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☆ House GOP establishes committee targeting 'weaponization' of federal government with 'at least as much' funding as the January 6 committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Bryan Metzger | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The House GOP voted to create a new subcommittee that they say is modeled after the Church Committee. The new subcommittee is officially known as the "Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government" and will be housed under the House Judiciary Committee. Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar had previously publicly expressed some interest in the committee, but ultimately voted against its creation on Tuesday. He added that the committee would have "at least as much as the January 6 committee" in terms of its budget and staffing. Under the language of the resolution establishing the committee, the 13-member panel will be composed of eight Republicans and five Democrats.

☆ House Democrats brace for Speaker McCarthy to block their committee assignments in retaliatory strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Warren Rojas | Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has pledged to bar three Democrats from sitting on two committees. Republicans are targeting Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell, and Ilhan Omar. Democrats declined to speculate on next steps if McCarthy follows through on his plan. Swalwell has served on the Intelligence committee since 2015, and is also a member of the Homeland Security Committee and Judiciary Committee. Staff for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about defending Democratic members' committee assignments.

☆ House speaker chaos signals Donald Trump’s shrinking influence
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Trump's allies repeatedly rejected Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, displaying his power's limits. A week of House speaker chaos revealed one thing about Donald Trump: He can't get his MAGA house in order. The drama started on Tuesday, and it wasn't until Friday that McCarthy managed to make headway in flipping members' votes. "The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that, 'Sir, you do not have the votes, and it's time to withdraw.'" House members who are responding to the MAGA base have no reason to fear Trump on this, he said.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are sounding the alarm about how a nonfunctional House hurts national security. "If a national security crisis arises, the President of the United States is right down the street," he said. "I'm informed by House Security that, technically, I don't have a clearance," Gallagher, a former Marine Corps intelligence officer, told reporters. "I'm a member of the [House Intelligence Committee], I'm on the Armed Services Committee, and I can't meet in the SCIF to conduct essential business." "President Xi says, 'Our system of governance works because democracy don't,'" Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, told reporters.

☆ After flipping 13 votes in his favor, McCarthy loses yet another floor vote in seemingly endless speaker bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kevin McCarthy lost his 12th speaker ballot Friday. The converts are still reviewing rules changes McCarthy has promised in exchange for the gavel. "Watch here and you'll see some people who have been voting against me voting for me," McCarthy told reporters at the US Capitol. Republican Reps.-elect Ken Buck of Colorado and Wesley Hunt of Texas, both McCarthy supporters, were both absent Friday morning because of personal reasons. "You only earn the position if you get the votes," Gaetz said on the House floor, a taunt that caused McCarthy supporter Rep-elect Mike Bost of Illinois to shout his disapproval.

☆ Giving away more power did nothing for Kevin McCarthy, who lost his 8th House speaker ballot after further bowing to dissidents' demands
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Warren Rojas | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Kevin McCarthy kept flailing Thursday as 20 House conservatives torched another speaker vote. Republican Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who was once a thorn in House Democrats' side, said the GOP could be in for chaos if talks could on their current trajectory. Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas previously compared bringing back the procedural maneuver to governing "with a gun to your head." According to multiple reports, McCarthy has now agreed to let a single House Republican wield that power. This almost certainly means McCarthy would need to rely on House Democrats, a scenario that has doomed past GOP speakers.

☆ GOP Rep. Byron Donalds dismisses risks of prolonged House speaker vote chaos, says Biden 'is right down the street' if an actual crisis erupts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Republican Rep. Byron Donalds blew off concerns about the ongoing House speaker fight. House lawmakers can't legally do anything until they are sworn in by an elected speaker. "The President of the United States is right down the street," Donalds said of the Biden backstop. "We all know that if a national security crisis arises, the President of the United States is right down the street. The House remains paralyzed until a speaker is named, because elected members are legally powerless — unable to introduce bills, do committee work, or pass laws — until they are formally sworn in by a duly elected speaker.

☆ Kevin McCarthy loses latest House speaker vote to sophomore Rep. Byron Donalds after failing to win over any of the conservative holdouts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Kevin McCarthy lost another House speaker ballot on Wednesday, his fourth whiff in two days. This time, anti-McCarthy advocates nominated Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida as their pick. The only other deviation was that Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted "present," which shrank McCarthy's support to 201 votes. The anti-McCarthy camp has so far proposed rallying behind Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Byron Donalds of Florida. McCarthy refused to back down ahead of the latest doomed vote, insisting that he's still the favorite among the broader Republican caucus.

☆ Kevin McCarthy loses first ballot for House speaker, with 19 hardline Republicans voting against him to show the would-be leader who's boss
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Warren Rojas | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rep. Kevin McCarthy is fighting an uphill battle to become House speaker. Nineteen Republicans voted against McCarthy's bid for speaker. The vote also marks the first time in 100 years that the House failed to elect a speaker on an initial ballot. Lawmakers, however, cannot take their oaths of office until a House speaker is elected. Here are the 19 Republicans who voted against McCarthy:

☆ At least 3 House GOP leaders who dodged Jan. 6 committee subpoenas plan to haul in witnesses for their own investigations in the 118th Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The January 6 committee deposed over 1,000 witnesses about Trump's 2020 election fraud scheme. Seven House Republicans elected not to answer the committee's questions. Defying this probe could empower Democrats to do the same when Republicans take control in 2023. The highest profile holdouts include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan of Ohio, who are vying to become House speaker and Judiciary chairman, respectively, in the next Congress after flipping control of the chamber this fall. January 6 committee members unanimously voted on December 19 to refer McCarthy, Jordan, Biggs, and Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania to the House Committee on Ethics for failing to comply with the subpeonas.

☆ DeSantis' second inauguration as governor will have a 'Free State of Florida' theme, an intimate candlelight dinner, and a toast to moms supporting the GOP governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The overarching theme is "The Free State of Florida," the Florida Standard first reported. "The Free State of Florida" is a motto mirroring DeSantis' 2022 campaign theme. Officials stand on stage during an inauguration ceremony where Ron DeSantis was sworn in as Florida Governor, Tuesday, January 8, 2019, in Tallahassee, Florida. This inauguration, DeSantis is considering turning down donations from Big Tech companies, The New York Times reported. "I support Governor DeSantis and am honored to have been invited to his inauguration," GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida told Insider.

☆ JD Vance is joining a distinctive club of conservatives who parlayed their celebrity into a GOP seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Incoming Sen. JD Vance continues a tradition of celebrities who broke into Republican politics. Their pre-congressional careers include stints on Broadway and reality TV, and in blockbuster movies. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyNewly minted Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio won't just be replacing retiring Sen. He'll be joining the cadre of right-leaning actors, singers, and reality TV personalities who traded on their celebrity to secure a spot on Capitol Hill. Here are five other cultural figures, listed by when they joined Congress, who beat Vance to the punch of becoming Republican lawmakers.

☆ Conservatives vying to derail Kevin McCarthy's speaker bid may not be able to stop him. But forcing multiple votes — the record is 133 — could still make for a historic fight.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Kevin McCarthy is working to clinch the votes needed to become House speaker in 2023. Around a dozen House Republicans currently have issues with giving him the job. Should getting a promotion require more than five dozen ballots, McCarthy would move into Howell Cobb territory (63 ballots; 1849). In order to push McCarthy past Banks in terms of all-time ballots, blockers would have to keep McCarthy at bay at least 134 times. "We may see the cherry blossoms before we have a Speaker," the Trump-aligned Floridian said, citing DC's seasonal spectacle.

☆ Sen. Mike Braun's Indiana gubernatorial bid jump-starts the GOP's first open Senate seat race of 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Warren Rojas | Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Republican Sen. Mike Braun is running for governor of Indiana in 2024. He filed the paperwork to create the new Mike Braun for Indiana, Inc., campaign committee in late November and has since rolled out a promotional website. "I'm very confident Indiana will stay in Republican hands," Daines told Insider between votes at the US Capitol. And fortunately for the Hoosier State, we have a lot of talented people who might run for that seat," Young told Insider at the US Capitol. The Banks and Spartz campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment about prospective Senate runs in 2024.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Congress in a moving Wednesday speech. Zelenskyy's speech came after the Ukrainian president joined Biden for a joint press conference on Wednesday afternoon, during which the latter reaffirmed ongoing support to Ukraine from the US. The Ukrainian president told reporters that he was grateful for US assistance and emphasized that the two countries are fighting for "common victory against this tyranny." President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky assailed Senate GOP leaders for agreeing to the latest tranche of Ukraine aid already baked into the year-end spending deal.

☆ House Democrats vote to make material related to Trump's personal tax returns public
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Warren Rojas | Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Democratic-majority House Ways and Means Committee voted to make materials related to Trump's tax returns public. Some of this was already revealed in 2020 when The New York Times obtained decades of Trump's tax information. "If this injustice can happen to President Trump, it can happen to all Americans without cause," Cheung wrote. US Treasury officials gave Neal Trump's tax filings for 2015-2020 in late November. Neal and other Democratic tax writers have been deliberating about how to handle Trump's tax documents for weeks.

☆ I Knew Oswald, and He Acted Alone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Paul Roderick Gregory | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Less than a year after John F. Kennedy ’s assassination, the Warren Commission released its findings to the public: JFK was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald , who acted alone. The new tranche of files the National Archives released last week contains nothing that calls that conclusion into question. When the Warren report came out in September 1964, some 80% agreed with its finding that Oswald acted alone. Today more than 60% don’t believe Oswald acted alone. One of the most amusing, in an effort to shift the blame from the leftist Oswald, lists my father and me as part of a White Russian conspiracy.

☆ Elon Musk Twitter poll shows majority want him to step down as chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Nivedita Balu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Dec 19 (Reuters) - Twitter users voted in a poll for Elon Musk to step down as chief executive of the social media platform, in a backlash against the billionaire less than two months after he took over. The poll results capped a whirlwind of actions over the past few days, including the suspension of journalists which drew condemnation from news organizations, advocacy groups and officials across Europe. The sudden banning of accounts that promoted rival social media platforms such as Facebook sparked retaliation even among long-time supporters. "THERE IS NO SUCCESSOR"Replying to one Twitter user's comment on a possible change in CEO, Musk said on Sunday "There is no successor". "Elon" and "CEO of Twitter" were among the trending topics on the social media platform on Monday.

☆ Hope Hicks testifies Trump refused to tell supporters to be non-violent on January 6, instructing them instead to 'fight like hell'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Former Trump aide Hope Hicks said she and others urged Trump to decry any violence on January 6. Hicks told House select committee investigators that Donald Trump refused to listen. Trump commanded the MAGA mob that amassed in Washington that day to "fight like hell." Hicks met with House select committee members in October to share her insights into everything that happened that day. She told Trump that he'd lost and "nobody's convinced me otherwise," according to internal deliberations highlighted in the Trump-centric tome "The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021."

☆ Elizabeth Warren is concerned Elon Musk is treating Tesla like a 'plaything' amid his Twitter takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote to Tesla's board, raising questions over Elon Musk's Twitter purchase. The senator told the board it must ensure Elon Musk does not treat Tesla as a "private plaything." Some Tesla investors have expressed concern that Twitter has become a distraction for Musk. Warren cited reports that Musk has brought in dozen of Tesla employees to assist in his Twitter takeover, saying it could violate the billionaire's "legal duty of loyalty to Tesla." Musk later took aim at Warren, calling her "Senator Karen" and saying she reminded him of a "friend's angry mom."

☆ How to watch the final House January 6 committee hearing on the Capitol attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Grace Panetta | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack is holding its last public meeting. The panel has held nine public hearings since the beginning of June. The committee held nine blockbuster public hearings, including one in primetime, over the course of the last seven months. Here's when and how to watch the hearings:When are the next January 6 Committee hearings? And that even though he knew full well he had lost the election, Trump fought it anyway because he was embarrassed about losing Biden.

☆ Former adversary John Boehner praises 'incredibly effective' outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi in tearful Capitol Hill tribute
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Former Speaker John Boehner had nothing but kind words for Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday. The Ohio Republican praised his one-time foil at her official portrait unveiling on Capitol Hill. "No other speaker of the House ... has wielded the gavel with such authority," Boehner said. The waterworks started earlier, though, as Boehner recounted how his daughters had asked him to "tell the speaker how much we admire her." She handled the career change like a champ then, Boehner said, and he seemed to believe she'll be fine with whatever comes next too.

☆ Conservative senators hail member-led strategy session as 'good first step' in dealing with mounting frustrations about Mitch McConnell's leadership
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A group of Senate Republicans hosted their first member-led policy discussion on Wednesday. Attendees said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was in the room but didn't participate. "Nothing was fleshed out," Braun told reporters at the US Capitol, adding that "I think it's the beginning, maybe, of a more participatory process." Still, convening more meetings, which Cornyn said this group seemed inclined to do, is preferable to the scorched-earth tactics others have embraced in the past. "I think they're good meetings to have," Rubio told Insider.

☆ 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.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema's party switch may make life that much harder for her already stressed out Hill staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Warren Rojas | Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Kyrsten Sinema's staff have had a tough time on Capitol Hill, with complaints of a "demoralizing" workplace. "He (and his staff) built a lot of good relationships with other senators and their staff," Overland wrote of the goodwill Lieberman had earned during his career. "Sen. Sinema has been in office less than one term and has been causing headaches for the party pretty much the entire time." A Sinema spokesperson declined to comment for this story. John LaBombard, Sinema's former communications director, said on Friday that Sinema told her staff about her decision in advance and he had not heard any negative reaction so far.

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