All posts tagged "house"

‘Chaos’: MTG constituents blast her crusade to oust Speaker Mike Johnson

ROME, Ga. — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is redoubling her efforts to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) — something she told Raw Story comes with “support” from her district.

But Greene’s Republican and Democratic constituents alike don’t necessarily agree with her motion to vacate Johnson over his cooperation with Democrats to pass a government funding bill that included aid to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia, Raw Story learned while visiting Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.

ALSO READ: Marjorie Taylor Greene is buying stocks again. Some picks pose a conflict of interest

“It’s nonsense. It's exactly the thing that we don't need,” said Luke Farmer, a 26-year-old Republican from Douglasville, Ga., who launched a campaign to challenge Greene but didn’t raise enough money to qualify for the ballot. “Do you really think that the House wants to be thrown into chaos again? And even if you managed to do it, who do you think they're going to vote for with our majority being so narrow now? There's a very good chance that [Democratic House Leader] Hakeem Jeffries could be in the spot.”

Luke Farmer of Douglasville, Ga., launched a campaign to challenge Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) but didn't qualify for the ballot. (Photo by Alexandria Jacobson/Raw Story)

House Democrats are expected to save Johnson from removal by voting to table Greene’s motion to vacate. Greene was scheduled to meet with Johnson on Monday.

“We can't have the chaos right now,” said Maggie Crowe, a member of the Floyd County Republican Women, “They’re not going to let it pass, but she's vocalizing that she's not real happy … and I understand that.”

Greene has some supporters from the far-right wing of the Republican party in Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Thomas Massie (R-KY). But it’s not expected to be enough support to succeed in removing Johnson.

“She needs to make known how she feels, and I'm sure there are others that feel the same way, that he betrayed them, but right now, we just can't do anything about it,” Crowe said.

ALSO READ: ‘Lord of the Flies’: Inside MTG’s effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson

In October, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), with support from Greene and other far-right Republicans, successfully led a campaign to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) after working with Democrats for a partial government funding bill to avert a government shutdown. It was the first time in U.S. history that the House removed its leader.

Johnson won the speakership after three of his colleagues’ failed attempts — remember Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) — and three weeks of vacancy.

“It also begs another question. You couldn't get the change you wanted under McCarthy and now under Johnson. Why do you think you're going to get change now under this current administration while the Dems still exert influence? Exactly, you're not,” Farmer said. “So again, this whole thing is just theatrics because nothing's going to happen.”

Wendy Davis, a Democrat who ran in 2022 to challenge Greene but lost to fellow Democrat Marcus Flowers in the primary, said oftentimes “regular people” in the district aren’t paying attention to Greene’s political moves on the national stage.

Wendy Davis, of Rome, Ga., ran in the Democratic primary to replace Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in 2022. (Photo by Alexandria Jacobson/Raw Story)

Republican voters Harvey Kershner, a 21-year-old construction worker in Rome, Ga., and Michelle Thurman, a 51-year-old dental assistant and office manager in the district’s Murray County, told Raw Story they weren’t following Greene’s motion to vacate Johnson.

“It still puzzles me how she can be this big anti-Ukraine aid, seemingly pro-Putin person in an area that has historically been so skeptical of Russia,” Davis said. “This was one of the areas of the country that was most virulently anti-communist, and it's like they've forgotten that Russians were the big enemy, and it doesn't make any sense to me how we sort of did that flip.”

Don Westlake, a beef producer in Polk County said he doesn’t understand why Greene would want to focus her efforts on ousting Johnson in this current political climate. He said he’d rather see her do more for the 14th Congressional District as he “can't name one thing” that Greene has done for her constituents.

Westlake, a Republican, said he is voting for Shawn Harris, a Democrat who is running in the primary to take on Greene.

“I’m just tired of the complaining. I'm tired of ‘let’s impeach the president, let’s impeach the secretary’. What about us here that you represent in the 14th District?” Westlake said.

Don Westlake at Janbil Farm in Cedartown, Ga. (Photo by Alexandria Jacobson/Raw Story)

Nedra Manners, a Democrat and owner of Yellow Door Antiques and Art in Rome, Ga., said Greene’s push to remove Johnson is “just another example of her approach to things.”

“I have to commend him that he finally decided to do what's right and not just do something because somebody else told him that's what they wanted him to do,” Manners said. “He stood up for what was right.

Nedra Manners at Yellow Door Antiques in Rome, Ga. (Photo by Alexandria Jacobson/Raw Story)

Tim Bell, a 53-year-old major in the Murray County Sheriff’s Department, said Greene is “standing up” against “donating free money to Ukraine” but that the move “doesn’t look good.”

“I follow it somewhat, but there's always two sides to every story. You wonder how much is out there that we don't know that there's reasons for Marjorie to do things,” Bell said. “It doesn't look good to folks in this area … they feel like they’ve been lied to about some things, and she's standing up for them; however, there may be something that we don't know behind the scenes. I always kind of wait for a little while to make a decision. It doesn't look good in the beginning, but we’ll see how it turns out.”

Georgia’s primary election will be held on May 21, with early voting already underway.

Greene’s congressional office did not respond to Raw Story’s request for comment.

'I genuinely don’t know': House Republicans confused about bill after chaotic meeting

Journalist Michael Tomasky warned in a January op-ed "that nothing productive or beneficial will come from the GOP majority that is taking over the House."

ABC News reported during the same month that "the 118th Congress is on track to being one of the least functional sessions ever, with only 34 bills passed since January of last year."

On Wednesday, GOP lawmakers left a meeting regarding federal surveillance legislation hard-right Freedom Caucus members blocked feeling unaccomplished, and unclear about next steps on the bill, according to Axios.

Per the report, the legislation "would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows warrantless surveillance of non-Americans by U.S. intelligence agencies."

The meeting also included some GOP lawmakers demanding "punishment against Republicans who defect and vote against their party on procedural measures," Axios notes.

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) told the news outlet "he called for 'severe sanction' against such lawmakers — including possibly stripping them of their 'committee assignments or their membership in the Republican Conference.'"

The meeting was "pure chaos" and not "productive at all," according to Rep. Max Miller (R-OH).

"I don't even know what we're doing tomorrow … I genuinely don't know," the Ohio congressman told Axios.

"Members yell at each other," Miller emphasized, "if anyone says there's a path forward on FISA, they're lying," he added.

"The conference is heated, emotional," Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) told the news outlet. "I don't know if it's going to lead to a solution."

Axios' full report is available here.

'It's a mystery!' Another powerful GOP committee leader's retirement spawns speculation

Republicans are losing yet another high-ranking House committee leader to retirement.

Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) announced that he wouldn't seek re-election on Wednesday afternoon, after just a single term in charge of the House Homeland Security Committee. Earlier in the day, he had denied he was retiring to CNN's Melanie Zanona and Politico's Olivia Beavers, even calling it a "weird question" — but later confirmed it.

"At the start of the 118th Congress, I promised my constituents to pass legislation to secure our borders and hold [Homeland Security] Secretary Mayorkas accountable," said Green in a statement. "Today, with the House having passed H.R. 2 and Secretary Mayorkas impeached, it is time for me to return home."

ALSO READ: 'Unconstitutional overreach': Trump VP contenders clash on Jan. 6

Notably, there is next to no chance that either H.R. 2 will become law or that Mayorkas will be convicted in the Senate.

According to Zanona, Green is mulling a run for governor of Tennessee — but this election will not take place for another three years, meaning Green is skipping out on an entire full term he could have served before that point.

Green's departure announcement comes after several other prominent Republicans, including other committee chairs, similarly stated their intent to head for the exits — which coincides with a period in which the GOP has suffered constant infighting and dysfunction in the House. Longtime Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ken Buck (R-CO) will not be running again, and recently the former House Republican Conference leader and Energy and Commerce Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said that she is retiring as well.

"I wonder why all these republicans are retiring?" posted commentator Molly Jong-Fast on X. "It’s a mystery!"

U.S. House speaker rejects Senate's Ukraine aid bill as written

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated Monday that the Republican-led chamber would not take up a bill likely to pass the Senate this week which would provide billions in additional aid to Ukraine.

The $95 billion package includes funding for Israel's fight against Hamas militants and for key strategic ally Taiwan, but the lion's share — $60 billion — would help pro-Western Ukraine restock depleted ammunition supplies, weapons and other crucial needs as it enters a third year of war.

Another House Republican just announced he's not running for re-election

Yet another House Republican representative announced on Saturday that he is not running for re-election in this cycle.

This time the news comes from the GOP's Congressman Mike Gallagher, who said he's "accomplished more on this deployment than I could have ever imagined."

ALSO READ: Alina Habba is persona non grata at her Pennsylvania law school

"But the Framers intended citizens to service in Congress for a season and then return to their private lives," he wrote in a post on social media. "Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and trust me, Congress is no place to grow old."

So, he said, "with a heavy heart, I have decided not to run for re-election. Thank you to the good people of Northeast Wisconsin for the honor of a lifetime."

NBC also picked up the news, noting that "he joins more than a dozen House Republicans who won’t seek re-election in 2024, according to the House Press Gallery."

"Earlier this week, Washington GOP Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, also announced that she wouldn’t seek re-election this fall," the report states.

Read that report here.

'GOP is about to lose their majority': Team MAGA worries as more Republicans leave office

Donald Trump's influencers and allies are starting to hit the panic button as more and more Republicans announce they are retiring, leaving office, or are otherwise unable to provide votes for the House GOP's agenda.

The already slim majority has been thrown into flux with the recent announcement by Rep. Bill Smith that he would be retiring and going to academia. The announcement came in November, but the panic is starting to set in now as some Republicans are beginning to do the math.

A reporter from NBC noted that the GOP majority is looking "fragile" due to the recent announcements.

"The House GOP majority is looking fragile heading into a crucial season with gov’t funding, immigration and Ukraine/Israel $ on the line," Sahil Kapur wrote Friday. "SANTOS & McCARTHY out = 220-213. BILL JOHNSON leaving 1/21 = 219. And until SCALISE returns, it’ll be 218. NY03 special election is 2/13."

ALSO READ: Republican congressman violates federal law with botched cryptocurrency disclosures

Former Donald Trump adviser Stephen Miller reacted to the news by calling on Johnson to postpone his retirement plans.

"Perhaps Bill Johnson should postpone his retirement from Congress (to become a university president)?" Miller asked.

Laura Loomer, an independent journalist and Trump ally whose content is often shared by the ex-president, also seemed to be worried. She also speculated as to a motive for why it's happening. She noted a recent announcement by Blaine Luetkemeyer.

"Congressman Leutkemeyer [Blaine] announced his decision to retire from Congress. He’s another House GOP rep… It’s almost like House Republicans are intentionally trying to give Democrats back control of the House to spite Donald Trump," Loomer wrote. "Just like I’ve been telling you all!"

MAGA podcast host Joey Mannarino agreed and gave a shout out to Loomer.

"The GOP is about to lose their majority. We have a two-seat majority now," Mannarino wrote. "Steve Scalise is out until February and hopefully gets better in time so he can come back. There will be a few days when we have exactly 218 once Bill Johnson is gone."

He added:

"[Loomer] was spot on. We might lose our majority before November at this rate."

‘A year I'll never get back’ — Congress longing to forget Santos, McCarthy and all of 2023

WASHINGTON – Our nation’s current Congress is surely historic — in all the wrong ways.

The year began with GOP-induced gridlock as Republican holdouts toyed with then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy for 15 grueling rounds – something not witnessed in a century – before giving him the speaker’s gavel.

For nine months.

Then Republicans did the darned-near-impossible and effectively shut Congress itself down for three weeks this fall as they fought among themselves before selecting the relatively unknown Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the second in line for the presidency.

Speaking of kicked out: That’s what the House did to Rep. George Santos (R-NY), making him only the sixth House member in U.S. history to endure such an indignity.

Lest we forget the narrowly averted government shutdowns, misdemeanor fire alarm pulls, impromptu mixed martial arts sessions and Smurf-tastic committee debates.

Dare we say Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice?

All the while, the 118th Congress has made history for being the least productive Congress in modern history as measured by the number of bills passed and signed into law.

As we prepare to usher in 2024, many lawmakers on Capitol Hill are muttering “good riddance” to a very bad, no good 2023.

“A year I'll never get back,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) told Raw Story. “This is just the most pathetic year of 30 years of being in government.”

ALSO READ: A neuroscientist’s guide to surviving Christmas with Trump-loving relatives

Don’t tell that to the new, smiley speaker.

After witnessing their fellow Republicans starting to derail the GOP agenda under freshman House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Republican leaders about-faced and launched an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden in the waning days of this session.

During the legislatively-lazy summer, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) hosted an Impeachment Week where each day she did a big reveal and unveiled a new member of Biden’s cabinet, which she accused of high crimes and misdemeanors informed by … internet memes.

This fall, she moved to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), but 23 Republicans helped defeat the measure because Greene accused Tlaib – the only Palestinian-American in Congress – of engaging in an “insurrection” for joining a pro-Palestine protest on the Capitol grounds.

Greene views those Republicans as traitors.

“I ran for Congress to change the Republican Party, and that has been my goal the entire time, to change our party to reflect our voters,” Greene told Raw Story at the time.

The following week another GOP-sponsored Tlaib censure resolution – one that didn’t casually toss around “insurrection” – sailed through the House, only it was sponsored by Greene’s fellow Georgian, Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA).

That made Tlaib the third Democrat – along with Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) – censured by House Republicans this Congress. Bowman, for his part, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor crime after erroneously pulling a fire alarm in a congressional office building.

ALSO READ: Trolling, erotica, vulgarity: Trump, Biden Facebook pages are unmitigated trash heaps

“Can’t seem to do anything, but we’re going to censure half of Congress by the time we're done. It’s a completely screwed up situation,” Pocan said. “MTG’s the speaker, right? Everything she says they do. That’s just where we’re at right now.”

Santos (R-NY) lied himself out of the congressional seat he lied himself into. But even he was chummy with members of the Freedom Caucus.

Not so for Greene. She made history when she became the first member booted – ingloriously and quite publicly – from the far-right, formerly-fiscally-focused group. Her sin? Calling Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) a “little b—” in the well of the House. Why? The embattled Boebert had the audacity to introduce her own Biden impeachment resolution — one in competition with Greene’s.

When Greene wasn’t attacking her fellow Republicans, Democratic colleagues or cabinet secretaries, she did drop a novel measure to expunge one of former President Trump’s two impeachments. Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York unveiled a companion measure to unwind the other one. Twins.

Legal scholars say an impeachment expungement is highly suspect constitutionally, but that didn’t stop members of Congress from advocating for it anyway.

The standards for impeachment — high crimes and misdemeanors — also didn’t stop the GOP from moving forward with its Biden impeachment inquiry mere months after some of those same skeptical scholars testified under oath that they saw no evidence warranting Biden-focused impeachment proceedings.

What is evidence in politics anyways?

ALSO READ: ‘Too preposterous to be real’: College hires ‘pink slime’ publisher as journalism prof

Scandal is in the air on the House side of the Capitol, and that’s by design. Greene serves on the House Oversight Committee, which is chaired by Rep. James Comer (R-KY). He’s proud of the work product coming out of his hyper-partisan committee.

“I feel like we've done a very good job,” Comer told Raw Story. “Everything we found, no one would have known had we not done it. I think we're doing a good job, and my job was to investigate and follow the money and that's what we're doing.”

Over on the Senate side of the Capitol, they’re singing a different tune. Biden’s Democratic allies in the chamber dismiss Comer and his committee out of hand.

“Several Republicans have now admitted this is simply an attempt to generate cover for the former president who was impeached twice and has been indicted four times and faces 91 charges. It lacks any seriousness,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told Raw Story.

“Do you worry though about impeachment and censures getting cheapened?” Raw Story asked. “Like, MTG, she had an ‘Impeachment Week’ where every day of the week she announced a new secretary to oust.”

“I spend literally no time worrying about or thinking about what Marjorie Taylor Greene has done today,” Coons said through hearty laughter. “It’s better for my blood pressure and my health.”

With a new year comes new hope. But with the White House and both sides of Congress utterly up for grabs next year, and numerous fights waiting for Congress’ post-holiday return — remember Ukraine, Israel and Southern border funding, for three? — 2024 is shaping up to be as politically unhealthy as ever.

And, if the 118th Congress continues apace, it’s expected to be historic. If, historically cringe-worthy.

'I don't see how they hold on to the House': GOP strategist predicts Jeffries speakership

Republicans are going to lose control of the House next year, according to one GOP strategist on Saturday.

Speaking on MSNBC's PoliticsNation, Republican strategist Susan del Percio, who has a history of working with Republican candidates and in Rudy Giuliani's administration, was asked about recent redistricting news in New York and how it might affect the national political landscape.

Host Al Sharpton said New York's highest court "cleared that way for Democrats to redraw the state's congressional districts, potentially reversing gains Republicans made in New York in 2022, and possibly tilting control of the House Representatives to Democrats in 2024." He then asked her, "How significant is this ruling to that national political picture next year?"

ALSO READ: A Christmas wish: Republican immigration policy worthy of Baby Jesus

"It's very significant," del Percio said before clarifying that it was Democrats who drew the maps in the first place.

"This is all done by Democrats drawing those lines," she said, "but nationally, it is very significant."

She continued:

"Come January 1st, there is going to be a two-seat majority for Republicans, and they need every vote they can get. Frankly, I don't see how they hold on to the House. Of the six districts, three are absolutely competitive. Two are most likely to flip. So it will change that landscape, obviously. And I think it will lead to Democrats, a Hakeem Jeffries speakership. Let's put it that way."

Watch the video below or click the link.

'Let's do it then': MSNBC host shuts down GOPer after he calls her a 'Democrat operative'

Tim Burchett (R-TN), who had voted to oust fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, was cornered on MSNBC's Symone after he was unable to recite evidence warranting an inquiry into a President Joe Biden impeachment.

The host asked Burchett why he voted in favor of a Biden impeachment inquiry, and he responded by stating various alleged crimes attributable to the president's son, Hunter Biden. When asked about specific facts linking the elder Biden to these crimes, Burchett had no direct answers, instead continuing to list payments made to or from Hunter.

Trying to end the interview, Symone stated that the payments Burchett was questioning were connected to regular purchases, such as a 2018 Ford Raptor truck.

ALSO READ: A Christmas wish: Republican immigration policy worthy of Baby Jesus

"I haven't heard a high crime or misdemeanor yet," Symone said.

"Are you gonna let me answer the question, ma'am? I know you're a Democrat operative and work for a Democrat consulting firm, but ---"

"Alright, congressman, let's do it then," Symone cut in, adding that they are "out of time, but we're gonna do it."

"I did use to advise a number of individuals, I've also advised some corporations and companies, but here I'm just here to be an advocate for the viewer," she said. "And I will ask you one last time. What is the evidence that the committee has that Joe Biden, while he was president, committed a high crime, misdemeanor, or treason? Because that is the bar for an impeachment inquiry."

He replied, "You have to ask yourself, ma'am, why a vice president or a president would get $40,000 through a Chinese communist corporation..."

"With that, thank you very much congressman. It's always a pleasure. You just can't come on here and lie," Symone said.

Watch the video below or click the link.