Category: US House

Cheney slams Trump on ‘big lie’ over election

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Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Monday shot back at former President Trumpover his claims that the 2020 election was stolen, accusing those who spread the claim of “poisoning our democratic system.”

“The 2020 presidential election was not stolen,” Cheney tweeted. “Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system.”

Cheney’s tweet came in response to a statement earlier Monday morning from Trump, who called President Biden‘s victory in the November 2020 election “the big lie.” Continue reading.

Vaccine hesitancy among lawmakers slows return to normalcy on Capitol Hill

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Lawmakers, like the rest of the country, are all eligible for the coronavirus vaccine. But President Biden‘s speech to Congress last week looked like he was addressing a group that hadn’t gotten a single shot.

With a crowd a fraction of its usual size — and those present all socially distancing and wearing masks — the speech underscored how life on Capitol Hill has been slow to return to normal and how difficult it is to persuade holdouts to get immunized.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) estimated a day after the address that about 75 percent of House members have been vaccinated, a figure unchanged since March. Continue reading.

For Republicans, fealty to Trump’s election falsehood becomes defining loyalty test

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Debra Ell, a Republican organizer in Michigan and fervent supporter of former president Donald Trump, said she has good reason to believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

“I think I speak for many people in that Trump has never actually been wrong, and so we’ve learned to trust when he says something, that he’s not just going to spew something out there that’s wrong and not verified,” she said, referring to Trump’s baseless claims that widespread electoral fraud caused his loss to President Biden in November.

In fact, there is no evidence to support Trump’s false assertions, which culminated in a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. But Ell, a Republican precinct delegate in her state, said the 2020 election is one of the reasons she’s working to censure and remove Jason Cabel Roe from his role as the Michigan Republican Party’s executive director — specifically that Roe accepted the 2020 results, telling Politico that “the election wasn’t stolen” and that “there is no one to blame but Trump.” Continue reading.

GOP ramps up attacks on Biden’s border wall freeze

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Republicans in Congress are increasingly lashing out at President Biden’s decision to freeze funding for the wall along the southern border.

GOP lawmakers are zeroing in on Biden’s proclamation from January, immediately upon taking office, in which he followed through on a campaign promise to halt construction of the wall, which had become the centerpiece of former President Trump’s hard-line immigration policies.

The White House on Jan. 20 said it would take 60 days to review the use of border wall funds. Continue reading.

The Matt Gaetz scandal takes a strange new turn

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An ally seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump reportedly wrote a confession letter implicating both himself and Gaetz in having sex with a 17-year-old girl. But why do it, and why implicate Gaetz?

The controversy surrounding embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) took a wild new turn Thursday night, with the Daily Beast reporting that his ally wrote a confession letter implicating both of them in having sex with a 17-year old girl. And perhaps not hugely surprising, Roger Stone is suddenly involved.

The Daily Beast obtained alleged drafts of the confession letter that Joel Greenberg wrote and text messages between him and Stone indicating it was part of a plan to obtain a pardon for Greenberg from President Donald Trump. Greenberg and Stone also reportedly discussed Greenberg paying Stone $250,000, apparently if the pardon effort was successful (which it was not).

The Post has not obtained or verified the materials in the Daily Beast report. Continue reading.

Why are Republicans touting parts of Biden’s covid relief plan?

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Not a single Republican lawmaker voted for the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, President Biden’s coronavirus relief package that doled out $1,400 checks for many Americans and provided aid to state and local governments, restaurants and businesses. The bill passed with only narrow majorities, each party stuck in its own corner.

Biden’s bill came just weeks after Congress had passed a coronavirus relief package under President Donald Trump, so many Republicans argued it was too much too soon. Of course, one cannot discount the idea that a change in presidents might have also had something to do with their votes.

Nevertheless, Republicans have been touting elements of the bill on Twitter and in news releases. Any big bill is going to have elements in it that might have, in other circumstances, won the support of lawmakers. Moreover, it might be worth letting constituents know about the potential largesse available from the federal government. Continue reading.

Phillips Named 12th Most Bipartisan Member of Congress by Nonpartisan Lugar Center

WASHINGTON, D. –Today, the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University released their Bipartisan Index ranking members of Congress for their commitment to working across the aisle during the 116th Congress. Rep. Dean Phillips ranked 12th among the 437 members of the House of Representatives who served throughout that period, putting him in the top 3% of his peers when it comes to bipartisan policymaking.

“My first term in Washington was more challenging – both for Congress and the country – than I ever imagined,” said Rep. Phillips. “Through it all, I never lost my faith in the power of bipartisan dialogue or my mission to inspire a new era of collaboration in Congress. Especially during times of crisis, Americans of all ideologies must come together, build bridges, generate ideas, and produce results to move our country forward. Here’s to more meaningful teamwork in the years to come.”

The Bipartisan Index measures how often a member of Congress introduces bills that earn co-sponsors from members of the other party and how often they in turn co-sponsor legislation introduced from across the aisle. The Index excludes non-binding resolutions and ceremonial bills, seeking to encourage lawmakers to be more bipartisan when writing or co-sponsoring meaningful policy.

In the 116th Congress, Rep. Phillips’s bipartisan accomplishments included:

  • Serving a leadership role on the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of 29 Democrats and 29 Republicans committed to finding bipartisan solutions to the major issues our country faces

For these success and more, Phillips was rated the most productive Representative in the Minnesota delegationby the non-partisan Center for Effective Lawmaking. In addition, Congressman Phillips is the only member of the Minnesota delegation to win a Legislative Action Award from the Bipartisan Policy Center and a Jefferson-Hamilton Award for Bipartisanship from the Chamber of Commerce.

CNN Poll: GOP Efforts To Discredit Biden Are Failing

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Republicans have been adamant that President Joe Biden’s popularity will fall as they vilify his policy proposals, including the coronavirus relief package Congress passed in March and the infrastructure bill congressional Democrats are currently trying to pass.

Yet a new CNN poll released Wednesday found that their strategy has not worked, as Biden — and his policies — remain popular nearly 100 days into his tenure, despite the GOP’s best efforts.

According to the CNN poll, 53 percent of Americans approve of the job Biden has done in his first 100 days in office. That approval rating tracks with Biden’s approval rating average from FiveThirtyEight, which has hovered around 53percent since he was sworn in on January 20 — a level he has maintained despite GOP criticism. Continue reading.

‘They don’t care’: Republicans blasted for refusing to applaud for cutting child poverty in half

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In his Joint Address to Congress Wednesday night President Joe Biden worked to sell his vision for the future and for America.

Republicans refused to offer support.

Unlike years past, for Joint Addresses or State of the Union Addresses, this was a socially-distanced affair, with just 200 people in the chamber that can hold 535 lawmakers and their guests. So it was exceptionally easy to see the Republicans who did their best to defeat Biden’s goals and thwart his achievements as he shared them with the nation. Continue reading.