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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republicans eye efforts to quiet Epstein uproar but can't quash it
House Republicans who were at odds all week over the Trump administration's handling of Jeffrey Epstein disclosures are holding their breaths to see if the tsunami of criticism from their base over the matter is finally subsiding. GOP members on the House Rules Committee voted in favor of a resolution directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to release more materials relating to the late wealthy and connected sex offender. President Trump relented and directed Bondi to request grand jury testimony from the Epstein case be unsealed. And Republicans are banding together to dismiss and criticize the Wall Street Journal's report about a 'bawdy' birthday letter Trump sent more than two decades ago. But none of those developments have the weight to fully put the Epstein matter to rest. The Rules Committee resolution, for starters, does not have any legal weight to force the Trump administration to release any materials. Instead, it calls for the disclosure of some information while giving Bondi the ability to withhold some portions. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of the Rules panel members who voted to advance the resolution, dismissed that criticism — arguing that a binding bill would go nowhere in the Senate and do little to force release of materials even if Trump did sign it. It is better, he said, to have at least a unified statement from Republicans, and set the stage for other potential oversight. 'If they don't' release the Epstein materials, Roy said, 'then we have the powers [in] Congress to then do whatever Congress can do, which is what — hold hearings, have people come testify, have oversight, power of the purse. Those are our actual powers.' But it is unclear if Republicans will even make that unified statement. House GOP leaders have not committed to bring hold a floor vote on the resolution and refusing to do so could spark outcry from GOP lawmakers who are most incensed by the Epstein saga and are pushing to see the information. 'We'll determine what happens with all that,' Johnson said when asked by The Hill if he will put the resolution on the floor. 'There's a lot developing. The president made his statements this afternoon, he's asked the attorney general to release the information, I'm certain that she will, and everybody can make their own decisions about that.' Pressed on the matter, he similarly demurred, saying: 'We will see how all this develops.' 'We're in line with the White House, there's no daylight between us,' he added. 'We want transparency, and I think that will be delivered for the people.' It's possible, then, that the resolution serves as little else but political cover for the Republican members of the Rules Committee, who were lambasted for days after voting down a Democratic amendment in support of releasing more Epstein material earlier in the week. The panel's members delayed final passage on the first Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts to public broadcasting and foreign aid as they negotiated a committee vote on the GOP Epstein resolution. Another Epstein-release effort threatens to keep the issue alive in Congress, though. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) have promised to file a discharge petition to try to circumvent GOP leadership and force a vote on their Epstein disclosures bill. They would need to reach 218 signatures — and already have 14 other cosponsors on the measure, including 10 other Republicans. The petition can open as soon as next week, but there is a waiting period before it could force floor action — meaning the matter that has sharply split Trump's base could still be a live issue weeks from now, when Congress returns from the upcoming August recess. While the discharge petition lingers, some who have called for more disclosures are praising Trump's move to direct Bondi to request that courts unseal testimony from the Epstein case. 'This is the right course of action. Thank you @AGPamBondi and @realDonaldTrump,' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on X in response to Trump's announcement. But others note that testimony transcripts are just a fraction of the materials that could give new insights into other rich and powerful people accused of participating in the abuse of young girls, as Epstein did. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), a former federal prosecutor, made that case on X late Thursday night, shortly after Trump's announcement, telling Bondi: 'Nice try.' 'What about videos, photographs and other recordings? What about FBI 302's (witness interviews)? What about texts and emails? That's where the evidence about Trump and others will be,' Goldman wrote. 'Grand jury testimony will only relate to Epstein and Maxwell.' But as the Epstein outrage saga dragged on, Trump got a boost — albeit a counterintuitive one — with the release of a Wall Street Journal article outlining his past connections to Epstein, complete with a description of a 'bawdy' 50th birthday letter that had a doodle of a naked woman. 'Enigmas never age,' Trump's birthday message to Epstein reportedly said, ending: 'May every day be another wonderful secret.' The report clearly infuriated the president, who vigorously denied the report and asserted he 'never wrote a picture in my life.' He threatened to sue the Wall Street Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch. But the report also had the effect of unifying Republicans in bashing the report — even those who had broken with Trump over releasing more Epstein material. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) called the report 'nonsense.' 'If President Trump had committed real crimes, Democrats wouldn't have needed to make up stuff for their lawfare schemes. If this were true, it would have been used,' Davison posted on X Thursday night. Even Elon Musk — who helped turbocharge the Epstein saga last month when he said Trump was mentioned in the files — came to the president's defense, declaring that 'the letter sounds bogus.' Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said that with the week's developments, the public outrage will 'eventually' die down. 'But I don't think totally,' Burchett added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
GOP congressman claims ICE detention centers are ‘pretty friggin' nice' as concerns rise about conditions
Several Republican lawmakers have pushed back at reports about conditions at immigration detention centers across the country - including issues with overcrowding and maggot-infested food. Over the last few weeks, Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns that Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities are crammed with detainees, resulting in limited space to sleep, no privacy to use toilets, and scarce amounts of food. 'I'm not personally inspecting every facility, but I've been in a hell of a lot of them over the years. The facilities I've been in are pretty friggin' nice,' Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told NOTUS. Detention facilities across the country are being forced to accommodate an increasing number of people being arrested and detained as part of President Donald Trump 's mass deportation agenda. In Florida, state leaders have erected Alligator Alcatraz, a temporary holding facility to relieve some of the pressure on other jails. But immigrants detained inside have claimed they are being fed little amounts of maggot-infested food, are unable to sleep due to blinding lights shone 24/7, have little access to bathing water, and have had their religious rights infringed on. Officials have pushed back on Democrats' claims, too. Stephanie Hartman, a spokesperson for the Florida Division of Emergency Management – which manages Alligator Alcatraz, told NBC News, 'The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order.' Hartman said detainees get three meals per day, unlimited drinking water, showers, and other necessities. Republican Rep. Carlos Giménez of Florida told NOTUS he had 'no concerns' about the conditions at the facility. 'It's not full of alligators. It's not full of snakes,' Giménez said, referring to reports that the facility, built in the Florida Everglades, is surrounded by alligators and venomous snakes. Democrats who visited the facility said detainees were 'packed' into cages and that conditions were abusive. Giménez told NOTUS it was difficult to prove or disprove claims about food, but that from what he saw, it was 'adequate.' 'They're not a hotel. This is not the Ritz. It is a detention center, but there's nothing inhumane about what I saw,' Giménez claimed. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem told Meet the Press earlier this month that federal detention centers' standards 'are extremely high.' But ICE detention facilities are not codified in law the way federal jails are; rather, they are set up based on individual contracts. This can make it more difficult to track and enforce rules. Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani of Arizona told NOTUS that he did not see 'anything alarming or controversial' at the detention facility he visited in Eloy, Arizona.
Fox News
5 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
SCOOP: House fiscal hawks warily accept Senate's $9B Trump spending cuts package
FIRST ON FOX: Some House fiscal hawks are cautiously readying to accept the $9 billion spending cuts package passed by the Senate overnight. The House of Representatives must pass the bill, called a rescissions package, by Friday. Rescissions packages are spending cuts requested by the White House of funds that Congress already appropriated for that fiscal year. It's a process that lets Republicans sideline Democrats by lowering the Senate's threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, but the request must be considered within 45 days. If that window passes, the funds must be re-obligated. As of Thursday morning, at least three conservatives – Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., and Ralph Norman, R-S.C. – signaled to Fox News Digital that they are leaning toward supporting it. It's good news for House GOP leaders who are dealing with a razor-thin, three-vote margin. A group of House conservatives wrote to the Senate earlier this week warning them not to change any part of the original $9.4 billion spending cuts package – though they stopped short of threatening to vote against it. The Senate version of the bill rolled back a spending cut for an HIV/AIDS research program in Africa after concerns were raised by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and others. It wound up passing 51-48 after 2 a.m. on Thursday, with Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voting against the bill. It's highly unlikely the minimal change will stir a significant rebellion, particularly after the White House green-lit the change. But leaders can afford few missteps. Like the House, the Senate GOP's majority is just three votes – and with all Democrats in both chambers prepared to vote against the legislation, Republicans are counting every vote. Roy told Fox News Digital he would support the bill on the House floor "if I understand what [the] Senate passed correctly." Burchett said, "I think so," when asked if he would vote for the bill, and Norman responded, "yes," when asked as well. Of the three, just Norman signed conservatives' letter warning, "In order to facilitate President Trump's voter mandate, the Senate must pass the entire $9.4 billion of spending cuts in the rescission bill. Weakening any of these provisions would undermine both his leadership and the discipline our budget urgently demands." The bill would cut roughly $8 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which deals federal grants to NPR and PBS. It's expected to come before the House Rules Committee sometime Thursday, the final gatekeeper before a chamber-wide vote. If the House passes it on Thursday or Friday, it heads to President Donald Trump's desk for a signature.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republicans block effort to force release of Epstein files in Congress
House Republicans have blocked a Democratic lawmaker's push to force the Trump administration to release the 'FULL' Jeffrey Epstein files. Seizing on growing MAGA infighting, California Representative Ro Khanna introduced an amendment to the GENIUS Act on Monday, calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to compile and release all Epstein records within 30 days. Late Monday evening, the House Rules Committee voted 7–5 to block the proposal from reaching the lower chamber. South Carolina Representative Ralph Norman, who previously remarked that 'the Epstein files are bound to come out,' broke with his party and was the only one of nine Republicans on the committee to vote in favor of the amendment. Texas Representative Chip Roy, another committee member who sometimes defies party lines, opted not to vote. 'Rules voted 5-7 to block the full House from voting on my amendment to have a FULL release of the Epstein file,' Khanna wrote on X just before midnight. Ro Khanna decried the decision and declared that the American public 'won't be gaslit' (Getty) 'People are fed up. They are fed up. Thanks @RepRalphNorman. Need to put the American people before party!' In another post, Khanna said that he will 'keep fighting for transparency,' adding that the 'public will not be gaslit.' While largely expected, the decision outraged Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee. 'I want to know what the hell is in these files,' he told Axios, accusing the Republicans of 'backtracking' after Donald Trump pledged on the 2024 presidential campaign trail that he would make the unredacted Epstein files public. Conspiracy theories have swirled around the Epstein case for years, after the sex offender took his own life in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019. The Trump administration faced furor last week after the DOJ and FBI's memo concluded that there was no evidence of the disgraced financier's so-called 'client list.' Bondi has faced a growing tide of criticism from Trump's MAGA base after last week's DOJ and FBI memo (AP) It was compounded by the release of an 11-hour video of Epstein's final hours before he died by suicide in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center almost six years ago, with one minute of the footage missing and forensic experts concluding that the clip had been 'modified.' The memo is at odds with the conspiracy theories promoted by the president himself and some of his most senior staff members, sparking unprecedented division within his own support base. As scrutiny over the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein investigation intensified Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Capitol Hill that Trump and Bondi are 'MAGA extremists' who have been 'fanning the flames' around the Epstein case for years. Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, branded Trump and Bondi 'MAGA extremists' who had whipped up fury about the Epstein case (Reuters) 'The American people deserve to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as it relates to this whole sordid Jeffrey Epstein matter,' he said. 'Now the chickens are coming home to if anything, is the Trump administration and the Department of Justice hiding? What are you hiding?' FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, have privately expressed frustration with the DOJ's handling of the case, sources told CNN. According to people familiar with the matter, Bongino is reportedly weighing whether to resign. At the same time, Patel posted on X that the 'conspiracy theories' around Epstein's death are untrue and 'never have been.' It's not the first time Trump and Bondi have faced MAGA backlash over the sex offender's case. After promising to release the 'first phase' of declassified Epstein files on February 27, the attorney general was sharply criticized when the documents turned out to contain information already publicly available.
The Hill
6 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Crypto bills stall amid GOP infighting, leaving House in limbo
The House floor was locked at a standstill Wednesday afternoon as a diverse array of House Republicans sparred over a trio of cryptocurrency bills and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) searched for consensus to unfreeze the floor. A procedural vote to advance the three crypto measures — meant to run for just five minutes — remained open more than three hours later as lawmakers from across the GOP's ideological spectrum shuffled in and out of meetings with leadership to discuss the stalled legislation. As of publication, seven Republicans had voted 'no' on clearing the procedural hurdle, including Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Michael Cloud (Texas), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Scott Perry (Pa.), Chip Roy (Texas) and Keith Self (Texas) — enough to sink the vote in the GOP's narrow majority. Lawmakers had appeared poised to approve a series of procedural votes for the bills on Wednesday, after President Trump announced a deal Tuesday night with a contingent of Republican hardliners who torpedoed a vote earlier in the day. The situation, however, quickly descended into disarray on Wednesday, as Trump's deal failed to appease the entire hardline group, while seemingly alienating key leaders on the House Financial Services Committee. Three hardliners — Reps. Chip Roy (Texas), Keith Self (Texas) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) — initially cast 'no' votes on an early procedural motion before switching to 'yes' and allowing the measure to pass. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, announced in a post on X during the vote that the House Freedom Caucus would back the rule after reaching an agreement with the president. 'Under this agreement, the Rules Committee will reconvene later today to add clear, strong anti–Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) provisions to the CLARITY legislation,' Harris said, referring to a bill laying out regulatory rules for the crypto industry. 'This is an important step to ensure Americans are protected from government overreach into their financial privacy,' he added. 'We remain committed to securing these critical protections in the final legislation and ensuring they are preserved as the bill moves through the Senate and into law.' Leadership appeared to put that plan in motion on Wednesday, alerting a 4 p.m. meeting for the House Rules Committee. Just after 4 p.m., however, that gathering was canceled. Drama continued in the next vote — the final procedural hurdle before a final vote — when Roy and Greene once again cast 'no' votes. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee, also initially voted against the measure. Johnson huddled with members in his office off the House floor, after which Huizenga switched his vote to 'yes,' while five other hardliners joined Roy and Greene and changed their votes to 'no.' Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) appeared optimistic about the legislation's prospects Wednesday afternoon, suggesting there was 'a lot of progress.' 'People in good faith are trying to get to 'yes,'' he told reporters. 'They're trying to figure out what is the right way to put the deal together. I think most everybody in that room has a high level of confidence that we're going to get the votes that we need to get this done shortly.' A source familiar said lawmakers are considering adding a crypto provision to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Republicans were hopeful that they could pass the three crypto bills by Thursday as they celebrate 'Crypto Week,' but the revolt by 12 hardline conservatives on Tuesday — and ensuing drama on Wednesday — stopped that effort in its tracks, bringing the chamber to a screeching halt. Republicans must adopt a rule to begin debate and tee up a final vote on the crypto bills. Rule votes are typically routine, party-line affairs, with members of the majority party voting in favor and those in the minority party voting in opposition. In recent years, however, some members in the majority have used the votes as a way to showcase opposition to leadership or legislation. The latest drama leaves the GENIUS Act, a bill setting up a regulatory framework for dollar-backed digital tokens called stablecoins, in limbo. If it can clear the House the bill is poised to head to Trump's desk, where the president has indicated he is eager to sign the measure into law. The two other crypto bills up for consideration — the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act — have yet to pass the Senate and face a much more uncertain future. This has been central to opposition from the hardline GOP contingent. They argue the GENIUS Act could pave the way for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) because it does not include any explicit provisions blocking such a development. While the anti-CBDC bill would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC, it appears unlikely to receive enough support to clear the Senate and become law. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, sometimes referred to simply as the CLARITY Act, faces a similarly questionable path in the upper chamber, where senators are preparing to release their own version of crypto market structure legislation. Crypto market structure legislation seeks to provide regulatory clarity for the industry by dividing up oversight between two financial regulators — the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Stablecoin and market structure legislation, long sought by the crypto industry, has become a key priority for President Trump and GOP leaders. After initially promising to get both bills across the finish line before Congress leaves for its August recess, they have since settled for passing only the GENIUS Act by the end of the month. The White House and key senators have said they're now hoping to wrap up market structure legislation by the end of September.
