Senator Josh Hawley Blocks Quick Confirmation of Biden Pick for Homeland Security
“has not adequately explained how he will enforce federal law and secure the southern border given President-elect Biden’s promise to roll back major enforcement and security measures”
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) is blocking the quick confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas as Joe Biden’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
Hawley cited concern about how or if Mayorkas will protect the southern border.
Andrew Desiderio reports at Politico:
Josh Hawley will delay swift confirmation of Biden’s DHS pick
GOP Sen. Josh Hawley announced on Tuesday that he plans to object to swift consideration of President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, a move that will delay the installment of Biden’s national-security team.
Hawley, who has come under heavy scrutiny for leading a push to object to the Electoral College certification of Biden’s victory, cited the incoming administration’s immigration policies. The Missouri senator argued that the nominee, Alejandro Mayorkas, “has not adequately explained how he will enforce federal law and secure the southern border given President-elect Biden’s promise to roll back major enforcement and security measures.”
Senate Democrats had been pushing for quick floor votes on Biden’s national-security nominees in light of the insurrection at the Capitol earlier this month. Mayorkas is still likely to be confirmed by the full Senate, but Hawley’s move effectively delays a floor vote.
Democrats and their media allies, who took pleasure in delaying Trump appointments over the last four years, are now deeply concerned about the danger of not approving everyone Biden wants immediately:
Sean Savett, a spokesman for the Biden transition, said the nation “urgently needs” a Senate-confirmed DHS secretary on day one of Biden’s presidency given the extensive and complicated national-security challenges of late.
“Senator Hawley’s threat to disrupt historical practice and try to leave this vital position vacant is dangerous, especially in this time of overlapping crises when there is not a moment to waste,” Savett added.
If you watch the exchange below between Mitt Romney and Mayorkas, you may appreciate Hawley’s point. Romney asks Mayorkas how he plans to deal with the caravan currently approaching the southern border and gets a non-answer:
Sen. Mitt Romney: "What is your intention with regards to that caravan that is coming to our border — is your intention to allow them to come into the country will they be stopped?"
Alejandro Mayorkas: "Senator, We are a nation of immigrants. And we are also a nation of laws." pic.twitter.com/tkPTfmJz6U
— The Hill (@thehill) January 20, 2021
In November, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said Mayorkas should be disqualified from heading the DHS for allegedly selling Green Cards to Chinese nationals on behalf of Democrat donors.
Former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau shows us how Democrats will come after Hawley for not falling in line:
Josh Hawley doesn’t want the country protected from his radical extremist supporters, so he’s using a lie about Biden’s immigration policy to stop the swift confirmation of his Homeland Security Secretary.
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) January 19, 2021
Expect the media to adopt the same narrative.
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Comments
Stand your ground Josh. The voters will reward that effort more than ever.
EVERY appointment the fake China joe* regime nominates should be carefully vetted because the fake president is trying to get communists and their followers into positions of power. We must stop any more soros style takeovers of powerful positions if we are ever to recover as a nation.
Just like Obama did, corrupt the system top to bottom.
He was allegedly selling green cards? What a farce this administration is.
Allegedly. Don’t forget that important word. It’s not there just for decoration.
Alejandro Mayorkas was found by Barack Obama’s Inspector General to be guilty of selling Green Cards to Chinese nationals on behalf of rich, democratic donors.
….yah sure…”allegedly”
That is just not true.
Actually it is…do some work
No, it isn’t. This isn’t complicated. You made a statement that just isn’t true. The IG did not “find Mayorkas to be guilty of selling Green Cards to Chinese nationals on behalf of rich, democratic donors.”
Ok. Understanding that this is a highly technical discussion, here is what the IG did say: “The juxtaposition of Mr. Mayorkas’ communication with external stakeholders on specific matters outside the normal procedures, coupled with favorable action that deviated from the regulatory scheme designed to ensure fairness and evenhandedness in adjudicating benefits, created an appearance of favoritism and special access.”
Fifteen DHS Staff from low level bureaucrats to high level policy people & lawyers all stated on the record that they witnessed the behavior on multiple occasions. The IG sent the report to Jeh Johnson, who did nothing.
In 2015, Mayorkas testified to the House Homeland Security committee, where he was questioned about the report. He said:
“The Inspector General found that… employees perceived I exercised undue influence in these cases. I bear responsibility for the perception of my employees. That is my responsibility and I acknowledge that.”
Note the weasel words of “I bear responsibility for. the *perception of my employees*.” He never took responsibility for the acts themselves.
Source: Powerline Blog and the IG report itself
The guy is a crook.
A strong enough “allegedly” to put at least a pause on a nomination while it is more completely investigated.
Potentially more Chinese related corruption.
Also, after all the Democrats have been trying to do to the Senator, why should he not make things difficult for them? Having said that, Senator Hawley is doing nothing unreasonable at all.
Also, the Democrats delayed Trump nominations as much as possible in a deliberate attempt to have their holdovers linger in office longer and/or disrupt the new administration. Their precedent – their rules. They have to live by them. Given the above, Senator Hawley’s actions here do not seem unreasonable even by those malicious rules.
This is a perfectly reasonable hold or delay given the strength of the allegations. I hope the opposition party stand up against corruption.
Oh, definitely. No question. But that’s not the topic. The topic right here is herm2416’s comment “He was allegedly selling green cards? What a farce this administration is.” And that comment completely depends on ignoring the word “allegedly” as if it meant nothing.
I completely agree. The Republicans should delay and obstruct all Biden’s nominations as much as they can, even if there is no allegation of impropriety; how much more so when, as in this case, there is. Hawley is correct and I support him 100%. But we must still remember that it’s only an allegation. Biden is entitled not to believe it. Which means we can’t use it to call his administration a “farce”.
From the ABC News article of March, 2015 that LI cited —
The IG report does not allege, it states and provides a conclusion. You and I may use ‘allegedly’ if we wish, but the IG didn’t, and didn’t have to.
Even if the IG report had alleged that he sold green cards, that would still be just an allegation. The IG can’t find him guilty of anything, he can only allege things. But in fact the report didn’t allege that at all. You just quoted it. Nowhere in your quote is this allegation to be found. So it isn’t even the IG’s allegation, it’s a conclusion that others have drawn on their own from the evidence the IG reported.
Once again a lawyer who can’t find the forrest for the trees. The guy did what the IG STATED he did…sold green cards. Sorry statement of facts are so hard for you.
Milhouse is not a lawyer and has never claimed to be one.
The IG did not state that. This is not a matter of opinion; his words are right there, and he did not state it.
But even if the IG had stated that, which he didn’t, it would be an allegation, not an established fact. Biden would be free not to believe it.
And from the Daily Mail article cited by LI, we learn that Anthony Rodham, Hillary Clinton’s brother, was involved in the visa peddling. This particular Rodham is president and CEO of Gulf Coast Funds Management LLC in McLean, Va, a swamp rat organization. And that most of the routine users of the EB-5 visa program are Chinese investors, to whom Mr. Rodham was ‘advising’.
To quote the honorable Colonel Hannibal Smith: “I love when a plan comes together.”
And there’s more! There’s always more. The same Daily Mail article:
But to be fair, Mayorkas later admitted that it was a ‘mistake’ to be involved with that donor. Yes, a mistake to be caught for sure.
So yes, Milhouse, you keep using that word ‘allegedly’.
Yes, it is still nothing but an allegation. Did you bother reading what you cut and pasted? It doesn’t say what you pretend it does. That he sold green cards is merely an allegation, a supposition, a conclusion people have drawn from the facts presented. It is consistent with those facts, but goes way beyond them.
Curious why its so important to you to provide cover for that guy. You seem to be in the ‘obstruct justice and provide cover for the guilty’…lawyer camp all the while I’ve also seen your arguments seem to support egregious government action, overreach and ignoring of the Constitution after you find that perfect comma.
The truth is important to me. I can see that you don’t give a flying **** about the truth. It means absolutely nothing to you. Just like your idol Trump. And just like the Democrats. What are you even doing here?
Yes, but let’s remember who we are dealing with and look at the spurious charges being made about Sen, Hawley and others who are being charged in the media and by fellow Senators of leading gangs of “right wing terrorists”,
I don’t se any “alleged” in front of their charges.
And therefore? How does that justify the comment we’re discussing?
State things as “allegedly”, “in my opinion” or state as a question, like is it true that joe blow beats his wife, are all ways to smear with low liability risk. Keep in mind that a public figure has less recourse than a private person.
Also, there was a decision about sucks websites, and use of trademarks. One time I put up such a site for a legislator, who was really pissed about it, in part leading to loss the election.
That person was very much part of the swamp, and we did make them sorry.
I am sorry to say that the swamp continued to get worse, more putrid year after year.
“Allegedly” here is the right term. The evidence available is consistent with such an allegation. It is completely possible that he did sell green cards, and no facts in the IG’s report contradict that possibility. But they also don’t support it. It’s fair for Cotton to say that “from the IG’s report I conclude that he sold green cards”, but not to say that “the IG found him guilty” of doing that.
I hope Hawley is the next leader of the Republican Party. It appears that, regrettably, President Trump may split the right by forming a new party.
Tell you what Terence, you can have the brain dead fucks that makes up todays GOP…a party that gave up Congress, the Senate and the Presidency in the space of 2 years because Trump wasn’t one of them (Trumps crime was putting America first).
Fuck the Republican Party. It truly is the Party of the brain dead now.
mailman
I don’t have to deal with brain dead fucks in America who think it’s smart to divided conservatives. I don’t have the slightest doubt that 74 million Americans are not going to sign up for a new party. In my opinion, Donald Trump will take no more than 25% of Republicans with him if he foolishly forms a new party, The smarter course is to use his influence to reform the Republican Party. I wish my American friends the best of luck as you endure one fascist attack after another on your rights and freedoms for the next 4 years.
But I am now dealing with brain dead fuck Erin O’Toole, current leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, who is attempting to have his main political rival Derek Sloan thrown out of caucus because a well known Canadian Nazi, completely unbeknownst to Mr. Sloan, joined the CPC in 2019 and contributed $131.00 to the party, 10% of which went to Mr. Sloan. Of course the party didn’t vet the contributor but Mr. O’Toole contends (or more accurately pretends) that somehow Mr. Sloan should have vetted the contributor. It is of course patent nonsense but some people are not only unfair they are unprincipled and patently stupid. Mr. O’Toole is one such person and his decision will no doubt divide conservatives. In due course it will result in O’Toole’s ouster as party leader. Some decisions are so stupid, they are disqualifying.
The division isn’t among conservatives; it’s between conservatives and the GOP Establishment, which is just as disdainful of the Republican base as Democrats are. If the Senate votes to convict and disqualify Trump, that division will be a full-blown Henry VIII-Catholic Church schism — divorce, if you will. The base resents party leaders who fail to respond to attacks, who won’t fight using the left’s tactics, who roll over when the left defines the argument by controlling the language, or worse, join with the left. Mitch McConnell needs to recall that he wasn’t the famous and well-liked Mitch the Murder Turtle before Trump, and conservative voters aren’t likely to reward his duplicity. Brain-dead fucks? Perhaps Trump voters are fucks, but they’re not brain-dead, and they know betrayal when they see it. And they will reward it, of that you can be sure.
It was mailman who said that most GOP members today are [that term] not me. And conservatives are divided. I saw a recent survey that indicated that about only 1/3 of Republicans consider themselves to be MAGA supporters, more so than Republicans. President Trump is a good man with phenomenal energy, but in my opinion, he does not have the rhetorical skills to lead the mass exodus that his more ardent supporters are expecting.
For the most part, I hold pollsters and surveyors in low regard. Most are conducted with an agenda.
Terence, you don’t have to deal with us, if you want to be part of Rinos, fine.
I have known a number of politicians, on both sides of the aisle, whom I thought were ethical. Generally they did not do well in swampland.
Now, I really dislike what Dems have become, and I dislike swamp critters.
If Trump decides to start a new party, it will draw off voters from both Democrats and Republicans, leaving Dems with Marxists and Republicans with Rinos. Fault lies with both extremes.
Justice Delivered
I criticize the logic of forming a new party as compared with the logic of reforming the Republican Party and you accuse me of being a Rino. Your comment delivers not justice but a problem with political discourse today. Criticizing ideas isn’t nearly as common as it should be and dismissive ad hominems are too common.
Perhaps, I should be happy that you didn’t call me a Democrat or tell me to go back to Canuckistan. Carry on and best of luck. And I mean it. There is much about America that I love even as I fear for your future. And I also fear for Canada’s future, but what happens down there will ultimately have more impact on our fate than what happens up here.
I agree with you, Terence, that starting a new party is not logical or even viable. Yes, at least 75 million American voters voted for Trump in 2020, but how many of them were die-hard MAGA, i.e. Trump over Party, voters (let’s just ignore the ridiculous embarrassing QAnon loons because they will certainly depress interest in a new party that embraces their nuttery)? Not that many is my guess, maybe 10%, probably far less? And of those, who will join this new party if Trump himself is not at its helm (I highly doubt Trump will start his own party; he’s not a politician, and he doesn’t want to be one–or he would have been a very different president. IF he does, it will be for Jr. and Ivanka, both of whom have political aspirations, and that alone will dilute support from his most fervent base).
Anyway, even assuming (and I don’t) that a serious number of Trump voters will turn out to be third party kamikazes, what next? Who, if not Trump (Or Jr. or leftie Ivanka), will be the face of this new party? You need a “name” to launch a party or to get it noticed (and Ron Paul couldn’t do crap for the Libertarians, even his son saw the writing on the wall and joined the GOP to affect change from within), what “name” will agree to do this (and what do you have to do/agree to in order to get them?)? What would this new party’s platform be? How do you get voters to support this new party? Websites, ads, etc. all cost money, and lots of it. Who or what will draw donors?
There won’t be a new party, or if there is, it will go nowhere. The only option available is to continue the Tea Party’s work of taking over from within . . . and this time not expecting one or two election cycles to change everything. Patience, tenacity, and will are required, not stompy-footed “I’m taking my toys and building my own sandbox, so there!” blather. At least that is my take, and I’m happy to be wrong if someone somewhere has a better plan than “Hey, let’s start a new party” with no viable plan of action to make it happen.
Fuzzy Zippers
You have delivered reason and logic. I supported President Trump, and there is much about him that I love, but he is not Reagan or Churchill or Thatcher. As for the Libertarians I have no use for people who do not understand that there is a tiny segment of the population that cannot care for themselves. I do not believe in consigning those people to hell on earth. If I am not mistaken President Trump would have won both GA and AZ if the the votes of the Libertarian candidates had gone to President Trump.
I am hoping that President Trump does not destroy his legacy by foolishly creating a third party. My advice to American conservatives is to think, With your heads not your stomachs.
Fuzzy Zippers? Ouch! (Sorry, that clear unintentional typo made me laugh, too funny; not in any way upset, I just got a juvenile giggle out of that one!)
I think it’s safe to say that American conservatives are not in the least interested in a third party, and that is really the problem for the die-hard Trump supporters pushing for one. We conservatives don’t see Trump as the savior (we’re not personality cult types) or the point or the anything except as someone who finally (and often against his own instincts) made a lot of conservative policy choices, who finally stood up for the American people, who did not roll over for the Democrat media activists, and who unabashedly loves this country. Anyone willing to do that is good and should be supported while he in a position to do those things.
https://thefederalist.com/2021/01/14/trumps-support-is-more-about-policies-than-personality/
We like his policies, policies that fly in the face of the GOPe and its globalist, anti-America agenda, but we don’t need Trump himself for that (after all, he’s no spring chicken at 74), and we certainly don’t need a weak (as all new parties are) new party to push those policies. In fact, a new party would be totally powerless to do a thing except spit self-righteous venom from the sidelines. That may make some people feel better, but it won’t do a thing to get our country back on course.
Trump has already shown us the way. He didn’t run as in Indie or as third party, and when he took office, he worked to replace GOPe reps and sens with more MAGA-minded types–Tuberville comes to mind, but there were others, including some that failed to win, but Trump’s goal was to clear out the establishment and to put in patriots. That is the model that we should follow because it’s the only model that has, to my mind, any chance of working.
Fuzzy Wuzzy
What makes you think my typo was unintentional? I am delighted you got a chuckle. We are ad idem.
Terence, that there are those who cannot look after themselves is a sad fact, and nobody denies it. But how does their existence justify the government looking after them, and forcing unwilling people to pay for it? How is it the government’s job? And why should those who don’t want to pay for them be forced to? If you see someone in need, reach into your own pocket, not into someone else’s. If you were to do that you’d be a robber and you’d be arrested; why is it different when the government does it?
The proper address for such people is, first of all, their own families, and if they have none then they must depend on charity. There are more than enough benevolent people who will see to it that they don’t starve; but in the extremely hypothetical and counterfactual case that they couldn’t find any, that still wouldn’t justify robbery. Of course such cases are a tiny fraction of government spending, so nobody thinks eliminating them has any kind of priority, so the whole question is irrelevant to practical politics.
I doubt that.
More, please.
Regrettably? The party killed itself
Does anyone have a link of Trumps departure in the hanger?
Not just Trump, though they took it to an absurd length with him. But think back to 2001 and how they delayed Bush Jr’s appoimtments, which ultimately contributed to the administration being not yet settled in by September.
As opposed to the ones in 2017 and 2001?
Except for 2001 and 2017, right? Those were different, because reasons.
I may be wrong, but I don’t remember such quick, rubber-stamp approvals for Trump picks.
I’m certain the only fast track nomination in President Trump’s cabinet was Elaine Chao. Aka Mrs Mitch McConnell. Wonder why?
“…Texas Senator Tom Cotton…”
Cotton is the Senator from Arkansas.
Fixed, thanks.
DOH! Honest mistake. Sorry about that.
keep fighting Josh, taking out that nitwit Claire looks better by the day. They are afraid of your energy, your passion and your intelligence
Good for him. The dems need to get their own garbage thrown right back at them. Getting away with all the krp they did just encourages them to triple down on it next time. Now they are demanding Hawley and Cruz resign for believing the election was stolen? There is absolutely no end to their escalation of outrageous stunts and demands.
This is a start. I hope we see more of this all the time. Give everything right back to them, doubling it if you can.
And while we’re at it, pleeeeeez let’s sue for every piddle little thing China Joe tries to do.
Milhouse do you know of a legal analysis of the legal efforts and their results/failures and why in the courts of the election fraud complaints being/been conducted to date. What I hear in the MSS media that they were all rejected but I understand its more than that.
Thanks
I don’t know of any comprehensive analysis, but basically in most of the cases no fraud was alleged, and certainly no evidence of fraud was presented. Most of the cases were either about the laws being invalid, or presented only indications that fraud might be going on.
For instance challenges based on observers being prevented from observing; that doesn’t prove fraud, let alone quantify it. It’s a clear indication that something very wrong was happening, but by definition if you’re prevented from seeing something you can’t testify about what it was.
If someone covers up a security camera at a bank you know something is wrong, but you can’t go to court and accuse them of robbery because you can’t prove that’s what they did, which is exactly the reason they covered it.
There were challenges that presented the statistical studies that showed apparent anomalies; those may or may not be real, and if they are real they may or may not indicate fraud, but what they’re certainly not is direct evidence of fraud that a court can take any action on. Or take the challenges that involved generating lists of names of people who may have voted fraudulently, but made no effort whatsoever to verify them and see whether any of them were fraudulent. Somehow that key word “may” was omitted from the challenge, and the lawyers claimed that these were actual fraudulent votes; all it took was checking on a few dozen and finding that they weren’t, and the entire case was discredited.
Are the 74 million supposed to see this and go on about their lives as though the fix isn’t in against them? I offer these examples:
This evidence regards media collaboration: Americans are just supposed to ignore Tony Bobulinski, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zLfBRgeFFo&ab_channel=FoxNews
The following regard voter fraud:
12-4-2020 Wisconsin Fraud
Wisconsin Supreme Court Ducks Trump Campaign Claims of Election Improprieties
By ANDREW C. MCCARTHY
December 4, 2020
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/12/wisconsin-supreme-court-ducks-trump-campaign-claims-of-election-improprieties/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Saturday%202020-12-05&utm_term=NRDaily-Smart
Nevada – 2020; In Nevada, A Corrupt Cash-For-Votes Scheme Is Hiding In Plain Sight
NOVEMBER 18, 2020, by John Daniel Davidson
“In tribal areas, Native American nonprofits illegally offered gift cards, electronics, and other ‘prizes’ in an effort to get out the vote—for Joe Biden…”
https://thefederalist.com/2020/11/18/in-nevada-a-corrupt-cash-for-votes-scheme-is-hiding-in-plain-sight/
Pennsylvania, USA: Gregory Stenstrom, a Navy veteran and forensic computer scientist, testified Wednesday before the State Senate Majority Policy Committee hearing in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, about an election process in Delaware County he described as being “forensically destructive.”
https://youtu.be/VW3I7eFQbbo
Because the process was so “forensically destructive” he argued a recount wouldn’t help. “I don’t believe as a citizen and an observer to this that anybody could certify that vote in any good conscience,” he said. “And if the Democrats that are part of this process had followed their own procedures…we would be in a situation where they could exonerate themselves and they could say ‘Mr. Stenstrom, you’ve been misinformed, we have evidence here that refutes what you say.’ But that’s not the case, they can’t do that.”
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/11/26/pa-witness–usb-cards-n2580714?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=11/26/2020&bcid=b4d7529d0776ff16b380f8072fe8b41e&recip=21613252
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office released a statement today announcing that Raquel Rodriguez, the self-described ‘ballot-chaser’ exposed by Project Veritas in October, has been arrested.
We are happy to see that Texas authorities have taken action.
For those who say “nothing matters” or “nothing ever gets done” or “nobody is ever held accountable” — this is for you.
For those in the news media who say there is no such thing as Voter Fraud and that what we do is nothing more than an attempt to “undermine elections,” take a seat.
https://youtu.be/F7jH6GaqAU0
Our new Klingon president is way-way-way over his head. But now, the left has the perfect template for destroying any Republican/conservative/libertarian they choose. To them, American history skipped from 1619 to January 6, 2021. They don’t even need the slavery years as a historical reference to label you and me a racist or domestic terrorist. It’ll be very convenient for them, and the nation’s tech oligarchs and media moguls will carry their lies all the way to the bank. It will get worse, and kind words of unity will be useless in preventing it from happening.