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☆ Kevin McCarthy's oversight agenda will be 'a recurring skit on SNL' if he makes MAGA cheerleaders Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert investigators: GOP strategists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert want in on the GOP oversight blitz. the Oversight Committee member said of the need to keep congressional probes above board. McCarthy's office has repeatedly told Insider that the House GOP steering committee, which McCarthy leads, will handle assignments for the next Congress "at the appropriate time." Aaron Cutler, a former House GOP leadership aide and now partner at Hogan Lovells, urged House Republicans to avoid "focusing on the wrong things," and to cut bait if needed. Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty ImagesGiven that some sort of spectacle is probably unavoidable at this point, Roe urged House Republicans to tread carefully.

☆ Sen. Sinema's switch to Independent will not impact Democrats' control of the chamber, representatives say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced her decision on Friday to leave the Democrats and register as an independent, but many members of Congress have said the switch likely won't impact the Democrats' narrow control of the U.S. Senate. The pair have been wild cards for Democrats since the party gained narrow control of the Senate from Republicans in 2020. In a tweet Friday, Sinema said her decision to switch parties was a "natural extension" of her service. "I think whether she's a Democrat or a Republican, that really doesn't matter," the Democrat told NBC's "Meet the Press." By keeping her assignments, Sinema signaled she intends to continue to caucus with Democrats as an independent.

☆ Democrats detail effects of early pandemic failures in new Senate report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The 242-page report, written by Democrats on the panel, cited long-term weaknesses in the country’s public health infrastructure, from staffing shortages and inadequate disease surveillance to poor testing systems. But the report indicated that the pandemic shortcomings extended beyond the Trump administration. Similarly, a DHS report said 96% of pharmacy owners and managers were already reporting a shortage of surgical masks, according to the report. It issued a variety of recommendations, including increasing funding to improve public health surveillance, data systems, health care surge capacity, domestic manufacturing capabilities and stockpiles of critical supplies. "This is not the first public health crisis that our nation has faced, and sadly, it won't be the last," Peters said.

☆ Chinese-made drones are flying in restricted DC airspace, sparking new spying fears in the nation's capital
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

There are rising concerns in DC about the potential for recreational Chinese-made drones to be used for spying. Congressional lawmakers have received classified briefings from US agencies on these concerns, per a Politico report. Chinese-made drones have repeatedly flown into restricted airspace over Washington, DC, the report said. A spokesperson for DJI told Politico that though the firm makes an effort to ensure customers follow regulations "we can't control the end users' behavior." Insider reached out to the Senate Homeland Security, Commerce, and Intelligence committees for comment but has not yet received a response.

☆ Here's why the Fed may have won already but is still acting like nothing has improved
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

We can bet that they will be one-upping each other about how high they want to take fed funds, the overnight bank lending rate. They seem to want to ignore anything that's succeeded since the Fed's rate increase cycle began back in March. I think that, again, if the Fed were to wait through Christmas they would see the layoffs and the corporate failures. One thing that's for certain, the buyers of the 2-year may be more sensitive to the data than the Fed. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ FBI chief says shadowy Chinese police stations in the US are 'outrageous' and he's 'very concerned'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FBI Director Christopher Wray said he's "very concerned" about secret Chinese police stations in the US. "We are aware of the existence of these stations," Wray said during a Senate hearing. The FBI chief on Thursday said it would be "outrageous" for Chinese police to "set up shop" in New York "without proper coordination." The FBI chief said it's important for Chinese-Americans and Chinese dissidents to call the FBI and report if they believe they've been targeted by the Chinese government. "President Xi's precedent-breaking third term bodes ill for human rights in China and around the world," Yaqiu Wang, a senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said last month.

WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The United States is deeply concerned about the Chinese government setting up unauthorized 'police stations' in U.S. cities to possibly pursue influence operations, FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers on Thursday. It also linked them to activities of China's United Front Work Department, a Communist Party body charged with spreading its influence and propaganda overseas. We are aware of the existence of these stations," Wray told a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, acknowledging but declining to detail the FBI's investigative work on the issue. Wray, asked by Republican Senator Rick Scott if such stations violated U.S. law, said the FBI was "looking into the legal parameters." Wray said the United States had made a number of indictments involving the Chinese government harassing, stalking, surveilling, and blackmailing people in the United States who disagreed with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The report found that the FBI and DHS continue to spend more on international terrorism, despite saying for years that domestic terrorism now poses a greater threat to Americans. The report said a change in how the FBI categorizes domestic terrorism ideologies has been a hindrance to understanding the problem. In 2017, FBI created a new category of domestic terrorism ideology called “Black Identity Extremists,” but then stopped using it. The report also criticized the FBI and DHS as having been conservative in hunting for threat intelligence posted publicly on social media. Research conducted by MIT’s Technology Review found that “users consistently migrate from milder to more extreme content” on YouTube.

Rep. Jared Golden ran against Republican Bruce Poliquin in Maine's 2nd Congressional District for the second time. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democratic incumbent, defeated Republican Bruce Poliquin in Maine's 2nd Congressional District. 2022 General EmbedsMaine's 2nd Congressional District candidatesGolden is the first member of Congress elected by ranked-choice voting. Poliquin, 68, represented Maine's 2nd Congressional District before Golden unseated him in 2018. Voting history for Maine's 2nd Congressional DistrictMaine's sprawling, rural 2nd Congressional District encompasses nearly 80% of the state's physical area, including Augusta, the state capital.

☆ Movement to ban TikTok: What midterms could mean for future of app
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The effort to ban TikTok is back, and it could gain more strength after the midterm elections. Alex Brandon / AP fileExperts said there’s a steep hill to climb for those who want a total TikTok ban, but the midterms could provide a push. The renewed push for a TikTok ban or forced sale is taking place while the company is in negotiations with the Biden administration on a potential written security agreement. TikTok says it believes the agreement would address not only privacy concerns but how the app moderates content. Rubio is co-sponsoring legislation to ban TikTok from all U.S. government devices.

☆ Rep. Jared Golden, a pro-gun Democrat, faces off against Republican Bruce Poliquin in Maine's 2nd Congressional District
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Jared Golden is running against Republican Bruce Poliquin in Maine's 2nd Congressional District for the second time. Maine's 2nd Congressional District candidatesGolden is the first member of Congress elected by ranked-choice voting. Born and raised in Maine's 2nd Congressional District, the now-40-year-old congressman in 2018 also became the first candidate to unseat an incumbent from the district in more than a century. Poliquin, 68, represented Maine's 2nd Congressional District before Golden unseated him in 2018. Voting history for Maine's 2nd Congressional DistrictMaine's 2nd Congressional District encompasses nearly 80% of the state's physical area, including Augusta, the state capital.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote Monday asking Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to "ensure" that the social media giant TikTok fully cuts its ties with China. "This shocking testimony calls for action," Hawley wrote in his letter, asking Yellen "to exercise your responsibilities as [chair of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States] to ensure that the Chinese company ByteDance fully divests TikTok and that TikTok sever any connections with any other Chinese company." "Does any employee who has access to U.S. user data, are they members of the Chinese Communist Party?" Lawmakers and regulators have raised concerns that ByteDance could provide U.S. user data directly to the Chinese government. The legislation would also prohibit TikTok from accessing U.S. citizens’ user data from within China.

☆ TikTok’s search engine repeatedly delivers misinformation to its majority-young user base, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Emma Tucker | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

TikTok, whose users are predominantly teenagers and young adults, “repeatedly delivered videos containing false claims in the first 20 results, often within the first five,” the report states. “Google, by comparison, provided higher-quality and less-polarizing results, with far less misinformation.”A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the report when contacted by CNN. For example, a search for the question “Was the 2020 election stolen?” yielded six videos that contained false claims in the first 20 results, NewsGuard found. In response to the NewsGuard report, a TikTok spokesperson told CNN that its community guidelines “make clear that we do not allow harmful misinformation, including medical misinformation, and we will remove it from the platform. If I had kids of TikTok age, I would certainly want to know what they’re using as a search engine,” Brill said.

☆ TikTok won’t commit to stopping US data flows to China
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“Will TikTok commit to cutting off all data and data flows to China, China-based TikTok employees, ByteDance employees, or any other party in China that might have the capability to access information on US users?” Portman asked. TikTok does not operate in China, Pappas said, though it does have an office in China. She also reiterated that TikTok has said it would “under no circumstances … give that data to China” and denied that TikTok is in any way influenced by China. “Again, we take this incredibly seriously in terms of upholding trust with US citizens and ensuring the safety of US user data,” Pappas said. TikTok previously said it has moved its US user data to cloud servers managed by Oracle, from servers that TikTok controlled in Virginia and Singapore, and that it would eventually delete backups of US user data from those proprietary servers.

☆ Gary Peters hates global warming. But the Democratic senator just invested in a coal-fired power company.
▼ + stars: | 2021-02-03 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters purchased up to $15,000 American Electric Power Company Inc. stock on January 15. American Electric Power Company generates 73% of its power from fossil fuels, including 45% from coal. Peters, who last month became chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, made the stock purchase on January 15, his disclosure indicates. American Electric Power Company spokesperson Tammy Ridout declined to comment on Peters' stock purchase, saying," We don't comment on individual shareholders' investments." Peters' stock purchase of American Electric Power Company isn't his first energy company investment.

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