Category Archives: Republican

WASHINGTON, D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today warned that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has become at least the second House Republican this year to say that, if Republicans are in the majority next year, they should repeal the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which gave D.C. an elected chief executive (mayor) and legislature (Council). In February, Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA) also said that a Republican House should repeal the Home Rule Act, and he said he was working on a bill to do so, which he has yet to introduce. Several other House Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA) and Representative James Comer (KY), the ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, which has jurisdiction over D.C., have told the press this year that they plan to limit D.C.s authority to govern its own affairs next Congress.

The last time we heard such threats to D.C. self-government from Republicans was in the early and mid-1990s, Norton said. Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Andrew Clyde literally want the federal government to resume running D.C. as a colony. Republicans are scared that D.C. has gotten closer to statehood than ever, and their response is, predictably, to try to take away what democracy the nearly 700,000 D.C. residents, a plurality of whom are African American, have. I will defeat their efforts, and their efforts will only strengthen our case for statehood.

In his signing statement on the Home Rule Act in 1973, President Nixon wrote, One of the major goals of this Administration is to place responsibility for local functions under local control and to provide local governments with the authority and resources they need to serve their communities effectively. The measure I sign today represents a significant step in achieving this goal in the city of Washington. It will give the people of the District of Columbia the right to elect their own city officials and to govern themselves in local affairs. As the Nation approaches the 200th anniversary of its founding, it is particularly appropriate to assure those persons who live in our Capital City rights and privileges which have long been enjoyed by most of their countrymen.

But the measure I sign today does more than create machinery for the election of local officials. It also broadens and strengthens the structure of the city government to enable it to deal more effectively with its responsibilities.

D.C. is denied voting representation in Congress and full self-government, which is undemocratic. Statehood is the remedy. Congress has the constitutional authority to grant D.C. statehood. D.C. has a larger population than two states, pays more federal taxes than 23 states, pays more federal taxes per capita than any state, has a larger budget than 12 states, has a larger gross domestic product than 17 states, has a triple-A bond rating, and federal funds constitute a smaller percentage of its budget than the percentage of total state revenue.

###

Visit link:

Norton Says Greene, Latest Republican to Call for Repealing D.C. Home Rule Act, Will Not Succeed - House.gov

***Click here todownloadvideo. Click here foraudio.***

WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) discussed thefuture of the Republican party and the Biden Administrations disastrous energypolicy on Fox Business Kudlow. Excerpts and full video are below.

On Future of the RepublicanParty:

The Trump doctrine matters. Donald Trump tapped into somethingreally important that Americans care about: an America First form ofconservatism and an America First form of trade. Id lovefourmoreyears with Donald Trump as well.

I also have a lot of friends andknowa lot of peoplewho want the Donald Trump face back because they want that same fightingspirit. But whatever the field looks like, they better be prepared toarticulate an America First Trump doctrine. If they dont, they are missingwhats been going on in this country and whats been going on in the RepublicanParty for the last several years.

I submit that you and I probably felt a little bit differentlyabout international trade 5, 6, or 7 years ago than we do now or globalizingthe economy or Americas role in foreign policing efforts. Donald Trump did notjust tap into something Americans feel, he educated us on what our prioritiesought to be. I respect him for that and I appreciate that. Thats still whereAmerica is and still where our party is. If you want to be the President of theUnited States or United States Senator, Congressman, or Governor, you betterunderstand that.

On the Biden Administrations Energy Policy:

If people believed [what Secretary Granholm espoused], Joe Bidenwouldnt have a 26% approval rating today. The problem with this Administrationis they never learned from their own mistakes. Either they believe their ownrhetoric or they resign themselves to losing in November and they want to do asmuch damage as they can before we get there.

Words matter. Larry, you and Kevin [Hassett] were talking aboutmarkets. Markets respond to politics, geopolitics, consumer confidence,investor confidence, taxes, and regulations. If you have a tax increase,regulation increase Administration talking like this, markets have to respondto that. [The Biden Administration is] still in charge and they will be in theWhite House forthe nextcouple of years. So these are significantwords. Sometimes I like to think that maybe shes just ignorant. She has saidso many crazy things, quite honestly, but Im afraid they kind of believe it.

How about when you push this [environmental, social, andcorporate governance (ESG)] nonsense on the [Securities and ExchangeCommission], the Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of the Currency, [U.S.Department of Agriculture], and every chamber, every administrative agency andsubagency? Theyre all pushing the same narrative thathas a chilling effect on investment.

Click Here to Watch

View post:

Sen. Cramer Discusses the Future of the Republican Party, Biden Energy Policy on Kudlow - Kevin Cramer

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene flexes during a Bikers for Trump campaign event held at the Crazy Acres Bar & Grill on May 20, 2022 in Plainville, GeorgiaPhoto: Joe Raedle (Getty Images)

Congress passed a pair of bills last week to help alleviate the baby formula shortage in the U.S., while President Joe Biden initiated Operation Fly Formula, which tasked the military with flying thousands of pounds of formula from Europe. And while every decent person supports giving families easier access to formula, there are some Republicans who seem to lack that basic form of empathy in a crisis.

When the Access to Baby Formula Act was voted on last week in the House of Representatives, 414 congressmen, both Democrats and Republicans, voted in favor of the legislation. The bill will allow families on the food assistance program WIC to buy whatever formula brand is available in stores, instead of being forced to buy a particular brand. But precisely nine members of the House voted against the bill, all Republicans.

Who are these people that voted against making it easier for families to get the baby formula they need? Many of the same people who consider themselves pro-life and defenders of American families.

Today, we have photos of those nine Republicans, along with some completely unrelated quotes. Please ignore the quotes. Were trying to delete them.

Go here to see the original:

9 Republicans Voted Against Giving Families Easier Access to Baby Formula - Gizmodo

In the era of Donald Trump, a major plank of the modern Republican Party platform is outright racism. Whether its the leader of the free world telling four congresswomen of color to go back to the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came, a U.S. senator saying he wasnt afraid of the January 6 rioters but would have been worried if they were Black Lives Matter protesters, a U.S. congresswoman speaking at event put on by a white nationalist, the complete and total hysteria over the idea of children being taught about systemic racism, or a prime-time conservative hosts regular white-power hour, this hateful little ecosystem just loves to appeal to the lowest common denominator by demonizing anyone who isnt white. But when their actions actually have consequences? And it turns out their hate speech matters? And people have the audacity to suggest theyre part of the problem? Well, they really get their noses out of joint.

Take, for instance, New York representative Elise Stefanik. Following the horrifying mass shooting in a Buffalo grocery store that left 10 dead after a gunman allegedly targeted Black people, The Washington Post and other outlets thought it was important to note that Stefanik, the third-ranking House Republican, among other conservatives, had previously echoed the great replacement rhetoric (the conspiracy theory that liberal politicians are trying to replace white Americans with nonwhite immigrants). In a series of Facebook ads highlighted in a tweet Saturday by Representative Adam Kinzinger, Stefaniks campaign claimed in September 2021 that Democrats were letting undocumented immigrants into the country in an attempt to ultimately silence Republican (read: white) voters. Radical Democrats are planning their most aggressive move yet: a PERMANENT ELECTION INSURRECTION, reads one of the ads, with an accompanying image of migrants reflected in Joe Bidens sunglasses. Their plan to grant amnesty to 11 MILLION illegal immigrants will overthrow our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority in Washington. At the time they ran, Albanys Times Union, the congresswomans hometown paper, called the ads despicable, and blasted her in an editorial, writing that she isnt so brazen as to use [Nazi-inspired] slogans themselves; rather, she couches the hate in alarmist anti-immigrant rhetoric thats become standard fare for the party of Donald Trump. As The New York Times reported over the weekend, Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old white suspect in the Buffalo shooting, had posted a hate-filled manifesto online, in which he wrote of his plan to shoot Black shoppers and went on racist, anti-immigrant rants arguing that white Americans are at risk of being replaced by people of color. Kind of like the ads run by one Elise Stefanik!

The congresswoman, though, did not appreciate any insinuation whatsoever that someone might have actually taken her words to heart, and in a statement released on Sunday, a senior adviser, Alex deGrasse, insisted that the implication or attempt to blame the heinous shooting in Buffalo on the congresswoman is a new disgusting low for the Left, their Never Trump allies, and the sycophant stenographers in the media. The shooting was an act of evil and the criminal should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He added, Despite sickening and false reporting, [the] congresswoman has never advocated for any racist position or made a racist statement, a claim that is obviously not true at all. On Monday, Team Stefanik followed that up with a press release accusing the media of disgraceful, dishonest, and dangerous smears.

Stefanik, of course, is far from the only member of her party to push racist rhetoric intended to rile up the base. As the Post notes, Pennsylvania Republican representative Scott Perry, current chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus,saidduring a subcommittee hearing concerning migration from Central America last year that many Americans believe were replacing national-born Americannative-born Americansto permanently transform the political landscape of this very nation. Senator Ron Johnson has suggested that Democrats want to remake the demographics of America to ensure theirthat they stay in power forever. Texas lieutenant governor Dan Patrick has declared that the revolution has begun and Democrats are trying to take over our country without firing a shot by allowing immigrants to enter the country who will vote for Democrats to thank the Democrats and Biden for bringing them here. Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance has claimed Democrats want to let in 15 million immigrants into the U.S. to shiftthe democratic makeup of this country so Republicans [will] never win a national election in this country ever again.

And, of course, we cant forget the fear-mongering, hateful commentary that appears on Fox News on a daily basis, which has included Laura Ingrahams claim that Democrats want to replace you, the American voters, with newly amnestied citizens and an ever-increasing number of chain migrants; Jeanine Pirros that Democrats immigration policies are a plot to remake America, to replace American citizens with illegals who will vote for the Democrats; and basically everything that comes out of Tucker Carlsons mouth

See the original post:

Republicans Are Furious People Remember Theyve Been Pushing the Racist Great Replacement Rhetoric for Years - Vanity Fair

Those who push and normalize the great replacement theory will typically insist that they are opposed to violence and that they are not racist; theyll certainly disavow what happened in Buffalo to some degree. Carlson will likely lead his show on Monday with some variation on this narrative: that the left is once again making him into a bogeyman, that he has no responsibility for violencewhich he does not condonethat he is simply telling his audience the truth, which is that immigrants really are taking over the country and that theyre doing so to advance the dastardly interests of the Democratic Party.

Whether for ratings or votes, these ideas are now central to the Republican Partys political messaging: that they are the one thing holding the country back from total chaos; that voting for Democrats will inevitably lead to policy shifts that will, in quick succession, lead to the downfall of the white race. This is the brunt of the political message that half of Republican voters have adopted, thanks in large part to the efforts of figures like Carlson and other Republicans: Ideas that were once shunned are now the foundation of the partys platform; the best way to turn voters out in November is to ensure that theyre scared out of their minds.

That fear is now so central to the rights political might that it cannot be put aside, even after something as horrible as what happened in Buffalo on Saturday. That is exactly where that fear leads: to hatred and violence and bloodshed. Anyone who says otherwise is evading responsibility, though we may be well past the point of holding those who perpetuate great replacement theory, whether in whispers or in declamations, to account. The great replacement theory is here to stay. Its practically a plank in the GOP platform.

Visit link:

The Great Replacement Theory Is Just Republican Orthodoxy Now - The New Republic

Among the enablers of the mentally deranged killer who slaughtered ten Blacks at a Buffalo grocery store last week are those who refuse to condemn the Great Replacement Theory and the Jan. 6 mob assault on the Capitol.

These are two centerpieces of the sprawling, hate-filled cadre of white nationalists with whom the Buffalo assailant trafficked on social media.

Katheen Belew, a University of Chicago professor and my go-to expert on white racism (if you want to be informed on this threat read her 2021 Field Guide to White Supremacy), cites the centrality of the Jan. 6 attack to the mish mash of hate groups, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and militiamen who inhabit the alt-right internet landscape.

The white nationalists on Jan. 6,she reminds me, had an outsized impact because they were highly organized, showed up with tactical gear, and breached the building. A purpose, she says, was to radicalize others, and in Buffalo whether he spoke of that day or not the gunman was propelled by that wave of radicalization.

Yet the vast majority of Republicans are unwilling to forcefully condemn the Jan. 6 riot, with many even defending it.

Examples abound.

The Republican National Committee declared it legitimate political discourse and censured two Republican lawmakers who have forcefully condemned the riot. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) still claims it was by and large a peaceful protest with a few bad apples. Johnsons a kook, but there isnt exactly a lot of daylight between him and Republican House leadership. In the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), while criticizing what happened, blocked a bipartisan independent investigation for fear it might hurt Republicans politically.

There were seven deaths associated with the Jan. 6 assault; approximately 150 police officers were injured, and it cost millions in damage. Those who contend it was a peaceful protest or legitimate political discourse should be required to watch HBOs Four Hours at the Capitol, which captures the criminal violence of the mob attacking the outnumbered police.

But this is old news.

Whats new, however, is growing evidence that the silence or acquiescence of Republican leaders has, in the words of Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, enabled white nationalism, white supremacy and antisemitism.

The Republicans dodge is dangerous.

Anything short of direct condemnation will come across to white power activists as a green light for future violence, plain and simple, Belew says. Weve seen this over and over again, in recent years and across time.

Its clearly linked to the even more destructive Great Replacement Theory, which posits that a Jewish conspiracy is afoot to culturally and demographically replace whites by non-whites in America.

The high priest of this trope is Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

And on Carlsons show, the two threads come neatly together: When Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) seemed to rather mildly criticize the Jan. 6 insurrection a year after the fact, he was brought to his knees by Carlson to whom he groveled and begged forgiveness.

Among the House Republican leadership, the lawmaker who replaced Cheney dumped because she was speaking out against Trumps incitement and subsequent inaction is Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a former moderate turned Trump worshiper. Stefanik pushed all the buttons in a Facebook ad charging that a plan by radical Democrats to grant amnesty to 11 million illegal immigrants will overthrow our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority.

I wonder if Ms. Stefanik thinks President George H.W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain or the pre-Trump Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) all supporters of comprehensive immigration reform wanted to dilute the power of white people?

There are scores maybe hundreds of Republican officials who are stirring the same racial fears.

There is, as Liz Cheney said, an antisemitic element to this. Financier George Soros is a favorite target of Republicans, and when the Anti-Defamation League decried the replacement theory, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) accused the ADL of being a racist organization.

It defies credulity to think all this doesnt embolden give a little more license to the white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other peddlers of hate like the Buffalo assailant.

These elements are larger and more connected than most want to acknowledge, Belew has repeatedly written. Its not just a lone wolf or some crazy hiding away in a remote shack. More than three quarters of domestic terrorism acts are committed by right-wing extremists; FBI director Christopher Wray has labeled them a priority for the bureau.

A perverse irony is that more than a few conservatives are focusing on race this election year: assailing or banning the teaching of the critical race theory which holds that systemic racism is deeply embedded in the legal, social, economic and political structures in America. The theory is taught almost exclusively in leading law schools, but also is in a handful of training manuals and is accepted wisdom in a few elite media and private organizations.

Politically, its primarily a scare tactic.

By contrast, promulgating the great replacement theory, vindicating the Jan. 6 assault, or perpetuating the lie that the last presidential election was stolen, is treacherous, giving aid and comfort to evil people prone to violence.

The standard Republican response when called on their dangerous rhetoric and quisling silence is to cite the First Amendment, claiming liberal elites want to muzzle them. I dont want to censor these politicians or pundits. I do want to hold them accountable.

Continued here:

Republican officials keep stoking white supremacist tropes and were reaping the result - The Hill

To pollsters who have tracked the race, Ozs failure to separate from the field has been tied up in Barnettes rise. The largest faction in the Republican primary are the strong Trump voters, Berwood Yost, who directs the Franklin & Marshall College poll, told me. Although they might have been expected to follow Trump into Ozs column, in fact, about half are for Oz and half are for Barnette. At the May 4th debate, when one of the moderators asked Barnette to address Trumps endorsement of her opponent, Barnette hinted at a disconnect between the President and his followers, MAGA does not belong to President Trump, she said. Our values never shifted to President Trumps values. It was President Trump who shifted and aligned with our values.

Pennsylvania is at once the tipping-point state in American politicsit voted twice for Barack Obama, for Trump in 2016, and then for Biden in 2020, all by very narrow marginsand perhaps the most transformed by the political upheavals of the past decade. The rich suburbs of the four Philadelphia collar counties, not long ago the heart of the states Republican Party, have swung sharply toward the Democrats, while the post-industrial cities and towns in the states interior have evolved from slightly Republican to overwhelmingly Republican. The line of political demarcation between the western Philadelphia suburbs of Chester County and the right-wing countryside, Mastrianos home base and one part of Republican Pennsylvania that is not poor and not declining, is now among the sharpest in the country.

That line also separates the suburban areas where the Republican Party still has organizational infrastructure from those where it has to work through proxies. Barley, the Harrisburg Republican, who was the campaign manager to the last Republican governor of the state, Tom Corbett, told me that, in the collar counties, the local Republican Party is still well funded and still gets its voters to the polls. But, in more rural counties where the Republican vote is growing, Barley went on, the Party organizations are generally pretty weak, in part because of the conservative grass roots post-Tea Party antipathy for the Republican establishment, and in part because wealthy donors increasingly invest in individual campaigns rather than in the infrastructure of the Republican Party. To drum up Republican votes in rural Pennsylvania, Barley said, Youve gotta find the people who are like the organizers, right? And typically its not the Party. Its the Trump-type patriot groups.

Another change is that the purported lanes of the Republican electorate have lost some salience. Traditionally, candidate preferences among conservatives have been driven by their issue preferencesfor instance, whether they identify more strongly with socially conservative positions or economic ones. But, to whatever degree such distinctions once drove the choices of Republican voters, Brock McCleary, a Republican pollster who often works in Pennsylvania, told me, It is less so now. On the conservative side, he said, it orbits around Trump, and its not driven by the definition between very conservative and somewhat conservative or any difference along there.

In the Pennsylvania Senate race, the establishment resistance to these changes organized itself around the candidacy of David McCormick, who, as a West Pointer, the husband of Powell, and the C.E.O. of the investment behemoth Bridgewater Advisors, was perfectly positioned to organize the Party behind him, or buy what he couldnt organize. One of his prominent campaign advisers, Kristin Davison, helped the Republican millionaire Glenn Youngkin win the governorship in Virginia last year.

Recently, I caught up with the McCormick campaign at a low-ceilinged American Legion hall in Wilkes-Barre, and, for a minute or two, I could almost see it: a fire-hydrant-shaped man who had once co-captained the wrestling team at West Point, McCormick exuded optimism and energy, and organized his stump speech around reversing Bidens inflationary economic policies, liberalizing the rules around fracking, and getting tougher on China. As an airborne officer from the first Gulf War, he had some built-in loyalty among the crowd of veteransAirborne! one man shouted, just as McCormick took the stage. But, toward the end, as the businessman tried to pivot to his closing message, a woman spoke up, a little tersely, from the back of the crowd. What about election integrity? she asked. I didnt hear anything on that. McCormick, looking eager to please, stepped toward her, and said he favored voter-I.D. laws, but she looked unmoved. She called out, What about censorship? She wanted to assess him against the MAGA positions. Watching McCormick try to respond, I thought, Good preacher, wrong congregation.

For half a decade, an unavoidable topic in political conversation has been the way Trump has transformed the Republican Party. The new entity is coarser, more pugnacious, hostile to immigration and overseas business, and open to talking trash about big corporations, if not to raising their taxes. Those changes, and the capitulation of the Republican Party to Trump, have defined conservatism ever since. But the rise of Mastriano and Barnette in the Pennsylvania elections suggests that the dominant faction in Republican politics, the Trump conservative, is no longer animated by the fights that the former President picks, or the candidates he champions, so much as by the broader conflicts between secular liberalism and religious conservatism. The energizing campaigns for grassroots conservatives in 2022 have mostly been about strengthening anti-abortion laws and stopping groomers in public schools and their abettors in the Democratic Party. The most of-the-moment conservative politicians project fearlessness. You think Ron DeSantis is good? Mastriano joked, at a rally he held last weekend. Amateur. These campaigns share the Trump style, but they are also more rooted in social conservatism than Trump himself ever was. Among the most interesting questions for Republicans in the coming months will be: How will the emphasis on social conservatism within the grass roots shift the balance of power in the Party, and how effective will Trump be at co-opting it?

Recently, there has been a flurry of Republican activity to keep the nominations from Mastrianos and Barnettes reach. The results have been mixed. Sean Hannity, who had endorsed Oz, went after Barnette on his television show, arguing that she has never been vetted and reading from past tweets of hers in which she had said Trumps moral character is questionable and had called Barack Obama a Muslim. Meanwhile, the Club for Growth, seemingly out to defeat Oz and Trump above all else, suddenly endorsed Barnette, and bought two million dollars worth of ads to support her. It was easy enough to see the evidence of panic, but near impossible to see anything like effective cordination.

A Party establishment that has gone so far to appease Trump now lacks both a way to appeal to Trump conservatives and a credible alternative vision. Mastriano is going to get every single election-denier vote, Ryan Costello, a former Republican congressman from Chester County, said. If thats your issue, hes the only candidate who has said the exact things you think and feel. Barnette, he added, held a similar position in the Senate race. But Costello, who has criticized the Partys transformation under Trump, also thought that the McCormick campaign had made a strategic mistake in courting Trumps inner circle and chasing a Trump endorsement. I would make the argument that McCormick would be in a stronger position if he had not chosen to play in the Trump sweepstakes, Costello said. He was trying to say to the Republican electorate, Hey, Im the Trump Republican, not Oz. I asked Costello, who is forty-five and had been widely discussed as a potential candidate for Senate or governor, whether there was still a path for an anti-Trump Republican. When I looked at the race, that was my thesis, Costello said. And I think it will hold true. But it was hard to ignore that Costello, as well positioned as anyone in Pennsylvanias Republican Party, had decided not to run in 2022.

Read the rest here:

The Strange Post-Trump Politics of the Pennsylvania Republican Primaries - The New Yorker

WASHINGTON Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, visited Ukraine on Saturday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, leading the latest delegation of American lawmakers to the country as the United States deepens its commitment to Kyivs fight against the Russian invasion.

The surprise visit by Mr. McConnell, who was accompanied by three other Republican senators, comes as the Senate is working to pass a $40 billion emergency military and humanitarian aid package for Ukraine. It follows a string of other clandestine visits, including by the first lady, Jill Biden, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The trip, a rare international visit for Mr. McConnell, highlights the widespread bipartisan support for Ukraine in Washington as the country tries to fend off Russias invasion, even as questions remain about the Biden administrations overall strategy toward the conflict and the scope of American assistance.

The visit was first disclosed by Mr. Zelenskys office, and Mr. McConnell later released a statement confirming it after he said the delegation had left Ukraine. The group, he said, affirmed that the United States would sustain our support until Ukraine wins this war.

It was inspiring to visit the historic capital of a beautiful country that has been forced to fight for its own survival, Mr. McConnell said. We saw firsthand the courage, unity and resolve of the Ukrainian people.

Mr. McConnell was joined by Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming, a member of his leadership team and the Foreign Relations Committee; John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the Intelligence Committee; and Susan Collins of Maine, who sits on both the Intelligence Committee and the Appropriations Committee, which oversees government funding.

Defending the principle of sovereignty, promoting stability in Europe and imposing costs on Russias naked aggression have a direct and vital bearing on Americas national security and vital interests, Mr. McConnell said in his statement. It is squarely in our national interest to help Ukraine achieve victory in this war and to help Ukraine and other countries deter other wars of aggression before they start.

On Thursday, the Senate failed to expedite passage of the $40 billion emergency package for Ukraine as one Republican senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky, refused to agree to waive procedural hurdles and approve the measure without being granted an opportunity to add a proposal establishing an inspector general to oversee how the money is spent.

The measure is still expected to pass as soon as next week.

Read the original here:

McConnell and Other Republican Senators Make Secret Visit to Ukraine - The New York Times

The three Republicans running in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District argued in a live televised debate Saturday against a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine without increased oversight of those funds.

Businesswoman Nicole Hasso, retired farmer and activist Gary Leffler and state Sen. Zach Nunnall are competing for the Republican Party's nomination, and they made their cases directly to Iowans as early voting is set to launch this week. The winner of the Republican primary will take on Democratic incumbentU.S. Rep. Cindy Axne in November.

Democratic President Joe Biden has called for increased aid to Ukraine as itfights to fend off a Russian invasion. A $40 billion aid package passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week, passing overwhelmingly on a 368-57 vote. All four of Iowa's representatives, including three Republicans and one Democrat,voted to approve the package.

More: A fired-up mom, a zealous farmer, a military veteran: Who will win the GOP nod for Iowa's 3rd District?

But the legislationstalled in the U.S. Senate after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., demanded that leaders designate a federal watchdog to oversee its spending. Republican and Democratic leaders had been united in their intention to advance aid quickly.

Saturday's debate moderators asked the three candidates whether they believe there should be a limit on how much money the U.S. sends to Ukraine.

Hasso, who works in the financial services industry, answered first.

"You know, I truly believe there is at limit that the U.S. should have as far as sending aid to Ukraine," she said. "Right now, we have a supply-chain issue. And our moms are trying to feed their babies. We need oversight. What are they doing with that money? What is in this bill? What are we sending them money for? We need to have accountability."

The moderators asked Hasso if she had a dollar figure in mind for when to cut off aid. Hasso said, "This bill is enough.

"We have to take care of America first," she said. "There is nothing wrong with putting America first."

Leffler, who has also worked in financial services, answered next, criticizing Washington leaders who were, for a short time, buying Russian oil while also sending aid to Ukraine, he said. Biden has since banned the importation of Russian oil.

More: Iowa 3rd District GOP candidates say all abortions should be illegal as Supreme Court weighs Roe v. Wade

"So in essence, we were funding both sides of that conflict," Leffler said. "And that's how screwed up things get in Washington."

Like Hasso, he also appeared to suggest domestic issues should take priority.

"How can we fund what's going on there if saying the security of Ukraine is more important than our own border?" he said.

Nunn, whois a lieutenant colonel and commands the 233rd Intelligence Squadron, 132nd Wing in the Iowa Air National Guard, answered last. He did not say directly whether he would have supported the aid package, but he suggested oversight is the most important issue going forward.

"I believe there needs to be oversight of any bill that provides additional funding to Ukraine," he said. "More importantly, we have the ability to deliver real weapons right now, not billions of U.S. tax dollars to Ukraine. MiG-29s out of Poland, surface-to-air missiles from Eastern European states that's what the Ukrainians are asking for. Let's give them that and let them protect their civilian population."

This was the second televised debate featuring the three candidates. Early voting begins Wedne, and the primary election is June 7.

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

Follow this link:

Iowa's 3rd District GOP candidates say more oversight needed of US aid to Ukraine - Des Moines Register

Negotiators in the New Hampshire House and Senate will meet Monday to take up the latest Republican-proposed congressional redistricting map for the state.

The map, first released Friday, places New Hampshire's two incumbent members of Congress, Democrats Chris Pappas and Annie Kuster, in the same district.

The plan does so by moving Pappas home city of Manchester from the 1st District to the 2nd District.

The map also relocates a string of Republican-voting towns now in the 2nd District Hudson, Salem, Windham, Pelham and Atkinson to the 1st District.

Unlike previous Republican redistricting efforts this year, the latest plan bears some visual resemblance to New Hampshires current congressional map.

It keeps the southeastern part of the state in the 1st District; the western part of the state and the entire North Country would meanwhile remain part of the 2nd District.

But like other GOP-drawn maps, the overall effect would be to tilt the 1st District more Republican, and the 2nd District more Democratic.

Negotiations over this plan will be led by Rep. Barbara Griffin of Goffstown, and Sen. Jim Gray of Rochester, both Republicans.

In a joint statement issued Friday, Griffin and Gray, who chaired their chambers respective redistricting committees, called this proposal constitutional and fair.

The map that we have created honors both of those important goals, they said.

Negotiators have until Thursday afternoon to send a map to the full House and Senate for votes. May 27 is the deadline for lawmakers and Gov. Sununu to agree to a map before New Hampshires Supreme Court moves to impose one of its own.

The court ruled last week, in a case brought by Democrats, that using current maps, passed a decade ago, for 2022 elections was unconstitutional due to population changes over the past decade.

The justices also ruled that any court-drawn map would alter current maps, drawn by Republicans in 2012, as little as possible, an approach the justices termed least change.

Sununu hasnt weighed in publicly on this latest GOP plan. He has promised to veto the only map to clear both the House and Senate in March on the grounds it would guarantee political outcomes.

Republican leaders took little interest in a map Sununu later proposed. They also rejected a Democratic map that would leave current districts unchanged save for moving the Republican-voting town of Hampstead from the 1st District to the 2nd District.

Sununu has for months indicated that his support for any map is contingent on it having two competitive districts that candidates from either party could plausibly win.

Continued here:

State House Republicans take another stab at redrawing lines for N.H.'s congressional districts - New Hampshire Public Radio