House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for additional security Thursday to defend against members of Congress seeking “to bring guns onto the floor.”
Pelosi said during a press conference that she was in talks to increase security measures because the threat to safety was coming from within the House of Representatives.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the Senior Analyst for Strategy at the Center for Security Policy Michael Waller to the newsmakers line to give an eyewitness account of what he saw during the breach of the Capitol last week.
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The Democrat-led House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
The final vote of 232 to 197 marks the second time the House voted to impeach Trump, who has just seven days remaining in office. Trump is the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.
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House Democrats blocked a Republican attempt on Monday to require any proposed climate change legislation to also include its projected cost.
Under the Pay As You Go (PAYGO) rule, any additional government spending proposed must be accompanied by tax increases or separate cuts. After a push from several lawmakers in the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, however, the rules package for the 117th Congress states PAYGO will not apply to legislation relating to the necessary economic recovery or U.S. efforts to combat climate change.
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In a statement Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence issued a statement through his Chief of Staff Marc Short that he welcomes the actions of some members of the House and Senate, who say they will object to the final certification of the Electoral College vote on Wednesday. “Vice President Pence shares the concerns of millions of Americans about voter fraud and irregularities in the last election,” Short said, according to a tweet by The Epoch Times’ Alex Salvi. He added, “The Vice President welcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections and bring forward evidence before the Congress and the American people on January 6th.” https://twitter.com/alexsalvinews/status/1345516490846576641 The move comes as news of as many as 140 Representatives and 12 Senators broke Friday and Saturday. Breitbart News reported that among those in the House who have announced they will object to the Electoral College votes are: Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-Co.), Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Al.), Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Rep.-elect Jerry Carl (R-Al.), Rep.-elect Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), Rep.-elect Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas),…
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Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) is confident that the Senate will soon pass the two-part COVID-19 relief package he helped develop. In a Thursday telephone press conference, Warner described key provisions of the plan and addressed controversy over a stimulus check added to the package while also limiting provisions to extend federal unemployment benefits past Christmas.
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The House of Representatives Passed a $741 billion defense bill Tuesday evening despite President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to veto the legislation.
The bipartisan bill passed 335-78, receiving more than the two-thirds support necessary to override a presidential veto. The legislation authorizes a 3% pay raise for U.S. troops and requires the renaming of military bases named after Confederate figures.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy explained the significance of the recent lawsuit Texas filed against the states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to weigh in on Republican Rhinos, Democrats’ loyalty, and Antifa’s free pass for violence.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to discuss Democrat and Republican House seat balances.
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Despite what Fox News might think, this election – as it drags ever closer to unreality – is not decided by Fox News.
On Election Night, Fox News Channel’s decision desk “called the House,” saying Democrats would gain five seats. This happened while Californians were still voting. Why does that matter? Because there are four districts in California that Democrats won from Republicans in 2018 and which Republicans were trying to retake. They are likely to win at least three of them.
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Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, easily won re-election to Ohio’s Fourth Congressional District in an election that had few surprises statewide.
However, as the night wore on, Ohio’s presidential outcome became more interesting nationwide as the race for the state’s 18 electoral votes continued to tighten between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
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For the first time since the 1990s, Minnesota’s Seventh Congressional District will have a new representative.
Republican Michelle Fischbach defeated Democratic incumbent Rep. Collin Peterson.
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With three days until Election Day, voting turnouts far surpassed 2016 records for early voting. Turnout jumped from about 273,000 the first day to nearly 2.3 million in under two weeks.
These numbers represent over half of Tennessee’s registered voters. More ballots are still forthcoming.
The U.S. House of Representatives in June passed a bill in favor of statehood for the District of Columbia. In response, historian Nicole Hemmer wrote, “should Joe Biden win the presidency and bring with him majorities in the House and Senate, he should make statehood for D.C.—and for Puerto Rico—a priority for his first 100 days in office.” Also in June, The New Republic published an opinion column stating “D.C. Statehood Is a Test of Biden’s Political Courage.”
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed national correspondent for the Tennessee Star Neil McCabe to discuss whether or not the Republicans could take back the House in 2020.
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by Calvin Woodward and Desiree Seals ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — Representative John Lewis, who became a household name at the height of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and then went on to become a celebrated Congressman, died. He was 80. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed Lewis’ passing late Friday night, calling him “one of the greatest heroes of American history.” “All of us were humbled to call Congressman Lewis a colleague, and are heartbroken by his passing,” Pelosi said. “May his memory be an inspiration that moves us all to, in the face of injustice, make ‘good trouble, necessary trouble.’” Lewis’s announcement in late December 2019 that he had been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer — “I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now,” he said — inspired tributes from both sides of the aisle, and an unstated accord that the likely passing of this Atlanta Democrat would represent the end of an era. Lewis was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists, a group led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that had the greatest impact on the movement. He was best known for leading…
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As Tennessee’s 111th Tennessee General Assembly wound down to adjourn, the House passed a resolution recognizing the need to address legislation passed by one chamber but left unfinished by the other.
When Tennessee’s 111th Tennessee General Assembly came back to their second session after the three-month COVID-19 recess, the Senate only wanted to take up bills that were budget-related, time-sensitive, or COVID-19 related, while the House planned to complete all of their work.
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For the first time in history this week, members of the House of Representatives voted without actually being in the chamber. More to the point, they had other members cast their votes for them.
Proxy voting, as it is known, was an extraordinary change to the House rules jammed through alongside Nancy Pelosi’s $4 trillion COVID-19 “relief” package, and it allows Members to delegate their voting responsibility – the one they fought so hard in an election to obtain – to another Member.
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The Battleground State Report, airing Fridays at 8 a.m. CST with Michael Patrick Leahy and Doug Kellett – is a one-hour radio show from Star News Digital Media in the early stages of national weekend syndication rollout. With Kellett out of the studio, Michael Patrick Leahy discussed the recent debacle of the Iowa caucus.
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On Tuesday morning’s 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 Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Tennessee Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) to the newsmakers line.
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Lawmakers are too busy wrestling with matters related to President Donald Trump’s impeachment to address issues related to the government’s deployment of facial recognition technology.
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You might think that what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the “sad” and “solemn” pre-Christmas impeachment special was a one-off. The Democrats owed it to the country, you see – they had (are you sitting down?) a “duty to the Constitution” to impeach Donald Trump, otherwise (as Representative Al Green of Texas put it) he might well be re-elected. We certainly can’t have that! Hence the show of those “sad, very sad” faces Pelosi described and the memo from headquarters with the instructions, “Don’t cheer. Keep it solemn.”
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Does House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have a heretofore unnoticed, unconstitutional power to hold up an impeachment that has already been voted on?
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The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a trade deal with Mexico and Canada on Thursday, just one day after it voted to impeach President Donald Trump.
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House Democrats spent at least $3 million of taxpayers’ money in under three months pursuing the impeachment of President Donald Trump, counting the cost of lawyers and staff time spent readying for hearings, according to Heritage Foundation research.
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A Republican legislator introduced a bill to the Michigan House of Representatives seeking to eliminate Michigan’s observance of Daylight Saving Time. The bill was approved last week by the House Commerce and Tourism Committee.
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Welcome to the new and improved Get Trump Daily, special impeachment edition. A couple of days ago, on Halloween, a cute kid of about 7 came to our door dressed up as a dinosaur. It was a pretty nifty costume, green with spindling protuberances, tail with spiky-things, and bits on the head that expanded in a showy way when the budding tyrannosaur pressed a button.
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Live from music row Thursday 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 am to 8:00 am – Leahy was joined on the newsmakers line by Representative Scott DesJarlais about the Soviet-style impeachment led by Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff. During the show, DesJarlais made it clear that the goal post by Democrats continues to shift due to inter-party confusion potentially as a result of Republican agreement to allow a quick process. He also admitted concern for more important legislation that is being neglected at the expense of Americans, Mexico and Canada because the Democrats fear a win for the President. He stated, ‘I know the Democrats would vote for it. I know the people that are pushing it out there. They just don’t want Trump to get that win. they’d rather see America fail than Trump succeed. It’s hurting our farmers. It’s hurting our businesses. It hurts Canada. It hurts Mexico. Purely political and that’s a sham. We’ve got legislation to lower prescription drug prices. We’ve got to secure the border.’ Leahy: We are joined now by Representative Scott DesJarlais who represents the 4th congressional district in Congress.…
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A former White House national security aide balked Monday at testifying in the ongoing Democratic-led impeachment inquiry targeting President Donald Trump.
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Rep. Elijah Cummings died at 68 at an affiliate of Johns Hopkins Hospital early Thursday as a result of complications from longstanding health challenges, his office said in a statement.
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Four-term Republican Rep. Chris Collins of New York submitted his resignation from Congress Monday, one day before he’s expected to plead guilty to charges of insider trading.
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Texas Republican Rep. Mac Thornberry announced his retirement Monday, the top House Armed Services rep. announced in a statement.
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House lawmakers voted Wednesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. In a vote that mostly followed party lines, House members passed the Raise The Wage Act, the first minimum wage increase since 2009. The measure has not yet come up in the Senate. The bill would more than double the national minimum wage over the next 6 years, a marked increase from the current $7.25 federal minimum wage. The bill would also raise the minimum wage for tipped employees to the same level from the current $2.13 an hour. In the 231-to-199 vote, three Republican representatives joined the majority and voted for the bill, while six Democrats voted against it. “This is about workers, it’s about their economic and financial security and today is a bright day because it affects so many people in our country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters at a news conference. Skepticism While the vote was nearly unanimous by Democrats, some members were skeptical. Democrats Tom O’Halleran of Arizona and Stephanie Murphy of Florida introduced an amendment that would mandate the Government Accountability Office to track the bill’s effects and report to the House before the entire wage increase is…
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by Rachael Bovard The woke social media over the Fourth of July was something to behold. On America’s birthday, posts were full Trump-baby angst, references to illegal militias, treasonous criminality, and concentration camps, and carefully styled photos of summer desserts that spelled out “close the camps” on top of seasonal fruit. Because you know what you do if you think child migrants are actually being tortured by your government and dying in concentration camps? You channel all your first-world, virtue signaling rage into the creation of artsy and seasonally appropriate desserts that are just perfect for that People photoshoot. But the misplaced rage was not limited to social media. In the annals of Wokes versus People Living in Reality, this week was one for the books. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the avatar of lefty rage-emotes everywhere, visited the border and had a complete meltdown. Ocasio-Cortez told reporters she “was not safe from the officers,” and that migrants were forced to drink out of toilets while being subject to “psychological warfare.” “This has been horrifying so far,” she tweeted. “It is hard to understate the enormity of the problem. We’re talking systemic cruelty w/ a dehumanizing culture that treats them like animals.” If what she’s saying is true – members of Congress…
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It took last-minute changes and a full-court press by top Democratic leaders, but the House passed with relative ease Tuesday a $4.5 billion emergency border aid package to care for thousands of migrant families and unaccompanied children detained after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The bill passed along party lines after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quelled a mini-revolt by progressives and Hispanic lawmakers who sought significant changes to the legislation. New provisions added to the bill Tuesday were more modest than what those lawmakers had sought, but the urgent need for the funding — to prevent the humanitarian emergency on the border from turning into a debacle — appeared to outweigh any lingering concerns. The 230-195 vote sets up a showdown with the Republican-led Senate, which may try instead to force Democrats to send Trump a different, and broadly bipartisan, companion measure in coming days as the chambers race to wrap up the must-do legislation by the end of the week. “The Senate has a good bill. Our bill is much better,” Pelosi, D-Calif., told her Democratic colleagues in a meeting Tuesday morning, according to a senior Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private session.…
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by Kevin Daley President Donald Trump is claiming executive privilege over administration documents regarding the addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 census form, as House Democrats prepare to hold two cabinet secretaries in contempt over the dispute. The move comes after Attorney General William Barr warned that Trump would assert privilege over the census records if the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee proceeded with plans to hold Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt. “The [Department of Justice] has explained to the committee on several occasions that these identified documents consist of attorney-client communications, attorney work product, and deliberative communications, and a federal court has already held many of these documents to be privileged in litigation,” Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd told House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Elijah Cummings in a Wednesday letter. “By proceeding with today’s vote, you have abandoned the accommodation process with respect to your requests and subpoenas for documents concerning the secretary’s decision to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census,” Boyd added. The committee’s vote, which was delayed following issuance of the letter, will need to be ratified by the full House before Cummings can ask a…
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by William Haupt III “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” – Abraham Lincoln Administrative law is the procedure of creating laws by bureaucratic bodies in our municipal, state and federal governments. It is “mandated law,” made by appointed officials who have been given authority to make decisions for us without our consent. It is illegitimate law being forced upon us with no regard for constitutional protocol. This capricious practice dilutes the fundamental concept of U.S. republicanism. James Madison, a supporter of a powerful federal government, reminded us, “Federal power left unchecked would silently abridge our freedom more than violent usurpations.” Our Constitution clearly defines who is responsible for making laws. “All laws are to be written and passed by representatives approved by the people in federal and local government.” It is difficult to fathom Congress freely delegates powers to administrative agencies that grant them adroitness to rule our lives. How can our Constitution delegate us with an autocratic right, yet allow men we elect and agencies the government invents claim authority over us under the penalty of law? How…
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U.S. Rep. Dr. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07) on Tuesday introduced a bill to give Medicaid recipients more choice and power in their healthcare decisions. The Medicaid Improvement and State Flexibility Act would authorize states to begin pilot programs giving Medicaid recipients a “swipe card” with dollars on it designated for medical purchases, Green said in a press release. What is not spent from the card is returned to the holder at year’s end in the form of an Earned Income Tax Credit. Coupled with a catastrophic insurance plan, this ensures Medicaid recipients a safety net while at the same time introducing competition into the healthcare market that will improve the quality of care and drive down costs, the congressman said. “The Republican solution to our country’s healthcare crisis is more choice and better care,” Green said. “We need to move forward and utilize the power of markets to fix our broken system and help those in need. I hope Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle recognize the need for patient choice and join this effort.” Green introduced his bill as House Democrats are promoting legislation to protect parts of the Affordable Care Act and lower prescription drug…
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by Joshua Gill A Muslim cleric who called for violence against Israel and expressed support for Hamas gave the opening prayer before the House of Representatives Thursday, angering several representatives. Omar Suleiman, an imam and president of the Yaqeen Institute, delivered the invocation at the invitation of his congresswoman, Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency. Republican New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, who is Jewish, decried the invitation in light of the fact that Suleiman has repeatedly called for a third Intifada against Israel, referred to Jews as “Zionists” and called them “enemies of God,” and defended the terrorist organization Hamas on social media. Totally unacceptable that @SpeakerPelosi had Omar Suleiman give the opening prayer yesterday in the House. He compares Israel to the Nazis & calls them terrorists, supports Muslim Brotherhood, incites violence calling for a Palestinian antifada & the end of zionism, etc. Bad call pic.twitter.com/bZakjQVwsJ — Lee Zeldin (@LeeMZeldin) May 10, 2019 Suleiman has also openly supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and Israeli businesses. The BDS movement has several financial and personal ties with Palestinian terror groups. Suleiman prayed for peace and unity in light of…
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by Molly Prince Failed Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis revealed Friday that she will likely make a decision “in the next month or so” whether she will launch a bid to unseat Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy in 2020. “I’m looking very seriously at [running for] Congressional District 21,” Davis announced while on “The Rabble” podcast. “I live in that district now and we came very close to winning it in 2018.” Roy defeated his Democratic challenger Joseph Kopser by nearly 3 points, replacing Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, who stepped down after 16 terms — the race was seen as a second-tier battleground. “Joseph Kopser gave a valiant effort and [Democrats] came very, very close. The question is, can we do it for 2020?” Davis continued, noting Texas is not a red state but rather a “non-voting blue state” Davis gained national attention in 2013 after she held a 13-hour-long filibuster to block Texas Senate Bill 5, which would ban abortions after 20 weeks. She subsequently ran for governor in 2014, but was handily defeated by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. During the podcast, Davis contended she believes there needs to be more women in politics, but not Republican women. “We don’t just…
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A joint committee of the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate was convened Wednesday in the hopes of reconciling the major divides in their respective transportation budgets. As they work towards a solution, one state think tank is reminding them not to forget the consequences Ohio citizens will face as a result of their decisions. House Bill 62 (HB 62), the 2020-21 Ohio Transportation Budget, the first major bill proposed of newly-elected Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine’s tenure, called for an 18 cent gas tax increase. It would go into effect immediately and carry no tax offsets. The Ohio House of Representatives revised the proposal to 10.7 cents and ordered it to be phased in over three years. Most recently, the Ohio Senate dropped the tax rate even lower to six cents. None of the proposals carry a complete tax offset. In this joint session, the legislators hope to reconcile differences, yet DeWine has maintained from day one that his 18 cent proposal is “a minimalist, conservative approach, with this being the absolute bare minimum we need to protect our families and our economy.” The Buckeye Institute, an independent think tank whose focus is “to advance free-market public policy” has acknowledged that a gas tax increase is…
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by Molly Prince Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar played on her phone in the back of the chamber as the House of Representatives voted on the resolution that was intended as a reprimand for the congresswoman’s anti-Semitic comments, according to a report published Friday. The House passed a resolution March 7 that initially served to condemn a series of anti-Semitic statements Omar made, but was subsequently “watered down” to condemn hatred in all forms. The resolution was in response to the age-old canards about Jews that Omar had asserted over Twitter, including a claim that Republicans’ support for Israel is bought by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Many also interpreted her comments as Jews having a “dual loyalty” to the U.S. and Israel. The text of the resolution, which passed 407-23, did not mention Omar by name. During the vote, Omar was reportedly playing on her phone and was “seemingly oblivious to the remarkable rebuke being leveled at her,” according to Politico. She was reportedly standing alone in the back of the room until fellow Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington entered the chamber, where they “embraced and soon doubled over in laughter.” “She came up to…
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Governor Mike DeWine aggressively condemned his fellow Republicans Monday for not supporting his gas tax increase in a candid interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial Board. During the interview, he accused them of outright endangering the safety of Ohioans statewide by not supporting his plan. DeWine, in one of his first major bills proposed to Ohio legislature, chose to introduce House Bill 62 (HB 62), to the 2020-2021 transportation budget. Starting off his tenure as a Republican Governor with a tax increase was inevitably going to give many Republicans pause. However, this initial hesitation was greatly compounded by the fact that there are no tax offsets to the hike. In addition, the tax increase will not be gradually phased in over several years, as similar tax increases often are, but will into effect immediately. Lastly, the tax will be indefinitely pegged to the Consumer Price Index which could potentially see the tax increase every year. This is a tough pill to swallow for many Ohio Republican legislators. Conversely, DeWine is accurate when he notes the dire state of roads and bridges in Ohio. As previously reported: A 2018 study gave the state’s infrastructure an “A-” while the national state average came in at a “D+.”…
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by Julie Kelly Months before the midterm elections last fall, several self-described “conservatives” implored Americans to vote for Democrats. Still stung that Republicans ignored their advice to reject Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy and unmoved by Trump’s solid record of conservative accomplishments in office, these embittered outcasts claimed that a legislative branch controlled by Democrats would cauterize Trump’s alleged “authoritarian” tendencies. The most notable of these windmill tilters, attacking an authoritarian impulse that wasn’t there, was George Will. For decades, Will occupied a vaunted perch in the hierarchy of the conservative commentariat. He also was deemed acceptable by media outlets hostile to the Right including the Washington Post, where he now is a contributor. Disgusted at the Trumpification of the Grand Old Party in 2016, Will officially renounced his party affiliation just weeks before the Republican National Convention. Two years later, in a disorganized rant, Will instructed voters to oust Republicans from power. “In today’s GOP, which is the president’s plaything, he is the mainstream,” Will wrote in June 2018. “A Democratic-controlled Congress would be a basket of deplorables, but there would be enough Republicans to gum up the Senate’s machinery, keeping the institution as peripheral as it has been under their control and…
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House Democrats on Thursday voted down an amendment by U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) to protect free speech in House Resolution 1, which seeks to change campaign finance, election and lobbying laws. Tracking information on H.R.1 is here. “Free speech should be protected,” Green said in a hearing at the Committee on Oversight and Reform. “House Resolution One is a misguided bill with many problems. One problem in particular has united everyone from the Heritage Foundation to the ACLU. It’s the bill’s assault on free speech.” Video of Green’s speech is available here from C-SPAN. Green pointed out a statement by the ACLU that the bill will “chill speech essential to our public discourse.” “When the ACLU admonishes a Democrat bill … everyone should take notice,” he said. Green said his amendment reaffirms the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.” The congressman tweeted, “I offered an amendment on the House Floor today to H.R. 1 expressing the sense of Congress that free speech should be protected. Why are Democrats opposing an amendment simply reaffirming free speech? https://www.c-span.org/video/?c478503″ I offered an amendment on the House Floor today to H.R. 1 expressing the sense of…
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by Jason Hopkins House Democrats defeated a Republican-led provision to deny raises to federal employees who have been disciplined for sexual misconduct. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to give civilian federal employees a 2.6 percent pay raise this year. However, Democrats successfully blocked a GOP provision that would have withheld raises for employees penalized for sexual misconduct. “During calendar year 2019, no increase in pay as authorized under this Act may be provided to any Federal employee who has been disciplined for sexual misconduct under chapter 75 of title 5, United States Code, or any other provision of law,” read the text of the provision. The proposal, despite receiving support from 189 Republicans and 17 Democrats, was ultimately defeated by a vote of 216-206. “As Washington Democrats continue their ill-advised push for unilateral pay raises for federal employees, regardless of their performance, Republicans continue to ask Democrats to amend their legislation,” Erin Perrine, a spokeswoman for House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, said in a statement provided to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Currently this bill treats victims the same as their harassers. That makes no sense.” Among the Democratic lawmakers who voted against the proposal…
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The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill affirming congressional support for NATO, amid renewed concerns over President Donald Trump’s commitment to the 29-member alliance. The bipartisan NATO Support Act, which forbids the use of funds to withdraw from the alliance and states that it is U.S. policy to remain part of the alliance, passed by a 357-22 vote. Beside asserting Congress’s control over the money, the bill reaffirms U.S. backing of NATO and its mutual defense clause. It also voices support for Montenegro, its newest member, and for “robust” U.S. funding for the European Deterrence Initiative, and for the goal that each alliance member spend at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense by 2024. Just hours before the vote, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell, the top U.S. diplomat to Europe and an outspoken NATO supporter, tendered his resignation amid strained ties in trans-Atlantic relations. The House vote and Mitchell’s resignation come amid tensions with European leaders over Washington’s commitment to NATO and transatlantic ties in general. The New York Times, citing federal government sources, recently reported that Trump put forward the idea of withdrawing the United States from…
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by Rachel Bovard As the partial government shutdown enters its third week with little hope of an end in sight, President Trump continues to demand funding for a southern border wall. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) flat out refuses to pass any funding at all. In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has washed his hands of the matter, telling Trump to work it out with Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) while he moves the Senate onto other topics. Predictably, both chambers clocked out for the weekend on Thursday afternoon. When senators and House members make the rounds on the upcoming Sunday shows wringing their hands about the shutdown, somebody might ask why they only worked less than three days this week. Apparently, the crisis at the border, and the resulting government shutdown, are an emergency to everyone except the people responsible for addressing it. In the face of congressional intransigence, President Trump has toyed with the idea of declaring a national emergency. On Friday, the president said that option was currently off the table, and with good reason. Although funding the wall through an emergency declaration is likely legal, it would create more problems for the president than it solves, both politically and practically.…
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Now that the public voting is over and Tennessee state representatives and senators have been elected for the next two or four years, respectively, each legislative body goes about their own nomination process to select their leaders. The outcome of the selection process will be a strong indication about the direction of the upcoming 111th Tennessee General Assembly. The State House, in particular, will begin its massive changes in leadership in less than two weeks. The two most senior members of the House of Representatives, Beth Harwell (Nashville) and Steve McDaniel (Lobelville), both Republicans who served 15 terms each, are gone. Harwell served as Speaker of the House, the first woman to do so, and McDaniel was the Deputy Speaker, a position appointed by the Speaker. While the “Red Wall” of the House held off a “Blue Wave,” retaining its super majority and losing just one seat holding 73 of the 99 total, there are 25 new members. With one quarter of the body being new, the most since reconstruction, out of sheer necessity there will be changes to the chairmanships and members of the 15 standing committees and 14 non-standing subcommittees of the House. House leadership is more important…
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