DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Fetterman Has History of Driving Infractions, Records and Former Aides Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, was at fault in a car accident in Maryland on Sunday and has a record of distracted driving and infractions, according to police records and former aides. A witness to the crash said Mr. Fetterman passed her on Eisenhower Memorial Highway in western Maryland, driving well over the posted speed limit of 70 miles per hour, according to the police report. Mr. Fetterman’s vehicle then rear-ended another, the report said. The senator and his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, as well as the other driver, a 62-year-old woman driving a Chevrolet Impala, were taken to the hospital. Images of what appeared to be Mr. Fetterman’s totaled SUV were obtained by WPXI.

Persons: John Fetterman, Fetterman, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, WPXI Organizations: Chevrolet Impala, Maryland police, USA Locations: Pennsylvania, Maryland

☆ The Wall Street Journal’s story about Biden’s mental acuity suffers from glaring problems
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-06 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —The Wall Street Journal owes its readers — and the public — better. But an examination of the report reveals a glaring problem: Most of the sources reporters Annie Linskey and Siobhan Hughes relied on were Republicans. Republicans accusing their political foe of lacking the mental fitness to hold office is nothing surprising. Where are the stories about Trump’s former inner circle raising questions about his mental fitness? Happy to discuss Trump’s mental acuity & fitness for office,” Olivia Troye, a former Trump administration official, sarcastically wrote on X.

Persons: Joe Biden, Annie Linskey, Siobhan Hughes, “, Biden, ” Linskey, Hughes, Donald Trump, they’ve spouted, ”, Andrew Bates, it’s, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, MAGA, Katie Rogers, Annie Karni, confidantes, Privately, ” Rogers, Karni, Rogers, Nancy Pelosi, Trump, ” Pelosi, Rupert Murdoch, Emma Tucker, Tucker, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Nikki Haley, ” Olivia Troye Organizations: New York CNN, Street, GOP, Fox News, Republicans, MAGA Republican, Trump, New York, Former, Republican, CNN, Central, The Journal, Democratic, South, United Nations, Wall Street, intel Locations: New York, South Carolina

☆ G.O.P. Blocks Contraception Bill in Senate as Democrats Seek Political Edge
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked action on legislation to codify the right to contraception access nationwide, a bill Democrats brought to the floor to spotlight an issue on which the G.O.P. is at odds with a vast majority of voters. All but two Republicans present — Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine — voted against advancing the legislation. “This should be an easy vote,” Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. “It almost shouldn’t be necessary.”But Ms. Murray said that Republican lawmakers have made it so by seeking to advance anti-abortion legislation that could limit access to contraceptives like Plan B and IUDs.

Persons: Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Maine —, Patty Murray, Murray Organizations: Democrat, Republican Locations: Alaska, Washington

☆ Congressional Leaders, Divided Over War, Invite Netanyahu to Deliver Joint Address
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The top four congressional leaders formally invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Friday to address a joint meeting of Congress, in a show of bipartisan unity that masked a fraught behind-the-scenes debate over receiving him. The invitation, which set no date, came amid deep political divides in the United States over the war between Israel and Hamas, which has intensified after Israel’s recent attacks in Rafah. Speaker Mike Johnson had been pressing to issue the invitation for weeks, seeking to hug Mr. Netanyahu closer as some Democrats, particularly progressives, repudiate him and condemn his tactics in the war, which have caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties in Gaza and a humanitarian disaster for Palestinians. Republicans have unequivocally backed Mr. Netanyahu’s policies, while Democrats, many of whom view his far-right government as an impediment to peace, have been deeply split over them. On Friday, Mr. Biden called for a permanent cease-fire and said, “It’s time for this war to end.”

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Mike Johnson, Mr, Netanyahu, Biden, “, ” Organizations: Israel, Republicans Locations: United States, Israel, Rafah, Gaza

☆ Schumer Plans Vote on Contraception Access, Teeing Up a Campaign Issue
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, plans next month to fast-track a Senate vote on a bill to protect access to contraception nationwide, the start of an election-year push to highlight Republicans’ record of opposing reproductive rights that voters view as at risk of being stripped away. The Right to Contraception Act is expected to be blocked in the closely divided Senate, where most Republicans are against it. But a vote on the bill is a crucial plank of Democrats’ strategy as they seek to protect their majority in the Senate, in part by forcing G.O.P. Access to contraception is a constitutional right regarded by many voters as possibly the next to go after the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, vetoed legislation to protect access to contraception.

Persons: Chuck Schumer, Roe, Wade, Glenn Youngkin Organizations: Gov, Republican Locations: New York, Virginia

“I have been clear at home, and I will be clear here,” Ms. Stefanik is expected to say in her speech, according to a prepared version of her remarks reviewed by The New York Times. “There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel.”Her remarks also appear designed to curry favor with former President Donald J. Trump, who has mentioned Ms. Stefanik, a former George W. Bush White House aide and staunch defender of Mr. Trump, as a potential vice-presidential candidate. Ms. Stefanik has positioned herself as one of Mr. Trump’s most loyal defenders in Congress, a role she first staked out during his first impeachment in 2019. Her prepared remarks for Sunday mention Mr. Trump by name three times while highlighting several of his administration’s accomplishments, including a package of Middle East deals known as the Abraham Accords and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. “We must not let the extremism in elite corners conceal the deep, abiding love for Israel among the American people,” Ms. Stefanik plans to say.

Persons: Ms, Stefanik, ”, Donald J, Trump, George W, Bush, Stefanik’s, Trump’s, Abraham, “ Organizations: The New York Times, House, Abraham Accords Locations: Israel, U.S, Jerusalem

☆ Republicans Flock to Trump’s Trial, Risking Control of the House Floor
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Almost a dozen House Republicans showed up at the courthouse on Thursday, including hard-right rabble rousers like Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida; Anna Paulina Luna of Florida; Lauren Boebert of Colorado; and Bob Good of Virginia. They said they were there to speak on behalf of Mr. Trump because a gag order had barred him from speaking for himself. “We are here of our own volition, because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say,” Mr. Gaetz said at a news conference outside the courthouse. He said the former president was on trial for a “made-up crime” that he called “the Mr. Mr. Good said the trial was an example of Democrats trying to “rig” the presidential election against Mr. Trump.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, rousers, Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Lauren Boebert, Bob Good, “, Mr, Gaetz, —, Good, Luna, ” Organizations: Mr Locations: Manhattan, Florida, Anna Paulina Luna of, Colorado, Virginia

☆ In Symbolic Vote, House Passes Bill to Force Biden to Reverse Israel Arms Pause
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The House on Thursday passed a bill that would rebuke President Biden for pausing an arms shipment to Israel and compel his administration to quickly deliver those weapons, in a largely symbolic vote engineered by the G.O.P. to spotlight the left’s divisions over Israel’s conduct of its offensive against Hamas. White House officials said the president would veto it, and Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said it was “not going anywhere” in the Senate. But it had its intended effect of splintering Democrats: 16 of them joined Republicans in favor of legislation that condemned their own president’s administration. The bill effectively forced Democrats to choose between a vote that would show unequivocal backing for Israel but embarrass Mr. Biden, and one that Republicans portrayed as anti-Israel.

Persons: Biden, Chuck Schumer, “, Mr Organizations: Hamas, White Locations: Israel, New York

The House of Representatives is one of Washington’s most raucous forums, a free-for-all of personalities with profiles to raise and points to score. But it turns out that the rough-and-tumble of steering a public school district — board sessions, P.T.A. meetings, battles over textbooks and discipline — may be sound preparation for the rough-and-tumble of testifying before the House. As public school leaders showed on Wednesday, mixing it up a bit can go far toward neutralizing a Congress with a craving for the spotlight. At earlier hearings, university presidents opted for strategies of conciliatory genuflection or drab, lawyerly answers.

Persons: ” David C, Banks, ” Organizations: Education, New Locations: America, New York City

☆ Fresh Off Defeat in Speaker Fight, Greene Is ‘Thrilled’ With the Chaos She Wrought
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As Republicans and Democrats booed her loudly Wednesday when she called a snap vote on the House floor to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, paused briefly to narrate the drama to viewers back home. “This is the uniparty, for the American people watching,” Ms. Greene sneered, peering over her glasses at her colleagues like a disappointed schoolteacher. Ms. Greene went on to take her shot at Mr. Johnson and miss, an outcome that she knew was a certainty. The move buoyed Mr. Johnson, confirming his status as the leader of an unlikely bipartisan governing coalition in the House that Ms. Greene considers the ultimate enemy. And it isolated Ms. Greene on Capitol Hill, putting her back where she was when she arrived in Washington three years ago: a provocateur and subject of derision who appears to revel in causing huge headaches for her colleagues.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ms, Greene sneered, Greene, Johnson, revel Organizations: Democrats, Republican, Republicans, Capitol Locations: Georgia, Washington

☆ Bill to Combat Antisemitism on Campuses Prompts Backlash From the Right
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Annie Karni | More About Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A bipartisan push in Congress to enact a law cracking down on antisemitic speech on college campuses has prompted a backlash from far-right lawmakers and activists, who argue it could outlaw Christian biblical teachings. The House passed the legislation, called the Antisemitism Awareness Act, overwhelmingly on Wednesday, and Senate leaders in both parties were working behind the scenes on Thursday to determine whether it would have enough backing to come to a vote in that chamber. House Republicans rolled the bill out this week as part of their efforts to condemn the pro-Palestinian protests that have surged at university campuses across the country, and to put a political squeeze on Democrats, who they have accused of tolerating antisemitism to please their liberal base. But in trying to use the issue as a political cudgel against the left, Republicans also called attention to a rift on the right. members said they firmly believe that Jews killed Jesus Christ, and argued that the bill — which includes such claims in its definition of antisemitism — would outlaw parts of the Bible.

Persons: Jesus Christ Organizations: Republicans

☆ In Bid to Oust Johnson, Greene Tries to Reclaim a Powerful Perch on the Fringe
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Annie Karni | More About Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who elevated Ms. Greene and turned her into one of his top allies during his abbreviated time in the top post, never criticized her publicly. But privately, he called Mr. Johnson and offered to intervene with her on his behalf, according to people knowledgeable about the exchange. Ms. Greene could not be controlled — even if her campaign against the speaker has left her isolated within her party. Mr. Jeffries, she said, had embraced Mr. Johnson with “a warm hug and a big, wet, sloppy kiss,” making them the joint leaders of what she refers to disdainfully as the “uniparty.”She did so knowing that her effort to depose Mr. Johnson was all but certain to fail. But Ms. Greene has never abided by the conventional rules of politics, where a loss on the House floor is considered a major defeat.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, Greene, Johnson, Hakeem Jeffries, Jeffries, “, ”, Mr Locations: New York

☆ House Republican Drafts Censure of Omar for ‘Pro-Genocide’ Remark
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Annie Karni | More About Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A House Republican said on Tuesday that he was drafting a resolution to formally rebuke Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, for recent comments in which she suggested that some Jewish students at Columbia University were “pro-genocide.”Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, does not yet have a timeline for releasing his censure resolution against Ms. Omar, a spokeswoman said. But Mr. Bacon said the remark amounted to antisemitism from the congresswoman, a progressive firebrand and one of two Muslim women in the House, who has drawn criticism in the past for incendiary comments. “Folks can protest Israel, but don’t blame Jewish American students for Israel,” Mr. Bacon told Axios, which earlier reported his censure plans. “That is by definition antisemitism.”

Persons: Ilhan Omar, Don Bacon, Omar, Bacon, ” Mr, Axios, ” Organizations: Republican, Columbia University, ”, Israel Locations: Minnesota, Nebraska, Israel

☆ After Ukraine Aid Vote, Republicans Braced for Backlash Find Little
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Annie Karni | Robert Jimison | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A week after he broke with the majority of House Republicans and voted to send $60.8 billion in aid to Ukraine, Representative Max Miller took the stage at a performing arts center in his Ohio district bracing for backlash. Instead, Mr. Miller, a first-term congressman who spent four years in the White House as a top aide to former President Donald J. Trump, was greeted at a town hall-style meeting on Saturday in the city of Solon with a sustained round of applause. Several attendees stood to publicly thank him for his vote, and a line of locals queued up afterward to shake his hand. “Anything we can do to support the Ukrainian victory over the Russian invasion would be a positive thing for the world,” said Randy Manley, a retiree from Strongsville, Ohio, who said he planned to vote for Mr. Trump in November. More than 500 miles west, in Iowa City, Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a vulnerable Republican who won her district by six points in 2020, had a similar experience.

Persons: Max Miller, Mr, Miller, Donald J, Trump, ”, Randy Manley, Mariannette Miller, Meeks Organizations: House Republicans, Mr, Republican Locations: Ukraine, Ohio, Solon, Strongsville , Ohio, Iowa City

Dr. Shafik herself was preparing to confer with the university senate, which could censure her as soon as Friday. On Monday, police were called in to make dozens of arrests at Yale and New York University. Mr. Johnson’s visit to campus will not include a meeting with Dr. Shafik. The university senate could vote on a resolution to censure Dr. Shafik as soon as Friday — not long after the 48-hour negotiation period concludes. By calling in the police anyway, the resolution said, Dr. Shafik had endangered both the welfare and the futures of the arrested students.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Nemat Shafik, Shafik, Kathy Hochul, Emerson, Johnson’s, Columbia, —, “, ” Brendan O’Flaherty, Grayson, Kirk’s, Dr, O’Flaherty, Shafik’s, Liset Cruz, Eryn Davis, Annie Karni, Santul Nerkar, Katherine Rosman, Karla Marie Sanford, Ed Shanahan Organizations: Columbia University, New York Police Department, National Guard, Gov, Guard, Yale, New York University, Tufts, University of California, Hamas, New York City Police, Johnson’s, Republicans Locations: York, Gaza, Berkeley, Israel, ”, Washington, Columbia, New

☆ Johnson, Like Pence, Does What Passes for Brave in Today’s G.O.P.: His Job
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The accolades directed at Speaker Mike Johnson in recent days for finally defying the right wing of his party and allowing an aid bill for Ukraine to move through the House might have seemed a tad excessive. After all, a speaker’s entire job is to move legislation through the House, and as Saturday’s vote to pass the bill demonstrated, the Ukraine measure had overwhelming support. But Mr. Johnson’s feat was not so different from that of another embattled Republican who faced a difficult choice under immense pressure from hard-right Republicans and was saluted as a hero for simply doing his job: former Vice President Mike Pence. When Mr. Pence refused to accede to former President Donald J. Trump’s demands that he overturn the 2020 election results as he presided over the electoral vote count by Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 — even as an angry mob with baseball bats and pepper spray invaded the Capitol and chanted “hang Mike Pence” — the normally unremarkable act of performing the duties in a vice president’s job description was hailed as courageous. Mr. Pence and now Mr. Johnson represent the most high-profile examples of a stark political reality: In today’s Republican Party, subsumed by Mr. Trump, taking the norm-preserving, consensus-driven path can draw the ire of your constituents and spell the end of your political career.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Johnson’s, Mike Pence, Pence, Donald J, Mike Pence ”, Johnson, Trump Organizations: Republican, Republicans, Capitol, Republican Party, Mr Locations: Ukraine

☆ Ukraine Aid Bill Clears Critical Hurdle in the House as Democrats Supply the Votes
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The House took a critical step on Friday toward approving a long-stalled package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and other American allies, as Democrats supplied the crucial votes to push the legislation past Republican opposition so that it could be considered on the floor. The 316-94 vote cleared the way for the House to bring up the aid package, teeing up separate votes on Saturday on each of its parts. But passage of those measures, each of which enjoys bipartisan support from different coalitions, was not in doubt, making Friday’s action the key indicator that the legislation will have the backing needed to prevail. The rule for considering the bill — historically a straight party-line vote — passed with more Democratic than Republican support, but it also won a majority of G.O.P. votes, making it clear that despite a pocket of deep resistance from the far right, there is broad bipartisan backing for the $95.3 billion package.

Persons: —, Biden Organizations: Democratic, Republican Locations: Ukraine, Israel

☆ Johnson Needs Democrats on Ukraine, Handing Them Power to Shape Aid Plan
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Speaker Mike Johnson’s elaborate plan for pushing aid to Ukraine through the House over his own party’s objections relies on an unusual strategy: He is counting on House Democrats and their leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, to provide the votes necessary to clear the way for it to come to the floor. Given Republicans’ tiny margin of control, Mr. Johnson will need their support on the aid itself. But before he even gets to that, he will need their votes on a procedural motion, known as a rule, to even bring the legislation to the floor — an unconventional expectation of the minority party. That puts Democrats once again in a strange but strong position, wielding substantial influence over the measure, including which proposed changes, if any, are allowed to to be voted on and how the foreign aid is structured. After all, Mr. Johnson knows that if they are unsatisfied and choose to withhold their votes, the legislation risks imploding before it even comes up.

Persons: Mike Johnson’s, Hakeem Jeffries, Johnson Organizations: Democrats Locations: Ukraine, New York

☆ Trump to Meet an Embattled Johnson, Putting Their Tortured Ties on Display
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Speaker Mike Johnson may not have a functional majority in Congress, but his job is similar to the Republicans who preceded him in at least one respect: The duties include the difficult task of managing Donald J. Trump. Mr. Johnson on Friday will travel to Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s Florida estate, to join him for what the speaker has billed as a “major announcement on election integrity.” No further details have been forthcoming. The two men had been planning to get together for a political meeting, but Mr. Johnson’s team suggested a joint public appearance on a topic Mr. Trump cares deeply about, according to two people familiar with the planning. It will afford Mr. Johnson the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Trump at a precarious moment in his speakership, as he works to corral a minuscule and deeply divided majority around a legislative agenda many of them oppose — all while facing the threat of an ouster from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Georgia Republican and ride-or-die Trump ally. Making matters even trickier, Mr. Trump, the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is helping to undermine that agenda.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Donald J, Trump, Johnson, ”, Johnson’s, Marjorie Taylor Greene Organizations: Mr, Georgia Republican Locations: Trump’s Florida

☆ Johnson to Join Trump at Mar-a-Lago for ‘Election Integrity’ Announcement
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Speaker Mike Johnson plans on Friday to join former President Donald J. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to make what he called a “major announcement on election integrity.”It was not immediately clear what the pair were planning to discuss at their joint appearance, though Mr. Trump has continued to insist falsely that he was the true winner of the 2020 election and groundlessly accuse Democrats of attempting to interfere in the 2024 contest. Their first public event together since Mr. Johnson was elected to the top job in the House last fall comes at an awkward moment in their relationship. The embattled speaker is facing a threat for his ouster from one of Mr. Trump’s top loyalists in Congress, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Georgia Republican. And even as Mr. Johnson has worked to show enthusiastic support for Mr. Trump, the former president and presumptive Republican nominee is stoking G.O.P. divisions and undermining the speaker’s legislative agenda in Congress.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Donald J, Trump, groundlessly, Johnson, Trump’s, Marjorie Taylor Greene, stoking Organizations: Georgia Republican, Mr, Republican Locations: Lago, Florida

☆ Florida Court Rulings Pose Risks for House Republicans on Abortion
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a hard-right Republican from Florida, has proudly described herself as a “pro-life extremist.”“My husband is a byproduct of rape,” she told a conservative student group in 2022, explaining her support for abortion bans with no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. Now she and Representative María Elvira Salazar, another Republican whose Florida district is not solidly red, will have to defend their records of supporting anti-abortion measures at the national level, with control of the House at stake. The court’s ruling said that the six-week abortion ban could go into effect on May 1. But in a twist, it is also allowing a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee access to abortion “before viability,” around 24 weeks. The twin rulings have suddenly buoyed Democratic hopes of picking off House seats in a state that has long trended toward the right.

Persons: Anna Paulina Luna, ” “, ”, Luna, María Elvira Salazar Organizations: Republican, Florida Supreme Locations: Florida

☆ As More Members Leave, House G.O.P. Will Be Able to Spare Just 1 Vote
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Republicans in Congress continue sprinting for the exits. Representative Mike Gallagher, Republican of Wisconsin, announced on Friday afternoon that he would resign from Congress months earlier than expected on April 19, bringing the already minuscule Republican majority down to a lonely one vote. After his departure next month, Republicans will control 217 House seats to the Democrats’ 213, allowing the G.O.P. to afford only a single defection from the party line on votes when all members are present. He said simply that “after conversations with my family, I have made the decision to resign my position,” and that he had “worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline.”But leaders had not anticipated it.

Persons: Mike Gallagher, Gallagher, “, Mike Johnson Organizations: Republican, Chinese Communist Party Locations: Wisconsin

☆ Mainstream G.O.P. Group to Target Bob Good as It Shifts Mission and Members
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Republican Main Street Partnership, a group that supports center-leaning House Republicans, plans to direct half a million dollars into a bid to defeat Representative Bob Good, a hard-right lawmaker from Virginia, making an unusual push to oust a sitting Republican member of Congress. The move is notable not just because the group, through its campaign giving arm, is inserting itself into the kind of intramural fight against an incumbent that it typically avoids. Its Capitol Hill headquarters serve as something of a counterweight to the Conservative Partnership Institute, which operates nearby as the nerve center of the right. But as the Republican Party has veered toward the extreme right, purging itself of what was once a sizable and influential bloc of centrists, the Main Street Partnership has also shed the “moderate” label and changed the nature of its mission. The group has recently expanded its membership to include far more conservatives, and has begun focusing less on centrism and bipartisanship and more on ridding Congress of G.O.P.

Persons: Bob Good, — John J, McGuire, Donald J, Trump, ” Organizations: Republican Main Street, House Republicans, Republican, Navy SEALs, Main, Capitol, Conservative Partnership Institute, Republican Party, centrists Locations: Virginia, G.O.P

The House on Wednesday passed a bill with broad bipartisan support that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner to either sell the hugely popular video app or be banned in the United States. The move escalates a showdown between Beijing and Washington over the control of technologies that could affect national security, free speech and the social media industry. Republican leaders fast-tracked the bill through the House with limited debate, and it passed on a lopsided vote of 352-65, reflecting widespread backing for legislation that would take direct aim at China in an election year. The action came despite TikTok’s efforts to mobilize its 170 million U.S. users against the measure, and amid the Biden administration’s push to persuade lawmakers that Chinese ownership of the platform poses grave national security risks to the United States.

Organizations: Republican, Biden Locations: United States, Beijing, Washington, China

☆ Aging Bridge Is a Flashpoint in Competitive Washington State House Race
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Annie Karni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The first thing Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez told donors gathered at a recent wine-and-cheese campaign fund-raiser was of the role she played in securing $600 million in federal funding to rebuild one of the region’s main arteries, the aging Route I-5 bridge. “Bringing that grant home was a dogfight,” said Ms. Perez, 35, a first-term Democrat from a rural, working-class district in Washington State that twice voted for former President Donald J. Trump, and who is facing one of the toughest re-election races in the country this year. “My community is going to build that bridge,” she told the roomful of gray-haired donors gathered in a packed living room in Washougal, Wash., with giant windows overlooking the Columbia River. “This is our work.”Ms. Perez considers this funding to be a major coup for her district and her re-election campaign. But the bridge in one of the country’s most competitive districts has become a political piñata in the race, which is all but certain to pit Ms. Perez against the far-right Republican Joe Kent, whom she beat in 2022 by less than 1 percentage point.

Persons: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, ”, Perez, Donald J, Trump, ” Ms, Republican Joe Kent Organizations: Republican Locations: Washington State, Washougal, Columbia

Search resuls for: "Annie Karni"

25 mentions found