Category: US House

DFL Party Slams Republicans for Voting Against Commission to Investigate Violent Assault on Capitol

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SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, Representatives Hagedorn, Emmer, Fischbach, and Stauber voted against bipartisan legislation to establish a commission to investigate the January 6th assault on the United States Capitol. 

In response, DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement:

“It is disgraceful that Representatives Hagedorn, Emmer, Fischbach, and Stauber voted against a bipartisan commission to get to the bottom of the worst assault on American democracy in living memory. To make matters worse, Minnesota’s Republican members of Congress voted against the insurrection commission because they know they propped up the Big Lie that helped inspire the assault on the Capitol in the first place. 

“Instead of forcefully pushing back against the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, Minnesota Republicans perpetuated that lie and allowed it to take root and grow within their party. Now, they are trying to block efforts to establish the truth of the January insurrection and leave our Capitol vulnerable to future attacks in a pathetic and cowardly attempt to avoid bad headlines. 

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House approves Jan. 6 commission over GOP objections

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The House on Wednesday passed a bill to establish a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, earning relatively little support from Republicans as GOP leaders sought to quash a bill negotiated by one of their own members.

Lawmakers passed the bill in a 252-175 vote, with 35 Republicans joining all Democrats in support.

The legislation’s chances appear increasingly slim in the Senate after both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) came out in opposition to the bill. Continue reading.

Trump demanded McConnell and McCarthy oppose Jan. 6 commission. They are dutifully complying

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Donald Trump, the former president, Tuesday night in a blog post called on the top two Congressional Republicans to put an end to “discussions” to form a commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection and attempted coup that he incited.

They are complying.

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Tuesday afternoon had expressed “surprising” opennessto a January 6 commission, several news sources reported, but by Tuesday evening the Senate Minority Leader told reporters he is “pushing the pause button.”

House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has been opposed to the commission since early Tuesday, some say due to his possible involvement in the lead up to the deadly riots that day. Continue reading.

Marjorie Taylor Greene would have already been fired in any other workplace — Congress should be no different: former US Rep

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he antics of Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have become so egregious that “it’s time for the House to use the tools at its disposal to sanction her accordingly,” writes Donna F. Edwards in The Washington Post this Wednesday. 

As a former member of the Committee on Standards and Official Conduct during her time in Congress, Edwards says that there’s 
“no question” that the committee can and should investigate Greene “and consider every formal sanction for her behavior, from a reprimand, to censure, to a fine, to removal.”

“Greene’s continued harassment of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is such a serious matter. She has verbally accosted Ocasio-Cortez on and off the floor of the chamber,” Edwards writes. “She has engaged inappropriately with other members as well, including Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who took the extraordinary step of asking to have her office moved following a verbal altercation in January. Greene has repeatedly accused Ocasio-Cortez, Bush and other women of color in the House of supporting terrorists — a dangerous and inflammatory smear at a perilous moment in our politics.” Continue reading.

Troubled Vaccine Maker and Its Founder Gave $2 Million in Political Donations

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Emergent BioSolutions faces scrutiny in Congress for ruining Covid-19 vaccines and securing lucrative federal contracts. Executives will appear before some lawmakers who benefited from the company’s spending.

WASHINGTON — When Fuad El-Hibri, founder and executive chairman of Emergent BioSolutions, appears Wednesday before a House subcommittee to explain how the company’s Baltimore plant ruined millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine, he will be questioned by lawmakers he and his employees spent tens of thousands of dollars helping to elect.

Since 2018, federal campaign records show, Mr. El-Hibri and his wife, Nancy, have donated at least $150,000 to groups affiliated with the top Republican on the panel, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, as well as Mr. Scalise’s campaigns. At least two other members of the subcommittee received donations during the 2020 election cycle from the company’s political action committee, which has given about $1.4 million over the past 10 years to members of both parties.

Mr. El-Hibri and his wife have made additional donations totaling more than $800,000 over the same period, with the majority going to Republican candidates and organizations. Continue reading.

GOP splits open over Jan. 6 commission vote

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The House on Wednesday is set to approve legislation to create a bipartisan investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack in a vote that will re-expose the deep divisions in the GOP over former President Trump’s role in the event and influence in the party.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday announced his opposition to the legislation, which he says puts too much focus on the Jan. 6 attack that interrupted a joint session of Congress’s count of the Electoral College and forced the evacuation of the House and Senate.

McCarthy wants the commission’s scope to be broadened so that it can take in violence in Portland, Ore., and other U.S. cities, as well as the 2017 attack by a gunman on GOP lawmakers practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game and a more recent incident where a Capitol Police officer died. Continue reading.

House passes bill to combat hate crimes against Asian Americans

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The House on Tuesday passed legislation to aggressively investigate hate crimes, especially those targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, that have increased during the coronavirus pandemic.

The vote was 364 to 62; all the votes in opposition came from Republicans. The legislation heads to President Biden for his signature.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) introduced the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act in March after attacks against Asian Americans increased after the coronavirus emerged in China. Just five days after Hirono introduced the legislation, eight people were killed — including six women of Asian descent — in a mass shooting at three Atlanta-area spas. Continue reading.

Rep. Phillips (CD3) Statement on the Vote to Create a Bipartisan Commission on the Capitol Insurrection

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WASHINGTON, DC — Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) issued the following statement on the House bill to create a national commission to investigate the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, which passed on a 252 to 175 vote. 

“I was in the Capitol on Jan 6. I saw it with my own eyes. I walked where blood was spilled and life was lost, and I helped clean up the mess in the early hours of 1/7. I never imagined a single member of Congress would vote against a bipartisan commission to investigate it. I need not shame the 175 who voted in opposition today. Twitter and history will do that just fine. But here’s to the 35 Republicans and 217 Democrats who showed America what patriotism looks like – and votes like.”

McCarthy comes out against bipartisan deal on Jan. 6 commission

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will oppose a bipartisan deal announced last week that would form a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, his office announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: McCarthy’s opposition to the deal, which was negotiated by the top Republican and Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, underscores the internal divisions that continue to plague the GOP in the wake of Jan. 6.

  • The formation of a bipartisan Jan. 6 commission had been delayed for months, after some Republicans insisted that the scope of the investigation be expanded to include violence by far-left protesters last summer. Continue reading.

Republicans eye new House majority through redistricting

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Republican state legislators see this year’s decennial redistricting process as a prime opportunity to gain House seats in next year’s midterms — with some believing those gains alone can help the GOP take back the majority.

Legislators are preparing for the most public redistricting process in American history. Both Democrats and Republicans stand ready to accuse each other of radical gerrymandering, while advances in technology give each side the chance to draw ideal districts that are both pleasing to the eye and politically favorable.

Republicans start with an advantage. Continue reading.