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☆ DeSantis and other prominent Republicans blame 'woke' politics for Silicon Valley Bank's collapse instead of bankers miscalibrating risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | Nicole Gaudiano | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some Republicans blamed "woke" investment strategies for Silicon Valley Bank's downfall. Economists and banking experts so far have chalked up Silicon Valley Bank's failure to much more apolitical circumstances. Silicon Valley Bank then had to sell its assets at a loss to fork over cash it didn't have, an increasingly untenable chain reaction that ended only when regulators shut the institution down. Regulators closed the Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, a stunning break to a period of relative banking stability in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. "I don't know if making money's now woke," Baker said.

☆ Top U.S. Senate Republican Mitch McConnell hospitalized after fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized after tripping and falling at a hotel in Washington on Wednesday, his spokesperson said in a statement. "This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. Currently serving his seventh term, which runs through 2026, McConnell is the third U.S. senator to be hospitalized in recent weeks. He served as the Senate majority leader from 2015 to 2021, and has been the Senate minority leader since then. Senate Republicans, by contrast, easily reelected McConnell.

☆ House Republicans target the CFPB as the agency takes aim at 'junk fees'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers discussed ways to reform, or altogether defund, the nation's foremost consumer protection agency on Thursday, as the regulator takes aim at illegal "junk fees" levied on consumers. GOP lawmakers in the hearing criticized the Biden administration's push to eradicate "junk fees," largely regulated by the CFPB. On Wednesday, the agency released a list of illegal junk fees encompassing deposit accounts; auto and mortgage loan servicing; and payday and title lending. Subcommittee member Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., said Chopra has used junk fees as an excuse to expand his authority. The CFPB's working definition of junk fees is "any fee they don't like," argued Devin Watkins, an attorney at the conservative-leaning Competitive Enterprise Institute.

☆ Mitch McConnell suffered concussion after fall, will stay in hospital for 'a few days,' his office says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) listens to a question from a journalist during a weekly press conference in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, January 31, 2023. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is being treated for a concussion at a hospital after he fell at a hotel, his office said Thursday. McConnell's office revealed late Wednesday night that the Kentucky Republican was admitted to a hospital after tripping during a private dinner. "Jill and I are wishing Senator McConnell a speedy recovery," President Joe Biden said in a tweet earlier Thursday afternoon. He served as Senate majority leader from 2015 until 2021, when Democrats regained majority control of the chamber.

☆ Pete Buttigieg's presidential hopes make him an easy target for Republicans — and his slow response in Ohio gave them plenty of ammo
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg hasn't ruled out running for the White House again. He's in the spotlight and the hot seat far more than most other transportation secretaries before him. The search-engine test shows Buttigieg has become a high-profile target who finds himself in the spotlight far more than most other transportation secretaries before him. However, no transportation secretary has likely entered the job with more star power. After he strode onto the stage of The Late Show last fall, host Stephen Colbert noted that not many transportation secretaries have been guests on late night talk shows.

☆ U.S. House Republican to pursue safeguards on classified documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The Republican head of a key U.S. House of Representatives committee said on Monday that he will pursue bipartisan legislation to better ensure the proper handling of classified documents at the White House when administrations leave office. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said it is essential to have legislation ensuring classified material is not transferred from the offices of the president and vice president to unsecured locations at the end of an administration. Classified documents have also turned up at the Indiana home of former Vice President Mike Pence. "Somebody needs to oversee all of the documents that are going into boxes to make sure they're not classified." The sessions follows a Comer demand for information from the National Archives concerning documents found in Biden's possession.

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that a search by the Justice Department of President Joe Biden's home on Friday had been carried out after a "voluntary, proactive offer" by his personal lawyers to the department. It was the latest in a string of discoveries of classified documents at Biden's Wilmington home and at a temporary office at the University of Pennsylvania. "This was a voluntary, proactive offer by the president's personal lawyers to DOJ to have access to the home," said White House spokesperson Ian Sams. Sams declined to provide more clarity on the exact content of the materials taken from the Wilmington house. Biden had been kept informed throughout this process, the White House said.

☆ GOP lawmakers reject critics, say there were 'positives' in chaotic House Speaker vote: 'We accomplished an enormous amount'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The Texas Republican argued on CNN Sunday morning that "a little temporary conflict is necessary in this town." "Some of the tensions you saw on display when we saw some of the interactions there between Mike Rogers and Matt Gaetz, you know some of that is, we need a little of that. Kentucky Republican Rep. Andy Barr told ABC's "This Week" that the process "was quite healthy from the standpoint of getting all of these issues resolved now." "I understand the American people's frustration with the delay in electing a speaker," Barr said. "Not only did the framers of our Constitution expect us to debate the operations of the House and the House rules and how we're going to function, that's what a healthy democracy actually requires."

☆ Everything that could go wrong as the House speaker fight leaves the chamber leaderless
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

House lawmakers are still not agreed on who will lead them. The lack of a speaker of the House has some very real consequences. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tamped down on any "significant risks" related to the delay. As we indicated above, the House can't pass its rules until it has a speaker. But House lawmakers have complained that they are unable to effectively coordinate due to their current unofficial status.

☆ White House lawyer snubs Republican request for documents for now
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday told Republicans hoping to investigate President Joe Biden that their requests for information for probes, including on the Afghanistan withdrawal, are improper until those lawmakers take over the House next month. Republicans, who take control of the House of Representatives next month, have also prioritized investigating the Democratic president and his son Hunter's business dealings. Democrats, who retain control of the White House and Senate, are working to aggressively contest those investigations. Comer, a Kentucky Republican, is expected to chair the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Jordan, an Ohio Republican, is expected to chair the judiciary panel.

☆ Trump blasts Mitch McConnell over passage of government funding bill, claiming 'Democrats must have something really big' on him
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Trump blasted McConnell over Congress' recent passage of a government funding bill. The House and Senate last week approved the nearly $1.7 trillion bill to avert a government shutdown before the holiday recess. "If Senate Republicans controlled this chamber, we would have handled the appropriations process differently from top to bottom," McConnell said last week. Only nine House Republicans voted for it. "Just another win for the Democrats, Mitch, that wouldn't have happened if 'Trump' were President!"

So yeah, I’m proud of it,” McConnell said, hailing it as an “extremely important” win for conservatives. He said it’ll mean they no longer “pay a ransom on the domestic side” in order to secure hefty military spending. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill.. said he’s “disappointed” in the unequal spending levels but argued that the Kentucky Republican was using his leverage. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks alongside Sens. Democrats say McConnell was pushing for deals due to the rising support in the Democratic Party in recent years to end the filibuster.

☆ Biden and Senate Democrats set to close out historic two years in judicial confirmations, pledging more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Phil Mattingly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Biden and Senate Democrats, even while holding the barest of majorities, confirmed 97 Article III judges over the last two years, including a Supreme Court justice, 28 circuit court judges and 68 district court judges, according to White House data obtained by CNN. “You can be sure that judges will remain a top priority in the Congress to come,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. For Biden and other Democrats, the filling of federal judicial openings took on a new level of significance in the wake of the historically successful push by former President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans. While a Senate rule change easing the pathway to confirmation rapidly accelerated McConnell’s efforts in Trump’s final two years, the pace Biden and Senate Democrats have maintained make clear what officials continue to pledge will be followed by action: that judicial nominations will remain a top priority. Biden’s senior team and counsel’s office tightly coordinated with their Senate counterparts throughout first two years to prioritize the efforts.

☆ What to know about a judicial privacy bill Congress is passing with a major defense package
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

But the legislation is also rankling court watchdogs who contend the bill could complicate efforts to scrutinize the judicial branch for ethics issues. The bill does not displace the ethical disclosure requirements judges already face, the congressional aide noted to CNN. And it extends the threat-monitoring programs that are being offered to Article III judges to administrative judges as well. Now that the bill has been added to the National Defense Authorization Act, a massive defense package that Congress passes annually, Paul’s options for scuttling it are limited. “Because, if I am sued, someone is going to be bringing it to a federal judge.

☆ Mitch McConnell says Trump's 2022 endorsements limited the GOP's 'ability to control a primary outcome' which led to 'candidate quality' issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Trump for the GOP's poor showing in this year's Senate races. He reiterated previous comments on Tuesday about "candidate quality" issues with Senate candidates. "Hopefully in the next cycle, we'll have quality candidates everywhere and a better outcome," he added. McConnell also reiterated previous comments he's made about the party's roster of Senate candidates, including that he "never said there was a red wave." "I do think we had an opportunity to relearn, one more time: you have to have quality candidates to win competitive Senate races," he added.

CNN —House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy took to Fox News primetime last week and dinged his counterpart across the Capitol: Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell. In the new Congress, McConnell will lead a 49-seat Senate minority while McCarthy will have 222 Republican seats in the House. That’s because McCarthy, like many other House Republicans, doesn’t want to deal with the threat of a government shutdown immediately upon entering their new majority. One Republican lawmaker pointed out that McConnell and McCarthy are dealing with different conferences and political dynamics, which explains their sometimes conflicting approaches. “Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are gonna be just fine.”

☆ Senate MAGA mutineers work on new ways to punish Mitch McConnell
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some Senate Republicans recently tried and failed to strip Mitch McConnell of his leadership post. Ted Cruz is among the conservatives determined to "stand up and fight" against business as usual. He called any such compromise "indefensible," and urged others to also dig in their heels so House Republicans have a better negotiating position next year once their narrow majority takes effect. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is trying to fend off House conservatives determined to deny him his dream of becoming speaker, has also been pushing to quash any lame duck breakthroughs. "Any Republican that's out there trying to work with them is wrong," McCarthy recently said on Fox News.

☆ Senate MAGA mutineers incensed their red wave never came work on new ways to punish Mitch McConnell
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

☆ Trump's bad week is bad news for his comeback
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —Former President Donald Trump’s bad week is bad news for his comeback. The House January 6 committee has decided to make criminal referrals to the Justice Department – possibly of him or his close associates. “We know the committee has really been ahead of the Justice Department,” CNN’s Jamie Gangel said Tuesday, noting the Justice Department has sought testimony and evidence gathered by the January 6 committee. Helping alleged riotersInstead of focusing on the next election, Trump continues to fixate on his 2020 loss. A split in the GOPMcCarthy’s mission impossible is to find 218 votes from 222 House Republicans to gain the speaker’s gavel when the full chamber votes in January.

☆ Mitch McConnell Criticizes Donald Trump for Nick Fuentes, Kanye West Meeting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Andrew Restuccia | Lindsay Wise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized former President Donald Trump for meeting with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and rapper Kanye West, saying that the incident might prevent him from returning to the White House. “Let me just say that there is no room in the Republican party for anti-Semitism or white supremacy,” Mr. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, told reporters on Tuesday. “Anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view in my judgment is highly unlikely ever to be elected president of the United States.”

☆ McConnell says Trump is 'highly unlikely to ever be elected president' amid furor over dinner with Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

McConnell on Tuesday blasted former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago dinner with Nick Fuentes and Kanye West. "There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy," McConnell said. McConnell's comments come a day after a range of GOP leaders condemned the dinner, including his onetime No. "President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an anti-Semite and a Holocaust denier a seat at the table. Trump earlier this month launched his 2024 White House campaign at Mar-a-Lago, and rivals for the GOP nomination are expected to begin entering the race next year.

☆ Republicans want Brian Kemp's mojo to rub off on Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff, but hurdles remain as the governor uses his political operation to boost the GOP
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Brian Kemp has emerged as Herschel Walker's most powerful surrogate in the Georgia Senate runoff. Kemp, who won reelection as governor, didn't campaign with Walker during the general election race. This normally wouldn't be a notable act in GOP politics, but the Georgia Senate runoff election is not a normal contest. For that reason, Walker has found himself openly embracing Kemp, who came out of the general election as the biggest winner in Georgia politics. On November 7, Kemp flew around Georgia with most of the statewide GOP candidates — including Raffensperger — but Walker wasn't part of the mix.

A White House statement accused House Republicans of planning to go after Biden "with politically motivated attacks chock full of long-debunked conspiracy theories." Hunter Biden never held a position in the White House or on his father's campaign. The House Republicans' probe will begin to unfold next year, as the U.S. political calendar heads toward the 2024 presidential election, in which Biden said he currently intends to seek re-election. More than a dozen House Republicans appeared alongside Comer at a Wednesday press conference, many of them staunch allies of Trump, who announced his own 2024 White House run on Tuesday. The looming House Oversight investigation of Biden will coincide with a House Judiciary Committee probe into allegations of political influence at the Justice Department under Biden.

☆ Mitch McConnell laments that there's no stopping Trump from inserting himself into Georgia's Senate race but says the runoff gives Republicans 'another chance to get it right'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Warren Rojas | John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mitch McConnell called Georgia's Senate runoff a second chance to still win a seat. McConnell said he can't keep Trump from messing with Georgia politics like he did in 2021. But the Kentucky Republican is less enthused about having to try and keep embattled former President Donald Trump from derailing things, again. These days, Trump is combating multiple investigations and taking heat from Republicans like McConnell who blame him for the GOP's poor showing in the 2022 midterm elections. The Senate majority that GOP leaders saw within reach eventually fizzled, as candidates like Blake Masters of Arizona and Mehmet Oz of Pennsylvania faltered in critical suburban areas and received tepid support from independents.

☆ Mitch McConnell says he 'never predicted a red wave' and that independent and moderate Republican voters were 'frightened' by GOP
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The GOP leader said he "never predicted a red wave" and "never saw that in any of our polling." He also said that moderate and independent voters were "frightened" by some GOP figures. He also said he never predicted a blow-out victory for Republicans, based on polling that he saw in recent months. "And it frightened independent and moderate Republican voters." McConnell has balked at releasing an affirmative Republican agenda, believing it's best to make midterm elections a referendum on the party in power.

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