“The face of the Biden resistance is taking shape in the Senate: Josh Hawley,” Politico reports.
“In a prelude to a widely expected 2024 presidential bid, the Missouri Republican is the only senator to oppose every one of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees — a distinction sealed Tuesday when he voted against confirming new Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Hawley briefly held up the confirmation of another Cabinet official, for the Department of Homeland Security.”
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn’t want to talk about the recall. But his allies can’t ignore it,” Politico reports.
“The campaign to oust Newsom went from unlikely to unavoidable this week as pervasive frustration with Newsom’s pandemic management cut sharply into his approval numbers. The longer businesses have been closed, hospitals full and school campuses shut, the more the movement has gained traction beyond conservative social media circles.”
Conspiracist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is far more popular than Rep. Liz Cheney among Americans who align with the Republican Party, according to a new Axios-SurveyMonkey poll.
Greene has a net favorable rationing of 28% to 18% (+10) compared to Cheney at 14% to 42% (-28).
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“Bernie Sanders is shaking up his staff as he steps into a powerful new role in the Senate,” Politico reports.
“The Vermont senator’s chief of staff, legislative director and top communications staffer are on their way out or have changed roles, according to the sources. In their place, senior aides from Sanders’ 2020 presidential bid have come on board.”
“The worst thing is that we have become really kind of a grotesque caricature of what the Republican Party has traditionally been. We were founded as the party of the union, of holding the country together. And now we have got on this populist tack, which is very much us against them.”
— Former Sen. John Danforth (R-MO), in an interview with PBS Newshour.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) survived a Republican caucus vote to keep her leadership position.
The 145 to 61 vote, conducted by secret ballot, followed a marathon, closed-door “family discussion,” The Hill reports.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) condemned comments made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) but stopped short of proposing any action against her.
Democrats said they would move to oust Greene from her two House committees — a highly unusual move by the majority targeting a member of the opposing party.
“How stupid they are. They don’t even realize they’re helping me. I’m pretty amazed at how dumb they are.”
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). in an interview with the Washington Examiner, on Democrats planning to force her off House committees for past controversial statements.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office just sent out a press release referring to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as “McCarthy (Q-CA).”
“The Justice Department is considering whether to charge members of far-right groups involved in the deadly Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol under a federal law usually used against organized crime,” Reuters reports.
“The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, enables prosecutors to combat certain ongoing racketeering crimes such as murder, kidnapping, bribery and money laundering. The 1970 statute provides for hefty criminal penalties including up to 20 years in prison and seizure of assets obtained illegally through a criminal enterprise.”
“More than 10,000 Arizona Republicans left the party in January — a historic month marked by the insurrection of the US Capitol, an impeachment trial, and the censure of three prominent Republicans,” the Copper Courier reports.
“Most former Republicans — 6,750 — chose to forego any party affiliation, while 1,374 switched to the Democratic Party and 1,108 opted for Independent. The Libertarians gained another 485 members from former Republicans and two individuals changed their registration to the Green Party. Another 554 voters opted for what the Secretary of State’s Office describes as a ‘non-recognized political party.'”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the U.S. Space Force “absolutely” has the “full support of the Biden administration,” Axios reports.
A new Quinnipiac poll finds that two weeks into Joe Biden’s presidency of Joe Biden, a majority of Americans say, 61% to 34%, say that they are generally optimistic about the next four years with Biden as president.
Said pollster Tim Malloy: “Amid a palpable uncertainty about the months and even years ahead, there is a sense that President Biden is the man for the moment. And that moment can’t come too soon.”
“Canada on Wednesday declared the Proud Boys a terrorist entity, adding the far-right group to a list that includes al-Qaeda, ISIS and al-Shabab as part of an effort to crack down on what senior government officials called one of the country’s ‘most serious threats,'” the Washington Post reports.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) paid herself more than $22,000 in mileage reimbursements from her campaign account last year. Boebert’s campaign defends the reimbursements but three ethics experts who reviewed the money transfers for the Denver Post say they raise questions.
“To justify those reimbursements, Boebert would have had to drive 38,712 miles while campaigning, despite having no publicly advertised campaign events in March, April or July, and only one in May. Furthermore, because the reimbursements came in two payments — a modest $1,060 at the end of March and $21,200 on Nov. 11 — Boebert would have had to drive 36,870 miles in just over seven months between April 1 and Nov. 11 to justify the second payment.”
“The Biden administration is looking at whether it could make public White House visitor logs from early last month, a step that could reveal whether people connected with the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol visited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” the Washington Post reports.
“We already know that some of the most prominent people spreading the baseless conspiracy theory that Trump was cheated out of reelection darkened the West Wing’s doorstep in his waning days: My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, retired general Michael Flynn, and Sidney Powell. But the logs could flesh out more fully who was bending the president’s ear and shaping his mind in the run-up to the deadly Capitol riot.”
House Democrats announced plans to hold a vote on removing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from her House committees after Republican leaders declined to do so Wednesday on their own, the Washington Post reports.
House Republicans also plan to debate Wednesday whether to retain Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in her leadership position after her Jan. 13 vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump.
This is a great site: Professor Justin Levitt‘s guide to drawing electoral district lines.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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