The stories you want. The opinions that matter.
No, thanks
Tag: republican lawmakers
Mike Johnson

House GOP's Impeachment Drive Against Biden Crashes Into Facts

Senior Republican lawmakers and GOP insiders are reaching a consensus that the chances of successfully impeaching President Joe Biden are tumbling, given the dearth of credible accusations against him and the razor-thin majority Speaker Mike Johnson has in the House.

Three top Republican-chaired committees were tasked with investigating President Biden in an effort to impeach him. Some Republicans have suggested or even admitted the effort is either purely political or retaliation for Democrats in the House twice impeaching Donald Trump. Among them, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Troy Nehls (R-TX), then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Oversight Chair Jim Comer, and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan.

TIME reported last month that “the multi-pronged investigation has failed to prove that Joe Biden benefitted from his son’s business dealings or that he used his official government power to enrich himself or his kin. Nevertheless, leading House Republicans appear determined to impeach the President in the coming months, despite queasiness from within their own ranks.”

CNN reported on Friday that a “growing number of senior House Republicans are coming to terms with a stark realization: It is unlikely that their monthslong investigation into Joe Biden will actually lead to impeaching the president.”

“Top Republicans are not expected to make an official decision on whether to pursue impeachment articles until after a pair of high-stakes depositions later this month with Hunter Biden and the president’s brother, James. But serious doubts are growing inside the GOP that they will be able to convince their razor-thin majority to back the politically perilous impeachment effort in an election-year, according to interviews with over a dozen Republican lawmakers and aides, including some who are close to the probe.”

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), a far-right Republican some have said was instrumental in the planning of the January 6, 2021 insurrection, told CNN, “I don’t know that the case has been made adequately to the American people.”

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) added, “Let the American people decide in November if they want to take this country in a different direction.”

One unnamed GOP lawmaker told CNN of the impeachment, “I don’t think it goes anywhere,” and another said point-blank: “We don’t have the votes right now.”

GOP insiders too are growing weary of the move to impeach Biden, given the dearth of evidence.

“The window to impeach is rapidly closing,” one Republican strategist said.

Another, speaking about the investigation into President Biden told CNN, “You’d be hard pressed to say it’s going well,” and added, “It’s a jumbled mess.”

Meanwhile, CNN adds, House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) “has gotten in hot water for his handling of witness transcripts and has held only one public hearing on his probe, which one senior GOP aide called at the time an ‘an unmitigated disaster.’”

Add to this that on Tuesday theWall Street Journal editorial board wrote, “Impeaching Mayorkas Achieves Nothing: A policy dispute doesn’t qualify as a high crime and misdemeanor.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

How The Press Rewards Republican Cowardice In The Trump Era

How The Press Rewards Republican Cowardice In The Trump Era

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

After Donald Trump ignited a firestorm by launching a racist attack on four Democratic members of Congress, the Beltway press last week temporarily revised a time-honored journalism tradition of forcing members of the president’s party to respond publicly to controversial behavior. The results were utterly predictable, of course, with most Republicans refusing to criticize Trump’s latest bout of open bigotry. But even the recent media questions for the GOP seemed muted, given the stunning and historic nature of Trump’s racist behavior.

The sad truth is, the press mostly gave up a long time ago on holding Republican lawmakers accountable for Trump’s erratic behavior. Faced with a party that has completely capitulated to Trump’s unbalanced ways, reporters seem to have lost interest in the pursuit.

Why isn’t there constant, nonstop coverage detailing how radical the Republican Party has become, and how any hints of dissent in the age of Trump are cultishly hidden from view? Instead of vivid portraits of a party abandoning its principles as GOP lawmakers obediently fall in line behind Trump’s nasty behavior, we get coverage about how savvy Republicans are for holding their tongues about Trump and refusing to hold him accountable—about how strategic Republicans are being in allowing someone like Trump to maintain a stranglehold grip on the party.

Indeed, Republicans seem to have cracked the media code: By remaining devoutly loyal to Trump—or, at least, obediently silent—they’ve drained the oxygen the press needs to file stories about the type of turmoil Trump may be creating in the party with his buffoonish and offensive antics. Now entirely bored with the prospect of asking nonemotive Republican lawmakers for their take on Trump’s latest outrage, journalists for the most part have stopped trying to hold party members accountable for Trump’s actions.

We saw a brief flurry of activity in the wake of Trump’s racist tirade in recent days. But the media pursuit of Republicans seemed restrained compared to the avalanche of coverage that would accompany demands that basically every elected Democrat in the country provide a comment if a Democratic president ever acted as hatefully and erratically as Trump has this week—or for the last two years.

Newsrooms seem to have simply accepted GOP silence. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “makes a practice of avoiding comment on remarks by President Trump that have electrified social media,” The New York Times recently reported. Republicans “also believe that, in most cases, the firestorm lasts only so long and will be quickly followed by the next iteration, making it pointless to get caught up in the repeating cycle.” Oh, well; I guess that takes care of that. Apparently now, if a political party essentially takes a vow of silence with regard to hateful behavior by the head of that party, the press shrugs its shoulders and moves on, abandoning all efforts to hold public officials accountable for those they support politically.

After being worn down by the GOP’s cowardly capitulation to Trump, reporters have most often given Republicans a pass. Simultaneously, the press has decided to devote its time and resources to playing up dissension within the Democratic Party, where members are more open and honest about their interparty conflicts. The Beltway press in recent weeks has given significant time and space to the story of internal dissension with the Democratic House caucus, which centers on a handful of freshman Congresswomen and their policy conflicts with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The press has consistently leaned on the “civil war” narrative in reporting on Democrats, as fewer than five House members wage a public battle with the leadership. Contrast that to how reporters are playing Republican reaction to Trump in recent days.

“While a smattering of Republicans chastised Mr. Trump on Monday, most party leaders in the House and Senate and much of the rank-and-file remained quiet about the president’s weekend tweets directing dissenters to ‘go back’ where they came from,” the Times reported. Interestingly, that language also perfectly sums up the so-called Democratic civil war, in which most “party leaders” and “much of the rank-and-file” have remained quiet on the issue. But for some reason, the two similar scenarios are covered quite differently. When just a handful of Republicans criticize Trump, it illustrates party unity. And when just a handful of Democrats criticize Pelosi, it illustrates a civil war.

Obviously, the circumstances are different in that a lot more Republicans ought to be criticizing Trump for his blatantly racist attacks on sitting members of Congress. And I’m not suggesting the internal strife within the Democratic Party isn’t news, because it is. But there is a double standard in play with how the press treats each party in terms of members having to answer for prominent party leaders.

We also saw that recently with coverage of Joe Biden and Trump. Both made headlines for how they have treated women in the past, although the actual behavior couldn’t be more different. But only one party was pressed on the issue of accountability. Last month, longtime advice columnist and writer E. Jean Carroll claimed that Trump had once raped her inside the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City, when he lunged at her and pushed her up against a fitting room wall. That disturbing news story broke on a Friday afternoon and was completely ignored by all the Sunday network morning shows two days later. None of the Republicans who appeared on the show were asked about Trump’s behavior, or asked to condemn it. Yet last winter, when some women complained about the way Joe Biden interacted with them, especially with unwelcome touching in public, the allegations were covered extensively on the Sunday shows.

Note: Democrats were repeatedly pressed about whether Biden’s behavior was “disqualifying,” while Republicans weren’t even asked about a rape charge against Trump.

The signal the press is sending remains clear: Republican cowardice in the age of Trump gets a pass.

Ryan Faces His First Big Test As House Speaker: Avoid A Government Shutdown

Ryan Faces His First Big Test As House Speaker: Avoid A Government Shutdown

By Lisa Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS)

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan faces his first big test as Congress stares down a deadline to do something that has become increasingly difficult: pass a bill to fund the government.

With just seven workdays remaining before the Dec. 11 deadline, the new speaker will aim to leverage his political honeymoon into a strategy that will avoid another federal shutdown.

But already Ryan is under pressure to tack on a host of GOP policy provisions to the $1.1 trillion spending bill — among them efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, halt the entry of Syrian refugees into the U.S. and repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Forcing any of those extras into the bill might bolster support from Republican conservatives, but it would also unleash a backlash from Democrats, setting up a showdown in Congress and with the White House.

“We obviously have difference of opinions on all of these big issues,” Ryan said Tuesday, declining to explain how they might be resolved. “Those negotiations are ongoing right now.”

The Wisconsin Republican received an assist from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, the No. 2 Republican, who suggested Monday that the Dec. 11 deadline to pass a spending bill might slip to Dec. 18, allowing more time to get rank-and-file Republicans on board.

Leaders need to tamp down GOP dissent over what will likely be a compromise with Democrats.

“Our first principle starting out is to get the most conservative bill we can,” McCarthy told reporters Monday in the Capitol, saying he was “hopeful” the voting could be wrapped up by the 11th, but noting that Dec. 18 is the final workday before lawmakers break for the Christmas holidays.

“I wish it would go a little faster,” he said. “If not, we’re here until the 18th, and it won’t make any difference. We’ll get it done.”

He added: “I do not see a shutdown happening.”

President Barack Obama previously said he would not sign another temporary funding bill beyond the one that runs out Dec. 11, but the White House softened that Monday, opening the door for a stopgap measure for just a few days.

Both sides had hoped that the two-year budget accord reached this fall would create a smoother landing for the year-end spending bill. But staff negotiators have struggled over working nights and weekends to try to reach a compromise.

The days ahead will be pivotal for Ryan, who has enjoyed mostly positive reviews since he took over for beleaguered House Speaker John A. Boehner this fall.

But Ryan’s leadership has not yet been seriously tested.

“I say with some confidence that the newly elected speaker of the House doesn’t want to preside over a government shutdown six weeks into his tenure,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.

Just two months ago, the funding fight over GOP efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, led in part by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the GOP presidential candidate, helped push Boehner out of office. Conservatives rallied opposition to Planned Parenthood after secretly recorded videos showed officials for the family planning organization discussing the use of fetal tissue for research.

Boehner decided to resign after conservatives threatened to oust him for refusing to engage in a protracted fight that could have resulted in a shutdown.

Hoping to avoid a similar outcome and unite the fractious GOP majority, Ryan vowed to change the culture of House leadership, mainly by meeting the Republican lawmakers’ demands to be more involved in the decision-making process.

Ryan has tapped the chairmen of the Appropriation Committee subcommittees — the leaders responsible for the spending bill — to sit down with rank-and-file lawmakers to craft priorities in the pending legislation.

And the new speaker launched a second weekly conference meeting — the private GOP sessions in the Capitol basement — as a forum to discuss the thorny details of various policies.

“Our challenge that Paul has set out for himself — doing a little more regular order, doing bigger issues — you see us working toward that,” McCarthy said. “They feel they’re being listened to.”

©2015 Tribune Co. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Photo: Speaker of the House Paul D. Ryan via wikimedia commons

 

Does He Want Another Shutdown?

Presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich urged Republican lawmakers yesterday to avoid cutting a deal with Obama over raising the debt ceiling. His argument: a government shutdown (and possible financial crisis) would show they were serious about not raising taxes.

In a policy paper provided to The Associated Press, Gingrich invoked the twin government shutdowns from the 1990s, which many cite as an example of Republican overreach and one of the reasons that Bill Clinton was able to cruise to re-election. “Proving we were serious changed the attitude of the Clinton White House toward working with us,” he insisted. “Being firm led to both a policy and political success”

Gingrich’s shutdowns led the government to cease non-essential work for a few days. The current crisis over the debt ceiling could be much more serious: the Obama administration has warned that if the government’s $14.3 trillion borrowing limit is not raised by Aug. 2, the U.S. will face its first default ever, potentially throwing world financial markets into turmoil. In a speech last week, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warned that a default would cause a “dark period” worse than the economic chaos of late 2008/early 2009.

The Senate canceled its July Fourth recess planned for this week, and Obama—after a press conference last week where he slammed Republicans for supporting tax breaks for wealthy interest groups—has now re-invited Republican and Democratic leaders to the White House on Thursday to discuss a deficit reduction deal that would also settle the debt ceiling stand-off

The chief disagreement between the parties remains over taxes. Democrats insist that a deficit-cutting package of deep spending cuts also include higher taxes for the wealthiest Americans and fewer tax breaks for oil companies. The White House is proposing about $400 billion in increased tax revenues, and has recently targeted “tax expenditures,” like tax breaks for the likes of corporate jet users and oil companies.

Gingrich, who was in Iowa for July 4th weekend as he tried to raise the spirits of his flailing presidential campaign, insists that Republicans should not back down and agree to any tax increases. Money can instead be raised by cutting social welfare programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.