Latest news with #R-La.
The Hill
7 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Rep. Jeffries (D) Says Republicans Are 'Continuing To Protect' The 'Rich And Shameless' Lifestyles
House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a press conference Wednesday that Republicans are protecting the 'rich and shameless' class in lieu of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) cancelling Thursday's vote to leave for an early recess.
The Hill
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
In the Epstein saga, it's Trump against America
On the long list of Republicans' recent disgraces, Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) decision to shut down the House until September rather than allow a vote to release Jeffrey Epstein's files may be at the very top. Apparently the people who urged Americans to ' do your own research ' on vaccines really don't want you thumbing through information on Epstein. Johnson's spineless play is one more MAGA middle finger to a public that just wants Congress to keep its word. What makes this retreat truly shameful is the fact that Republicans aren't doing any of this for some lofty moral purpose. Their stop-work order doesn't represent the desires of MAGA voters, a majority of whom want the Epstein files released. It doesn't prevent a bad law from passing or draw attention to an injustice being committed on the House floor. Rather, Johnson and his Republican colleagues have decided that whatever is in the Epstein files is worse for them than the hell they're currently catching from voters. That says a lot, because President Trump's handling of the Epstein scandal is absolutely toxic with almost every group in America. Only 40 percent of Republicans approve of Trump's handling of the files, while some of the president's top MAGA influencers now openly wonder why he's working so hard to protect information about one of the country's most notorious pedophiles. At just 38 percent approval, Trump is approaching a level of unpopularity he hasn't felt since early 2017, as voters struggle to make sense of his abrupt about-face. Republican lawmakers aren't having much luck figuring out Trump's motives, either. They've given up even trying to defend his bizarre claim that Epstein's crimes were a hoax financed by Democrats. Instead, they've turned off the lights on Capitol Hill and sprinted away. Voters are right to be suspicious. 'We should get real answers on what happened to Jeffrey Epstein. All of that should be open to the public, it should be absolutely transparent,' Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News in 2023. But Kennedy, who made several trips on Epstein's private jet, now refuses to answer questions. In 2021, future Vice President JD Vance implied that anyone fighting to keep Epstein's files secret could be a potential client. 'What possible interest would the US government have in keeping Epstein's clients secret?' he added. It's a great question that still demands an answer. Last week, the White House introduced its latest effort to delegitimize whatever horrors are hidden in the pages it still refuses to reveal. In an Oval Office press conference, Trump authorized Attorney General Pam Bondi to release ' whatever is credible ' from files he claimed a day before didn't exist at all. By floating the idea that some of Epstein's files could be fake, Trump is setting the stage to invalidate any references to him in the documents — if those specific pages are even allowed to see the light of day. What must be going through Johnson's head as he directs House Republicans to sink bill after bill ordering the release of Epstein's files? Johnson has long made his Christian faith a centerpiece of his public identity, to the point of questioning whether religion should even be separate from government. Yet his desire to lead Congress with Christian morality was no match for Trump, who seemingly co-opted Johnson into his cover-up scheme without a whisper of resistance from the Speaker. Johnson's decision to walk off the job and away from the business of the American people is jarring even by the low standards of the Trump era. After whining for an entire campaign season that Democrats weren't working hard enough, Johnson's Republicans have passed fewer laws and worked less than any Congress in decades. Cornered by Epstein drama of their own making, Johnson's Republicans are no longer even pretending to do their jobs. Congressional Republicans no longer serve the American people at large, or even their own conservative constituents. They serve — or in the case of Johnson's early recess, don't serve — in whatever way best protects Trump's personal and political interests. If that means hiding Epstein's heinous crimes from public accountability and denying closure to his many victims, so be it. Johnson's decision to shutter the House in order to protect Trump reveals a Congress in an advanced state of decay and a Republican Party willing to rationalize any evil in the name of protecting its strongman. What other horrors will Mike Johnson bury in order to keep his morally bankrupt party afloat? Max Burns is a veteran Democratic strategist and founder of Third Degree Strategies.
Politico
2 days ago
- Business
- Politico
GOP megabill's final score: $3.4T in red ink and 10 million kicked off health insurance, CBO says
The package President Donald Trump signed on July 4 would grow the deficit over the next 10 years, Congress' nonpartisan scorekeeper predicts. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) react as they arrive for a signing ceremony for a budget reconciliation bill for President Trump's legislative agenda at the U.S. Capitol July 3, 2025. (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images) | AP By Jennifer Scholtes Robert King and Benjamin Guggenheim 07/21/2025 02:32 PM EDT Congress' nonpartisan scorekeeper released its final prediction Monday for how President Donald Trump's signature legislative achievement will grow the national debt and affect U.S. households. Over the next decade, the megabill Trump signed on July 4 would increase the federal deficit by $3.4 trillion and cause 10 million people to lose health insurance, the Congressional Budget Office forecasts. While the newly enacted legislation would save more than $1 trillion by cutting federal spending on health care — with the majority coming from Medicaid — CBO predicts that the package's costs will far outweigh its savings. The bulk of the red ink from the package comes from the GOP's permanent extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts. The analysis finds that the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax policy, enacted policies that would decrease the incoming federal cash flow from taxes by a total of $4.5 trillion. That sum includes the cost of tax cuts Republicans added during Senate floor debate of the package.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump announces agreement to end House floor revolt over crypto bills
President Trump said late Tuesday that he has reached a deal with most of the House Republicans who derailed a procedural vote earlier in the day, putting a trio of cryptocurrency bills on a path to consideration in the lower chamber. The announcement — made on Truth Social — came after Trump said he met with 11 out of 12 of the House Republicans who torpedoed the procedural vote Tuesday afternoon, which brought the floor to a screeching halt. 'I am in the Oval Office with 11 of the 12 Congressmen/women necessary to pass the GENIUS Act and, after a short discussion, they have all agreed to vote tomorrow morning in favor of the Rule,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was at the meeting via telephone, and looks forward to taking the Vote as early as possible,' he added. 'I want to thank the Congressmen/women for their quick and positive response. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' It remains unclear what assurances the dozen Republicans received to win over their support for the procedural rule. Republican 'no' votes included Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), Scott Perry (Pa.), Chip Roy (Texas), Victoria Spartz (Ind.), Michael Cloud (Texas), Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Andy Harris (Md.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Keith Self (Texas) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.). House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) switched his vote to 'no' as a procedural move to allow the chamber to revote on the measure at a later date. 'I'm thankful for President Trump getting involved tonight to ensure that we can pass the GENIUS Act tomorrow and agreeing again to help us advance additional crypto legislation in the coming days. Much more to come,' Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday. The agreement, if it holds, nonetheless, will allow the House to adopt a procedural rule and move forward with consideration of the three cryptocurrency bills and a measure to fund the Pentagon for fiscal 2026 as early as Wednesday, putting the chamber back on track after Tuesday's hiccup. The chief concern among the hard-line contingent was the lack of a provision in the GENIUS Act that would block the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The bill, which aims to create a regulatory framework for dollar-backed digital tokens known as stablecoins, is the most likely to become law after clearing the Senate last month. While the House is also set to consider the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, the measure seems unlikely to gain traction in the Senate. Trump, who has become a key ally of the crypto industry in his second term, has urged the House to quickly pass a 'clean' stablecoin bill, frustrating efforts by lawmakers to tweak the legislation or tie it to another measure, such as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which would divide oversight of the broader crypto market between two financial regulators, is also up for consideration by the House this week. However, the Senate appears poised to propose its own market structure legislation. Votes on rules — which govern debate on measures — are typically mundane, party-line efforts in which members of the majority party vote in favor and those in the minority party vote in opposition. In recent years, however, some Republicans have used the procedural votes to express their displeasure with legislation or leadership. Updated at 10 p.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump bashes ‘foolish Republicans' for getting ‘duped' on Epstein
President Trump on Wednesday bashed 'foolish Republicans' who he said were aiding Democrats by focusing on documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Trump during an Oval Office meeting with the crown prince of Bahrain repeated his claim that the documents connected to Epstein were a 'hoax' started by Democrats. Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges and died by suicide in 2019, during Trump's first term. 'Some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net, and so they try and do the Democrats' work,' Trump said. 'I call it the Epstein hoax. Takes a lot of time and effort. Instead of talking about the great achievements we've had … they're wasting their time with a guy who obviously had some very serious problems, who died three, four years ago. I'd rather talk about the success we have with the economy,' Trump added. Prominent Republicans and Trump supporters, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), have in recent days called for greater transparency from the administration around files related to Epstein's case. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), an ardent Trump supporter, called for a special counsel to review the administration's handling of the Epstein files. Trump's backers, including some now serving in his administration, have for years espoused conspiracy theories around Epstein's death and suggested the government was covering up information that connected prominent Democrats to the convicted sex offender. But Trump has in recent days appeared exasperated by the fixation on Epstein. He has said Attorney General Pam Bondi can release 'credible' evidence related to Epstein, but has otherwise questioned why some of his followers are so fixated on the issue. 'Certain Republicans got duped by the Democrats and they're following a Democrat playbook,' Trump said. 'We do have bigger problems,' he added. The Justice Department and FBI issued a joint memo last week stating that Epstein did not have a client list and confirming his 2019 death at his New York City jail cell was a suicide. The findings incensed members of the MAGA movement, who have for years pushed conspiracy theories about Epstein's death and claims that prominent Democrats would be named on a client list. Epstein, accused in several cases of sex trafficking young girls, ran in high-powered circles with figures that included Trump, former President Clinton, Britain's Prince Andrew and a number of other celebrities and ultrawealthy people. Epstein's associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been convicted of sex trafficking. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
