Republicans call for impeachment of DHS head, cite surge at border
A group of U.S. House Republicans on Tuesday called for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The lawmakers, led by U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., made their remarks during a news conference outside the Capitol Building, calling for Mayorkas’ impeachment amid the soaring number of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. “Every day he remains in office, America is less safe,” Biggs said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection have released a steady stream of figures showing that the number of illegal immigrants entering through the southern border has soared to record levels since President Joe Biden took office. Those numbers are poised to get worse. Trump-era Title 42 protections that allowed feds to expel migrants more quickly because of COVID-19 concerns are set to expire later this month, and experts predict a surge of illegal immigrants are awaiting that expiration. Some areas, like El Paso, are seeing thousands of migrants cross over each day. Those larger numbers of migrants have also brought large quantities of fentanyl, a deadly drug that is trafficked in the U.S. via cartels. Fentanyl overdoses have soared in recent years as well. Some in the Senate have echoed the criticism of Mayorkas. “The southern border has been an issue for a long time,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. “Secretary Mayorkas only showed back up when the mainstream media caved and reported on the issue.” Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Barry Moore to join colleagues at D.C. hearing on ‘Bidenflation’
Congressman Andy Biggs will hold an off-site hearing on Tuesday to discuss what he terms “Bidenflation” and “Biden’s energy crisis.” Alabama Congressman Barry Moore will attend the hearing. The hearing will be at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C., from 3:00-5:00 pm EDT, and will feature nearly 20 prominent House Republican lawmakers. Four expert witnesses will provide testimony. According to the Heritage Foundation website, the group’s mission is to “formulate and promote public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.” According to the press release, this hearing will “examine the Biden Administration’s policies that have led to a disastrous economic and energy state for the country.” The hearing also aims to determine how Republicans in Congress can “hold Joe Biden more accountable for his reckless leadership.” Other congressional members attending the hearing are Reps. Chip Roy, Claudia Tenney, Dan Bishop, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, Doug Lamalfa, Ralph Norman, Byron Donalds, Ben Cline, Yvette Herrell, Andrew Clyde, Bob Good, and Andy Harris. Witnesses include former Governor of Texas and former Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Heritage Foundation Distinguished Fellow Stephen Moore, President of Western Energy Alliance Kathleen Sgamma, and Alex Epstein, President of the Center for Industrial Progress.
Mo Brooks responds to January 6 subpoena
On Thursday, a House panel issued subpoenas to Mo Brooks and four other GOP lawmakers in its probe into January 6 Capitol attack. Brooks spoke alongside the former president at the massive rally in front of the White House on January 6, telling supporters to “start taking down names and kicking ass” before hundreds of them broke into the Capitol. Other lawmakers who were issued subpoenas were Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, and Andy Biggs of Arizona. Brooks issued a press release on the subpoena, calling the group the “partisan Witch Hunt Committee” and indicating he hadn’t been served with a subpoena yet. “Eighteen months have passed since the 2020 election without the partisan Witch Hunt Committee bothering to seek testimony from me,” Brooks stated in the press release. “It’s no coincidence Nancy Pelosi and Liz Cheney seek to interfere with Alabama’s electing a conservative Senator by coming after me at the most campaign intense time of the GOP Primary and Runoff elections. Pelosi and Cheney hate America First candidates. With the release of the ‘2000 Mules’ documentary, the American people are learning what I’ve said since the 2020 election: the 2020 election was stolen, and Donald Trump is the rightful winner,” Brooks commented. Brooks went on to say that he was proud to stand with President Donald Trump on January 6. “I have already given at least two sworn statements in federal court during Eric Swalwell’s losing effort to sue me, plus numerous other oral and written statements about events relating to January 6. I have given numerous House Floor speeches about voter fraud and election theft in the 2020 elections. To my knowledge, no other potential Witch Hunt Committee witness has been so publicly open about the 2020 elections and January 6 events. If the partisan Witch Hunt Committee wants my observations of events, all it has to do is read or listen to my numerous prior statements,” Brooks continued. Brooks then listed questions he had if he was issued with a subpoena. Brooks asked the following questions: 1. Will my testimony be public, where the American people can see first hand my testimony (without the prejudicial leaks the partisan Pelosi Witch Hunt Committee is renowned for)? 3. Will I be questioned by Members of Congress rather than their underlings? If I, as a Congressman, must be at a hearing, the least the partisan Witch Hunt Committee can do is put forth Congressmen (not underlings) to do the questioning. If Witch Hunt Committee Congressmen don’t think it worth their time to question me, why is it worth my time to answer them? 4. The media reports the Witch Hunt Committee seeks to depose five Congressmen. All are Republicans. I believe it wise to wait and consult with Congressmen Jim Jordan, Scott Perry, Andy Biggs, and Kevin McCarthy to determine whether it is best to present a united response to the partisan Witch Hunt Committee before giving a formal statement about how I intend to conduct myself in the face of a hyper-partisan effort to corruptly influence the 2022 general elections just as Democrats did in 2018 via the Russian Collusion Hoax.”
January 6 panel subpoenas Mo Brooks, four other GOP lawmakers
A House panel issued subpoenas Thursday to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other GOP lawmakers in its probe into the violent January 6 insurrection, an extraordinary step that has little precedent and is certain to further inflame partisan tensions over the 2021 attack. The panel is investigating McCarthy’s conversations with then-President Donald Trump the day of the attack and meetings the four other lawmakers had with the White House beforehand as Trump and his aides worked to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The former president’s supporters violently pushed past police that day, broke through windows and doors of the Capitol, and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. The decision to issue subpoenas to McCarthy, R-Calif., and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Mo Brooks of Alabama is a dramatic show of force by the panel, which has already interviewed nearly 1,000 witnesses and collected more than 100,000 documents as it investigates the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries. The move is not without risk, as Republicans are favored to capture back the House majority in this fall’s midterm elections and have promised retribution for Democrats if they take control. After the announcement, McCarthy, who aspires to be House speaker, told reporters, “I have not seen a subpoena” and said his view on the January 6 committee has not changed since the nine-lawmaker panel asked for his voluntary cooperation earlier this year. “They’re not conducting a legitimate investigation,” McCarthy said. “Seems as though they just want to go after their political opponents.” Similarly, Perry told reporters the investigation is a “charade” and said the subpoena is “all about headlines.” Neither man said whether he would comply. The panel, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, had previously asked for voluntary cooperation from the five lawmakers, along with a handful of other GOP members, but all of them refused to speak with the panel, which debated for months whether to issue the subpoenas. “Before we hold our hearings next month, we wished to provide members the opportunity to discuss these matters with the committee voluntarily,” said Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the panel. “Regrettably, the individuals receiving subpoenas today have refused, and we’re forced to take this step to help ensure the committee uncovers facts concerning January 6th.” Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel’s Republican vice-chair, said the step wasn’t taken lightly. The unwillingness of the lawmakers to provide relevant information about the attack, she said, is “a very serious and grave situation.” Congressional subpoenas for sitting members of Congress, especially for a party leader, have little precedent in recent decades, and it is unclear what the consequences would be if any or all of the five men decline to comply. The House has voted to hold two other noncompliant witnesses, former Trump aides Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows, in contempt, referring their cases to the Justice Department. In announcing the subpoenas, the January 6 panel said there is historical precedent for the move and noted that the House Ethics Committee has “issued a number of subpoenas to members of Congress for testimony or documents,” though such actions are generally done secretly. “We recognize this is fairly unprecedented,” said Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the other GOP member of the panel, after the committee announced the subpoenas. “But the January 6 attack was very unprecedented.” Kinzinger said it is “important for us to get every piece of information we possibly can.” McCarthy has acknowledged he spoke with Trump on January 6 as Trump’s supporters were beating police outside the Capitol and forcing their way into the building. But he has not shared many details. The committee requested information about his conversations with Trump “before, during, and after” the riot. McCarthy took to the House floor after the rioters were cleared and said in a forceful speech that Trump “bears responsibility” for the attack and that it was the “saddest day I have ever had” in Congress — even as he went on to join 138 other House Republicans in voting to reject the election results. Another member of the GOP caucus, Washington Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, said after the attack that McCarthy had recounted that he told Trump to publicly “call off the riot” and said the violent mob was made up of Trump supporters, not far-left Antifa members, as Trump had claimed. “That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said, ’Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Herrera Beutler said in a statement last year. The GOP leader soon made up with Trump, though, visiting him in Florida and rallying House Republicans to vote against investigations of the attack. The other four men were in touch with the White House for several weeks ahead of the insurrection, talking to Trump and his legal advisers about ways to stop the congressional electoral count on January 6 to certify Joe Biden’s victory. “These members include those who participated in meetings at the White House, those who had direct conversations with President Trump leading up to and during the attack on the Capitol, and those who were involved in the planning and coordination of certain activities on and before January 6th,” the committee said in a release. Brooks, who has since been critical of Trump, spoke alongside the former president at the massive rally in front of the White House the morning of January 6, telling supporters to “start taking down names and kicking ass” before hundreds of them broke into the Capitol. Perry spoke to the White House about replacing acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with an official who was more sympathetic to Trump’s false claims of voter fraud, and Biggs was involved in plans to bring protesters to Washington and pressuring state officials to overturn the legitimate election results, according to the panel. Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, spoke to Trump on January 6 and was
Barry Moore joins lawsuit to end mask mandate for air travel
Representative Barry Moore has joined sixteen of his colleagues in a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The lawsuit, Massie et al v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seeks to end the CDC’s mask mandate for individuals traveling on commercial airlines. Reports indicate the Biden Administration is extending the CDC’s mask mandate until April 18. Massie et al. v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The named defendants are Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle P. Walensky in her official capacity as Director of the CDC, and Sherri A. Berger in her official capacity as Chief of Staff of the CDC. The lawsuit contains two primary claims: First, none of the statutes or regulations cited by the CDC for the authority to mandate that individuals wear masks on commercial airlines, conveyances, and at transportation hubs, permit the CDC to implement or enforce this mandate. Second, even if Congress had granted the CDC the authority to promulgate the mask mandate, the granting of this authority would violate a principle known as the “non-delegation doctrine.” Moore and his co-plaintiffs are asking a federal court to declare that “the mask mandate is beyond the CDC’s statutory authority or is unconstitutional.” The plaintiffs are also seeking an injunction that prohibits the CDC, or anyone acting on the CDC’s behalf, from enforcing the mask mandate. Rep. Thomas Massie argued that the CDC doesn’t have the authority to force people to wear masks on airplanes because Congress never passed a law requiring it. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not have the legal authority to force people traveling on commercial airlines to wear masks,” stated Massie. “Congress never passed a law requiring masks on commercial flights. This lawsuit targets the faceless bureaucrats who are behind the CDC’s unscientific regulation so that this illegal mask mandate can be brought to a permanent end.” Moore argued that the mandate should end immediately because it infringes on constitutional freedoms. “Government bureaucrats desperate for relevancy are waging a war against everyday American citizens and their constitutional freedoms,” stated Rep. Moore. “The unscientific mask mandate for commercial air travel should be ended immediately, and I am proud to join my friend Rep. Massie in this lawsuit to end this charade permanently.” Additional plaintiffs for the lawsuit include Reps. Thomas Massie, Rand Paul, Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Lauren Boebert, Andrew Clyde, Warren Davidson, Bob Good, Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Brian Mast, Alex Mooney, Ralph Norman, Bill Posey, Matt Rosendale, and Chip Roy.
Reps. Barry Moore and Mo Brooks demand DOD halt involuntary discharges for vaccine refusal immediately
Reps. Barry Moore and Mo Brooks joined 40 of their colleagues in sending a letter to the Department of Defense (DOD) to demand that they halt efforts to involuntarily discharge members of the military who have refused COVID-19 vaccination. The letter requests that they stop until an in-depth review of natural immunity is complete, and the Department has issued uniform procedures for vaccine exemptions. According to Moore’s press release, Section 720 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 requires the DOD to establish uniform procedures for issuing exemptions and fully consider natural immunity. This includes eligibility timelines for consideration of exemptions for service members nearing separation and retirement in the development of uniform procedures relating to administrative exemptions. According to an NPR report, as of January 26, 96% of active troops had been completely vaccinated, while 3,350 soldiers had refused to get the vaccine. Nearly 5,900 have received temporary exemptions. “The DOD must immediately halt efforts to discharge our active-duty military members who refuse to get the vaccine just because overreaching politicians want to continue intervening in the private lives of the American people,” said Moore. “We must ensure that the DOD completes an in-depth review of natural immunity. I will continue to fight against the tyrannical vaccine mandate on our service members.” The letter states, “We are gravely concerned that the military services are proceeding with involuntary discharges when it is unclear to us whether uniform procedures have been issued by the Department of Defense. If the Department of Defense has not issued uniform procedures or reviewed the inclusion of natural immunity and the military services are moving forward with involuntary discharges, then we believe the Department is ignoring and violating Section 720. Congress included this language to protect our service members, and we expect the Department of Defense to abide by the law.” Additional members of Congress to sign the letter include Vicky Hartzler, Doug Lamborn, Elise Stefanik, Brian Mast, David McKinley, Darrell Issa, Kevin Hern, Rodney Davis, Bill Huizenga, Yvette Herrell, Michael Waltz, Bill Posey, Michael Guest, David Valadao, Thomas Tiffany, Pete Stauber, Mike Kelly, Andy Biggs, Neal Dunn, Gus Bilirakis, Dan Crenshaw, Randy Weber, Sr., Louie Gohmert, Lauren Boebert, Glenn Grothman, Alex Mooney, Joe Wilson, Scott DesJarlais, Jack Bergman, David Schweikert, Jeff Duncan, Ralph Norman, Bruce Westerman, Jim Banks, Rick Crawford, Jodey Arrington, Christopher H. Smith, Victoria Spartz, Ted Budd, and Gregory Steube.
Barry Moore joins lawmakers demanding hearing over treatment of January 6 defendants
Rep. Barry Moore, along with 20 colleagues, sent a letter to Chairman Jerry Nadler and Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney asking that House Judiciary and House Oversight & Reform Committees hold hearings on the treatment of January 6 defendants being held at the D.C. Department of Corrections. The letter states that the defendants are being held in solitary confinement and are not being given needed medical treatment. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth asked the Department of Justice to conduct a civil rights investigation into the conduct of the D.C. jail regarding a patient who needed treatment for non-Hodgkins. Lamberth stated, “It’s clear to me the civil rights of the defendant were violated by the D.C. Department of Corrections.” “Regardless of the charges an incarcerated person faces, correctional authorities should respect and uphold their civil rights and protect their health and safety. In this country, they have the presumption of innocence. They have not faced trial. And even convicted criminals should get adequate medical care and proper food. They are human beings. The reports coming out of the D.C. Department of Corrections are deeply concerning, and Congress should use our oversight authority to investigate,” said Rep. Moore. Moore stated on Twitter, “Regardless of the charges and incarcerated person faces, correctional authorities should respect and uphold their civil rights & protect their health & safety. In this country they have the presumption of innocence.” “There is clear mistreatment of the individuals being held in the D.C. jail for charges related to January 6th,” stated Biggs. “There is NO excuse for keeping them in these abhorrent conditions and continuing to impose solitary confinement – a punishment that even some on the Left have condemned. It’s time for Chairman Nadler and Chairwoman Maloney to set aside any political motivations, do their job, and hold hearings so that we can get to the bottom of this.” Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mary Miller expressed disapproval for Deputy Warden Kathleen Landerkin’s actions. Rep. Greene stated, “The atrocious and inhumane conditions for PRE-TRIAL detainees at the D.C. Gulag are a clear example of the two-tiered justice system in America. BLM / Antifa domestic terrorists are allowed to walk free after burning down our cities with violent riots, but suspected J6 defendants are subjected to worse treatment than convicted terrorists in Gitmo. This situation must be investigated, and the officials responsible must be terminated from their positions, starting with avowed Trump-hater Deputy Warden Kathleen Landerkin.” “Deputy Warden Landerkin is using her position to torture her political opponents in a system where justice is supposed to be blind,” stated Miller. “There is clear mistreatment of the individuals being held in the D.C. jail for charges related to January 6th,” stated Andy Biggs. “There is NO excuse for keeping them in these abhorrent conditions and continuing to impose solitary confinement – a punishment that even some on the Left have condemned. It’s time for Chairman Nadler and Chairwoman Maloney to set aside any political motivations, do their job, and hold hearings so that we can get to the bottom of this.” The letter was also signed by Scott Perry, Jeff Duncan, Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, Debbie Lesko, Andy Harris, Randy Weber, Bill Posey, Russ Fulcher, Matthew Rosendale, Sr., Louie Gohmert, Andrew Clyde, Mary Miller, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jody Hice, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Michael Cloud, Ralph Norman, and Clay Higgins.
Poll: Americans more concerned about economy, government than COVID
Americans are more concerned about government than they are about COVID-19, a new poll indicates. The Gallup poll released Monday found that 26% of Americans cite an economic issue as the country’s most important problem. The poll reports that 21% of Americans name “the government/poor leadership” as the nation’s top problem, while 13% say it is COVID-19. Meanwhile, concern about the economy is at the highest level since the pandemic began. Inflation and unemployment are leading causes for concern among Americans, the poll found. Inflation is at the top of 7% of Americans’ list, while 5% of Americans feel the same about unemployment. “It has been more than 20 years (April 2001) since inflation was named as the most important problem by at least 7% of Americans,” Gallup said. “The last time mentions of inflation were significantly higher than now was in May 1985 when it registered 11%.” Gallup found that 70% of Americans believe the economy is getting worse, not better. “Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index, which measures Americans’ assessments of current U.S. economic conditions and whether the economy is getting better or worse, is -29 in November,” the group said. “The current reading is similar to October’s -25 score, as well as the -33 registered in April 2020, the worst so far during the pandemic. Economic confidence has improved at various points in the pandemic but has not been able to sustain the improvement for long.” Those economic fears play into the larger political divide as Congress considers nearly $2 trillion in additional social spending. The plan passed the U.S. House along party lines last week and is now before the Senate, where Democrats cannot afford to lose a vote. One major hindrance to the Democratic plan has been inflation, cited by swing voter U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., as a key reason for his hesitancy to support the plan. It seems many Americans share that concern. A recently released Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 43% of Americans believe Joe Biden’s bill will make inflation worse, despite the administration’s claims that it will actually improve inflation. Federal debt spending increases inflation because more money is printed to help offset the cost and pay debt obligations. Republicans have also pointed to inflation in their opposition to the Democrats’ plan. “Only Democrats would cheer the passage of a bill that saddles Americans with more debt, taxes, and inflation,” said U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. “They’re in for a rude awakening come 2022.” By Casey Harper | The Center Square Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Death threats, tweets jolt GOP infrastructure supporters
The last time Congress approved a major renewal of federal highway and other transportation programs, the votes were 359-65 in the House and 83-16 in the Senate. It was backed by nearly every Democrat and robust majorities of Republicans. This year’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill easily cleared the Senate 69-13 with GOP support but crawled through the House last week by 228-206 with just 13 Republican votes. Those defectors were savaged afterward by former President Donald Trump, hard-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called them “traitors” while tweeting their names and office telephone numbers, and one of the 13 says he received a death threat. The votes, six years apart, and the harsh blowback against Republican mavericks illustrate a GOP in which conservative voices have grown louder and more militant, fanned by Trump’s bellicose four years in office. Growing numbers of progressives have made Democrats more liberal, too, with both shifts fueling a sharpening of partisanship in Washington. “This madness has to stop,” said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., an 18-term moderate, who said his offices received dozens of threatening calls following his yes vote. That included one obscenity-laced rant that aides provided in which the caller repeatedly called Upton a “traitor” and expressed hope that the lawmaker, his family, and aides would die. Upton closed his two Michigan offices for a day and reopened them after increasing their security. This year’s bill, triple the size of the 2015 measure, is a keystone of President Joe Biden’s push to create jobs and build out the nation’s roads, water systems, broadband coverage, and other projects. A compromise between Senate Democrats and Republicans, it will send money into every state and is the kind of bill that politicians have loved promoting back home for decades. Biden plans to sign it Monday. Democrats say GOP opposition to the bill is indefensible on policy and political grounds. “It’s a sad statement of how the other party has lost its way,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., who’s leading the House Democratic political arm into a 2022 campaign in which Republicans have solid chances of capturing congressional control. ”If you want our country to fail so you can say things are bad and win power for yourself, you act like the House Republicans are.” But for many Republicans, infrastructure projects — once an issue the two parties would reflexively work together on for mutual and national benefit — now offer a complex political calculation. “When it comes to policy these days, we’re basically divided into two tribes. And you stick with your tribe, and you don’t try to help the other tribe,” said Glen Bolger, a GOP pollster, and strategist. As president, Trump repeatedly promised his own massive infrastructure plan but never produced one, making the phrase “infrastructure week” a Washington synonym for “pipe dream.” But he opposes the current package, and his ability to rally his conservative supporters against those who cross him was a factor as GOP lawmakers decided how to vote. Even so, hard-right cries for retaliation against the 13 pro-infrastructure Republicans, largely moderates from the Northeast and Midwest, have prompted their own pushback. “This notion that we’re going to have people that are on the fringe, in terms of the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world and others, imposing some kind of a purity test on substance is lunacy,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. Cheney has been at war with Trump and the party’s far-right ever since backing his impeachment early this year. Cheney opposed the bill, saying it contained clean energy and other provisions that would hurt Wyoming. She said the 13 Republicans who backed it are “among some of our very best members” who did it “because it was the right thing for their districts.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., an unabashed partisan warrior, was among 19 Senate Republicans who voted for the bill in August. McConnell, who doesn’t have to worry about being re-elected until 2026, said this week he was “delighted” the measure was heading to Biden. A day earlier, McConnell had already drawn Trump’s wrath. Trump issued a statement denigrating GOP senators who’d backed the bill for “thinking that helping the Democrats is such a wonderful thing to do.” Those Republicans “should be ashamed of themselves, in particular Mitch McConnell,” Trump wrote. That was just the tip of the iceberg for the attacks. In an interview, the leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus said GOP lawmakers should consider removing from their posts the 10 of the 13 defectors who are the senior Republicans on committees and subcommittees. “I respect their right to vote, their districts, and their conscience. But that doesn’t mean that they should get the privilege of leading” House Republicans, said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. At a private Florida dinner Monday to bolster House GOP campaign prospects, Trump said he loves House Republicans but not the 13 who voted for the bill, according to an attendee who described Trump’s remarks on condition of anonymity. Earlier, House GOP leaders tweeted, and then deleted, that “Americans won’t forget” a vote for the “socialist” infrastructure bill. “Time to name names and hold these fake republicans accountable,” tweeted Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. Before last week’s vote, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said it would be “very difficult” for Republicans to promote backing the infrastructure bill during their campaigns because it is so closely linked to Democrats’ accompanying $1.85 trillion social and climate measure, which the GOP has solidly opposed. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who switched parties in 2019, said he supported the infrastructure bill because his state would receive over $20 billion “we desperately need.” Van Drew, who said he had heard “some cranky things” from some people, scoffed at the notion that the bill would “catapult the president” politically. “If Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to be mean to me, that’s fine,” he said of the colleague who labeled him and 12 others traitors. “I love America very much. I would never ever do anything to hurt this country.” Republished
Gary Palmer demands cost analysis of Build Back Better legislation
Congressman Gary Palmer and several colleagues have sent a letter to Congressional Budget Office Director Phillip Swagel. The group has requested cost analysis of the Democrats’ Build Back Better legislation. In a press release, Palmer stated, “The nation will have to build back from the brink of bankruptcy, should this legislation ever become law. Although the Democrats are pretending to scale back on a number of the unwarranted programs in it, we have no idea what the true price tag is for these policies that would fundamentally undermine our Republic and move us one step closer to socialism.” According to a recent article from the House Committee on the Budget Chairman John Yarmuth, the Build Back Better Act “aims to make an investment of $1.75 trillion in family care, health care, and combatting the climate crisis.” However, Palmer argues that the initiative will cost more than what is being stated. “I have seen more than one or two budget gimmicks during my time in Congress, and this package is full of them,” Palmer continued. “For instance, the legislation partially funds programs and pretends they will come to an end, even though the clear intention is to make them permanent. This is why we have requested that the CBO Director conduct a true analysis, so that Congress and the American people have a real understanding of just how much this monstrosity will cost. Independent groups have consistently said this bill is not paid for and will increase the deficit. This analysis will expose all of the bill’s budget gimmicks and hopefully end this misleading effort to run our country over the fiscal cliff.” The letter states, “H.R. 5376, as it is currently drafted, contains cherry-picked program expirations and phase-out periods that are meant to circumvent congressional scoring procedures. These provisions are disingenuously meant to hide the true costs of these policies and their burden on Americans today and for generations to come. It is of paramount importance that before Congress collectively acts on this legislation, it has an accurate understanding of what the effects of this legislation would be if its policies became permanent law.” The letter was also signed by Reps. Vern Buchanan, Greg Steube, Pete Stauber, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Jack Bergman, David Rouzer, Tracey Mann, Mary E. Miller, Tedd Budd, Markwayne Mullin, Jody Hice, Eric Crawford, David McKinley, and Andy Biggs.
Mo Brooks aims to ban federal funding for vaccine mandates
Congressman Mo Brooks has introduced the Defund Federal Vaccine Mandates Act in response to the Biden Administration’s recent vaccine mandates that will require Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4 or get tested for the virus weekly. The short, one-sentence bill aims to “prohibit the use of Federal funds to establish, implement, or enforce any vaccine mandate.” Brooks commented, “Every single American should have the ability to make the best decision for them and their own health, without fear of losing their livelihood. The government should not try to intimidate, coerce, or force anyone into receiving the vaccine. Due to the rapid speed at which these vaccines were developed and distributed, and the growing list of side effects, hesitancy is understandable. Furthermore, it is none of the government’s business who has or has not been vaccinated. The Socialist Democrats’ pipe dream of discriminating based on vaccination status is wholly un-American. ” Congressman Brooks concluded, “The time for action is now, and the American people deserve to know who is willing to stand with them to defend our constitution, our freedoms, and the principles that have combined to make America the greatest nation in world history. Congress needs to be put on record on where they stand on this issue. I refuse to idly sit by as people lose their jobs and America becomes a scene straight out of 1984.” In September, Arizona congressman Andy Biggs, and 21 of his colleagues, introduced the Freedom from Mandates Act to block President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates. It bars the federal government from requiring employers to mandate vaccines or to mandating testing of employees. This week Biggs introduced a bill called the Nullify the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (NOSHA) Act. The bill aims to abolish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as a response to the vaccine mandate. Biggs commented, “Arizona, and every other state, has the constitutional right to establish and implement their own health and safety measures, and is more than capable of doing so. It’s time that we fight back against the bloated federal government and eliminate agencies that never should have been established in the first place. I will not let OSHA push Arizona around with their bureaucratic regulations and urge my colleagues to support my effort to eliminate this unconstitutional federal agency.”
Mo Brooks vows to stop Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate
Congressman Mo Brooks has co-sponsored a bill with Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs that calls to stop Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate. It bars the federal government from requiring employers to mandate vaccines or to mandating testing of employees. The mandates announced in early September state that all employers with more than 100 workers require them to be vaccinated or test for the virus weekly. The rules affect about 80 million Americans. In a press release, Brooks stated, “Joe Biden claims the U.S. Constitution empowers a president to mandate vaccines. He is wrong. Under the Constitution, states, not the federal government have that power. I challenge anyone to identify a provision in the U.S. Constitution that unambiguously gives Joe Biden or the federal government the authority he arrogantly claims.” Brooks continued, “Liberty and freedom have combined to help make America the greatest nation in world history. The decision to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is a deeply personal one. Americans must weigh the risks and rewards for themselves. That is the essence of liberty and freedom. For Joe Biden to insert himself into Americans’ healthcare choices is arrogant, dictatorial, despicable and dangerous. I will protect liberty and freedom from dictatorial government oppression with every fiber of my being and every tool at my disposal.” Other congressmen who co-sponsored the bill include Thomas Massie, Matt Rosendale, Jeff Duncan, Jody Hice, Bob Good, Louie Gohmert, Van Taylor, Jason Smith, Randy Weber, Michael Cloud, Bill Posey, Debbie Lesko, Tom McClintock, Dan Bishop, Chip Roy, Andy Harris, Mary Miller, Alex Mooney, Ralph Norman, and Lauren Boebert.
