Massie warns blocking Epstein vote in the House could be political liability for GOP in midterms
"House Republicans insist upon the release of all credible evidence and information related to Epstein in any way," Johnson, R-La., said on NBC News.
"But we are also insisting upon the protection of innocent victims," Johnson continued.
"And our concern is that the ... discharge petition is reckless in the way that it is drafted and presented, it does not adequately include those protections," he added, referring to the measure introduced by Reps. Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
Meanwhile, Massie and Khanna took to the airwaves on Sunday to defend their bill — and criticize the Republican leadership, whom they see as standing in the way of holding a vote on the measures.
Massie and Khanna both repudiated the allegations that releasing the Epstein files would hurt victims of the financier and convicted sex abuser.
In an interview on NBC News, Massie said that Johnson was making a "straw man argument" when the speaker said that the bill does not include protections for victims.
"Ro and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the victims' names will be redacted and that no child pornography will be released," Massie said.
The lawmaker's comments underscore the ongoing divisions within the GOP over the Epstein files, which continue to fuel conspiracy theories among the party's MAGA base and infuriate some of President Donald Trump's strongest supporters.
On Friday, Trump deflected questions about Epstein, a former friend. Epstein died from suicide while in jail weeks after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges in 2019.
"I have nothing to do with the guy," Trump said of the man he had socialized with for years before a falling out in the mid-2000s with the convicted pedophile.
The Trump administration has faced growing backlash in recent weeks after the Justice Department walked back on earlier plans to release the files related to Epstein's case.
Massie also criticized Johnson on Sunday for beginning its August recess early in the U.S. House, avoiding being forced to take the vote on the motions related to the Epstein files.
"The question is, why isn't Mike Johnson having this vote? Why did he send us home early?" Massie said on ABC News.
He also warned of the political implications if Johnson does not hold a vote on the bill.
"I'll tell you what's politically going to be a liability is, if we don't vote on this, and we go into the midterms and everybody ... they just check out because Republicans didn't keep their promise," he said.
"We'll lose the majority," he continued.
Massie said that he thinks pressure will build to hold a vote on it through the August recess period.
Some Democrats, including Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are also backing the bill.
Massie was also asked how he would react if Trump granted convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell some form of clemency.
"I don't think she deserves that or needs that," Massie said on ABC News, adding that "it's hard to believe that she, herself, and Epstein did these crimes by themselves," which means it's "time to find out who else was involved," by evaluating documents, bank records and others including plea bargains previously under seal.
In recent days, Maxwell was granted limited immunity by the Justice Department to answer questions about the Jeffrey Epstein case.
This type of immunity allowed Maxwell to answer questions from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, without fear that the information she provided could later be used against her in any future cases or proceedings.
When Johnson was asked what he thought of a possible pardon for Maxwell, he reiterated that the decision is ultimately up to Trump.
"Obviously that's a decision of the president," Johnson said, adding, "that's not my lane."
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Miami Herald
14 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
‘They didn't vote for this': Support erodes as ICE targets noncriminal immigrants
It started with the 'bad hombres.' In a 2016 presidential debate, then-candidate Donald Trump promised to deport drug lords and violent criminals. At a rally in Hialeah in 2023, Trump made a pledge in a city where three-fourths of residents are foreign-born: to end the 'invasion' of the United States by undocumented immigrants. Now in his second term, Trump is carrying out a mass deportation campaign that his administration says focuses on criminals — 'the worst of the worst,' according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. But under the current Trump administration, the idea of who is considered a 'criminal' has broadened to include all undocumented people. And in Florida, the governor was quick to assist the president make the leap from 'bad hombres' to anyone without papers. In February, at the first meeting of his State Board of Immigration meeting, Gov. Ron DeSantis said, 'If you are here illegally that is a crime too, OK? You can't just say you have free range to be here illegally until you commit some type of felony. I want you out before you commit the felony.' ICE raids and arrests of undocumented immigrants, regardless of their criminal history, has ignited fear and anger from Hispanic communities across the country, a diverse voting bloc Trump made inroads with in 2024. Recent national polling shows Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of immigration. Some South Florida Republican elected officials now find themselves in a precarious situation: stay loyal to Trump's agenda or answer to their immigrant voter base. 'There's this huge upsurge of sentiment that this is a country of immigrants, that these immigrants are not all bad,' said Eduardo Gamarra, a political science professor at Florida International University. 'And that even those who are being deported should be treated in a more humane way.' 'Everyone is basically at risk' While on a recent report for the New York Times, a reporter watched as ICE officers in Miami looked for an undocumented man. They arrested him when they found him, along with brother who happened to be with him. 'That brother that was arrested today, although [...] he hasn't committed a crime, that doesn't mean that he can't potentially commit a crime,' Carlos Nuñez, an ICE officer in Miami told the New York Times. 'And as I see it, he's committed a crime the minute he enters the United States without admission.' Under previous presidential administrations, Fort Lauderdale immigration attorney Mark Hamburger said, there was an understanding that migrants who commit serious crimes should be prioritized for deportation over undocumented people with clean records and families in the country that depend on them. 'There is no line anymore. Everyone is basically at risk,' Hamburger said. 'Trump wants to group all immigrants into this category of criminals, but that's just not true,' he said. 'I'm sure they'd love to say, 'They're all criminals, they all have records.' But they don't even say that anymore. Now, what the press secretary says is, 'Well, they're here unlawfully and that in itself is a crime, so we're detaining anyone who's here unlawfully.'' By targeting undocumented people in general, Hamburger said, the Trump administration has overwhelmed the court system and stoked fear, ultimately to push immigrants to self-deport. One of Hamburger's clients was a woman from Nicaragua who came to the United States in 2022 seeking political asylum, which her sister and cousin were able to secure. She had been living in Los Angeles, but was feeling paranoid amid the ICE raids and anti-ICE protests. Hamburger called her before her trial, which was finally set for last month. She was noticeably nervous over the phone and hung up. When he called back, she confessed: 'I'm in Honduras right now.' Though she had a strong political asylum case, Hamburger said, the stress was making her sick. She gave up on her case and left the country. 'I have many other cases like that where people are just slowly putting up the white flag,' Hamburger said. 'The chaos, the psychological torture, it reaches a certain point for immigrants where it starts to manifest physically as illness. And some people, ultimately, just give up.' Americans soften on immigration U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar from Miami, is walking a tightrope. How does a Republican abide by the MAGA rulebook while appealing to her largely immigrant constituency? Her solution: the Dignity Act. Salazar, along with Democrat Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas, resurrected the Dignity Act of 2023, which, if passed, would grant undocumented immigrants living in the country for more than fiveyears with no criminal record a legal status that protects them from deportation. While its passage remains unlikely in a polarized Congress, it marks a notable attempt by Salazar to distance herself from the full scope of Trump's immigration crackdown. At a July 15 press conference, Salazar sang the praises of the Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, a sweeping piece of legislation that significantly increase funding for ICE and border security, while acknowledging the roughly 10 million undocumented immigrants that work in construction, hospitality, agriculture and food production 'who are not criminals.' As she pitched the Dignity Act to the American public — and Trump himself — Salazar reiterated a crucial point that undoubtedly resonates with her constituents in Miami: not all undocumented immigrants are criminals. 'Yes, they broke the law, but someone gave them a job because they needed those workers, workers who are still needed today,' she said. The timing is notable. A growing body of polling shows that the public mood is shifting — and fast. A July 11 Gallup poll found that Americans are becoming more positive about immigration, reversing four years of rising concern. In June 2024, 55 percent of respondents wanted immigration reduced. By July 2025, that number dropped to just 30 percent. Among Hispanic voters, Trump's approval on immigration now sits at 21 percent, well below his national average. A separate CBS News poll conducted that same month found that a majority of Americans believe Trump's administration is targeting 'people who aren't dangerous criminals' for deportation — and that his second-term policies have gone further than many voters expected. 'They didn't vote for this' What's behind this big change in public opinion? 'A lot of it has to do with overreach,' said Mike Madrid, a Republican political commentator and expert on Latino voters. '[Trump's] numbers are still very strong with Republicans. I think the vast majority of Republicans did vote for this and like it, and frankly, think he probably could still be more aggressive,' Madrid said. 'But the voters that he needs to get to a majority — young voters, Hispanic voters, independents — they have fled in pretty historic numbers. The collapse is pretty spectacular, especially given a very short time frame.' The optics overall are bad. Many are critical of the Trump administration for circumventing due process and sending military vehicles to cities like Los Angeles, Madrid said. Americans have also been inundated with harrowing anecdotes in the news and on social media of undocumented immigrants being detained by ICE and separated from their families. Immigration attorneys across the country are hustling to help clients who have been swept up in the crackdown despite having no criminal history. Hamburger told the Herald most of his clients either have no criminal history or have been charged with misdemeanors, the most common being driving without a license. Two clients of his were arrested while fishing without a license, he said. Now, they're in Alligator Alcatraz, the state-run immigration detention facility built in the Everglades where detainees reportedly face harsh and disgusting conditions. Hundreds of detainees who earlier this month were held in Alligator Alcatraz or scheduled to be sent there had no criminal convictions or pending charges in the United States, the Herald reported this month. Salazar, who represents a diverse swath of Miami-Dade County with large populations of Cubans, Haitians, Caribbeans, Colombians and Venezuelans, is 'in a bind,' said Gamarra, the FIU professor. While Gamarra said the Dignity Act bill is unlikely to pass, 'it helps her public stance.' Salazar will have to answer to that large constituency in the mid-terms, though Gamara said it's too early to tell exactly how Latino voters in Miami will respond to South Florida Republicans. But there are some notable trends emerging. An FIU survey Gamarra conducted in May among Venezuelans in Florida showed real disillusionment among a third of Trump voters with his administration's immigration policy, particularly the ending of Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole. 'I can tell you from looking at the Venezuelan data that there is a degree of sentiment, very deeply held sentiment, that they were betrayed, that they didn't vote for this,' Gamarra said. 'They thought it was going to only be criminals because they made that distinction that 'we're not criminals.' But they didn't anticipate the broader definition of 'criminal' behavior that the administration has adopted.' Madrid thinks its unlikely for Democrats to regain the Latino support they once had. Still, he said, there are 'fascinating' shifts occurring in different Latino communities. For the first time in his career, Madrid said he is seeing the Cuban American community respond to this moment the same way the Mexican American community is, despite their very different histories in the United States and typical political beliefs. He recalled attending a recent press conference where Cuban and Venezuelan community leaders called on FIFA to protect attendees from ICE the way the Dodgers' did in Los Angeles. 'That same fear, that same terror, is not something we normally see from the Cuban American community with a Republican president!' he said. 'We've never seen that before.'
USA Today
14 minutes ago
- USA Today
Republicans accused Biden of trying to bribe voters. Now they're doing the same.
I shouldn't have to remind a sitting senator, much less the president, of basic economics, but here goes: You can't just hand out money. On July 28, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, announced legislation that would provide Americans with $600 'rebate checks,' supposedly due to the vast swathes of money being collected from President Donald Trump's tariff policy. Hawley's proposal comes just days after Trump suggested the idea himself. I shouldn't have to remind a sitting senator, much less the president, of basic economics, but here goes. You can't just hand out money; doing so is either inflationary or adds to the deficit. MAGA is hurting Americans' wallets through tariff policy, and pretending as if the results have been so beneficial that we can afford to pay Americans a share of the benefit. All of this is an economically illiterate scheme to bribe voters, nothing more. It's not conservative fiscal policy. None of it. Josh Hawley's rebate check proposal built on bad fiscal policy Hawley's proposal doesn't function as a rebate because the government doesn't have money to rebate. It's not as if Americans have paid too much in taxes, and the government is now returning those funds to their rightful owners. "Americans deserve a tax rebate after four years of Biden policies that have devastated families' savings and livelihoods," Halwey said in a statement. "Like President Trump proposed, my legislation would allow hard-working Americans to benefit from the wealth that Trump's tariffs are returning to this country.' For Americans to truly experience a rebate, the government needs to be in a budget surplus. If we are in a budget deficit, any form of spending comes from two sources. The first is through printing new money, which is the simplest way to create inflation. The second way is through borrowing money, which adds to the national debt, requiring higher revenue in the future to cover current spending. In the first eight months of fiscal year 2025, the federal budget deficit totaled $1.4 trillion. Such dire finances are worsened by the fact that Republicans passed a budget in July that is expected to skyrocket the deficit by, after accounting for interest costs, roughly $3.8 trillion over the next decade. If the $600 rebate were claimed by every man, woman and child in America, as Hawley suggested, this proposal would cost more than $205 billion. Even if narrowed to just those who filed an individual tax return, of which there were roughly 163 million in 2023, that cost would total nearly $98 billion. The United States has only generated about $125 billion from tariffs as of the end of July, a sizable increase from previous years but not enough to cover anything close to our budget deficit. As it is, Hawley is promising to refund Americans for revenue that doesn't come close to paying for all of our government spending. Republicans, under MAGA leadership, are continuing to run our country's finances into the ground. MAGA is playing voters for fools with tariffs Tariffs, in themselves, mean that retailers inevitably pass along these additional import costs to producers. It is a cruel joke to hike people's cost of living through tariffs, then pretend to pay them back with money you don't have, in turn causing more costs to taxpayers down the road. In reality, all of this is just another populist attempt to bribe Americans into voting for more MAGA economics (if you can call it that). The economic illiteracy of the MAGA movement is frankly tiring. Federal spending is a political tool to entice Americans to vote MAGA, while Republican policies actually hurt working Americans. Republicans often criticize Democrats when they attempt to employ similar strategies, as seen with the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness. But now, here are Republican leaders proposing to bribe voters. Hawley seemingly hasn't learned his lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic, in which he was a cosponsor of stimulus checks. The massive rise in government spending during the pandemic was a chief cause of the inflation that followed, and such action now is likely to yield the same results. Now, Trump and Hawley are drawing from the same playbook. If they had their way, America would be saddled with the financial consequences while they remain just fine. Hawley is one of the worst offenders of basic economics in the Senate and is much closer to a fiscal socialist than any sort of conservative. It is worrying that he continues to float his damaging proposals. Nobody in Trump's faction of the GOP has any interest in producing sound economic policy. Their only motivation is attempting to buy votes. Hawley's proposals only reveal that fact even more. Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.
Politico
21 minutes ago
- Politico
Dems grapple with Trump resistance dilemma
IN TODAY'S EDITION:— Dems' big decisions ahead on spending, noms— Schumer's new Epstein push— Flood previews policy battles for Main Street Caucus Senate Democrats have a chance to show their voters they can effectively stymie President Donald Trump as Republicans work to advance spending bills and a flurry of nominations. But publicly and behind closed doors, the Democratic Party is grappling with whether to resist or — in Minority Whip Dick Durbin's words — seek a 'quid pro quo,' Jordain Carney reports. Inside Democrats' lunch Wednesday, senators talked through potential September strategies. Among the ideas they are floating is securing policy wins, like preserving soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act tax credits, or getting a commitment from Republicans not to pursue more rescissions. Sen. Cory Booker's fiery protest on Tuesday, urging his party to 'have a backbone' in dealing with Trump, could preview the potential progressive backlash if they cut a deal. Some Democrats, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are questioning why they should agree to help the administration fast-track filling its ranks at all, though plenty of other Democrats would disagree. The party is pushing back at Trump in smaller ways as it tries to reach consensus. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Homeland Security Democrats invoked a little-known law this week trying to force the release of files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — an issue Republican leadership has avoided putting on the floor. The immediate stakes of Democrats' strategy are limited to the fate of their August recess for the moment. But how they move now could set the stage for the bigger looming test: averting a Sept. 30 government shutdown. They don't want a repeat of the spring showdown where Schumer infuriated Democratic activists by helping to advance a GOP-written funding bill. 'The Republicans can roll us once, but we sure as hell shouldn't let them roll us a second time,' Warren said in a brief interview. 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Thune added that he would see where conversations go with other senators, but he didn't 'sense any rush to change it' and said the Senate is 'making good headway' on confirming judges from Trump's list. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso also said he supported Grassley. Johnson pushes back on stock trading ban discharge Speaker Mike Johnson has been privately pushing back on an effort from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna to force a vote on a bill banning stock trading for members of Congress, three people granted anonymity to discuss the effort tell our Meredith Lee Hill. Luna said on Fox News Wednesday night she's 'taking a lot of heat' and 'a lot of pushback from leadership' for her discharge plan. She did not specifically name Johnson. Meanwhile on the Senate side, Trump is attempting to quash a similar effort from Sen. Josh Hawley, who joined Democrats to help advance a bill banning trading for lawmakers, the president and vice president out of committee on Wednesday. Trump called Hawley a 'second-tier senator' afterward. Hawley brushed off the attack and said he'd be willing to tweak his bill to get the president to sign it. Growing support from Dems for Israel arms sales ban Twelve new Democrats backed an effort from Sen. Bernie Sanders to block the sale of arms to Israel in a late-night vote Wednesday. The procedural vote failed 70-27, but a majority of Democrats opposed an Israeli arms sale for the first time since the Gaza War started nearly two years ago. Schumer voted against blocking the sale. POLICY RUNDOWN MAIN STREET CAUCUS CHAIR PREVIEWS UPCOMING POLICY FIGHTS: Meredith's wide-ranging interview with Rep. Mike Flood, the new chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus, is a must-read to understand the biggest policy battles set to play out later this year. Flood — who recently took over for outgoing chair Dusty Johnson as he prepares to run for South Dakota governor — said among other things that there would be 'severe pushback' if GOP leadership tries to further slash Medicaid in a second budget reconciliation bill. Flood also said the 'overwhelming' majority of his 83-member caucus wants earmarks in any government funding deal in September. Here's what you need to know: — The Main Street Caucus is meeting with the Freedom Caucus once a week to 'understand where everybody's coming from,' per Flood. — Flood has told GOP leadership that earmarks must be included in any government funding bill, and he believes Main Street has an unlikely ally: 'Our members want community project funding ... and the Freedom Caucus agrees with us.' — House Republican committee chairs will likely come forward with a menu of options for a second budget reconciliation bill, with Flood seeing some opportunities in the housing policy space. — Speaker Johnson and Flood haven't yet discussed the looming expiration of Affordable Care Act premium tax credits yet, but Flood acknowledged it's an issue that the GOP will confront after lawmakers deal with government funding. WINKLEVOSS BROS. VS. CFTC NOM: Cryptocurrency billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss pushed Trump this past weekend to sub out his nominee for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Declan Harty and Sophia Cai scooped. The brothers told Trump that Brian Quintenz, the White House pick to head the CFTC, wouldn't do enough to shake up the agency, which oversees financial derivatives and has expanded its purview over digital assets. The pressure campaign prompted the administration to ask Senate Agriculture to scrap its planned Monday vote to advance Quintenz's nomination — though a White House spokesperson says he remains the nominee. The Winklevosses previously had to pay a $5 million settlement amid charges from the CFTC that their company, Gemini, made misleading statements about a crypto investment product. FACIAL RECOGNITION BILL COULD SOON BE REVIVED: A bill to put guardrails on TSA's facial recognition program will likely be back on the menu soon after it was unexpectedly dropped from the agenda during a Senate Commerce markup Wednesday, according to Democrat Jacky Rosen. 'We expect it to come up on the next markup,' said Rosen, who told Benjamin she's been working with Sen. Jeff Merkley, the chief sponsor of the bill, to make tweaks to the measure to ensure it wouldn't close down PreCheck or make airport lines too long. Rosen noted that the legislation would affect the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, which sees 50 million visitors a year, and needs to be 'thought through a little bit more.' Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz, who had previously expressed confidence in the bill's prospects before his panel, also told Benjamin Wednesday he intends to try again 'at a subsequent markup.' But the legislation has been the subject of intense lobbying by the travel industry, which had been warning in recent days the proposal was in trouble. Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E: THE BEST OF THE REST How Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren agreed on a sweeping housing package, from Liz Goodwin and Rachel Siegel at The Washington Post Tom Cole's Powerful Spot on the Appropriations Committee Is Motivating Him to Stay in Congress, from Em Luetkemeyer at NOTUS CAMPAIGN STOP TEXAS GOP UNVEILS NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP — Texas Republicans have unveiled a new proposed congressional map that would provide their party with five new GOP-leaning districts, Andrew Howard and Liz Crampton report. The redraw would put more Republicans into districts held by Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, who both represent Latino-heavy areas of the Rio Grande Valley, and make some Democratic-controlled districts even bluer in an attempt to create GOP-leaning districts elsewhere. Jeffries, meanwhile, was in Texas Wednesday and plans to be there today organizing an on-the-ground response with local legislators and stakeholders. He plans to hold a news conference with Democrats in the Texas House delegation at 11 a.m. As Democrats consider redistricting in bluer states like New York and California, their plans could collide with legal challenges — and in some cases, pose threats to lawmakers' career plans, Jeremy B. White reports. DAVIS TO PASS ON REELECTION — Democratic Rep. Danny Davis, 83, is expected to announce today he won't run for reelection in 2026, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss his plans in advance, Shia Kapos reports. The field is already heating up: State Rep. La Shawn Ford has already announced he's running and is expected to get an endorsement from Davis. Former County Commissioner Richard Boykin, businessperson Jason Friedman and Marine Corps officer-turned-comedian John McCombs are also running. Walter Burnett Jr., who until recently was a Chicago alderman, and state Rep. Kam Buckner are among the other potential candidates expected to enter the race. CODEL CORNER FIGHT ACROSS THE POND — Rep. Jamie Raskin found himself in a scuffle with Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom's conservative Reform party, during a bipartisan trip to the U.K., Anthony Adragna reports. According to Raskin and three other Democratic lawmakers on the trip, Raskin had started talking about the history of free speech in the U.S. which led to current threats from Trump. That's when they said Farage interrupted him saying, 'We're not here to talk about Donald Trump,' and that Raskin was 'the most pig-headed person he'd ever met.' The top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee clapped back to Farage: 'This is why we had a revolution against you guys.' The trip was organized by Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan for Republicans to push back against the country's new Online Safety Act and free speech concerns in the U.K. HOUSE MEMBERS MEET MILEI — A bipartisan group of seven House members traveled to Argentina to meet President Javier Milei Monday to discuss the country's financial landscape. Led by Financial Services Chair French Hill, the group included GOP Reps. Warren Davidson, María Elvira Salazar, Troy Downing and Tim Moore and Democratic Reps. Don Davis and Janelle Bynum, according to a statement from Hill. The group also met with Minister of Economy Luis Caputo, head of the Argentinian Central Bank Santiago Bausili and Minister of Foreign Affairs Gerardo Werthein. In addition to discussing the relationship between the U.S. and Argentina, the group talked about digital assets' risks and opportunities. TUNNEL TALK ON ONE KNEE IN THE SPEAKER'S BALCONY—Timothy O'Neill, legislative director for Rep. Tom McClintock, and Ashtyn Rouland, comms director for Rep. Chuck Edwards, recently got engaged on the speaker's balcony, per Playbook. The couple met as staffers for Rep. Debbie Lesko. JOB BOARD Alley Adcock is joining the Treasury Department as deputy assistant secretary for legislative affairs, appropriations and management. She most recently was a professional staff member on the House Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee. Emily Flower is joining the Kennedy Center as a director of PR. She was previously comms director for Sen. Roger Marshall. Terrence Clark has joined Amazon's corporate comms team handling crisis, issues and reputation management. He most recently was senior comms adviser and spokesperson for the Justice Department and is a Raphael Warnock alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rep. Joe Wilson … former Rep. Adam Putnam … Nelson Garcia … Todd Novascone of OGR … U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Lexi Branson … Matthew Ballard of Ballard Strategy Group … Micah Spangler … Lauren Allen … Dan McFaul … James Floyd of Durbin's office … Terry Schilling … former Massachusetts Govs. Bill Weld (8-0) and Deval Patrick … Dan Schnur … Alana Peisner of Rep. Mike Levin's office … Joe Novotny of HB Strategies TRIVIA WEDNESDAY'S ANSWER: Brad Fitch correctly answered that upon Theodore Roosevelt's death, the sitting vice president exclaimed, 'Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight.' TODAY'S QUESTION, from Brad: Who was the first speaker of the House to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@
