Category: US House

‘Three percenters’ truck at Capitol belongs to husband of congresswoman who said, ‘Hitler was right on one thing’

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An Illinois lawmaker married to a member of Congress, who was herself recently criticized for quoting Hitler, is facing his own rebuke for displaying the logo of an extremist movement on his pickup truck at the U.S. Capitol complex in Washington on Jan. 6.

A photo shared on Twitter on Wednesday showed that Chris Miller, a Republican member of the Illinois General Assembly, had a decal of the Three Percenters anti-government movement prominently displayed on his truck while it was parked at the East Front of the Capitol — an area that was highly restricted Jan. 6.

His wife, Rep. Mary E. Miller (R-Ill.), had been sworn in to her first term in the House just days earlier. Continue reading.

Democrats don’t trust GOP on 1/6 commission: ‘These people are dangerous’

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said her proposal to install a Democratic majority on the investigative Jan. 6 commission is rooted in historic precedent and the simple prerogatives of sitting presidents.

But rank-and-file Democrats are citing a very different reason they don’t want the panel’s power split evenly between the parties: They simply don’t trust Republicans to investigate an attack on the Capitol that, in the eyes of livid Democrats, was kindled by those same GOP lawmakers.

“We do not owe delusional deniers a role or a platform in a commission designed to try to ferret out extremism and violence to prevent its recurrence,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who had predicted the Jan. 6 violence based on the rhetoric from then-President Trump and his GOP allies. “These people are dangerous.” Continue reading.

The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right

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Cawthorn has emerged as one of the most visible figures among newly arrived House Republicans, who have promoted baseless assertions and pushed a radicalized ideology that has become a driving force in the GOP

Madison Cawthorn was a 21-year-old freshman at a conservative Christian college when he spoke at chapel, testifying about his relationship with God. He talked emotionally about the day a car accident left him partially paralyzed and reliant on a wheelchair.

Cawthorn said a close friend had crashed the car in which he was a passenger and fled the scene, leaving him to die “in a fiery tomb.” Cawthorn was “declared dead,” he said in the 2017 speech at Patrick Henry College. He said he told doctors that he expected to recover and that he would “be at the Naval Academy by Christmas.”

Key parts of Cawthorn’s talk, however, were not true. The friend, Bradley Ledford, who has not previously spoken publicly about the chapel speech, said in an interview that Cawthorn’s account was false and that he pulled Cawthorn from the wreckage. An accident report obtained by The Washington Post said Cawthorn was “incapacitated,” not that he was declared dead. Cawthorn himself said in a lawsuit deposition, first reported by the news outlet AVL Watchdog, that he had been rejected by the Naval Academy before the crash. Continue reading.

MN Prominent In U.S. House Subcommittee Hearing On Minimum Wage

Phillips chairs hearing and Minnesota reps and business leader take part in discussion on the proposed wage hike in the stimulus bill. 

WASHINGTON, DC —With the House and Senate both discussing the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, a Wednesday House subcommittee hearing on one component of that bill – the $15-an-hour-minimum wage – had a decidedly Minnesota flavor, according to reports.

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-03) is the chairman of the House Small Business Oversight, Investigations and Regulations Subcommittee, which spent two hours debating the pros and cons of the $15 minimum wage. Phillips welcomed in Minnesota business leader John Puckett, CEO of Punch Neapolitan Pizza and a founder of Caribou Coffee, to participate in the proceedings. 

Two other Minnesota politicians, Rep. Angie Craig (D-02) and Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-01), also served on the panel. Continue reading.

Democrat wins cheers with a passionate rebuke to opponents of LGBTQ rights bill: ‘You used God to enslave’

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If passed by Congress, the Equality Act would amend and expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas gave a passionate speech in favor of the bill during a U.S. House of Representatives session on Thursday, noting some of the ways in which religion was deceptively used to justify segregation and racist Jim Crow laws in the past.

The African-American congressman (not be confused with R&B/gospel singer, the Rev. Al Green) told members of the House, “You used God to enslave my foreparents. You used God to segregate me in schools. You used God to put me in the back of the bus. Have you no shame?”

President Joe Biden has been an outspoken supporter of the Equality Act, but its Republican opponents have claimed that it would discriminate against religion if passed. Green alluded to the fact that the same type of argument was used in defense of segregationist laws during the 1950s and 1960s. Continue reading.

Republicans Want No Independent Probe Of Jan. 6 Insurrection

Despite all the lamentations over the Republican Party –- the respectable party that supposedly existed before you-know-who ruined everything – it would be more honest to admit that the grand old party wasn’t so grand even back when. 

To take one timely example, Republicans have always resisted investigation of their leadership failures, even when the security of the nation was at stake.

At this moment, the constitutional imperative is to investigate, reveal, and respond to the forces behind the violent seizure of the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Dealing with the threat that horrendous incident now symbolizes ought to be a vital interest of both major political parties — whose legislators were nearly lynched by a ravening mob — as well as anyone who hopes to bequeath a democratic republic to our heirs. That is why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed a bipartisan national commission modeled on the panel that investigated the 9/11 attacks. Continue reading.

‘Nobody Listened To Me’: The Quest to Be MTG

All Marjorie Taylor Greene ever wanted was someone to pay attention to her.

ALPHARETTA, GEORGIA.—Marjorie Taylor Greene smacked her gum as she pretended to listen to a man in a dress read a book about a unicorn.

It was late April of 2019. She sat in the rear of a room at the public library here near her home in this suburb north of Atlanta. Greene at the time identified as a mother, a business owner, a fitness trainer, a “supporter of the 2nd amendment,” “a patriot” and a “conservative blogger on social media,” and she had come to mount what she described as an “undercover” protest of something called “Drag Queen Story Hour”—an event she saw as “insane” put on by a person she considered “an abomination.” Using her iPhone to surreptitiously record, Greene flipped back and forth between a shot of the stage and a close-up of her own face, creating a kind of herky-jerky show on Facebook Live.

“Be nice to people around you!” the wig-wearing reader, stage name Miss Terra Cotta Sugarbaker, said in closing to the small gathering of children and their parents. Greene, sporting a pink cast on her left foot, hobbled outside. “Were you able to hear all that?” Greene asked the 400 or so viewers following along. Continue reading.

Official reveals a right-wing militia plot to ‘blow up the Capitol’

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Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman revealed disturbing details about multiple right-wing militias that participated in U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6. Not only were they contemplating harming lawmakers but, according to Pittman, intelligence indicates that there were also plans to “blow up” the U.S. Capitol amid the State of the Union.

On Thursday, Feb. 25, Pittman delivered her testimony during a hearing with a House Appropriations subcommittee. “We know that members of the militia groups that were present on Jan. 6 have stated their desire that they want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible, with a direct nexus to the State of the Union,” Pittman said during her testimony.

She added, “Based on that information, we think it’s prudent that Capitol Police maintain its enhanced security posture until we address those issues going forward.” Continue reading.

House passes sweeping protections for LGBTQ people

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The House on Thursday passed the Equality Act, a sweeping civil rights bill that expands protections in education, housing, employment and more to LGBT people. 

The bill would also prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in credit, jury service and public accommodations. 

Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) reintroduced the legislation, which passed the House in 2019 but never moved in the Senate. The bill, which passed the House on Thursday by a vote of 224-206, faces an uphill battle in the upper chamber, where GOP support is needed to reach the 60-vote threshold. Continue reading.

House set to move on elections overhaul as outside advocates focus on Senate

Conservative organizations mount counter-effort to protect the filibuster

With House Democrats poised to pass their 791-page campaign finance, elections and ethics overhaul as soon as next week, outside groups that support the measure are turning to the Senate.

Left-leaning organizations such as Indivisible, Public Citizen, Democracy 21 and Common Cause, among others, have ramped up lobbying, grassroots and advertising campaigns aimed at the Senate, which poses a potentially fatal threat to the package.

Even though Democrats narrowly control both chambers, the bill would need at least 60 votes to overcome a filibuster in the Senate. It’s a reality that has some advocates for the bill, which is dubbed HR 1 in the House and S 1 in the Senate, pushing to roll back the filibuster, at least in some fashion. Continue reading.