All posts tagged: House Republicans

Michigan Congressman and Former Pastor Appears to Suggest Nuking Gaza

Michigan Congressman and Former Pastor Appears to Suggest Nuking Gaza

Published by skeptic

Michigan Representative Tim Walberg appeared to float the idea of using nuclear weapons against Palestinians in Gaza during an interaction with constituents at a town hall last week. The comments came in a video posted to social media from March 25 that appeared to show Walberg answering a question about President Joe Biden’s plan, announced in his State of the Union address, to build a floating military port to bring aid into the besieged territory. “We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid,” Walberg replied before mentioning the two Japanese cities on which the U.S. used atomic weapons in 1945, killing hundreds of thousands. “It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.” The ordained Baptist pastor added that U.S. aid should be directed to support Israel’s war “to defeat Hamas, and Iran, and Russia, and probably North Korea’s in there and China too, with them helping Hamas.” A report earlier this month from a group monitoring food insecurity found that about half of the Palestinians in Gaza face “catastrophic food insecurity,” …

Rep. Mike Gallagher To Leave Congress, Further Shrinking House Republican Majority

Rep. Mike Gallagher To Leave Congress, Further Shrinking House Republican Majority

Published by skeptic

Mike Johnson’s razor-thin House majority got even tinier on Friday, after Wisconsin Representative Mike Gallagher announced plans to retire in April. Gallagher, who has served in Congress since 2016 and currently chairs a congressional select committee investigating the Chinese Communist Party, said in a statement that the move came “after conversations with my family,” but did not elaborate on his reasons for leaving. Puck News’ Teddy Schleifer reported Friday that Gallagher plans to take a job at Palantir, the major analytics company founded by Peter Thiel. Though the Iraq war veteran had announced last month that he wouldn’t seek re-election next year, the move still comes as a major surprise, as Gallagher was considered a rising star in the party, and departing Congress mid-term is generally unusual for a committee chair. The congressman’s resignation will become effective on April 19, according to his statement. “I’ve worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline and look forward to seeing Speaker Mike Johnson appoint a new chair to carry out the important mission of the Select …

How the Steele Dossier Broke the Media

How the Steele Dossier Broke the Media

Published by skeptic

The parallel was striking—but perhaps no one wanted to see it. Last week, corruption allegations that underpinned the House GOP’s push to impeach President Joe Biden collapsed after federal prosecutors charged Alexander Smirnov, the informant who’d brought them forward, with lying to the FBI. The Biden impeachment was never about the substance of the allegations against him; it was revenge for what former President Donald Trump’s allies view as witch hunts against him. After Trump was impeached twice, Republicans were always going to search for some cause to impeach Biden—preferably one that involved just the kind of untoward foreign dealings of which Trump was accused. Instead, the conservative media and House Republicans seem to have blundered into their own version of the Steele dossier, the infamous collection of allegations against Trump gathered before the 2016 election. Both stories involve dubious dealings in the hall of mirrors that is the former Soviet Union, an FBI informant with sketchy intelligence ties, and accusations that Russian intelligence planted false information. And in both cases, the underlying information has …

Clyburn gives GOP a new nickname: ‘Groupies of Putin’

Clyburn gives GOP a new nickname: ‘Groupies of Putin’

Published by skeptic

House Minority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) went after Republicans Saturday, branding the GOP with a new nickname: “Groupies of Putin.” Clyburn, who announced he would step down from leadership in 2024, argued Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his other GOP colleagues have only been doing the business of Russian President Vladimir Putin “at the behest of the former president.” “I think the American people are beginning to see that Johnson is a part of what I call ‘Groupies of Putin,’” Clyburn said Saturday on MSNBC’s “The Weekend.” “That’s what GOP stands for now, ‘Groupies of Putin.” “The American people will see through that,” he added. “And we Democrats are going to do what we can to make sure that it’s front and center.” His comments come as Johnson has refused to bring a Senate-passed foreign aid bill to the House floor that would provide an additional $60 billion to Ukraine, as it hits two years since Russia launched its full-blown invasion. House Republicans have argued that any foreign aid spending bill must be paired with …

House Republicans’ majority is falling apart

House Republicans’ majority is falling apart

Published by skeptic

A television network boss once told me there is no political talk show that will get better ratings than a videotape of any politician tripping and falling. That’s still true. American television networks can’t pull their cameras away from the stumbles and the screaming on public view as the result of the GOP’s likely nomination of Donald Trump for a second term as president. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) took a face-first fall on live television two weeks ago when he called a vote to begin impeachment proceedings against President Biden’s secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas. In rushing to please the Trump-extremists in his caucus, he failed to realize that he did not have the votes. On a second try last week, they impeached Mayorkas by a single vote. It was a transparently empty act that said less about the secretary than it did about their own bumbling. The entire GOP House caucus is now locked in this fall-on-your-butt loop of dysfunction. Currently, close to two dozen Republicans are making it clear they can’t take more of the sad comedy. …

Trump’s contempt for military service

Trump’s contempt for military service

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. The presumptive Republican nominee showed yet again this weekend how little he thinks of America’s men and women in uniform. First, here are four new stories from The Atlantic: A Pattern of Disdain Donald Trump made news over the weekend by saying that he would invite Russian aggression against NATO members. I wrote on Saturday that these statements were far more dangerous than his usual disconnected blustering. But in the midst of this appalling business, Trump also reminded Americans how little he values the service of American military personnel. At a campaign stop in Conway, South Carolina, on Saturday, Trump tried to zing his only remaining GOP primary rival, his own United Nations ambassador (and a former Palmetto State governor) Nikki Haley, by asking why her husband was not on the campaign trail with her. Army Major Michael Haley, …

The Republicans’ Last Great Test of Character

The Republicans’ Last Great Test of Character

Published by skeptic

Will enough of Trump’s party finally be willing to stand up for Ukraine rather than follow his lead and bow to Russia? Haiyun Jiang / NYT / Redux February 12, 2024, 1:15 PM ET After weeks of backroom maneuvering, the Republican split over foreign policy has burst into full view. The immediate stakes are the survival of Ukraine and the credibility of NATO. But behind the crisis of today is a larger crisis of tomorrow: U.S.-led defense of collective security, global trade, and the vitality of democracy as a force in the world. That split in the GOP emerged over the weekend in two starkly contrasting stories, each pointing toward a very different American future. At a rally in South Carolina on Saturday, ex-President Donald Trump denounced NATO allies and said that he “would encourage” Russia to attack them. By Sunday, many elected Republicans were making the usual excuses for Trump. Senator Marco Rubio appeared on CNN to say that he had “zero concern” about Trump’s latest pro-Moscow outburst. “He doesn’t talk like a traditional …

If Russia wins – The Atlantic

If Russia wins – The Atlantic

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Ukrainian defenses are in danger of being destroyed and overrun because House Republicans refuse to provide ammunition and aid. If Russia wins this war, the consequences could be catastrophic. First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic: What Could Happen Ukraine is fighting for the lives of its people and its very existence, and it is running out of ammunition. If the United States does not step back in with aid, Russia could eventually win this war. Despite the twaddle from propagandists in Moscow (and a few academics in the United States), Russia’s war is not about NATO, or borders, or the balance of power. The Russian dictator Vladimir Putin intends to absorb Ukraine into a new Russian empire, and he will eradicate the Ukrainians if they refuse to accept his rule. Europe is in the midst of …

Trump’s Immigration Plan Is Even More Aggressive Now

Trump’s Immigration Plan Is Even More Aggressive Now

Published by skeptic

Confrontations over immigration and border security are moving to the center of the struggle between the two parties, both in Washington, D.C., and beyond. And yet the most explosive immigration clash of all may still lie ahead. In just the past few days, Washington has seen the collapse of a bipartisan Senate deal to toughen border security amid opposition from former President Donald Trump and the House Republican leadership, as well as a failed vote by House Republicans to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for allegedly refusing to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. Simultaneously, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, supported by more than a dozen other GOP governors, has renewed his attempts to seize greater control over immigration enforcement from the federal government. Cumulatively these clashes demonstrate how much the terms of debate over immigration have moved to the right during President Joe Biden’s time in office. But even amid that overall shift, Trump is publicly discussing immigration plans for a second presidential term that could quickly become much more politically divisive …

The Art of No Deal

The Art of No Deal

Published by skeptic

The Republicans who won’t take yes for an answer Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images February 6, 2024, 7 AM ET Sometimes, a negotiation produces a deal. Sometimes, a negotiation reveals the truth. Negotiators in the Senate have produced a draft agreement on immigration and asylum. The deal delivers on Republican priorities. It includes changes to federal law to discourage asylum seeking. It shuts down asylum processing altogether if too many people arrive at once. Those and other changes send a clear message to would-be immigrants: You’re going to find it a lot harder to enter the United States without authorization. Rethink your plans. The draft agreement offers little to nothing on major Democratic immigration priorities: no pathway to citizenship for long-term undocumented immigrants, only the slightest increase in legal immigration. The Democrats traded away most of their own policy wish list. In return, they want an end to the mood of crisis at the border, plus emergency defense aid for Ukraine and Israel. Yet Republicans in the House seem determined to reject the draft agreement. …