Today’s House Rules Committee meeting, where members will debate the rule for the annual defense bill, will be a good gauge of where things stand between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and hardline conservatives in his caucus, Politico reports.
Archives for September 12, 2023 at 9:00 am EDT
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Impeachment Puts California Republicans in Tough Spot
Los Angeles Times: “Impeachment is not popular in the 18 districts that Biden won in 2020 but that are currently held by House Republicans, according to an August poll commissioned by the Congressional Integrity Project, a Democratic-aligned nonprofit. Five of those vulnerable incumbents— John Duarte of Modesto, Young Kim of Orange County, David Valadao of Hanford, Michelle Steel of Seal Beach and Mike Garcia of Santa Clarita — represent California districts.”
What People Born on Biden’s Birthday Say About His Age
Wall Street Journal: “These octogenarian voters are among nearly a dozen Americans born the same day as the president that The Wall Street Journal interviewed. They are uniquely suited to answer one of the biggest questions hanging over the 2024 election: Is Biden too old to run again?”
“Most said no. But they were candid about the risks of aging in the years to come.”
Vladimir Putin Praises Elon Musk
“Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Elon Musk as an outstanding person and talented businessman, just days after the chief executive officer of SpaceX acknowledged preventing Ukraine from using his company’s Starlink satellite network for an attack on Russian warships,” Bloomberg reports.
GOP Lawmaker Faces Blowback Over Impeachment Stance
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) “is just one of several House Republicans standing in the way of the right’s push to impeach President Joe Biden,” CNN reports.
“Now, there is a serious effort underway to find a candidate to mount a primary challenge against Buck in his solidly red district in eastern Colorado… the latest sign of tension as the House GOP grapples with internal divisions over everything from its agenda to former President Donald Trump.”
Virginia Democrat Says She Won’t Be Intimidated
Susanna Gibson (D), who is running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates and had sex with her husband in live videos posted on a pornographic website, called the exposure of the videos “the worst gutter politics,” CBS News reports.
Said Gibson: “It won’t intimidate me and it won’t silence me. My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up.”
Gibson’s attorney said that disseminating the videos is a violation of Virginia’s revenge porn law, which makes it a crime to “maliciously” disseminate or sell nude or sexual images of another person with the intent to “coerce, harass, or intimidate.”
Democrats Unlikely to Back McCarthy’s Ouster
“As Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) publicly floats a plan to team up with Democrats in an effort to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), some House Democrats say they’re not interested,” Axios reports.
“A single member can trigger a ‘motion to vacate‘ vote, but actually removing the speaker requires a majority of the House and would likely need substantial support from Democrats.”
Said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH): “Most of us came here to govern and get things done, not indulge Matt Gaetz when he has one of his tantrums.”
Iran Says It Will Spend $6 Billion ‘Wherever We Need It’
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his government will decide how it will spend $6 billion in previously frozen funds due to be released under a prisoner exchange agreement with the United States, telling NBC News that the money “belongs to the Iranian people.”
But U.S. officials say Qatar’s central bank will oversee the funds and Iran will only be permitted to use the money for humanitarian purposes in accordance with U.S. sanctions.
In Search of Tim Scott’s Girlfriend
Ben Terris: “I wasn’t interested in laundering innuendos for this Republican operative. At the same time, the whole exchange left me intrigued about how voter interest (or lack thereof) in Scott’s love life (or lack thereof) might illuminate the politics of marriage, family and masculinity in today’s GOP. Donald Trump scrambled the values of the ‘family values’ party to such a degree that the base kept loving him despite the “locker-room talk” about grabbing women and the allegation — which Trump denies — that he had cheated on his third wife with a porn star.”
“And yet, for all the conventional wisdom that went out the door when Trump walked in, a long-held belief persists: that the absence of a wife and kids would make voters uneasy, especially the kind who vote in Republican primaries. Was that still true?”
He finally asked Scott in an interview: “He wouldn’t tell me her name, and the campaign declined to make her available to chat, even off the record. Technically I can’t verify that she exists, except to note that for a presidential campaign to essentially reverse-catfish America would be insane.”
Biden’s Comments on 9/11 Contradict His Own Book
“President Biden said Monday that he was at the World Trade Center site in New York City one day after the 9/11 attacks — despite his own autobiography placing him in DC,” the New York Post reports.
“The 80-year-old president also claimed he saw the fireball caused by the plane that struck the Pentagon in northern Virginia from Washington’s Union Station, when his own book says he merely saw ‘a brown haze of smoke.’
Biden May Send Long-Range Missiles to Ukraine
“The Biden administration is in active conversations about whether to send long-range missiles to Ukraine amid an intense campaign for the U.S. to transfer the weapon,” Politico reports.
“It’s unclear if a decision memo has reached President Joe Biden’s desk. The officials said a final call would be made with Ukraine’s input, but Washington and Kyiv aren’t engaged in discussions about an announcement or a rollout of Army Tactical Missile Systems.”
Andrew Yang Claims ‘Conversations’ with No Labels
“Andrew Yang, the former Democratic presidential candidate and one-time New York City mayoral hopeful, has had talks with centrist third party organization No Labels about its third-party presidential bid,” Politico reports.
How Mitch McConnell Kept His Grip
Politico: “McConnell confronted the moment in the way he knows best: by rallying his supporters to his side. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), one of McConnell’s top deputies, recalled the leader ringing him just minutes after the August freeze to say, dryly as ever, ‘I just had another one of those.'”
“It was a subtle acknowledgment that his health might become a fresh distraction from a man who’s sensitive about the topic. McConnell ultimately had to get more personal with his members to quell a possible political threat stemming from his freeze-ups, releasing a doctor’s letter that ruled out graver diagnoses and delivering a private presentation to his members on his health.”
Feinstein Family Drama Sent to Private Mediation
“The bitter legal drama around Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s family finances might be resolved out of the limelight after weeks of embarrassing revelations,” Politico reports.
“A judge on Monday ordered the parties in a dispute over the estate of the senator’s late husband to resolve their differences through mediation — generally a private process that will keep further details about the family finances out of public view.”
Auto Workers Bend on Wage Demands
Wall Street Journal: “It is the first visible sign of progress on the wage issue since the sides began talks in earnest in July.”
Trump Maintains Huge Lead in Iowa
A new Emerson College Polling survey in Iowa finds Donald Trump with 49% support in the Republican caucus, followed by Ron DeSantis with 14%, Tim Scott with 8%, Nikki Haley at 7%, and Vivek Ramaswamy at 7%.
Quote of the Day
“I’ve never seen a colleague make more empty threats — day in/day out than this guy. Gaetz folded like a cheap card table to make McCarthy speaker and will never — I repeat never — make a motion to remove McCarthy.”
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), on X.
