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Democrats might control the Senate, but they’ll have a hard time getting things done if 10 of their Republican counterparts have anything to say about it.
Following a New York jury’s guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump—and President Joe Biden’s subsequent cheerleading of the decision—10 Republican senators vowed to oppose Democrats’ legislative priorities and nominations.
“The White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways. As a Senate Republican conference, we are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart,” the Republican senators said in a statement released Friday.
It currently has 10 signatories:
Notably missing from the list is Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose milquetoast response Thursday—about four hours after the jury’s decision—drew scorn from conservatives.
These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal.
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) May 31, 2024
The statement signed by the 10 Republicans outlines three areas where they plan to stymie Democrats:
Democrats currently control 48 seats with three independent senators who caucus with them. Their narrow majority gives Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., little room to navigate, particularly on matters requiring a 60-vote threshold.
Now, with 10 Republican senators promising to make things even more difficult for Schumer, Democrats face the prospect of a Senate stuck in a stalemate.
Lee spearheaded the effort and wants to recruit more senators to the cause.
I hope to have every Republican senator sign this.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) May 31, 2024
This is a call for Senate Republican Conference unity.
Now is a time for choosing.
Will we let the Republic fall or are we going to do something about it? https://t.co/QcYQwsYv4E
“We are no longer cooperating with any Democrat legislative priorities or nominations, and we invite all concerned Senators to join our stand,” Lee wrote on X.
Scott, who is running to for GOP leader in the next Congress, endorsed the effort Friday.
“Our country is in real trouble,” Scott said. “Republicans must stand together and end this madness.”
PRIMETIME EXCLUSIVE: @SenRickScott is vowing legislative retaliation against the Democrats who supported Trump’s prosecution. pic.twitter.com/s95CJXmE8u
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) June 1, 2024
Marshall put the blame on Biden’s “partisan hack judges,” accusing them of weaponizing the judicial system against the president’s political opponent.
The jury found Trump guilty Thursday on all 34 charges of falsifying business records to hide “hush money” payments in 2016 to former pornographic movie actress Stormy Daniels.
Upon leaving the courthouse, Trump called the trial a disgrace and said, “This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who is corrupt.” He continued: “The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people.”
His sentencing hearing will take place July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention convenes in Milwaukee.
Business as usual is no longer an option—Biden and his leftist regime have, by their actions, decreed it’s no longer “politics as usual.”
— Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX) May 31, 2024
They’re trying to steal the election—which is why they are already weaponizing the full power of the federal government against President… https://t.co/9Vi62Esreg
“The White House’s weaponization of our government to target President Trump for political gain represents the pinnacle of two tiers of justice,” Blackburn wrote on X. “We cannot allow this grave injustice to prevail in the United States of America.
Tuberville, who last year delayed the promotions of military officers over a dispute with the Biden administration, signaled he was once again willing to engage in a similar tactic.
Just one of those military officers remains in limbo today: Air Force Col. Ben Jonsson, whose controversial statements endorsing critical race theory in 2020 prompted an outcry. Schmitt is blocking his promotion to brigadier general.
“Democrats have destroyed the integrity of our justice system, and made a mockery of the Constitution—all in the name of maintaining political power,” Schmitt wrote on X. “My colleagues and I aren’t going to go along with the status quo. Enough is enough.”
The post How Republicans Plan to Stymie Democrats After Controversial Trump Verdict appeared first on The Daily Signal.
A pro-Dave McCormick Super PAC is launching an advertisement highlighting the Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate's service in Operation Desert Storm and status as 82nd Airborne Division Company Commander Tim Walsh's "most trusted officer."
The post ‘My Most Trusted Officer’: Pro-McCormick PAC Launches Ad Highlighting His Service in Desert Storm appeared first on Breitbart.
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Virginia GOP U.S. Senate candidate Hung Cao scored former President Donald Trump’s highly influential endorsement on Sunday.
The post Trump Endorses Republican Hung Cao for U.S. Senate in Virginia appeared first on Breitbart.
Senate Democrats have again blocked the "Laken Riley Act," which would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take into custody illegal aliens arrested, charged, or convicted for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.
The post Sen. Katie Britt: Democrats Block ‘Laken Riley Act’ in Senate, Again appeared first on Breitbart.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for having no plan in 2022 to retake the Senate majority.
The post Rick Scott Rips Mitch McConnell’s Lack of Plan to Take Back Senate in 2022 appeared first on Breitbart.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not offer a clear answer when asked if Biden would submit any WHO pandemic accord to the Senate.
The post Antony Blinken Does Not Commit to Submitting W.H.O. Pandemic Treaty to Senate appeared first on Breitbart.
President Joe Biden is blaming record-setting levels of illegal immigration to the United States on congressional Republicans, suggesting they are standing in the way of "border enforcement."
The post Joe Biden Blames Record-Setting Illegal Immigration on Republicans appeared first on Breitbart.
Reflect on the words of Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., in his Washington Post article titled “Why Is Congress So Dumb?” Thereby hangs a tale of congressional anemia and languor.
The veteran congressman laments, “our available resources and our policy staff, the brains of Congress, have been so depleted that we can’t do our jobs properly. … Congress is increasingly unable to comprehend a world growing more socially, economically and technologically multifaceted—and we did this to ourselves.”
While the size of the federal government was mushrooming, staff levels in House member offices ticked down from 6,556 in 1977 to 6,329 in 2021. Congress’ annual budget is $5.3 billion, a tiny fraction of the $1.5 trillion spent on the military-industrial-security complex. And only 10% of the $5.3 billion is spent on human capital as opposed to buildings, the Capitol Police, and maintenance.
“For every $3,000 the United States spends per American on government programs,” Pascrell writes, “[Congress] allocates only $6 to oversee them.”
The congressman’s diagnosis is spot-on. It deserves further amplification.
Congress is largely run by rookies paid miserly wages who then move on after a few years to lucrative lobbying on K Street as a financial necessity. Congress is starved of institutional memory and expertise. Members and staff are constitutionally clueless, political tyros. The executive branch runs circles around them, stiff-arms oversight, and typically originates major legislation for Congress to entertain.
Congressional staff commonly parachute into high-level, well-paid executive branch positions. The reverse—executive branch talent coming to work for Congress—is as rare as unicorns.
This is a disaster for Congress as a coequal branch of government and for the Constitution’s separation of powers. It is also a break in history, tracing back to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., who in 1995 seized the lion’s share of legislative powers from committees and member offices by shrinking their budgets and prerogatives and enfeebling their intellectual infrastructures.
Gingrich also defunded the Office of Technology Assessment, tantamount to a congressional lobotomy. His objective was to handcuff any challenges by members or committees to his personal policy predilections and compromises with the White House. None of Gingrich’s Republican and Democratic successors—Dennis Hastert, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, and Mike Johnson—have undone his dumbing down of Congress.
The typical chief of staff or chief counsel in the House is a recent university or law school graduate in their mid-20s hired primarily because of their loyalty and campaign work. They are awed by the White House and ignorant of the vast powers the Constitution entrusts to the legislative branch: the war power, the power of the purse, the power to supersede treaties or executive orders, and the inherent power of contempt to sanction summarily any executive official for withholding documents or testimony from Congress.
The result, among other things, is secret government and a reliance on whistleblowers, who commonly have ulterior motives, to disclose executive branch crimes or wrongdoing in lieu of Congress.
In the pre-Gingrich era, the Watergate crimes were exposed by the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, and the Church Committee disclosed the crimes and wrongdoing of the intelligence community. In the post-Gingrich era, Congress goes on its hands and knees, like Henry IV at Canossa, pleading for the White House voluntarily to share information.
The House and Senate Armed Services committees need vastly greater manpower and experts to oversee the nearly trillion-dollar annual, unaudited Pentagon spending. On 9/11, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shared that $3 trillion in Pentagon funds accumulated over an unknown number of years could not be accounted for.
Congress retains the power to return to the pre-Gingrich era. Under the Constitution, the House and Senate decide their respective budgets with no outside interference. Congress can and should raise salaries and retain experts to attract talent and make serving as congressional staff a financially viable professional career. Congress should institutionalize the recruitment of staff and experts from universities and the private sector based more on competence in discharging constitutional responsibilities and less on personal loyalty or nepotism.
Overseeing and reforming a federal government that spends more than $6.5 trillion annually, regulates every nook and cranny of economic life, and groans under a national debt exceeding $34 trillion is too important to do anything less.
President John Quincy Adams left the presidency in 1829. He served in the House of Representatives from 1831 to 1848, acquiring fame in opposing the gag rule, which forbid discussion of slavery in the House, and the Mexican-American War, fueled by presidential lies.
Adams’ congressional service was not a demotion but a professional and constitutional step up. Today, it is inconceivable that a president would follow in his footsteps. That needs to change fast, or the executive branch will continue to run roughshod over the Constitution, Congress, and the American people.
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The post Who Is Running Congress? appeared first on The Daily Signal.
The bipartisan border bill failed in the U.S. Senate Thursday, even losing the support of two key negotiators who helped craft the legislation. This marked the second time the Senate voted against moving forward with the bill.
The vote on the border bill “is not an effort to actually make law, it is an effort to do political messaging,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said Thursday ahead of the vote. Lankford worked to negotiate the bill with Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., but he and Sinema voted against the bill Thursday, criticizing the reintroduction of the bill as being politically motivated.
Sen. Lankford helped to craft the border bill, but voted against it today.
— Virginia Allen (@Virginia_Allen5) May 23, 2024
"Everyone sees this for what it is. It is not an effort to actually make law, it is an effort to do political messaging." pic.twitter.com/0Ab0M2l2fe
The bill, which needed 60 votes to pass, failed with 50 senators voting against it and 43 voting in favor.
The vote broke largely along party lines with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska being the only Republican to vote for the bill. Six Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the bill.
WATCH: Border bill fails in the Senate a second time. pic.twitter.com/bM9PfY3UZl
— Virginia Allen (@Virginia_Allen5) May 23, 2024
During the first vote in February, Lankford voted in favor of advancing the border bill, along with Murkowski, Susan Collins of Maine, and Mitt Romney of Utah.
Analysts expected the latest vote on the bill to fail following Republicans’ outspoken criticism of the measure.
The bill “spends $20 billion to not secure the border, but to more efficiently encounter, process, and disperse illegal migrants,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said during a news conference Wednesday.
Johnson and other GOP senators bashed the bill for allowing up to 5,000 illegal aliens to enter daily in a seven-day period.
The bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to close the southern border “during a period of seven consecutive calendar days, [if] there is an average of 5,000 or more aliens who are encountered each day.”
Over 1.8 million illegal aliens a year still would be permitted to enter the United States under the now twice failed legislation.
Republicans bashed the bill as an election year stunt.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are promoting the bill because “poll numbers are showing [Democrats] that, after months and months of throwing the border open to anyone who wants to come in, that the public doesn’t like the policy.”
Gallup reports that immigration is the No. 1 issue not specifically related to the economy on the minds of American voters right now.
“And now, all of a sudden, six months before an election, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have got religion on border security,” Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio., said ahead of the vote.
Under the Biden administration, Customs and Border Protection has encountered over 9.5 million illegal aliens on America’s border and at ports of entry. With five months remaining in fiscal year 2024, CBP encounters of illegal immigrants under President Joe Biden’s leadership are expected to far surpass 10 million before the start of the new fiscal year.
An additional nearly 1.8 million illegal aliens have crossed the border managing to evade Border Patrol. Authorities refer to them as “known gotaways.” It is impossible to know how many unknown gotaways have entered the country in recent years.
Senate Republicans continue to advocate for the passage of the border security bill known as H.R. 2, which the House passed in May 2023. If passed into law, H.R. 2 would end “catch and release,” restart construction of the border wall, and reinstate the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy, among other things.
“The Democrats don’t want border security,” Sen Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a statement. “Every single Democrat in the Senate supports these open borders. And I can say that because every single time we push to implement real border security to stop this invasion—to stop Joe Biden from releasing criminal illegal aliens that are threatening our families—every single Democrat votes no.”
On Tuesday night, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Cruz, spoke on the Senate floor and called for the Senate to pass H.R. 2 by unanimous consent. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., reserved the right to object and blocked the bill.
The post Border Bill Goes Down in Flames on Senate Floor appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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Tim Scott accused Chuck Schumer of playing electoral politics by resurrecting a failed border bill that is certain to go nowhere once again.
The post Exclusive — Sen. Tim Scott: Democrats Are ‘Virtue Signaling’ on Immigration to Keep Senate Control appeared first on Breitbart.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken will testify before the Senate on Tuesday, May 21, as the Biden administration faces a number of international crises.
The post Watch Live: Secretary of State Antony Blinken Testifies Before Senate appeared first on Breitbart.
An investigation from the Senate Finance Committee reveals that a few European-based automakers imported either cars or auto parts made using Chinese slave labor to the United States.
The post Senate Investigation: BMW, Jaguar, Volkswagen Imported Cars and Parts to U.S. Made with Chinese Slave Labor appeared first on Breitbart.
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Michigan Democrats are reportedly demanding an investigation into three Republican U.S. Senate candidates regarding alleged forgery.
The post Report: Michigan Democrats Demand Investigation into GOP U.S. Senate Candidates for Alleged ‘Forgery’ appeared first on Breitbart.
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Angela Alsobrooks’s upset of Rep. David Trone (D-MD) in Maryland’s U.S. Senate primary marks the beginning of a contentious general election race in a deep blue state that will have far-reaching consequences on the broader national Senate map and which party controls the next Senate.
The post Hogan, Alsobrooks Maryland Senate Matchup Poised to Hurt Vulnerable Dems Elsewhere appeared first on Breitbart.
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Former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) will be facing off against Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in Maryland's upcoming Senate general election as both candidates vie for retiring Sen. Ben Cardin's (D-MD) seat.
The post Republican Larry Hogan to Face Off Against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks in Maryland Senate Race appeared first on Breitbart.
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Blinken arrived on Tuesday morning, promising "assistance is now on the way" after Congress passed the $95 billion foreign aid package.
The post Antony Blinken Makes Surprise Visit to Kyiv, Promises Weapons appeared first on Breitbart.
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Republican Senate candidates are within striking distance of vulnerable Democrats in several critical battleground states, per polls.
The post Polls: Republicans Within Striking Distance of Democrats in Key Senate Battleground Races appeared first on Breitbart.
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Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is changing his stance on the Laken Riley Act after voting against it as an amendment in March.
The post Sen. Jon Tester Flip-Flops on Laken Riley Act After Voting Against It as Amendment in March appeared first on Breitbart.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), along with other Senate Democrats, is again lobbying President Joe Biden to take executive action in giving amnesty to some illegal aliens living in the United States. Cortez Masto's renewed push for such legislation comes a month after one of her staffers was killed allegedly by an illegal alien.
The post Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto Lobbies Biden for Amnesty After Illegal Alien Charged with Killing Her Staffer appeared first on Breitbart.
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The pro-Sam Brown super PAC, Duty First Nevada, slammed one of Brown’s opponents in the Republican Senate primary, Jeff Gunter, as a “con man” in its latest ad.
The post Exclusive–Ad Rips Nevada GOP Senate Candidate Jeff Gunter as ‘Con Man’ for Democrat History, Peddling Anti-Wrinkle Serum in Infomercials appeared first on Breitbart.
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Eighty-two-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced Monday he will seek another term in office.
The post Bernie Sanders Running for Fourth Term at 82 Years Old appeared first on Breitbart.
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A clash is brewing in Hollywood as actors seek to impose limits on artificial intelligence technology -- particularly when it comes to their digital likenesses -- while studios are pushing back, arguing that such limits would violate First Amendment rights.
The post Hollywood Studios on Collision Course With Actors over AI Limitations appeared first on Breitbart.
A poll shows Republican Senate candidates in competitive positions in hypothetical races in four of five key battleground states.
The post Poll: Republicans Competitive in Key Swing State Senate Races appeared first on Breitbart.
Republican Dave McCormick is within striking distance of Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) in Pennsylvania’s race for the U.S. Senate, per a poll.
The post Poll: GOP’s Dave McCormick Within Striking Distance of Democrat Casey in Pennsylvania appeared first on Breitbart.
Kyrsten Sinema announced today that she will not seek reelection to her Arizona Senate seat:
Sinema’s move is significant but not unexpected. She raised only $595,000 in the final quarter of 2023, a fraction of the totals that Lake and Gallego each raised — although Sinema maintains nearly $11 million in her campaign account.
So it sounds like her mind was made up a while ago. Sinema’s withdrawal means the race will be between Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Representative Ruben Gallego. Gallego is a far leftist; this is how Lake describes him:
He votes with Joe Biden 100% of the time, supported the Iran Deal, sanctuary cities, defunding the police, and voting rights for everyone pouring across the border. He even called the border wall “stupid.”
Lake will now be a heavy favorite to flip the Senate seat, obviously a desirable outcome. But I am a little sorry to see Sinema go. She was an old-fashioned–i.e, sane–Democrat. A dinosaur, in other words. While she no doubt voted with the Dems most of the time, there were important instances, as for example the original “Build Back Better” disaster, when she stood in the breach on behalf of the Republic. And I have it on good authority that she couldn’t stand her Democratic colleagues, which perhaps contributed to her decision to walk away.
In any event, while Kari Lake will likely mark an important step toward restoring Republican control of the Senate, we owe Kyrsten Sinema a debt of gratitude.
Mitch McConnell announced today that he will resign his Senate leadership position in November, while remaining in office through his current term. I have generally thought well of McConnell and believe that on the whole, he has done a good job of leading his caucus. But it is notable that, as far as I know, not a single Republican has expressed regret at his decision.
It was time to go, if only because the geriatric era in Washington needs to end. While nowhere near as debilitated as Joe Biden, McConnell’s health issues in recent years have been visible. It is highly desirable for Republicans not to be seen, like the Democrats, as a party of octogenarians.
What comes next? The Wall Street Journal speculates:
Potential successors, including Sens. John Thune (R., S.D.), John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) and John Cornyn (R., Texas), have been quietly positioning themselves for the day McConnell steps down. Other possible candidates include GOP Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Rick Scott of Florida and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
Most of those senators are perceived as more conservative than McConnell, although that may be largely because McConnell has been in a leadership position for so long. As the leader of a caucus, responsible for negotiating agreements that can actually pass, you can’t be a firebrand backbencher–although, to their credit, that description doesn’t fit those the Journal identifies as candidates, either.
Finally, let’s hope Republicans do it the old-fashioned way by agreeing on a new leader behind closed doors, and then anointing him with a show of unanimity. A fiasco like the one we endured in the House of Representatives is to be avoided.
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