Cotton, Rubio Blast Biden over Decision on China’s Confucius Institutes

Two Republican senators on Tuesday blasted President Joe Biden for withdrawing a proposed rule that would require U.S. schools to disclose their partnerships with Confucius Institutes, which some U.S. officials and lawmakers have alleged serve as front groups for the Chinese Communist Party.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, both known as China hawks, criticized Biden on Tuesday following reports that the administration had withdrawn the rule, which the Trump administration proposed to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Dec. 31.

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Rubio Calls for More Small Business Loan Money in Compromise COVID-19 Relief Bill

The $908 billion pandemic stimulus compromise package being discussed in the U.S. Senate is a hopeful sign of progress, Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said, but it won’t garner his support until more assistance is tabbed for small businesses.

The four-month emergency package introduced Tuesday by a bipartisan coalition of senators and House representatives on Capitol Hill would fund transportation, food assistance, coronavirus testing centers and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) crafted by Rubio’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Senate Committee to help businesses pay their employees during shutdowns rather than lay them off.

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Senators Introduce Bill to Amend Rule Over Third-Party Internet Content

In the wake of allegations of big tech companies suppressing political speech and news stories on their platforms, Republican senators and congressmen introduced legislation to amend Section 230, part of a federal code that regulates third-party content on the internet.

Federal Communication Communications (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai also weighed in on Thursday after senators announced they were subpoenaing Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey.

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Rubio Calls for SBA to Investigate $80 Million in Coronavirus Funding to Planned Parenthood

Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called Friday for the Small Business Administration to investigate how 37 Planned Parenthood affiliates received $80 million in coronavirus stimulus loans.

In a letter to SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza, Rubio told Carranza that “the application for and receipt of loans through the program suggests unlawful conduct,” noting that “the application for a loan through the program would have required a Planned Parenthood affiliate to list the national organization as an affiliate organization.”

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Ilhan Omar Calls Anti-BDS Bill ‘Unconstitutional,’ Defends Past Anti-Semitic Comments

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) said during a recent appearance on MSNBC that Senate efforts to combat the “discriminatory economic warfare against the Jewish state” are “unconstitutional.” Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) “Combating BDS Act” was included in a package of bills introduced in early January under a title of “Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act.” Rubio’s bill in particular received significant media attention for its targeting of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. The BDS movement is widely criticized by Republicans such as Rubio as an “anti-Israel” campaign that “pressures companies to stop doing business in Israel, and banks and funds to divest of investments in Israel,” as Rubio explained in a recent tweet. His bill would allow local and state governments to end contracts with companies that practice BDS tactics. But the package of bills was stalled in a recent Senate vote of 56-44, and Democrats attributed their opposition to the bills to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) hard-line stance against passing any bills that don’t include government funding. Rubio, however, said the “shutdown is not the reason Senate Democrats don’t want to move to Middle East security bill.” “A huge argument broke out at Senate…

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Rubio Warns: Dems Are Actively Trying to Steal the Florida Election

by Luke Rosiak   Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is warning that the fate of his state’s governorship could hang in the hands of Florida’s Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes, whom he’s called incompetent for violating state and federal laws. A liberal candidate similarly painted her as incompetent and corrupt. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum initially conceded the Florida race to Republican Ron DeSantis, but backtracked after vote totals changed Thursday, narrowing the gap to less than half a percent in both the gubernatorial and senatorial races. Broward County is often the slowest of the state’s 67 counties to count votes, and its election department has repeatedly been faulted for wrongdoing. Now, Perkins Coie lawyer Marc Elias has been enlisted in a recount effort. Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is retaining Elias, who said it’s “not plausible” that, as Broward statistics suggest, 14,000 people voted in sometimes-obscure state-level races but left the Senate one blank. Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who, by initial appearances, beat Nelson in a race for Senate, said Elias will use aggressive techniques to “steal” the election. Elias worked for both the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC during the 2016 election, even before the 2016 presidential candidate became the Democratic…

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Marco Rubio Dings Journalist Who Said Donald Trump Radicalized More People Than ISIS and Then Was Invited Back on CNN

by Hanna Bogorowski   GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida took to Twitter on Tuesday to condemn comments made by GQ Magazine correspondent Julia Ioffe, who has been in the headlines for making claims about President Donald Trump and his supporters, saying it’s wrong for people to think inflammatory language is only coming from the right. Ioffe said on CNN’s The Lead With Jake Tapper Monday afternoon that Trump has radicalized more people than the Islamic State (ISIS). This president has radicalized so many more people than ISIS ever did, she said. Ioffe continued the anti-Trump rhetoric Monday night with CNN’s Don Lemon, saying she believes a silent majority of Trump supports believes racism is okay. It’s also kind of the silent majority of Trump supporters that think this is okay, they continue to support this president despite what he said, she added, referring to what she called Trump’s half-hearted condemnation of racists after the deadly mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Rubio responded to Ioffe’s comments on Twitter, referring to her as a journalist in quotes, and adding that it’s inaccurate for people to believe incendiary rhetoric is not apparent on the left as well. So many keep pretending inflammatory…

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McCain, Rubio Blast Trump for Not Confronting Saudi Arabia on Human Rights

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Two leading Republican senators on Sunday said President Trump is making a mistake by failing to more forcefully confront Saudi Arabia over the country’s treatment of women and other human rights issues in the Middle Eastern nation. Mr. Trump’s highly anticipated address in Saudi Arabia on Sunday will focus heavily on the fight against terrorism but…

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