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Congress Tag

Doing away with diplomatic niceties, the top European Union officials have welcomed the gains made by the Democrats in the US midterm elections. Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans hailed the electoral results while attacking the Trump administration for its "racism" and "rudeness." "Inspired by voters in the U.S. who chose hope over fear, civility over rudeness, inclusion over racism, equality over discrimination," Timmermans wrote on Twitter. EU Economic Commissioner, Pierre Moscovici, also cheered the Democrats winning the House majority. "The Democrats win the House of Representatives for the first time in eight years despite powerful Republican gerrymandering," Moscovici said.

The false claim that Israel is an 'apartheid' state underpins the intellectual foundations of the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) movement. The smear actually originated in anti-Zionist campaigns that were initiated by Communist states during the Cold War. Since the 2001 UN conference in Durban, which launched the BDS movement, the comparison of Israel with racist apartheid-era South Africa has also been a key leitmotif of anti-Israel activists.

Yesterday New Hampshire had a primary, and Eddie Edwards won the GOP nomination for the US House of Representatives from the state's 1st Congressional District:
Eddie Edwards, who was endorsed by Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, defeated six Republican opponents in the 1st Congressional District, which covers the eastern half of the state. A Navy veteran who also served as enforcement chief for the state liquor commission, Edwards is the second African-American to be nominated to a U.S. House seat in New Hampshire.

This year's midterms are huge for both parties. A newly-released Fox News poll shows the GOP making gains in their voter preference poll.  If true, this is exceptionally good news not just for the GOP but for the president. Fox News reports:
The latest Fox News poll finds a tightening race when voters are asked their candidate preference in this fall’s congressional election.

The last time we visited the San Diego area at Legal Insurrection, all eight border wall prototypes had passed extensive security tests. The first contact for the border wall has been awarded, and work on the project has begun.
The federal government began work Wednesday to replace a section of border wall in California, the first wall contract awarded in the Trump administration outside of eight prototypes that were built last year in San Diego.

We're witnessing a perfect storm of sorts as various elements of leftist policy and ideology converge into an historical moment in which being accused of sexual harassment/abuse means being guilty.  Being guilty, in turn, means the immediate loss of one's career, one's reputation, and one's livelihood. The accused is not able to confront his accusers, or even know their names, nor does he know, in many cases, that an allegation has been made or an investigation underway.  He finds out when he is fired from his job, dragged through the mud, and is, what we'd say in any other circumstance, victimized. There's a problem here, one that we on the right may not be as willing to see because the majority of the people being taken down (so far) are unsavory persons populating socio-political worlds—Hollywood, politics, the media—in which we are "the deplorables."  It's not hard to feel vindicated in some cases and Schadenfreude in others.

President Trump has kicked Obama's unconstitutional Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) back to Congress and stated that he will extend his initial six month deadline if Congress fails to act. While there doesn't appear to be much (any?) movement on this in either the House or the Senate, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report that legalizing Dreamers will cost U. S. taxpayers $25.9 billion over the next 10 years.

We've been covering the on-going DACA saga here at LI; President Trump tossed Obama's unconstitutional Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) back to Congress, initially giving them six months to get a bill to his desk that would enshrine some version of DACA into law. The president later announced that he would grant Congress an extension if they weren't able to get their act together within the original time frame.  Trump, in other words, will gladly sign a DACA bill should one make its way to his desk.

Minnesota Democrat Senator Al Franken. Michigan Democrat Representative John Conyers. Who is next? It could be anyone! A Washington Post report from a few weeks ago showed that the "Office of Compliance has paid more than $17 million for 264 settlements and awards to federal employees for violations of various employment rules" since 1997. This includes sexual harassment. Congress returns to work after the Thanksgiving holiday to immense pressure not only to reveal the causes and people involved in these settlements, but to make the process more transparent.

The House passed a 2018 budget resolution last week along with the Senate Budget Committee, two crucial steps to start tax reform. It's an opportunity for President Donald Trump and the Republican lawmakers to hold a promise after they couldn't repeal Obamacare. The GOP has the majority, but just like with Obamacare, there are divisions within the party that could prevent tax reform from happening.

A few GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate have announced they are open to legislation that will ban bump stocks, a device allegedly used by Stephen Paddock in the Las Vegas massacre. This device "is a sliding stock that when pressed against a shooter’s shoulder allows a semi-automatic gun to shift backward and forward with the recoil of each shot fired." Authorities found bump stocks in Paddock's room, but we do not know for sure if he used them during the massacre.

In a puzzling move, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced last month that the Department of Justice would be ramping up asset forfeiture. Mary wrote at the time:
Civil forfeiture remains a controversial issue in America since it’s “a process by which the government can take and sell your property without ever convicting, or even charging, you with a crime.” The procedures are civil, which means defendants do not receive the same protections given to criminal defendants. It’s one of the few issues that garners bipartisan support.
That bipartisan support is now even more evident as Congress moves to defund asset forfeiture.

As Congress is scheduled to return from recess next week, President Donald Trump traveled to Missouri on Wednesday to encourage Congress to tackle tax reform and actually get the job done...unlike the ordeal with Obamacare. From Yahoo! News:
“I don’t want to be disappointed by Congress, do you understand me,” Trump said, pointing into a crowd that included much of the state’s GOP Congressional delegation. “Do you understand?” “I think Congress is going to make a comeback,” the president added. “I hope so.”

The Congressional Baseball game is a 108-year-old tradition and one of the best annual showings of bipartisanship. This year, a day after Rep. Steve Scalise was shot and severely injured during baseball practice, a public display of unity and civility was desperately needed. And that's exactly what happened.

Before the game began, both Republican and Democrat teams held a moment of silence and prayer at second base, where Rep. Scalise was supposed to play

Puerto Ricans went to the polls today to vote on possible statehood with America. The majority of people voted yes, but only 23% of the people voted, which could call into question the validity "of the nonbinding referendum." From The Wall Street Journal:
According to early results on a government website, statehood drew 97% of support with more than 90% of votes counted Sunday afternoon, but a turnout of about 23% reflected the success of a boycott effort led by opponents.

In May, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling before members take their summer recess in order for America to pay its debts. The ability to borrow money expired on March 16. Now Mnuchin has said that he and the department have started to formulate plans to fund the government until September if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling. From The Wall Street Journal: