The House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden is almost finished. Republicans don’t really want to impeach him, but there’s still pressure to make a decision after working on it for months.
The leader of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, who is a Republican, Representative. James Comer made a final effort at Wednesday’s meeting, saying he will ask Biden to testify. He said the Democratic president was either involved or not very good at his job in his son’s business dealings. It’s very doubtful that Biden would go before the group.
“We want to hear from the president directly,” Comer said at the end of the long eight-hour meeting.
The White House told Republicans to stop and concentrate on important issues that Americans care about.
“Spokesman Ian Sams said this is a disappointing act after the impeachment has ended. ” “Let’s finish for the day, friend. ”
The long investigation by the Republican Party to impeach the president is almost over, but it hasn’t found any solid proof of his wrongdoing. Asking the president to give a statement could be the last thing to do. Comer is thinking about telling the Justice Department that Biden’s family may have broken the law, instead of starting the process to remove Biden from office. It probably won’t change much, but it would show that he is concerned.
The leading Democrat on the committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin from Maryland said that the Republicans have made the investigation into a joke, and that the mistakes in the Biden impeachment inquiry are coming to an end.
Republicans started looking into the president early last year when they gained control of the House. They wanted to make sure Biden met the requirements for impeachment. During his time as president, Democrats in charge of the House accused Donald Trump, a Republican, of doing something wrong and tried to remove him from office twice.
Trump and Biden will likely compete again in the November election. The investigation into Hunter Biden’s business deals and personal problems, especially before Joe Biden became president, is continuing.
The committee says that the Bidens used their family name to get favors from other people, and that Republicans are trying to prove it by pointing to a few phone calls or dinner meetings between Joe Biden, when he was vice president or not working, and his son Hunter and his business friends.
Hunter Biden, who is dealing with gun and tax problems, talked in private last month for a long time but didn’t give enough proof to show that the president should be impeached.
Hunter Biden said that his father has never been a part of his business.
It would be unusual but not unheard of for a president to speak to Congress. Abraham Lincoln talked to a group of people in the government about a speech that was made public, and Gerald Ford talked about his decision to forgive former president Richard M. Nixon, and some other people.
On Air Force One, as Biden traveled from Arizona to Texas, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “Republicans should stop this game and work with the president on important issues that affect the American people. ”
On Wednesday, the people who gave testimony were unusual and some had complicated backgrounds.
Jason Galanis is in a federal prison in Alabama for committing fraud and spoke to lawmakers through video. Tony Bobulinski, who used to work with Hunter Biden, talked about his issues with the family during the first debate between Trump and Biden in 2020.
The Democrats asked Lev Parnas to come and speak in court. They trust him even though he was found guilty. He was an important person in Trump’s first impeachment. He worked with Rudy Giuliani to find negative information about Joe Biden before the 2020 election. Parnas helped prove that the House GOP’s main accusation of bribery against the Bidens is not true.
In a video, Galanis told lawmakers that he thought he could make a lot of money with Hunter Biden and others by using the Biden family name for their business in other countries.
Galanis said that in May 2014, Hunter Biden had a short conversation with possible foreign business partners at a party in a New York restaurant. He put his dad on speakerphone to talk to a Russian billionaire and her husband.
However, Hunter Biden said he did not work with Galanis when he was asked about it. He said he only met Galanis for a short time a long time ago.
In the past, Galanis, who was punished for many fraud plans, admitted that he tried to get forgiven at the end of Trump’s time as president, but it didn’t work.
Bobulinski said he saw Joe Biden twice in 2017 in Los Angeles, with the help of Hunter Biden. They talked about their families for about 45 minutes, but didn’t talk about business.
Hunter Biden said his dad was not part of his business, but Bobulinski thinks Joe Biden was the main focus.
Parnas said he did not see any proof of the Biden family doing anything wrong while working overseas.
Before he was found guilty, Parnas was an important person in the first time Trump was accused of doing something wrong and not giving help to Ukraine.
Parnas said he helped Giuliani spread untrue claims about Biden to conservative media. Trump’s group said that Joe Biden, when he was vice president, got involved in firing a Ukrainian prosecutor to help Hunter Biden’s job on the board of a Ukrainian energy company called Burisma. Actually, the US and its allies also wanted the prosecutor to be fired because they thought he was corrupt.
Last year, House Republicans started looking into impeaching Biden. They used unproven statements from an FBI informant that were shared by Senate Republicans. These statements suggested that the Bidens might have received $10 million from Burisma. The person who used to give information to the FBI, Alexander Smirnov, was arrested last month and.
Tag: republicans
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Republicans make final-ditch effort to get Biden to testify as impeachment probe comes to an end
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House Republicans proceed with TikTok vote despite Trump’s criticisms on potential ban
House Republicans want a Chinese company called ByteDance to sell TikTok or they won’t be allowed to operate in the United States even though former President Donald Trump is against this idea, they are still pushing for it.
The leaders of the house have planned to vote on the decision on Wednesday. A Republican aide from Congress who can’t talk publicly said that the plan is still the same, and lawmakers haven’t really opposed the bill.
House Republicans are considering voting for a bill that goes against what the former president wanted. Speaker Mike Johnson and others strongly support the bill and changing their minds now would be a big deal. Last week, Johnson said it’s a very important plan that both political parties agree on to deal with China, our biggest enemy, which is actively trying to harm our economy and security.
Trump still thinks TikTok is a danger to national security but doesn’t want to ban it because it would help Facebook, which he is still angry with for losing the 2020 election.“Honestly, many people on TikTok really enjoy it. ” Trump said that many young kids really like TikTok and would be upset if they couldn’t use it. He also thinks that TikTok has some good things but also some bad things. I don’t like that without TikTok, Facebook will become more powerful. I think Facebook is against the people, and so are many media companies.
“He said he’s not trying to make Facebook twice as big when he looks at it. ” “I believe that Facebook has had a negative impact on our country, especially during elections. ”
Trump keeps saying that Facebook did the wrong things during the 2020 election. He still won’t admit that he lost to President Joe Biden. This means that Mark Zuckerberg and his wife gave at least US$400 million to two nonprofit groups. These groups then gave the money to state and local governments to help them run the 2020 election during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The money given to the campaign was allowed by law and was used to pay for things like gear to handle mail-in ballots and drive-thru voting spots.
TikTok, a popular app for sharing videos, has become a big topic in the 2024 presidential election. The platform has around 170 million users in the U. S, most of whom are younger. Both political parties are trying hard to get the support of these younger users before the general election in November. It is getting more difficult for political campaigns to reach younger voters because they are not watching as much TV as before.
Biden’s 2024 campaign started using TikTok last month, even though he has worries about its safety. He banned it from federal devices and supports a law that could ban it completely.
The House is thinking about a law that would make the Chinese company ByteDance sell TikTok and its other apps within six months to avoid a ban in the whole country. The law also makes a way for the president to stop people from using other apps that might be dangerous to the country.
TikTok said last week that the bill is a complete ban on their app, even though the authors are trying to make it seem different. “This law will take away the rights of 170 million Americans and stop 5 million small businesses from using a platform they need to grow and make jobs. ”
Heritage Action, a group that supports conservative ideas, asked lawmakers to vote for the bill. They said they would keep track of how lawmakers voted and use that to grade them.
“The law sets a rule for social media companies to follow: They should not be under the influence of a foreign enemy for the sake of national security,” the group stated.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia and a friend of Trump, said she is still learning about the bill. Representative Scott Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, also a supporter, said he is concerned that the bill could accidentally put other similar businesses in danger. He said he didn’t talk to the president about it.
Representative Michael McCaul, the leader of the Republicans in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said he still believes things will go well in the House.
“It will sail, and then the Senate will decide,” McCaul said. “The White House said they will sign it into law. ” I believe this is a really good move.
As president, Trump tried to stop TikTok from being used in the US because he thought it could be a danger to the country. But the courts stopped this from happening because TikTok argued that it would go against people’s rights to free speech and fair treatment.
When asked if he still thinks the app is a danger to national security, Trump said on Monday, “I do believe it is. ” We need to focus on protecting the privacy and data rights of the American people.
“But,” he continued, “you have the same problem with Facebook and many other companies. Some American companies are not really American. ” They sell things in China. And if China wants something from them, they will give it to them. “So that could cause a security problem for the whole country. ”
In 2022, Biden stopped federal government workers from using TikTok on their work devices, unless it’s for law enforcement, national security, or security research.
He recently made a rule that lets the Department of Justice and other government groups stop large amounts of personal information from being sent to certain countries, like China.
The FBI and the Federal Communications Commission said that the company that owns TikTok, called ByteDance, might give user information like browsing history and location to the government of China. TikTok said it has never done that and won’t do it even if someone asks them to. The United States The government also hasn’t shown proof of that happening.
Trump said he likes the app for the first time in a post on his new social media site, Truth Social, last week. “If TikTok goes away, Facebook and its owner will make twice as much money. ” “I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, to do better,” he wrote. “They are definitely an enemy of the people. ”
In the interview, Trump said he had not talked about the company with Jeff Yass, who invested in TikTok and supports the Republican party with a lot of money. Trump said that they had recently met for a very short amount of time. -
Robert Hur: House Republicans to hear testimony from Biden’s special counsel
Special Counsel Robert Hur has been asked to investigate how President Joe Biden dealt with secret papers. He will go before Congress to talk about it in March.
American news outlets said that Mr. Hur will speak to a group of Republican politicians about what he knows on March 12.
The news comes after Mr. Hur raised concerns about the president’s memory and mental health in his report.
Mr Biden had a strong reaction to the 345-page report.
“I know exactly what I’m doing. ” I was the president and I made this country strong again. Last week, the president said he doesn’t want his recommendation.
House Republicans want to talk to Mr. Hur about what he said about the president’s memory.
They also asked him to give them the recordings and written versions of his interviews with Mr Biden that he made during his investigation that lasted a year.
The US Justice Department said last week that Mr. Biden won’t be charged for keeping and sharing secret information as a private citizen.
The shocking part of the report was that one of the reasons Mr. Hur didn’t prosecute the 81-year-old president was because of Mr.
The special counsel said that most people would see Mr. Biden as a nice old man with a bad memory, not as someone who did something wrong.
The way he was described is a big problem for his campaign to get re-elected. Biden, his friends, and lawyers didn’t like it.
A letter from the White House Counsel to the Attorney General said that the special counsel broke the rules by making comments about Mr. Biden’s mental capacity. This was reported by Politico and the New York Times.
“The Special Counsel can say that the President didn’t remember a specific fact or series of events,” Mr. Siskel wrote in the letter, which was written on February 7th but first reported on Thursday.
“His report also says the President has trouble remembering things in general, which doesn’t have anything to do with enforcing the law. ”
The White House did not answer a question about the topic.
Mr Hur wrote a report after investigating Mr Biden’s handling of secret documents from when he was vice president for a year. The investigation included talking to the president.
The special investigator said that Mr Biden, who is 81 years old, knowingly kept secret documents after he stopped being vice president in 2017. He said it would be hard to prove Mr. Biden’s guilt due to his age, mental fitness, and behavior.
Sometimes, he used certain moments that Mr. Biden and his friends described as very personal.
In one part, he gave an example of the president’s memory, saying that Mr. Biden didn’t remember when his son Beau died, even though it was just a few years ago.
Some Republicans are criticizing Mr. Biden’s mental abilities and age as he tries to get re-elected for a second term as President.
At the same time, Democrats say that Mr. Hur, a Republican who was chosen by former president Donald Trump for the job of US attorney for the District of Maryland, is biased for political reasons.
After the report came out, Mr. Biden held a surprise news conference and said strongly, “My memory is good. ”
The president was angry and asked how could he dare to bring up that topic, referring to the claim that he couldn’t remember when his son died. -
Alejandro Mayorkas: House of Representatives votes to remove secretary of homeland security
The House of Representatives has decided to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a very small margin. This makes him the first cabinet member to face impeachment in almost 150 years.
Many Republicans think Mr Mayorkas is responsible for a lot of migrants coming to the US from Mexico.
The Republicans voted 214 to 213 in favor of the measure, after it didn’t pass last week.
The problem will now go to the Senate, where the Democrats are in charge, and it will probably not pass.
President Joe Biden said that the vote was a clear and unfair decision made by one political party and a move meant to gain attention.
Critics said Mr. Mayorkas did not keep his promise to do his job well and faithfully because he did not work enough to make the border safer.
Most Democrats and a few Republicans voted against impeachment.
The three people who left their group also voted no on the first try to remove Mr. Mayorkas from his job. They said that taking him out of his job for something not very serious would make the punishment in the constitution weaker and wouldn’t help with the border problem.
Over 63 million people came to the US without permission since 2021. This has made immigration a big problem for politicians before the election in November.
Donald Trump is really focusing on this problem in his campaign to remove Mr. Biden from his job.
After the vote, Mr. Biden said Mr. Mayorkas is a good public servant.
The president said he has followed the law and showed a strong dedication to our country’s important values.
Mia Ehrenberg, who speaks for the Department of Homeland Security, said that Republicans are not focused on solving the big problems at our border. Instead, she said they are focused on going against the constitution.
Republican leader Mike Johnson said that he thinks Mr. Mayorkas should be removed from his job.
In January, Republicans accused Mr Mayorkas of not doing his job in enforcing immigration rules and lying about the safety of the border.
Democrat Al Green from Texas came to vote against impeachment while wearing hospital clothes, surprising everyone. He was in the hospital getting surgery.
House leader Steve Scalise voted after missing last vote due to cancer treatment. His coming back helped the Republicans get enough votes to win.
Impeachment is the first step in removing a government official for doing something really bad. It’s in the US Constitution.
It needs more than half of the House to agree, then the Senate has a trial.
We need at least two out of three people to agree for it to work.
The impeachment probably won’t happen because the Democrats only have a small majority in the Senate.
The House will give the Senate the impeachment articles on 26 February.
The last cabinet secretary to be impeached was Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876. He resigned just before the vote.
In a poll done in January by CBS, nearly half of Americans said they think the situation at the border is a crisis. 63% of people said they want stricter border policies.
The US agency in charge of protecting the border said that fewer people crossed the border in January. They think this happened because of the usual patterns at that time of year and because they have been working harder to enforce the rules. -
Republicans fail to fire US Homeland Security Secretary
The House of Representatives, which is mostly led by Republicans, did not vote to remove Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from his job. This was a very close vote, but it did not pass. The reason for the vote was because of the problems with migrants at the US-Mexico border.
Four Republicans went against their own party and voted with all Democrats in the room. They voted 216-214 to reject the measure.
Critics of President Joe Biden say Mr. Mayorkas is responsible for more people entering the US illegally at the border.
Protecting the border is becoming a major issue in the 2024 election.
Three Republicans, Ken Buck, Tom McClintjson, and Mike Gallagher, didn’t vote yes on Tuesday night.
Blake Moore from Utah changed his vote from yes to no as a procedural move.
Democratic Congressman Al Green from Texas was brought to the floor in hospital clothes to vote no, which got a lot of attention. He went to the emergency room to have an operation.
Even if the House voted in favor, Mr Mayorkas probably wouldn’t be found guilty by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, started the process to impeach someone. After the vote, she said she will try again.
“My coworkers who said no, I believe they will get feedback from the people they represent,” she said to the media outside the Capitol building.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s spokesperson, Raj Shah, wrote on social media that the Republicans will try to impeach Mr. Mayorkas again when they have enough votes.
Some Republican members of Congress said the problem won’t affect their own investigation into President Biden’s impeachment.
Signs that some party members were against voting for Mayorkas had appeared earlier in the day.
Mr McClintock said Tuesday morning that he will vote against impeachment because he thinks the articles don’t show any crime that Mayorkas did, and they also misinterpret the Constitution.
Impeachment is a way to remove a government official for doing something really bad. It is in the US Constitution.
It needs more than half of the House and more than two-thirds of the Senate to pass. The Democrats are in charge of the Senate right now.
In 1876, the Secretary of War William Belknap was the last cabinet secretary to be impeached, but he quit his job just before the vote.
A spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security said that the impeachment is baseless and should not have progressed. Both Democrats and Republicans oppose it, and legal experts say it goes against the constitution.
She said that if House Republicans really care about protecting the border, they should stop playing political games.
House Republicans had two meetings in January and accused Mr. Mayorkas of not enforcing immigration rules and lying to lawmakers about the safety of the southern border.
The secretary did not speak at the hearings.
Before the vote on Tuesday, Democrat Jim McGovern from Massachusetts said that Republicans wanted to make things chaotic, confusing, and create a problem for Donald Trump in the next election.
Republican Chip Roy of Texas said that Mr. Mayorkas did not enforce immigration laws properly, which led to the deaths of American citizens and migrants.
In January, a survey by CBS and the media US partner found that 63% of Americans think the country should have stricter border policies.
Over 63 million people came into the US without permission since Mr. Biden became president in 2021.
Around 24 million people came to the US and most of them are waiting for a court date to ask for asylum. The system is very busy and this could take many years.
This week, a group of US senators from both parties proposed a new law to make borders stronger and help Ukraine and Israel more.
House Republicans said no to the bill.
Right after the impeachment vote on Tuesday, the House looked at a different bill from the Republicans. This bill would have given $17. 6 billion to Israel, but it also did not pass. -
Republicans want Homeland Secretary removed from office
Republicans are getting closer to impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas because they don’t like how he’s dealing with the US-Mexico border.
Critics of the Biden administration say that Mr. Mayorkas didn’t do his job properly, which caused a lot of migrants to come into the country.
If the plan happens, Mr. Mayorkas will be the first cabinet secretary to be impeached since 1876.
Over 63 million people have come to the US without permission since 2021.
On Tuesday, the Republican-led House Committee on Homeland Security gathered to work on articles of impeachment against Mr. This is an important step before the whole House of Representatives can vote on the bill.
At the beginning of the meeting, Mark Green, who is in charge of the committee and is a Republican from Tennessee, said that Mr. Mayorkas did not do his job properly in securing the US-Mexico border.
“He didn’t follow the laws made by Congress on purpose, and broke their trust and the trust of the American people,” he said. The results have been really bad, and have put the lives and jobs of all Americans at risk.
Mr Mayorkas, who was not at the meeting, responded to the accusations.
In a seven-page letter published on the same day, he said that untrue accusations don’t scare him and explained the actions the Biden administration is taking to make sure US laws are followed at the border.
Bennie Thompson, a top Democrat on the committee, said that the Republicans are just trying things randomly and doing a fake impeachment for political reasons.
If the Republican-controlled House of Representatives accuses Mr Mayorkas, he would be the first high-ranking government official to go through the process since 1876. This was when Secretary of War William Balknap was accused for his involvement in a kickback scheme. He was found not guilty by the Senate.
Even if the House says he did something wrong, Mr. Mayorkas probably won’t be found guilty by the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.
The decision to impeach Mr. Mayorkas is causing a lot of talk because many people are worried about the way the US is dealing with immigration and the southern border.
In January, a survey by CBS found that almost half of Americans see the border situation as a big problem, and 63% think the government should make stricter rules. -
Trump ahead of polls as Iowa Republicans head to polls
Iowa is the first big vote in the whole state to choose who the Republican candidate will be for the 2024 US presidential election.
The caucus voting begins at 7:00 PM in the evening in different places around the state like schools, churches, and small events. This is 8:00 PM Eastern time and 1:00 AM Greenwich Mean Time.
Voters will have to deal with very cold temperatures of -23C (-9F) because of winter storms that covered the state with snow and ice.
According to the latest poll, 48% of Iowa voters prefer Donald Trump, while Nikki Haley (20%) and Ron DeSantis (16%) are his closest competitors.
Haley or DeSantis doing very well in second place could help them a lot in the race to choose a candidate for the election in November.
More update on this story soon.
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Biden’s risks as Republicans pursue impeachment more vigorously
Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to officially start looking into Joe Biden, which could lead to him being removed from office.
It can be tough to quit.
Three out of the four times in the past, the House decided to impeach after taking this step. The only time it didn’t happen was because Richard Nixon quit before a vote could happen.
Republicans say that the president got advantages from his family’s business in other countries, even though they haven’t shown any clear proof yet.
In the short term, the House’s decision gives the investigating committees more authority to ask for documents and testimony and for judges to make sure those requests are followed. The Biden White House didn’t give some information because there was no formal vote, but now they might have to.
In the end, this vote could make it possible for House Republicans, who don’t have a big majority, to support impeachment in early 2024.
They have agreed to continue the process. If moderate Republicans in areas that voted for Biden in 2020 are going to be blamed for starting the investigation, they might decide it’s best to finish it.
The issue would go to the Senate, where the Democrats are in charge. It would need a two-thirds majority vote to find the president guilty and remove him from office.
No president in US history has ever reached that high standard. Some Republicans are worried that the vote on Wednesday shows that the impeachment process is being made less important.
Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman and current Republican running for president, was one of the people who argued against Mr. Clinton during his trial in 1999.
“He told the BBC that impeachment should only be used for very serious crimes. ” “That’s how the people who started our country made it. ” We don’t want to get into the back-and-forth argument between the two political parties about removing the president from the other side. “It’s a problem. ”
Worries or problems were not the most important thing on Wednesday. The investigations will keep going as we get closer to the November 2024 presidential election.
Republicans have always seen Joe Biden’s son Hunter as a problem for his father in politics. “If they can show that his business and personal behavior are connected to the president, they could hurt Joe Biden’s reputation with American voters. ”
A serious investigation to impeach Mr. Biden could cause big problems for him during the election. This is still true even if Republicans don’t have any solid proof connecting the president to his son’s wrongdoing.
We can’t predict what unexpected things will happen during this investigation. Although there is no proof directly connecting Mr. Biden to his son’s problems at work and in his personal life, having a lot of power can lead to unexpected outcomes.
Bill Clinton was in trouble for lying about having a relationship with a person who worked for him. It all started with an investigation into a real estate deal that went wrong. Hillary Clinton’s email server issue started because of an investigation into the death of a US ambassador in Libya.
Sometimes when people go fishing, they catch a fish.
If nothing is found, people might still think Biden is corrupt, which could hurt his reputation.
Republicans might use impeachment and Hunter Biden’s legal issues to distract from the legal troubles of their likely presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
People are discussing when to start the impeachment process to distract from a possible federal trial for Trump in March. He is being charged with trying to overturn the 2020 election.
In a country where people already don’t like politicians, the upcoming election next year might make things even worse. -
Republicans choose Mike Johnson as their candidate for Speaker
Republicans have chosen Congressman Mike Johnson as their new choice for the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
He is the fourth person suggested for a position after three others didn’t get enough support, and he is the second one suggested today.
Mr Johnson was chosen on Tuesday evening after three voting rounds.
Since Kevin McCarthy was removed on October 3rd, the House has not had a Speaker and has not been able to pass any bills.
Louisiana’s Mr Johnson, who is 51 years old, was chosen. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik shared this information.
Republicans in Congress have a small lead over Democrats, so their chosen candidate can only lose a few votes from their own party and still win.
Mr Johnson was chosen as the nominee shortly after the previous nominee, Tom Emmer, withdrew because he did not have enough support.
It is not clear if Mr. Johnson will have enough votes to win in the House. He needs 217 votes, which is a simple majority.
In the voting that happened on Tuesday, Mr. Johnson came in second place after Mr. Emmer However, Emmer withdrew from the race because former President Donald Trump criticized him.
Ms Stefanik said that Mr. Johnson got 128 votes in the last round of voting. Congressman Byron Donald came in second place with 29 votes.
Mr Johnson is likely to have his nomination approved by a vote in the House on Wednesday afternoon. If he does not succeed, Republicans will have to start over once more.
Wisconsin Congressman Mike Gallagher told Politico that he doesn’t think Mr. Johnson can get enough votes to win in the House.
“He said that repeating the same thing over and over again is like being insane, as far as he knows. ”
Mr Johnson is a lawyer and used to host a talk radio show. He has been a member of the House since 2016. He used to be the leader of the Republican Study Committee, and is seen as a good friend of Mr. Jordan
In 2020, Mr Johnson was seen as an important person who tried to challenge Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election for president. -
Steve Scalise nominated as House Speaker by US Republicans
Republicans have officially selected Rep. Steve Scalise as their nominee for the next House speaker.
However, they now face the challenging task of reconciling their deeply divided majority to secure a floor vote in favor of the conservative Scalise, after the removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the role.
In a private ballot held at the Capitol, House Republicans narrowly favored Scalise over Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman.
Nonetheless, tensions persist among Republicans, who have been embroiled in bitter infighting, resulting in a gridlocked House.
A full House floor vote is anticipated, but on Wednesday afternoon, the House convened briefly before adjourning indefinitely, leaving the next steps in this process uncertain.
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US midterm elections: Biden praises Democrats ‘strong’ results, but the Senate race remains tense
The president stated that he would decide whether to run for a second term early next year.
Joe Biden has called his party’s positive midterm results a “good day for America,” but the Senate race remains tight.
Democrats are expected to lose only seven seats, defying predictions of a “giant red wave” of Republican gains.
Though the Republicans would retake control of the House of Representatives, this would be a far better outcome for the US president than his recent predecessors.
Donald Trump lost 40 seats in the 2018 midterms, while Barack Obama suffered 63 losses in 2010.
With three states left to declare, the battle for control of the Senate remains in the balance.
The Republicans have picked up 49 seats to the Democrats’ 48. The Republicans need to win two more seats to win back the Senate from the Democrats.
Image: Former US president Donald Trump claimed the Republican results were a ‘very big victory’ for him personally Speaking at the White House, President Biden described the midterm results so far as a “good day for democracy” and a “good day for America”.
Although many results are still unclear, he said they represent a “clear and unmistakable message to preserve our democracy”.
“The American people have spoken and shown that democracy is who we are,” he said.
But he added that “the voters were also clear that they’re still frustrated, I get it, it’s been a really tough few years for this country”.
In reference to Donald Trump‘s claims he “stole” the last elections, he said vote counters and officials “did their job and fulfilled their duty… without any interference”.
He also said he would make a decision on whether he would run for a second term early next year.
Although losing the House of Representatives would thwart the president’s legislative programme, it is a much smaller loss than some had predicted.
The race between Georgia’s incumbent Democrat senator and his Republican challenger is unlikely to be decided until 6 December, as strict state laws require a run-off if no candidate reaches 50%.
‘Democrats had strong night’
Mr Biden said the Democrats “had a strong night” despite losing seats.
“We don’t know all the results yet, but here’s what we do know, the press were predicting a giant red wave and it didn’t happen,” he said.
“You were somewhat miffed by my obsessive optimism, but I thought we were going to do fine.”
He said that the “future of America is too promising” for it to be “trapped in endless political warfare”.
While he would not compromise on healthcare or abortion, he said: “I’m going to do everything within my power to unite the country.
“I’m going to continue to work across the aisle to support the American people. Regardless of what the final tally of these elections show, I am prepared to work with my Republican colleagues.
“And the American people have made clear they expect Republicans to work with me as well.”
He addressed the nation after Donald Trump described his candidates’ results so far as “somewhat disappointing”.
Almost all the people Mr Trump chose to endorse appear to have fared worse than the Republicans he did not back.
Reports claim behind the scenes he is “livid” and “angry” at his wife Melania for advising him to back Dr Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania senate race.
Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago home, the former president claimed the results were a “very big victory” for him personally.
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Key takeaways – so far – from the US midterm elections
Voters cast ballots to decide the makeup of the US legislature, states, and local officials, with results still rolling in.
Hours after polls closed in the US midterms elections, the outcome of consequential segments of Tuesday’s vote, including which party will control the House of Representatives and Senate, were far from clear.
What was clear early on Wednesday was that an expected “red wave” predicted by Republicans did not materialise.
Instead, with 372 of the House’s 435 seats and 95 of the Senates 100 seats called, control of both chambers remained in the balance.
Democrats’ hopes were buoyed by the victory of John Fetterman in Pennsylvania, who defeated Republican challenger Mehmet Oz in the only Senate race so far to flip a seat.
Meanwhile, top House Republican Kevin McCarthy declared it was “clear” his party would take control of the House, despite the outcome remaining unclear.
The US midterm elections are held every four years at the midpoint of each presidential term [File: Michael Reynolds/EPA] Here are key takeaways so far:
- Following Fetterman’s victory in Pennsylvania, all eyes have moved to Nevada, Arizona and Georgia, where Democrats are in the closest Senate races with Republicans.
- President Joe Biden’s party would need to win two out of three seats in question in those states to maintain control of the chamber.
- In Georgia, neither Democratic incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock or Republican Challenger Herschel Walker are expected to break the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright.
- The challengers were most likely headed for a run-off race, meaning it could potentially be weeks until control of the chamber is decided.
- When it comes to House races, Democrats have so far fared better than expected against Trump-backed opponents.
- That was particularly clear in Michigan, where Hillary Scholten, an immigration lawyer, beat her Republican challenger John Gibbs. In the primary, Gibbs had defeated Republican Congressman Peter Meijer, one of a handful of Republicans who had voted to impeach former President Donald Trump.
Election day is over as polls close in critical midterm elections that will decide the next makeup of Congress.
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— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 9, 2022
- Democratic incumbent governors have so-far fared well in states where Republican-controlled legislatures have sought to pass restrictions on voting in the wake of Trump’s unfounded claims of fraud following his 2020 presidential loss. Democrats in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan all survived Republican challenges.
- Michigan on Tuesday also voted in favour of abortion protections in its state constitution, a possible indicator of sentiment in other swing states where reproductive rights are under threat in the wake of the repeal of Roe v Wade. Vermont and California also shored up state constitutional protections for abortion rights. Meanwhile, the results of a measure that would explicitly say abortion is not a right in Kentucky have not yet been called.
- Incumbent Republicans governors in Texas, Georgia and Florida, meanwhile, weathered challenges from several Democrats with national profiles.
- Maryland and Missouri also became the latest US states to legalise recreational marijuana after voters on Tuesday backed the measure, with similar measures failing in North Dakota and Arkansas.
Source: Aljazeera.com
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Here’s where things stand
We don’t yet have a full picture of the midterm results but we can draw a few early conclusions.
The “red wave” that Republicans had predicted looks like more of a ripple. It doesn’t appear to be the rout the Democrats had feared. They have held onto a number of seats in places where they looked vulnerable. They have won a notable victory in the senate seat in Pennsylvania.
Exit polls suggest that the economy and inflation were the biggest concerns for voters, which should have benefitted Republicans
Democrats ran campaigns that focused on abortion rights and warnings that American democracy was in peril. Whilst Republicans blamed the Biden admiration for the rising cost of living.
So although Democrats may well lose control of the House of Representatives and could yet lose the Senate as well, they will still be breathing a huge sigh of relief
The party in power in Washington usually loses seats in the midterm elections and Joe Biden appears set to lose fewer than either Barack Obama or Donald Trump did at this stage in their presidencies
However, a Republican majority in either of the houses of congress will mean that they can block almost every piece of legislation President Biden proposes.
Source: BBC
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The key takeaways so far
If you’re just waking up in the UK and catching up – it’s been a frenetic night with results coming in from all over the US in these midterm elections.
But at this stage we still don’t know which party will control Congress once all the results are counted.
Republicans are well-placed to win control of the House of Representatives, while the Senate remains too close to call.
Here are the key takeaways so far.
Little sign of “red tidal wave”: Some Republicans had predicted a big night for the party, but Democrats have fended off fierce challenges in closely watched races and performed better than many analysts had predicted.
Abortion a key issue: The first batch of exit polls showed the economy was a major consideration for voters. But it also showed that for 3 in 10 of them, abortion was the most important issue. Experts suggest this is likely to have benefited Democrats as they poll as the most trusted party on abortion rights.
DeSantis won big: It’s not surprising that Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis won re-election – but the scale of his victory exceeded almost all predictions. He won by nearly 20 points and also won a clear majority of the Latino vote. That’s a major boost for a man who is said to be considering a 2024 presidential nomination bid.
A mixed night for Trump: On the subject of 2024, Donald Trump endorsed hundreds of candidates ahead of the midterms and their performance was always going to be viewed as a measure of his appeal ahead of a potential presidential run. But as things stand, his backed candidates have had a mixed night. Most of his high-profile picks have struggled.
Source: BBC
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In key Georgia race, some Republicans voted for Democrat senator
Georgia political watchers are abuzz with talk of “split-ticket” voters – people who voted for a Republican, Brian Kemp, in the governor’s race, but crossed the aisle to vote for Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, in the US Senate race.
I met quite a few Republican voters who knew they would vote for Kemp, but hesitated to punch a ballot for the party’s US Senate nominee, former American Football star Herschel Walker, due to negative reports about his personal life.
One voter who was on the fence was Yeni Tran, 42, of Clark County. She was a staunch supporter of the Republican Kemp. But of Walker, she said, “I’m torn. I heard some of his speeches, and it’s not the most intellectual.”
Jennifer Almond, 48, also supported Kemp but was put off by allegations from Walker’s ex-wife that he’d once threatened her with a gun. “I had heard briefly about the stuff going on with his ex-wife,” she said. “And that kind of bothers me.”
Source: BBC
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Mike Pence urges voters to turn out in Georgia, a key state
While Biden was in Florida, former Vice President Mike Pence travelled to Georgia, another crucial battleground state, to campaign for the Republican candidate for governor there.
Pence told supporters at a rally in the Atlanta suburbs last night that Georgia must “lead the way to a great American comeback” by re-electing Governor Brian Kemp.
Kemp is ahead of his Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams in most polls, but that did not stop him or Pence from emphasising the need to get people out in support – whatever the data suggests.
Pence, who was elected alongside Donald Trump in 2016, emphasized what he called Kemp’s credentials as a “champion for the Conservative Agenda”.
After the rally, Pence said: “No one has done more to create jobs, cut taxes, restore sanity to our schools, put criminals behind bars, protect the unborn, secure our elections, and defend our God-given rights enshrined in the United States Constitution.”