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US House Tag

June 5 was the most important primary night for 2018 with a handful of states hitting the polls. Most eyes stayed on California since the state has a crazy jungle primary, which means the top two candidates will land on the ballot even if they're in the same party. It looks like the important House races in California remain undecided and we won't have an answer for days, which means the GOP could still shut out Democrats in those districts. The Democrats also had a huge blow on the governor's ballot as a Republican grabbed the second spot over a former Los Angeles mayor. What about other states? Here are a few key points I put together from a crazy night.

The Hill has reported that the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees will interview three witnesses in June over the FBI's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email probe. They will interview "Bill Priestap, the assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division, and Michael Steinbach, the former head of the FBI’s national security division," along with "John Giacalone, who preceded Steinbach as the bureau's top national security official and oversaw the first seven months of the Clinton probe."

President Donald Trump promised big changes to Dodd-Frank shortly after his inauguration. He may have the opportunity to do just that this week. In a rare instance of bipartisanship, the House passed a bill that will rollback portions of the financial law for smaller banks.

California has an odd primary known as "top-two primary system," which means that "the two candidates who get the most votes move on to the November vote regardless of party." This could cause a major headache for the state, which is why the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is pouring money into key districts in southern California to take advantage of the retirement of two representatives and a Hillary Clinton win in 2016.

The splashy headlines in the MSM all talk about how the House Freedom Caucus killed the farm bill in the House today since those members demanded the lawmakers vote on immigration legislation first. But it's a good thing this bill died because of the non-sexy components the MSM won't touch. The lawmakers filled the bill with so much pork that it'd shock anyone that agriculture was the main subject.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) presented the GOP a gold wrapped present on a silver platter when she told The Boston Globe she's not going anywhere and wants the Speaker job back:
“We will win. I will run for speaker. I feel confident about it. And my members do, too,” Pelosi told a meeting of Globe reporters and editors. She was in Boston for a Democratic fund-raiser hosted by Representative Katherine Clark.

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) has represented Colorado's 5th district for six years, but it looks like that may come to an end. The Colorado Supreme Court kicked him off the GOP primary ballot after the justices "ruled that a petition gatherer working for Lamborn's campaign did not live in the state at the time." That made the signatures invalid and placed Lamborn "below the threshold for ballot access."

Remember that awful omnibus bill the government passed last month? The backlash was swift and strong. Apparently, lawmakers listened because reports suggest Trump and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) have started to look at ways to slash spending from the $1.3 trillion bill.

The usual suspects on the left are melting down because the U.S. Department of Commerce has reinstated the citizenship question to the 2020 census.  You know the drill, this move is racist, xenophobic, tyrannical, and even, according to California's attorney general, illegal. The left is frantic because they are worried that illegal aliens will not fill out the 2020 census and as a result Democrat-held urban areas—where large numbers of illegals are concentrated—will lose out to more rural areas.  Rural areas tend to be more conservative and to vote Republican.

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.