Jim Jordan nabs key nominations for speaker heading into Tuesday vote
By Casey Harper | The Center Square U.S. House Republican Jim Jordan of Ohio has picked up several key endorsements heading into a scheduled Tuesday vote for the next speaker of the House. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., became the center of controversy over the weekend after news broke that he was reportedly considering working with Democrats to elect Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries given the Republican party’s inability to pick a speaker so far. By Monday morning, Rogers publicly endorsed Jordan. “[Jordan] and I have had two cordial, thoughtful, and productive conversations over the past two days,” Rogers wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We agreed on the need for Congress to pass a strong NDAA, appropriations to fund our government’s vital functions, and other important legislation like the Farm Bill. “Since I was first elected to the House, I have always been a team player and supported what the majority of the Republican Conference agrees to,” he added. Jordan, who sent out a letter to fellow Republicans Monday calling to bring the party together, responded on X, thanking Rogers for the endorsement. “Thank you, Chairman Rogers,” Jordan wrote. “Your leadership is just what our Conference needs right now. We must all keep coming together and get back to work.” That move significantly dampens what some Democrats had hoped for, namely the chance to lead the House even without a majority of members. They have blasted Jordan in particular for his questioning of the 2020 election results in the immediate aftermath of that election leading into the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. “Jim Jordan’s lack of legislative history and predisposition to burn everything down (i.e. 2013 shutdown, 2018-19 government shutdown, Boehner speakership) makes for a dangerous leader,” Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, wrote on X. “The only path forward is a bipartisan governing coalition.” Another lawmaker, Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., just last week told reporters that she would “absolutely not” vote for Jordan as Speaker. Wagner, at the time, backed Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who later withdrew after failing to win enough support. On Monday, though, she also released a public endorsement backing Jordan. “Let me be clear, I am not, and will not, work with Democrats as our Republican Conference comes together to elect a conservative Speaker of the House,” Wagner said in a statement Monday, also saying that “we must elect a conservative as the next Speaker” before going on to give Jordan a full endorsement. “Jim Jordan and I spoke at length again this morning, and he has allayed my concerns about keeping the government open with conservative funding, the need for strong border security, our need for consistent international support in times of war and unrest, as well as the need for stronger protections against the scourge of human trafficking and child exploitation,” Wagner said. The closer Jordan gets to the needed 217 votes to become speaker, the harder it will be for holdout Republicans to justify why they are not electing a speaker, especially with another government shutdown coming in mid-November as well as calls for funding for the Ukraine and Israel conflicts. Jordan is reportedly having ongoing meetings with lawmakers who are locking up key endorsements, bringing him closer to the speakership. “Keeping America safe is my top priority in Congress,” Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, wrote on X Monday. “After having a conversation with Jim Jordan about how we must get the House back on a path to achieve our national security and appropriations goals, I will be supporting him for Speaker on the floor. Let’s get to work.” Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Shutdown inches closer as U.S. House GOP fails to pass defense bill, lawmakers exit D.C.
by Jennifer Shutt, Alabama Reflector September 21, 2023 WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans were unable for a third time Thursday to begin debate on the Defense funding bill, throwing another wrench into Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership tenure. The 212-216 vote that rejected the rule for the $826 billion Defense spending measure was unexpected, coming less than a day after House GOP lawmakers gathered in a room in the Capitol basement to broker a path forward. Arizona Rep. Eli Crane and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene switched their votes to oppose the rule, after voting on Tuesday to adopt it. Colorado Rep. Ken Buck and South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman both supported adoption of the rule on Thursday after opposing it earlier in the week. Other Republicans voting no included Andy Biggs of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, and Matt Rosendale of Montana. The rule would have allowed the House to begin officially debating the bill and voting on nearly 200 amendments. The failed vote led McCarthy to reverse course on the schedule, with many lawmakers heading home for the weekend on Thursday instead of sticking around for votes throughout the weekend. McCarthy had said exactly one week ago, “When we come back, we’re not going to leave. We’re going to get this done.” The update to the House schedule sent around Thursday afternoon said ”ample notice will be given ahead of any potential votes tomorrow or this weekend.” The stalemate and change of plans does not bode well for efforts to approve the short-term spending bill that’s needed to stave off a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. McCarthy has yet to unify his members amid deep disagreements about how much the federal government should spend and what policy restrictions should be included in full-year bills as well as the stopgap measure. The ongoing dispute has ground the House chamber to a halt as McCarthy searches for a way to unify his razor-thin majority without turning to Democrats to pass a bipartisan bill. Arkansas Republican Rep. Steve Womack, a senior appropriator, said Thursday that his fellow lawmakers need to accept the Senate will re-work any partisan bills the House sends over. “Remember, this is all going to go to the Senate, so people don’t need to get real hot and bothered over where we are today,” Womack said. “It’s going to be based on what comes back and whether or not it can get to the floor.” Discussions among House Republicans, he said, are likely to become “heated” once the Senate re-works a short-term spending bill and sends it back to the House for a final approval vote. Infighting and political differences within the House Republican Conference have so far prevented GOP lawmakers from reaching agreement on their opening offer on a short-term spending bill, which is also called a continuing resolution or CR. Defense spending bill falters Before the Thursday vote, McCarthy had been somewhat optimistic the House could finally approve the rule and begin debate on the full-year Defense spending measure. Greene wrote on X that she switched her vote “because they refused to take the war money for Ukraine out and put it in a separate bill.” The rule approved 184 amendments for floor debate and votes, including one from Florida’s Matt Gaetz that would have prohibited “security assistance for Ukraine.” Crane wrote on X on Thursday that he believes votes “on CRs, omnibus bills and raising the debt ceiling should never take place.” “I’m going to do whatever I can to change the way this place works,” he wrote. Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole, chair of the Rules Committee, switched his vote on Thursday to a no vote after voting yes a few minutes earlier. The procedural maneuver allows him to bring the rule back up for a vote at a later time. The whip count error appeared to be a surprise for Defense Appropriations Chair Ken Calvert, a California Republican; ranking member Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat; and staff — all of whom were seated at the tables on the House floor ready to lead debate on the measure. The Republican table held thick white binders as well as a large accordion folder, all filled with paperwork, and the Democratic table was stacked with paperwork as well. It’s highly unlikely that staff would have brought all the materials needed to debate the bill and amendments if they knew the rule vote was going to fail. ‘At least a short-term shutdown’ In addition to strong disagreement among House Republicans about the full-year spending bills, the House GOP Conference has yet to solidify a plan to pass the short-term stopgap spending bill that’s needed to hold off a funding lapse. Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson, chair of the Interior-Environment spending subcommittee, said he expects there will be “at least a short-term shutdown” as the House and Senate try to reach agreement on a short-term spending bill. “That’s a lot of work to do in a very short time,” Simpson said. House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, said Thursday that he hasn’t seen details on any new short-term spending bills that might come to the floor. “I haven’t seen the language of any additional CR,” he said. Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, the top Republican on the Commerce-Justice-Science spending panel, said he’s “hoping the House chaos is set aside.” “I keep saying I’m not voting for another CR again, but I keep voting for them because the outcome is worse with a shutdown,” Moran said. “But this just needs to be resolved in the House. I don’t think there’s a problem in the Senate that would cause a shutdown.” Any short-term spending bill will have to be bipartisan in order to get through the Democratically controlled Senate, where at least 60 votes are needed to limit debate on legislation. That could take more time than lawmakers have before Oct. 1, he said. “Nothing about this is conducive to getting
Bipartisan congressional caucus forms to address fentanyl crisis
Labeling the smuggling of illicit fentanyl into the U.S. from Mexico “a national crisis,” a group of lawmakers has formed a bipartisan caucus to address the issue. Led by Republican California Reps. Ken Calvert and Darrell Issa and Democratic Reps. Joe Neguse of Colorado and Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, the Bipartisan Fentanyl Prevention Caucus was formed to “coordinate with members from both sides of the aisle to combat the nationwide spike in fentanyl-related overdoses and drug poisonings.” The group says it will work with federal and state law enforcement and “to educate the public and the Congress, in cooperation with prevention and awareness groups to better understand the ongoing threat of fentanyl in communities across America.” “Fentanyl is devastating the lives of Americans in every corner of our country. With fentanyl-related deaths climbing every year, we need new solutions to stop this alarming trend,” Calvert said. “This is not a partisan issue – it’s a national crisis.” Rather than pledging to end the fentanyl crisis, Calvert said he hoped the caucus would “educate Americans on the dangers of fentanyl and provide real solutions that will stop the destruction of this deadly drug.” “Fentanyl is not a new danger. But the deadly threat it poses has now reached every corner of our country, and no community is being spared,” Issa said. “The stakes could not be more clear: If we don’t win the fentanyl fight, we’re not going to just lose my community or my neighbor’s. Or any one of my colleagues. We’re going to lose this country. This caucus is needed now as we tell the truth, develop solutions, and save lives.” When announcing its formation, the caucus didn’t call on the president or Secretary of State Antony Blinken to declare Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and 21 attorneys general have repeatedly done. Last September, Abbott issued an executive order designating the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and any similarly situated Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations” under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. He also requested President Joe Biden do likewise, the second time he’d made the request since April 2021. In his September 21, 2022 letter, Abbott said since then, “There was no action, no response.” He’s still received no response, his office has told The Center Square. Last week, Blinken told Congress he’d consider designating cartels as FTOs. Two weeks prior, the White House said it didn’t have any intention of doing so. Republican U.S. Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Roger Marshall of Kansas introduced the Drug Cartel Terrorist Designation Act, which Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said will “do the job Biden refuses to do – protect the American people.” The caucus also hasn’t demanded the president designate fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, as 18 attorneys general have done led by Moody. Fentanyl poisoning remains the leading cause of death among adults between the ages of 18 and 45. Two milligrams, the weight of a mosquito, is lethal. In fiscal years 2021 and 2022, CBP agents confiscated enough fentanyl to kill nearly 5 billion people. Since March 2021, Texas Operation Lone Star officers have seized over 373 million lethal doses of fentanyl. Florida law enforcement officers in a few month’s time last year seized enough fentanyl to kill everyone in Florida. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has issued several public alerts warning Americans about the dangers of fentanyl. Most recently it issued another public alert about the “sharp increase in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with Xylazine,” an animal tranquilizer referred to on the streets as “Tranq.” It did so after the FDA, CDC, and multiple state agencies issued warnings about Xyzaline being detected in an increasing number of illicit drug mixtures and a growing number of overdose deaths nationwide. “Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said. DEA has so far seized Xylazine and fentanyl mixtures in 48 of 50 states. Caucus members also include Angie Craig (D-MN), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-TX), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL), Marc Veasey (D-TX), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Sharice Davids (D-KS), Don Bacon (R-NE), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Andre Carson (D-IN), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Bob Latta (R-OH), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Jake LaTurner (R-KS), Barry Moore (R-AL), David Valadao (R-CA), and Robert Aderholt (R-AL). Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Robert Aderholt named Chairman of Labor, Health and Human Services & Education Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee
Congressman Robert Aderholt was selected as the Chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services & Education Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on Monday. “It is an honor to have been chosen to chair this important Appropriations Subcommittee,” Rep. Aderholt said. “The Labor, Health and Human Services & Education subcommittee is responsible for the largest pool of non-defense government spending in the entire federal budget, and with that comes the commitment to renewed oversight and fiscal responsibility as we move into the Fiscal Year 23 Appropriations cycle.” “The new Republican majority in the House has made a commitment to the American people to get government spending under control,” Aderholt continued. “As chairman of this committee under Appropriations, I will be laser-focused on looking at areas where we can reign in out-of-control spending, much of it put in place during the pandemic and no longer needed.” “As the national debt approaches $33 trillion, we must get control of the discretionary, non-defense spending,” Aderholt added. “With so many threats to our national security from the likes of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, cutting defense spending is, in my opinion, not an option. Therefore, we must look at areas of our domestic spending that have grown wildly out of control.” “I want to use the power of the gavel to make sure that this subcommittee is meeting its commitments to the departments and agencies it funds without breaking the bank built by American taxpayers,” Aderholt concluded. “Lastly, and most certainly not least, I will work as chairman to make sure we defend the most vulnerable among us by protecting the Hyde Amendment. For decades, this amendment, which prevents tax dollars from being used to pay for abortions, received bipartisan support. Only in recent years have some on the left tried to remove this important safeguard. I will work to make sure it stays firmly in place.” House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger announced, “I’m proud to have this outstanding group of Members leading the Committee at this critical time for the country. These Members understand we must find ways to cut wasteful government spending while increasing the safety and security of the American people.” “We’ve got our work cut out for us, and this is the best team to get the job done,” Chairwoman Granger added. “We have an exceptional leader in Tom Cole and an experienced lineup of subcommittee chairs, all who are committed to passing conservative appropriations bills.” The House Appropriations Committee subcommittee chairs are: Since control of the House of Representatives has shifted from the Democrats to the Republicans, that means that all the powerful House Chairs are now Republicans. Congress members Terri Sewell and Jerry Carl serve on House Appropriations along with Aderholt. Aderholt is the dean of the Alabama Congressional delegation, having served in the House of Representatives since 1996. Aderholt represents Alabama’s Fourth Congressional District. Aderholt lives in Haleyville. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
