First 'Weaponization' hearing set for next week
GOP on Omar: "You reap what you sow"
Also in today’s “Regular Order” for February 2, 2023:
Biden & McCarthy pledge to work on budget deal.
Some GOP agenda items still on hold.
Trump hits McCarthy over January 6.
MYSTERY HEARING. The brand-new House GOP panel designed to investigate what Republicans claim is the overt political use of government agencies will have its first hearing next week - on an unknown topic. The ‘Weaponization’ panel announced last night that the hearing will take place next Thursday, February 9.
READY. The committee issued no statement and revealed no witnesses. "Ready," the panel's Twitter account stated - and that was all. It's one of two big House GOP hearings set for next week, as the Oversight and Accountability Committee will hold a first hearing about Hunter Biden's laptop.
TWITTER. That Oversight hearing will feature three former executives from Twitter - all recently fired by Elon Musk. They are being called to testify on how the social media giant handled the Biden laptop story. (Twitter blocked the New York Post story for one day, and then backed off).
GOP. "Americans deserve answers about this attack on the First Amendment and why Big Tech and the Swamp colluded to censor this information," said Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who will chair the hearing. (One reminder - the First Amendment does not apply to Twitter.)
DEMS. "I find it bizarre that we are summoning private media companies to interrogate them and their employees about specific content based decisions," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD). "If you want to go after government officials, go after government officials."
OMAR. House Republicans had a simple explanation for why they voted in unison on Thursday to boot Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) off the House Foreign Affairs Committee - it was partly payback for Democrats stripping committees two years ago from a pair of GOP lawmakers. "You reap what you sow," said Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
PAYBACK. "House Democrats set the standard of kicking Members off committees for making offensive comments," said Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV).
OMAR. Surrounded by fellow Democrats as she left the House floor after Thursday’s vote, Omar said she would not be silenced. "I will continue to speak for the families who are seeking justice around the world."
SQUAD. "Don't tell me this is about a condemnation of anti-Semitic remarks when you have a member of the Republican caucus who has talked about Jewish space lasers," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
PARLIAMENTARY NERD NOTE. The vote came a day after the House had approved Omar for a seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. No Republican objected at the time - so, the next step was to vote to remove her from the panel.
TALKS. A day after meeting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House, President Biden vowed to keep working with the GOP on a budget deal. "We had a good meeting yesterday," Biden said, as he used an appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast to urge politicians to tone things down.
BIDEN. "Let's just sort of join hands again and start treating each other with respect. That's what Kevin and I are going to do," the President said, with McCarthy listening.
MCCARTHY. Back at the Capitol, McCarthy echoed those sentiments. "I think at the end of the conversation between us, we thought, you know what, this is worthwhile to continue,” the Speaker said. “We should not wait five months.”
SENATOR BIDEN. Like I wrote yesterday, we all know Biden likes negotiations. That's the Senator in him. McCarthy knows he'll never get all of his GOP flock to agree on the budget - so he needs a deal with Biden.
MANCHINATOR. "I knew they could get along," Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said Thursday on Fox News. "I'm very hopeful this is going to work out without any drama or theatrics." (I’m not so sure about that - but talking is better than yelling.)
BACK THE BLUE. Donald Trump last night rebuked Speaker Kevin McCarthy and attacked the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt on January 6. Trump said the cop was a 'thug' and that Babbitt was "MURDERED" when she tried to enter the lobby just off the House floor as Trump supporters mobbed the Capitol.
MURDERED. Trump's outburst was spurred by a question asked of McCarthy at a Thursday news conference. "Do you think Ashli Babbitt was murdered, or do you think the police officer who shot her was doing his job?" McCarthy was asked. "I think the police officer did his job."
MRS. GREENE OF GEORGIA. Earlier this week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) used a committee hearing to say that Babbitt had been 'murdered' on January 6 - and that the police officer who shot her should be on trial.
JANUARY 6. This is yet another reminder that Donald Trump supported the people who attacked the Capitol - not the police who were defending it.
POLICE REFORM. President Biden met late Thursday with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, discussing possible moves on police reform in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis. “My hope is this dark memory spurs some action,” Mr. Biden told reporters.
BLACK CAUCUS. “Bad policing has no place in any American city,” said Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV). “We’re looking for meaningful solutions that provide a foundation for lasting change,” added Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
GOP. Back at the Capitol, the Republican point man on police reform said he wants a deal - not just a Democratic bill. "Resurrecting the House progressives’ police reform bill is a nonstarter," said Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
STRATEGY. Let's stop for a second and think. We watched police reform talks stall out in 2020. In this divided Congress - everyone has to ask themselves a question. Do you want to get *something* done? Isn’t *something* better than nothing?
GUNS. Last year, we saw that play out in a deal on gun violence. While it didn’t come close to what Democrats wanted on guns, there was still some progress. "We enjoyed working together," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT). Now, Murphy is trying to use that to tackle a different issue.
BORDER. Last month, Murphy went to the southern border with three Senators who helped cut that gun violence deal. "This same group of Senators defied the odds and broke a thirty-year impasse on guns,” Murphy wrote. “Maybe we can capture that magic again.”
BIPARTISAN. Whether it’s police reform, immigration, the budget, or any other difficult issue - neither party is going to get what it wants right now. And if there’s going to be progress, it probably will have to be forged by Senators, who seem to have a much better chance at coming up with deals.
GOLDEN STATE. The 2024 race for U.S. Senate in California took an interesting turn on Thursday. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi put her thumb on the scale in a big way - by endorsing Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) over Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA).
PELOSI. “If Senator Feinstein decides to seek re-election, she has my whole-hearted support," Pelosi said. "If she decides not to run, I will be supporting House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, who knows well the nexus between a strong Democracy and a strong economy.“
SCHIFF. It's no surprise that Pelosi would support Schiff. She put him in charge of the intelligence panel, and had him lead the first impeachment effort against President Donald Trump.
SHIFT. I noticed again yesterday that Speaker McCarthy says “shift” instead of Schiff. That reminded me of former Washington football General Manager Bruce Allen, who repeatedly called Quarterback Kirk Cousins “Kurt.”
REGULAR ORDER. There is no better time to have a window into the inner workings of the Congress than right now - and that’s what you get with my newsletter. You can give the gift of straight news to someone you know - or you can buy me a drink, because Lord knows I will need a few this year.
GOP AGENDA. When Republicans took the House majority, they laid out plans for a very fast legislative start, authorizing debate on bills dealing with immigration, crime, abortion, and more. But a month later, five of those measures still haven't been voted on - and none of them are on the schedule again next week.
SCHEDULE. This week, House Republicans did have time for a resolution saying socialism is bad, but not for these items in their original legislative plan:
H.R. 29 - to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to suspend the entry of aliens.
H.R. 27 - to direct district attorney and prosecutors offices to report to the Attorney General.
H.R. 28 - to require the instant background check system to notify immigration officials if an illegal immigrant is trying to buy a firearm.
H.R. 7 - to prohibit taxpayer funded abortions.
H. Con. Res. 4 - condemning any efforts to defund or dismantle law enforcement agencies.
IMMIGRATION. "When we deal with immigration, a lot of members have a lot of different positions," Speaker McCarthy told reporters when asked about the lack of action. "I think at the end of the day, we'll try to find the very best policy.”
PUSHBACK. Of course, the lack of action has been jumped on by Democrats. This tweet from Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) will give you an idea how they are attacking the House GOP legislative schedule so far.
HOT STOVE LEAGUE. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on Thursday joined with several GOP Senators in introducing legislation - the 'Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act' - to stop the Consumer Product Safety Commission from pursuing any kind of federal ban on gas stoves.
CHEF MANCHIN. "I'll tell you one thing - they're not taking my gas stove out," Manchin said at a Senate hearing. "The federal government has no business telling American families how to cook their dinner."
HEADLINE. The headline on Manchin's press release was a reminder of the tightrope that he walks. "Manchin hits Biden Administration on Gas Stove Ban."
VIVA DE LA SANTOS. Another piece of the past has fallen into place about Rep. George Santos (R-NY). CNN has dug up an old deleted video by Santos in which he refers to Barack Obama's 'shady birth certificate.' Yep - Santos is a birther.
BIRTHERS. For those of you who don't remember - when the GOP challenged President Obama's U.S. citizenship - those people were commonly known as 'birthers' for their refusal to accept that Obama was born in Hawaii.
CAP HILL. Santos was sporting a big campaign type pin on his sports coat Thursday which said, "I ❤️️ CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS."
OMAR. Santos also weighed in on the ouster of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). "It is incredibly unfortunate we have to remove someone who compares Israel to the Taliban," Santos said. He did not mention his own committee-less situation.
COVID. Republicans in Congress this week approved four different bills which channeled their frustrations and grievances about the Coronavirus and virus-related restrictions. Can it help the GOP in 2024? That's my column this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
MUSE OF HISTORY. February 3, 1825. With just days left before the House would vote to elect a President, Speaker Henry Clay rose on the floor to defend himself against accusations of a corrupt bargain between Clay and John Quincy Adams. The charge had been made in a letter printed by a Philadelphia newspaper - which came from Rep. George Kremer of Pennsylvania. "These charges implicated his conduct, in regard to the pending Presidential election," the record noted, as Clay asked for an investigation. Things would get much hotter over the next few weeks.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on Monday.
The Senate doesn’t have votes until Tuesday.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
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Yes, you are correct. The 'one day' was about how Twitter blocked that story, not about how the Post account was dealt with by Twitter. As for your complaints, please feel free to address them in detail. But be very specific.
YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO PRY MY COLD DEAD HANDS OFF MY (CHECKS NOTES) GAS STOVE