Biden continues to hit GOP on Social Security
Lawmakers question Pentagon response on Chinese balloon
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for February 10, 2023:
McConnell takes Biden’s side against Rick Scott.
Hunter Biden pulls a Donald Trump.
The worst Congressional testimony I’ve ever seen.
BIDEN. Two days after facing off with GOP lawmakers during his State of the Union Address, President Biden continued to hit Republicans over entitlement programs on Thursday. "Their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare," Biden said at a stop in Florida. "Well, let me say this: if that's your dream, I'm your nightmare," Biden said to applause.
SCOTT. Biden again singled out Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), ridiculing his plan to phase out all federal laws in five years. "The very idea the Senator from Florida wants to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block every five years I find to be somewhat outrageous," Biden said.
RESCUE AMERICA. The attacks on Scott stem from his 'Rescue America' plan, which I wrote last year was the biggest unforced error of the 2022 midterms - because it gave Democrats an easy target. "Rick Scott is the gift that never stops giving - to Democrats," tweeted political analyst Stu Rothenberg.
DARK BRANDON. This was clearly a good week for Biden. Without giving up anything, Biden boxed in the GOP - very publicly - against the idea of cutting Social Security and Medicare as part of a budget deal. And Biden is still hammering the issue, which tells you even more.
CHARGE. Since the State of the Union, Republicans have angrily claimed that Biden was lying about the GOP having plans to sunset Social Security and Medicare. Asked about that on a Kentucky radio station on Thursday, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell told the somewhat disappointed host that the President was right.
MCCONNELL. "Well, unfortunately, that was the Scott plan,” McConnell replied. “That's not a Republican plan. That was the Rick Scott plan.” Last year, McConnell dumped on Scott - in a quote which sounds just like Biden.
MARCH 2022. "We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within five years," McConnell said then.
COCAINE MITCH. If the McConnell-Scott battle was a prize fight, it would have been stopped long ago. McConnell easily defeated Scott for GOP Leader. Scott then had to watch helplessly as he was booted off a prime Senate committee. "That was pretty petty," Scott said on Fox News yesterday.
BALLOON GATE. While the House voted 419-0 on Thursday to condemn the Chinese for flying a spy balloon over the United States, frustration boiled over yesterday on Capitol Hill among members of both parties about how the Pentagon let the Chinese balloon float across the country before shooting it down last Saturday.
ACTION. "I am so angry," said a visibly aggravated Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) at a hastily called hearing on the incident. "I'll just tell you, I don't want a damn balloon going across the United States," added Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT). "I got a problem with the Chinese balloon flying over my state."
BRIEFING. It wasn't much different after a closed door briefing. "The administration has no plausible explanation for why they didn't shoot this balloon down over Alaska," said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).
JUST FINE. But there were others counseling caution. "The (intelligence) collection that we did while it was over the United States is going to pay dividends," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT).
PARTS. One interesting question is where did the parts come from for China to build this eavesdropping platform? "We need to see who has been involved in helping build these devices," said Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), who argued the Pentagon should immediately release as much information as possible.
INVESTIGATIONS. Republicans have frequently promised that ‘accountability is coming’ now that the GOP controls the U.S. House But their first hearings this week on Hunter Biden’s laptop and the ‘weaponization’ of government offered almost nothing in the way of new evidence on those subjects.
GRIEVANCES. Like Wednesday's hearing on Hunter Biden, the first weaponization hearing featured Republicans airing their general complaints. In this case, the witnesses took aim at the FBI (under both Trump and Biden), Democrats in general, plus multiple mentions of Hillary Clinton.
RON JOHN. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) used his testimony to complain that the Justice Department has been too zealous in its prosecution of January 6 rioters. He raised questions about Dr. Anthony Fauci and mentioned Clinton's emails.
HAWKEYE. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) repeatedly accused the FBI - during the Trump Administration - of trying to undermine his probe of Joe and Hunter Biden. Grassley also brought up Hillary Clinton.
TRIFECTA. Hillary Clinton got another mention from ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. Gabbard complained about how Clinton said that Gabbard was being 'groomed' by the Russians during the 2020 campaign.
GOP. Republicans touted various issues - like how complaints about school board protests were handled by the FBI, promising to reveal more in the future. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA).
WHAT’S NEXT. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) again promised revelations from FBI whistleblowers. But it’s not clear when another hearing will be held.
HUNTER. Republicans and Hunter Biden could be on their way to a fight in court. On Thursday, lawyers for the President's son rejected a request from the House Oversight Committee to turn over documents and other communications. Ironically, Hunter Biden’s lawyer used an argument often employed by Donald Trump.
GOP. Oversight Republicans asked for information about the President's son, his brother, and their business partner. "Hunter Biden, James Biden, and Eric Schwerin are key witnesses," said Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who claimed "Biden family members attempted to sell access around the world."
TIME FRAME. The requests are broad. Republicans want Hunter and James Biden to turn over any communications which involve Joe Biden from January 20, 2009 - when he became Vice President - to January 20, 2021, when he became President. You can read the GOP letter at this link.
LETTER. In a letter to Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Hunter Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell said there was no 'legitimate legislative purpose' in getting such information, describing GOP accusations as ‘far-fetched' conspiracies.
TRUMP. The argument about no 'legitimate legislative purpose' was used by Trump to try to derail efforts in Congress to get his tax returns and personal business records. Ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court found a House tax-writing panel had a legislative purpose in reviewing Trump's taxes.
REGULAR ORDER. What a week this was in the halls of Congress - and there’s no better time to have a subscription to my Capitol Hill newsletter. Or you can support independent journalism in Congress by giving the gift of straight news to someone you know. Option #3 is that you can buy me a drink.
HOUSE BREAK. Lawmakers left town last night and won’t be back for votes in the House until February 27, as they have an extended district work period back home. The Senate will work next week, and then take off the week of President’s Day.
CONSCIOUS CHOICE. With Republicans running the House and Democrats in charge of the Senate, the only way anything will get accomplished in this Congress will be through bipartisan agreement. Budget. Immigration. Police reform. The issue doesn’t matter - there must be compromise. We’ll see who chooses that path. That’s my column this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
DC VOTING. The House on Thursday voted 260-162 to repeal a new Washington, D.C law which would let non-U.S. citizens vote in local elections (not federal). 42 Democrats broke ranks to support the GOP plan, which now goes to the Senate.
DC CRIME. The House also approved a separate resolution to repeal a new Washington, D.C. law which reduces penalties for some serious crimes. The vote was 250-173, with 31 Democrats breaking ranks to support the effort.
GOP. "House Republicans are working to undo these ridiculous policies and bring common sense back to Congress," said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), who described the D.C. city council members as 'insane left-wing nutbags.'
FEDERAL CITY. Under the Constitution, Congress has the power to override laws approved by the D.C. government. Some Republicans have suggested stripping the city of its elected mayor and council.
EXPEL. A group of House Democrats introduced a resolution on Thursday to expel Rep. George Santos (R-NY) from Congress. "Enough is enough," said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA). "It's time for Republicans to get on board and join us in removing this fraud from the House."
BRIEFING. While Speaker Kevin McCarthy had given the okay for Santos to attend a briefing on the Chinese spy balloon, Santos opted not to go. It reminded me of how he had the chance to try to shake President Biden's hand at the State of the Union - but let another GOP lawmaker stand in front of him.
MORE. The latest crazy story to emerge about Santos - apparently he was charged with theft after writing a series of bad checks in 2017. He got out of it by reportedly claiming that he worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission. I can't make this stuff up.
MACED. Santos was the butt of jokes at a big press dinner on Wednesday night, courtesy of Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). “Really, who lies about playing college volleyball?" Mace said. "If you’re going to lie, at least make it about something big, like you actually won the 2020 presidential election.”
ROMNEY. Finally, I want to circle back to what I wrote earlier this week about how Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) dealt with Santos at the State of the Union. I do remember a time when a Speaker could summon a member, and tell them to resign. That's the kind of Republican that Romney is - but the GOP is not that kind of party anymore.
ATTACK. Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) is recovering from a violent incident in an elevator in her Washington, D.C. apartment building. Her staff said the attack was not politically motivated, as police believe a homeless person struck her several times before fleeing from the building.
REPORT. The police report said the suspect punched the Minnesota Democrat in the chin and grabbed her neck. Craig evidently retaliated by dousing the man with her cup of hot coffee. "There is no indication that the Congresswoman was targeted because of her position," the Capitol Police said.
FETTERMAN. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) remained in a Washington, D.C. hospital for a second straight night, with doctors still trying to figure out why he felt lightheaded on Wednesday. His office said last night that tests had ruled out another stroke - he suffered one in May of 2022 which jumbled his speech.
UPDATE. Fetterman's spokesman said tests were also conducted to see if the Pennsylvania Democrat had suffered some kind of seizure - but that was also negative.
ARCHITECT. What should have been a totally boring hearing with the Architect of the Capitol yesterday was anything but. Why am I telling you about this? Because the testimony of J. Brett Blanton was some of the worst that I have ever witnessed in my 35-plus years on Capitol Hill, as he faced new calls for his resignation.
RESIGN. “Mr. Blanton’s incompetency is a danger to his office,” said Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA). “He provided no meaningful or credible defense,” said Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), as both said it was time for Blanton to go.
QUESTIONS. Disputing the accuracy of an investigation into his actions, Blanton admitted that he drove his government SUV for vacations in South Carolina and Florida. Asked if he let his wife or daughter drive that SUV alone, Blanton gave one of the most preposterous answers I’ve ever heard.
FAMILY. “You would have to address that with members of my family,” Blanton said, leaving members on the panel stunned, as Blanton basically threw his wife and daughter under the bus.
JANUARY 6. We learned something new from Blanton’s testimony - even though he is on the Capitol Police board, Blanton was working from home on January 6. Blanton said he did not try to return to Capitol Hill that day.
RAP SHEET. The Delaware man who was photographed carrying the Confederate battle flag through the Capitol on January 6 will get a lot of time to think about his actions that day. A judge yesterday sentenced Kevin Seefried to three years in prison. His son already received two years in jail.
LONE STAR. The arrests also continue. Prosecutors say Jason Farris of Texas knocked an officer to the ground, telling police: "I bet your family is proud of you, fucking faggot ass."
MUSE OF HISTORY. February 10, 1922. On this date, President Warren Harding went to the Capitol and addressed the Senate, presenting a series of military disarmament treaties from what's known as the Washington Naval Conference. "I submit them to the Senate with every confidence that you will approve," Harding said to prolonged applause. Back in the chamber where he had served as a Senator, Harding made the case for arms limitation talks with other world powers. "I submit to the Senate that if we can not join in making effective these covenants for peace," Harding said, "we shall discredit the influence of the Republic."
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on February 27.
The Senate is back on Monday.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
If you want to say ‘thanks’ - you can buy me a cup of coffee.
When I first started making regular appearances on conservative talk radio, I couldn't get over how much they wanted to talk about Hillary (it's the same thing now with AOC). So in that sense, it doesn't shock me that they STILL are talking about Hillary in 2023. The first two days of hearings were not a good start for the GOP. They're going to need some new facts real quick. There's only so long that you can hold what's basically an extended Fox News segment - even Fox News didn't show much of the Weaponization hearing.
You are absolutely correct. I still say the easiest way to help is to have payroll taxes kick in again at say $500,000 per year in income (they currently phase out around $140k). But that's a tax increase and so the GOP won't be interested in that.