Tag: Rep Matt Gaetz

Mayorkas, DHS Get Massive Funding Boost in House’s Newest Spending Bill

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Alejandro Mayorkas speaking with border officers

The House of Representatives’ second consolidated spending bill for fiscal year 2024 includes significant increases in funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and to the office of its secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas.

The 2024 fiscal year began on Oct. 1, 2023 — by which the appropriations process was supposed to be completed — but political disagreements in Congress led to the enactment of four continuing resolutions to avoid a government shutdown and preserve funding at the previous year’s levels. After Congress completely passed its first permanent spending bill for the year on March 8, the House on Thursday released its second permanent bill, a consolidation of six constituent bills, which includes an increase of $19 million to the Office of the Secretary over fiscal year 2023 levels, for a total of $404 million until Sept. 30, 2024. 

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Rep. Matt Gaetz: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Is ‘Just a Frontman,’ Pelosi Still Leads House Democrats

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Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said Sunday that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is “just a front man,” and that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “still rules with an iron fist,” during an appearance on Newsmax.

Gaetz made the comment while explaining why Republicans have had more public infighting than the Democrats. His recent motion to vacate led to the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

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U.S. Senator JD Vance Requests Clarification from Biden National Security Advisor on Ukraine Spending

Hannah Poling

On Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) along with U.S. Congressmen Chip Roy (R-TX-21) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) sent a letter to the National Security Advisor to President Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan requesting clarification regarding “major discrepancies” between claims made by administration officials regarding American aid given to Ukraine.

This follows Sullivan stating at a White House press briefing on September 21st, 2023 that the Biden Administration had sent approximately $79.9 billion in aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

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EXCLUSIVE: Matt Gaetz Says Vivek Ramaswamy’s Plan to Slash Federal Employment by 50 Percent Will Survive Legal Challenges

Michael Patrick Leahy

Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) told The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network at an event in Nashville on Saturday that Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s bold plan to reduce the number of non-military federal employees by 50 percent in one year–a net reduction of 1 million employees from the current level of 2 million – is legally sound and will survive the expected legal challenges.

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Club for Growth to Spend $20 Million on McCarthy’s Republican Incumbent Rivals

Peter D'Abrosca

According to an internal memo first obtained by German-owned Politico, the conservative Club for Growth is planning to spend seven figures on Republican U.S. House incumbents who oppose House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23) during their 2024 re-election bids.

“Club for Growth Action is prepared to spend $20 million in defense of the Patriot 20, the group of members who fought to advance conservative priorities and establish a more transparent and accountable legislative process in the House during the Speaker negotiations in January,” according to the memo. “As the largest conservative political action committee, we helped elect 17 of these 20 members to Congress and are determined to make sure they have the support necessary to win their primaries and beat Democrat challengers.”

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Manhattan DA Bragg Scorched by Victims of Violent Crime During House Field Hearing in New York City

Just the News

Victims of violent crime in Manhattan on Monday cast much of the blame on District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his policies, during a GOP-led House hearing in New York City on the matter.

“Repeat offenders are plaguing New York City,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan. “Our plan this Congress, has been to include field hearings in some of our greatest cities to analyze and highlight how soft on crime policies hurt families, hurt communities, hurt small business owners. … What better place to start than New York City where videos of violent, senseless attacks appear almost daily.”

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Commentary: What the New January 6 Videos Will Show

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The jury trial of Richard Barnett, the man famously photographed with his feet on a desk in Nancy Pelosi’s office on January 6, 2021, is underway in Washington, D.C. Nearly two years to the date of his arrest, Barnett finally had a chance to defend himself in court on multiple charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding.

But it was not the fiery, outspoken Barnett who provided the most jaw-dropping testimony in the trial so far. To the contrary, one of the government’s own witnesses confirmed under defense cross-examination that “agents provocateur” were heavily involved in instigating the events of January 6.

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Tennessee U.S. Representative Burchett Strafes Alabama’s Rogers for Outburst During McCarthy Battle: ‘People Shouldn’t Be Drinking, Especially When You’re a Redneck’

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Even though U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-55) would win the House Speaker’s race, it may have been overshadowed by an incident moments earlier on the U.S. House of Representatives floor involving U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL-03) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01). Throughout the week, Gaetz had been the figurehead for the opposition to McCarthy’s bid, which kept McCarthy from reaching the required majority to earn the role.

Rogers had emerged as one of McCarthy’s most staunch allies in the ordeal by taking an aggressive tack against the 20-something holdouts led by Gaetz. At one point, Rogers called for stripping the holdouts of their committee assignments, which drew the ire of U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21).

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McCarthy Agrees to Key Rule Change in Effort to Solidify Support for Speakership Bid

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With the election for Speaker of the House of Representatives taking place on Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has agreed to a major rule change in an effort to secure conservative support for his shaky bid for leadership.

The Daily Caller reports that McCarthy agreed on Sunday to make it easier for a vote of no-confidence to be brought up against a sitting Speaker, changing the procedure so that any rank-and-file member of the House can call for such a vote. Previously, a vote of no-confidence, also known as a motion to vacate the chair, could only be brought by a member of party leadership.

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Twitter Exec Pushed to Ban Matt Gaetz’s Account After January 6 Unrest

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Twitter’s former head of Trust and Safety, Yoel Roth, pushed internally for the company to ban Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, despite messaging another employee that such a decision did not align with the company’s policies, according to the company’s internal documents published by author Michael Shellenberger Friday as part of Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s “Twitter Files.”

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Florida U.S. Rep. Gaetz Blasts DHS Sec. Mayorkas at Congressional Hearing

The Center Square

Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz blasted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing on border security.

In his line of questioning, Gaetz asked Mayorkas about the removal process of 1.2 million people who are in the U.S. illegally who’ve been given deportation orders by judges and haven’t been removed.

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Man Charged in Don Gaetz, Matt Gaetz Extortion Plot

Grant Holcomb

Stephen Alford, a Florida developer and fraud convict, was arrested and charged for attempting to extort $25 million from former Florida Senate President Don Gaetz, father of embattled Congressman Matt Gaetz, according to POLITICO.

After Don Gaetz wore a wire for the FBI, it was found out that Alford would have ensured one of Gaetz’ family members received a presidential pardon, and no one would go to prison. The family member was identified as Don Gaetz’s son, Congressman Matt Gaetz.

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Current Status of the Political Scandal Surrounding Matt Gaetz

Grant Holcomb

For the last month, U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL-02) has been embroiled in investigation and public scrutiny since a New York Times story broke detailing an alleged illicit relationship Gaetz had with a 17-year-old girl and being a part of sex trafficking.

Immediately, Gaetz went public about the accusation by appearing on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and flatly denied the entirety of The Times’ report and claimed the allegations are part of an extortion plot.

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U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama Discusses Democrats’ Impeachment Hoax with Mark Levin, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida on Fox News

Jason M. Reynolds

  Sunday evening, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL-05) discussed the Socialist Democrat impeachment “sham” with Mark Levin and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) on Fox News’s Life, Liberty, & Levin. Brooks tweeted, “Don’t miss tonight’s #LifeLibertyLevin on @FoxNews at 9 central! I join @marklevinshow & @RepMattGaetz to shed light on the Socialist Democrat strategy to deceive America into believing @realDonaldTrump committed an impeachable offense in hopes of taking the White House in 2020.” Don’t miss tonight’s #LifeLibertyLevin on @FoxNews at 9 central! I join @marklevinshow & @RepMattGaetz to shed light on the Socialist Democrat strategy to deceive America into believing @realDonaldTrump committed an impeachable offense in hopes of taking the White House in 2020. pic.twitter.com/RJ0VPz9ks6 — Mo Brooks (@RepMoBrooks) November 3, 2019 Video of the interview is available here. Brooks told Levin that an elected official should not be removed for asking for an investigation of an opponent. Otherwise, the other candidate would have “absolute immunity,” Brooks said. “That cannot be sound public policy. Yet that is exactly what the Democrats are arguing, that because Joe Biden happens to be a Democratic candidate for the presidency … one that I don’t think has much of a prayer given the makeup…

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Florida Officials, Congressional Delegation Demand FBI Disclose Election-Hack Details

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by John Haughey   Russian hackers gained access to voter information files in Washington County, a sparsely populated Republican-dominated Panhandle county, where 77 percent of its 11,000 votes cast in the 2016 presidential election went to Donald Trump. The revelation was reported by The Washington Post Thursday night, citing two unnamed officials “with knowledge of the investigation,” who said Washington County was one of the two Florida counties breached by the Russian military spy agency, the GRU, in the days before the November 2016 election. The Washington Post also cites two unnamed Florida sources that the second county the FBI maintains was penetrated by the GRU in 2016 is “a mid-sized county on the East Coast of the state.” The disclosures have further inflamed already angry state officials, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Florida’s congressional delegation, who are demanding the FBI and the Trump Administration be more forthcoming in discussing with them and county election officials what its investigation has uncovered. “The public needs to know which counties were hacked and what steps are being taken to hold the bad actors accountable,” U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Orlando, said during a bipartisan Washington D.C. press conference staged by five of the…

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Republican Rep. Gaetz Threatens Twitter with FEC Complaint Over Twitter Suppression, Claims Twitter May Be Giving Opponent Illegal Advantage

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Matt Gaetz

by Peter Hasson and Joe Simonson    – Twitter’s recent algorithm change suppressed, or “shadow-banned,” prominent conservatives, including Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a new report found.  – Gaetz is considering filing a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against Twitter, he told The Daily Caller News Foundation.  – Gaetz said his Twitter account’s growth slowed immediately after Twitter’s recent algorithm change. Twitter acknowledged the “inaccurate” search results but said it was unrelated to politics. Rep. Matt Gaetz is considering filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) over Twitter’s alleged suppression of his account, the Florida Republican told The Daily Caller News Foundation on Wednesday. Gaetz was one of several prominent conservatives, including members of Congress and the chair of the Republican National Committee, whose accounts Twitter suppressed by making it harder to find in the site’s search function, a Vice News investigation published Wednesday found. “Democrats are not being ‘shadow banned’ in the same way,” the report concluded, noting: “Not a single member of the 78-person Progressive Caucus faces the same situation in Twitter’s search.” Twitter announced in May that the company would rely on “behavior-based signals” to boost the visibility of some accounts and to suppress the visibility of others, as…

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Corker: GOP Becoming Cult-Like Hints Trump’s Not a Republican; Rep Gaetz Responds: Get Over It, Bob

John Bryant
Bob Corker, Matt Gaetz

Not content with his recent meltdown on the Senate floor, outgoing Tennessee Senator Bob Corker unleashed on President Trump and the GOP again to reporters on Wednesday. GOP Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) warned on Wednesday that members of his party are becoming “cult-like” in their support of President Trump, pointing to leadership’s unwillingness to challenge the White House on tariffs. “We are in a strange place. I mean, it’s almost, it’s becoming a cultish thing, isn’t it? And it’s not a good place for any party to end up with a cult-like situation as it relates to a president that happens to be of — purportedly, of the same party,” Corker told reporters. Pressed on whether he feels Republicans are currently in a “cult-like situation,” Corker acknowledged that there are some GOP lawmakers who stand up to Trump and it would be “unfair to try to say” that “about every member.” “[But] is leadership in general not wishing to poke the bear? Absolutely, because it’s all about the next election, right?” said Corker, who is retiring after 2018. Watch Corker’s remarks: The increasingly unpopular Corker, who likely had no chance of winning the GOP nomination to run for Senate again…

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