Sen. Roger Marshall on GOP reconciliation bill negotiations: The future of this country is at stake
Senate Finance Committee member Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) joins'Squawk Box' to discuss the fate of the GOP reconciliation bill, debate over taxes and spending, Medicaid reform, and more.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
40 minutes ago
- USA Today
Conservative Josh Hawley introduces bill to raise federal minimum wage to $15 an hour
Conservative Josh Hawley introduces bill to raise federal minimum wage to $15 an hour Show Caption Hide Caption Lawmakers advance bill to lower pay for trainees Florida lawmakers are advancing bills that would allow employers to pay certain workers in training below the minimum wage for up to 12 months. Fox - 35 Orlando WASHINGTON - Ultraconservative Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a bill on June 10 with Democratic Vermont Sen. Peter Welch to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, making him one of the few Republicans to support the cause. The bill, dubbed the 'Higher Wages for American Workers Act,' would raise the minimum wage starting in January 2026 and allow it to increase on the basis of inflation in subsequent years. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour and it's been unchanged since 2009. It is unclear whether the legislation will be taken up for a vote. Members of Congress have previously tried to raise the minimum wage, but to no avail. In 2021, Democratic lawmakers tried to tack a $15 per hour minimum wage provision in former President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus package, but a Senate official ruled that the measure couldn't be included in the bill. President Donald Trump said in December 2024 that he would 'consider' raising the minimum wage. However, he revoked a 2024 executive order that set the minimum wage for federal contractors at $17.75. 'For decades, working Americans have seen their wages flatline," Hawley said in a statement. One major culprit of this is the failure of the federal minimum wage to keep up with the economic reality facing hardworking Americans every day." Welch, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, echoed a similar sentiment. 'Every hardworking American deserves a living wage that helps put a roof over their head and food on the table–$7.25 an hour doesn't even come close,' he said. The Employment Policies Institute, a think tank dedicated to researching employment growth, opposed Hawley and Welch's push, arguing that it would result in a loss of jobs. 'Sen. Hawley should know better,' Rebekah Paxton, research director of the institute, said in a news release. 'This proposal would more than double the minimum wage and slash over 800,000 jobs. An overwhelming majority of economists agree that drastic minimum wage hikes cut employment, limit opportunities for workers, and shutter businesses.' The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found in an analysis that raising the minimum wage would 'raise the earnings and family income of most low-wage workers' but would cause other low-income workers to lose their jobs and their family income to fall. Hawley in February teamed up with progressive firebrand Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to introduce a bill capping credit card interest rates at 10%, saying it would "provide meaningful relief to working people." He's also been a vocal critic of Medicaid cuts.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
DuPage GOP to launch vote-by-mail pilot program to combat Democratic strides
After a spring election in which Democrats were victorious across the suburbs, DuPage County Republicans are launching a pilot program to encourage mail-in voting among their GOP base. Set to begin in earnest until later this summer, party officials have high hopes the initiative will help the GOP regain strength in DuPage, a once Republican stronghold that has been shifting blue for years now. 'For numerous cycles now, strong DuPage County Republican candidates have been defeated by lesser Democratic candidates who have benefitted to an enormous degree from vote-by-mail (VBM) voting,' DuPage GOP Chairman Kevin Coyne, a former Naperville City Council member, said in a statement on social media earlier this month. 'Those days are over effective today. … Numerous states have witnessed Republicans dominate vote-by-mail returns. DuPage County will be no different.' Through the pilot program, the local party will be encouraging Republican voters in select precincts across DuPage to sign up for the county's permanent vote-by-mail program, Coyne said in a call. Any eligible registered voter in DuPage can vote by mail ahead of an election. Voters can request to do so per election or opt into the county's permanent vote-by-mail program, which would sign them up to receive mail-in ballots each election. DuPage Republicans will be working with M3 Strategies, a Chicago-based political consulting firm, to conduct the pilot program later this summer, Coyne said. The hope is it will help get Republicans on 'equal footing' with Democrats in DuPage, he said. To date, significantly more Democratic primary voters are on the county's permanent vote-by-mail list, DuPage County Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson. As of Wednesday, there was a total of 98,413 voters on the county's permanent vote-by-mail list, according to Johnson. That number divides into voters who have opted to receive mail-ballots for general elections only and those who have requested to also receive primary ballots, he said. The latter is how the county can glean the partisan divide in its vote-by-mail program as voters must request either a Democratic or Republican primary ballot. Current numbers show that 47,110 Democratic primary voters have signed up for the program compared to 19,525 Republican voters, Johnson said. Those totals have also grown since the 2022 primary election, which was the first in which the permanent vote-by-mail program was offered. In 2022, there were 20,482 Democratic primary voters compared to 8,009 Republican voters. 'The Democrats, to their credit, have done a really good job of getting their voters to sign up for it. Republicans have not,' Coyne said. 'Until we close that gap, it's going to be really, really hard for Republicans to win around here. … It's a massive advantage that they have right now, and we simply have to address it.' Republicans were once at least as likely as Democrats to vote by mail, but the dynamics changed in 2020 when President Donald Trump turned against early in-person and mail voting. He spun conspiracies about the process and convinced his supporters to wait until Election Day to cast their ballots. The Republican Party also amplified dark rumors about mail ballots to explain Trump's 2020 loss. However, national messaging has shifted over the past couple of years, with the GOP changing course to encourage early and mail voting for the November 2024 election cycle. As far as if and to what extent the partisan divide in voting by mail impacts election results, that's hard to measure, said Stephen Maynard Caliendo, a dean and political science professor at North Central College in Naperville. That's the sort of question that runs into something called the ecological inference problem, which is the process of using aggregate data to draw conclusions about individual-level behavior, Caliendo said. 'In other words, there's no way to know whether vote-by-mail actually helped Democrats because we can't know … (who) the people (who voted by mail) exactly voted for,' he said. Still, research has tried to suss out an answer. A 2021 Stanford University study found that record rates of mail voting in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic didn't help Democrats or lead to an increase in voting. The research was the latest in a number of studies finding no partisan benefit to mail voting. However, Caliendo said broadening ways to vote is a worthwhile pursuit. 'Even if you're wrong, even if it hasn't really hurt you,' he said, 'expanding vote by mail isn't going to hurt you among your own voters. … If (a party has) the resources to dedicate to this, it makes a lot of sense that they're going to do it. I encourage it because anytime … (we remove) barriers for people to vote, that's better for democracy.' Coyne promoted the county's permanent vote-by-mail program as a means of getting more information out to voters, even if they still opt to vote in person. 'You can still vote in person, even if you're registered for vote-by-mail balloting,' he said. 'But there's a lot of reasons to do it.' Receiving a ballot ahead of time in itself is an important notification that an election is going on, Johnson said. That's especially true for local consolidated elections in the spring 'when voters aren't seeing (the election) on the news every day,' he said. Coyne, who has chaired DuPage County Republicans since January, said devoting more energy to mail-in voting had 'always kind of been on our radar' but the results of the spring election made it clear action was needed. In April, Democrats pulled out wins in all 49 contested partisan races across the county, according to Dianne McGuire, vice chair of the Democratic Party of DuPage County. 'Until we stop complaining about vote-by-mail being here and accept that it is here and do something about it,' Coyne said, 'I think Republicans are going to have to deal with a lot of ugly elections.'
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Louisiana is the latest Republican-led state expanding its role in immigration enforcement
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As protests erupt across the country over aggressive immigration enforcement tactics, Louisiana lawmakers approved a package of legislation this week that'll aid the ongoing federal crackdown on deportation. Amid growing national tensions, Louisiana is the latest red state that expanded its immigration enforcement role — crafting a legislative promise to cooperate with federal agencies. Law enforcement agents and public officials could face jail time if they purposefully obstruct, delay or ignore federal immigration enforcement efforts, under one Louisiana bill. Another measure requires state agencies — including the departments of Health, Education, Corrections, Children & Family Services, and Motor Vehicles — to verify, track and report anyone illegally in the U.S. who is receiving state services. The bills head to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, a tough-on-crime conservative and staunch ally of President Donald Trump, who is likely to sign them into law. Penalizing officials who obstruct immigration enforcem ent efforts Following Trump's pledge to remove millions of people who are in the country illegally, immigration raids have ramped up from coast to coast. Federal agencies have sought to enlist state and local help, alerting federal authorities of immigrants wanted for deportation and holding them until federal agents take custody. Louisiana's GOP-dominated Legislature passed a bill to ensure just that. The measure expands the crime of malfeasance in office, which is punishable with up to 10 years in jail. Essentially, it would make it a crime for a public official or employee to refuse to comply with requests from agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It also prohibits public officials, including police and judges, from knowingly releasing a person who 'illegally entered or unlawfully remained' in the U.S. from their custody without providing advance notice to ICE. 'This is one of those bills that says it's against the law not to enforce the law,' said Republican state Sen. Jay Morris. Additionally, the bill expands the crime of obstruction of justice to include any act 'intended to hinder, delay, prevent, or otherwise interfere with or thwart federal immigration enforcement efforts,' including civil immigration proceedings. Tia Fields, an advocate for the Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants, said she fears the measures will have a 'chilling effect' and could potentially criminalize 'ordinary acts of assistance or advice' by advocates, religious leaders, attorneys or organizations. Louisiana, which does not share a border with a foreign country, is one of several states attempting to penalize local officials who don't cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Most recently, under a new law in Tennessee, local officials who vote to adopt sanctuary policies could face up to six years in prison. Other states allow residents or the local attorney general to sue officials and state governments if they limit or refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement efforts. But threats of repercussions have gone beyond the creation of legislation. Most recently, as the National Guard was deployed to protests in Los Angeles, Tom Homan, the Trump administration's ' border czar,' hinted that elected officials could face arrest if they interfere with agents on the ground. State agencies tasked with tracking immigrants Amid growing tensions over immigration enforcement, Louisiana has made national headlines for its role. Nearly 7,000 people are being held in the state's nine immigration detention centers. Among them is Mahmoud Khalil, a student and legal U.S. resident whom the Trump administration jailed over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University. With a spotlight on Louisiana, bills and policies targeting migrants suspected of entering the country illegally were pushed to the forefront by Landry and legislators. Ranging from banning sanctuary city policies to sending Louisiana National Guard members to the U.S.-Mexico border. One measure, passed this week, codifies an executive order of Landry. It requires state agencies to verify the citizenship of people attempting to receive or use state services and benefits. The agencies would collect and track such data, submitting an annual report to the governor, attorney general and Legislature, in addition to posting it publicly online. Any agency that does not comply risks having its funding withheld. Republican state Sen. Blake Miguez, who authored the legislation, said it was crafted so officials and residents know how much money and what 'services or benefits have been afforded' to immigrants who are in the country illegally. But another bill goes a step further — requiring state agencies to refer the applicant's information, 'including unsatisfactory immigration status,' to ICE. State Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who opposed the bill, asked Miguez if the measure could result in families being separated. Miguez said that while that's 'a bit of a stretch,' ultimately it is up to federal authorities and what they do with the information.
