Category Archives: Republican

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Democrat Dan McCaffery and Republican Carolyn Carluccio won their parties primaries for a vacant seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday, setting up a fall contest to join a high court that is at the center of cases on guns, abortion and elections in a presidential battleground state.

Each nominee won a two-way primary race. McCaffery defeated Deborah Kunselman, a colleague on the Superior Court, and Carluccio defeated Patricia McCullough, a Commonwealth Court judge who lost a primary for a high court seat in 2021. Party allies reported spending nearly $1 million to help her beat McCullough.

On the campaign trail, McCullough repeatedly boasted of being the only judge in 2020 in the presidential election in the entire country to order a halt to her states election certification.

McCullough was ruling in a Republican-backed post-election legal challenge that sought to tilt victory to Donald Trump in the presidential battleground state. The states high court quickly overturned McCulloughs order.

Democrats currently hold a 4-2 majority on the court, which has an open seat following the death last fall of Chief Justice Max Baer, a Democrat.

The court has handled a number of hot-button issues over the past few years.

It is currently examining a challenge to a state law that restricts the use of public funds to help women get an abortion as well as Philadelphias challenge to a state law that bars it and other municipalities from restricting the sale and possession of guns.

In recent years, the justices rejected a request to invalidate the states death penalty law and upheld the constitutionality of the states expansive mail-in voting law. The court also turned away challenges to the 2020 election result from Republicans who wanted to keep Trump in power, and ruled on a variety of lawsuits over gray areas in the mail-in voting law.

In one 2020 election case, justices ordered counties to count mail-in ballots that arrived up to three days after polls closed, citing delays in mail service caused by disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling spurred an outcry among Republicans, who challenged the decision in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nations highest court ultimately declined to take the case. The ballots nearly 10,000 of them were never counted in any federal race, including for president, because the election was certified while their fate remained in legal limbo. State elections officials said the votes werent enough to change the results of a federal election.

In lower court races, Republican Megan Martin and Democrat Matt Wolf each won a two-way primary for an open seat on the Commonwealth Court while Democrats Jill Beck and Timika Lane captured the nomination in a three-way race for two open seats on the Superior Court, which hears appeals of civil and criminal cases from county courts.

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Democrat McCaffery, Republican Carluccio win primaries for ... - The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a senior member of the U.S. Finance Committee, today questioned witnesses during a hearing about how House Republican funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would contribute to the federal deficit and would reverse recent improvements to customer service and processing at the agency. The Senator also pointed out the GOPs hypocrisy, noting Congressional Republicans voted to avoid default under President Trump without hesitation as they simultaneously ballooned the deficit with their tax giveaway of 2017.

Time and again my colleagues across the aisle have hijacked negotiations to avoid default in order to extract spending cuts in the name of fiscal responsibility, said Sen. Menendez. It seems hypocritical to me for Congressional Republicans to threaten default and call for spending cuts on the backs of working families when they have depleted the revenue side of the ledger over the last five years.

In response to a question from Sen. Menendez during the hearing, Dr. Natasha Sarin, an economist and associate professor at Yale Law School, emphasized how the 2017 Republican Tax Law will add about $3 trillion to the federal deficit over ten years.

During the exchange, Sen. Menendez added, [I proudly] voted for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which actually cuts deficit spending while supercharging investments in renewable energy. It also provides resources for the IRS to modernize its IT system, restore customer service, and hire the personnel necessary to collect the taxes that everyone, including wealthy individuals, legally owe.

Sen. Menendez highlighted how the IRA made a significant difference in reversing a concerning trend from the last decade that had resulted in 20 percent of the IRS workforce being laid off and exacerbated customer service problems at the agency.

While middle class families and small businesses bear the brunt of the IRS customer service problems, wealthy individuals and large corporations are all too happy to take advantage of the IRS limitations. Ultimately, that means less revenue to cover the costs of our federal budget, said Sen. Menendez. We are already seeing improvements at the IRS due to the Inflation Reduction Act. Customer service has significantly improved, and the IRS is planning to hire the personnel needed to ensure the wealthiest are paying what they legally owe. But now Republicans answer to balance the budget is to slash this critical IRS funding and reverse this progress.

Because of the Senators oversight efforts over the last year, including eight letters to the head of the IRS, paired with Inflation Reduction Act investments in the IRS, the agency has hired 5,000 new customer service workers to help meet taxpayers needs. Over this years tax filing season, the IRS consistently answered the phones between 80 and 90 percent of the time, at an average speed of answer of 4 minutes, compared to last year where the average level of phone service was 17 percent with a speed of answer rate of 27 minutes.

The Senator concluded by calling out Republican efforts to slash other critical government programs proven to grow jobs and the economy, such as the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). This block grant is the main federal program that provides funding for child care providers to support low-income families in accessing affordable child care.

Last month, Sen. Menendez joined with advocates, providers and parents to highlight the devastating impacts the House Republican Default on America plan would have on working families and to the child care industry which is already struggling to stay afloat from the impact and strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Menendez has long been a strong supporter of increased child care support for families. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Senator, along with Democratic colleagues secured $10 billion in additional funding for the Child Care & Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program through the Consolidated Appropriations Act in December 2020. In March 2021, Sen. Menendez and Democratic colleagues, through the American Rescue Plan, appropriated an additional $40 billion in stabilization grants through the CCDBG program, including $694,327,527 to support New Jersey child care providers.

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Sen. Menendez Denounces Republican Threats of a National ... - Senator Menendez

David Oh won an uncontested race Tuesday to be the Republican nominee for mayor of Philadelphia.

Oh, a City Council member for 11 years, has a more substantive political resume and a more independent streak than most GOP mayoral nominees in recent history, but hell still face a near-vertical climb in the general election against Democratic nominee Cherelle Parker, as Democrats have won every election since 1947.

The problem that I see in Philadelphia is that somehow our city has ended up believing that the only people who matter in our city are the ones who vote today, Oh said of Democrats voting in the Democratic primary. Thats only 300,000 people in a city of 1.6 million people.

As results rolled in Tuesday and Democrats awaited results of a close contest, Oh calmly sipped a Diet Coke at a victory party in Northeast Philadelphia.

I get a sense that theres a general apathy, Oh said of Philadelphia voters. People are not excited about what [Democrats] are saying.

Philadelphia voters are registered 7-1 Democratic. The city often fuels statewide Democratic wins, backing Democratic Sen. John Fetterman by 68 points over his Republican challenger last year and delivering President Joe Biden a 63-point margin of victory in 2020.

At the city level, an already outnumbered GOP was further weakened when Working Families Party candidate Kendra Brooks won a City Council at-large seat over the Republican candidate in 2019.

But Oh said he sees this years mayoral race as more localized than the hyper-partisan national picture. He thinks his tenure on Council means people know him by more than his party registration and that the citys myriad challenges, from crime and public safety to education, might make voters more inclined to give the Republican candidate a shot.

He said he thinks the first mayoral primary in the wake of COVID, when city health restrictions angered both those in the GOP base and some independents, could also help his case.

We can't show this part of the story, butyou can see the whole story here.

When you look at registration, yeah its significant, but its really only significant when you have candidates you dont know, he said. For the last 20 years, Philadelphia hasnt had a good Republican candidate. The last credible candidate they had was when Sam Katz was a candidate. But Sam Katz did not come with a diversity of voters, he was an alternative to John Street, and he did not do well among nonwhite voters.

Oh said he thinks he has a unique campaign as a centrist Republican who has often butted heads with the city party, and one who is building a diverse coalition that includes immigrant communities he thinks Democratic candidates have largely ignored.

By brand name, I am not supposed to have the level of diverse support I have, Oh said. If you look at Republicans, they normally dont have a lot of immigrants, Muslims, Africans, Latinos, but I do.

While most Republicans usually get the bulk of their votes from comparatively conservative parts of South and Northeast Philadelphia, Oh has won support from pockets across the city. Those votes helped him hang on to his seat when Brooks won in 2019.

He also argues that Democratic nominees arent used to having to campaign after the primary.

When the race is over, they dont retain staff, they dont plan for November. Theyre not picking up any additional votes, and a lot of those votes are already committed to me.

The son of Korean immigrants, Oh grew up in Philadelphia and is an Army veteran and former prosecutor. He ran unsuccessfully for Council twice before winning, in 2011, one of the two at-large seats that are set aside for members of minority parties.

Oh has often been isolated on Council, both due to Democrats holding 14 of 17 seats and his rocky relationship with his own party. Oh has called for auditing the state-controlled Philadelphia Parking Authority, one of the few bastions of patronage jobs for Philadelphia Republicans, and GOP ward leaders have unsuccessfully backed other Republicans vying for his seat.

His time in office has also had its share of controversies and unusual moments. In 2011, he was criticized and eventually apologized for exaggerating his military service by implying that he had served in the Army Special Forces, or Green Berets, when he had not. Since then, Oh has frequently championed veterans issues on Council.

In 2017, Oh was stabbed outside his home in Southwest Philadelphia. The suspect was acquitted due to a lack of corroborating evidence. Oh referenced the case in his mayoral campaign announcement, saying that Philadelphias problems with crime have come right up to my doorstep.

In 2018, the Department of Human Services conducted a child abuse investigation after he accidentally broke his sons collarbone while practicing martial arts. The city agency found that Oh had not abused his son, and Oh criticized DHS for investigating him.

Through it all, Oh has built an unusual coalition of supporters by positioning himself as the champion of a variety of disparate communities, often on issues outside of partisan politics.

Oh, for instance, has activated communities of veterans to support his efforts to preserve hiring preferences for them, and he has met frequently with immigrant groups for people from Asia, West Africa, and other parts of the world. He even turned his child abuse investigation into a political opportunity, holding hearings that allowed him to tap into communities of parents who feel wronged by DHS.

He has a keen interest in Philadelphias arts and culture, and his office led PHL Live, a citywide music competition.

Oh said his Democratic opponent will need to work to expand her coalition.

You can win the primary with 100,000 votes but if thats who youre going to answer to and youre going to forget about the other 1.5 million people, this city will not advance.

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David Oh to face Cherelle Parker in challenge to Phillys Democratic dominance as the GOP nominee for mayor - The Philadelphia Inquirer

MAYFIELD, KY State Rep. Richard Heath lost the Republican primary for Kentucky agriculture commissioner Tuesday, but he says he'll support his opponent as he faces the Democratic nominee.

Heath called his opponent and left a voicemail, giving his congratulations and support as a fellow Republican.

Heath told Local 6 he did everything he could during his campaign to reach out to counties throughout the state.

Heath says it's important for the Republican Party to form a strong base for the next election.

"We want to make our Republican ticket as strong as we can going into the fall and going up against the Andy Beshear," says Heath, who represents District 2 in the Kentucky General Assembly.

Heath says voter turnout is important.

Turnout was low Tuesday, and Heath encourages people to show up for November's election.

The Republican nominee for agriculture commissioner is Jonathan Shell. He was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives for District 71. That district includes part of Madison County, part of Pulaski County, part of Laurel County and all of Rockcastle County. He was in office from 2013 to 2018.

The Democratic nominee for agriculture commissioner is Sierra Enlow, who is a family farmer and economic development consultant from LaRue County.

Whoever wins the agriculture commissioner race in November will replace Ryan Quarles, who lost his bid for the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday.

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State Rep. Richard Heath urges Republican Party to form strong ... - WPSD Local 6

Mike Murray, a campaign manager for Kevin Kiley, is running for Placer Countys 3rd District supervisors seat. Murray campaign

The Placer County Republican Party endorsed a candidate in one of the countys biggest upcoming races, an important distinction in the red county.

Mike Murray of Rocklin, won the partys endorsement with a unanimous vote Wednesday for a seat on the Placer County Board of Supervisors. The backing could give him an edge over campaign rivals Dave Butler, a former Rocklin city councilman, and Anthony DeMattei, a member of the countys planning commission, in the March election.

I am truly honored to receive the endorsement of the Placer County Republican Party, Murray said in a statement. ... I understand how rare it is to be unanimously endorsed, and I am truly humbled that this room of community leaders have put their trust in me to fight for the quality of life we expect in Placer County.

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Murray has run for the 3rd District seat before. He lost to incumbent Jim Holmes in the 2020 primary by nearly 3,500 votes.

Holmes, who has held the seat for 18 years, is not running for re-election after new district boundaries adopted last year left him outside the boundaries. The 3rd District, which covers Rocklin and Loomis, shifted slightly west into the Whitney Ranch area while losing areas east of Interstate 80 and north of Dick Cook Road to the 4th District.

Murray launched his second campaign for the supervisors seat March 31 on a platform of keeping Placer red.

Murray worked as the campaign manager for Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, and currently serves as the vice chair for the Placer County Republican Party. He also works at the American Council as their political and outreach director.

He and his wife, Noelle, have two children and they live in Rocklin.

I will do everything in my power to give my kids the same opportunities I had growing up here, he said in a statement. Placer County is a special place. I often say, people flee from California, they do not flee from Placer County. We must do everything in our power to preserve our community here in Placer County.

He is endorsed by Roseville City Councilman Tracy Mendonsa, Rocklin Unified School District Trustee Julie Hupp and Loomis Mayor Danny Cartwright.

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Placer Republicans unanimously back Rocklin candidate in one of the countys biggest races - Sacramento Bee

Governmentagencies haveproposed dozens of major regulations so far this year. One specifies the kinds of operating cords that can be used on custom window coverings, and another would effectively require carmakers to transition two-thirds of all new passenger cars to electric technology.

Under a little-noticed provision in a House bill that passed this month, all of those regulations would need to come before Congress for a vote before they could go into effect.

It may seem like its in the weeds, but it really affects all of us, said Susan Dudley, the director of the regulatory studies center at George Washington University, who was the top regulatory official in the George W. Bush administration. She was one of several leading experts who were unaware that the bill contained this provision.

The Republican legislation, which is not expected to become law in its current form, has mostly attracted attention for its part in the debate about raising the countrys borrowing limit, and for its proposals to reduce federal deficits over the next decade. But its effort to reshape the federal regulatory process could arguably have a deeper impact on the future functioning of government.

While Congress passes laws every year, federal agencies tend to roll out many, many more regulations. Those long, often technical rules help business understand how the government works, by setting standards for allowable pollution, establishing how much doctors and hospitals will be paid for medical care, and explaining what numerous technical or vague terms and processes in legislation really mean. The process of rule making often takes years, and requires a period of public comment before a regulation becomes final.

Regulations are not apolitical. As Congress has become more polarized and gridlocked, presidents have become more aggressive about enacting major policies through them. Barack Obama tried to use rule making to limit carbon emissions from power plants. Donald J. Trump used rule making to deny green cards to immigrants who had used certain social benefit programs. And President Biden is hoping to use regulation to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in student loans.

But many major regulations make fewer headlines, and most rely on technical expertise by federal agencies that Congress would be hard-pressed to replicate. This years list includes one updating technical standards for mammography equipment, and one clarifying when a guns features mean it is designed to be fired from the shoulder. A recent payment rule for Medicare Advantage changed the formula meant to pay private insurers for covering customers with vascular disease, based on a detailed review of medical data.

The legislation would require Congress to approve each of those actions before they go into effect, under a fast-tracked legislative process that would force up-or-down votes on the rules without any possibility of amendment. Any major rule that failed to pass both houses of Congress could not be proposed again for at least a year. Current law allows Congress to upend a regulation it does not like, but the process requires majority votes by both houses of Congress, and a signature by the president, meaning nearly all regulations go into effect.

The legislation to change this default was first written more than a decade ago by Geoffrey Davis, then a Republican congressman from Kentucky. Mr. Davis, who came from a business background, was concerned about the number of high-cost regulations he saw approved while he was in government.

One day he received a visit in his district office, and this gentleman asked me one question, and this was my turning point: Why cant you just vote on this? Mr. Davis said. And it just clicked.

Supporters of Mr. Daviss idea, known as the REINS Act for Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny say it would force Congress to take more responsibility for being clear about what its laws mean. Mr. Davis said he felt that Congress had too often written vague laws that delegated too many important decisions to executive agencies to decide.

It would increase the incentives for Congress to be more proactive, said Jonathan Adler, a professor of law at Case Western Reserve University, who wrote an article supporting the idea in 2011. We need legislators to legislate, and part of legislating is taking accountability for the big policy decisions that are being made.

Others, of course, like the idea because it would make it harder for the government to enact any regulations at all the same reason that many regulatory experts are less enthusiastic about the REINS Act.

The practical impact of this in a time of divided government like we have now is that I think no major rule would ever get done, said Jonathan Siegel, a law professor at George Washington, who has written about the bill at length.

If the Republican House wanted to deny the Biden administration policy wins, it could simply vote no on every regulation it proposed. Those might include rules that explain how major portions of last years Inflation Reduction Act are meant to work. In a REINS Act world, the Republican House could just block those rules, effectively thwarting legislation passed by a previous Congress.

If you starve the beast by never allowing the implementing regulations to issue, then you have in effect nullified the legislation, said Sally Katzen, a co-director of the legislative and regulatory process clinic at N.Y.U., who was the top regulatory official in the Clinton administration. She pointed out that Republicans tend to schedule votes on the REINS Act when there is a Democratic president, but not when a Republican holds the office.

What they want to do is to make it impossible to regulate, said Nicholas Bagley, a law professor at the University of Michigan.

The obstruction can work both ways. Imagine how the Democratic House might have voted on Trump-era rules that had the effect of cutting all family planning funding for Planned Parenthood, limiting civil rights protections for transgender Americans, or rolling back controls on power plant emissions.

Mr. Davis said blocking rules wholesale was not his intention. His hope was to improve Congresss process. I want to make the legislation specific enough to force a bipartisan dialogue, he said.

But Congress already has problems writing legislation in technical and contested areas. Many Republicans dislike environmental regulations interpreting the Clean Water Act, which asks the E.P.A. to limit pollution that is harmful to human health. But Congress has not made major revisions to that lawin decades. Simply voting on rules about how those old laws apply to new scientific findings may not be enough to prompt robust new legislating.

Its hard to get anything through Congress, even in the best of times, and now is not the best of times, Mr. Bagley said. Its a recipe for stasis.

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From Electric Cars to Windows, Republican Bill Could Limit Regulation - The New York Times

By Bethany BlankleyThe Center Square

Twenty-four Republican governors have responded to Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts call for help to secure its border with Mexico.

The federal governments response handling the expiration of Title 42 has represented a complete failure of the Biden Administration, the governors said in a joint statement, referring to the end of the public health authority, Title 42, which expired at midnight on May 11.

Title 42 allowed for the quick expulsion of foreign nationals whod entered the U.S. illegally during the COVID-19 pandemic. With its end, an estimated 150,000 foreign nationals from all over the world are waiting in Mexico to illegally enter the U.S. at any moment, border officials say.

This is after at least more than 7 million people have been apprehended or reported evading capture by law enforcement since President Joe Bidens been in office.

The Biden administration recently sent 1,500 military personnel to the border and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent several thousand federal employees to help Border Patrol agents expedite processing of foreign nationals into the U.S., not to block their entry, administration officials have explained.

While doing so, the president and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas continue to argue the border is closed.

Within the past few days, groups of tens of thousands of foreign nationals arrived in the Rio Grande Valley and in other areas of Texas, overwhelming Border Patrol agents, officials said. Abbott has already sent more than 10,000 Texas National Guard troops to the border as border communities continue to declare emergencies.

While the federal government has abdicated its duties, Republican governors stand ready to protect the U.S.-Mexico border and keep families safe, the group of 24 governors said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has exemplified leadership at a critical time, leading the way with Operation Lone Star, and deploying the Texas Tactical Border Force to prevent illegal crossings and keep the border secure, they said. We support the efforts to secure the border led by Governor Abbott.

The governors pledging support in addition to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is deploying troops and resources in the next 24 hours, include those of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

They pledged their support within hours of Abbotts request for help Tuesday afternoon.

In his letter to his fellow 49 governors, Abbott wrote, The flood of illegal border activity invited by the Biden Administration flows directly across the southern border into Texas communities, but this crisis does not stop in our state. Emboldened Mexican drug cartels and other transnational criminal enterprises profit off this chaos, smuggling people and dangerous drugs like fentanyl into communities nationwide.

In the federal governments absence, we, as governors, must band together to combat President Bidens ongoing border crisis and ensure the safety and security that all Americans deserve.

The 24 governors agreed. No Democratic governors have responded as of publication. The Democratic governors of the three neighboring border states New Mexico, Arizona and California have made no similar requests as Abbotts.

The Republican governors say they are sending support as the former ICE chief argues Biden administration policies are the greatest national security threat since 9/11 and the former CBP chief argues the issue isnt about immigration but about national security, crime and terrorism. At least 125 known, suspected terrorists have been caught illegally entering the southern border this fiscal year so far.

Previously, in September 2021, 26 Republican governors, led by Abbott and former Arizona governor Doug Ducey, sent a letter to Biden requesting a meeting to discuss the border crisis. They say Biden never replied.

One month later, in October 2021, Republican governors then released ten policy solutions for the president to adopt to immediately secure the border, which he also ignored.

Last April, 26 Republican governors signed an agreement, the American Governors Border Strike Force, to commit to a cross-state law enforcement effort including sharing intelligence, strengthening analytical and cybersecurity efforts, and improving humanitarian efforts to protect children and families.

Republican governors have also previously sent personnel and resources to Arizona and Texas in response to requests from Abbott and Ducey through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). Theyd again be sending support through EMAC, which allows participating states to provide resources to those that request aid in times of emergency. The governors argue the border crisis is such an emergency. The EMAC process also ensures resources and personnel deployed for emergency situations are eligible for FEMA reimbursement.

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24 Republican governors commit to help Texas defend its border - The Highland County Press

Bombshell, screamed The Federalist in all capital letters. A treasonous charade, former President Donald J. Trump declared. Who should go to jail? demanded Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

A report by the special counsel John H. Durham on the origins of the F.B.I.s investigation into the Trump campaigns work with Russia recommended no further prosecutions, produced no startling revelations and declined to suggest any wholesale changes to F.B.I. rules for politically sensitive investigations.

But in the world where Mr. Trump and his supporters operate, Mr. Durhams four-year investigation was Watergate times 10, or 100. Mr. Durhams awesome prosecutorial powers led to two minor criminal cases, both of which ended in acquittal. A former F.B.I. lawyer pleaded guilty to altering an email to help prepare a wiretap application.

Yet the former president and his allies in the conservative media bubble and in Congress found in Mr. Durhams 306-page report what they needed. In their view, the contents amplify a long-held position that the F.B.I.s investigation into Russias intervention in the 2016 election, known as Crossfire Hurricane and the Trump campaigns active or passive abetting of it was a political vendetta concocted by Hillary Clinton and her willing accomplices in federal law enforcement.

With Mr. Durhams investigation now officially finished, no court cases or indictments will advance such claims. But the Republican interpretation of the final Durham report will feed a narrative of Deep State corruption that is fueling not only Mr. Trumps quest for the White House in 2024 but that of many of his rivals for the Republican nomination. The vilification of federal bureaucracy was already an emerging theme in the fight to be the Republican standard-bearer. Regardless of Mr. Durhams actual conclusions, his report appears to serve that theme.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Mr. Trumps closest competitor in the still-early Republican primary race, promised on Monday to clean house at weaponized federal agencies, which he said had manufactured a false conspiracy theory.

Heads need to roll, another competitor, former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, said.

Mr. Trump had termed the Russia investigation the crime of the century, and with no one doing time for that crime, the Durham report could still prove to be Exhibit A in how the American right seems to be living in its own universe and how Mr. Trump still dictates the parameters of that separate reality.

On his Truth Social website, Mr. Trump said the special prosecutor had concluded that the FBI should never have launched the Trump-Russia Probe! In fact, Mr. Durham said he agreed that the F.B.I. should have opened a preliminary investigation.

I, and much more importantly, the American public have been victims of this long-running and treasonous charade started by the Democrats started by Comey, Mr. Trump told Fox News Digital. There must be a heavy price to pay for putting our country through this.

Repeated fund-raising emails from Mr. Trump were headlined I WAS FRAMED.

The conservative website The Federalist picked up the cudgel, attacking The New York Timess initial coverage of contacts between Russian intelligence officials and associates of Mr. Trump, reporting that earned The Times a Pulitzer Prize.

And on Twitter, Mr. Trumps most reliable allies in Congress framed the final report as explosive and groundbreaking, the opposite conclusion of mainstream media outlets. Mr. Durham may have pursued no major prosecutions, but Republicans demanded them.

Democrats attempted a coup against President Trump with their Russia Russia Russia hoax, wrote Ms. Greene, Republican of Georgia.

Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, urged her supporters to get active and fight to make things better.

Let this be your wake-up call: theyre trying to take our country away from us, she wrote on Twitter.

Others who piled on included Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the House Republican Conference chairwoman; the commentator Ben Shapiro; and Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida. Conservative media outlets such as The New York Post and Breitbart weighed in, implicating Ms. Clinton, President Biden, former President Barack Obama and a vast cast of Democrats in what Breitbart called the collusion hoax.

Shut down the F.B.I., said the entrepreneur and Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has made castigation of the administrative state central to his campaign.

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Republican Leaders and Right-Wing Media React to the Durham ... - The New York Times

Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher bangs the gavel on the final day of session. Plocher believes Missouri voters would approve an abortion rights measure. Tim Bommel Missouri House Communications

As Missouri girds for an anticipated fight at the ballot box next year over an amendment overturning its near-total abortion ban, some Republicans have begun saying they expect a majority of voters to support restoring access to the procedure.

The stark admissions have also been accompanied by intense efforts to make it harder for Missourians to amend the state constitution an extraordinary acknowledgment that the Republican-controlled General Assembly must erode direct democracy in the state or risk decades of anti-abortion policy unraveling in a single election.

I think we all believe that an initiative petition will be brought forth to allow choice, House Speaker Dean Plocher, a St. Louis Republican, said Friday. I believe it will pass. Absolutely.

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Plochers remarkable comments come near the beginning of what is almost certain to be a furious 18-month race to the November 2024 general election, when an abortion rights amendment is likely to appear if one qualifies for the ballot.

Missouri, the first state to ban abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, could also potentially become the first state where voters reverse an abortion ban.

Ending the ban would be a seismic event in Missouri, opening a path for the return of abortion clinics after years of restrictions imposed by the General Assembly effectively whittled access down to a single location in St. Louis even before the ban, sending residents into Kansas, Illinois and elsewhere for the procedure.

Eleven amendments have been proposed so far that would allow various levels of abortion access and abortion rights supporters are expected to seek signatures through an initiative petition to place at least one on the ballot. Republican lawmakers have until then to pass an overhaul to the initiative petition process that would raise the threshold for passing an amendment at a statewide vote and, the thinking goes, place a victory out of reach for abortion rights supporters.

A compromise lawmakers agreed to last week but couldnt pass through the Missouri Senate would have required amendments to receive 57% of the vote instead of the current simple majority, a threshold that would have prevented recreational marijuana legalization from passing last November (the measure received 53% of the vote). GOP leaders have already said they will try again next year.

Whatever changes the General Assembly approves must then itself go to a statewide vote and pass with a simple majority. Republicans have signaled they would try to win support for the overhaul with arguments that the state constitution, at 253 pages, has grown too complex and that a higher bar for passage will require amendments to receive more buy-in from rural voters.

One idea that was discarded during negotiations, but could be revived next year, would require amendments to also win a majority of congressional districts if they only obtain a simple majority statewide. The change would empower residents in the rural areas to block amendments even if a majority of voters support them.

The threat of abortion with no restrictions looms large and we are committed to finding the answer early next year. That timeline allows us to see the actual language of abortion advocates and plan a path to defeat it, Senate Majority Leader Cindy OLaughlin, a Shelbina Republican, wrote in a newsletter to constituents Monday explaining that the Senate would act on initiative petition changes in 2024.

The anti-abortion group Missouri Right to Life has been even more blunt, calling the initiative petition overhaul the Resolution to Protect our Constitution and Keep Missouri Pro-Life.

For abortion rights supporters, the urgency among Republicans and abortion opponents only underscores their belief that they hold the upper hand with voters.

We know that Missourians positions and personal thoughts on abortion can be nuanced and complex, but regardless of an individuals personal opinions, by and large, they do not think that it is politicians business, and they dont think that politicians should have the final say over individuals access to this basic health care, said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Pro-Choice Missouri.

Polling by Saint Louis University and YouGov of nearly 450 voters in August 2022 found that 48% support reversing the ban, while 40% would vote to continue the ban. The question had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.93%.

The poll appears to show Missourians support some restrictions on abortion, even if a plurality also support overturning the states ban. While 58% of voters said abortion should be legal during the first eight weeks of pregnancy (a period during which many women dont know theyre pregnant), only 40% said it should be legal through the first 15 weeks compared to 46% who said it shouldnt.

Just 32% said abortion should be legal when a woman wants one for any reason. The poll didnt ask about support for legal abortion up to the point of viability (around 24 weeks).

While all of the pending petitions would guarantee the right to reproductive freedom in the state constitution, they range from allowing all abortions to only restricting abortions after a certain time period such as 24 weeks.

Without knowing what policy might be able to move forward, we have an opportunity to create a level of access that has not existed in years with something that can pass, Schwarz said. And I think the policies proposed could restore 99% of access in our state and would be a dramatic expansion of access broader than weve seen in Missouri in decades.

Anna Fitz-James, a retired St. Louis pediatrician, filed the Missouri petitions in March on behalf of a political action committee called Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. The group appears to have no public presence, hasnt responded to reporter phone calls, and reports to the Missouri Ethics Commission show it has raised very little money, if any.

Fitz-James declined to comment. Michael Pridmore, Missourians for Constitutional Freedoms treasurer, didnt respond to a request for comment.

Tori Schafer, deputy director for policy and campaigns at the ACLU of Missouri, said lawmakers know abortion is popular, and thats why theyre afraid of majority rule.

The ACLU of Missouri is representing Fitz-James in a lawsuit against Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, all Republicans, over delays in posting official ballot summaries and fiscal notes for the petitions. A scheduling hearing is set for Wednesday.

Even though some Republicans say that while an abortion rights measure of some kind could pass, its chances depend in large measure on how far the proposal goes in allowing the procedure. Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, a Columbia Republican, said it would depend on what the left does.

I think if the political left decided that they were going to be reasonable in how they put something on the ballot relative to abortion, they probably have a chance, Rowden said.

Abortion rights supporters have won every statewide election on abortion access across the country since the end of Roe last June. More than 59% of Kansas voters in August rejected an amendment that would have allowed state lawmakers to ban abortion the first election since the Supreme Court decision. Other states including Kentucky, Montana and Vermont have followed in voting in favor of abortion rights.

Against that backdrop, Missouri Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat, said Republicans had let the cat out of the bag after Plocher tied the initiative petition overhaul to abortion.

If he wants to explicitly link abortion or the ability for a woman to have autonomy over her body to (initiative petition), great, he said. They wont like the outcome of that. I promise you. Go ask Kansas.

Missouri Republicans have been trying to restrict the initiative petition process for years, either by tightening signature-gathering requirements or raising the bar for passage at a statewide vote. The proposals have never passed, either becoming overtaken by larger priorities or bogged down by infighting.

But Republicans have now linked the initiative petition overhaul effort to one of their core political issues opposition to abortion in a way that could place enormous pressure on any GOP holdouts.

Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said Republicans could have likely headed off some of the anger at the states ban if they had enacted additional exceptions this year. However, the potency of abortion politics among the Republican base makes that effectively impossible.

Theyre in a position politically within their primaries where they cant really do that, Squire said. And so now theyre facing giving the voters a choice of all or nothing.

Samuel Lee, a lobbyist for the anti-abortion Campaign Life Missouri, said a proposal with enough ballot candy official ballot summary language that entices voters could have a chance of passing with a simple majority (opponents of initiative petition changes have also leveled ballot candy accusations at GOP proposals).

But whether any of the 11 abortion amendments currently put forward could pass is a different story, he said.

Democrats have issued their own criticism of the deceptive ballot language on the initiative petition proposal that would be placed in front of voters, saying that Republicans were using confusing ballot candy to get voters to agree to take away their voting power.

The ballot initiative considered by lawmakers this year would have asked Missourians to Allow only U.S. citizens to vote on ballot measures, despite the fact that the Missouri constitution already requires voters to be U.S. citizens. State Rep. David Tyson Smith, a Columbia Democrat, last week likened the summary to dog poop with icing on it.

Ashcroft, who is running for governor, has proposed a summary for the abortion amendments that would say that they allow for dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, according to late April letters from Bailey to Ashcroft that have been released publicly.

They know that in order to block an abortion access ballot from being able to get the votes that it would need, they have to rely on tactics of manipulation and coercion, Schwarz, the Pro-Choice Missouri director, said.

Lee called Ashcrofts proposed language pretty strong stuff but acknowledged a lawsuit will probably be filed against it.

The voters will decide based on whats in front of them, Lee said, And the jurys still out on what is even going to be promoted.

Read the rest here:

Missouri voters likely to reinstate abortion rights if given the chance, Republicans say - Kansas City Star

Steels bill would keep a $12,000 base standard deduction for individuals, $18,000 for heads of household and $24,000 for married couples filing taxes together. But those figures would end up higher thanks to yearly adjustments for inflation. The standard deduction for the 2023 tax year is $13,850 for individuals, $20,800 for heads of household and $27,700 for joint tax filers.

Permanently expanding the standard deduction could cost more than $1 trillion over a decade, based on the Congressional Budget Offices estimate from last May, a price tag that could complicate advancing it without offsetting cuts to other deductions in the tax code. But the proposal gives Republicans a chance to show off their dedication to helping those less well-off.

The standard deduction is more often used by lower and middle-income households, with itemized deductions tending to offer a bigger benefit for wealthier taxpayers that spend more on things like charitable donations. In 2020, about 95 percent of standard deductions were claimed by households earning less than $200,000, according to IRS data.

Joining Steel on the bill are fellow Ways and Means Committee Republicans Adrian Smith of Nebraska, David Kustoff of Tennessee, Beth Van Duyne of Texas, Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, Drew Ferguson of Georgia, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Randy Feenstra of Iowa and Carol Miller of West Virginia.

Steel taking the lead on the bill is notable. Shes part of a bipartisan SALT caucus including House members that, in some form, take issue with the $10,000 cap on deducting state and local taxes under the 2017 tax law.

See the article here:

California Republican leads push on bigger standard deduction - Roll Call