Legal events surrounding DDT

14^th Amendment Removing Deposed Donald Trump’s (DDT) Name from State Primaries:

In Minnesota, Michigan, and Colorado in keeping his name on the ballots, but the judge in Colorado also ruled that he “engaged in insurrection” on January 6, 2021 when he “incited imminent lawless violence.” One argument against removing him is that he isn’t an “officer,” the amendment’s word. 

New York Fraud Case Determining Damages:

Justice Arthur Engoron denied DDT’s appeal for a mistrial, but an appeals court again temporarily lifted the limited gag order on DDT until November 27 when the court makes a decision.  The order largely came from DDT’s smears of Engoron’s law clerk, Allison Greenfield; he immediately launched into vicious diatribes barely an hour after the gag order was lifted. DDT also posted he had the “fantasy … to see Lititia [sic] James and Judge Engoron placed under citizens arrest for blatant election interference and harassment,” which some experts call “an incitement to violence” because it “greatly endangers” the subjects.

In Donald Trump Jr.’s testimony last week, he admitted that Mar-a-Lago is a residence, the basis of the damages case against DDT. His lawyers listed 127 defense witnesses. Engoron said they could call all of them because he doesn’t want to be “reversed,” but they must keep to the topic. DDT has also withdrawn his request to move the case from state to federal court.

DDT’s sycophant Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), perhaps wanting to be his vice-presidential candidate, announced she is filing an ethics complaint against the judge. DDT is suing Engoron to shut down gag orders.

New York Upcoming Criminal Case by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg Regarding Business Fraud Connected to Hush Money for Stormy Daniels:

Using the excuse that he is a presidential candidate, DDT is trying to get the indictment with 34 charges dismissed. Bragg said DDT was looking for special treatment he didn’t deserve. DDT had directed his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s reimbursements for hush money reimbursements paid to Stormy Daniels be falsely recorded as Trump Organization’s legal expenses. Bragg also refused defense subpoenas for Cohen’s phone, computers, and hardcopy with “all documents and communications” along with any other materials that Bragg has with the possibility that DDT intends to use the materials to intimidate Cohen. DDT’s legal team dropped its bid to have these state charges moved to federal court although he calls the state court “very unfair.” The trial is set for March 25.

Washington, D.C. Case Regarding Allegation about DDT’s Trying to Overturn the 2020 Presidential Election:

Monday’s oral arguments indicate the three-judge panel from the Washington D.C. Circuit Court may restore the limited gag order but loosen some restrictions in more directly criticizing special counsel Jack Smith. DDT’s lawyer had called DDT’s incendiary comments about people in the case are “core political speech,” but one judge said the question was whether it was “aimed at derailing or corrupting the criminal justice process.” She also asked a number of other pointed questions, and another judge pointed out the defense’s faulty arguments.  DDT added Smith’s family in his attacks on the special counsel after the gag order was temporarily lifted.

Another decision is whether to televise the criminal trial, scheduled on March 4, 2024. DDT wants it televised, but Smith warned that DDT will use cameras to create a “spectacle.” Federal trials cannot be televised except with a few exceptions; Smith said DDT has no “rule or case to support” his desire.

Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered DDT to prove the basis for his defense by January 15, 2024, whether he plans to use “advice of counsel” defense in the federal case. He must prove the defense’s position, that he cannot be guilty of the charges because he was acting on his attorneys’ “good faith” advice. Former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance said that he can’t use “the advice of … lawyers” for justification if they are co-conspirators.

Chutkan also refused DDT’s request to block all mention of the January 6 insurrection which Smith plans to use the event as the centerpiece of his trial, connecting lies about election fraud to keep him in the White House and the rioters who followed his lies to violently riot. DDT said he isn’t charged with a riot-related crime and referring to the event would prejudice the jury.

Georgia’s State RICO Conspiracy Case about Several Defendants Trying to Overturn the Election:

Fulton County DA Fani Willis has asked for DDT’s federal racketeering trial to begin on August 5, 2024, making it overlap with the November presidential election. DDT objects and asked to postpone this case, along with three other criminal cases until the election on November 5, 2024. The judge in the case barred the release of any “sensitive” evidence in the case after lawyers for two of the defendants gave videos of other co-defendants to reporters from The Washington Post and ABC.

Florida’s Case Regarding DDT’s Charges about Hiding Classified Documents:

DDT-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon again shows her preference for DDT in denying a Smith’s request to schedule a hearing for a deadline in which DDT must disclose what classified information he plans to use at trial. She postponed all remaining deadlines until March 2004, meaning that the trial won’t begin in May 2024. Smith had requested a decision by mid-December for the lawyers’ statement of decision.

Norman Ornstein, a leading member of a conservative think tank, is calling for Cannon’s impeachment, describing her as a “full-fledged member of the Trump defense team.” The suggestion will certainly fail in Congress which determines impeachment for federal elected officials and judges, but he said that a resolution “will go nowhere but will highlight her outrageous conduct.”

With Univision now owned by investment companies, including private equity firms, the Spanish-speaking cable network is promoting DDT’s lies in a propaganda “interview.” Like his bragging about how Iran agreed that it wouldn’t hit a U.S. military base because of DDT’s good relationship with the country. According to DDT’s falsehoods, Iran even called him ahead of the attack to tell him its plans—all that because of Iran’s respect for him. Former security adviser John Bolton said that DDT’s tales about Iran were an inaccurate blend of “five or six things” as he forces other countries to cower before him. As usual, Glenn Kessler gave him four Pinocchios. The details are here.  

The respected two-century-old Economist called DDT the greatest world danger going into 2024, including in “his own country.” The newspaper wrote:

“In pursuing his enemies, Mr. Trump will wage war on any institution that stands in his way, including the courts and the Department of Justice.”

Before DDT left the White House, he pardoned 143 people, including Ted Suhl who was convicted of bribery in 2016. DDT commuted the remainder of Suhl’s sentence in 2019. Suhl, director of the Arkansas youth treatment center Lord’s Ranch is accused of abuse. Eight former residents filed a lawsuit claiming they were victims of “systematic and widespread” abuse—sexual abuse and rape—by an employee at the now-closed facility. According to the filing, Suhl and others at the ranch made an “intentional fully conscious decision” to permit the abuse and threatened victims who told them about it. Their attorneys said more suits will be filed regarding abuse at the facility closed in 2016; they are representing at least 30 youth also claiming abuse at the center.

One of the victims was allegedly forced to marry a staff member but escaped and obtained a divorce. Because the staff transported youth across state lines, plaintiffs are also suing under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The filing deadline is the end of January.

The pardon described Suhl as “a pillar of his community before his prosecution and a generous contributor to several charities.” Former governor Mike Huckabee, who appointed Suhl to the Arkansas Child Welfare Agency Review Board, supported Suhl’s clemency request.

November 20 is the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance to honor the murders from the past year—33 killed at least transgender people since November 20, 2022. Most of the victims are under the age of 35. A spate of anti-transgender GOP bills and laws during the past year have reflected Republican use of this issue in efforts to win elections, but polling shows that people trust politicians less than anyone else. In a Data for Progress of likely voters this month on trans issues from medical care to civil rights.

55 percent agree with the statement, “State lawmakers should not be allowed to implement full bans on abortion and gender-affirming medical care and place criminal penalties on physicians who provide this care.” Only 34 percent disagree.

52 percent trust medical and mental health association most to develop policies and regulations about gender-affirming medical care for minors. Only 7 percent trust politicians, and 34 percent chose neither one.

54 percent selected minors’ parents to make the final decision about whether or not a trans minor can access gender-affirming medical care while 22 percent chose doctors. Only 12 percent chose legislators.

48 percent of the voters support a Transgender Bill of Rights to protect the rights of transgender and nonbinary people under the law by ensuring their access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security.” Fewer respondents, 43 percent, opposed this legislation, and the remainder were undecided.

Another recent poll opposed all the anti-LGBTQ+ Christian Nationalist positions of House Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson.

Catch-up News outside Foreign Wars, a Bit of Congress

A few pieces from the last week:

After Elon Musk enthusiastically agreed with a hideous antisemitic post, his company X lost advertising, including from Apple, Disney, and IBM. Other major technology and media companies—Lionsgate, Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony, and Comcast/NBC Universal—also declared an advertising pause. X had run Apple and X ads beside posts praising Adolf Hitler and the Nazis as well as accusing “western Jewish populations” of supporting the flooding of the U.S. by “hordes of minorities,” known among conservatives as “the great replacement theory.” Musk now threatens watchdog Media Matters with a “thermonuclear lawsuit” for reporting about the proximity of these ads. The White House also condemned Musk for “abhorrent promotion” of antisemitism for endorsing this conspiracy theory.

Shares in Musk’s Tesla fell, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) replaced Musk with former Sen. John Kerry at speaker at its CEO Summit centering on artificial intelligence. Influential investment advisor Ross Gerber declared Musk’s behavior was “sadly” a win for Tesla competitor Rivian. Gerber said he will be replacing his Tesla for a Rivian and is “sure the rest of L.A. will as well.”

Musk’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, claimed “X’s point of view has always been very clear that discrimination by everyone should STOP across the board.” Musk posted that “many of the largest advertisers are the greatest oppressors of your right to free speech.” In the past year since he bought Twitter, Musk lost $25 billion on the company.

The government finds Musk’s behavior awkward because it outsources crucial services and infrastructure to his commercial companies such as SpaceX and has few alternatives. NASA has signed a $5 billion contract for 14 astronaut missions to the International Space Station through 2030. Last Friday, SpaceX’s uncrewed spacecraft Starship exploded minutes after its takeoff at 91 miles above the Earth’s surface on a planned 90-minute test mission. In August, the DOJ sued SpaceX for discriminating against legal asylum seekers and refugees in hiring, a violation of U.S. law, but a federal judge in Texas blocked the lawsuit.

Beginning with 90 hours of security video, House Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson is releasing 44,000 hours of footage from the January 6 insurrection to the public hoping to show that the “tourist visit” on that day was benign.

The White House told House GOP members to drop their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and requests for interviews with his staff and family members. This week, Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-KY) and Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked for testimony from former White House counsel Dana Remus and several current aides about Biden’s mishandling of classified documents. Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, ridiculed Republicans for switching to the classified documents after mentioning them “in a single footnote” in a September memo justifying its inquiry. Sauber also questioned the impeachment inquiry after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) initiated it without a vote. Comer had accused Biden, with no evidence, of accepting a $5 million bribe from the head of a Ukrainian gas company.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) blockade of military officer promotions can’t be stopped without the aid of GOP senators, and former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander who served with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, said that Tuberville has dug in too far that he now “can’t see the top.” Kander said:

“I think he’s embarrassed. A lot of people have tried to give him a graceful exit from this hole that he’s dug, and he’s passed so many of those exits that now he has no choice to just force the Senate to go around him.”

Senate rules permitting one member to block confirmation allows Tuberville’s hold up of almost 400 promotions. This week, he rejected the attempt by four Republicans to push through confirmations one at a time, something he earlier suggested they do. Kander suggested that Republicans are afraid of upsetting one of their party members for fear he will turn on them. In addition, Republicans are afraid of primaries because Tuberville uses abortion for the holds. On a show hosted by Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend, Tuberville said he can’t find out if the Pentagon permits “abortion after birth,” a procedure that doesn’t exist. His blockade hurts national security around the world.

The man convicted in a federal trial for assaulting Paul Pelosi, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, will face greater legal peril in a parallel state case because of his bizarre defense. The next trial could add years of prison to the 50-year sentence from the federal conviction. The state will have the man’s courtroom testimony, a video of the attack, his confession to law enforcement, and a jailhouse interview with a local TV station. A state conviction could also help the federal verdict if it were appealed.

A Virginian Republican who won his election to the House of Delegates with new boundaries by only 74 votes of almost 30,000 ballots may face a recount from his Democratic opponent. The state will pay for the recount if the difference is under a half-percent, but the state must first certify the result on December 4. The recent election gave the House of Delegates a Democratic majority of 51-49, flipping it from a GOP majority. In 2017, a Democrat supposedly losing by ten votes won a recount, resulting her win by one vote, but lost to a Republican with a random drawing in the House tie.

In Florida, a member of Moms for Liberty (M4L) asked police to arrest a school librarian for checking out a banned YA book to a 17-year-old student, claiming it is a felony to share “pornography” with minors. The teenage girl’s mother reported the claimant had orchestrated the incident: a teacher handed the book to the student and told her to check it out before going to the police. The teacher telling the student to check out the book didn’t work at the school or in the county but instead was an English teacher in a neighboring county. In that county, she had made almost all the 150 book challenges reviewed by her school district, many of them by Black authors or with LGBTQ+ topics.  

The new lawsuit against Fox by former producer Jason Donner reveals more evidence against the network, including its reprimand for publicly disputing Rudy Giuliani’s allegations about voter fraud at the lie-filled November 19, 2020, press conference. Fox knew it was lying, but Donner suffered backlash because founder Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch, succeeding his father as the company’s chair this week, wanted financing from a large audience. It gives the network monthly fees per subscriber, whether they watch Fox or not; Lacklan threatens huge increases in renewals. Fox gains by warning viewers that cable companies want to take Fox away from them.

Once a leader in the political hate industry, the American Conservative Union (ACU) has lost its importance in the right wing, mostly from several men’s sexual harassment allegations against the ACU chair, Matt Schlapp. One of the strongest ACU positions was against the LGBTQ+ community. Within the past few months, multiple board members have resigned, and half the staff left. The departure of board member Morton Blackwell, also RNC member and founder of the group training conservative activists, ”is a signal to the entire conservative movement that the game is over,” according to anti-tax activist Grover Norquist who served on the CPAC board for over 15 years. Schlapp’s legal defense is over $1 million thus far; the ACU treasurer resigned in May, saying that the organization could no longer justify the costs.

Voting on the United Auto Workers agreement with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis has approved contracts after a six-week strike. Ratification was 68.2 percent at Ford, 54.7 percent at GM, and 69.6 percent at Stellantis. Workers at Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan, truck plant voted 78% in favor of ratification.

Other worker fights:

Las Vegas: MGM Resorts settled with unions representing hospitality workers less than 24 hours before a planned walkout could have shut down the Strip, Caesars Entertainment reached a deal with 10,000 workers, and Wynn Resorts settled with 5,000 workers. Unions also successfully negotiated mandated daily room cleaning and increased safety protections for workers in an “historic” deal. Since the post-pandemic recovery, Vegas casino resort operatives have been earning record profits with room rates surging by 47 percent.

Detroit: A deal may settle the 32-day strike with 3,700 casino workers across five unions. The agreement for three casinos calls for immediate 18 percent pay raises and no cost increases for health care, workload reductions, and other job protections.

Sweden: Dockers at the ports have blocked Tesla car shipments to support a strike by members of the IF Metall union. Taxi Stockholm, the largest taxi company in the Swedish capital, said it would not buy any new Teslas until the dispute was over. The strike is supported by unionized cleaners refusing to clean Tesla buildings, postal workers no longer delivering mail, and electricians stopping service and repair for Tesla, including at Sweden’s charging stations.

California: Thousands of scientists working for the state plan a three-day strike starting last Thursday.

Portland (OR): Educators are still on strike, having started on November 1. Their main issues are pay and more planning time. They have removed their demand of capping class sizes which may settle the strike over Thanksgiving weekend.

Republicans: Responsibilities, Toxic Masculinity

The House Ethics Committee chair, Michael Guest (R-MS), is making the third attempt to expel George Santos (R-NY) from Congress after the committee issued its damning report about the new representative. He said that he alone is sponsoring the resolution because the committee did not make this recommendation. Guest plans to enter the resolution when the House returns on November 28, giving two days for the vote which would require “yeas” from two-thirds of the chamber to be successful, 290 votes if everyone is present.

Bipartisan support for the expulsion has skyrocketed since the last resolution with 179 votes to expel Santos. Almost 60 Republicans, up from 24 last time, plan to vote for the resolution with only eight of them in opposition. The “undecideds” have almost two weeks to determine their votes. Another 21 Democrats who voted against expulsion have reversed their position. Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson asked members to “consider the best interests of the institution”; he wants to keep Santos’ vote for the extremely slim majority.

Congressional needs for the 12 days in session before the end of 2023:

Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization: The full version runs out on December 31, and the Senate struggles with pilot training rules after a near rise in aviation near-misses.

Section 702 Reauthorization/Reform: The surveillance authority expires in 2023. Meant to target foreigners’ communications outside the U.S., it also sweeps private communications of U.S. residents. Differences of opinion may require a typical short-term extension.

National Defense Authorization Act: Congress almost failed to pass the latest continuing resolution because Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) wanted to negotiate with the House about the appropriation bill for the Department of Defense. The House loaded its NDAA, which passed by 219-210, with poison amendments such as anti-abortion and anti-diversity; the Senate passed its own bill by 87-11. The limited time for passage may prevent a traditional formal conference between the committee leaders of both chambers.

A few leftovers from last week’s battles:

Until last week, the lack of decorum in Congress was either verbal or outside the chambers, like the physical altercation between Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) in the “ladies room” or former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) surreptitiously striking his GOP colleagues. Greene, who told Democrats to have some decorum, showed photographs of a nude Hunter Biden in a hearing and called Boebert a “little b—-” on the House floor. This past week, however, James Comer (R-KY) calling Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) a “Smurf” and a “liar” in the Oversight Committee he chaired and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) trying to physically fight a witness in another hearing went to new heights. C. Lawrence Evans, government professor at the College of William & Mary, called Congress more of a reality television show than a legislature. He said, “It’s basically performance art—it’s theater.”

The genesis of the recent lack of professionalism may have be Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-SC) shouting “you lie” at President Barack Obama during his healthcare speech in 2009. At least, he was rebuked for degrading the proceedings of the joint session; now childish behavior is considered normal. Voters “rewarded the Republican Party for that performative behavior,” said Lindsey Williams Drath, CEO of the centrist political Forward Party, and lawmakers continue to be rewarded for their boorish behavior.

Always searching for someone else to blame, some congressional members attribute the immature conduct to the stress of the past few weeks in a ten-week session. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), in her first term, called it a “one-off day.” Some Republicans are furious with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for breaking up the fight and reminding Mullin that he’s “a United States senator.” On Newsmax, host Benny Johnson lambasted Sanders for stopping the fight and called Mullin “a man” and “amazing.” Johnson said that Sanders ruined “everything”:

“Dusty, old, schleppy, dirty, bum, socialist, Karl Marx, Bernie Sanders, had to go ruin it all.”

Mullin said that not fighting in the middle of a Senate hearing is “political correctness.” He wants the Senate to be more violent and maybe bring canings back, referring to the congressional beating in 1856 when Rep. Preston Brooks of South Carolina went to the Senate Chamber and beat Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts with a cane until he was unconscious because Sumener opposed slavery. Brooks was censured by the House, resigned, and died seven months later at the age of 37.

About their praise of caning to protect slavery, Joanne Freeman, a historian at Yale University and author of the 2019 book The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War wrote:

“One thing you certainly saw in the 1830s, ’40s and ’50s, is there was one component within Congress—southerners—who were so adamant about defending the institution of slavery and silencing anyone opposed to it, that they pretty routinely used threats and occasionally violence to silence their opponents….

Sanders said that DDT’s supporters are “echoing” the “very ugly things that Trump is saying lately.” Experts agree with Sanders. Authorities say the brazen style of Deposed Donald Trump (DDT) has become a model for outsiders to get elected and establish their status instead of legislating.  Wilson apologized for his rudeness; Mullin went in the other direction. He expanded his “toughness” by saying that he would have bitten his opponent, the president of the Teamsters. He bragged:

“I’m not afraid of biting. I will bite. I’ll bite 100%. In a fight, I’m gonna bite. I’ll do anything. I’m not above it. And I don’t care where I bite by the way.”

Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) said that he’s helping Mullin train. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said that Mullin’s pugnacious nature was because he’s a man and “we would be a better, healthier country if physical fights broke out in Congress every once in a while.” He criticized politicians who “agree too much on everything.” (Republicans’ voting record doesn’t indicate that.) Gaetz added:

“Historically, it’s always been understood that men should have outlets to settle a beef physically in a fair and honorable way.”

After Sen. John Fetterman (R-PA) dressed casually on the Senate floor, a bill unanimously passed a formal dress code—coat, tie, and slacks for men—to inculcate respect for the chamber. Nobody mentioned that Mullin ignored the dress code at the hearing, perhaps readying himself for the fight or emulating Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) who also never wears a jacket on the chamber floor.

Like DDT, Mullin is using his obnoxious manner for fund raising. Kerry Eleveld described the process used by GOP lawmakers such as Gaetz, Greene, and Jordan—and Mullin:

• Say nasty thing to lib, own the lib.
• Grab video of it.
• Tweet video of you owning the lib, saying you owned the lib.
• Fundraise off the clip of you owning the lib.
• Achieve MAGA tough guy hero status.
• Find next opportunity to own the lib.

Mullin also attacked Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) before Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) jabbed his elbow into Burchett’s kidney. The week before that episode, Mullin, a McCarthy ally, threw Burchett, who voted against McCarthy as Speaker, out of his long-established daily workout group, saying he didn’t “trust” Burchett. Confirming he was booted from the early-morning sessions, Burchett said Mullin “berated” and “yelled at him” until he left—which Mullin denied.

On Fox network, Mullin’s adversary, union head Sean O’Brien, talked to Neil Cavuto about Mullin’s peculiar actions and statements, presenting Mullins with a hypothetical question:

“So, make up your mind. Do you want to date me, fight me, bite me, or shoot me?”

One Mullin story comes from former Rep. David Trott (R-MI) who served with Mullin in the House. About 40 members, including several spouses, attended an AIPAC-sponsored trip to Israel in August 2015. Absolutely exhausted, many of them were trying to sleep on the bus to an Iron Dome installation and kibbutz. Mullin walked up and down the bus aisle, putting his finger in the nose of anyone sleeping and taking a photograph. Mullin’s staff didn’t respond to questions.

Rep. James Comer’s (R-KY) behavior in the Oversight Committee toward Moskowitz was so egregious that the Congressional Integrity Project asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate whether the Congressman violated any rules. The letter from the CIP said Comer made “inaccurate statements” and “viciously” addressed Moskowitz using obscene language at the hearing of the House Oversight Committee.

Supporting conspiracy theorists in a hearing, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) grilled FBI Director Christopher Wray about a “ghost vehicle” supposed “filled with FBI informants dressed as Trump supporters” on January 6, 2021, who were causing the insurrection. After Wray denied the lie, Higgins launched into a rant about the ghost bus, “pretty common in law enforcement … used for secret purposes. It’s painted over.” He claimed to “have all this evidence” about two of them at Union Station on January 6—“the tip of the iceberg.” Wray kept a straight face throughout the performance of Higgins who resigned as a local patrol officer before being disciplined for excessive use of force. Higgins ended his diatribe by threatening, “your day is coming, Mr. Wray.”

Freelance journalist Danielle Campoamor has an excellent piece: “Are Men Too Emotional to Lead?” Polls and think tanks still think that women are more emotional and men are more logical to find “a suitable conclusion, without relying upon emotional reasoning.” Consider last week’s events in Congress and DDT, whose feelings were hurt because he lost the 2020 presidential election.

Politics As Congress Goes Home

Congress may have gone home, but the courts are still working. Or at least refusing. The Supreme Court won’t bail out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on drag shows by leaving a lower court decision. The 11^th Circuit Court determined the state’s ban likely violates the First Amendment and was “specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queen performers.” One of the three-judge panel appointed by former Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) dissented with the majority. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas were the minority vote for keeping the law in effect while it was being litigated.

A federal judge also ruled that the ban for children to attend drag shows with parents clashes with DeSantis’ “Parents Bill of Rights” which gives choice to parents and children are already protected by obscenity laws. Florida’s Republican AG Ashley Moody asked the Supreme Court to limit the injunction only to the one business objecting to the ban. The case is Griffin v. HM Florida-Orl, LLC.

The conspiracy theorist who attacked Paul Pelosi, husband of the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in their San Francisco home, has been convicted of assault and attempted kidnapping after a jury deliberated for eight hours. The defense argued that the white man from Canada had been influenced by conspiracy theories to commit the crimes, telling jurors he spent hours listening to far-right podcasts. The man told jurors he spent hours listening to far-right podcasts from Gamergate. The man’s other targets included Hunter Biden, Tom Hanks, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Podcasts falsely told him Nancy Pelosi wants to turn our schools into pedophile molestation factories.   

The man smashed through a door at the house and demanded to know where “Nancy” was before he assaulted Paul Pelosi when the police arrived after Pelosi surreptiously notified them. Pelosi’s wife was in Washington, D.C. The 82-year-old man was hospitalized with a skull fracture and injuries to his hands and arm and has still not fully recovered. The Capitol police failed to protect Pelosi during the break-in. No one at the D.C. command center was watching their cameras that captured footage of the man entering the home and brandishing a hammer. The breach was only noticed after someone noticed police cruisers’ flashing lights on the dark street. 

The Senate went home after avoiding the shutdown with a continuing resolution bill but failed to strike down President Joe Biden’s new student loan repayment plan by a mostly party vote of 49-50. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), considering an independent run for president in 2024, was the only Democrat to vote with the Republicans. Already, 5.5 million borrowers have enrolled for the plan that caps interest and bases monthly loan repayments on income and family sizes.

In an angry midnight conflict, pro-defense GOP senators, all veterans, opposed Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) who was supported by Mike Lee (R-UT).  Tuberville rejected attempts by Sens. Dan Sullivan (AK), Joni Ernst (IA), Todd Young (IN), and Lindsey Graham (SC) to move stalled military nominees though the chamber. Graham talked about the “effect on the military” of these holds. Young sought approval of promotions for Naval Captains Kurtis Mole and Thomas Dickinson to rear admiral: Lee spoke responded over an hour to defend Tuberville’s holds. After this fiasco, GOP senators, even Graham, indicated they may vote for the Democratic resolution to change Senate procedure allowing the confirmation of over 400 stalled nominees.

Graham told a reporter after the altercation: 

“It’s like a car wreck on the interstate…. I’m not going to let this go on forever. I promise you this—this will be the last holiday this happens. If it takes me to vote to break loose these folks, I will.”

In another car wreck at the House, the Ethics Committee released its unanimous 56-page report on George Santos (R-NY) and then went home. It found “substantial evidence” that he violated federal criminal laws and “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.” He used campaign funds for personal use, deceived donors who thought they were contributing to his campaign, and reported “fictitious loans” to his political committees to “induce” additional contributions. Calling the scope of alleged violations “unprecedented,” the committee reported Santos’ “lack of candor” and blame for others despite his “knowing and active participant in the wrongdoing.” More details are here. And more details.

Santos, who faces 23 federal charges of fraud and financial crimes, said he won’t be rerunning for election, but an expulsion is in the works, recommended by committee chair Michael Guest (R-MS) as well as a recommendation for a DOJ investigation. Guest plans an expulsion resolution for a vote after Thanksgiving recess. Only 24 Republicans supported the last resolution, but this one already has 40 GOP supporters. Earlier, Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson said he doesn’t support expulsion before Santos stands trial. The last expulsion was for James Traficant (D-OH) on June 24, 2002; the vote was 420-1 with Gary Condit (D-CA) the only “nay” vote during the scandal of intern Chandra Levy on May 1, 2001. Levy’s murder was apprehended eight years later.

When the new GOP majority weakened the Office of Congressional Ethics in January, Santos called the change “fantastic.” About the findings, coming from almost nine months of investigation, Santos posted:

“If there was a single ounce of ETHICS in the ‘Ethics committee,’ they would have not released this biased report.”

The 118th Congress, the least productive since Herbert Hoover, 90 years ago, has passed only 21 laws in nine months. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who has blocked many bills, had a temper tantrum about their ineffectiveness on the chamber floor with no audience, providing Democrats with campaign ads:

“One thing. I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing–one!—that I can go campaign on and say we did. Anybody sitting in the complex, if you want to come down to the floor and come explain to me, one meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done.”

During the first half of the 118^th Congress, members achieved the bare minimum: electing two Speakers, requiring four weeks; ousting one Speaker; funding the government with continuing resolutions; raising the debt ceiling; and participating in physical violence and lies. The House managed two censures and two failed votes for an expulsion of a House member who faces the most amazing list of corrupt activities and 23 charges in two indictments. There’s also a political impeachment inquiry of Biden to protect a former president who has far more reasons for complaint than the current one while working to help the former president who is also a presidential candidate for 2024. And all this by Republicans in a Congress with 13 percent approval in October.

President Biden signed the 21^st law on November 13, the latest date since the 72^nd Congress with the 21^st bill signed on February 5, 1932. But that Congress didn’t start meeting until December 1931, meaning that it passed 21 laws in three months. Before the 20^th Amendment, changing the date when presidents took the oath of office, congressional lame duck sessions, those between elections but before lawmakers were sworn in, might not go into session until December unless the president called them to Washington, D.C.

Some of the 118^th congressional laws were to name VA clinics after people, mint a commemorative coin, and nullify a law passed by the city of Washington.  

The 22^nd bill that Biden is signing, a CR to keep the government open until January 19, is another one in which the House lacked enough Republican votes to pass and fewer GOP votes than from Democrats. Republicans have had only successful yes/no votes for 77 percent of the time. In the previous ten Congresses, four of the Houses led by Democrats, the majority had a 94 percent success rate.

House Republicans are frustrated because the special counsel, who the GOP demanded  for an investigation into Biden’s possession of classified documents, probably won’t recommend criminal charges. The only result might be criticism over negligence in handling records form his time as vice president between 2009 and 2017.

Robert Hur, the counsel who was first appointed by DDT for the AG in Maryland, is expected to issue a final report by the end of the year and then testify before congressional committees. He has interviewed about 100 of Biden’s closest associates and family members, including his son Hunter and Biden himself. Some of the documents date back to when Biden was a senator between 1973 and 2009. Unlike DDT, Biden voluntarily told the National Archives immediately after the documents’ discovery and cooperated with the FBI in their recovery.

DDT refused to return dozens of boxes of undisclosed classified documents he had for over a year and lied about having returned all of them. He allegedly deleted security camera footage about the storage of documents. James Comer (R-KY), determined to impeach Biden, has questioned Hur about whether any of the documents related to his family’s business dealings with foreign countries with no evidence that they do.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a New York civil liberties group, is suing Biden for failing to prevent Israel committing genocide in Gaza in opposition to the 1948 international convention requiring U.S. and other countries to use influence to stop the killing. The lawsuit asked the court to stop the U.S. from proving weapons, money, and diplomatic support to Israel.

GOP in Worse Trouble After Stopping Shutdown

While the Republicans in Congress were trying to duke it out—literally—more good news for the U.S. economy! In October the inflation rate was zero percent, making the annual projection 3.2 percent, beating the 3.3 percent expectations. Since President Joe Biden took office 22 months ago, the economy added 670,000 construction jobs, an average of over 20,000 per month. Last month’s number set a new high since 1939 when the government started collecting data.

With a vote of 87-11, the Senate has passed the House bill, a continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown on Friday night. Ten Republicans and Sen. Michael Bennett (D-CO) voted in opposition. If President Joe Biden signs the bill, people are safe from a fiscal cliff through the winter holidays until January 19 when four appropriation bills must be approved. The other eight are due by Groundhog’s Day, February 2. The Senate considered and rejected the only amendment, Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) cut of 1 percent of budgetary spending which lost by 32-65. The next crisis is emergency foreign aid; House Republicans want nothing for Ukraine but would provide for Israel but want stringent southern border conditions.

The vote in the Senate was delayed while members argued about a motion to begin a conference negotiation between the two chambers about the annual defense authorization bill. Each chamber had passed highly different defense bills in July. Biden said he will support the bill if it passes the Senate.

House Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson also experienced failure after the budget continuing resolution passed when a protest by 19 far-right members caused the procedural vote for the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill to lose by 198-225 when the 19 dissenters joined 206 Democrats with nay votes. Also losing was a bill sanctioning Iran’s frozen assets. Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) said that they support the speaker but “disagree emphatically” on how the stopgap bill was handled. In short, retaliation. House members cast their votes and then went home for Thanksgiving recess after another short week with no votes until November 28, giving them 52 days to pass four appropriation bills before the January 19 deadline.

Miffed by no deep cuts in the bill or draconian measures at the southern border, far-right house members decided to repeatedly vote against procedures. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said, “If we can’t fight anything, then let’s just hold up everything.” Johnson’s GOP conference is even more divided than when Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was Speaker, adding problems of Biden-district Republicans running for reelection and centrists. Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) said “everybody [is] acting as an independent [and] not necessarily in one line or the other.” Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) said that Johnson’s honeymoon is over.

GOP legislators are also facing the recent sweep of liberal initiatives across their home states. In two dozen states permitting citizens’ initiatives, people use ballot measures to raise the minimum wage, legalize cannabis, expand Medicaid, and allow pro-choice reproductive care while increasing the timeline for abortions. In Nebraska, traditionally a red state, paid sick leave may reach the ballot after citizens approved an increase in the minimum wage from $9 to $15 per hour.

MAGA is also facing poverty in some swing states:

Arizona: The new state GOP chair is fruitlessly begging the RNC for a financial bailout after the former one, MAGA-obsessed Kelli Ward, moved to a boat in the Caribbean. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel told him to send her a plan with needs and goals, adding that the party is not paying legal bills. After buying new headquarters, the state GOP has $21,000 in federal assets and $214,000 in a state account, most of it designated by the donor for opposing ballot measures on ranked-choice voting. Its state party treasurer is suing a state House member for defamation during their primary last year.

Georgia: In a standoff with GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, the state GOP is in a standoff with the GOP governor, Brian Kemp, the state GOP faces over $500,000 in legal fees for alternate electors. Former state GOP chair is a co-defendant in the RICO case.  Kemp’s lawmaker supporters passed a law permitting him to bypass the party in unlimited fundraising and election spending.

Michigan: GOP party officials got into physical fights about who controls county parties when their finances went into the red by $375,000 in April. The party considered illegally selling the headquarters, owned by a trust, because of “imminent default” on a line of credit.

In Ohio, state GOP legislators are trying to overthrow the will of the people. After voters passed an abortion-rights measure put on the November 7 ballot by citizens, four lawmakers are trying to pass legislation that would block judges of the power to interpret the constitutional amendment. They want only the GOP-led legislature, not “pro-abortion courts,” to determine any modifications to existing laws.

Leaks from the testimony by four co-defendants of Deposed Donald Trump (DDT) in the Fulton County (GA) election subversion RICO case have caused DA Fani Willis to file an emergency motion for a protective order in an attempt to prevent other material from becoming public. She said the “release of these confidential video recordings is clearly intended to intimidate witnesses in this case” by subjecting them to “harassment and threats prior to trial.” Judge Scott McAfee said he will issue new restrictions about handling evidence.

Plea deal proffer videos, videotaped conversations between the co-defendants and prosecutors, were leaked to news outlets. The public learned that DDT didn’t plan to leave the White House although he lost the election (Jenna Ellis), he was encouraged to name Powell special attorney who would seize election equipment with military assistance (Sidney Powell), and he shared the plan for alternative electors in key battlegrounds (Kenneth Chesebro).

After several days, the attorney for Harrison Floyd, another co-defendant, admitted his team, both current and former defense attorneys, leaked the videos to bolster his client’s defense. A lawyer for Misty Hampton, another co-defendant and a Georgia election official in Coffee County, admitted he also gave videos to the media. Prosecutors have also asked the judge to revoke Floyd’s bail, which would cause him to be jailed until his trial, because he has used his social media to intimidate witnesses including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Atlanta election worker Ruby Freeman.

Ellis is under fire for her comments to prosecutors about DDT’s not leaving the White House despite his losing the 2020 presidential election. “Jenna Ellis is a fraud,” declared former Fox Business producer Breanna Morello on her Rumble far-right podcast. Morello said she left Fox because of the network’s “COVID vaccine mandate.” Bernard Kerik, a former Rudy Giuliani partner pardoned by DDT after a conviction, also attacked Ellis because she had never told him anything about her conversation with Dan Scavino when Ellis learned the information.

DDT had a couple of wins. A Michigan judge is keeping DDT’s name on the ballot after Jocelyn Benson, a Democratic secretary of state, ruled that the 14^th Amendment keeps his name out of the running. Also, Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, will permit political advertising with falsehoods about DDT winning the 2020 election. On the other hand, DDT’s Truth Social reported a $31.6 net loss since its launch two years ago to mid-2023. DDT’s company Trump Media & Technology Group’s (TMTG) also eliminated several positions last March.

After wooing Univision, a Spanish-language cable news network, for three years, DDT seems to have turned it around from his description of “a leftist propaganda machine and a mouthpiece of the Democrat Party.” Biden’s ads to be used in Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Florida during DDT’s interview have been canceled because of a newly-invented policy against opposition advertising in single-candidate interviews. Also canceled is a previous booking with Biden’s Hispanic Media Director Maca Casado to respond to the Trump interview. DDT’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was behind DDT’s interview—and other happenings?

U.S. support for Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza is dropping, down to 32 percent from 41 percent a month ago. Israel has received billions of dollars in military aid from the U.S., but that interest may be waning after Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Only 31 percent of respondents to the Reuters/Ipsos poll support sending Israel weapons while 43 percent oppose the idea. By comparison, 41 percent back sending weapons to Ukraine with 32 percent opposed. Sixty-eight want Israel to declare a ceasefire for time to negotiate.

In a lengthy Facebook post on August 7, 2015, Speaker Johnson, who claims to be deeply religious, called DDT unfit to serve and a danger as president:

“The thing about Donald Trump is that he lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House….”

Challenged by a DDT-supporter, Johnson responded:

“I am afraid he would break more things than he fixes. He is a hot head by nature, and that is a dangerous trait to have in a Commander in Chief.”

Johnson wondered what would happen if DDT “decided to bomb another head of state merely disrespecting him.” Watching DDT’s first debate with his son, then ten years old, Johnson was horrified.

Still supposedly deeply religious, Johnson has flipped 180 degrees, defending DDT through two impeachments and now saying he’s “all in” for DDT as president, “a loyal soldier” and criticized the “bogus prosecutions.” Ain’t religion wonderful!

Shutdown May Be Postponed, Republicans Trying to Look Macho

With strong support from Democrats—which Republicans always claim they won’t permit—a continuing resolution (CR) for the budget has passed the House by 336-95, above the necessary 290 vote of two-thirds, and moved on to the Senate. In a “laddered” approach, the CR continues the existing budget until January 19 for four appropriation bills and February 2 for the other eight. Farm bill programs, including food stamps, are extended to September 30, 2024. A “clean” bill, it contains no amendments.

Two Democrats, Jake Auchincloss (MA) and Mike Quigley (IL), and 93 Republicans opposed the bill, and the Freedom Caucus complaining about the lack of spending cuts and restrict border policies. Freedom Caucus members are riled about the “clean” CR with the statement that “Republicans must stop negotiating against ourselves over fears of what the Senate may do with the phrase ‘roll over today and we’ll fight tomorrow.'” The group is calling for “bold change,” not a good sign for MAGA Mike as Speaker. Some Democrats want payback in passing the appropriation bills for their assistance to Republicans that followed the same process that ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).

End Citizens United has filed an ethics complaint against Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson (R-LA) for failing to disclose gifts, overlooking blind spots in his spouse’s income, making “contradictory” financial statements relating to his work as an attorney for far-right groups, and other “inconsistencies.” The watchdog group is investigating any of Johnson’s financial conflicts of interest. One of the issues is that he discloses no banking accounts, savings, investments, or retirement accounts—plus failing to disclose sources of funding for travel.

Johnson did not report an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel in February 2020 paid for by the 12 Tribes Film Foundation and costing a total of $17,950. Congressional ethics reporting laws mandate reports of all travel costing over $415. His paid trip to Williamstown (KY) in 2022 by the young Earth creationist group Answers in Genesis also exceeded the $415 threshold. Income-producing Onward Christian Counseling Services, his wife’s business, has been active since 2017, but Johnson didn’t report it. According to federal law for statements submitted to government agencies, anyone who “falsifies, conceals, or covers up material facts [and] makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation” could be fined and/or jailed for up to five years.

The Advocate, Louisiana’s most-read newspaper and Johnson’s hometown publication, is telling his home state how his draconian cuts would damage Louisiana. One third of the state’s budget is federal funding, making it the fourth least self-sufficient state in the U.S. The editorial states:

“That’s one reason why Louisiana does not need a new government shutdown, as is still threatened despite the ascension of north Louisiana U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson to the speaker’s chair.”

The editorial continues by criticizing Johnson’s attempt to connect an emergency measure to Israeli funding and IRS cuts, “as some anti-government Republicans want to do. That just adds to the deficit, as it lets more high-income tax cheats defeat the system; for most of us, it just means the IRS can’t hire enough people to answer the darn phone.” The newspaper’s editors get it even if Johnson doesn’t. According to the newspaper, a shutdown “almost always hurts Republicans politically, although the House GOP’s circular firing squad might still find that an attractive in-your-face gesture.” The editorial went on to lambast “throwing all sorts of unattainable sloganeering into budget bills? Even worse, in critical national security decisions?”

Ouch.

Speaking of “ouch,” Republicans are going beyond testy. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) accused former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) of elbowing him in the kidneys. McCarthy said he accidentally bumped into Burchett although he didn’t hit him in the kidneys. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) wasn’t present, but he’s still filing an ethics complaint against McCarthy. The former speaker has a history of physical anger: he shoulder-checked former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and almost fought Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) in the bathroom during a recent address to Congress by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the Senate, Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) tried to start a physical fight with a committee witness, the president of the Teamsters Union, each daring the other to “stand your butt up.” Mullin called Sean O’Brien a “thug,” and O’Brien retaliated by saying Mullin was acting like “a schoolyard bully.” The insults follow earlier dueling posts on X. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) broke up the fight after Mullin stood up and advanced on O’Brien, but the two adversaries continued to squabble. (And senators thought that a dress code would bring them respect.)

Back in the House, Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) told Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), wearing a blue suit and tie, that he looked “like a Smurf.” Comer had told the Fox audience that President Joe Biden was evading taxes by loaning his brother money, and Moskowitz pointed out that Comer had loaned his brother the same amount as Biden did. Interrupting Moskowitz and calling him a liar, Comer said he bought farmland from his brother to keep the property in the family after their father died. Using profanity, Comer accused Moskowitz of being “financially illiterate” and refused to allow Moskowitz to reclaim his time. Later, the Florida representative referenced the Smurfs’ villain in his post, “Gargamel [below left] was very angry today.”

A friend suggested that the water at the Capitol contains lead—or if some members of Congress didn’t have civility training in kindergarten. Condé Nast Legal Affairs Editor Luke Zaleski commented, “Thanks to [T]rump. there’s an economy in farming rage and fundraising off it.” Approval of the Congress went down to 13 percent by last month.

Once again, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) lost, this time her impeachment resolution for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas because she didn’t like his handling the southern border. Eight Republicans joined Democrats, 209-201, to refer the resolution to the Homeland Security Committee, keeping it from a floor vote. The Republicans voting against Greene’s resolution: Patrick McHenry (NC), Tom McClintock (CA), John Duarte (CA), Virginia Foxx (NC), Darrell Issa (CA), Cliff Bentz (OR), Ken Buck (CO), and Mike Turner (OH). About the vote, Greene said, “I’m outraged” and added that she might make another try. Former President Grant’s Secretary of War William Belknap, accused of corruption, is the only Cabinet member ever impeached; he resigned before a Senate trial.

Expect Greene to become more outraged: Issa called her “hard-working” but added:  

“She, I believe, lacks the maturity and the experience to understand what she was asking for and how ill prepared we would have been to do it.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, again came out a loser in his latest attempt to bully local prosecutors into giving him information. After failing in his attempts to coerce Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and Fulton County (GA) DA Fani Willis into providing him all their documents about Deposed Donald Trump’s (DDT) investigation, Jordan couldn’t get information from D.C. AG Brian Schwalb about his probe into Leonard Leo, the man behind the conservative judges and justices, into whether Leo abused nonprofit tax laws by using its funds for his for-profit ventures.

Jordan and Comer claim that Schwalb doesn’t have jurisdiction to investigate nonprofits and other entities incorporated outside Washington, D.C. Schwalb responded:

“No corporation, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, is exempt from the laws of a jurisdiction in which it chooses to be present and do business.”

Schwalb also stated that his office “is committed to the impartial pursuit of justice, without regard to political affiliation or motivation and without fear or favor.”

The Senate Rules Committee voted 9-7 along party lines to advance a resolution allowing a block confirmation of over more than 350 military promotions being held up by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). The resolution does not apply to nominees to the Joint Chiefs of Staff or commanders nominated to lead combatant commands. With the filibuster, the resolution requires nine Republicans to support it if all Democrats/independents vote for it. Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) supports the idea but voted against the resolution and claimed “productive discussions” about reaching a deal with Tuberville are “ongoing.” National security will suffer as long as GOP senators stick to the “nice guy” instead of supporting the military.

How evangelical “anti-woke” members of the military think: A military commander earlier faced the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) as an “evangelical Protestant who believes his first priority is to coerce anyone he works with, especially those of us lower in rank, to accept and become baptized into his Christian faith.”  He has already endangered his men with his beliefs. Recently, he decided to have a traditional “Puritan” Thanksgiving for his subordinates. All of them would dress in Pilgrim costumes—except for a Native American man who was told to wear his “best Indian clothes.”

In 2019, another “religious” commander demanded a Native American subordinate dress up as an Indian, but MRFF got that requirement canceled. Once the current requirement was rescinded, the commander muttered about his “woke” superior loudly enough that he was heard. The senior commander met with the commander privately who then “rather suddenly” put in for several days of leave, according to the Native American filing the complaint. The commander’s “Pilgrim attire” event was officially cancelled and replaced with another Thanksgiving meal handled by higher command with no “costumes” required.

Within the Insane GOP World

Deposed Donald Trump (DDT) plans to replace all those “Communists, Marxists, Racists, and Radical Left Thugs” (DDT’s words) in the government. Hundreds of DDT’s allies are spending tens of millions of dollars to vet people for 54,000 DDT loyalists to replace existing career government employees. Tech giant Oracle is helping the cause with artificial intelligence. These loyalists will fill legal, judicial, defense, regulatory, and domestic policy jobs in a plan DDT calls “Agenda 47,” an orchestration of Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 with 80 partners, including Turning Point USA, led by MAGA star Charlie Kirk; the Center for Renewing America, headed by DDT budget director Russ Vought; and American Moment, focused on young believers for junior positions. Johnny McEntee, once DDT’s bodyguard and then his White House personnel leader, is a senior adviser.

In Letters from an American, scholar Heather Cox Richardson writes:  

“In the United States there is a big difference between liberals and the political “Left.” Liberals believe in a society based in laws designed to protect the individual, arrived at by a government elected by the people…. Most Americans, including Democrats and traditional Republicans, are liberals.

“Both ‘the Left,’ and the ‘Right’ want to get rid of the system. Those on the Left believe that its creation was so warped either by wealth or by racism that it must be torn down and rebuilt. Those on the Right believe that most people don’t know what’s good for them, making democracy dangerous. They think the majority of people must be ruled by their betters, who will steer them toward productivity and religion. The political Left has never been powerful in the U.S.; the political Right has taken over the Republican Party…

“The Right’s draconian immigration policies ignore the reality that presidents since Ronald Reagan have repeatedly asked Congress to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws, only to have Republicans tank such measures to keep the hot button issue alive, knowing it turns out their voters.”

Richardson finishes her piece writing about testimony from DDT’s former lawyer Jenna Ellis in which White House deputy chief of staff and social media coordinator Dan Scavino told her in December 2020 that DDT wouldn’t leave after he lost the election. She said he had to go because he was voted out, and Scarvino said:

“Well, we don’t care, and we’re not going to leave. The boss is not going to leave under any circumstances. We are just going to stay in power.”

In this case, eviction from public housing may be extremely difficult.

On Veterans Day weekend, DDT also called his enemies “vermin” as German Nazis did to dehumanize anyone opposing him. He announced his plans to deport millions of immigrants because they bring infectious diseases into the United States and do away with Constitutional birthright citizenship. In U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), the Supreme court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment forced the reentry of a U.S.-born child of Chinese immigrants into the U.S. after he visited China.

The new conservative (self-identified centrist) NewsNation, owned by Nexstar Media Group, will broadcast the next GOP presidential candidate debate on December 6. Moderators will be former Fox anchor Megyn Kelly, NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas, and Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of the conservative Washington Free Beacon. SiriusXM, airing Kelly’s radio show, and the Beacon sponsor the debate which also appears on digital platforms and local affiliates of the CW, another Nexstar-owned broadcast network. Kelly anticipates “the margarita of debates … spicy, fun, and somewhat intoxicating.”

The last debate exacerbated tensions between GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) which controls rules for the debates. His accusation about the GOP being “a party of losers” included criticism about McDaniel for losing the elections in 2018, 2020, and 2022 after she became RNC chair in 2017. McDaniel said that Ramaswamy is “at 4 percent. He needs a headline.” The upcoming debate requires six percent polling for participants.

The wanna-be DDT, 38-year-old Vivek Ramaswamy, wrote that he would “instantly” fire 50 percent of federal bureaucrats on his first day in office. He would purge government workers whose Social Security numbers end in an odd number. Ramaswamy claimed he isn’t violating civil service rules “because mass layoffs are exempt.” In a second post, he said that the layoff “avoids civil service protections because people can’t claim “their firings were politically motivated.” With only five percent in polling, Ramaswamy needs to boost his ratings to meet the six percent requirement.

Ronna McDaniel, chair of the party for law and order, said the RNC will support a convicted criminal if he is elected.

Two days ago, Sen. Tim Scott said he would be at the GOP presidential candidate debate on December 6 despite flailing polling; now he dropped his campaign to be the “happy warrior” in the White House.

In Iowa, GOP presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, and DDT are invited to appear at the Family Leader Foundation forum. The RNC threatens to disqualify all of them from debates if they participate after they signed pledges not to take part in debates not sanctioned by the national party. Scott has dropped out, and DDT doesn’t plan to show up for the official December 6 debate. After the threat, DeSantis said he’s attending the Iowa event.

Jacob Chansley, the “Shaman” called by a federal judge as “the public face” of the January Capitol riot, indicates he might be a Libertarian candidate for Arizona’s 8^th congressional district, now held by Debbie Lesko who will not re-run for reelection. Sentenced to 41 months in federal prison, Chansley was released after serving 27. Other insurrections, including Derrick Evans (WV) and Jason Riddel (NH), are also running for Congress.

Trying to avoid the Senate forcing rules on them, the Supreme Court issued its ethics code which both Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have likely violated. Both of them, making laws for everyone in the U.S., are “confused” about ethics requirements regarding undisclosed property deals and gifts from those involved in high court proceedings.    

The “code” has two weaknesses. It has no specific restrictions on gifts, travel, or real estate deals; instead outside activities “detract from the dignity of the justice’s office,” “interfere with the performance of the justice’s official duties,” “reflect adversely on the justice’s impartiality,” or “lead to frequent disqualification.” Rules also prohibit justices from allowing “family, social, political, financial or other relationships to influence official conduct or judgment. One expert said that the code appears to be more of a suggestion with “53 uses of the word ‘should’ and only six of the word ‘must.’”

In a second problem, violation of these rules has no enforcement; federal judges other than Supreme Court justices can be investigated. For example, DDT’s older sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, retired as a federal appellate judge in 2019 to avoid investigation into alleged fraudulent tax schemes with her siblings during the 1990s. Retired judges, who can still hear cases, are not subject to the conduct code although reviews can result in their censure or reprimand.  

Democrats may again bail the Republicans out of their messes, this time by supporting the clean continuing resolution with Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson’ (R-LA) “two-laddered”—or more—approach. (Think about the possibilities for cartoons!) Ultra-conservatives created the idea with “moderate” Republicans opposing it, but the Freedom Caucus doesn’t want a “clean” CR with no severe border restrictions and defunding of IRS funding that continues current budgeting until bills are passed. Johnson proposes the “easy” appropriation bills to expire next year on January 19 and the remainder on February 2.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the plan is “far from perfect” but approves of it’s having no poisonous amendments. President Joe Biden, who originally was against the idea, now says, “Let’s wait and see.” Democratic House leaders reluctantly consider the bill although Jim McGovern (D-MA) called it “a last minute hail mary” making a future shutdown only more likely. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said the plan is likely to pass, but it’s a “sad thing” for the House, “setting up ongoing crisis so that we will never come to rest and make a decision, which is bad for government, bad for the American people, and bad for the image of America.”

To get a vote to the floor, the bill’s suspension of the rules permits it to bypass the GOP-controlled House Rules Committee after some Republicans warned they would not advance the bill. Suspension prevents amendments and requires a two-thirds vote. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) used the same process to pass the CR in September which stopped a shutdown before he was immediately removed from his position.

Recently elected Gabe Amo’s (D-RI) swearing-in on Monday gives the House 213 Democratic members; the GOP is down to 221 with one vacancy. Watch for House Minority Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to hold up a green card, his signal alerting Democrats voting. A win with two-thirds means that Johnson will need to rely on Democratic support, something he initially said he wouldn’t do. Will the Freedom Caucus remove another Speaker?

Veterans Day – A Tale of Two Parties

Today was Veterans Day, enshrined 85 years ago as a national holiday to honor U.S. veterans of the armed services and those killed in the country’s wars. Just as the United States has two major political parties, it has two ways of commemorating this annual event.

Democrats:

The Biden administration made all of the living 119,500 World War II veterans eligible for no-cost VA healthcare and nursing home services. Family members of veterans serving at Camp Lejeune are also covered for the cost of Parkinson’s care; as many as one million people at the Navy base could have been sickened by industrial solvents in contaminated groundwater from dumps by the government and an off-base dry cleaner.

In another announcement, a new graduate medical education program will fund salaries of 100 doctors, expanding healthcare in historically underserved communities along with an advertising campaign to reach veterans not using VA. The Democratic administration created a Veteran Scam and Fraud Evasion task force after 93,000 claims were submitted last year. In addition to education, the directive designates the Federal Trade Commission to coordinate these reports.

The government will also provide community-based organizations with $105 million in grants for programs in suicide and $1 billion to fund assistance for homeless veterans. Increased healthcare benefits to veterans include $163 billion in 2023 to help more than 6 million veterans and survivors while the government processes nearly 2 million disability claims.

Republicans:

On the other side of honoring Veterans Day, Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson sent the House home for the second long weekend since he assumed the position three weeks ago. Johnson reportedly needed the three-day weekend to speak to the misnamed Worldwide Freedom Initiative (WFI)—in Paris—although his spokesman said he didn’t attend. He was scheduled to share the podium with Éric Zemmour, failed neofascist Presidential candidate (7 percent of the vote), another far-right failed candidate Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, and well-known Holocaust denier Florian Philippot. Johnson did deliver the keynote speech at the group’s launch last summer on the 4^th of July. Other attendees from the U.S. include Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) and her paramour/former campaign manager for Deposed Donald Trump (DDT), Corey Lewandowski. A spokeswoman for the far-right Moms for Liberty (M4) will be speaking.

Shortly after noon on Saturday, Johnson told Republicans they would be voting on his two-step government funding stopgap bill next Tuesday after GOP’s mandatory 72-hour waiting period. This specific idea to postpone a government shutdown on Friday came from the Freedom Caucus. Johnson likely thinks he can batter the “moderate” Republicans into submission as he did to get the unanimous GOP vote to become Speaker. Even if he manages this unlikely step, the Senate is more of a problem. According to Johnson, some funding runs out on January 19 and the remainder on February 2, two fiscal cliffs instead of one.

The first deadline is for government programs and agencies covered by regular appropriation bills: agriculture, rural development, and Food and Drug Administration; energy and water development; military construction and Veterans Affairs; and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development. Funding for all others would expire on February 2. The bill would extend the Farm Bill’s provisions until September 30, 2024, the expiration of the budget that Congress should be developing, adding a one-year extension for the bill that passed in 2018. The CR has no budget cuts or additional major conservative policy riders in opposition to Republicans wanting to tie their beliefs to the bill.

Johnson said his plan puts “House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories.” He wants to avoid “massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess.” Missing is everything from GOP wish lists such as restrict border control, IRS defunding, and Israel aid as well as assistance for Ukraine.

Although the Freedom Caucus thought up and supported the approach, conservative Chip Roy (R-TX) already posted his opposition to Johnson’s bill, and Johnson can afford to lose only four GOP votes for the bill’s passage. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX), House Budget Committee chair, told reporters that the staggered plan was “politically DOA,” because it did not have Democratic support although conservative Republicans want a majority vote from their own party. 

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee chair and third in line to be president as Senate pro tempore, called the staggered funding plan “the craziest, stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of.”White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave the Biden response:

“This proposal is just a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns—full stop. With just days left before an Extreme Republican Shutdown—and after shutting down Congress for three weeks after they ousted their own leader—House Republicans are wasting precious time with an unserious proposal that has been panned by members of both parties.

“An Extreme Republican Shutdown would put critical national security and domestic priorities at risk, including by forcing service members to work without pay. This comes just days after House Republicans were forced to pull two of their own extreme appropriations bills from the floor—further deepening their dysfunction.”

The only time the “laddered approach” came over 30 years ago when pro-Israel congressional members wanted to give a loan of $10 billion to Israel, and George H.W. Bush threatened to veto the fiscal 1992 Foreign Operations bill if that were an amendment. He was concerned that Israelis would build settlements in disputed territory—which they consistently have for the past three decades—and wished to wait for peace talks in Madrid. Congress then agreed to delay the deadline for only that bill through March while talks were ongoing. The gambit failed, and Congress enacted a CR covering foreign aid spending with September 30, 1992, the end of the fiscal year, as the deadline. Bush finally agreed, and the loan was put into the final fiscal 1993 Foreign Operations bill.

While the House members went home, a bipartisan group of senators worked throughout the weekend for a workable deal on asylum policy changes in processing migrants to reduce crossings on the southern border. The compromise is intended to be part of Biden’s national security funding package to also include aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.

More revelations about Johnson:

The Speaker is part of the movement to rewrite Constitution to force the Tea Party vision onto government. Goals include elimination of regulatory agencies such as the FDA and CDC, ability to borrow money, federal law for states.

Outside Johnson’s office hangs the flag of the far-right New Apostolic Reformation, a group determined to turn the U.S. into a religious nation. White with an evergreen tree in the center, it is emblazoned with the phrase “An Appeal to Heaven.” Once a naval flag for the colony of Massachusetts, it is now a symbol of aggressive Christian nationalism warfare.  

Johnson says the Bible—not the Constitution—is his worldview, but he trusts David Barton to translate it for him. For almost four decades, revisionist historian Barton has led people in the lie that separation between church and state is a myth. Gloating about Johnson’s election as Speaker, Barton says, “We have some tools at our disposal now (that) we haven’t had in a long time,” Barton added. Recently, Johnson spoke to Barton’s group Wallbuilders, praising Barton and his “profound influence on me, and my work, and my life and everything I do.”

Barton lies about Founding Fathers being “orthodox, evangelical” Christians: they were deists. He claims that the First Amendment’s use of the word religion is a stand-in for “Christian denomination” and was never intended to represent the promotion of “a pluralism of other religions.” All society’s ills from school shootings to divorce and LGBTQ+ people come from abandoning Judeo-Christian virtues in his view of Christianity, according to Barton, and the lack of cure for AIDS was God’s vengeance for homosexuality. His 2012 book The Jefferson Lies led to Christian academics writing a book to debunk all his inaccuracies and was pulled by its Christian publisher because “the basic truths just were not there.” Barton’s beliefs are part of recent Supreme Court rulings embedding Christianity into politics, and he was instrumental in trying to overturn the 2020 election with the brief that Johnson coerced 126 House Republicans to sign, supporting Texas AG Ken Paxton’s lawsuit thrown out of the Supreme Court.  

As an extremist evangelical, Johnson subscribes to the view that they must convert Jews to fundamentalist Christianity to avoid eternal damnation.

Remarkable about the Speaker’s “leadership” is the lack of order from the magnitude of shouting and insults now prevalent on the chamber’s floor.  

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) honored veterans on November 9, Alabama’s Military Day, by denying all 364 nominated military appointments. He had said he would allow some of them to be considered individually, but he rejected all of them when Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) read their individual names on the Senate floor. After Tuberville tried to blame Democrats for forcing him to block the promotions, Kaine pointed out that Tuberville didn’t even try to argue for his policy changes on the Senate floor. At one point, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), while facilitating part of the reading of names, broke into laughter. Tuberville refused to admit that he was punishing people who had no responsibility for the policy he protested.

The day before his performance with the military nominations, Al Weaver, journalist for The Hill, posted an exchange he had with Tuberville about the overwhelming rejection of anti-abortion positions on November 7, 2023. Asked for his reaction, Tuberville said, “I don’t keep up with that,” adding that he did read about the “big game” between Auburn University, where he coached football team, and the University of Arkansas.

Thirty-five Days of Israel-Palestinian War

Five weeks ago, the Palestinian Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, revised down 200 from the original stated 1,400. Israel immediately retaliated, flattening large portions of the 140-square-mile Gaza areas given killing over 11,000 people, 40 percent of them infants and children. The conflict has produced one of the most serious differences of opinion in the U.S. regarding who is at fault. Schools have blocked students from protesting for Palestinians, and a U.S. representative has been censured by House members for her support of Palestinian support.

Since the Hamas attack and Israel’s declaration of war, both Islamophobia and antisemitism have increased throughout the U.S. CAIR, an Islamic organization reported a 216 percent increase over the same time a year ago, the most since former Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) called for a Muslin travel ban in 2015. The Anti-Defamation League reported an almost 400 percent increase in antisemitic incidents, 60 percent directly linked to violence in Israel and Gaza.

Within the past few days, the media has been filled with announcements of Israel’s “humanitarian pause.” Israel agreed to permit civilians in northern Gaza a few hours daily, six hours on Friday, to move to the south and perhaps allow more aid to reach Palestinians. The “pause” also stopped airstrikes in certain areas, but the bombardments continue in others. Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, has emphatically declared, however, that “there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” which has been deprived of food, fuel, water, and sometimes even telecommunications.

Israel continues to bomb hospitals, typically protected in wars. Although Israelis report that Hamas are using them to hide Hamas, this excuse is used for all the civilian targets including at least six bombings of one refugee camp. Israeli tanks surrounded Al Rantisi hospital, and people were ordered to leave without any help from humanitarian groups such as the Red Cross.   

Soon after Hamas’ October 7 attack, Israel’s intelligence ministry’s report advocated that Israel remove all Gaza’s Palestinian population and forcibly resettle them in the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. A cabinet minister suggested that Israel use nuclear weapons against the Gaza Strip. An Israeli poster in November had the slogan of “occupy, expel, settle.”

Egypt rejects any population transfer, and Jordan called the policy a “declaration of war.” Yet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his defense forces should have “overall security responsibility” in the territory for “an indefinite period.” Israel’s far-right government won’t agree to cede governance to the PA because it would make a Palestinian state more likely. Before the attack, Netanyahu had supported Hamas to keep it in control because it would block Palestinian independence.

Explaining the U.S. position toward the Israel government, Secretary of State Antony Blinken demonstrated a change since President Joe Biden’s complete support of it in the beginning of the war. Blinken said:

“Far too many Palestinians have been killed. Far too many have suffered these past weeks. We want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them. To that end, we’ll be continuing to discuss with Israel the concrete steps to be taken to advance these objectives.”

Biden pushed Netanyahu Biden to pause military operations for three days, but the prime minister refused. Blinken also said that it’s “clear that Israel cannot occupy Gaza.”

The healthcare crisis in Gaza will cause the death rate to skyrocket as diseases surge throughout the area. Over half the cases of diarrhea are in children under five years old as Israel’s cutting off fuel access shut down water desalination plants and disrupted waste collection. The widespread proliferation of insects and rodents allows them to carry and transmit disease. Beyond scabies, lice, and 12,600 cases of skin rashes are over 1,000 reports of chickenpox and almost 55,000 cases of upper respiratory infections. An average of 160 people share one toilet; 700 people have one shower among them.

Jewish settlers encroaching on the West Bank use the war as an excuse to drive Palestinians off their land. Masked men in army uniforms beat up Palestinian residents and smash their phones so they can’t record the violence. Biden is increasing pressure on Israeli officials to control the violence which could open up a second front in the war. Almost 200 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank during the past month.

Some of Netanyahu’s coalition have moved onto the Palestinian land of the West Bank. Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security, is in the settler movement in the West Bank and leads an ultranationalist party promoting anti-Arab policies. Bezalel Smotrich, minister of finance, also settled in the West Bank. These appointments had already emboldened military settlers, and Biden officials have expressed concerns about the settler violence for several months. In addition to physical violence against Palestinians, the settlers are burning property, tearing up land, and destroying olive trees, a primary source of income for the Palestinians. Another problem in the area is DDT’s policy, not rescinded, declaring that Israeli settlements on Palestinian land is not illegal.

Adam Raz, writing for the Haaretz, describes Netanyahu’s 14-year policy that “resisted any attempt, military or diplomatic, that might bring an end to the Hamas regime” and funded the organization. Netanyahu lied when he declared in April 2019 that “we have restored deterrence with Hamas” and that “we have blocked the main supply routes.” The far-right prime minister “turned Hamas from a terror organization with few resources into a semi-state body” at the same time that the group victimized Gazans. During a brief hiatus between two Netanyahu reigns last year, the new government stopped the flow of cash to Hamas, and Netanyahu again lied, saying that Hamas wants “the weak Bennett government.” Netanyahu’s goal was to block any Palestinian state by using Hamas to defeat the Palestinian Authority. As long as Netanyahu and his present government remain in control, Hamas will not collapse.

Republicans love to say that dead people are faking it, calling all violence “a false flag.” Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) told Right Side Broadcasting Network that dead Palestinians are really “paid actors” pretending to be killed or injured. Mills, who sits on Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees overseeing military spending and foreign weapons sales, is the founder of the munitions company Pacem Solutions that has sold arms to foreign governments including Iraq. The company owes $48 million to a Canadian investor, five times its highest valuation. Mills claims to have divested himself from the company, but the Ethics Committee is investigating because of the profits to be made from Mills’ work in the House. The freshman legislator began his first term in 2023 by handing out inert grenades to his colleagues. His history is here.

A brief history of Gaza by Maha Nassar, Associate Professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, University of Arizona:

The Gaza Strip, a narrow piece of land on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, is between Israel to the north and Egypt to the south. For centuries part of the geographic area known as Palestine, it was primarily occupied by Muslim and Christian Arabs under the Ottoman rule in the early 20^th century. After World War I, the British took control of the area. In the 1948 war establishing the state of Israel, its military bombed 29 villages in southern Palestine, forcing tens of thousands of villagers to flee to the Gaza Strip under Egyptian army control. The 1967 Six-Day between Israel and its Arab neighbors put the Gaza Strip under Israeli military occupation, resulting in “systematic human rights violations. People were forced off their land and their homes destroyed.  

Palestinians tried to create an independent Palestinian state with two major uprisings, in 1987-1991 and in 2000-2005. Hamas was organized in 1988 to fight Israeli occupation and joined other militant groups to attack Israeli targets in Gaza. In the 1990s, Israel occupied about 20 percent of Gaza, the most valuable parts with access roads and strategic positions to the border, and ceded the urban areas within most of the remaining 80 percent to the Palestinian Authority. Israel withdrew in 2005, and Hamas took control with Palestinian elections in 2006. The George W. Bush administration tried to remove Hamas from power, but it took complete control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

 Israel and Egypt retaliated by closing border crossings in and out of the Gaza Strip with a land, air, and sea blockade, turning the Gaza Strip into an openair prison and devastating the lives of Palestinians because of the limited infrastructure. Since Hamas’ control, Israel launched four major military assaults on Gaza in 2008-09, 2012, 2014 and 2021. These caused $5 billion worth of damage to Gaza’s homes, agriculture, industry, electricity and water infrastructure and killed 4,000 Palestinians. On September 5, 2023, Israel halted all exports from a key Gaza border crossing.

Almost half the population is under 18. The poverty rate is 53 percent, but education levels are high with 95 percent of the children ages 6-12 in school. The majority graduate from high school; 57 percent of students at the Islamic University of Gaza are female. Yet unemployment is 70 percent for graduates between 19 and 29. Blockades prevent them from leaving.

That was before October 7, 2023. Conditions are far worse now.

The Ungovernable Party Plays Games

[Breaking News: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who typically supported the Republicans, won’t run for reelection in 2024 but hasn’t ruled out a presidential run. He said he would travel the country “to bring Americans together,” something he failed to do while in the Senate. Spoiler group No Labels has been wooing the 76-year-old as a presidential candidate. Green Party’s Jill Stein, spoiler for Hillary Clinton in 2016, has announced another presidential run.]

A Shutdown?

At Tuesday’s GOP presidential debate, Vivek Ramaswamy called the Republicans “a party of losers,” and the House, under new Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson, is working hard to prove Ramaswamy right. For the second time in two days, the GOP pulled another appropriation bill required to avoid a government shutdown without a continuing resolution for the budget, due last September. That makes a total of three pulled bills since Johnson became Speaker under three weeks ago. House Republicans have approved only seven of the 12 full-year spending measures individually.

Tuesday, Republicans canceled votes on the Transportation-HUD bill because coastal Republicans opposed cuts to Amtrak. Thursday, they postponed the Financial Services and General Government measure which included prohibiting Washington, D.C. from blocking employer discrimination based on their reproductive health decisions.

One House Republicans complained about “ungovernable” divisions, and conservative Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who thought the Speaker’s “honeymoon” might last for 30 days, says it’s “shorter than we thought.” Johnson has had several meetings with conservative GOP senators about a staggered bill for a continuing resolution to the budget problem, but he’ll have to persuade all Republicans and another 11 Democrats to pass his bill in the Senate. In addition, He needs a CR strategy by tomorrow to comply with the 72-hour rule, giving House members the weekend to read the legislation before next week. The House closed for the weekend on Thursday afternoon.

Like the Financial Services measure, several appropriation bills have anti-abortion provisions, shown in the Tuesday elections to be unpopular. The amendments make the bills highly unlikely to move forward in the Senate even if they do pass the House, especially in the remaining eight days before the government shutdown.

Some of the amendments demonstrate way that their sponsors and supporters look at governing as a game, not a serious attempt to help the United States. The House majority number reinstated the “Holman Rule,” allowing them to try to slash specific salaries of federal officials on spending bills. Earlier this year, they tried to cut almost the entire salaries for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin salary and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. And Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning, and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler.

An amendment by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) to reduce White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s salary to $1 got 165 GOP votes. Democrats were joined by 54 Republicans to vote it down. False accusations included Jean-Pierre’s “lies,” her “condescending manner toward reporters,” and her violating the Hatch Act. Republicans were the ones who did that during DDT’s time in the White House as they illegally used their official positions to campaign for DDT and other Republicans. Tenney has a history of anti-LGBTQ+ statements: Jean-Pierre and her wife have a daughter. Last year, Tenney released a photo of Paul Pelosi, the former Speaker’s husband, falsely insinuating he was beaten because he was gay with the message “LOL.”

Over 100 House Republicans, 106 of them, voted for Rep. Mike Collins’ (R-GA) to completely defund VP Kamala Harris’ office.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) amendment to drop the salary of Transportation Department’s secretary, Pete Buttigieg, to $1 passed with a voice vote. One of her complaints was that he received awards “for the way people have sex.”

Infuriating conservatives, Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) proposed Financial Services amendment barring funding for the FBI headquarters in Maryland failed by 145 to 273 votes with one Democrat voting yes. Spending time on these frivolous attempts to pass their culture wishes by putting them on appropriation bills has wasted a great deal of time.

In another argument about appropriation bills, Rep. John Ragan (R-TN) wants to block federal funds to feed school children from low-income families without evidence that the program increases test scores. He failed to answer a question about whether feeding low-income children is in itself good but instead changed the topic to data about academic improvement to avoid waste.

Using the argument that “we gotta cut something,” Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) urged the House to save $505 million by cutting the only federal program providing housing funding for people living with HIV/AIDS. He added that “we don’t have programs for everybody that gets a disease.” Last year, HUD determined that stable housing “reduced transmission of the disease.”

In a debate with Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Boebert appeared confused when he tried to explain to her that she couldn’t strip funds from a bill that doesn’t cover what she wants to remove. Even his thorough explanation didn’t clarify the issue for Boebert; she asked him to vote for her amendment.

Both House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer (D-NY) call for a bipartisan “clean” stopgap bill “as quickly as possible. The Senate has passed only three of the 12 funding bills, and they are far different that the ones coming out of the House which also have huge cuts to the agencies. Republicans claim they are concerned about the cost of government, but closing the government costs billions of dollars. 

Johnson’s preferred approach is a “laddered” CR with two temporary funding packages, one ending in early December and the other in mid-January. The first would include four less controversial funding bills and the other the remaining eight. The Freedom Caucus, creating the proposal, like the idea—the other Republicans, not so much. Conservative Chip Roy (R-TX) said the laddered idea was a way “to force the Senate” to negotiate separate appropriation bills instead of an end-of-year combined bill. It would extend the deadline for each of the 12 individual appropriations bills, rather than the budget as a whole, Johnson said. One senior GOP aide joked that it would have a dozen fiscal cliffs instead of just one. Sort of like a family going without food for a while, then shelter, and clothing, etc.

On Wednesday, Johnson said he would decide which path the House would take, evidently leaving the other 220 GOP members out of the decision. Any choice Johnson makes will require all except four Republicans for support because of his rule that all bills must have the majority of Republicans. Any bill the Freedom Caucus approves will be poison to the majority in the Senate.

Wasting more time, Greene is forcing a vote on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The privileged resolution, guaranteed a floor vote, alleges he has committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” by failing to maintain operational control of the border. Two of her constituents died in a car accident with a car supposedly carrying smuggled migrants fleeing police in Batesville (TX). Since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, U.S. border agents arrested over 5 million migrants trying to cross the border outside controlled stations.

Several of Greene’s GOP colleagues are embarrassed by her behavior, according to a Daily Beast article earlier this week. The feeling has only worsened since former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) ouster because of their closeness. Greene has been kicked out of the far-right Freedom Caucus after her attacks on Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), still a member, and her support of McCarthy’s raising the debt ceiling. Her frequent derision of other conservative House members produced hostility toward her and a lack of trust in her.

Government agencies are preparing for a shutdown: the White House’s top budget office told agencies to make plans for a major interruption with millions of civilian workers and military personnel sent home or forced to work without pay after November 17. Before boarding Air Force One on Thursday, Biden beseeched the House to “just get to work.” He added:

“The idea we’re playing games with a shutdown at this moment is just bizarre.”

A shutdown would close most federal health-care, education, science, research and labor programs, damaging the economy—perhaps what Republicans want in order to improve their election chances. Low-income could face crises as programs providing childcare, nutrition assistance, college financial aid, and housing support use up their reserves. Two million federal workers will have their pay interrupted while some of “essential employees” such as bag inspection agents at airports, will be forced to work without wages. The 1.3 million active-duty troops will also receive no pay. The current House disaster also blocks assistance for both Israel and Ukraine.

A few more election results:

Michigan: Democrats are now tied with Republicans in the state House after two members won mayoral races. Special elections for their replacement will not be for months. In the Senate, Democrats keep their two member majority. 

New Hampshire: Democrat Paige Beauchemin’s special election win for the House brought the GOP advantage to only one seat.

Derby (CT): Although GOP Gino DiGiovanni Jr. faces six criminal charges for the January 6 insurrection, he got 44 percent of the mayoral vote in this town of 12,000.