The Everything 118th Congress Thread

[Dan T.]

 

[ixcuincle]

I've been very cynical of Fetterman but since his comments saying he's not a progressive as well as other outspoken viewpoints I am starting to turn around. 

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/john-fetterman-south-africa-israel-b2477217.html

 

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/27/john-fetterman-q-and-a-00133217

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Renegade7]

While I do believe I should be concerned if our House believes people and dinosaurs lives same time like Flintstones, I kinda don't if he's gonna keep putting Senate bills on the floor to keep the government open and asking dems in the House to help pass it.

 

Buys us all time until the adults take back the House...was getting emails at work about no training or travel until CR was approved, this stuff has real world impact coming up to thr line over and over like this, even if we keep pulling rabbits out our hats at the last minute.

[Renegade7]

 

[88Comrade2000]

Expect a motion to vacate speakership shortly.

[China]

Trump just killed the Ukraine-immigration agreement

 

Republicans in Congress simultaneously got a flashback to life under Donald Trump’s presidency and a preview of what life will be like in the future should he re-take the White House.

For the past few months, a bipartisan group of senators has been negotiating immigration restrictions that Republicans have demanded in exchange for more money to Ukraine.

 

Many Democrats in the House fear the Senate will give away too much on immigration and that Republicans are acting in bad faith to tie foreign policy to the Rubik’s cube that is American immigration policy, even as the problem continues to vex President Joe Biden. Republicans argue that focusing on Ukraine’s security without securing America’s border and curbing the influx of migrants would be hypocritical, and per usual, House Republicans seem dissatisfied unless they get everything they want.

 

On Wednesday, Mr Biden held a meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson and the rest of congressional leadership. As Inside Washington reported on Wednesday, Republicans feared Mr Johnson might cave. Then, the Speaker intimated on Fox News that he had spoken with Mr Trump “frequently” about negotiations.

 

To top it off, the former president said on Truth Social that he did not think there should be an agreement on Ukraine aid and immigration restrictions “unless we get EVERYTHING needed.”

 

The remarks bore resemblance to Mr Trump’s presidency when delicate negotiations would be underway before he would extemporaneously react to something he saw on right-wing media via tweet and blow up negotiations and Republicans would respond by saying “I haven’t seen the tweet.” For all of Mr Trump’s talk of The Art of the Deal, the business tycoon wrecked more negotiations in Washington than he shepherded.

 

Sen James Lankford of Oklahoma, part of the bipartisan team of negotiators, told your dispatcher when asked about them early in the day that “I haven’t seen his comments.” Later on, he tried to spin the remarks to say he and Mr Trump agreed.

 

“He's been passionate with the border,” he said. “We wouldn't have same border issues now if he was actually his policies, and he was actually carrying those things out.”

Mr Lankford, a conservative Republican if there ever was one, has staked plenty on the negotiations, but his attempt to spin Mr Trump’s remarks in his favor are a reach, to say the least.

 

Sen John Cornyn, a Republican who represents the border state of Texas and is nobody’s idea of a dove on immigration, for his part rejected Mr Trump.

 

“Well, number one, there's no deal,” he told The Independent. “So there's nothing to accept or reject. But I think if we can make some progress, then we shouldn't turn that down.”

Sen Susan Collins of Maine for her part reprised her role of furrowing her brow in response to Mr Trump’s erratic remarks.

 

“I disagree with that,” she told The Independent, saying the United States has a vested interest both in securing its border with Mexico and assisting Ukraine.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Fergasun]

Duh - they are going to have to act like there's no deal until there's really a deal, and then pretend that they didn't vote for a deal. 

 

This only works because "us voters" (and by that I don't mean the collective people talking politics on ES constantly) don't actually care to pay attention to these types of nuances.  And would rather be swayed by President Trump's rantings.  And even then, let's ignore that the GOP is split on this.  But, at the same time, if you don't think someone like Dick Durbin or someone else on the left won't also be like "Hey, this deal sucks - we're not doing anything for dreamers." than that's also foolish.  

 

And this deal is probably just a small-ish deal as well.  And the silly thing is the GOP can look at this as a whole and say "REPUBLICANS TRIED OUR BEST".  

 

 

Here's Lindsey Graham:

Quote

"To those who think that if President Trump wins, which I hope he does, that we can get a better deal — you won’t,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters Wednesday. “You got to get 60 votes in the United States Senate.”   “To my Republican friends: To get this kind of border security without granting a pathway to citizenship is really unheard of. So if you think you’re going to get a better deal next time, in ’25, if President Trump’s president, Democrats will be expecting a pathway to citizenship for that,” he said. “So to my Republican colleagues, this is a historic moment to reform the border.”

 another GOP Senator: 

Quote

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said it would be “immoral” to reject a deal for partisan reasons. “You don’t knowingly make this country less safe for political points.”

[LadySkinsFan]

Republicans need to stop acting like Trump is still president. And he won't be again.

[Cooked Crack]

 

[China]

House ethics probe into Rep. Matt Gaetz picks up steam with new witnesses contacted: Sources

 

The reopened House ethics probe into Rep. Matt Gaetz continues to ramp up, as the committee in recent weeks has contacted multiple new witnesses as part of its ongoing investigation into the Florida congressman, sources tell ABC News.

 

In recent days, the Republican-led House Ethics Committee has reached out to multiple new witnesses, expanding its contact with individuals who have ties to the initial Justice Department investigation into Gaetz, said sources, who told ABC News that committee investigators have begun conducting interviews.

 

Sources say in recent days, in addition to focusing on possible lobbying violations by Gaetz, the Ethics Committee has reached out to witnesses who were questioned as part of the Justice Department's sex trafficking investigation into the Florida congressman.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

 

[Larry]

Damn, that's gerrymandered to hell.  

 

[Renegade7]

14 hours ago, Larry said:

Damn, that's gerrymandered to hell.  

 

 

At this point I agree with the concept of jus exploding the size of the House to help make gerrymandering impractical and frankly impossible.

 

That's a small victory in Louisiana, nothing to sneeze at, but this will take forever to rectify without jus going for the jugular, imo.

Edited January 25 by Renegade7

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Larry]

1 hour ago, Cooked Crack said:

 

 

Wonder if Trump actually thinks that he needs to point out that motive for obstructionism.  

 

Or whether he knows they're going to do it anyway, and wants to pretend they're doing it for him. 

Edited January 25 by Larry

[EmirOfShmo]

I don't watch CNN but Collins is one of my favorite interviewers. 

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

Quote

☀️ MCCONNELL BOWS TO TRUMP ON BORDER 

Last night, we scooped that MCCONNELL told Republican senators that time had essentially run out on trying to craft a Ukraine-border package. 

"We dont want to do anything to undermine [Trump]," said McConnell, who can barely utter the former president's name. 

"The politics on this have changed," McConnell said.  

TIM SCOTT then was asked about our reporting on Fox and said the border bill is DOA. The bill was being crafted by his 2010 classmate Lankford.

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[mistertim]

2 hours ago, EmirOfShmo said:

I don't watch CNN but Collins is one of my favorite interviewers. 

 

 

 

"There were questions about the election"

 

I mean, sure. People had some questions. They were answered. Sort of like how some people have "questions" about whether the Earth is round. It's all been answered, many times.