Names of Potential Replacements Emerge amid What Appears Strengthening Effort to Remove McCarthy

A shortlist of potential House Republicans to replace Speaker Kevin McCarthy has emerged on Capitol Hill amid what appears to be a strengthening effort within the chamber’s GOP conference to replace him.

The effort is being led by Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, considered the biggest McCarthy critic in the conference, who has essentially said if the speaker uses Democrat votes to pass a spending bill he’ll lose his GOP speakership – in what is called a “motion to vacate.” 

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Congress Probing if FBI Used ‘Russian Disinformation’ Claim to Shut Down Biden Inquiries

The FBI travels to Capitol Hill on Monday to show House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer a confidential informant memo from summer 2020 alleging that Joe Biden was involved in a foreign bribery scheme, but the contents won’t be a surprise to Republicans. Both Comer and Sen. Chuck Grassley have already read the memo.

The larger question for Teams Comer and Grassley is whether the FBI sidelined the allegation of a $5 million bribery involving U.S. policy – which came from a confidential human source with a trusted track record – during the height of the 2020 election.

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Illinois GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger Won’t Seek Reelection

Adam Kinzinger

Illinois GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger announced Friday that he will not be seeking reelection next year.

The congressman will leave Capitol Hill after 12 years in office and a final term that was dominated by his vocal criticism of former President Donald Trump.

In a video announcing the end of his House career, Kinzinger spoke about his first race, in which he unseated the Democratic incumbent in 2010. He was told then by supporters to “be my own man and to never do what they tell you to do,” he recalled.

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Commentary: Two Unique, Powerful Forces Will Influence the Midterms

If the 2022 midterm elections had an official soundtrack, it would be the ominous music from the 1975 movie “Jaws.”

Although the election is 13 months away, mounting intensity feels like great white sharks are circling our national boat with a convergence of two powerful, never-before-seen political forces. Both forces are hangovers from the 2020 election with the potential to make the 2022 midterms the most tumultuous in modern American history.

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States, Not Congress, Could Pose the Biggest Threat to Tech Companies

Despite calls for increased regulation of the tech industry, Congress has yet to pass any major legislation, leaving it up to the states to take action curbing tech companies’ power and influence.

Meanwhile, state legislatures have introduced and enacted legislation on data privacy, antitrust, and content moderation, while state attorneys general have issued a number of legal challenges alleging anticompetitive business practices.

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House Lawmakers Set to Square off with White House, Treasury Department over ‘Stifling’ Crypto Tax Plan

House lawmakers are set to return from recess Monday and will likely take up the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill the Senate passed last week — and with it, a controversial and last-minute cryptocurrency tax provision.

The bill contains a tax reporting mandate forcing cryptocurrency “brokers” to disclose gains and transactions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as part of a scheme designed to help cover part of the infrastructure bill’s cost. However, the bill’s definition of “broker” has been criticized by the cryptocurrency community and pro-crypto lawmakers as vague, expansive and potentially unworkable, with many fearing it could stifle the industry and force crypto companies to collect personal information on their customers.

The provision defines a broker as “any person who is responsible for regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person,” and forces brokers to report transactions to the IRS in a form similar to a 1099. This means brokers have to collect and report customer information such as names, addresses, and taxpayer identification numbers.

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Commentary: Ashli Babbitt’s Mom Speaks

Ashli Babbitt

The only video Ashli Babbitt’s mom has seen of her daughter on January 6 is a clip of her walking from Donald Trump’s speech to Capitol Hill. “That brings me peace,” Micki Witthoeft, Ashli’s mom, told me by phone on Wednesday. “She was in her zone, so happy, having a great day.”

“Until that son-of-a-bitch shot her.”

Nearly seven months after a United States Capitol Police officer shot Ashli Babbitt in the Capitol building on January 6, the government and subservient corporate news media still refuse to confirm the name of the federal officer who killed her. (Investigative journalist Paul Sperry recently reported the shooter likely is USCP Lt. Michael Byrd.) The Justice Department closed its investigation into her shooting in April and announced the unnamed officer would not face criminal charges.

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Amazon Calls for Higher Taxes on All Corporations Except Itself

Amazon logo on Samsung smartphone screen

While the tech giant Amazon has publicly endorsed proposals to raise the corporate tax rate in the United States, the company has been secretly lobbying to keep its own tax rates low, Politico reports.

Last year, during the 2020 presidential election, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos openly supported then-candidate Joe Biden’s proposals to raise taxes on American corporations. Those proposals have re-emerged in recent weeks as a possible means of funding a possible infrastructure bill, and Biden has been advocating for other countries around the world to adopt higher corporate tax rates as well.

But recently, Amazon has been stepping up its lobbying efforts to try to convince Congress and the White House to allow the company to keep using certain tax breaks in order to keep its own rates low. The retail giant hired a tax lobbyist named Joshua Odintz, who formerly worked as a Democratic aide on Capitol Hill and then as an official in the Obama Administration. In addition to Amazon’s own efforts, similar lobbying has been undertaken by a group known as the “R&D Coalition,” which consists of several companies and organizations including Amazon, Intel, and the National Association of Manufacturers.

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Commentary: Josh Hawley Takes on Critical Race Theory in a Fight for the Nation’s ‘Soul’

Josh Hawley was just explaining how much he agreed with Barack Obama when Kamala Harris arrived. For weeks, the junior senator from Missouri had raised hell over who should head the federal agency that is the equivalent of the federal government’s human resources department. Hawley gave speeches and made procedural motions that deadlocked the Senate, ultimately resulting in the arrival of the vice president’s motorcade on Capitol Hill. That’s when Hawley lost the fight.

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Bipartisan House Leaders Say National Guard Presence at Capitol Is Unwarranted

The Democratic and Republican leaders of the House Armed Services Committee called the current National Guard deployment on Capitol Hill unwarranted.

Democratic Rep. Adam Smith and Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, the committee’s respective chairman and ranking member, asked the Department of Defense to implement a “measured drawdown” of the guardsmen stationed at the Capitol in a joint statement Thursday.

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Exclusive: Gold Institute Founder Says Biden’s Foreign Policy Rejects Trump’s Successful Style, Substance

The founder and president of the Washington-based Gold Institute for International Strategies told the Star News Network that President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s foreign policy is doomed to fail, because unlike President Donald J. Trump, Biden treats the world as an extension of Washington’s Swamp.

“What President Trump realized is that Washington and the way Washington works is really only acceptable—I didn’t say good—I said it is acceptable—is on domestic matters,” said Eli Gold, who worked for worked in Washington’s think tank world for more than 10 years, before launching the Gold Institute May 2019.

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Exclusive: Retired Senior FBI Agent Robyn Gritz: Shot That Killed Ashli Babbitt ‘Not Justified’

A retired FBI supervisory special agent told the Star News Network that the Capitol Hill police officer, who shot unarmed Ashli E. Babbitt at close range Jan. 6, was not justified to use deadly force.

“Yes, it was chaotic, but that is why you wear a badge,” said Robyn Gritz, who was part of the FBI team that responded to the April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. “That’s why you carry a gun – you’re supposed to know that you can handle a crisis.”

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Capitol Police Say Four Dead, 52 Arrested at Wednesday’s Massive ‘Stop the Steal’ Rally

Washington, D.C. police announced Wednesday that four people died during riots following the Stop the Steal rally on Capitol Hill.

Rioters stormed the United States Capitol building Wednesday, committing acts of vandalism and postponing the certification process as members of Congress were forced to evacuate the building.

Between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, authorities have made at least 68 arrests, police announced Thursday. Five of these arrests were for illegal possession of firearms, and two people were arrested for other weapons, police said. Police also said they arrested 28 additional people for violating curfew.

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Exclusive: GOP House Hopeful Kim Klacik Tells How She Racked up $6.4 Million 3Q, Poised to Win West Baltimore Seat

  The woman running to be the first Republican to represent Maryland’s 7th congressional district, told the Star News Network she campaigns every day to defeat the Democratic incumbent without the help of the state’s GOP Gov. Lawrence J. “Larry” Hogan Jr. Kimberly Klacik said she is grateful the support of President Donald J. Trump, but Hogan? “Governor Hogan? No. No, but I know he’s friends with my opponent, so I wouldn’t expect him to say anything on my behalf.” Hogan’s friend is Democrat Rep. Kweisi Mfume, who won the April 28 special election to fill the seat made vacant upon the death of Elijah Cummings. Congratulations to Congressman Kweisi Mfume, who was sworn in today to the U.S. House of Representatives. I have great respect for him, and look forward to working together as we continue to navigate this crisis. — Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) May 5, 2020 Mfume held the seat from 1987 to 1996, leaving Congress to takeover the leadership of the NAACP, and was succeeded by Cummings. Mfume left his post at the helm of the NAACP after multiple women came forward with stories of his misconduct. The incumbent, despite his experience and tenure, refused to…

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Exclusive: Creator of Capitol Hill Musical ‘K Street’ Hosts First Zoom Table Read Wednesday

The creator and producer of “K Street, NW: A Capitol Hill Musical” told the Star News Network what motivated him to capture search for love while balancing principle and compromise in Washington and set it to music.

“It is about a young woman from Iowa, who comes to Washington, D.C, to be a Hill intern and as she learns about Capitol Hill, she rises up the ranks to become a chief of staff for a senator with promising political prospects,” said Karl Amadeus Notturno, who is a Publicus Fellow at the Claremont Institute.

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Bipartisan Vote in the House Rules to Remove Confederate Statues from the Capitol

A bill to remove statues of Confederate leaders and figures who advocated for white supremacy from the Capitol passed the House on a bipartisan vote Wednesday, the New York Times reported.

The House voted 305 to 113 to remove the statues as part of a broad effort to take symbols of racism out of public spaces, the Times reported. The legislation was introduced by House Majority Leader and Democratic Maryland Rep. Steny H. Hoyer.

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Pelosi Orders Removal of Confederate Portraits from Capitol

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she is ordering the removal from the Capitol of portraits honoring four previous House speakers who served in the Confederacy.

In a letter to the House clerk, Pelosi directed the immediate removal of portraits depicting the former speakers: Robert Hunter of Virginia, James Orr of South Carolina and Howell Cobb and Charles Crisp, both of Georgia. The portraits were to be removed later Thursday.

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Tennessee Star National Correspondent Neil McCabe On How Congress Will Respond to Philonise Floyd’s Testimony

Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed Tennessee Star National Correspondent Neil McCabe to the newsmakers line.

During the third hour, McCabe speculated how the testimony of George Floyd’s brother Philonise will be received later today on Capitol Hill while Congress discusses the fate of police in America.

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Democratic Senators Refuse to Say If Abortion Is Ever Immoral

by Henry Rodgers   Democratic senators on Capitol Hill had mixed responses — from saying it’s a woman’s choice to dodging the question altogether — about whether they were comfortable with calling abortion immoral in any circumstance. The Daily Caller News Foundation asked nearly 10 Democratic senators about abortion and if there was a point at which it would be considered immoral Tuesday and Wednesday after the Republican-led Senate failed to pass a bill, which would mandate medical care and legal protections to infants born alive after an attempted abortion. Doctors who don’t comply would be punished. Republicans were only able to get three Democrats to vote in favor, crossing party lines to vote for the bill, while three Republican lawmakers did not vote. Republicans were seven votes short of passing the bill, in what President Donald Trump called “one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress.” Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris, a 2020 hopeful who voted against Republican Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse’s bill, would not say if abortion was ever immoral. “I think it’s up to a woman to make that decision, and I will always stand by that,” she told TheDCNF. “I think she needs…

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Democrats Already Sending Out Job Postings Seeking Lawyers to Investigate Trump

by Nick Givas   House Democrats have already released job postings seeking lawyers and legal staff to help aid their upcoming investigations of President Donald Trump. Democrats want legislative counsel with experience in: “criminal law, immigration law, constitutional law, intellectual property law, commercial and administrative law (including antitrust and bankruptcy), or oversight work,” according to CNN. “They’re finding us,” Democratic Rep. Adam Smith told CNN Friday. “There are a lot of Democratic refugees out there after the Republicans took over the House, the Senate and the White House.” Democrats are set to take control of the House on Jan. 3. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is also seeking lawyers for “executive branch investigative counsel.” Congressional Democrats have said they will target Trump’s tax returns, his businesses, financial dealings, as well as former and current cabinet members who served under him. One Democratic House committee posted an ad on a job board on Capitol Hill immediately following November’s midterm election. The job posting did not name a specific committee, but said it will look to “conduct congressional investigations and advise on policy matters related to oversight of the executive branch,” CNN reported. Responsibilities for the new hires would include working on subpoenas, interviews,…

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Commentary: The Art of the Veto and How Trump Can Force a Vote on the Wall

by Robert Romano   There won’t be any vote on wall funding this year or any year at the rate we’re going — because nobody in Congressional leadership is apparently willing to stick it in a bill and simply vote on it. Even to defeat it. Until the end of the year, Republicans are in complete control of the House of Representatives. Under the leadership of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), however, the only vote on any wall funding that occurred did not happen until the March 2018 omnibus spending bill. And then, it was just the measly $1.6 billion supplement that President Donald Trump had requested — in Feb. 2017 — that was intended to be attached to the FY 2017 spending bill that was still being resolved in the early days of the Trump administration. Instead, it took more than a year to get done. Even now, to date, House Republicans have not even had a show-vote on a messaging bill that McCarthy promised to fully fund the wall — even though such a vote would be practically meaningless. The House has not even sent a spending bill with the wall…

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Paul Ryan Encouraged GOP Congressmen to Campaign Against Trump

by Molly Prince   Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas revealed Wednesday that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan advised GOP House members to run on a platform against President Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election. “Just a few weeks before the election, we were told by Paul, by our elected leaders that, gee, the only way we can keep the House majority is just all of us start running against the president,” Gohmert told guest host Derek Hunter during an interview on WMAL. “Fortunately, we had enough people one after another on the call that pushed back so hard they backed off of that.” Gohmert explained that Trump is still getting used to the dichotomy between the public and private sector, especially when it comes to handling members who claim to support him politically, yet refuse to further his agenda. “He wants to work with people over here on the Hill, and he’s just not used to, in the private sector, having people that are reputedly on his side conspiring to keep him from getting what he promised,” said Gohmert. “And that’s what we’ve seen.” “In the private sector, Trump knew if somebody that was on his side undermined him, there’d…

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