Tag: U.S. House

Democrats eye action on threat of white nationalism

The Hill logoDemocrats on Capitol Hill are pressing hard to adopt tougher gun laws following a pair of mass shootings this month that horrified the country and rekindled the on-again, off-again push to install higher barriers to owning firearms.

But as Congress prepares to return to Washington next month from the long summer recess, Democrats also want to go a step further to tackle another scourge they consider to be related: the threat of violent white nationalism that, according to federal law enforcers, is on the rise.

The lawmakers’ ultimate goal is to strengthen the nation’s hate crime laws and weed out race-based incidents of domestic terrorism. As a first step, they’re pushing legislation designed to log the frequency of such cases around the country — data they say has gone neglected as the Trump administration has focused more squarely on foreign-based threats to homeland security.

View the complete August 28 article by Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.

Deutsche Bank all but confirms it possesses some of Trump’s tax returns

Lawyers for Deutsche Bank all but confirmed on Tuesday that the German lender possesses some of President Donald Trump’s tax returns and those of his family members.

The financial giant was responding to an order from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, demanding information about whether Deutsche Bank and Capital One possess any of Trump’s tax returns subpoenaed by the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees earlier this year.

View the complete August 27 article by Andrew Desiderio and Brian Faler on the Politico website here.

Nadler subpoenas Lewandowski, former White House official for testimony

The Hill logoHouse Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) subpoenaed former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former White House official Rick Dearborn on Thursday, marking Democrats’ latest efforts to receive testimony from key figures in the Mueller report.

Nadler said he is seeking the public testimony on Sept. 17 from two individuals who were “prominently” involved in President Trump’s attempts to persuade then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reverse his recusal from overseeing the Russia probe.

“Corey Lewandowski and Rick Dearborn were prominently featured in the Special Counsel’s description of President Trump’s efforts to obstruct justice by directing then-White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire the Special Counsel, and then by ordering him to lie about it,” Nadler said in a statement.

View the complete August 15 article by Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.

Democrats call for Pelosi to cut recess short to address white nationalism

The Hill logoDozens of House Democrats are pressing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to cut short the long summer break and bring House committees back to Washington to address the violent rise of white nationalism.

Behind two freshman lawmakers — Reps. Veronica Escobar (Texas) and Tom Malinowski (N.J.) — the Democrats maintain that “urgent attention” is needed to tackle “the threats posed by white supremacist terrorism” after Saturday’s deadly mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, where the suspect appeared to be driven by anti-immigrant sentiment.

The pair is circulating a letter among House Democrats urging Pelosi to call back the relevant panels to take up related legislation.

View the complete August 6 article by Mike Lillis on The Hill website here.

‘Take Texas seriously’: GOP anxiety spikes after retirements, Democratic gains

Washington Post logoRepublicans have long idealized Texas as a deep-red frontier state, home to rural conservatives who love President Trump. But political turbulence in the sprawling suburbs and fast-growing cities are turning the Lone Star State into a possible 2020 battleground.

“The president’s reelection campaign needs to take Texas seriously,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said in an interview. He added that while he remains optimistic about the GOP’s chances, it is “by no means a given” that Trump will carry Texas — and its 38 electoral votes — next year or that Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) will be reelected.

For a state that once elevated the Bush family and was forged into a Republican stronghold by Karl Rove, it is an increasingly uncertain time. Changing demographics and a wave of liberal activism have given new hope to Democrats, who have not won a statewide elective office since 1994 or Texas’s presidential vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

View the complete August 2 article by Robert Costa and Robert Moore on The Washington Post website here.

What to know about the fight over Trump’s tax returns

The Hill logoThe fight over President Trump’s tax returns has moved to the courts.

In recent weeks, the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee has filed a lawsuit in an effort to obtain Trump’s federal tax returns, and Trump has filed a lawsuit to prevent the committee from getting his New York state tax returns.

The court cases are sure to be closely watched. Democrats view obtaining Trump’s tax returns as a key oversight priority. Trump is the first president in decades who refused to voluntarily release any of his tax returns, and he is determined to keep them private.

View the complete July 28 article by Naomi Jagoda on The Hill website here.

House panel seeks grand jury material underlying Mueller report

The Hill logoHouse Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) announced Friday that his committee is filing an application in court to obtain the grand jury material underlying former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump.

Nadler said that the panel is seeking the material in order to decide whether to recommend articles of impeachment against Trump — perhaps the Democratic chairman’s most significant and public acknowledgement that his committee is considering impeachment as a possibility.

“Because Department of Justice policies will not allow prosecution of the sitting president, the United States House of Representatives is the only institution of the federal government that can now vote President Trump accountable for these actions,” Nadler said at a press conference Friday afternoon, quoting from the application his committee was about to file in court.

View the complete July 26 article by Morgan Chalfant, Jacqueline Thomsen and Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.

Top Democrat says Trump’s aides blocked a crucial briefing out of fear it would ‘bruise his ego’

AlterNet logoSpeaking on “CBS This Morning” on Thursday, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia urged the country to pay more attention to the issue of election security in light of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony.

“Where we’ve been focused is the point that Bob Mueller made repeatedly yesterday, not only did Russia attack us in 2016, but they will be back in 2020,” Warner said. “I’ve got no interest in re-litigating 2016, I am interested in making sure that we have appropriate protections in 2020.”

But as I argued on Wednesday, we can’t really separate present election security issues from what happened in 2016 and President Donald Trump’s subsequent efforts to cover it up. As it stands, Trump is the primary force in American politics preventing the country from fortifying its election systems against foreign influence and corruption.

View the complete July 26 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.

House clears bill to relieve onslaught of robocalls plaguing Americans

The House voted to pass a bill that would require phone companies to offer screening technology to customers at no cost

Lawmakers and their constituents are fed up with the bombardment of nuisance and scam calls plaguing their cell phones and on Wednesday the House passed a bipartisan measure to combat robocalls.

The House voted 429-3 to pass a bill that would require phone companies to offer screening technology to customers at no cost that would identify and block spam robocalls. It would also double, to four years, the time period that parties can be prosecuted for illegal robocalls.

New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone Jr. teamed up with Oregon Republican Greg Walden to sponsor the measure, which would require the Federal Communications Commission to give Congress an annual report on its robocall enforcement activities, and provide legislative proposals to decrease their frequency.

View the complete July 24 article by Katherine Tully-McManus on The Roll Call website here.

Population shifts set up huge House battleground

The Hill logoNOTE: Voting not just for federal races next year, but the state House and Senate because the state legislature will do redistricting in Minnesota after the 2020 census. And, the party controlling the legislative houses will draw the boundaries. With the recent Supreme Court vote saying they won’t weigh in on gerrymandering, you can bet the GOP will do what they can to maximize their political clout with bogus boundaries just like what happened in Wisconsin after the last session.

As many as 1 in 5 seats in the House of Representatives may be competitive next year as population shifts and partisan realignment conspire to create one of the most widespread battlefields in generations.

Democrats will find themselves on defense in dozens of districts the party captured in 2018, including 31 districts President Trump won in 2016. Already, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has identified 36 members for its Frontline program, which protects endangered incumbents.

Republicans, too, will have to defend districts in unexpected areas, seats that Democrats narrowly lost in 2018. Districts that have not been targets for years are suddenly in play, either because suburban voters revolted against Trump or because new residents are moving in and changing the makeup of those areas.

View the complete July 17 article by Reid Wilson on The Hill website here.