GOP lawmakers to determine Santos' fate
Ohio Republican to Santos: "You are a crook"
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for December 1, 2023:
GOP delays Mayorkas impeachment vote.
Still no deal on Israel-Ukraine-border package.
Trump endorses call to arrest police officers over Jan. 6.
VIVA DE LA SANTOS. With the U.S. House ready to vote for a third time on the expulsion of Rep. George Santos (R-NY), GOP lawmakers openly wrestled Thursday with the question of whether his misconduct was serious enough to merit a historic punishment. “I have been convicted of no crimes,” Santos said in a theme picked up by other Republicans.
GAETZ. "Since the beginning of Congress, there's only two ways you get expelled," said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). "You get convicted of a crime, or you participated in the Civil War. Neither apply to George Santos,” as Gaetz argued it would set a new - and unwelcome precedent.
SANTOS. On the House floor, Santos never really addressed the charges against him, accusing the Ethics Committee of a 'smear campaign.' "On what basis does this body feel that precedent must be changed for me?" Santos asked, noting that he would be only the sixth House member to be expelled.
WORD CLOUD. GOP lawmakers didn't hold their fire on Santos, calling him a criminal, con man, and liar. "You sir, are a crook," said Rep. Max Miller (R-OH). (Santos then called Miller a 'woman beater.')
LONG ISLAND. The roughest words came from fellow New York Republicans. "George Santos is a liar," said Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-NY). "My future former colleague is divorced from reality," said Rep. Mark Molinaro (R-NY). "He has manufactured his entire life."
TWO-THIRDS. I was there in 2002 when the House voted 420-1 to kick out a convicted Rep. Jim Traficant of Ohio. It was a sad scene. Everyone knew Traficant was toast that day. But as the final votes wrapped up yesterday on the House floor, no one was quite sure whether Santos critics would get a two-thirds supermajority that is needed for expulsion.
CIRCUS. In a sense, Traficant and Santos aren’t that much different - and the corruption charges against Santos bear that out. "They call it the House of Representatives for a reason," my dad told me on my first day of work in 1980.
PRECEDENT. Until 1980, the only lawmakers expelled from the House had been three supporters of the Confederacy. That changed when the House voted to expel Rep. Michael 'Ozzie' Myers, who had been convicted in the ABSCAM investigation. Traficant's expulsion followed that precedent.
VOTES. If all 435 members vote, 290 votes would be needed for expulsion.
SCHEDULE. I was sort of puzzled by the GOP schedule for today in the House. It says the Santos resolution 'may be considered' on the floor. Is there another twist ahead? The House convenes at 9 am.
MAYORKAS. Another bid by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security was delayed on Thursday, after Greene won assurances from GOP leaders that a key House panel would move forward on the matter. "The impeachment resolution will be reaching the floor soon," the Georgia Republican said.
MRS. GREENE OF GEORGIA. "I’ve been guaranteed by Speaker Johnson and Chairman Green that we’ll be moving forward with impeaching Secretary Mayorkas through the Homeland Security Committee," Greene added. Senior Republicans have been reluctant to use impeachment over what's ultimately a policy dispute.
IMMIGRATION. The impeachment vote delay came as the House approved a bill to block any plan by the feds to house illegal immigrants on public lands or at any facilities run by the National Park Service.
GOP. “We need to secure our southern border, not use taxpayer dollars to house illegal migrants in America’s national parks," said Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX).
BORDER BATTLE. Key Senators say talks will continue into the weekend to try to come up with some kind of border security plan to add to an aid package for Israel and Ukraine. Senate Democrats had wanted a deal by today, but it was clear that wasn't going to happen - as Republicans have held fast to their call for policy changes on illegal immigration.
POLICY. "The humanitarian and national security crisis at the southern border is out of control," said Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the number two Republican in the Senate. "We can’t wait any longer. It must be fixed."
IDEAS. What specifically do Republicans want to change? It's more than just one thing. There are some of the idea pushed by GOP lawmakers:
Build more border wall.
Toughen asylum standards.
End 'catch and release.'
Limit 'parole' of migrants.
Hire more border agents.
ARIZONA. For those in border states, the problem is out of control. "It's become incredibly overwhelming for our local communities," said Sen. Krysten Sinema (I-AZ), who said some 15,000 migrants have been released into small communities in southern Arizona. "These are tiny towns that don't have shelters."
DEMS. While a number of Senate Democrats would like to cut a deal, they are taking flak from more liberal counterparts - especially over in the House. They want immigration reform - not a border crackdown.
SPLIT. "We are strongly opposed to any potential measures in a rushed border supplemental that would permanently restrict asylum access for immigrants," said a group of Hispanic House Democrats on Thursday.
NUMBERS. The raw numbers of how many migrants are coming across the border continue to tell a clearly defined story. In October, it was 241,000 people. Go back three years to October of 2020, and it was just 72,000 that month.
ISSUE. I’ll continue to say this - illegal immigration is a big problem for Democrats in 2024. Doing something now would actually give them some cover for the elections. But it may not happen.
REGULAR ORDER. The holiday is here - and that means you might need a gift or two along the way. Why not give someone the gift of straight news, and buy them a subscription to ‘Regular Order.’ If that doesn’t work, you can always just buy me a drink.
SUPREME COURT ETHICS. A meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee had just about everything you could imagine on Thursday morning, as GOP Senators tried to stop the panel from authorizing subpoenas to two people who have showered a pair of conservative Supreme Court Justices with gifts and luxury travel.
GOP. Along with all sorts of procedural motions, Republicans had proposed 177 different amendments, and tried their best to flood the zone. "Senator Durbin blocked my request to subpoena Jeffrey Epstein's flight logs," said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). "What are Democrats trying to hide?"
NERD NOTE. It's not often that you see a committee meeting involve a move to invoke the 'two-hour rule' which restricts committee work, efforts to prevent a quorum, interrupting a vote with repeated parliamentary challenges, a move to suspend the rules, and then a GOP walk out.
DEMS. "It shows how desperately Republicans want to prevent Americans from seeing what’s been going on between the right-wing billionaires and the gift-taking justices," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). The subpoenas would go to Texas GOP megadonor Harlan Crow and conservative activist Leonard Leo.
LEO'S GETTING LARGER. "Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats have been destroying the Supreme Court; now they are destroying the Senate," Leo said in a defiant statement. "I will not cooperate with this unlawful campaign of political retribution."
THREAT. Republicans said the move would come back to haunt Democrats. "Believe me Democrats: what goes around, comes around," thundered Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).
HEALTH CARE. Donald Trump this week turned Campaign 2024 in a surprise direction as he suddenly launched a series of broadsides at the Obama health law, vowing to repeal it if elected to a second term in the Oval Office.
TWO WEEKS. "I don’t want to terminate Obamacare,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website. “I want to REPLACE IT with MUCH BETTER HEALTHCARE.” You've heard that before, eh? Remember when Trump would often say his health care plan was coming in 'two weeks?'
GOP FAIL. Trump's attacks are a brutal reminder that nearly 14 years after the approval of the Affordable Care Act - Republicans still don't have a plan to replace it. More in my column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
JANUARY 6 VIDEOS. Former President Donald Trump sent out a message on his Truth Social website yesterday which called for police to be charged with crimes for their efforts to protect the Capitol on January 6. Yep, you read that right.
POST. Trump reposted this post: "The Capitol cops beat the hell out of innocent J6 protesters, and the videos are finally coming out. The cops should be charged and the protesters should be freed."
TUNNEL. The video attached to that post comes from the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, site of some of the most violent attacks on police by rioters, who were trying to force their way into the Capitol building.
BACK THE BLUE. Support for police on Jan. 6 came up last night in the debate between Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) of California and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. "I love this guy talking about backing the blue when you dangled pardons for January 6 insurrectionists," Newsom said to DeSantis at one point.
JAN. 6 PROBE. We finally have details about some of the text messages that Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) fought to keep secret in the January 6 investigation. They were revealed on Wednesday in a document posted by a federal appeals court - mistakenly posted most likely - because it was removed later that day. It was saved by news organizations like the Washington Post.
TEXTS. What do the texts show? That Perry - now the head of the Freedom Caucus - was open to completely bogus conspiracy theories about fraud in the 2020 election, as he encouraged a top Trump ally at the Justice Department to challenge the election results.
ITALIAN SATELLITES. On Jan. 6 - hours after the attack on the Capitol - Perry was still looking for evidence, asking a staffer if a story about Italian satellites being used to change votes was true. Perry wasn't alone. Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows had also been exploring that.
RAP SHEET. An Indiana man has been sentenced to six months in jail for his actions on Jan. 6. Matthew Huttle entered the Capitol that day along with his uncle, Dale Huttle, who battled with police officers outside, striking them with a flagpole. Dale Huttle is still awaiting trial.
TODAY. It's a busy day at the federal courthouse. Four people are scheduled to plead guilty. Seven others will receive their Jan. 6 sentences. They include Heather Kepley of Delaware, who carried a pink Trump flag. Joined by her brother (who already pleaded guilty), they tried to force their way through police lines to get into the Capitol.
MUSE OF HISTORY. December 1, 1851. The Senate started the 32nd Congress on a note of controversy, in a dispute over the winner of a Senate election in Florida. Stephen Mallory was there to be sworn into office - he had the certificate of election - but defeated Sen. David Yulee disputed the outcome. "I think the case is perfectly clear," said Sen. Henry Clay. After some debate, Mallory was sworn in, and the Senate would vote the next day to set up a committee to review the election controversy.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House meets at 9 am.
The Senate returns on Monday.
Check President Biden’s schedule.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.
Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
El Final De La Santos!! Yay!
What a day today. Can't wait for Friday's newsletter.