Republicans

A prominent attorney for former President Donald Trump criticized congressional Republicans for their inaction on the suspected Chinese spy balloon that entered American airspace earlier this week. The balloon was first spotted floating above Billings, Montana, on Wednesday, and was later determined to be a "surveillance" device owned by China, raising alarm with many over the ramifications of its presence. Montana happens to be home to the Malmstrom Air Force base , one of the few bases in the United States to house nuclear weapons. China, meanwhile, attempted to downplay the severity of the balloon, insisting that it was a device collecting weather data that got blown off-course. The Pentagon has so far declined to shoot down the balloon, as some have called for , citing the potential risk posed to citizens by debris falling to the ground. Patrick S. Ryder, a spokesman for the Department of Defense (DOD), insisted during a Friday press conference that the balloon … [Read more...] about Trump lawyer slams Republicans’ Chinese spy balloon response

close Video We need to know what information if any was obtained by China: Anthony D'Esposito House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, R-N.Y., joins 'Fox News Live' to weigh in on President Biden's handling of the Chinese spy balloon flying over the United States. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Saturday that the Chinese spy balloon saga confirmed both President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris should resign from office. Wilson's calls for Biden and Harris to resign came hours after a U.S. fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of the lawmaker's home state of South Carolina. The unmanned surveillance aircraft had flown from Alaska through Canada before entering the continental United States and traveling from Idaho to the East Coast over the last seven days. "The catastrophic Chinese Spy Balloon spectacle clearly threatened American families from … [Read more...] about Republican demands Joe Biden, Kamala Harris resign after ‘catastrophic Chinese spy balloon spectacle’

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Earlier this year, extremist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene made an appearance at the America First Political Action Conference , organized by white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes. Her House colleague Paul Gosar, also known for his far-right bent, addressed the conference via video. In response, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy only offered tepid criticism of the two, declining to throw out his pledge to reinstate them on their committees when the GOP took the House majority. Mr McCarthy’s decision not to punish either Ms Greene or Mr Gosar is because he “intends to reward” some of the most racist members of Congress,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told me earlier this month . As we’ve explained before here at Inside Washington, the truth is that Mr McCarthy needs Ms Greene’s support if … [Read more...] about Republicans draw the line at antisemitism – but still can’t risk condemning Trump

Former President Donald Trump called on Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Saturday to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the swing state after its Supreme Court issued a ruling restricting the use of ballot drop-boxes on Friday. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, led by Republicans , determined that absentee ballot drop-boxes can only be put in election offices and that only the voter can return a ballot in person, according to the Associated Press. In 2020, the drop-boxes were used for voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the court found the Wisconsin Elections Commission overstepped its boundaries by allowing the use of ballot boxes. The decision hands a win to Republicans, who have, without substantial evidence, claimed the boxes led to widespread voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election, which some claim was stolen from Trump. The ex-president, who has continued pushing unfounded stolen election claims, pressured Vos to use the state's … [Read more...] about Trump Pressures Vos to Overturn Election After Wisconsin Drop-Box Ruling

North Carolina police are urging residents to refrain from aiming their guns into the sky to take "pot shots" at a Chinese spy balloon that may be headed their way. President Joe Biden faced Republican backlash after deciding, on the advice of military leaders, against shooting down the high-altitude surveillance balloon when it was spotted over Montana earlier this week. A number of the same Republicans have since encouraged citizens to take the matter into their own hands by shooting at the balloon themselves. Police in Gastonia, about 20 miles from Charlotte, begged locals in a Facebook post on Friday to avoid firing their guns into the air in hopes of shooting down the balloon, which a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration model predicts could be in the area on Saturday morning. Officials also urged residents to not bother contacting them if they do spot the balloon, explaining that they do not "have the capability" to respond to an object that is … [Read more...] about Police beg locals to refrain from taking “pot shots” at Chinese spy balloon

Former President Donald Trump has warned that Republican leaders in Wisconsin's legislature will be "primaried" and "run out of office" if they do not give in to his demands for a new audit of his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden . Amid Trump's repeated false claims that widespread voter fraud was to blame for him losing the White House, loyalists of the former president have continued to promote efforts to initiate new state election audits more than six months after Biden took office. Trump lost to Biden by 74 votes in the Electoral College, including 10 electoral votes from Wisconsin—results that have been confirmed by multiple recounts and audits that found no credible evidence of massive fraud. While GOP Wisconsin House Speaker Robin Vos recently announced a new investigation into the election despite no evidence to support Trump's claims having been found previously, the former president threatened Vos and Republican leaders in the state Senate on Friday. Trump … [Read more...] about Trump Says Wisconsin GOP Leaders Will Be ‘Primaried’ For Not Backing Audit

Fox News host Laura Ingraham is supporting a move that some progressive Democrats have been requesting for years: defund certain agencies in the U.S. government, such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In early 2019, first-time House members Ayanna Pressley , Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar wrote a letter urging their fellow lawmakers to cut funding to the DHS. The demand came amid President Donald Trump 's efforts to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the four Democrats were reacting to controversial DHS policies, such as detaining young border crossers. Ingraham proposed the same solution—cut funding to the agency—although her reasons differ from those of the congresswomen. On Thursday, Twitter user @Acyn shared a clip of an Ingraham show segment. The video had nearly 30,000 views as of Friday afternoon. Recently, the DHS has come under scrutiny from Republicans , who now control the House. They have … [Read more...] about Fox News host Laura Ingraham agrees with Ilhan Omar, AOC on defunding DHS

Georgia's Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, a Republican, criticized his own party's push for election reform in the wake of the 2020 election, saying GOP lawmakers should first admit that former President Donald Trump lost "fair and square." Republicans in the Georgia General Assembly pushed through an election reform package that has been condemned by Democrats as the "new Jim Crow," as they view the bill as working to make it more difficult for people of color to vote in the state. Although Duncan believes there are some good aspects to the package, he disagrees with other parts and said the timing of the bill was a bad move by Republicans . "I don't think it was the best move forward," Duncan said during a Monday morning interview with CNN . He pointed to a provision in the legislation that removed Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, from managing Georgia's elections. Raffensperger drew Trump's wrath after he refused to cave to the then president's … [Read more...] about Georgia Lieut. Gov. Criticizes Own Party’s Election Reform Push

The Arizona Republican Party must pay the state more than $18,000 after it filed a "groundless" election lawsuit, a superior court judge ruled on Monday. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah dismissed the lawsuit brought by the state's GOP—which challenged the 2020 election process—as "disingenuous" and "groundless." Former President Donald Trump and many Republican allies have repeatedly pushed false claims that the 2020 election was "rigged" or "stolen." But dozens of lawsuits challenging the election's integrity have been dismissed or rejected across the country, including by judges appointed by Trump and other Republicans . "The public has a right to expect the Arizona Republican Party to conduct itself respectfully," Hannah wrote in his ruling this week, according to The Arizona Republic. "It has failed to do so in this case." The judge said that the state's GOP had worked to undermine the election process and failed to live up to its "privileged position … [Read more...] about Arizona GOP Ordered to Pay Over $18,000 for ‘Groundless’ Election Lawsuit

Barbara Reisman spent her career pushing for a better system of child care in America. She was the executive director of the (now defunct) Child Care Action Campaign from 1986 to 1997. If you want to see her in action, you can watch her on C-SPAN speaking at hearings for the Act for Better Child Care Services of 1988 — if nothing else, the grainy footage is a powerful reminder that our foremothers were fighting the good fight on child care when I was, well, still a child. Regular readers of this newsletter won’t be surprised to learn that the bill, which sought to make subsidized child care services available on a sliding scale for parents “whose family income does not exceed 115 percent of the state median income for a family of the same size,” didn’t pass that year. In the intervening decades, the pace of progress on a host of family-friendly policies has been glacial at the federal level, though 13 states and the District of Columbia have enacted paid leave laws. … [Read more...] about Maybe We Should Convince Men That Paid Leave Is Their Idea