Latest news with #VictoriaSpartz
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
As American as Due Process
The U.S. is a nation of symbols: the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, baseball, apple pie. One symbol, however, has taken a beating lately, though it represents the core of the American project. Lady Justice predates the founding, but her likeness—blindfolded, holding scales and a sword—stands for the principles that the Founders insisted should rule the American legal system. While her spirit pervades the Constitution, it is most prominently featured in the Fifth Amendment's promise of due process: the principle that those accused of wrongdoing have the right to challenge the evidence against them before the government takes away their liberty. But not everyone who swore to uphold the Constitution is keeping that promise. "If you violated the law, you are not entitled to due process," Rep. Victoria Spartz (R–Ind.) said in a March town hall. In April, Sen. Mike Lee (R–Utah) posted an image on X that encouraged travel to Canada. "We won't throw you into an El Salvadorian [sic] gulag without due process!" the image read. "[The U.S.] absolutely will," Lee responded. Tom Homan, Trump's border czar, was asked on ABC if people sent to El Salvador had any due process. "Where was Laken Riley's due process?" he replied, referring to the Georgia nursing student who was murdered by Jose Ibarra, an immigrant who was in the country illegally and was convicted and sentenced to life without parole for the murder. Homan's non sequitur sums up the current debate, sparked by the Trump administration sending hundreds of Venezuelans it alleges to be gang members, without due process, to the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a massive prison in El Salvador. That nation's president, Nayib Bukele, declared a state of emergency over three years ago and suspended basic civil liberties, such as the right to a fair trial. Questions about whether the administration is indeed expelling only dangerous gang members arose after CECOT received the men, the vast majority of whom have no criminal record. That includes, among others, Andry José Hernández Romero, a Venezuelan makeup artist who appears to have been flagged because he has two crown tattoos, and Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration illegally sent to CECOT due to what it says was an "administrative error." To argue that Riley's murder, tragic though it was, justifies skirting due process fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of the doctrine. It is not to excuse criminal behavior, but to ensure that accusations—especially when they carry life-altering consequences—are publicly tested by evidence and judged fairly. Homan's logic would see due process abolished. It need not apply, he says, in the face of serious allegations or unsympathetic individuals, which is contrary to why the Founders demanded its inclusion in the Constitution. They knew the power of the state was dangerous. The government doesn't always get it right. "Because we said so" isn't sufficient reason to abrogate anyone's liberty. That the prisoners sent to CECOT were not citizens is irrelevant. The Supreme Court has repeatedly confirmed that even those suspected of being in the U.S. unlawfully are entitled to due process of law. And the people in question were not merely deported—they were sent without charge or conviction to a notorious megaprison, where Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has said she hopes the men are kept for life. Is it possible that Hernández Romero, Abrego Garcia, and others are members of a gang? It is. It is also possible they are not. Consider that one man Noem attempted to deport narrowly made it to a hearing before she could do so because the plane malfunctioned—and the government was not able to produce any evidence that he was a member of the Tren de Aragua gang, according to his attorney. Justice should not be reduced to vengeance, and constitutional rights should not be treated as privileges, revocable at a politician's whim. A country that claims to value liberty cannot shed the process meant to protect it. If due process is no longer sacred, neither is justice; and if some of us do not have due process, then none of us do. Trump has defined himself as someone who fights for American values: "Make America Great Again." You cannot do that by discarding one of the core values that made the U.S. exceptional. The post As American as Due Process appeared first on
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Indiana's representatives - including Victoria Spartz - voted for Trump's tax bill
Hoosiers in the U.S. House of Representatives voted along party lines for President Donald Trump's policy bill that narrowly passed the chamber early on May 22. Indiana's seven Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, voted in favor of the bill while the state's two Democrats voted against it. The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate. The proposal, which Trump and Republicans have referred to as the "big, beautiful bill," includes Trump campaign promises such as eliminating taxes on tips and overtime for workers, but it also includes major changes to border security, taxes and what Americans have access to Medicaid and food stamps. Indiana Republicans praised the bill for delivering on promises Trump and Republicans made during the 2024 election cycle. U.S. Rep. André Carson, a Democrat representing the majority of Indianapolis, slammed the bill for cuts to Medicaid and food assistance that he said could hurt Hoosiers. What's in Trump's big tax bill?: Here's what you need to know. In a post on X following the vote, Spartz, Indiana's frequent wildcard Republican, said she voted for the bill, but that the legislation "still needs some work." In April, Spartz voted against a budget resolution that laid the framework for the May 22 vote over concerns it would increase the federal deficit. Frank Mrvan, Democrat, 1st Congressional District: Nay Rudy Yakym, Republican, 2nd Congressional District: Yea Marlin Stutzman, Republican, 3rd Congressional District: Yea James Baird, Republican, 4th Congressional District: Yea Victoria Spartz, Republican, 5th Congressional District: Yea Jefferson Shreve, Republican, 6th Congressional District: Yea André Carson, Democrat, 7th Congressional District: Nay Mark Messmer, Republican, 8th Congressional District: Yea Erin Houchin, Republican, 9th Congressional District: Yea USA TODAY contributed to this story. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany. Sign up for our free weekly politics newsletter, Checks & Balances, curated by IndyStar politics and government reporters. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How Indiana U.S. representatives voted for Trump's tax bill
Fox News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
MSNBC mocked by Washington Post writer for lack of debate on left-wing network
The Washington Post's media critic Erik Wemple mocked MSNBC on Tuesday for its "bias toward consensus" in President Donald Trump's second term, joking that its unofficial motto should be, "I could not agree more." In a new column published Tuesday, Wemple revealed he spent 18 hours watching MSNBC in order to discover if the liberal network ever had dissenting voices on to debate the issues, as other cable news networks have done since Trump returned to the White House. "To get closer to an answer, I decided to gulp roughly 18 hours of MSNBC programming, starting with 'Morning Joe' at 6 a.m. and continuing through daytime and prime time. That way, perhaps, I could gather some insights on the network's strategy and view all those fierce debates that I'd missed with my on-again, off-again viewing habits. As it turned out, there was … one," Wemple wrote. That one debate came during MSNBC's new evening program, "The Weeknight," where co-hosts Symone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez sparred with guest, Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana, in "an intense exchange of views that qualifies as a debate," Wemple wrote. However, that was a stand-alone in the day's lineup, Wemple said, from a network that seems to have sidelined pro-Trump voices. He quoted Aidan McLaughlin, editor-in-chief of Mediaite, who said MSNBC opts for anti-Trump Republicans to appear on the network to "give it the patina of balance," even if those voices don't represent the 77 million voters who elected the president "in the slightest." "The result is a programming model in which hosts and guests compete against one another to fashion the sharpest denunciations of the Trump regime," Wemple wrote. The downside of this approach is "vast expanses of predictable programming in which people passionately agree with one another," he added. Wemple noted that there are some programs on the network that deserve recognition for sometimes breaking from this model. He acknowledged that host Ari Melber has dissenting voices on his program at times, and referenced "Morning Joe" co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski welcoming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on their show Monday. The media critic argued that MSNBC's model would have been considered "outright journalistic fraud" before Trump took office, but isn't anymore. He claimed CNN's approach, of having Trump-supporting guests on the network for "loud chaotic" arguments, isn't much better, but "at least CNN viewers get to hear the pro-Trump arguments in all their fact-deprived glory." "No matter how it's produced, television is a medium ill-equipped to cover Trump. My advice? Read newspapers," he concluded. When asked by Wemple to respond to his criticism that the network is biased, a spokesperson for MSNBC offered up a list of commentators and hosts with backgrounds in Republican politics, such as Michael Steele, Tim Miller and Susan Del Percio, who are reliably anti-Trump voices on the liberal network. MSNBC declined to provide comment to Fox News Digital. The scathing column comes on the heels of former White House press secretary-turned-MSNBC host Jen Psaki's new primetime program bombing on its second day, shedding 53% of its viewers in its key demographic from the day before.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP rep says US won't ‘survive' if it's not put on a ‘sustainable fiscal paths'
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) said Wednesday that the U.S. will not 'survive' if it's not put on 'sustainable fiscal paths.' 'If we don't put our country on sustainable fiscal paths, we are going to be not be able to survive as a country,' Spartz said on MSNBC's 'The Weeknight.' Spartz's comments came on the same day that she and over two dozen Republicans warned House GOP leadership that a key bill being crafted in Congress to push forward President Trump's agenda 'must not add to the deficit.' When co-host Symone Sanders Townsend pressed on whether she would 'vote for a bill that has any cuts to Medicaid,' Spartz responded that she is 'trying to improve it.' 'So, we actually want to make sure that Medicaid is better for the people that it's intended to,' Spartz said. In the Wednesday letter to their leadership, the House Republicans reaffirmed that their backing of the president's 'big, beautiful bill' being put together in their chamber relies on 'at minimum' the proposal's 'strict adherence' to the House's blueprint for the plan. 'Under the House's framework, the reconciliation bill must not add to the deficit. The House budget resolution assumes that enacting President Trump's agenda, including extending the 2017 tax cuts, will generate $2.5 trillion in additional revenue through economic growth,' the Republicans said in the letter. According to an analysis released by the Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday, millions would lose health insurance coverage via various Republican options to cut Medicaid spending to fund the president's domestic policy agenda. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz faces uproar from constituents at town hall
Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana is the latest Republican lawmaker to face angry constituents at a town hall she hosted over the weekend. Shelby Talcott, White House correspondent for Semafor, and Reese Gorman, politics reporter at NOTUS, join "America Decides" to discuss.
