Latest news with #partisan
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
FCC chair talks 'consequences' for 'The View 'after Joy Behar's Donald Trump jab: 'Need a course-correction' in media
Brendan Carr told Fox News that networks will "run into issues like [Stephen] Colbert" if they don't check bias and continue to "run a partisan circus." The impact of Joy Behar's assertion that Donald Trump is jealous of Barack Obama's looks and marriage continues to reverberate through the government, as Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr has now spoken about "consequences" for the comedian and The View amid the fallout. One day after the White House issued an exclusive statement to Entertainment Weekly floating the potential for The View to be "pulled off the air" after "irrelevant loser" Behar's comments, Carr appeared Thursday morning on Fox News program America's Newsroom to discuss the issue further with cohost Bill Hemmer. "It's entirely possible that there's issues over there. Stepping back, this broader dynamic, once President Trump has exposed these media gatekeepers and smashed this facade, there's a lot of consequences," Carr speculated. "I think the consequences of that aren't quite finished." He then alluded to legal expert Sunny Hostin's multiple legal notes on The View, that she often issued during episodes that saw the cohosts reacting to coverage of Trump's hush-money trial that ultimately ended with the president being convicted on 34 counts in May 2024. Carr added that America needs "a course-correction" in terms of media coverage of the presidential administration. "It's time for America's legacy broadcasters to return to promoting the public interest," he said, speculating that Skydance — which made headlines recently for its impending merger with Paramount — would fervently "root out bias" that would "return to unbiased, trustworthy journalism" in mainstream media. "We're not where we need to go. I think this legacy media really needs to reorient, or they're going to continue to run into issues like [Stephen] Colbert, where it just doesn't make economic sense to run a partisan circus," Carr finished. The FCC chair's statements clearly reference Paramount subsidiary CBS' announcement last week that the Trump-critical Late Night With Stephen Colbert would end in May 2026, which led many (including Sen. Elizabeth Warren) to speculate that the move was made to sweeten the FCC's interest in approving the Skydance-Paramount merge. EW has reached out to representatives for The View, Carr, and the White House for comment. Behar's initial response came after Trump's shocking, widely disputed allegation Tuesday that Obama "was trying to lead a coup" against the United States government, which the former president called "bizarre and ridiculous" in a rare reaction statement. The 82-year-old comedian said on the talk show, "The thing about him is he's so jealous of Obama, because Obama is everything that he is not: Trim, smart, handsome, happily married, and can sing Al Green's song 'Let's Stay Together' better than Al Green. And Trump cannot stand it. It's driving him crazy." The White House also took aim Thursday morning at Paramount+ animated comedy South Park's season 27 premiere, which depicted Trump disrobing and getting into bed in an attempt to seduce Satan. "The left's hypocrisy truly has no end — for years they have come after South Park for what they labeled as 'offense' content, but suddenly they are praising the show," White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told EW via email, adding that "just like the creators of South Park, the left has no authentic or original content" to air. In addition to Behar, Hostin, and Whoopi Goldberg, who often speak liberal-leaning perspectives at the Hot Topics table, The View also includes two Republican cohosts in Ana Navarro and Trump's former White House communications staffer, Alyssa Farah Griffin, who worked under Trump's first presidential administration before resigning and subsequently speaking out against him. Watch Carr discuss The View on Fox News in the video above. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
New York Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
A Clash Over a Promotion Puts Hegseth at Odds With His Generals
In the spring, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth decided not to promote a senior Army officer who had led troops over five tours in Afghanistan and Iraq because Mr. Hegseth suspected, without evidence, that the officer had leaked sensitive information to the news media, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. When Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II was cleared of the allegations, Mr. Hegseth briefly agreed to promote him, only to change course again early this month, the officials said. This time, Mr. Hegseth maintained that the senior officer was too close to Gen. Mark Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff whom President Trump has accused of disloyalty. Mr. Hegseth's sudden reversal prompted a rare intervention from Gen. Dan Caine, the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He urged Mr. Hegseth to reconsider, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Mr. Hegseth met with General Sims one final time but refused to budge. General Sims is expected to retire in the coming months after 34 years in the military, officials said. Through a spokesman, General Sims and General Caine declined to comment. A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on Mr. Hegseth's role. The standoff over his promotion reflects an ongoing clash between Mr. Hegseth's highly partisan worldview, in which he has written that the Democratic Party 'really does hate America,' and the longstanding tradition of an apolitical military that pledges an oath to the Constitution. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Democrats Have Few Tools to Counter G.O.P. Redistricting
With Republicans in Texas planning to redraw more favorable congressional maps this summer, as the party vies to maintain control of Congress next year, national Democratic leaders are vowing to use every tool at their disposal to counter what they see as a nakedly partisan power grab. But the toolbox for Democrats is relatively sparse, aside from litigation or legislative protests. Though Democratic leaders have indicated a willingness to go tit for tat with Republicans, most of the largest blue states do not have a partisan redistricting process akin to the one in Texas, where the governor can simply call in the Legislature to redraw maps. California has an independent commission in charge of drawing maps, which voters applied to congressional districts in 2010. New York also has a commission (though it is subject to potential legislative changes), and New Jersey's political commission is separate from the Legislature. States where Democrats would have complete control over any redistricting, such as Illinois and Maryland, are already gerrymandered heavily in their favor. Squeezing more Democratic seats out of those states would be a challenge. 'Democrats' leverage is quite limited, and that's the problem,' said Steve Israel, a former Democratic member of Congress from New York who led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2015. 'Republicans are just more ruthless than Democrats. They play to break the rules, and Democrats play to enshrine the rules with fairer processes in places like California.' While Democrats have their share of aggressive gerrymanders, blue states have led in embracing reforms to insulate redistricting from politics, such as creating an independent or bipartisan commission to agree on new maps. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump's Epstein problem just won't go away... as MAGA's biggest stars are set to cast deciding vote
Despite the typical partisan battle lines being drawn on most issues in Washington, D.C. these days, one matter in particular has created an unlikely set of bedfellows. Progressive Democrat Ro Khanna and libertarian-minded Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky teamed up last week to introduce the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which would compel Attorney General Pam Bondi to publicly release all unclassified materials relating to Jeffery Epstein. The duo's resolution is receiving the the backing of a diverse set of members, including New York socialist Democrat darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michigan 'Squad" member Rashida Tlaib on the left, as well as Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia on the right. Khanna noted during a Thursday media appearance that his resolution had the backing of all 212 of his Democratic colleagues in the House. Even if only the 10 GOP co-sponsors of the resolution were to support it, it would easily pass the House. Trump has faced a furious rebellion from his MAGA base over the botched handling of the Epstein files - and while he claims 'nobody cares' about the late financier - the furor isn't dying down. The president last week sued the Wall Street Journal over a report that he wrote Epstein a birthday card with the message: 'May every day be another wonderful secret.' If the vote makes it through the House in the next several weeks, then Trump's Epstein crisis will only deepen. Senator Ron Wyden, D- Ore., is among lawmakers on the other side of the Capitol who are adamant that the president and DOJ make all the Epstein documents public. Wyden, the lead Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee is taking a particular look at the money trail Epstein surely left. 'This horrific sex-trafficking operation cost Epstein a lot of money, and he had to get that money from somewhere," Wyden told the New York Times. The late financier was charged in 2008 for soliciting prostitution with an underaged girl and received a modest jail sentence in Florida. He was later charged with federal sex trafficking crimes in 2019. He hanged himself in prison awaiting his trial, feds say. The DOJ and FBI recently leaked an unsigned memo concluding that Epstein died by suicide in prison that August and did not possess a 'client list' of VIP co-conspirators. The memo said that no more people would be arrested, charged or convicted in the Epstein child sex trafficking case which angered some of members of Congress most in tune with the MAGA base. Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the most MAGA-aligned voices on the right said during an appearance on Real America's Voice (RAV) earlier this month that she for one wasn't buying that there wasn't more to the Epstein story. 'I think the Department of Justice and the FBI has more explaining to do. This is Jeffrey Epstein; this is the most famous pedophile in modern-day history,' Taylor Greene told RAV at the time. Progressive Democrat Ocasio-Cortez seemingly came after Trump this week when she wrote sarcastically on X, 'Wow who would have thought that electing a rapist would have complicated the release of the Epstein Files?' Trump was found liable of sexually abusing author E. Jean Carroll in a 2023 civil trial. He was not, however, found liable of rape - a distinction the New York Democrat did not make in her post. 'AOC — look, I think she's very nice but she's very Low IQ and we really don't need low IQ,' Trump told members of the media at the White House on Tuesday, firing back at the Congresswoman's jab. Conservative X users were quick to jump to the president's defense comparing AOC's comments to remarks made by ABC host George Stephanopoulos, which led to Trump suing for defamation and eventually winning $15 million. South Carolina GOP Congresswoman Nancy Mace called AOC's remarks a 'smear campaign.' 'She should lawyer up. Truth still matters, even if the Left's forgotten. We're not done fighting. Not even close,' Mace added. Yet, now Mace and Ocasio-Cortez both find themselves on the same side of the fight to force Trump's DOJ to release the files pertaining to Epstein. Trump has also urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to release additional documents, though the push from Capitol Hill could obtain documents the AG or Trump does not want released.
Fox News
17-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Senators push back against Vought's call for more partisan spending process
Senators are not thrilled with a top White House official's comments that the government funding process should become more partisan, and fear that doing so could erode Congress' power of the purse. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought told reporters during a Christian Science Monitor Breakfast Thursday morning that he believed "the appropriations process has to be less bipartisan." His sentiment came on the heels of Senate Republicans advancing President Donald Trump's $9 billion clawback package, which would cancel congressionally approved funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting, just a few hours before. Unlike the hyper-partisan bills that have dominated the Senate's recent agenda, including the rescissions package and the president's "big, beautiful bill," the appropriations process is typically a bipartisan affair in the upper chamber. That is because, normally, most bills brought to the floor have to pass the Senate's 60-vote threshold, and with the GOP's narrow majority, Senate Democrats will need to pass any spending bills or government funding extensions to ward off a partial government shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who alluded to issues down the line with the appropriations process if Republicans advanced Trump's resicssions package, took a harsh stance against Vought. "Donald Trump should fire Russell Vought immediately, before he destroys our democracy and runs the country into the ground," Schumer said. Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee also did not take kindly to Vought's comments. "I think he disrespects it," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said. "I think he thinks that we are irrelevant, and I wish I had actually heard the speech, because, you know, again, everything in context." "But you have to admit that when you look at the quotes that are highlighted in the story this morning, it is pretty dismissive of the appropriations process, pretty dismissive," she continued. Vought has no intention of slowing the rescissions train coming from the White House, and said that there would be more rescissions packages on the way. He noted another would "come soon," as lawmakers in the House close in on a vote to send the first clawback package to the president's desk. "There is no voter in the country that went to the polls and said, 'I'm voting for a bipartisan appropriations process,'" Vought said. "That may be the view of something that appropriators want to maintain." Both Murkowski and Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted against the rescissions package, and warned of the cuts to public broadcasting, lack of transparency from the OMB and the possible effect it could have on legislating in the upper chamber. "I disagree with both those statements," Collins said of Vought's push for a more partisan appropriations process. "Just as with the budget that the President submitted, we had to repeatedly ask him and the agencies to provide us with the detailed account information, which amounts to 1000s of pages that our appropriators and their staff meticulously review." Fox News Digital reached out to the OMB for comment. Vought's comments came at roughly the same time as appropriators were holding a mark-up hearing of the military construction and veterans' affairs and Commerce, Justice and Science spending bills. Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said during the hearing that Senate Republicans coalescing behind the rescissions package would only make hammering out spending bills more difficult, and argued that "trust" was at the core of the process. "That's part of why bipartisan bills are so important," she said. "But everyone has to understand getting to the finish line always depends on our ability to work together in a bipartisan way, and it also depends on trust." Other Republicans on the panel emphasized a similar point, that, without some kind of cooperation, advancing spending bills would become even more challenging. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said that finding "critical mass" to move spending bills was important, and warned that people have to "quit saying it's gotta just be my way or the highway," following threats Schumer's threats last week that the appropriations process could suffer should the rescissions package pass. "People better start recognizing that we're all gonna have to work together and hopefully get these [appropriations] bills to the floor and see what we can move," he said. "But if somebody just sits up and says, 'Oh, because there's a rescission bill, then I'm not going to work on Appropriations,' you can always find an excuse not to do something. Let's figure out how we can work forward."
