#HouseRepublicans held a hearing today on the need to prevent noncitizen voting in federal elections, despite it already being illegal and there not being evidence of the phenomenon. #Democrat Rep #JoeMorelle said, “It’s not provable because there’s no proof.”
The #Republican-led UnitedStates House of
Representatives passed a bill on Thurs that would force President Joe #Biden to send weapons to Israel, seeking to rebuke the Democrat for delaying bomb shipments as he urges Israel to do more to protect #civilians during its war w/ #Hamas.
The #Israel Security Assistance Support Act was approved 224 to 187, largely along party lines. 16 #Democrats joined most Republicans in voting yes, & 3 #Republicans joined most Democrats in opposing the measure.
The act is not expected to become #law, but its passage underscored the deep #US#election-year divide over Israel policy as PM Benjamin #Netanyahu's government seeks to wipe out militants who attacked Israel on #Oct7….
Cross-examination of #MichaelCohen resumes, an opportunity for the defense to poke holes in his testimony & perhaps trip up or provoke the state’s key witness. The questioning of Cohen, #Trump’s fmr fixer, is the beginning of the end of Trump’s #criminal trial, which began April 15 & might conclude before Memorial Day weekend at this pace.
“We are here of our own volition [ok], because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say,” #Gaetz said outside the courthouse.
#Republicans control the #House by such a slim margin, 217-213, that just 2 defections can sink #legislation even when all members are present — just a few absences can erase their majority altogether. The show of support for #Trump from such a large group meant that for much of Thurs, the GOP handed the majority to #Democrats.
#HouseRepublicans had a vote scheduled for Thurs to rebuke President #Biden for pausing an arms shipment to #Israel & compel his admin to deliver weapons.
The letters were sent hrs before #GOP-led #House Oversight & Judiciary cmtes were to advance a #contempt resolution against AG #Garland for defying a #subpoena demanding the recordings, which include hrs of Special Counsel Hur interviewing #Biden. #DOJ also sent #HouseRepublicans a letter Garland wrote Biden on Wed requesting he assert #ExecutivePrivilege bc releasing the tapes would “damage future #law enforcement efforts," as investigators request voluntary cooperation from #WhiteHouse ofcls.
“The absence of a legitimate need for the audio recordings lays bare your likely goal—to chop them up, distort them, & use them for #partisan#political purposes,” the letter from Edward N. Siskel, counsel to the president, read. “Demanding such sensitive & constitutionally-protected #law enforcement materials from the Executive Branch because you want to manipulate them for potential political gain is inappropriate.”
#Trump has his posse again. Today it’s more #Republican elected officials. Today, Trump will be joined by the #House speaker, #MikeJohnson, as well as #NorthDakota’s governor, #DougBurgum, a contender to be Trump's running mate. Also present will be Representatives #ByronDonalds & #CoryMills of Florida, & #VivekRamaswamy, who was one of Trump's primary rivals this year. Both Donalds & Ramaswamy are longshot hopefuls to be Trump's running mate.
“I came here again today, on my own, to support President Trump, because I am one of hundreds of millions of people — & one citizen — who is deeply concerned about this,” #MikeJohnson said.
Note — #Trump, mins AFTER the vote happened, had encouraged #HouseRepublicans on social media not to oust Johnson —yet: “We’re not in a position of voting on a motion to vacate. At some point, we may very well be, but this is not the time.”
Facing Russian Advance, a Top Ukrainian General Paints a Bleak Picture
#Ukraine’s forces are stretched thin & have minimal reserves to draw on, the chief of #military#intelligence said, in addition to shortages of #weapons.
#Conservatives are typically loath to sign off on any #government spending patch aimed at averting a #shutdown, slamming those stopgaps as further evidence of a broken Washington [as they cause the breakage] stuck on a woeful fiscal trajectory.
After gleefully rejecting 4 continuing resolutions in recent months as funding talks wobbled, members on Speaker #MikeJohnson’s #RightWing flank now say #Congress needs one that lasts into next year after federal cash dries up at the end of Sept.
Their hope is that the Nov #election finally grants #GOP hardliners the necessary #leverage (read: extra votes) to enact steep spending cuts & #conservative policies across a slate of fiscal 2025 spending bills.
“The CR should be into next year, not into the lame duck,” said Rep #JimJordan (R-OH). “Because you want to give the new president a chance to weigh in on what we spend & where we spend it.”
“We know there’s going to be a CR. I think that CR will go into [2025],” said Rep #ChipRoy (R-#Texas). “I think you shouldn’t drop it into a lame duck, because frankly nothing good happens for America in a lame duck.”
Migrant crossings on the #US - #Mexico#border have dropped significantly in the first 3 months of the year, acc/to official figures, from a peak of 301,981 in Dec to under 200,000 a month from Jan - Mar. That could ease political pressure on #POTUS#Biden, but #Republicans are likely to continue attacking him by pointing out that border crossings remain relatively high.
#HouseRepublicans are seeking to unite their unruly majority around an evergreen #conservative cause, devising a strict response to the wave of pro-Palestinian protests….
#GOP ldrs this wk announced plans for new “oversight investigations” of #universities where — in the words of #House#Republican Whip #TomEmmer — “pro-terrorist anti-Semites [are] taking over.”& on Wed they prepared to pass a bill they said would empower the #federal govt to crack down on anti-Israel #protests on #campuses by codifying a definition of #antisemitism that encompasses not just threats against Jews, but also certain criticisms of #Israel itself. #HouseRepublicans#Gaza#Palestinians
The radical right adopts Mitt's self-deportation approach.
🤣😂🤣😂
Billy House:
Tom Massie says he doesn't plan to trigger the motion to vacate against Johnson today -- and MTG declines to comment ... but Massie said a strategy right now is to get the speaker to resign, by growing the number of co-sponors on the ouster move.
The #GOP is a fatally dysfunctional party that's incapable of governing. At this point, #HouseRepublicans push to remove the Speaker as soon as he does something, anything, that they don't like. They are unable to provide stable leadership, and the result is chaos, and #taxpayer-funded paychecks for Representatives who accomplish nothing for the American people. Voting to put them in control is an act of insanity.
In a spasm of anger, 3 #FarRight#Republicans on the #RulesCommittee, which controls what #legislation comes to the #House floor, refused to back rule needed to bring up the #aid bill, putting it on track to die in cmte. But every Democrat on the panel stepped in to save it in extraordinary breach of custom.
#HouseRepublicans took a critical step late Thurs night toward bringing up the long-stalled foreign #aid bill for #Ukraine, after being forced to rely on Democrat votes to move a plan to consider it out of a key cmte & onto the floor.
The 9-to-3 vote in the critical #RulesCommittee was an early step in the convoluted process the #House is expected to go through over the next couple of days to approve the $95B aid package.
#House Speaker #MikeJohnson is plowing ahead on a #ForeignAid plan that has roiled his conference & prompted 2 #Republicans to push an effort to oust him….
But instead of the complex 4-part plan he floated this week, Johnson now intends to try to pass 5 bills — 1 each for #aid to #Ukraine, #Israel, & #IndoPacific allies, …a #GOP wish list of #ForeignPolicy priorities & a 5th…to address widespread Republican… [#border ] demands….
#GOP leadership announced that the #House would stay in session until Sat to consider the bills.
[good friggin luck]
The new approach is risky & is already blowing up on the speaker, who…is being threatened by …#MarjorieTaylorGreene to invoke a “motion to vacate” to topple #MikeJohnson if he puts #Ukraine#aid on the floor, something to which many #FarRight#Republicans aka consumers of [#Russian#disinformation; #Putin & #Trump lackeys] object.
Less than 24 hours after #HouseRepublicans staged their little choreographed march to the #Senate to hand-deliver their bullshit #MayorkasImpeachment papers, the Senate has dismissed it, and won't be holding any trial. Great work by Commander #MikeJohnson and his pack of idiots! 🤣