrophic default on the nation’s debt, he has relied on a bipartisan coalition of mainstream lawmakers to steer around far-right opposition and provide the votes to accomplish it.

    The result has been the empowerment of Democrats at the expense of the hard right, the very phenomenon that Greene raged against as she rose on the House floor Wednesday — drawing boos from some of her colleagues — to lay out a scathing case against Johnson and what she called the “uniparty” he empowered.

    “Our decision to stop Marjorie Taylor Greene from plunging the House of Representatives and the country into further chaos is rooted in our commitment to solve problems for everyday Americans in a bipartisan manner,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, told reporters shortly after the vote. “We will continue to govern in a reasonable, responsible and results-oriented fashion, and put people over politics all day and every day.”

    Greene’s move to oust Johnson came roughly three weeks after the speaker pushed through a long-stalled $95 billion national security spending package to aid Israel, Ukraine and other U.S. allies over the objections of Greene and other right-wing Republicans who staunchly opposed sending additional aid to Ukraine.

    Lawmakers loudly jeered Greene as she called up the resolution and read it aloud. As she recited the measure, a screed that lasted more than 10 minutes, Republicans lined up on the House floor to shake Johnson’s hand and pat him on the back.

    “Given a choice between advancing Republican priorities or allying with Democrats to preserve his own personal power, Johnson regularly chooses to ally himself with Democrats,” Greene said, reading from her resolution.

    She concluded with the official call for his removal: “Now, therefore be it resolved that the office of the speaker of the House of Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant.”

    It marked the second time in less than a year that Republicans have sought to depose their own speaker, coming about seven months after GOP rebels succeeded, with Democratic support, in removing McCarthy.

    Earlier in the week, Greene had seemed to hesitate over whether she would actually call the ouster vote. For two consecutive days, she met for hours with Johnson, flanked by her chief ally, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and floated a list of demands in exchange for not calling the vote.

    Among the demands were cutting off all future U.S. aid to Ukraine, defunding the Justice Department and imposing a 1% across the board cut on all spending bills if lawmakers are unable to negotiate a deal to fund the government in September.

    But Johnson had remained cool to their entreaties, and told reporters that he was not negotiating with Greene and Massie.

    That put Greene, whose combative political brand is premised on her unrelenting appetite to fight with the establishment of her party, out on a limb. She had little choice but to call up a vote she knew would fail, but had been threatening for weeks. Even after Jeffries made it clear that Democrats would vote to block any ouster attempt, she was still determined to undermine Johnson publicly and force Democrats to bail him out.

    “This is exactly what the American people needed to see,” she told reporters on the House steps after the vote. “I didn’t run for Congress to come up here and join the uniparty, and the uniparty was on full display today.”

    “The Democrats now control Speaker Johnson,” she added.

    Just 32 Democrats voted to allow Greene’s motion to move forward, while another seven voted “present,” registering no position.

    Greene initially filed the motion against Johnson in late March, just as lawmakers were voting on a $1.2 trillion spending bill he pushed through the House over the opposition of the majority of Republicans. She called the move a “betrayal” and said she wanted to send the speaker a “warning,” then left the threat dangling for weeks.

    Johnson plowed ahead anyway, putting together an aid package for Ukraine — a move Greene previously said was a red line that would prompt her to seek his ouster, but which did not lead her to immediately make good on her threat.

    “I’m actually going to let my colleagues go home and hear from their constituents,” Greene said following the vote, predicting that Republicans would join her bid to get rid of Johnson after getting an earful from voters irate about the foreign aid bill. Instead, many of them heard just the opposite and returned to Washington voicing skepticism about removing Johnson.

    If she had been successful Wednesday, Greene would have prompted only the second vote on the House floor in more than 100 years on whether to oust the speaker. When Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida instigated McCarthy’s removal in October, such a spectacle had not been seen in the chamber since 1910.

    But this time, Greene had a more difficult time finding support for removing the speaker. House Republicans were wary of throwing the chamber into another period of chaos like the one that paralyzed the House for weeks after McCarthy’s ouster, and have privately seethed about the public disarray Greene’s threat has sown.

    Even ultraconservatives like Gaetz expressed uneasiness with firing another speaker, suggesting that the move risked handing over control of the House to Democrats given Republicans’ rapidly narrowing margin of control.

    Former President Donald Trump also came to Johnson’s defense, urging Republicans on social media minutes after the vote to kill Greene’s effort, arguing that polling showed Republicans doing well in the November elections, and that a show of division would undermine the party.

    “If we show DISUNITY, which will be portrayed as CHAOS, it will negatively affect everything!” he wrote.

    He called Johnson “a good man who is trying very hard,” but did not slam the door altogether on the idea of removing him.

    “We’re not in a position” to do so now, with such a small Republican majority in the House, Trump wrote. “At some point, we may very well be, but this is not the time.”

    c.2024 The New York Times Company

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  • 15 House Democrats call on Biden to take border executive action

    15 House Democrats call on Biden to take border executive action

    A group of House Democrats facing a tough campaign cycle has called on President Joe Biden to take executive action on the United States’ border with Mexico. 

    The legislators from Minnesota, Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Michigan, among other states, urged Biden in a letter first obtained by CBS News to “immediately take further action to restore order at the Southern border and fix our broken immigration system.” 

    Mr. Biden has faced harsh criticism from Republicans and from some within his own party over his approach to immigration and the border ahead of November’s general election. That dynamic is playing out as Mr. Biden runs against former President Donald Trump, his presumptive Republican challenger, for another term. 

    In April, CBS News polls of three presidential battleground states (Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) showed that a majority of likely voters view the U.S.-Mexico border as a major factor in their vote for president. 

    The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday about the letter.

    Yet the collapse of a bipartisan border deal in the Senate earlier this year provided Democrats an opportunity to counter long standing GOP attacks on the issue. 

    The new letter, led by Minnesota Democratic Rep. Angie Craig, points to the torpedoing of that deal by Republicans as a sign that Mr. Biden should take action of his own. 

    “It has become clear that the current situation remains untenable, but with Republicans playing politics on border security, it is time for your administration to act,” the letter said. “We urge you to use all tools at your disposal, including executive action, to better address security at the Southern border, interdict illicit fentanyl and allow for orderly legal immigration.” 

    Among the 15 Democratic House members who signed the Tuesday letter are Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is running for an open Senate seat in Michigan, as well as Reps. Susan Wild and Matt Cartwright, two Democratic incumbents in the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania. Fellow Reps. Susie Lee and Steven Horsford from the politically crucial state of Nevada also signed on to the letter. 

    The lawmakers note in their letter that “all of our constituents, no matter our congressional district, have felt the impacts of the current border situation.” 

    Last week the House passed a Republican led measure that in part denounced “the Biden administration’s open-borders policies,” in a bipartisan 223 to 191 vote. Thirteen Democrats joined 210 Republicans in supporting the effort— including Craig and three members who also signed Tuesday’s letter to Mr. Biden. 

    Similar GOP criticism also passed the House earlier this year with a small level of Democratic support. Most Democrats however have voted against those messaging efforts. 

    Democrats narrowly lost control of the House in the 2022 midterms, handing the chamber back to Republican leaders for the first time since early 2019. The narrow GOP majority however has struggled frequently since taking over. Democrats would only need to win a small number of seats to win control back in this fall’s general elections. 

    Tuesday’s letter is the latest demonstration of how the border and immigration in general can be a contentious issue as Mr. Biden looks to maintain enthusiasm from both centrist- minded Democrats and the more progressive- focused voters. 

    Over the past months, Mr. Biden has been considering taking executive action to reduce illegal border crossings, which soared to record levels last year. One of the moves being explored would involve the president restricting asylum by invoking an authority known as 212(f) that allows presidents to suspend the entry of foreigners when their arrival is deemed to be “detrimental” to U.S. interests. The administration, however, has yet to announce any new border measures.

    The Biden administration recently announced a new regulation enabling a large number of undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to enroll in the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance. 

    During fundraisers in Texas in late March, Mr. Biden repeatedly accused Trump of bringing “chaos” to the border by spearheading a GOP effort in Congress to tank the bipartisan Senate border deal. Mr. Biden has also criticized Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric on immigration, after the former president said undocumented migrants were “poisoning the blood of our country.”

    CBS News reporters Aaron Navarro and Kristin Brown contributed to this report. 

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  • Maddow Blog | Democrat’s indictment leads to weird, new Trump conspiracy theory

    Maddow Blog | Democrat’s indictment leads to weird, new Trump conspiracy theory

    After Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar was indicted late last week on alleged corruption charges, it was tempting to assume Republicans would be pleased. After all, the Texas congressman’s indictment will likely make his congressional district even more competitive, and it will increase pressure on other Democrats to endorse Cuellar’s resignation, expulsion, or both.

    Donald Trump, however, doesn’t quite see it this way.

    In closed-door remarks delivered at a donor retreat over the weekend, the former president — who had a habit of pardoning politicians convicted of corruption — actually complained about the Texas lawmaker getting indicted, suggesting that Cuellar “got indicted for political reasons, because he was tough on the border.”

    On Sunday night, Trump brought the same message to the public by way of his social media platform. His missive read in part:

    So to review, in Trump’s mind, President Joe Biden ordered the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors — as well as, presumably, members of a federal grand jury — to make up evidence of corruption against a sitting congressman of Biden’s own party. The rascally White House, according to the former president’s creative theory, executed this plot because Cuellar is more conservative than many other Democrats when it comes to border policy.

    If this bizarre perspective sounds at all familiar, it’s not your imagination: When Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey was indicted on corruption allegations last year, some congressional Republicans and one of Trump’s lawyers said this, too, was part of a partisan plot.

    After Cuellar’s charges were announced, I made the case that the indictment did fresh harm to one of the animating concepts in contemporary Republican politics: The ridiculous idea that Democrats have “weaponized” federal law enforcement to punish GOP figures and shield Democrats from accountability.

    The Justice Department and the FBI, leading Republican voices insist, are little more than political tools for the Biden White House and its fiendish allies.

    Given the number of Democrats facing charges or investigations at the hands of the Justice Department and the FBI, it’s impossible to take such a nonsensical theory seriously.

    But as we’re learning, nothing can shake Republicans’ commitment to their baseless theory — and new evidence that contradicts their ideas is simply filtered through the conspiratorial lens.

    When Republicans are indicted, we’re told, it’s evidence of the justice system being weaponized against the right. And when Democrats are indicted, the theory goes, it’s also evidence of the justice system being weaponized against the right.

    The conspiracy theory must always be true, even when it’s not.

    This article was originally published on MSNBC.com

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  • Senate races are roiled by campus protests over the war in Gaza as campaign rhetoric sharpens

    Senate races are roiled by campus protests over the war in Gaza as campaign rhetoric sharpens

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The student protest movement disrupting university campuses, classes and graduation ceremonies over the war in Gaza is also roiling Senate contests across the nation as Democrats tread cautiously over an internal divide and Republicans play up their rivals’ disagreements.

    The political impact of the protests on the White House campaign has drawn considerable attention, with opposition to President Joe Biden‘s handling of the Israel-Hamas war reverberating from Columbia to UCLA. The fast-evolving landscape of the demonstrations is shaping pivotal Senate races, too.

    Tent encampments have popped up at universities in many states where Democrats this election year are defending seats essential to maintaining the party’s razor-thin Senate majority. At some schools, police crackdowns and arrests have followed.

    The protests have sharpened the campaign rhetoric in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Ohio and Michigan, among other places. Republican candidates in California and Florida have stepped up their criticism of the Democratic president for the U.S. response to the war or for chaotic scenes on American campuses.

    Some Republicans have shown up at encampments, including one at George Washington University, not far from the White House. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is facing reelection, said on social media that he went there to show solidarity with Jewish students. “We need to do all we can to protect them,” he said.

    Republican candidate David McCormick, during a visit to the University of Pennsylvania, said protesters at the Ivy League school did not know the “difference between right and wrong, good and evil,” and were creating a hostile atmosphere for Jewish students.

    McCormick has decried what he frames as a lack of leadership and moral clarity on the part of his Democratic opponent, Sen. Bob Casey, as well as by Biden and administrators at the school buffeted by accusations of harboring antisemitism.

    “What’s happening on campuses is clearly a test of leadership and moral courage, both for the college presidents and for our leaders and for Sen. Casey and President Biden,” McCormick said in an interview.

    Israel and its supporters say the protests are antisemitic, a charge that Israel’s critics say is sometimes used to silence legitimate opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, protest organizers, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at trying to save the lives of Palestinians civilians.

    Many Democrats, from Biden on down, avoided saying much about the situation until recently as universities began to crack down and comparisons were made to anti-war protests of the 1960s.

    Even then, Democrats balanced their criticism of antisemitism and rule-breakers with the need to protect the right to free expression and peaceful protest. Some have tried to avoid taking sides in protests that have pitted pro-Israeli versus pro-Palestinian Democrats and divided important parts of the party’s base, including Jewish, Arab American and younger voters.

    Republicans, meanwhile, have railed at what they characterized as equivocating or silence by Democrats. Republicans professed solidarity with Jews against antisemitism while condemning the protests as lawless.

    Mike Rogers, a Republican seeking an open Senate seat in Michigan, said student protesters at Columbia were “Hamas sympathizers.” In California, GOP Senate candidate Steve Garvey called them “terrorists” practicing “terrorism disguised as free speech.”

    In five states, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, is using the protests in digital ads about student loan forgiveness, saying Democrats want to pay off the loans of students “radicalized by the far left” who are “threatening Jews,” “attacking police” and “acting like terrorists.”

    McCormick and others say universities that, in their view, tolerate antisemitism should lose federal subsidies and that visas should be revoked for any foreign student inciting violence or expressing pro-Hamas sentiments at the encampments.

    Casey, long a staunch supporter of Israel, has criticized acts of antisemitism on campuses and pointed to legislation he sponsored as a way to make sure the Education Department takes action.

    “Students of course have the right to peacefully protest, but when it crosses the line either into violence or discrimination, then we have an obligation to step in and stop that conduct,” Casey said Thursday as he urged colleagues to pass his bill.

    Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who is Jewish and facing reelection, said she was “horrified” by displays of antisemitism on campuses and, like Casey, called for the department to hold schools accountable.

    In California, U.S. Rep Adam Schiff, the Democratic nominee for an open Senate seat, took aim at the Columbia demonstration and said “antisemitic and hateful rhetoric is being loudly and proudly displayed.” Accused by Garvey of being “incredibly silent” on the protests, Schiff, who is Jewish, voted for a House bill similar to Casey’s and released a statement that condemned violence and the “explicit, repeated targeting and intimidation of Jewish students.”

    Republicans elsewhere contended statements by Democrats were equivocating and inadequate.

    Republicans called out Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, after he told an Axios reporter last week that he was “not going to talk about the politics of that. People always have the right to speak out and should.”

    His Republican opponent, Bernie Moreno, charged that Brown had “wholeheartedly endorsed these vile and violent antisemitic demonstrations.”

    Later, at a news conference, Brown gave more expansive comments. “Students want to make their voices heard, they need to do it in a way that’s nonviolent, they need to do it in a way that doesn’t spew hatred, and laws need to be enforced,” he said.

    In Michigan, which has a relatively significant Muslim population, Biden’s handling of the war is expected to factor heavily into the presidential and Senate races.

    Rogers, a favorite for the GOP nomination, thanked New York City police for confronting protesters and “standing up to protect Jewish students at Columbia from the visceral hatred we’ve witnessed from Hamas sympathizers on their campus.”

    Republicans argued that U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the front-runner for the Democratic nominationfor Senate, had not spoken out strongly against protests at Columbia, her alma mater, and that she took five days after they began to say anything at all.

    Slotkin, who is Jewish, said in an April 22 statement — the most recent wave of demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 — that “the use of intimidation, antisemitic signs or slogans, or harassment, is unacceptable.”

    It was, she suggested, a complicated topic.

    “I would rather be thoughtful and take more time than have a knee-jerk answer for any issue,” Slotkin said in an interview. “But especially this one.”

    __

    Associated Press reporters Adam Beam in Sacramento, California; Joey Cappalletti in Lansing, Michigan; Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey; Tassanee Vejpongsa in Philadelphia; and Stephany Matat in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.

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  • Greene says Johnson’s ‘days as Speaker are numbered’

    Greene says Johnson’s ‘days as Speaker are numbered’

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is doubling down on her commitment to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), saying his days in the leadership position are “numbered” as House members await a potential privileged vote on a motion to vacate.

    Greene last month filed a motion to remove Johnson, saying he crossed a line by holding a vote for additional Ukraine aid. Two other GOP lawmakers have already backed it — enough votes to remove the Speaker if all Democrats vote with her — though Democrats have generally opposed her effort.

    “Permanent funding for Ukraine is exactly what they want and Mike Johnson will give it to them,” Greene said Sunday in a post on the social platform X, referring to Ukrainian leadership and the Biden administration. “Peace is not an option for them because it doesn’t fit the government appropriations war business and economic model, which is vile and disgusting.”

    “They’re plan is keep funding the proxy war with Russia in Ukraine and when that doesn’t work, after all the Ukrainian men have been slaughtered, next they will put American troops on the ground,” Greene said. “Johnson will do whatever Biden/Schumer want in order to keep the Speaker’s gavel in his hand, but he has completely sold out the Republican voters who gave us the majority.”

    “His days as Speaker are numbered,” she added.

    President Biden signed the $95 billion foreign aid supplemental last week, which included about $61 billion for Ukraine aid. Most of that spending was to rebuild stockpiles of domestic weapons and supplies, and a significant portion of the aid that is set to go directly to the Ukrainian government will be in the form of a loan.

    Despite introducing Greene’s motion to vacate, it has not yet faced a vote, as she has not marked the measure as privileged. With a House schedule free of must-pass bills this week, a fight over Johnson’s job could come soon.

    Johnson’s decision to pass the foreign aid bill, backing down after a weeks-long standoff with Democrats, has garnered him bipartisan praise. It’s unclear whether enough Democrats would back a motion to vacate to put his job at risk.

    Former President Trump has also backed Johnson, putting any Republican thinking about backing the effort in a difficult position, potentially going against the most popular figure in the party.

    “It’s a tough situation when you have one,” Trump told conservative radio host Chris Stigall last Monday, remarking on the House GOP’s slim majority. “I think [Johnson’s] a very good man. I think he’s trying very hard.”

    “Again, we’ve got to have a big election,” he continued. “We’ve got to elect some people in Congress, much more than we have right now.”

    No matter its outcome, a Speaker fight would likely further tear up the GOP House majority, which stands at just one vote after a spat of early retirements. Such a move could also threaten the party’s 2024 election chances with a second costly Speaker race in just a few months.

    Johnson himself has brushed off the concerns, saying he is focused on passing legislation and growing the slim majority in November.

    “I don’t think about her at all,” Johnson told Fox News’s Jesse Watters last week when asked if he has nightmares about Greene. “Some of my colleagues want us to throw a Hail Mary pass on every play. It’s not a game-winning strategy.”

    “Right now, when you have this margin, it is 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Right?” he added. “We get the next first down, we put points on the board, and we get to November and we take back and grow the majority in the House.”

    For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.



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  • Miami-Dade Democrats tap state Sen. Shevrin Jones to lead struggling party

    Miami-Dade Democrats tap state Sen. Shevrin Jones to lead struggling party

    Miami-Dade Democrats elected state Sen. Shevrin Jones on Friday to lead their flagging party, putting a rising political star and ally of President Joe Biden at the helm of the state’s largest county Democratic organization.

    Jones’ victory over three other candidates — Biscayne Gardens Chamber of Commerce President Bernard Jennings, Miami-Dade College Democrats President Manuel Fernandez and Miami-Dade Progressive Caucus’s Angel Montalvo — caps off a chaotic month for the Miami-Dade Democratic Party that saw now-former Chairman Robert Dempster booted out of his job and a tumultuous race to succeed him.

    In choosing Jones to lead the party, Miami-Dade Democrats opted for a well-liked and well-connected politician who was widely seen as the favorite candidate of state party leaders. Jones’ term will run through December, when the party is set to hold its regular election for chair.

    Yet the job is likely to be far from glamorous. With major local, state and federal elections just months away, Jones will be tasked with ramping up the party’s fundraising and voter-registration operations, and trying to unite a deeply fragmented Democratic organization.

    “Regardless of whether you supported me or not, what matters now is building trust and understanding,” Jones said. “I acknowledge your frustrations, I acknowledge your struggles.”

    Jones, Florida’s first openly gay state senator, threw his name into the running for Miami-Dade Democratic Party chairman last week, boasting the support of some of the county’s most prominent Democrats, including Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson.

    Still, that didn’t spare him a challenge. Filmmaker Billy Corben followed Jones into the contest, billing his candidacy as an effort to stop a “coronation” of Jones as party chairman and force an “honest” conversation among Miami-Dade Democrats about the future direction of the party.

    In the days that followed, the race for chairman became consumed by controversy and infighting. Corben sought to organize an in-person forum between Jones and himself, but that event was scrapped over disagreements about who would moderate it.

    Jones, Corben, Jennings and Fernandez eventually agreed to participate in a virtual forum on Wednesday night. In his closing remarks during that event, which was closed to the public and the press, Corben withdrew from the race, arguing that the odds of him becoming chairman had been stacked against him from the beginning.

    He noted that the Miami-Dade Democratic Party’s acting Chairwoman Laura Wagner had endorsed Jones at the outset of his campaign.

    “I was prepared for the dysfunction, but I’m disappointed by the bad faith and hypocrisy,” Corben said during the forum.

    There was also dispute over the timing of the Friday evening election, which coincided with the sabbath during Passover. Corben and other Jewish members urged party leaders to reschedule the election. Those requests went unheeded. Joe Geller, a former Miami-Dade Democratic Party chairman who’s currently running for Miami-Dade School Board, said that the Friday evening election was inconvenient for everyone in the party.

    “It didn’t have to be in the middle of Passover on Shabbat,” said Geller, who is Jewish. “Why did it have to be a Friday night at all? People are tired, they’ve worked all week, they’re starting their weekend.”

    Still, voting proceeded on Friday night with a packed conference hall. Geller, who led the Miami-Dade Democratic Party for more than a decade, said that Jones has a daunting task in front of him.

    “Roll up your sleeves, get to work, make the calls, knock the doors, beg for money and get along with each other,” Geller said. “Fight for our principles, not with each other.”

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  • Rep. Michael Waltz faces challenges, while Alan Grayson joins Democrats seeking Senate nod

    Rep. Michael Waltz faces challenges, while Alan Grayson joins Democrats seeking Senate nod

    The 2024 Florida primary election is on Aug. 23.

    Until this week, it appeared as if Congressman Michael Waltz might not face a challenge in the 2024 election.

    That did not come to pass, as Republican John Grow of Palm Coast, and Democrat James David Stockton III of Ocala qualified for the 6th District this week under state rules. Candidates seeking election to federal offices and some state races − including state attorney and public defender − faced a noon deadline Friday to qualify.

    The 6th District covers northern Volusia, all of Flagler, and part of St. Johns, Putnam, Marion and Lake counties.

    In the 7th District, which includes the southern portion of Volusia and all of Seminole County, incumbent Cory Mills faces one Republican primary challenger, Mike Johnson (not the Mike Johnson who’s Speaker of the House), while three Democrats will run: business owner Tatiana Fernandez and information security professional Allek Pastrana, who also ran in 2022 but were unsuccessful, and Jennifer Adams, who describes herself as a mother, small business owner and survivor of domestic abuse.

    The race for U.S. senator has incumbent Republican Rick Scott facing two primary challengers, John Columbus and Keith Gross, who qualified this week. Meanwhile, five Democrats are in the race: former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, onetime state lawmaker Brian Rush, tech entrepreneur Stanley Campbell, combat veteran Rod Joseph of DeBary and former Congressman Alan Grayson of Orlando.

    With the qualifying deadline passed, 7th Circuit State Attorney R. J. Larizza and Public Defender Matthew Metz remained the only qualified candidates listed on the Department of State website. Each will retain his seat for another four years.

    Larizza was first elected in 2008. He will start his fifth term in January. Metz is completing his first term in office.

    Who are late entrants?

    Grayson, who served three terms in the House, had been listed as a senatorial candidate for several months, but had not been openly campaigning in a traditional way. He qualified on Wednesday.

    On Thursday, he told The News-Journal he has been studying the race and thinks he has a path to victory: Through voter registration. Grayson said his concept is a Stacey Abrams-style approach. Abrams, a former Georgia state representative, led efforts in Georgia to register more Democrats. While she lost a bid for governor in 2022, larger numbers of Democratic voters helped Joe Biden win that state in 2020.

    While Florida Republicans have opened up an almost 900,000 voter lead over Democrats in terms of registration − after Democrats had the advantage as recently as 2020 − Grayson insists Florida is not redder. He believes millions of Democrats are simply not registered. Also, he noted the growing number of no-party affiliation voters.

    “What NPAs think is Democrats are lazy, Republicans are crazy and that leaves them with two poor choices,” he said. “It’s my job to get past that.”

    Meanwhile, Columbus calls himself a 40-year-old “modern millennial Florida Man” whose top three issues are paying down the national debt, “passing meaningful immigration and border legislation,” and encouraging more Americans to read. He listed a Windemere post office box as his address.

    Gross, a Melbourne businessman, says he is an unapologetic supporter of Donald Trump who seeks freedom from “an unrelenting stream of illegal aliens,” and indoctrination in schools and government institutions, as well as freedom of speech, particularly on social media and college campuses.

    Congressional District 6 challengers

    Because of the challenges, Waltz’s name will be on the ballot in the Aug. 23 primary and the Nov. 5 general election.

    Who are Grow and Stockton, other than extreme longshots?

    Grow, a 63-year-old software engineer who relocated his family to Palm Coast from Cupertino, California, in 1994, said he’s simply dissatisfied with America’s direction and leadership in the federal government.

    “I’d like to see the water table raised for everybody,” he said Friday morning. “Inflation, all the uncertainty … there’s a lot of fear out there and despite all that, I’m very optimistic overall about the future. But I’d like to see us get there.”

    By taking on Waltz in a primary, he is challenging a well-positioned incumbent, but Grow said he is not running against Waltz so much as he is following a calling.

    Grow draws a distinction in saying he wouldn’t fund Taiwan, while Waltz supported the $8.1 billion Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act in an April 20 vote.

    Stockton didn’t return calls on Thursday night and Friday morning. He is senior pastor at Greater New Hope Church in Ocala and has been president of the Marion County Chapter of the NAACP.

    This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Congressmen Waltz, Mills face challenges; U.S. Senate picture emerging

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  • What to watch for in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primaries

    What to watch for in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primaries

    Pennsylvania primary voters will cast ballots Tuesday in a series of critical races in the key battleground state, even as both the presidential and Senate primaries are mere formalities.

    They include a bitterly fought Democratic primary around Pittsburgh and a primary in eastern Pennsylvania that features a moderate Republican seeking to fend off a right-wing challenger.

    What’s more, activists upset with President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war are urging Democrats to write “uncommitted” on the state’s primary ballot. And in the GOP primary, Republicans looking to cast protest votes against former President Donald Trump can still find former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who ended her campaign last month, on their ballots.

    Pennsylvania is one of the most evenly divided states in the country, so both parties will be searching for any clues the primary may offer about the November election.

    With polls closing at 8 p.m. ET., here’s what to watch for Tuesday.

    A House district where the war in Gaza is front and center

    In the 12th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Summer Lee faces a challenge from Edgewood Borough Council member Bhavini Patel in a race that has put the Israel-Hamas war front and center.

    Lee, a member of the progressive “squad” in Congress and one of the first lawmakers to call for a cease-fire, has accused the Israeli government of committing “war crimes” and called for an end to unconditional military aid to the country, and on Saturday she joined 36 Democrats and 21 Republicans in voting against an aid package to the country, which passed overwhelmingly. She and Republican Rep. Scott Perry were the only Pennsylvania members to vote against it.

    Patel, who launched her campaign days before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, has sought to cut into Lee’s support by saying her refusal to distance herself from groups and activists calling for an “uncommitted” primary vote will hurt Biden this fall.

    Lee, who won her first primary race in 2022 after she overcame a raft of spending from groups aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, is looking stronger this time around. She’s well-defined in the district and has framed her bid around taking on Trump-aligned Republicans and bringing federal dollars to the district. The same AIPAC-aligned groups that fought her last time aren’t spending on the race this time around.

    The district includes Squirrel Hill, one of the country’s most prominent historically Jewish neighborhoods and site of the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue, where a white supremacist killed 11 worshippers in 2018. It was the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.

    Lee has called on Hamas to release hostages it still holds and has repeatedly spoken out against antisemitism.

    “We have communities that are hurting. The Jewish community is one of them. And there are people who are … not going to agree 100% on everything that you say,” Lee said in an interview, adding she has been “very clear and very upfront” about her cease-fire position. “I have condemned Hamas. We’ve worked with the families of hostages; we’ve done everything that I think is necessary to do that. And at the end of the day, we disagree.”

    The race will be an early test of whether sentiment about the war in Gaza will play a significant role in races this year.

    Setting up a critical Senate race

    Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick are poised to cruise to victories Tuesday, setting up a key contest in the fight for control of the Senate.

    McCormick, who lost the GOP primary in 2022 to Trump-backed celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, managed to clear the field ahead of this bid and rallied a Pennsylvania Republican establishment behind him that was tired of the infighting that contributed to defeats up and down the ballot in the midterms. It’s a dynamic that has allowed him to focus on the general election battle against Casey from the get-go.

    The two will soon be fighting in what will be one of the most expensive Senate races of the cycle. Casey, a three-term senator whose father was governor of Pennsylvania, regularly out-polls Biden in the state, where Democrats have enjoyed victory after victory since Trump’s stunning upset over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

    The race could determine which party holds the majority in the Senate, where Democrats hold a 51-49 advantage.

    A moderate Republican on defense

    Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has built a brand as a moderate Republican, so he has often attracted primary challengers from the right. This year, Fitzpatrick isn’t taking any chances in his primary race against anti-abortion-rights activist Matt Houck.

    Fitzpatrick’s campaign has spent nearly $2 million so far, according to recent campaign finance reports, far outspending Houck, who has dropped $145,000 and had just $11,000 left in his account as of April 3. Fitzpatrick’s campaign had nearly $3.7 million on hand.

    Houck grabbed headlines for his arrest after an altercation with a Planned Parenthood volunteer, and he was acquitted last year. Fitzpatrick’s campaign has launched multiple negative TV ads against Houck, as well as spots bolstering his own conservative credentials. In one ad, Fitzpatrick says, “The far left is attacking the very ideals that brought so many to our shores, indoctrinating our kids with anti-American hate and leaving our borders wide open.”

    The primary race has drawn attention from outside groups, with two super PACs spending in the race to bolster Fitzpatrick: the Defending America PAC and the Congressional Leadership Fund, which is aligned with House GOP leadership. A group tied to Democrats has also meddled in the primary, Politico reported.

    Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent, has been an elusive target for Democrats looking to flip the competitive 1st District in the Philadelphia suburbs. If he wins the primary, Fitzpatrick will once again face Democrat Ashley Ehasz, an Army veteran whom he defeated by 10 points in 2022 even after Biden won the district by 5 points two years previously, according to calculations from Daily Kos Elections. The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rates the 1st District race as likely Republican.

    Setting up battleground House matchups

    Tuesday’s primaries will also solidify the matchups in four other competitive House districts. Two of them are already set, with businessman Rob Bresnahan the only Republican in the race to take on Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright in the 8th District and state Rep. Rob Mercuri the only Republican taking on Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio in the 17th District.

    But there are competitive primaries to take on two other Pennsylvania lawmakers in battleground districts: Democratic Rep. Susan Wild and GOP Rep. Scott Perry.

    In Wild’s 7th District north of Philadelphia, the top Republicans include state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie and Kevin Dellicker, who owns a technology company. Mackenzie has support from the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity Action, while Dellicker has slightly outspent Mackenzie in the primary.

    Wild won a third term in 2022 by just 2 points, and Biden won her district by less than 1 point in 2020. The Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up.

    In the 10th District, which includes Harrisburg, six Democrats are competing to take on Perry, the former chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus. The top contenders include Marine veteran Mike O’Brien, who was a TOPGUN pilot, and former local TV news anchor Janelle Stelson, who has support from EMILY’s List, a group that backs female candidates who support abortion rights.

    While Democrats believe Perry is vulnerable, especially given his clashes with the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, Democrats would face an uphill climb in a district Trump won by 4 points in 2020. The Cook Political Report rates the race as lean Republican.

    Biden protest vote

    Biden is his party’s presumptive presidential nominee, but activists opposed to the war in Gaza are once again calling on Democrats to cast votes to protest the administration’s support for Israel.

    A coalition of groups called “Uncommitted PA” is urging voters to write in “uncommitted” in the Democratic presidential primary, following similar efforts in other primary states. The group is looking for 40,000 write-in votes, about half of Biden’s margin of victory in Pennsylvania in 2020. Only registered Democrats can participate in Tuesday’s primary.

    This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

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  • House tees up votes on Ukraine and Israel aid as Speaker Johnson defies his right flank

    House tees up votes on Ukraine and Israel aid as Speaker Johnson defies his right flank

    WASHINGTON — The House voted 316-94 to tee up votes on four separate bills that include aid to Ukraine and Israel, a good sign for the prospects of Congress approving U.S. funding for the two countries after months of delay and partisan fighting.

    Speaker Mike Johnson, facing intense opposition from right-wing members, received crucial help from Democrats to move forward with the votes. More Democrats (165) than Republicans (151) voted to pass the “rule,” a procedural step to set up the votes.

    The move tees up four House votes that are expected Saturday afternoon: one on Israel aid, another on Ukraine aid, another on Indo-Pacific security and a fourth bill that includes a bill designed to ban TikTok in the U.S. if it does not divest from its China-based owner, as well as various national security priorities. If they pass, the measures would be packaged together and sent to the Democratic-controlled Senate.

    Mike Johnson (Kent Nishimura / Getty Images)

    Mike Johnson (Kent Nishimura / Getty Images)

    Taken together, the foreign aid measures closely resemble the $95 billion national security package pushed by President Joe Biden. The Senate would have to pass it again, due to some differences with the version that passed the upper chamber in February.

    “The world is watching what the Congress does. Passing this legislation would send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership at a pivotal moment,” the White House budget office said in a statement Friday endorsing the House package. “The Administration urges both chambers of the Congress to quickly send this supplemental funding package to the President’s desk.”

    The House’s move followed a vote of 9-3 in the Rules Committee late Thursday to send the bills to the floor for a final vote, with Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., breaking with Johnson to vote against it. But all four Democrats on the committee voted for the rule and rescued it, an extremely unusual move for the minority party.

    “We only control one chamber, and I barely have control of that,” Johnson said Thursday on Newsmax, explaining why he couldn’t include GOP immigration measures in the package as some wanted. “The Senate won’t advance our legislation and the president won’t sign it. … I have a handful of my Republicans, at least, who will not advance a rule to bring that to the floor to combine it with the Ukraine and Israel funding. They won’t do it. And so if I don’t have Republican votes, that means we have to have Democratic votes.”

    Johnson’s decision to move forward with the bills comes as two of his members — Massie and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. — threaten to remove him as speaker. They and many other House conservatives oppose additional aid to Ukraine.

    “We’ll see what happens. I’m going to do my job. I’m not deterred by threats,” Johnson said Friday. “We’re going to do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may.”

    But Johnson, who opposed Ukraine aid last year before he became speaker, now says he believes it is “critically important,” based on the intelligence and briefings he has since gotten.

    “I think Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe if he were allowed,” he told reporters this week.

    “I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys,” Johnson said, adding that his son is entering the Naval Academy this fall. “This is a live-fire exercise for me as it is so many American families. This is not a game, this is not a joke.”

    The fourth bill includes a provision to force China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok within nine months, which the president can extend to a year, or face a ban in the U.S. The provision, which has Senate buy-in as well as Biden’s support, puts TikTok closer than ever to a prohibition in the country.

    Democrats praised the move to proceed to House votes, highlighting their party’s key role.

    “It is vital that Congress act to send assistance to support Ukraine and fend off Russian aggression,” Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., said on X. “We may be in the minority, but we are not going to let that urgent mission fail. Democrats are doing what it takes to make sure Ukraine gets help.”

    Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., said Democrats were effectively in charge: “We may be in the minority in the House right now, but @RepJeffries is essentially functioning as the real Speaker already. Rs couldn’t get their own bills out of the committee they control so Ds had to help them. Work horses not just show horses.”

    This article was originally published on NBCNews.com



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  • Johnson Has a Tough Job. McCarthy’s Concessions Are Making It Tougher.

    Johnson Has a Tough Job. McCarthy’s Concessions Are Making It Tougher.

    WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson’s push to advance an aid package for Ukraine in the face of vehement opposition from his own party was never going to be easy.

    But it has been made even more politically perilous by a pair of concessions to the far right that he inherited from his predecessor: allowing a single lawmaker to call a snap vote to oust the speaker, and giving ultraconservatives a bloc of seats on a crucial panel that controls what legislation can make it to the House floor.

    Both of those concessions, agreed to by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy more than a year ago, are now tormenting Johnson as he tries to push through a $95 billion aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. They have hemmed him in to having to rely heavily on Democrats — not only to clear the way for the legislation and drag it across the finish line, but potentially to save his job.

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    Johnson’s predicament was on vivid display on the House floor Thursday as a group of ultraconservatives huddled around him in a heated back and forth. One after another, they urged the speaker to tie the foreign aid package to stringent anti-immigration measures, but Johnson pushed back, replying that he would not have enough Republican support to advance such a measure, according to people involved in the private conversation.

    Minutes after the clash, some hard-right lawmakers who previously resisted joining the GOP push to oust him began to sound more open to the idea.

    “My hope was that the motion to vacate would be an elixir that only required one dose for effectiveness,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who led the ouster of McCarthy. “But sometimes there are some therapies that require more than one dose. And I hope that’s not the case with the motion to vacate, but we’ll administer the elixir as many times as is necessary to save the country.”

    Johnson has said that he had “not asked a single Democrat to get involved” in helping him fend off an attempt to remove him.

    “I do not spend time walking around thinking about the motion to vacate,” he told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday. “I have a job to do here, and I’m going to do the job regardless of personal consequences.”

    At the same time, three ultraconservatives on the House Rules Committee signaled on Thursday that they intended to block Johnson’s attempts to bring the foreign aid bill to the floor, but late that night, the speaker took the extraordinary step of relying on Democratic votes in committee to advance the measure.

    Wednesday night, those same Republicans — Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — indicated that they would also block a border security bill from coming to the floor after Johnson proposed bringing it up separately. The measure was an attempt to placate hard-liners who have demanded that the speaker not advance aid to Ukraine without securing sweeping concessions from Democrats on immigration policy.

    “I believe this is part of a larger effort to push something through for very politically expedient purposes that I’m on record as disagreeing with,” Roy said, explaining his opposition to allowing the immigration measure to come up on its own.

    The only acceptable solution, he argued, was to fold it into the foreign aid package.

    Johnson said that was simply not possible.

    “I don’t have all my Republicans who agree on that rule,” he said on Fox News on Wednesday. “And that means the only way to get a rule on the floor, is it requires a couple of Democrats. Well, they’re not for the border security. That’s not their policy.”

    The mutiny in the Rules Committee amounted to a major breach of custom. The panel has traditionally been an organ of the speaker, and legislation is typically advanced to the floor in a straight party-line vote. Until this Congress, it was considered an inviolable edict that lawmakers never voted against a rule advanced by their party on the House floor — much less in committee.

    But the seeds of that breach were sown last January by McCarthy, who, as he grasped for the votes to become speaker, agreed to give the ultraconservatives three seats on the committee — enough to tank a rule.

    The idea was that their bloc on the panel would mean that the hard right had veto power over what the House could consider, but the result instead has been that both McCarthy and Johnson have steered around the committee. They have brought up critical measures such as bills to keep the government funded without any rules.

    And in the case of the foreign aid bill — as with the debt limit deal McCarthy reached last year with President Joe Biden — they have turned to Democrats for the votes necessary to bring up measures that members of their own party would not countenance.

    Ever since they won their seats, the three ultraconservatives have largely voted to allow bills they disagreed with to come to the floor for a vote. At least one member, Massie, previously said he would not let his personal ideology dictate his vote on the committee.

    But Johnson’s determination to advance the foreign aid package changed that.

    “Speaker Johnson plans to pass the rule for the $100 billion foreign aid package using Democrats on the Rules Committee,” Massie, who has now endorsed Johnson’s ouster, wrote on social media. “Is he working for Democrats or Republicans now?”

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has introduced a resolution to remove Johnson, lauded the blockade, citing it as evidence that “people are really done with Johnson’s BS.”

    “I’m really thankful Kevin McCarthy appointed these strong conservatives to the Rules Committee,” she said.

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  • Democrats help advance Ukraine, Israel aid in rare rules move

    Democrats help advance Ukraine, Israel aid in rare rules move

    The House Rules Committee late Thursday night advanced a package of foreign aid bills — but only with help from Democrats who, in a rare move, supported the procedural vote amid opposition from a trio of hardline Republicans.

    The panel voted 9-3 to adopt the rule, which governs debate for the legislation, with Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) opposing the effort.

    The successful vote allows the full House to vote on the rule and open debate on three foreign aid bills — sending assistance to Israel, Ukraine and allies in the Indo-Pacific — plus a fourth that includes other national security priorities, such as a TikTok ban.

    Rule votes — in committee and on the floor — are typically mundane, party-line occurrences, with the members from the majority party backing the rule and lawmakers in the minority party voting against it. But with conservatives voting against the rule out of opposition to Ukraine aid and the exclusion of border security measures, Democrats crossed the aisle to back the procedural vote.

    The rule for the foreign aid legislation allows votes on specific amendments to the Ukraine, Indo-Pacific and national security measures. The Israel bill, however, will not have any amendments considered.

    Also included in the rule is language that says if the House approves each of the four bills — they will receive separate floor votes — they will be merged together and sent to the Senate as one package.

    Thursday night’s successful rule votes mark a crucial hurdle cleared for the foreign aid package, which has faced intense criticism from hardline Republicans since Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) unveiled the outline for his plan on Monday.

    The legislation includes $26.38 billion for Israel, $60.84 billion for Ukraine and $8.12 billion for allies in the Indo-Pacific. The fourth national security bill features a ban of TikTok in the U.S. if the platform’s parent company does not sell it, language to send some of the new Ukraine aid in the form of a loan, and a provision that allows the administration to use seized Russian assets to help cover the costs of Ukrainian reconstruction.

    The bipartisan vote, however, could land Johnson in more hot water with his right flank. Hardline conservatives have been up in arms with Johnson’s propensity to cut deals with Democrats over the criticism of Republicans — a dynamic that has become necessary in the narrowly divided House, but one that continues to incense conservatives.

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) filed a motion to vacate — the same mechanism used to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — against Johnson late last month, but she has not said when she plans to force a vote on the resolution.

    Massie announced earlier this week that he would be signing on to the legislation as a co-sponsor.

    House GOP leadership on Thursday also teed up a vote on a separate border bill meant to appease hardliners who were frustrated that Johnson’s foreign aid package excluded provisions to address the situation at the southern border.

    The House will consider that bill under suspension of the rules process on Friday, which eliminates the need to first pass a procedural rule but also requires two-thirds support for passage.

    Leadership initially tried to move the bill through regular order, but opposition from conservatives on the Rules Committee scuttled those plans.

    For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.

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  • MO, KS Republicans called for full impeachment trial of Mayorkas. Democrats dismissed them

    MO, KS Republicans called for full impeachment trial of Mayorkas. Democrats dismissed them

    The impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was never likely to pass the Senate.

    Convicting Mayorkas of high crimes and misdemeanors, which required support from two-thirds of a Democratic-controlled chamber, was doomed when two Republicans joined Democrats to strike down the measure’s first vote in the House. It was doomed when the second attempt passed the next week by one Republican vote.

    And it was doomed when the 100 senators were sworn in as jurors on Wednesday in the first impeachment trial of a cabinet member since 1876.

    Senate Republicans, led by a group of hard-line conservatives, including Kansas’ Roger Marshall and Missouri’s Eric Schmitt, pushed forward anyway, arguing for a full trial as Democrats immediately moved to dismiss the articles of impeachment.

    Within four hours, the Senate voted to dismiss both articles of impeachment without either side presenting evidence. The votes fell largely on party lines. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, voted present on the motion to dismiss the first article of impeachment, but voted against the second motion.

    Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, was the first Republican to offer an objection to Schumer’s effort.

    “I will not assist Sen. Schumer in setting our constitution ablaze,” Schmitt said, in a brief speech his staff immediately clipped and posted on social media.

    Schmitt and Marshall have been pushing for a full trial for more than a week. Along with a group of conservative hard-liners – Sens. Rick Scott, of Florida; Ted Cruz, of Texas; John Kennedy, of Louisiana; Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin; and Mike Lee of Florida – Scott has been saying that anything other than a full trial would set a bad precedent.

    “The constitution actually calls for us to have a trial,” Schmitt told The Star last Wednesday. “It’s one of the things we’re supposed to do as a Senate. If he nukes the impeachment trial, there’s never going to be another impeachment trial.”

    Those same hard-liners also helped kill a bipartisan agreement on immigration reform earlier this year, and arguments about the constitutional precedent of holding a trial quickly addressed the politics underscoring the impeachment.

    The Senate, along with the presidency, is up for grabs in November, and the historic surge of illegal crossings at the southern border have been a top issue for Republicans in the early stage of the election.

    Senate Democrats are hoping to hold on to seats that have increasingly voted for Republican candidates, like Montana and Ohio. The presidency will likely hinge on swing states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona.

    The House impeached Mayorkas on two counts: that he violated the law by not enforcing laws to detain people who cross the southern border and that he had knowingly made false statements when he said the border was secure.

    Republicans have been quick to tie the Biden administration’s policies to crimes committed by people who entered the country illegally, like the murder of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was killed while out for a jog.

    Scott on Wednesday asked reporters to picture their parents, siblings and children.

    “People just like your family have been raped, have been sold into human trafficking, have been murdered,” Scott said. “That’s happening.”

    Marshall, the Kansas Republican, was quick to illustrate the potential political consequences of the trial.

    “I certainly just hope that the folks in states like Montana and Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada are paying attention,” Marshall said Wednesday. “They have an opportunity to reach out to their senator and ask them to have an impeachment trial. If they don’t then we need to hold them accountable in November.”

    Democrats, too, have been calling the impeachment trial a political ploy, but for different reasons. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, called the impeachment a “partisan hit-job” and said he supported a quick dismissal of the charges.

    “House Republicans waited nearly two months after voting to impeach Secretary Mayorkas to seek a trial in the Senate,” Reed said. “And during that time they actively blocked bipartisan border security fixes.”

    Ultimately, only three House impeachment managers showed up for the trial. Mayorkas never formally announced a defense team.

    Hard-liners have pledged to slow down an already glacial Senate if Democrats dismiss the charges without a full trial.

    “Everything should be on the table,” Scott said. “This is ridiculous. We have families all over the country that have been devastated over this. And so we should take this very seriously and hold the Senate accountable for not doing its job.”

    So far, most of the Senate Republican caucus has gone along. Sen. Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina Republican, penned a letter signed by 43 Republicans last week urging Schumer to hold a complete trial.

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  • Democrats who investigated Trump say they expect to face arrest, retaliation if he wins presidency

    Democrats who investigated Trump say they expect to face arrest, retaliation if he wins presidency

    Some members of Congress who led the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot acknowledge they’ve talked to their families about their safety — and the risk of their arrest — if Trump wins a second term in November.  

    In a series of interviews with CBS News, House Democrats who helped lead the House Jan. 6 select committee and some of the police witnesses who testified before it predicted they’d be targeted for retribution by a future Trump administration.

    Trump raised the prospect of future arrests of some of the Jan. 6 committee participants in a social media post on March 18. Referring to the panel’s vice chair, former Rep. Liz Cheney, Trump wrote, “She should go to Jail along with the rest of the Unselect Committee!”

    “My wife and I have had conversations about what life would look like if the worst happened,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who was one of seven Democrats on the Jan. 6 select committee. Speaking to CBS News near the House chamber between votes last week, Schiff said, “You can’t avoid the conversations about ‘What if?’ And I have to think about my own personal safety.”

    Rep. Pete Aguilar, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus and was a member of the Jan. 6 committee, told reporters last week that he takes Trump’s threat of jailing seriously. But Aguilar, noting the proximity of the Washington, D.C., jail to the U.S. Capitol, smiled and wryly noted, “My family has told me that they’re going to come to D.C. either way — and they’ll visit me, no matter where I am.”

    “One of the things that I observed during our Jan. 6 committee work was that when Trump says something, he intends to do it,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, another California Democrat who helped lead the panel.   

    “I take that lesson to heart,” she told CBS News. “When he says various things, I think that’s what he means he’ll do.”      

    She acknowledged she has been harassed by some Trump supporters. 

    “He’s going to weaponize the Department of Justice…and use it to go after people like myself,” former Washington, D.C. police officer Michael Fanone told CBS News. Fanone testified at a 2021 public hearing of the committee and has been an outspoken Trump critic, accusing him of employing authoritarian rhetoric.   

    “He’s telling us exactly what he plans on doing,” Fanone said.

    Harry Dunn, a former U.S. Capitol Police officer who also testified before the select committee, told CBS News, “Trump means what he says. Anybody who has testified against him, or spoken out in a public capacity, should be worried.”  Dunn, who is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for a U.S. House seat in Maryland, said the threat of arrest “is a little scary to think about, but you have to continue to do the right thing.”

    The Trump campaign did not respond directly to questions about whether Trump intends to pursue arrests of the Jan. 6 committee members.  

    “Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney, and the Corrupt Democrats on the sham January 6th Committee have lied to the American public for years, denied key witnesses from testifying to the truth, and covered up evidence that proved President Trump, nor any of his supporters, ever engaged in an alleged ‘insurrection.’ Their entire narrative is a lie and Americas know that Joe Biden is the true threat to democracy,” a Trump spokeswoman said in a statement to CBS News.

    Trump’s March 18 social media post prompted criticism from scholars who study the rhetoric and practices of authoritarian regimes.  

    “This sort of post is not what you want to see out of your political leaders in a healthy democracy,” said Erica Frantz, a political science professor at Michigan State University. Frantz, who specializes in authoritarian politics, told CBS News that calls by political leaders “to jail their political opponents are red flags in terms of potential slides to authoritarianism.”  

    Frantz said when political figures talk about jailing some critics, it can have a chilling effect on others. 

    “It’s intended to invoke fear among them and deter them from speaking out against Trump,” she said. “The more that critics are silenced, the more leaders with authoritarian ambitions are able to get away with their power grab.”

    The select committee executed a high-profile investigation of Trump that included a series of nationally televised public hearings. The committee spoke with hundreds of witnesses, including Trump’s top White House aides, as it reviewed his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The committee voted to refer criminal charges to the Justice Department for Trump and accused him of threatening the future of democracy and inciting the violent Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

    The committee was disbanded in late 2022, after Republicans won control of the House. Two of its members lost their campaigns for reelection, including Cheney. Two others retired from the House. 

    Some committee members have reported being targeted by threats and harassment by Trump supporters.  
    One senior U.S. House aide said a presidential candidate’s threats to jail legislators for public speech and legislative work also run afoul of the Speech and Debate Clause, which protect the independence of Congress.

    In remarks to reporters last week, Aguilar said Trump’s ongoing rhetoric raises the risk of continued harassment, threats and danger to public officials. Aguilar said, “Trump wants to act like those dictators he hosts at Mar-a-Lago.  That’s difficult rhetoric, and it’s not anything that any of us, any of the members under this Dome take lightly.”

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  • Ohio GOP leaders reject Democrats’ plan to get President Joe Biden on November ballot

    Ohio GOP leaders reject Democrats’ plan to get President Joe Biden on November ballot

    Ohio officials rejected a plan from Democrats to get President Joe Biden on the November ballot after the party scheduled its convention past a state election deadline.

    Secretary of State Frank LaRose warned Ohio Democrats earlier this month that Biden is at risk of not making the Nov. 5 ballot. State law requires officials to certify the ballot 90 days before an election − which is Aug. 7 this year − but the president won’t officially be nominated until the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19.

    In a letter to LaRose’s office, obtained by the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, attorney Don McTigue said the Democratic Party would provisionally certify Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the Aug. 7 deadline. McTigue noted that Biden already secured enough delegates for the Democratic nomination after facing no significant primary challenge.

    Biden easily won Ohio’s presidential primary with 87% of the vote.

    “If President Biden and Vice President Harris are not listed on the ballot as the Democratic Party candidates, their supporters in Ohio will be stripped of the opportunity to associate with their preferred candidate,” McTigue wrote.

    But Attorney General Dave Yost’s office says provisional approval won’t work, nor can LaRose unilaterally change election deadlines.

    “Instead, the law mandates the Democratic Party to actually certify its president and vice-president candidates on or before August 7, 2024,” Julie M. Pfeiffer, an attorney on Yost’s staff, told LaRose’s legal counsel. “No alternative process is permitted.”

    Ohio leaves Biden, Democrats in a bind

    Pfeiffer’s letter appears to leave Democrats with two options: Rely on the Legislature, or sue.

    Lawmakers could pass an exemption to the 90-day deadline by May 9, as they did in 2020 when both parties scheduled their conventions too late. But the chances of that are slim: Top Democrats said they’re deferring to the Biden campaign and Democratic National Committee, and Republican leaders are unlikely to lend a helping hand.

    “I think it’s a Democratic problem,” Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told reporters last week. “There should have to be a Democratic solution. That hasn’t been proposed to me.”

    Ohio isn’t the only state with election deadlines before the convention. Alabama and Washington are in the same boat, although Washington’s secretary of state − a Democrat − will accept a provisional certification, the Seattle Times reported. Oklahoma, Illinois, Washington and Montana did the same with both parties in 2020.

    McTigue and a spokesperson for Biden’s campaign declined to answer questions about potential next steps.

    “Joe Biden will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” a Biden campaign official said. “State officials have the ability to grant provisional ballot access certification prior to the conclusion of presidential nominating conventions.”

    Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

    This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio rejects Democrats’ fix to get Joe Biden on November ballot

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  • Trump’s conflicting abortion stances are coming back to haunt him — and his party

    Trump’s conflicting abortion stances are coming back to haunt him — and his party

    On Monday, Donald Trump declared that abortion decisions should be left to the states, a statement he made to tamp down a fervor about his lack of clarity over how he’d handle the issue as president.

    It did the opposite.

    In the past three days, the former president has energized scores of Democrats across the country, elevated the marquee issue of his opponent’s campaign, potentially put a key battleground state at risk and drawn fire from onetime allies in his own party.

    Trump’s dizzying stances on abortion this week — on Monday embracing states’ rights and on Wednesday distancing himself from a state-based outcome — demonstrate the messaging impossibilities that are ahead for him as he moves into the general election and tries to shed the impact of Roe v. Wade’s fall.

    Trump made a transparently political decision Monday, moving against a part of his party and not speaking in support of a national abortion ban. In his video statement, he noted that electoral politics influenced his thinking, lamenting GOP losses since Roe was reversed.

    If Trump thought he was taking the more politically palatable route, he was stung one day later by an Arizona Supreme Court decision that triggered an 1864 law saying anyone who performs the procedure or helps a woman access an abortion could face felony charges and up to five years in prison.

    Since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark abortion case, Republicans have failed to find a way to neutralize the issue.

    On one hand, embracing nationwide restrictions on abortion drives the potential for down-ballot Republican losses. On the other, embracing states’ rights forces Trump to own the most extreme measures in those states.

    States’ rights — up to a point

    On Wednesday, Trump told reporters he would not sign a national abortion ban as president. Then, signaling he is still muddling through messaging, Trump late Wednesday released two videos about the issue on his Truth Social media platform.

    “We brought it back to the states, and now lots of things are happening, and lots of good things are happening,” Trump said in one video.

    In another, he accused Democrats of trying to distract from immigration and the economy.

    “The only issue they think they have is on abortion, and now all I say is the states are handling it and it’s totally killed that issue,” he said.

    But one of the problems as Trump tries to combat a Democratic messaging juggernaut accusing him of being responsible for every state decision and of threatening a federal abortion ban is that at one time or another, he has supported both.

    Trump has bobbed and weaved on abortion for the entirety of his political career. In 1999, he proclaimed that as a lifelong New Yorker, he was “pro-choice,” even saying he would support “partial-birth abortion.” That flipped by the time he ran for president as a Republican in 2015, though he initially still praised Planned Parenthood. By the time he took office in 2017, he was vowing to appoint judges to overturn Roe v. Wade.

    At the same time, as president, he urged Congress to pass a 20-week abortion ban.

    “I call upon the Senate to pass this important law and send it to my desk for signing,” Trump said as he addressed the anti-abortion-rights March for Life in Washington, D.C. He made the statement after the House had already advanced the measure, which he applauded in real time.

    But on Monday, he said he supported states’ rights. Two days later, after a frenzy erupted over Arizona’s court ruling, which was a direct result of Roe’s fall, he said the court had gone too far.

    His campaign later told NBC News that Trump believes decisions should be made at the electoral or legislative levels in the states — not by the courts.

    “President Trump could not have been more clear. These decisions should be left to the states to ‘determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both,’” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.

    But hours after Trump’s remarks Wednesday, Arizona Republicans blocked a legislative attempt by Democrats to quickly repeal the law. The Republican House speaker said Democrats were trying to rush it.

    Trump, meanwhile, has proudly taken credit for the Supreme Court’s knocking down Roe v. Wade, because he nominated the three conservative justices who made it possible.

    It is at least the third time — the others were in Alabama, where a ruling calling embryos children caused in vitro fertilization to come to a halt, and Florida, where a court is allowing a six-week abortion ban to move forward — that Trump had spoken against local laws or rulings that have emerged since Roe v. Wade was overturned.

    “From a purely political perspective, both the Alabama and Arizona Supreme Court decisions should be considered in-kind donations to Democratic super PACs,” said Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist. “It has thrust the issue, in stark terms, upon the Republican electorate and those running.”

    Bartlett said that Republicans from Trump on down are trying to “flip-flop, moderate or change into a position that is looking more like the American public” but that it could take more than one election cycle before the party finds its footing.

    Democrats go on offense

    With Trump’s “leave it to the states” tactic now facing blowback after the Arizona ruling, it is again clear than Republicans continue to lack an effective way to counter messaging from Democrats attacking them on abortion rights.

    “This is the first presidential election where abortion will be front and center,” Republican strategist Alex Conant said. “This is just not an issue where Republicans are likely to win.”

    Meanwhile, Democrats have been able to effortlessly unearth years — decades, in some cases — of comments that Republicans in key races have made that make it all too easy to paint a broad swath of GOP candidates as hypocritical or unprincipled or anti-woman.

    “Voters don’t believe brand new information, but they really believe when you tell them something they already know or think is true,” said a Democratic operative working on a key battleground congressional race. “And that’s exactly what’s happening in the case of abortion. Democrats are saying: ‘Republicans do not want you to have this right. They have been saying that your entire life; you should believe them.’ And voters believe that.

    “Republicans are saying, ‘We changed our minds; you should have some rights. Don’t look at what I’ve said five years ago,’ and voters rightly know that that’s bulls—,” the person added.

    The issue has become a centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign and one of the few areas in which early polling finds him ahead of Trump.

    Christina Amestoy, a spokeswoman for the group Think Big America — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s nonprofit group working in battlegrounds like Arizona to help support abortion-related ballot measures for the fall — said the timing of Trump’s statement Monday only further linked him to the court decision.

    “Just 24 hours after he said it, we got to see exactly what Trump is supporting by leaving it up to the states,” Amestoy said. “Arizona just rolled back the clock on women’s rights 160 years to a time when doctors didn’t even know to wash their hands.”

    The challenge for Trump and the party is that, regardless of how Republicans handle their individual contests, another controversial state ruling will inevitably pop up that everyone is asked to then take sides on.

    “It’s clear the anti-abortion movement wasn’t stopping at abortion — they’re coming after IVF, they’re coming after contraception, they’re coming after women,” she said, demonstrating how Democrats intend to message on the issue between now and November.

    GOP backlash to Trump’s position

    In recent months, Trump publicly and privately flirted with coming out with a public statement supporting a national abortion ban, listening to a segment of his party that was pushing for such a measure. He suffered backlash Monday after he failed to address the topic. And by Wednesday, he said he would not sign such a ban.

    Former Vice President Mike Pence called Trump’s video Monday “a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life Americans who voted for him in 2016 and 2020.”

    In his 4½-minute video, Trump claimed that there was public consensus about the high court’s dismantling of Roe even though polling consistently indicates that a majority of Americans favor those federal protections.

    “My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land,” Trump said in the video.

    By Wednesday, Trump was saying the Arizona court’s ruling went too far, but he downplayed the significance, saying that “it’ll be straightened out” and that the “will of the people” will prevail.

    “I’m sure that the governor and everybody else are going to bring it back into reason, and that will be taken care of, I think, very quickly,” he said.

    Trump also suggested Florida is likely to vote to overturn its new abortion law in November.

    “It’s the will of the people. So Florida is probably going to change. Arizona is going to definitely change. Everybody wants that to happen,” he said.

    Not long after his remarks, the anti-abortion-rights group Susan B. Anthony List, with which Trump had aligned himself, slammed the same ballot efforts in those states — citing the same “will of the people” phrasing Trump used.

    “The proposed ballot initiatives in Florida and Arizona have been written by the far Left and if enacted would allow for painful late-term abortions in the fifth, sixth, seventh month of pregnancy and beyond,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. “They would wipe away all pro-life laws put in place by the legislature, reflective of the will of the people. These initiatives are fueled by hundreds of millions of dollars of left-wing money designed to deceive voters about their true intent. Pro-life candidates and officials must oppose them.”

    GOP’s no-win scenarios on repeat

    In the nearly two years since Roe fell, abortion rights have won every single race in which they have appeared directly on the ballot.

    That hot streak has extended to numerous Democrats — in races for the Senate, governor, state Supreme Courts and others — who made their support of abortion rights (and their opponents’ opposition to them) central features of their campaigns.

    It also gave way to a growing number of Republicans who encouraged the party’s candidates to talk more about the issue and back something specific. But even in races in which Republicans went on offense with a deliberate policy approach to the issue, they lost — a data point over which Republican strategists still worry and Democratic operatives still salivate.

    In Virginia’s November elections, for example, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin persuaded a large slate of Republican candidates in the legislative races to coalesce behind his proposal for a ban on abortion after 15 weeks — which included exceptions for rape, incest and the health of the woman — as part of his effort to gain Republican control of both chambers of the Legislature.

    Strategists and politics watchers, sensitive to the party’s broad struggles on abortion, saw the proposal as an important and hopeful test message for Republicans looking for a more nuanced reproductive rights policy and message — one they hoped could appeal to moderates and independents — in the post-Roe era.

    But that failed, too. Democrats walked away with control of both chambers — an outcome that further cemented the notion that Republicans cannot win on the issue even if they run on a non-extreme and thoughtful proposal.

    This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

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