GOP demands answers on Biden documents
More Republicans call on Santos to resign
Also in today’s “Regular Order” for January 13, 2023:
Biden rips GOP over ‘FairTax’
Federal deficit inches the wrong way.
A highly unusual Senate endorsement.
CLASSIFIED. As Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel on Thursday, Republicans in Congress pressed the White House for answers on how classified documents from when Joe Biden was Vice President were discovered at an office he used in Washington, and at his home in Delaware.
GOP. "We're talking about classified documents - it's obviously serious," Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told reporters at the Capitol. "But you almost start laughing when you find out they were in his garage."
INTEL. Republicans immediately asked for an intelligence assessment. "The presence of classified information at these separate locations could implicate the President in the mishandling, potential misuse, and exposure of classified information," said Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH).
RAID. Republicans also quickly compared how Biden's case was handled to that of ex-President Donald Trump. "When's the raid?" asked Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC). "There's always a double standard," said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).
TIMELINE. Here's the basic timeline offered by Attorney General Garland:
Nov. 2, 2022 - documents found at Biden's DC office.
Dec. 20, 2022 - documents found in his garage.
Jan. 12, 2023 - another document found at his Delaware home.
DOCS. Remember how Donald Trump claimed at first that the FBI had ‘planted’ classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate? Trump had no evidence to support that claim, and was rightly rebuked for it. But the same idea was broached yesterday by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA).
PLANTED. Like Trump, Johnson offered no evidence that classified documents had been planted either at Biden’s office or home garage. In other words, this is Cynthia McKinney conspiracy theory type stuff.
JOHNSON. I asked Johnson’s office about the claim. His spokesman simply pointed me back to a statement that Johnson issued, and said the Georgia Democrat has concerns. But like Trump, there was no evidence.
VIVA DE LA SANTOS. House Republicans went home for an extended legislative break on Thursday with no solution to the situation involving Rep. George Santos (R-NY) - who faces growing calls for his resignation over his obvious lies about his background and resume.
EMPIRE. Two more freshmen Republican lawmakers from New York called on Santos to resign on Thursday. "I believe he is unable to fulfill his duties and should resign," said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY). "I don't see how he can continue," added Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY).
BUCKEYE. It's not just New York. Another GOP freshman - Rep. Max Miller of Ohio - also called last night for Santos to quit. "It is not okay to fabricate or lie for political gain," said Miller, who is Jewish, not Jew-ish.
MCCARTHY. But for a second straight day, Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Santos room to stay on in Congress. "What I find is that voters have elected George Santos," McCarthy told reporters. "If anything is found to be done wrong, he will be held accountable exactly as anybody else would be."
RESIGN. Santos was showing no signs that he would quit. "I came here to serve the people, not politicians and party leaders, and I'm going to do just that," Santos told fellow Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who was filling in on Steve Bannon's daily TV show.
GAETZ. In the interview, Gaetz gingerly prodded Santos for answers about how he made $700,000 to donate to his campaign. "I'll tell you where it didn't come from - it didn't come from China, Ukraine, or Burisma," Santos said. Burisma is a Ukrainian energy company which hired Hunter Biden.
NEXT. I don’t see Santos quitting right now. But the drumbeat of stories may subside as he heads back to Long Island for ten days. Unlike in the halls of Congress, Santos won’t have TV cameras chasing him every day.
REGULAR ORDER. This first two weeks of 2023 certainly shows what a crazy time it’s going to be on Capitol Hill this year. Give yourself or your friends the gift of straight news with my newsletter, support independent journalism in the halls of Congress, and help send my kids to college.
CALIFORNIA. A feud between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) over committee assignments is becoming more pointed, and will soon come to a head. Asked why he was going to boot Swalwell off the House Intelligence Committee, McCarthy hinted darkly at the reasons why.
JOE MCCARTHY. "If you got the briefing that I got from the FBI, you wouldn't have Swalwell on any committee," McCarthy told reporters on Thursday, without offering any evidence to support his statement.
PUSHBACK. Swalwell says McCarthy's claims have led to death threats against him. "The American people aren't going to be happy until we see you fucking hanging by the neck," one man said by phone to Swalwell's office.
FANG FANG. Republicans have pointed to Swalwell's relationship with a woman who turned out to be a Chinese spy. Swalwell says after the FBI warned him in 2015, he cut off ties to the woman - and said the FBI had never found any wrongdoing. But that hasn't stopped GOP accusations.
POWER. As Speaker, McCarthy does have the power to keep Swalwell off the Intelligence Committee. McCarthy has also said he will not allow Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) to be on the same panel.
OIL SALES. Before heading home for a break week, the House gave easy bipartisan approval to a GOP plan to ban sales of U.S. oil stockpiles to China. The vote was 331-97, as 113 Democrats joined with 218 Republicans in favor of the plan, which now goes to the Senate.
ENERGY. In debate, Republicans again attacked President Biden’s energy policies. "The Republican majority is wasting no time making good on our commitment to the American people to reverse this reckless agenda that the Biden Administration has followed," said Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX).
COOPERATION. While there were a lot of tough words from Republicans on the House floor, this was the second GOP plan this week which attracted strong support from Democrats. The other was on a vote to create a special committee to focus on China.
BREAK WEEK. The GOP legislative agenda goes on hold now until later this month. House members aren't due back for votes at the U.S. Capitol until January 24.
GOLDEN STATE. Lawmakers from California are asking federal transportation officials for emergency help in dealing with damage from recent storms in the Golden State. "This series of weather events has already caused extensive damage to California state highways," they wrote in a letter.
APPEAL. "I'm urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to swiftly provide support, funding, and resources to our state," said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), as 38 lawmakers from the state joined in the appeal for emergency highway relief.
CALIFORNIA SENATE. Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) is wasting no time ramping up her bid for U.S. Senate in 2024, as she netted the endorsement on Thursday of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). "She's smart and she has a backbone made out of steel," Warren said of Porter in a video endorsement.
GOLDEN STATE. To Capitol Hill veterans, this is all very crazy - because Warren is endorsing Porter in a race where there is already an incumbent - fellow Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
DI FI. While Feinstein has made no announcement about her future, no one believes she is running in 2024. But it still seems weird for Porter to make her announcement and for Warren to publicly endorse her.
TRIVIA. I didn't know this about Warren and Porter. They met many years ago when Porter was a student in Warren's consumer law class at Harvard.
CORNHUSKER. Ex-Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) is the next Senator from Nebraska, replacing Ben Sasse, who left to head the University of Florida. "I can't think of an issue we differ on," Ricketts said, in comparing himself to Sasse.
GOP. The choice drew immediate praise. "Pete is a great addition to the Senate and will bring a history of common-sense conservative governance to Washington," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).
ELECTION. Ricketts will face a special election in 2024 for the final two years of Sasse’s term. If you think you recognize the Ricketts name - you might. His family owns the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
FAIRTAX. President Biden on Thursday slammed House Republicans over plans to vote on the FairTax - which would abolish the IRS, end income taxes, and instead impose a tax on all retail sales. “Republicans are preparing to vote on a national sales tax bill,” the President said.
BIDEN. The White House seemed ready to have Biden attack the GOP on the FairTax. "It would raise taxes on the middle class by taxing thousands of everyday items from groceries to gas, while cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans," Biden told reporters.
SPEAKER. Holding a vote on the FairTax was one of the deals made by Speaker McCarthy with the Freedom Caucus. The idea was championed for years by ex-Rep. John Linder (R-GA) and talk radio host Neal Boortz.
POLITICS. There are many issues which can be demagogued pretty easily - and the FairTax is one of them. It has this bizarre 'prebate' where people would get money in advance from the government. The fraud possibilities seem endless.
DEFICIT. The federal budget deficit is going the wrong way so far in Fiscal Year 2023. With new figures in for December, the deficit in the first three months is at $421 billion, up from $378 billion at this point a year ago.
NUMBERS. Revenues are down by $26 billion compared to the same three months in the last fiscal year, while spending is up by $17 billion.
BALANCE. This is a good time to remind everyone that if you're only going to balance the yearly budget by making spending cuts - it won't be easy. Here are some scenarios from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:
26 percent across the board cut in all spending.
33 percent cut if you exclude the military and VA.
51 percent cut if you exclude defense, VA, and Social Security.
85 percent cut if you exclude defense, VA, Social Security, and Medicare.
CHOICES. Remember - there are three very basic choices when you figure out how to balance the budget.
You can spend less.
You can bring in more revenues.
You can do both.
BUDGET PROCESS. One pledge of Republicans in this new Congress is to pass the dozen government funding bills on time, and not end up with a giant Omnibus funding bill just before Christmas. "I am eager to help restore regular order and finally put a stop to end-of-year brinkmanship," said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS).
SPENDING. As I've detailed many times, Congress has not passed its funding bills on time (by October 1) since 1996. On that basis alone, you should root for lawmakers to do things differently going forward. That's my column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
MUSE OF HISTORY. January 13, 1875. On this date, President Grant sent Congress the latest update on U.S. military intervention in Louisiana, undertaken after years of violence against blacks and various election disputes. In his message, Grant said Louisiana was characterized by 'lawlessness, turbulence, and bloodshed,' as he asked Congress to step in. On Capitol Hill, Sen. John Logan of Illinois called for legislative action to blunt what he labeled the 'old-fashioned secession doctrine' of Louisiana and the South. The Civil War was over - but the fight was not.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House has votes on January 24.
The Senate next has votes on January 23.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
Hillary's was nothing compared to this stuff. She forwarded herself emails to her home email, and most of those emails were absolutely nothing of note. It could also be that a lot of these documents are not much - and are just over-classified materials. But it still doesn't make it right.
Yeah the wheels aren't turning like they used to. This not only brings up the question of office / family / friends to say something, but also reporters.