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Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
White smoke: Boehner's encounter with Pope Francis changed Congress forever
An audience with the pope is a day to remember. But only on Capitol Hill would the day after the pope visited become even more memorable. The late Pope Francis came to Washington, D.C., to speak to a Joint Meeting of Congress on Sept. 24, 2015. He wasn't the first pontiff to descend on Capitol Hill. But the pope is a head of state, ruling the Vatican City and the Holy See. As such, Francis became the first pope to speak to a Joint Meeting of Congress in the House chamber. Democrats' Identity Crisis: Youth Revolt Rocks Party After Trump Comback Lawmakers showered the Holy Father with applause and two standing ovations during his address. Two Catholics were perched behind Pope Francis on the dais: then Vice President Joe Biden and former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. As vice president, Biden served as President of the Senate. As speaker, Boehner was the Constitutional officer for the legislative branch. Boehner blotted his eyes with a handkerchief several times during the 3,400-word speech. Read On The Fox News App Pope Francis implored lawmakers to treat each other — and their constituents — with dignity. "We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays. To discard whatever proves troublesome. Let us remember the Golden Rule: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,'" he said. Gop Push To Make Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts Permanent, Say Going Back Would Be A 'Dramatic' Change For Many One thing I remember about the Pope's visit was the choreography. Congressional workers affixed small, green strips of tape to the Capitol's marble floors. Names were emblazoned on the tape in black Magic Marker at different points around the complex. "McCarthy" or "Pelosi" or "McConnell." All part of the political — and papal — stagecraft. The tape dictated where key political leaders would stand as they escorted Pope Francis into the House chamber or in front of the statue of Junipero Serra in Statuary Hall. A duct-taped "X" marked the floor in front of Serra. The pope canonized Serra the day before he visited the Capitol at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Serra became the first American to become a saint on U.S. soil. Pope Francis blessed the statue of Serra. The statue depicts the saint hoisting a cross in his right hand, looking skyward toward the heavens. Someone taped a green arrow over the black and white tiles of Statuary Hall, pointing toward the Speaker's Office. That signaled the pope's next stop on Capitol Hill. Fox News To Air Live Coverage Of Pope Francis' Funeral On Saturday Pope Francis and the entourage then walked toward Boehner's office and onto the Speaker's Balcony overlooking the West Front of the Capitol and down the National Mall toward the Washington Monument. A throng assembled on the Capitol grounds. "Buenos dias," said the Pope, greeting the crowd like he would from the "Pope's Window" at the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on a Sunday. "I am grateful for your presence." He then blessed the pilgrims on the ground below. "Papa! Papa!" the crowd chanted. When the pope first arrived at the Capitol, he met with Boehner in the Speaker's ceremonial office just off the House floor. Boehner paced nervously awaiting Pope Francis on the 19th century Minton Tiles, which adorn the office. "He's on Boehner time," said the former speaker. "Which is on time." Boehner wore his signature Kelly green tie for the occasion — a vintage piece of Boehner apparel, which dates back to when he served in the Ohio state legislature and first ran for Congress in 1990. When Pope Francis arrived, he told the former speaker the tie bore a "color of hope." A few days later, Boehner choked up as he relayed a story about what Pope Francis said to him when they were about to exit the Capitol. "We found ourselves alone," said Boehner of himself and Francis. The pope grabbed the speaker's arm. "The pope puts his arm around me and kind of pulled me to him and said, 'Please pray for me,'" said Boehner. "Wow. Who am I to pray for the pope?' But I did." Boehner left the Capitol that night. But his encounter with the Holy Father seemingly transformed the speaker — and altered the trajectory of the House for years to come. The speaker decided to resign the next morning. "He had been trying to get out of here for years," said one source close to the speaker at the time. Boehner's plans to depart were thwarted when the heir apparent, former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., stunningly lost his primary in the spring of 2014. So Boehner soldiered on. By late July 2015, former Trump White House chief of staff and former Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., prepped a "motion to vacate the chair." Those who follow Capitol Hill know all about such a motion now. But it was novel a decade ago. Such a motion would require the House to take a vote of confidence in the speaker in the middle of the Congress. Lawmakers had never used the tactic before. It was hardly discussed. Meadows released his resolution just before the August recess — but never triggered it. That gave Boehner and the House a month to stew over whether Meadows might try to oust the speaker when lawmakers returned in September. On the night after the pope's visit, Boehner called his chief of staff, Mike Sommers, to tell him he planned to step aside. Boehner also told his wife, Debbie, of his plans. "This morning I woke up, said my prayers, as I always do, and thought, 'This is the day I am going to do this,'" said Boehner. Boehner then astonished a meeting of the House Republican Conference that he intended to resign. The move sent a shock wave through Washington. "My first job as speaker is to protect the institution," Boehner said. "It had become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution." The Boehner departure — the day after his encounter with Pope Francis — set into motion what some might regard as the very "prolonged leadership turmoil" that the former speaker hoped to avoid. It was believed that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. — then the House Majority Leader — would ascend to the job. But as startling as Boehner's departure was, McCarthy supplanted that. Moments before House Republicans were set to tap McCarthy as the next speaker, McCarthy withdrew from the contest. He lacked the votes. McCarthy's decision roiled Capitol Hill for weeks. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., eventually took the job. But Ryan was reluctant. He even put out a statement that he didn't want it. Others jumped in: Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., along with former Reps. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Bill Flores, R-Texas. But Ryan finally came around. Fox was told at the time that if Ryan hadn't come around, "there would be blood on the floor" of the House as Republicans waged an internecine donnybrook. Ryan remained as House speaker until he retired in early 2019. Democrats won the House in the 2018 midterms. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., returned to the speakership she held eight years before. But Democrats lost the House in the 2022 midterms. And even though McCarthy touted a 40-plus-seat rout for the GOP, Republicans controlled the House by a thread. Dick Durbin, No 2. Senate Democrat, Won't Seek Re-election Thus, it set into motion a five-day battle in early 2023 as McCarthy struggled for 15 rounds before winning the speakership. It was the longest speaker's race since the mid-19th century. But McCarthy was gone by early November. Remember that "motion to vacate the chair" mentioned earlier? Meadows never activated his motion in 2015. But former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., did in 2023. McCarthy was done. And the House spent three weeks trying to elect a new speaker. First they tried House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. Then House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. Then House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. None prevailed. Finally, a backbencher emerged from the fray: House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. The House of Representatives has never quite been the same since Boehner made his surprise announcement after his encounter with Pope Francis. The speakership seems to teeter on an edge these days — at least when Republicans run the chamber. Johnson periodically endures threats to "vacate the chair." Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., tried to bounce him just last year. During the speaker succession fight of 2015 and the three-week speaker debacle of 2023, friends asked if "white smoke" would emanate from the Capitol Dome. They facetiously suggested that it would signal the election of a new House speaker. The College of Cardinals will begin a conclave in Rome in a few days to select a successor to Pope Francis. It's a political process. Not unlike what happens in Congress when there's a vacancy in the speakership. We'll know there's a new pope when white smoke wafts out of a duct atop the Sistine Chapel. It was an important day when Pope Francis spoke to a Joint Meeting of Congress in 2015. But in sheer Congressional terms, the day afterward was seismic for the nature of the institution. Boehner's abrupt resignation ushered in an unsettled era about who presides over the House. The visit by Pope Francis and Boehner's departure forever melded the two together in the annals of Capitol Hill. And as a result, whenever there's a House speaker interregnum in the future, political observers will always look for political "white smoke" to find out if lawmakers have settled on a new article source: White smoke: Boehner's encounter with Pope Francis changed Congress forever
Fox News
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Pope Francis dead at 88, Vatican says
Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome and supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church, who worked to instill progressive influences on the global church while maintaining unity with conservatives amid years of turmoil, died Monday morning, Vatican camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced. He was 88 years old. "Dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church," Farrell announced. "He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God." The pope preached frequently on the Catholic virtues of mercy, kindness and humility. He did not shy away from controversy and American presidents, including Donald Trump and Joe Biden, were not immune from his views. Less than a month into President Donald Trump's presidency, the pontiff criticized the Republican's plans for the mass deportations of migrants, stressing that the forceful removal of people simply for their immigration status deprives them of their inherent dignity and "will end badly." In a strongly worded letter to U.S. Catholic Bishops, the pope appeared to counter remarks made by Vice President JD Vance -- who had recently converted to Catholicism -- after he suggested Americans should care for family, communities and the country before caring about others. "Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups," the pontiff wrote. "Worrying about personal, community or national identity, apart from these consideration." Pope Francis in 2015 became the first pontiff to ever address a Joint Meeting of Congress where he spoke on a range of topics including immigration, family, the death penalty, climate change, extremism, religious freedom and the refugee crisis. He joined American bishops and urged American leaders to abolish capital punishment and said Congress has a "role to play" in addressing global warming. In 2022 he questioned then President Biden's conscience on abortion in an interview during which he described the commander-in-chief's religious identity and views on abortion as incoherent. "A month after conception, the DNA of the fetus is already there and the organs are aligned. There is human life," the pontiff said in the interview with Spanish-language outlet Univision. He also weighed in on candidate Trump and Harris during the election campaign where he bashed them both as saying, "Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants, or be it the one who kills babies,″ he said according to the Associated Press. Just weeks before President Trump's second inauguration, he appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy to be the Archbishop of Washington. McElroy had been critical of Trump's immigration policies during his first term as president. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 to Italian immigrant parents in Argentina, Francis made history as the first pope from the Americas — as well as the first Jesuit to hold the office. He was elected pope in 2013 after the almost unprecedented retirement of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Bergolio's father, Mario, was an accountant for the railway industry and his mother, Regina, was a homemaker and caregiver for her five children. Throughout his early years, the future pope worked a number of menial jobs. He labored briefly in the stocking factory where his father was an accountant before moving on to other opportunities, including jobs as a bar bouncer and janitor. He eventually sought a career as a chemical technician, receiving a diploma in chemistry from the secondary school Escuela Técnica Industrial N° 27 Hipólito Yrigoyen. He also worked briefly in a food laboratory. However, his career in chemistry was short-lived. He entered the priesthood at the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto in Argentina. Francis was ordained a priest in 1969 and made his final profession with the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, in 1973. The same year, he was appointed as a provincial for the order. His appointment as provincial was concurrent with the Dirty War, a period of intense state-led persecution of left-wing leaders and political dissidents. Bergolio experienced constant threats to his own safety as he worked to hide or aid in the escape of government targets, including many Catholic faithful. During this time, two Jesuit priests under his supervision were disappeared by the government, drugged, and left barely alive in a field five months after their kidnapping. Pope Francis has said he was forced to negotiate with the regime for their release. Bergolio would spend the next two decades bouncing from position to position at the direction of his superiors. During this time, he served as a professor of theology, seminary instructor, rector, doctoral student, and parish priest. In 1992, Pope John Paul II appointed Bergolio as titular Bishop of Auca and as an auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. This was done at the request of Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who consecrated him to the episcopacy. Bergoglio proved vital to the nation's Catholic community and he was quickly raised to the dignity of Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires, serving alongside Quarracino and taking over the archdiocese entirely after his death the next year. Bergoglio was given the crimson hat of a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001. In 2013, after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Bergoglio was elected to the papacy, selecting the pontifical name "Francis" after St. Francis of Assisi — a choice that set the tone for the rest of his papacy. Pope Francis's teachings as a priest, bishop, cardinal, and pope were deeply influenced by his Jesuit vocation — viewing each person as a unique creation of God, with whom they can have a personal relationship. His ministry and leadership were committed to keeping doors open and making the church approachable to the public. It was not only American politics that he had strong opinions of. He faced criticism for specific remarks he made against Israel's military operation in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful". During that same speech he also condemned the growth of antisemitism throughout the world, Reuters reported. He also called for an end to the war in Ukraine and expressed concerns over climate change. In 2023 seemingly looking to strike a balance he formally allowed Catholic priests to give same-sex couples a blessing, which was seen as being a radical shift in church policy, The Associated Press reported at the time. Pope Francis is also remembered for living a life of intense simplicity, denying himself a lavish papal apartment in the Vatican upon his election, and opting instead for a two-room suite in the Domus Santa Marta, a residence built by Pope John Paul II. In contrast to his immediate predecessors, Pope Francis eschewed ornate robes or luxurious clothing. His outfit rarely consisted of more than a plain, white cassock tied with a papal fascia. Pope Francis even dressed down his Ring of the Fisherman — a piece of gold jewelry worn by popes to signify their office — by having it made with silver and only wearing it for ceremonies. Francis's tenure continued the ongoing efforts to investigate decades of sexual abuse claims against priests across the world, including in the United States, with Francis vowing transparency in 2019. "Transparency is now being implemented at the highest level," said Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the Archbishop of Malta and Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, after Francis gave legal authorities access to documents about sexual abuse cases and abolished the "pontifical secret" of the cases. He continued Benedict's work to root malicious clerics out of the Church hierarchy "with the wrath of God," appointing task forces and establishing victim aid groups. Pope Francis proved a frustrating pope for a wide variety of conservatives, liberals, traditionalists, and progressives. His gentle — at times vague and confusing — language on key social issues such as sexuality and divorce frustrated conservatives hoping for a more aggressive champion of Catholic moral teaching. In July 2017, a group of Catholic clergy and academics sent Pope Francis a "Filial Correction" document alleging seven serious theological mistakes made by the pontiff in public statements. The document's assertions proved controversial within the Catholic Church and the document was never explicitly addressed. Conversely, his refusal to back down from traditional church teachings on abortion, gay marriage, women's ordination, and priestly celibacy frustrated progressives hoping for a more modern church. Echoing his time as a prelate in Argentina, Pope Francis was at times criticized from both sides of the aisle for his heavy hand enforcing Catholic unity on national and international levels. Traditionalists voiced intense opposition to his apostolic letter "Traditionis custodes," which restricted the celebration of the traditional Latin mass in an attempt to squash increasingly separatist conservative movements within the Church. He similarly has shut down discussion of many social issues that progressives have sought to reform. In 2019, Pope Francis told a nun asking him to approve the ordination of women that "if the Lord didn't want a sacramental ministry for women, it can't go forward," adding, "We are Catholics, but if anyone wants to found another church they are free [to do so]." The hyper-progressive leadership of the Catholic Church in Germany was a target of his ire after the country's clerical leaders attempted an upheaval of traditional teachings regarding gender and sexuality. The Vatican issued a series of letters, approved by Pope Francis, accusing the German church of risking separation from the Catholic Communion. The conflict with German bishops encapsulates his papacy's recurring themes of authority and unity, best exemplified in a passage from his "Letter to the Pilgrim People of God in Germany." In the letter, Pope Francis wrote, "The universal Church lives in and of the particular Churches, just as the particular Churches live and flourish in and from the universal Church. If they find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body, they weaken, rot and die. Hence, the need always to ensure that communion with the whole body of the Church is alive and effective." Pope Francis visited dozens of countries, including the United States and Cuba in 2015 and went as far afield as Papua New Guinea, as well as visits to predominantly Muslim countries including Egypt, Morocco and Jordan. Pope Francis struggled with health complications throughout his reign. The pontiff dealt for many years with sciatica, a nerve condition that caused immense pain in his leg and at times hindered his ability to walk. In 2021, Pope Francis was hospitalized for an intestinal surgery that removed 13 inches of his colon. In March 2023, Francis was again taken to the hospital after experiencing intense chest pain and difficulty breathing. He was treated for a respiratory infection and released after antibiotic treatment. In June of the same year, the pope was brought back for another abdominal surgery to repair an incisional hernia. He was released after making a full recovery. He took a fall at his residence and suffered a contusion on his right arm in January 2025. In February, he was once again hospitalized after a bout of bronchitis. Following Pope Francis's death, the Vatican has entered a time of sede vacante — in English, "empty seat."
Fox News
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
NEWT GINGRICH: How House Democrats became zombies
As I wrote earlier this week, after attending President Donald J. Trump's address to the Joint Session of Congress, it occurred to me that the House Democrats have become like zombies. Their members sat mute and motionless no matter what the president said or who he honored – including a young cancer survivor, a newly accepted West Point cadet, and an American who had been held hostage in Russia. Not one House Democrat exhibited any trace of human compassion or interest. It was a bit eerie. As I thought more about this, a lot of other things began to make sense. The House Democrats have evolved from being a relatively rough and tumble, argumentative, and rebellious bunch in the 1960s and 1970s into a tame, passive, robotic group today. Of course, historically, the Democratic Party has had a deep tradition of machine politics going back to the founding of Tammany Hall in New York City in 1786. Virtually every major city run by Democrats today operates this way. Over the long-term, the Democratic system simply tends to breed conformity. But this zombie-ism is a new, more extreme phenomenon. You can start to track it with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Recall when Pelosi held up the nearly 1,000-page Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and said, "we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it." At the time, I thought it was a foolish slip of the tongue. In hindsight, the Pelosi Speakership often involved Democratic members voting blindly as instructed by their elected leadership. As Speaker in the first two years of Joe Biden's presidency, Pelosi took full advantage of this blind loyalty to pass a slew of massive bills with no elected officials really knowing the details. Democrat after Democrat voted for deeply unpopular policies which barred parents from knowing what their children were doing and learning in school, allowed men to play women's sports, opposed tax cuts, left the southern border open, etc. For a long time, I could not figure out how House Democrats could so brazenly ignore the will of the American people. Now I get it. They were turning into zombies. For a long time, I could not figure out how House Democrats could so brazenly ignore the will of the American people. Now I get it. They were turning into zombies. Of course, Pelosi didn't do it alone. The teachers' and public employee unions kept people in line by threatening to fund primary opponents. The left-wing billionaires and activist groups also policed House Democratic members. The propaganda media also gladly reminded Democrats of the party-movement line. From "The View," to MSNBC, to the New York Times, and the Washington Post, the signals went out. This is who we are. This is what we believe. Those who broke rank became ostracized and isolated. Just ask Sen. Joe Manchin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., or Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Finally, there was sheer social pressure from other Democrats. Walking to vote and getting on an elevator with five or six hard-left-wing members could have a significant influence on whether someone voted against Democratic leadership. At a practical level, losing committee assignments and watching more obedient members get the better committees is a real lever of power. I encountered this in the 1980s when several southern Democrats voted with President Ronald Reagan. They suddenly found their committee assignments and proposed legislation in jeopardy. The ultimate example of zombie behavior in the Democratic Party was the replacement of President Biden by Vice President Kamala Harris. President Biden had won every primary. He had a virtually unanimous delegation which would have dominated the Democratic National Convention. Vice President Harris had received zero votes. Yet within a few hours, the zombies took down Biden and elevated Harris. In a party which had spent four years lecturing about democracy, this instant switch would only have been possible in a party of zombies. They did as they were told. Applauded when they were told. And lied to themselves when they were told. It will be interesting to see how House Democrats deal with the challenges of a dynamic, creative, and aggressive Republican Party. I expect President Trump will cheerfully run circles around the House Democrat zombies just as he did Tuesday night.
Fox News
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Morning Glory: The Democrats try outrage theater
Is that how you want your children to act in public? Recall your days of school assemblies. All classes dutifully assembled on the bleachers, and for what? Some pretty awful speeches, awards, skits, earnest appeals to not drive drunk and more. Rallies before big games could be fun, and decorum then went out the window—but not totally. There may have been some discipline issues at all of them. Catholic high schools like my own had standards that were at least as demanding when it came to in-school behavior as our public school counterparts. My kids had the same general ground rules when a parent or parents were obliged to attend one of their schools' gatherings. (The only "mandatory" such occasion was for sessions covering the rules governing high school athletics in California, which were neither boring nor exciting. They were the rules. If your kids played a sport, one or both parents had to attend and sign a form signifying that they did. The would-be student athletes were obliged to do so as well.) Every memory of every assembly concerning the grades 9-12 is faded, but it is a certainty that all of them were more decorous than Tuesday night's address by President Trump to the Joint Session of Congress. There have been low points at such gathering before, such as Speaker Pelosi's tearing-up of President Trump's February 2020 State of the Union address. But nothing like Tuesday night. Of course Democrats cannot adjust to President Trump. He has broken them, just as he has broken so many former Republicans and many in the commentariat. They cannot react to him in anything approaching a normal way. Their internal emotional thermostats are shattered and there's no evidence—none—that those so impacted will be seeking the help they need much less obtaining an effective intervention. Disagreeing with the president is routine for half the chambers. Stunts such as arriving early to claim a chair in order to gather an annual grip and grin are somewhat amusing, even quaint. But not Tuesday night. The walkouts. The paddles. Texas Representative Al Green yelling at Trump that "You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!" The Dean of Students removed Green but no doubt some of his colleagues gave him attaboys. Perhaps these were auditions for guest slots of MSNBC's rapidly evolving line-up of resistance shows. Perhaps there is some gratification for a general mention in a late-night comedy monologue that no longer commands even a traditional late night audience which was small to begin with. More than anything else, though, Congressional Democrats don't know what to do and don't have "leaders" who they respect and thus from whom they take cues. They are, in a word, lost. Like the lost boys of J.M. Barrie's 1904 play, Peter Pan, Congressional Democrats don't want to grow up if only for an annual occasion ofstate. I used to think the GOP would lose its House majority in 2026 given the tide charts of Congressional elections over the decades. But now? Who knows? Do you want the "disrupters" of Tuesday night running the federal government? Do you want them in charge or, say, the education of your children? Hugh Hewitt is host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show," heard weekday mornings 6am to 9am ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel's news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University's Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcast, and this column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.
USA Today
05-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Trump administration yanks list of 443 federal buildings targeted for sale after backlash
Trump administration yanks list of 443 federal buildings targeted for sale after backlash Show Caption Hide Caption President Trump begins address to Joint Session of Congress "We are just getting started." President Donald Trump begins his address to a Joint Session of Congress. WASHINGTON – The Trump administration Wednesday abruptly removed an inventory of 443 federal properties highlighted by some of the federal government's most iconic buildings that had been listed for potential sale the previous day. The online list was initially attached to a news release Tuesday outlining plans for "decisive action to dispose of non-core assets" and singling out federal buildings that had become "functionally obsolete and unsuitable for use by our federal workforce" But on Wednesday, the General Services Administration's "non-core property list" was blank, with a new headline that read, "coming soon." "We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties, for disposal," the updated page reads. More: Trump ordered them back to the office. Now he's trying to sell the buildings they work in. The GSA did not immediately respond to a request for clarification about the agency's plans for the previously listed properties. Selling off underutilized federal properties is an idea pushed by billionaire tech entrepreneur and senior White House advisor Elon Musk, who oversees the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, which has worked aggressively to cut federal spending and terminate federal workers. Yet the push to sell federal buildings comes amid President Donald Trump's orders for all federal employees to return to their offices after some employees have spent many pandemic-era years working remotely. Many buildings previously identified by the GSA across the nation are on the National Register of Historic Places or have recently undergone massive renovations. The list included the headquarters of nearly every major federal agency including the Robert F. Kennedy building in Washington, which houses the Department of Justice. Occupants of some facilities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation's J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, have waited for years for congressional approval for a suitable replacement for their headquarters. Democrats in Congress demanded an immediate explanation from the GSA this week about how the buildings were selected and why the agency didn't follow its own process of seeking public input about what the loss of a federal building would mean for the community and announcing a plan to mitigate any harm before announcing the buildings were for sale. In a letter to the agency Tuesday, Minnesota Democratic U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith insisted on an explanation for why the executive branch didn't follow the normal process, saying it "appears to fail to meet any of these standards for good governance." The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in an internal email reported by NBC News, said it "was not aware" its headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland, the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in downtown Washington and several of the agency's regional offices would be included on a list of properties for possible sale. "We didn't submit or approve any of our current office locations being on this list," the email reads. "This list has been removed from the GSA's website and we are in active discussions with (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) to ensure we have the facilities we need to return to the office in-person and continue performing our critical mission." More: Elon Musk gets high praise and a shoutout in Trump's joint address: 'He didn't need this' In a statement Tuesday, the GSA said it identified "certain core federally-owned assets" critical for government operations that would be retained, such as courthouses, land ports of entry, and facilities that are critical to national defense and law enforcement. But the GSA said the federal government has more than 80 million square feet of rentable space across the nation that is becoming obsolete and unsuitable, representing more than $8.3 billion in recapitalization needs. "We can no longer hope that funding will emerge to resolve these longstanding issues," the statement said, adding that the GSA will consider divestment from government ownership "in an orderly fashion to ensure taxpayers no longer pay for empty and underutilized federal office space." Contributing: Reuters. Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
