All posts tagged: U.S. Republican Party

Trump-backed bill to avert government shutdown fails

Trump-backed bill to avert government shutdown fails

Published by Sam

WASHINGTON — A House Republican bill to fund the government for three months and suspend the debt ceiling for two years failed Thursday night, as dozens of rank-and-file Republicans voted against the deal endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump. Without a deal to fund the federal government and legislation that has passed the House and Senate and been signed into law, a partial shutdown is set to begin late Friday night. A total of 38 Republicans voted against the bill hammered out by their own party’s leaders. The 38 were joined by every Democrat, save for two who voted in favor and one who voted present. It was unclear late Thursday what House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., would do next, given how substantial the opposition to the bill was from within his own party. Trump and his ally Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, had already doomed a prior funding proposal Wednesday by harshly criticizing its provisions, sending Republicans scrambling for most of Thursday for a replacement plan. The latest failed version of the continuing resolution would …

Trump Media CEO asks House GOP to launch stock manipulation probe

Trump Media CEO asks House GOP to launch stock manipulation probe

Published by skeptic

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, speaks during an impeachment inquiry hearing in Washington, Nov. 13, 2019. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes on Tuesday urged House Republican committee leaders to investigate possible “unlawful manipulation” of the company’s stock. Nunes, himself a former House GOP chair, in a letter asked them to probe “anomalous trading” of the stock in order to gauge the extent of the alleged manipulation and “whether any laws including RICO statutes and tax evasion laws were violated.” The request doubles down on Nunes’ claim that Trump Media, which trades under the ticker DJT, is the apparent victim of “naked” short selling, the practice of selling a company’s shares without first borrowing them for that purpose. Trump Media, which began trading on the Nasdaq on March 26 after completing a lengthy public merger, was far and away the most expensive U.S. stock to short as of early April. Brokers therefore “have a significant financial incentive to lend non-existent shares,” Nunes wrote. The …

Pentagon leaders press Congress for Ukraine funding, saying battlefield situation is dire

Pentagon leaders press Congress for Ukraine funding, saying battlefield situation is dire

Published by skeptic

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine and Israel both desperately need the military weapons that are being held up by Congress’ failure to pass a funding package for the two countries at war, Pentagon leaders told House appropriators Wednesday, calling the situation in Ukraine dire. “Whether it’s munitions, whether it’s vehicles, whether it’s platforms,” Ukraine is being outmatched by the Russians, Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. “I’ll just tell you that Ukraine right now is facing some dire battlefield conditions.” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, seated alongside Brown, told lawmakers that time matters. “We’re already seeing things on the battlefield begin to shift a bit in Russia’s favor. We are seeing them make incremental gains. We’re seeing the Ukrainians be challenged in terms of holding the line,” he said. Their grim assessments came as House Republicans wrangle over the $95 billion foreign aid bill that the Senate passed in February. That legislation provides funding for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, as well as humanitarian aid for civilians …

Indiana limits abortion data for privacy under near-total ban, but some GOP candidates push back

Indiana limits abortion data for privacy under near-total ban, but some GOP candidates push back

Published by skeptic

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana allows so few abortions that health officials stopped releasing individual reports to protect patient privacy — a move some Republicans are now fighting to reverse. The Republicans, including prominent candidates for office this year, want access to reports detailing each abortion still performed in the state. Advocates for abortion rights and some state officials warn that would jeopardize the privacy of physicians and patients who can only receive abortions under strict circumstances. The state bans abortions except within limited time frames in cases of rape, incest, lethal fetal anomaly and serious health risks to the patient. Like many states, Indiana has long collected data on abortions, but the Department of Health last year decided to keep the individual reports from public record and only release its regular summary data four times a year to make it harder to potentially identify patients. Indiana law requires physicians to submit “terminated pregnancy reports” with demographic and medical history information to the health department. The reports do not name patients but can list their zip …

Noncitizen voting isn’t an issue in federal elections, regardless of conspiracy theories. Here’s why

Noncitizen voting isn’t an issue in federal elections, regardless of conspiracy theories. Here’s why

Published by José

Former President Donald Trump turned to one of his favorite themes on Friday — the specter of immigrants improperly voting in federal elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson came to the former president’s Florida compound to announce that he would introduce a bill to stop those who are not citizens from voting in elections. Trump has made baseless claims about this subject before, like in 2016, when he blamed his loss of the popular vote on voting by immigrants, and then appointed a commission to investigate the issue. It disbanded without identifying a single case of a noncitizen casting a vote. He and other Republicans have recently revved up their conspiratorial claims about the issue with the influx of migrants across the southern border under Biden, contending Democrats are letting them in to add them to the voter rolls. The theory involves two complicated subjects, immigration and voting, but it’s actually very simple. There isn’t any indication that noncitizens vote in significant numbers in federal elections or that they will in the future. It’s already a …

First Muslim American appellate court nominee faces uphill battle to salvage nomination

First Muslim American appellate court nominee faces uphill battle to salvage nomination

Published by skeptic

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nominee who could become the first Muslim American to serve as a federal appellate court judge is fighting back against characterizations of his work by law enforcement groups that are jeopardizing his nomination. The White House and Senate are doubling down on their efforts to win over lawmakers on the fence, but it may be too late. Adeel Mangi received law degrees from Oxford and Harvard. He works in a prestigious law firm and has secured significant legal victories. But his limited volunteer work with two outside groups has imperiled his nomination. Some law enforcement groups have told lawmakers that Mangi’s work as an advisory board member for the Alliance of Families for Justice is disqualifying. That’s peeling off support — not only from key Democrats but from some Republicans who have been at times willing to support President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees. Mangi has taken the unusual step of writing his home state senator to explain his work with the alliance. To counter the police groups in opposition, he and …

Ohio’s DeWine focuses on children in his State of the State address

Ohio’s DeWine focuses on children in his State of the State address

Published by skeptic

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Improving access to child care and kids’ health care form the core elements of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s agenda in 2024, as the second-term Republican rolled out a slate of policy priorities focusing on children to state lawmakers Wednesday. DeWine, speaking in the House of Representatives’ chamber in the Statehouse, delivered his State of the State address to a joint session of the GOP-controlled Legislature, a preview of his budget and policy plans for 2024. To a great extent, DeWine focused on improving health care and student learning, as well as things he said can boost Ohio’s economy, including efforts to expand child care and keeping more college graduates in the state. He said he wants to build on previous efforts to expand subsidized child care, college tuition and technical education offerings in high schools. “The single most important thing we can do for Ohio’s future is to ensure that all Ohio children — all Ohio children, no matter where they live, no matter who their parents are — have the …

Former Miss America runs again for North Dakota’s only U.S. House seat in a crowded GOP primary

Former Miss America runs again for North Dakota’s only U.S. House seat in a crowded GOP primary

Published by skeptic

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Republican primary voters in North Dakota will have an assortment of choices for the state’s only U.S. House seat, with candidates ranging from the little-known to a former Miss America. Monday was the candidate filing deadline for the June 11 primary election. Along with a new representative, North Dakotans will elect a new governor this year, setting the stage for a decisive Republican primary showdown between the state’s lone congressman and lieutenant governor. Republicans hold every statewide office and congressional seat, and Democrats have not won a statewide election since 2012. Election officials accepted candidate filings throughout Monday in the wake of weekend endorsing conventions held by the Republican and Democratic parties. The crowded Republican House race is poised for an energetic campaign season after a contentious endorsement process and Monday’s entry of former Miss America 2018 Cara Mund, an attorney who ran unsuccessfully for the seat as an independent in 2022. The other GOP candidates are military veteran and former U.S. State Department employee Alex Balazs, former state Rep. Rick …

Trump’s abortion statement angers conservatives and gives the Biden campaign a new target

Trump’s abortion statement angers conservatives and gives the Biden campaign a new target

Published by skeptic

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump still says he’s proud that the Supreme Court justices he nominated overturned Roe v. Wade. Yet he again on Monday avoided tough questions about abortion, including whether he would support a national abortion ban should he return to the White House. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee tried to put to rest an issue widely seen as a general election liability. Instead, his video statement exposed the tough road ahead and inflamed leaders on both sides of the issue. Religious conservatives said they were deeply disappointed. Progressives said he was lying. And there’s every indication that abortion will define the 2024 election no matter what Trump does or says — in large part because Republicans in Congress and in statehouses across the country continue to fight for new restrictions. Here are some takeaways exploring the complicated politics of Trump’s latest statement. SEARCHING FOR POLITICAL SAFE GROUND For Trump, fights over abortion, like any other major issue, have always been about winning. And so it should not be a surprise that …

2 women who say abortion restrictions put them in medical peril feel compelled to campaign for Biden

2 women who say abortion restrictions put them in medical peril feel compelled to campaign for Biden

Published by skeptic

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Texas woman who went into premature labor, developed sepsis and nearly died and a Louisiana woman who said restrictive abortion laws prevented her from getting medical help for a miscarriage are now campaigning for President Joe Biden as the Democrat highlights how women’s health is being affected by the overturning of federal abortion protections. Amanda Zurawski and Kaitlyn Joshua will travel to North Carolina and Wisconsin over the next two weeks to meet with doctors, local officials and voters. The Biden campaign sees their stories as potent firsthand accounts of the growing medical peril for many women as abortion restrictions pushed by Republicans complicate health care. “The abortion topic is a very heavy topic, and I understand that, said Joshua, 31, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. ”But I also understand and believe that the Biden and Harris administration is the only administration that could do anything remotely close to addressing the abortion bans … and then also doing a deeper dive into research and understanding women’s health in general.” Biden and Democrats …