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☆ How Trump allies and wealthy donors helped to fuel the GOP fight against ESG investing platforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The conference was organized by the conservative leaning State Financial Officers Foundation, a tax exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit group that does not publicly disclose its donors. Members of the State Financial Officers Foundations are all powerful state Republican officials, many of whom have scrutinized ESG practices or pulled back billions of dollars from investing firms. A representative for the State Financial Officers Foundation did not return a request for comment. Some of those organizations participated in a similar State Financial Officers Foundation gathering in Washington D.C. in November 2022, according to an agenda. One of the organizations that attended last February is the 1792 Exchange, a nonprofit sponsor of the State Financial Officers Foundation.

☆ DeSantis accuses congressional Republicans of 'flagrantly' ignoring voters on immigration, leading to Trump election: Book
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

DeSantis criticized congressional Republicans over the issue of immigration in his new book. Ron DeSantis reserves some of his most scathing criticism of congressional Republicans for how the party has handled the issue of immigration. The election was largely decided on the issue of immigration, with Brat accusing his opponent of being too soft on the issue. DeSantis has publicly criticized his own party on illegal immigration before, saying they were too much talk and not enough action. Hispanic voters in Florida went overwhelmingly for DeSantis during his reelection in November — by 14% — over Democratic challenger former Rep. Charlie Crist.

☆ Biden doubles down on needling Republicans over proposed Social Security and Medicare cuts: 'I'm your nightmare'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

"I guess I shouldn't say any more," he said, "but particularly on Social Security and Medicare." Rubio, who is in the rumored mix for the 2024 GOP nomination, said anybody who supports slashing Social Security or Medicare is delusional. "You have to listen to what the president said the last couple of years about protecting and fighting for Medicare and Social Security." "I've never ever said I would reduce Medicare or Social Security benefits. As for Social Security, its trust funds are expected to be insolvent by 2035, which would trigger 20% in cuts across the board.

☆ Biden declares 'unanimity' after Republicans boo idea of Social Security cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset," the president said. Sitting behind Biden, McCarthy shook his head as Biden raised the idea. Multiple House Republicans, including hardliners Marjorie Taylor Greene and Byron Donalds booed. Biden even urged protesting Republicans to contact his office, saying he would "give you a copy of the proposal." "So, folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now.

☆ Rowdy Republicans yell and taunt Biden during his State of the Union after McCarthy warned them to behave
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

McCarthy previously said that Republicans would behave during the address. Biden's comments on a range of issues — everything from the national debt to fentanyl overdoses — prompted boos and loud yelling from Republicans. The president appeared to be largely unfazed by the GOP's unorthodox behavior, at times directly responding to their jeers. Biden ultimately got Republicans to stand up and applaud in support of both programs, and declared there was "unanimity" on the matter. The raucous behavior of a number of congressional Republicans came after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy insisted that members of his caucus behave during the address.

A far-right faction of House Republicans is pushing against continued US aid to Ukraine. Those concerns ratcheted up amid House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's tumultuous journey to secure the gavel last month. Kyiv, for its part, has kept a close eye on Congress' dynamics since the GOP won a narrow House majority in the November midterms. "This GOP House majority will demand more oversight, transparency, and accountability to ensure assistance to Ukraine is used as intended," McCaul said in a statement. "Most Europeans don't think that suddenly the US is going to cut support to Ukraine," Araud said, adding that nobody anticipates Washington will "dump Ukraine."

☆ George Santos admits he 'lied to everyone' in leaked audio recorded this week by a prospective staffer
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A prospective staffer secretly recorded Rep. George Santos, Talking Points Memo reported. In the recording, Santos remarks that he "lied to everyone." The recording was reportedly made on January 30 inside Santos' office by Derek Myers, a journalist and prospective staffer that Santos ultimately decided not to hire. Myers told TPM the remark stunned him, given the accusations Santos faces about his own misconduct. "I trust his judgment more than my own judgment," Santos added.

☆ How to Play ‘Debt-Ceiling Chicken’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Greg Ip | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The fight over the debt ceiling is usually described as a game of chicken. In the current version, congressional Republicans and the Biden administration each want the other to blink first and avoid a convulsive default on federal government debt. Actually, it is two separate games of chicken with very different dynamics. In this game, Republicans have the upper hand. The second game begins after the X-date, and then the advantage switches decisively to the White House.

"While others tried to shut this down, I made clear this is a national priority," Biden told a group of lawmakers and supporters gathered at a rail yard at the Hudson River tunnel, the nation's busiest rail corridor. On Tuesday, Biden announced that the administration has awarded nearly $1.2 billion from the law's new national infrastructure project assistance discretionary grant program for nine projects across the country, White House officials said. [1/4] U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks touting how Infrastructure Law funding will be used for the Hudson River Tunnel project, during an event at the West Side Rail Yard in New York City, U.S., January 31, 2023. "Americans see these projects popping up across the country and it sends an important message that we're gonna work together," Biden said. The Hudson River tunnel project, known as the Gateway Program, would repair an existing tunnel and build a new one for Amtrak and state commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan.

☆ Biden continues infrastructure tour with stop in New York City on Tuesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jarrett Renshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 31 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Tuesday will visit New York City to tout new infrastructure funding for a critical underwater tunnel that connects Manhattan and New Jersey, an effort that has been mired for more than a decade in partisan bickering and ballooning budgets. The federal government, New York, and New Jersey will split the estimated price tag of $16.1 billion. Federal funding will pay for nearly half, while the two states will pick up the rest. Biden plans to tout a $292 million grant from the Transportation Department for the Hudson River Tunnel project. Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Additional Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rep. Michael McCaul on Air Force general's prediction of war with China: 'I hope he's wrong... I think he's right'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A top congressional Republican on Sunday said he agrees with a memo by a four-star Air Force general that predicts the U.S. will be at war with China in two years. In the memo sent Friday and obtained by NBC News, Gen. Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, wrote, “I hope I am wrong. McCaul also accused the Biden administration of “projecting weakness” on the world stage and argued that there are “very high” odds of war with China because of it." The Air Mobility Command has nearly 50,000 service members and nearly 500 planes and is responsible for transport and refueling. The signed memo was addressed to all air wing commanders in Air Mobility Command and other Air Force operational commanders.

The poll finds an American public that’s equally concerned about the discovery of classified documents found at Biden’s and Trump’s homes, even though the current president and ex-president handled their situations in different ways. Sixty-seven percent of Americans say it’s concerning that classified documents were found at Biden’s former office and personal home, including 33% who say it’s “very” concerning; 18% say it’s not too concerning or concerning at all. Strikingly, a majority of Democrats (52%) say they’re concerned about Biden’s classified documents, while a majority of Republicans (53%) are concerned about Trump’s. The NBC News poll was conducted Jan. 20-24, so mostly before the Jan. 24 news that small number of classified documents were found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s home. The most popular ideas: providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who meet certain requirements (80% say Congress should do this), taking a harder line against China (75% say Congress should act) and addressing immigration by increasing border security (72%).

As in 2011, the GOP speaker runs a House majority full of ideologically-driven conservatives who want to use the debt limit as leverage to force budget changes on a Democratic-led Senate and White House. “It is possible we will eventually see House Republicans put forth a plan for dealing with both the debt limit and the spending problem. After 2011, the Obama White House drew a hard line when the debt limit deadline came up again in early 2013. Andrew Harnik / APAsked about Biden's position and the GOP criticisms, the White House said the president “takes a backseat to no one” on pursuing bipartisanship, but said that the no-negotiations stance from 2013 onward on the debt limit succeeded. “Everyone seems to have forgotten that there was a debt limit standoff in 2013 where Obama adopted the no-negotiation approach and prevailed with a clean debt limit,” he said.

☆ Elon Musk Meets With White House Officials, Congressional Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Natalie Andrews | Alexa Corse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla Inc. and Twitter Inc., met Friday with White House officials as well as top Republicans, amid deep interest on Capitol Hill in both electric-vehicle subsidies and social-media rules. Mr. Musk spoke Friday with John Podesta , a senior energy adviser to President Biden, and Mitch Landrieu, the White House’s infrastructure law coordinator to discuss electric vehicles, according to a White House official. The meeting was held at Tesla’s Washington, D.C., office.

☆ House Passes Restrictions on Tapping Strategic Petroleum Reserve
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Benoît Morenne | Eric Bazail-Eimil | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The House approved a bill tying nonemergency releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to a boost in federal lands leased to oil-and-gas companies, as congressional Republicans moved to limit the Biden administration’s ability to tap the oil stockpile. The measure passed 221-205. with Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine joining Republicans in support. Senate Republicans introduced a companion bill Wednesday, but the legislation is unlikely to receive a vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber. The measure would need 60 votes to advance.

☆ House Passes Restrictions on Strategic Petroleum Reserve
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Benoît Morenne | Eric Bazail-Eimil | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The House approved a bill tying nonemergency releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to a boost in federal lands leased to oil-and-gas companies, as congressional Republicans moved to limit the Biden administration’s ability to tap the oil stockpile. The measure passed 221-205. Although Senate Republicans introduced a companion bill Wednesday, the legislation is unlikely to receive a vote in the Democratic-controlled chamber. If it did get a vote, it would need 60 votes to advance.

☆ 'Bellyaching': Democratic unity defending Biden begins to see defections
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Peter Nicholas | Peter Nicholas Is Senior White House Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

WASHINGTON — A Democratic push to discredit the congressional Republicans who are launching a slew of investigations into President Joe Biden may be fracturing because of an unexpected obstacle: fellow Democrats. And former Vice President Mike Pence revealed this week that he, too, had discovered classified documents in his Indiana home. On Capitol Hill, House Republicans have opened an oversight inquiry into Biden’s handling of the records. (Both the White House and the Secret Service said they don’t keep such records for his personal residence.) The White House counsel’s office now has a communications arm to quickly respond to Republican allegations of presidential wrongdoing.

☆ Debt ceiling fight threatens to deepen divide between GOP and corporate America
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | 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

WASHINGTON — Corporate America’s warnings of a financial catastrophe if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling are falling on deaf ears among key congressional Republicans who find themselves increasingly at odds with the party's longtime allies. Republicans, who for decades closely aligned with the business community, have largely downplayed the alarm bells sounded by business groups, corporate CEOs and Wall Street investors over the economic consequences of missing an early June deadline for action on Capitol Hill. Instead, many GOP lawmakers vow to seek spending cuts in exchange for passing legislation that would let the U.S. government keep paying its bills. “The business groups and the major economic agents in this country are still going to be very influential by once again reminding Congress about the severe consequences the U.S. will face if the debt ceiling is not raised,” said the political consultant with corporate clients involved in the debt ceiling debate. “I think a lot of Republicans in the House, in the Senate, will understand that.

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday defended the Justice Department's handling of separate special counsel investigations into classified documents linked to former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, saying it does not have different rules for Republicans and Democrats. In his first public remarks on the topic after even more classified documents were found at Biden's home in Delaware, Garland was asked whether he believed the Justice Department was handling the two probes fairly. Garland announced this month that Robert Hur, who was a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor, would serve as a special counsel in the Biden probe. Congressional Republicans have launched their own investigations into the Biden documents. Biden and Trump have had contrasting responses to the discovery of classified documents, which are supposed to be handed over to National Archives when presidents or vice presidents leave office.

☆ Janet Yellen says 'it's not a given that the Fed would' accept a $1 trillion platinum coin to save the US from economic catastrophe
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen dismissed minting a $1 trillion platinum coin to save the US from default, per the WSJ. Minting a coin would allow the government to bypass negotiations in Congress to raise the debt ceiling. The GOP is currently using the debt limit as a negotiating tool to achieve their own priorities. But Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wasn't on board with that idea in the past — and she still isn't. She expressed the same sentiment back in 2021, when Congress was dealing with a similar partisan dilemma surrounding raising the debt ceiling.

☆ Biden to name Jeff Zients as next chief of staff, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Nandita Bose | Jason Lange | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will name former COVID policy coordinator Jeff Zients as his next chief of staff, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday, refreshing a key role as Biden readies a likely re-election bid and faces a probe of his handling of classified documents. FILE PHOTO: White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients delivers remarks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 13, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/File PhotoRon Klain, Biden’s current chief of staff, plans to leave his post in the coming weeks, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. Zients also served as an economic adviser to President Barack Obama’s administration, in which Biden served as vice president. The chief of staff position, considered one of the most important at the White House, is the senior political appointee responsible for driving the president’s policy agenda and ensuring appropriate staff members are hired.

☆ Kamala Harris swipes at DeSantis using his 'vanguard of freedom' quote, on the governor's home turf, as she announces new moves on abortion pill
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

said Harris, who didn't use DeSantis' name but was quoting directly from his 2022 State of the State address. The vice president, who has been at the forefront voice for the administration's on abortion rights, announced that President Joe Biden would be signing a memorandum to make abortion pills easier to access. Sunday would have marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed a national right to abortion. Wilfredo Lee/AP PhotoFlorida has other ways of expanding abortion rightsAbortion rights proved to be a liability for Republicans in the November midterms. Reproductive rights groups are working to put the issue of abortion before Florida voters through a 2024 ballot measure.

☆ Kamala Harris swipes at DeSantis using his 'vanguard of freedom' inauguration quote, on the governor's home turf, as she announces new moves on abortion pill
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

said Harris, who didn't use DeSantis' name but was quoting directly from his January 3 inauguration speech. The vice president, who has been at the forefront voice for the administration's on abortion rights, announced that President Joe Biden would be signing a memorandum to make abortion pills easier to access. Sunday would have marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed a national right to abortion. Wilfredo Lee/AP PhotoFlorida has other ways of expanding abortion rightsAbortion rights proved to be a liability for Republicans in the November midterms. Reproductive rights groups are working to put the issue of abortion before Florida voters through a 2024 ballot measure.

☆ Analysis: Debt ceiling: White House bets Republicans will blink under pressure
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

House Republicans want cuts to government programsbefore they will approve a higher ceiling; a similar demand sparked a 2011 credit rating downgrade and chaos in financial markets. But we similarly should not blindly increase the debt ceiling," Representative Chip Roy, a leading conservative, told Reuters. 2024 CAMPAIGN FOCUS ON EXTREMISMThe game of chicken comes as the White House prepares Biden's expected re-election campaign. Democrats are planning to deploy that theme in the 2024 election even if an agreement is reached quickly on the debt ceiling. A failure to raise the debt ceiling could have the opposite effect.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is hitting its statutory debt limit on Thursday, requiring the Treasury Department to begin resorting to "extraordinary measures" to pay the bills. It is therefore critical that Congress act in a timely manner to increase or suspend the debt limit," Yellen wrote. But the White House has made clear what President Joe Biden's offer to lift the debt ceiling is: nothing. There should be no political brinkmanship with the debt limit. "We cannot raise the debt ceiling," Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said Tuesday on Twitter.

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