Tag: Congressional Republicans

Lawmakers bicker over how to go after tax cheats

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Lawmakers are debating President Biden’s pitches to strengthen tax enforcement against high-income individuals and businesses as Congress considers different ways to pay for infrastructure legislation.

Democrats and Republicans both say they want to narrow the gap between taxes paid and the amount owed, suggesting that going after tax cheats could garner bipartisan support as a potential revenue stream.

But Republicans have become increasingly critical of the details in Biden’s proposal, a sign that hurdles remain to reaching an agreement on enforcement. Continue reading.

Trump muddles Republican messaging on Afghanistan

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Donald Trump’s hearty endorsement of pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by September has undercut efforts by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and other key Republicans to question President Biden’s strategy. 

More broadly, the former president has focused the nation’s attention on China as the United States’s premier national security concern, putting pressure on Senate Republicans to support legislation Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to move to respond to Beijing’s growing influence and power. 

McConnell is the most powerful Republican leader in Washington, but he doesn’t have the same unrivaled platform that he did when he was in the same position — head of the minority opposition in Washington — at the start of former President Obama’s tenure.  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.

‘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.

These corporations broke their pledge to stop donating to Republican objectors

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New FEC filings reveal that several major corporations that pledged in January to stop financially supporting members of Congress who tried to overturn the presidential election results broke their pledge in February.

In early January, shortly after false claims of voter fraud inspired a violent attack on the United States Capitol, Intel announced that it would stop PAC contributions to members of Congress that voted against certifying the Electoral College results. Intel said that vote, which attempted to overturn the results of a fair election, was not consistent with “our company’s values.”

Intel’s Political Action Committee continuously reevaluates its contributions to candidates to ensure that they align with our values, policies and priorities. While Intel’s PAC will continue bipartisan contributions, we will not contribute to members of Congress who voted against certification of the Electoral College results as we feel that action was counter to our company’s values.

But on February 26, Intel sent a $15,000 PAC contribution to the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC). Continue reading.

Poll: Americans Blame Republicans, Not Biden, For Partisan Divide On Relief

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Congressional Republicans’ effort to pin blame for the lack of bipartisanship over the American Rescue Plan on President Joe Biden has failed badly.

A Pew Research Center poll released on Tuesday found that 57 percent of Americans believe the Biden administration made a “good faith effort” to work with Republicans on the mammoth pandemic relief legislation. Forty percent said they did not believe the administration had made such an effort.

Among Democrats, the number of those polled who answered yes to the question was unsurprisingly high — 87 percent. Among Republicans, that figure was much lower, at just 23 percent. Continue reading.

When it comes to security clearances, rules for others don’t apply to Congress

GOP hawks fomented rioters but still oversee classified programs

Lawmakers are privy to some of the country’s most sensitive information, from domestic terrorism threats to military operations overseas, regularly receiving briefings in secure rooms in the Capitol complex from federal and military officials with high-level clearances.

But in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol, some are asking whether certain members of Congress, including Republican leaders of defense and intelligence panels, would meet even the minimum standards for a government official to hold a security clearance.

“Being cleared requires allegiance to the U.S. Government and Constitution of the United States at a bare minimum,” Rep. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and who fought with the Marine Corps in Iraq, said in a statement to CQ Roll Call. Continue reading.

Congress clinches sweeping deal on coronavirus relief, government funding

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Congressional leaders on Sunday reached a mammoth deal to fund the government and provide long-sought coronavirus relief as lawmakers race to wrap up their work for the year. 

The deal will tie a $1.4 trillion bill to fund the government until Oct. 1 to roughly $900 billion in coronavirus aid. In order to give Congress time to process and pass the agreement, the House and Senate passed a one-day stopgap bill on Sunday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the deal from the Senate floor on early Sunday evening.  Continue reading.

Can Congress Overturn the Electoral College Results? Probably Not

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Republicans are planning one final showdown. They are almost certain to fail, but not before Vice President Mike Pence is thrust into having to declare President Trump the loser.

The Electoral College’s certification on Monday of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory left just one final venue for President Trump and his supporters to challenge the results of the 2020 election: a joint session of Congress in January.

Every four years, the House and Senate come together to formally tabulate the electoral votes and raise any final concerns about the results. Normally, it is a perfunctory confirmation of the Electoral College vote. But this year, some of the president’s most strident supporters are threatening to transform it into a messy last stand by objecting to the results.

They are all but certain to fail, but not before a potentially divisive spectacle on the floor of the House that could thrust Vice President Mike Pence into the politically perilous position of confirming that Mr. Trump lost. Here’s how the process works. Continue reading.

Republicans start turning the page on Trump era

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Top Republicans are starting to acknowledge publicly that Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States, turning the page on the Trump era.

Congressional Republicans and even a high-ranking White House official have, in recent days, referred to the upcoming change in administration.

National security adviser Robert O’Brien promised a “professional transition” of power, saying it looks like Biden has won the election. Continue reading.