Tag: GOP congress

GOP lawmakers say Trump would make mistake in firing Rosenstein

The following article by Scott Wong was posted on the Hill website January 31, 2018:

Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein appears at the Global Cyber Security Summit in London this month. (Credit: Mary Turner/Reuters)

Republicans say President Trump would be making a big mistake in firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

The Justice Department’s No. 2 official has been in the president’s crosshairs since appointing special counsel Robert Mueller to lead the agency’s Russia investigation.

He’s the only official who could fire Mueller given Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from Russia-related matters.

Some Republicans are now worried that a soon-to-be-released memo from GOP staff on the House Intelligence Committee could hand Trump more ammunition to fire Rosenstein — a move they fear would boomerang on the White House and Republicans running for reelection in the House and Senate. Continue reading “GOP lawmakers say Trump would make mistake in firing Rosenstein”

Devin Nunes Won’t Say If He Worked With White House on Anti-FBI Memo

The following article by Betsy Woodruff and Spencer Ackerman was posted on the Daily Beast website January 30, 2018:

The House intel committee GOP leader refused to answer behind closed doors if he coordinated with the president’s team on his report blasting Rosenstein, Comey, and McCabe.

Credit: Mark Wilson/Getty

The Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee refused to answer when a colleague asked him if he had coordinated his incendiary surveillance memo with the White House, The Daily Beast has learned.

During Monday’s contentious closed-door committee meeting, Rep. Mike Quigley, a Democrat, asked Nunes point-blank if his staffers had been talking with the White House as they compiled a four-page memo alleging FBI and Justice Department abuses over surveillance of President Trump’s allies in the Russia probe. Continue reading “Devin Nunes Won’t Say If He Worked With White House on Anti-FBI Memo”

Reality Check: Trump’s State of the Union Vision Blurred By Congress

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website January 30, 2018:

‘The state of our union is strong because our people are strong,’ president says

2018 State of the Union in 3 Minutes

In his first State of the Union address, President Donald Trump described an ambitious vision of Democratic members joining him and Republicans in overhauling immigration policy and rebuilding the country’s aging infrastructure. Reality, however, shows how difficult it all will be.

Trump, after a year of harsh comments and tweets about Democrats, struck a new tone Tuesday — at least for one night — by describing a country in which “all of us” should come “together, as one team, one people, and one American family.” The president who has yet to pass major legislation with a single Democratic vote said he wants “both parties to come together.” Continue reading “Reality Check: Trump’s State of the Union Vision Blurred By Congress”

Four-Star General Hayden Warns Against GOP Assault On National Security Agencies

The following article by Caroline Orr was posted on the National Memo website January 30, 2018:

Four-star general Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and NSA, issued a grave warning Monday night, telling CNN’s Don Lemon that partisan attacks on the FBI and other agencies are “chiseling away at institutions we are going to need again.”

Hayden made the remarks during a discussion about congressional Republicans’ failure to hold Donald Trump accountable for his attacks on democratic principles and institutions, from undermining special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe to calling on the Department of Justice to investigate his political opponents. Continue reading “Four-Star General Hayden Warns Against GOP Assault On National Security Agencies”

Republicans vote to release memo alleging FBI missteps in surveillance of Trump campaign operative

The following article by Karoun Demirjian and Devlin Barrett was posted on the Washington Post website January 29, 2018:

Created by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the four-page memo is critical of the Justice Department and the FBI’s handling of the Russia investigation. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)

The House Intelligence Committee voted Monday to release a memo detailing alleged surveillance abuses by the FBI and the Justice Department, escalating a political fight between conservatives and the nation’s intelligence agencies.

The vote, which proceeded along party lines in the Republican-controlled committee, means that President Trump now has up to five days to review the material and decide whether to keep it secret, though he could agree to the release anytime before that deadline. If he does nothing, the committee can release the memo publicly. Continue reading “Republicans vote to release memo alleging FBI missteps in surveillance of Trump campaign operative”

How Congress can protect Robert Mueller’s investigation

The following article by Alison Durkee was posted on the mic.com website January 29, 2018:

Fears over special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s continuing employment have intensified in recent days, after the New York Times published a report alleging that President Donald Trump attempted to fire Mueller in June.

According to the Times report, Trump backed down from his request for Mueller’s termination after White House counsel Don McGahn threatened to quit over the decision — yet the report noted that Mueller’s fate still remains an “omnipresent concern” among the president’s aides and legal team. Continue reading “How Congress can protect Robert Mueller’s investigation”

How Trump may end up expanding Medicaid, whether he means to or not

The following article by Jeff Stein was posted on the Washington Post website January 28, 2018:

The Trump administration is calling Medicaid work requirements a positive “incentive” for beneficiaries, but critics say they’re a harmful double standard. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Republican lawmakers in a half-dozen states are launching fresh efforts to expand Medicaid, the nation’s health insurance program for the poor, as party holdouts who had blocked the expansion say they’re now open to it because of Trump administration guidelines allowing states to impose new requirements that program recipients work to get benefits.

In Utah, a Republican legislator working with the GOP governor says he hopes to pass a Medicaid expansion plan with work requirements within the year. In Idaho, a conservative lawmaker who steadfastly opposed Medicaid expansion in the past says the new requirements make him more open to the idea. And in Wyoming, a Republican senator who previously opposed expansion — a key part of President Barack Obama’s health-care law — says he’s ready to take another look at fellow Republicans’ expansion efforts in his state. Continue reading “How Trump may end up expanding Medicaid, whether he means to or not”

Secret Memo Hints at a New Republican Target: Rod Rosenstein

The following article by Nicolas Fandos, Adam Goldman and Sharon LaFraniere was posted on the New York Times website January 28, 2018:

Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein at a hearing in December. Mr. Rosenstein is said to have approved an application for surveillance of a former Trump associate. Credit Pete Marovich for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A secret, highly contentious Republican memo reveals that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein approved an application to extend surveillance of a former Trump campaign associate shortly after taking office last spring, according to three people familiar with it.

The renewal shows that the Justice Department under President Trump saw reason to believe that the associate, Carter Page, was acting as a Russian agent. But the reference to Mr. Rosenstein’s actions in the memo — a much-disputed document that paints the investigation into Russian election meddling as tainted from the start — indicates that Republicans may be moving to seize on his role as they seek to undermine the inquiry. Continue reading “Secret Memo Hints at a New Republican Target: Rod Rosenstein”

Republicans in Congress divided over protecting Mueller from being ousted by Trump

The following article by Sean Sullivan was posted on the Washington Post website January 28, 2018:

Lawmakers of both parties doubled down in their support for Mueller, but split on the need for protections after reports say Trump ordered his firing. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

Republicans in Congress were divided Sunday over protecting special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, with two senators embracing plans to make it more difficult for President Trump to have him fired but a top House lawmaker declaring them unnecessary.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) highlighted his proposal to check Trump’s power over Mueller, while Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said it wouldn’t hurt to pass legislation along those lines. Continue reading “Republicans in Congress divided over protecting Mueller from being ousted by Trump”

Focus is on an audience of one — Trump — to prevail with House GOP

The following article by Paul Kane was posted on the Washington Post website January 27, 2018:

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington. Credit: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg

The “Hastert Rule” is on its way out. It’s been replaced by the “Trump Rule.”

Several times last year, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) articulated this subtle but important shift. The much maligned, often misunderstood practice of requiring majority support among House Republicans to advance most legislation has evolved with this Republican president.

It used to be the political assumption that if Ryan brought a bill to the floor that did not have the support of the Republican majority, he risked an internal uprising that threatened his speakership. But now, there’s a corollary to the Hastert Rule, named after disgraced former House speaker J. Dennis Hastert. Continue reading “Focus is on an audience of one — Trump — to prevail with House GOP”