House GOP to unveil 2022 'Commitment to America'
CR still TBD one week before shutdown deadline
Also in today’s edition of “Regular Order” for September 23, 2022:
GOP reels after revelations about Ohio candidate.
The House approves four public safety bills.
Democrats ask for probe of migrant flight.
GOP PLATFORM. House Republicans will gather in Pennsylvania this morning to roll out what they call their 'Commitment to America' - a series of campaign-style promises on what they would do if the GOP wins back control of the U.S. House in the November elections.
COMMITMENT. Unlike the original 'Contract With America' from 1994 - which listed a number of very specific legislative plans - the Commitment to America is much more general in nature. For example, the GOP plan would 'uphold free speech,' 'guarantee religious freedom' and 'safeguard the Second Amendment.'
DETAILS. The plan promises to 'curb wasteful government spending' - but does not mention anything about a balanced budget, as Republicans promise 'pro-growth tax and deregulatory policies.' It also includes GOP calls to make America energy independent.
HEALTH CARE. One notable item that's not part of this new GOP campaign plan - it doesn't say anything about repealing the Obama health law. The health plan promises 'lower prices through transparency, choice, and competition,' but doesn't go into any details on how that would be achieved.
MORE. You can review the GOP plan for yourself at this link.
SPENDING DEADLINE. Lawmakers went home for a long weekend without seeing any details on a temporary funding bill which must be approved next week - in order to avoid a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends on September 30.
CLOTURE. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer set a procedural vote for Tuesday on a House-passed bill which would serve as the legislative vehicle for the Continuing Resolution - but no details were offered on what will actually go in the bill, or how long the stopgap funding plan will last.
SCHEDULE. Next week is shorter than normal because of Rosh Hashanah. The Senate won’t have votes until Tuesday evening - the House doesn’t return for votes until Wednesday evening. It sets up a familiar ‘vote-for-the-stopgap-bill-or-risk-a-government-shutdown’ scenario.
HOUSE. If the Senate cannot get 60 votes to move ahead on the Continuing Resolution - then the House will have to go first. "Let's see what happens in the Senate," Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters, "and then we will deal with what we have to do in the House."
TIMING. Some Republicans in Congress have demanded that the temporary funding bill go into 2023 - to keep Democrats from passing a final 'Omnibus' spending bill before the end of the 117th Congress. A date in December seems more likely - we’ll see what happens next week.
OHIO. What seemed like a possible pickup in Congress for Republicans in Ohio is now in question, after it was revealed that GOP candidate J.R. Majewski lied about his military service. The Associated Press first reported that Majewski never served in Afghanistan during his time in the Air Force, as he has claimed in his campaign.
ADS. Instead of backing up Majewski, national Republicans fled the scene, scrapping campaign ads bought for Majewski for the last six weeks of the midterm campaign. Majewski could still win this seat in November - but he won't have air support from the GOP in the stretch run to Election Day.
VIDEO. In a statement, Majewski carefully avoided the question of whether he lied about being in Afghanistan. "I served my country proudly at multiple bases in the Middle East," Majewski said. At one point, he was near tears in his video. "It's a crime to support President Trump," he complained.
DEMS. "J.R. Majewski owes a full explanation of his deception," said Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), whose time in Congress has been in jeopardy in this race. The AP said records showed Majewski was never in Afghanistan. This Majewski tweet from 2021 indicated otherwise.
CRIME. The House on Thursday approved four different public safety bills - but only after the effort by Democrats almost ran aground. "Today is a day of important progress on one of House Democrats’ top priorities: building safer communities," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
FOUR BILLS. Three of the plans would create various grant programs for local law enforcement to deal with mental health emergencies, police equipment and training, and improved investigative efforts on unsolved crimes. Another plan would funnel money to community groups to fight crime.
MESSAGE. Even though all four measures received bipartisan support, they are unlikely to advance in the Senate. Instead, their approval gives Democrats something to point to when Republicans accuse them of being soft on crime in the final six weeks of the midterm campaign.
PROCEDURAL VOTE. The crime votes almost didn't happen, as a small group of progressive Democrats nearly scuttled the effort on a key procedural vote. The final tally was 216-215 with one Republican - Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) - missing the vote. She would have voted 'No' and the plan would have died on a tie vote.
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MIGRANTS. A key Democrat in Congress is asking the Homeland Security Department and the Justice Department to investigate the Governor of Florida's move to fly a group of migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard last week.
LETTER. "These allegations raise serious concerns as to whether any federal laws were violated in the coercion and transport of the migrants," wrote Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
LEGAL. The notable wrinkle about many of those migrants flown to Massachusetts was that they are temporarily in the U.S. legally - because they are asking for asylum, fleeing a dictatorship in Venezuela.
LEGAL WEED. Times change. When I arrived on Capitol Hill in the 1980’s, I could not have imagined the idea of lawmakers in Congress fully supporting the idea of legalizing marijuana. Now we're at the point where U.S. Senators are extolling the virtues of 'Cannabis consumption lounges' in Las Vegas.
TAR HEEL. Former President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally this evening in Wilmington, North Carolina, as he tries to boost GOP chances in a race for U.S. Senate. Trump will stump for Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), who has not been able to shake former state Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley.
VOTING. North Carolina was the first state to send out vote by mail ballots a week ago. As of Thursday, 4,599 ballots had already been returned by voters and accepted by elections officials in 89 of the state's counties.
DON'T VOTE BY MAIL. It used to be that Republicans dominated voting by mail. But since Donald Trump said voting by mail was bad - it has flipped. For example in North Carolina - 55 percent of mail ballots returned so far have come from Democratic voters, and just 14 percent from Republicans.
CORONAVIRUS. It wasn’t the end of the world for President Biden, but statement this past week - that the virus ‘pandemic is over’ - gave Republicans an opening to more broadly attack federal rules and restrictions related to the Coronavirus. “Only this White House could insist that when Biden says the pandemic is over it means the pandemic isn't over,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). It was an unforced error just weeks before Election Day. That’s my column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
MUSE OF HISTORY. September 23, 1814. Four days after being called back into session by President Madison - following the British attack on the Federal City - the House voted to authorize a committee to investigate the attack, which severely damaged the Capitol, the White House and other government buildings. The record says it was agreed to 'without a dissenting voice.' "It was premature now to give any opinion where the blame, if any, of what had happened should rest," said Rep. Thomas Grosvenor of New York. The House and Senate had to meet in temporary quarters during this time, in a building at 7th and E Streets, NW, about a mile from the Capitol.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on Wednesday.
The Senate holds votes on Tuesday.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
"It's a crime to support President Trump," - so he *can* tell the truth, if necessary.
"I crewed flights into and out of Afghanistan supporting the men and women on the front lines" is a much better statement than lying about spending a month there. Military service is one of the easiest things to verify.