by James Carafano Reports have surfaced, citing government officials, that border officials no longer will refer detained migrant families to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Instead, due to constrained resources, they will “begin releasing hundreds of families caught each day in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.” As a result,…
Read MoreTag: Congress
Commentary: The Clarity Accompanying the Democrats’ Takeover of Congress
by Julie Kelly Months before the midterm elections last fall, several self-described “conservatives” implored Americans to vote for Democrats. Still stung that Republicans ignored their advice to reject Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy and unmoved by Trump’s solid record of conservative accomplishments in office, these embittered outcasts claimed that a…
Read MoreDean Phillips Jokes About Giving Guest ‘Chocolate Cake’ to Celebrate ‘Diversity’
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) hosted a town hall Saturday in Minnesota where he joked about giving a guest a piece of “chocolate cake” in the “spirit of celebrating diversity.” The town hall was called to discuss HR 1, or the For the People Act, a radical election-reform package introduced by…
Read MoreSeven Pharma Execs Who Testified Before Congress Tuesday Make a Combined $116 Million Per Year
by Evie Fordham Five of the seven pharmaceutical companies who sent executives to testify on drug pricing before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday have the top-25 highest-paid pharma CEOs for companies in the S&P 500. CEOs from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer and Sanofi plus Johnson & Johnson’s…
Read MoreCommentary: Congress Shirks Its Powers and Then Cries ‘Thief!’
by Rachael Bovard A bipartisan howling is coming from Congress about President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to build the border wall. And while hypocrisy in Washington is always in the water, on the question of immigration, there is enough of it to make your hair curl. Both…
Read MoreAngie Craig Refuses to Condemn New York Abortion Law at Town Hall
Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN-02) hosted her second town hall Saturday in Red Wing, Minnesota, where she was asked about a number of issues, including universal health care and abortion. “The other thing that I wanted to ask you about is we’ve seen states recently that passed laws that legalized abortions…
Read MoreUS Can’t Afford Public Lands Congress Wants to Bring Under Federal Government Control
by Tim Pearce A lengthy public lands package sitting in Congress adds hundreds of thousands of acres of federally protected wilderness without securing funding to manage it. The House is preparing to vote on a bipartisan land package next week that is roughly 660 pages and composed of 118…
Read MoreCommentary: When Congress Turned On to Globalism
by Curtis Ellis July 1967. The Summer of Love. The Doors and Jefferson Airplane topped the charts. Young people flocked to San Francisco to turn on, tune in, and drop out. “All across the nation, there’s a whole generation with a new explanation,” the pop balladeer told us. Indeed,…
Read MoreRep. Angie Craig Issues Joint Letter to Trump Admin to Oppose Funding of Christian Foster Agencies
Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN-02) recently issued a joint letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in response to his department’s decision to allow a South Carolina foster-care agency to refuse housing children with same-sex couples. In January, Azar granted a waiver to Miracle Hill Ministries, a Christian agency…
Read MoreTrump in State of the Union Address: ‘We Must Choose Between Greatness and Gridlock’
President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union address Tuesday night in front of a bitterly divided Congress. His address touched on a number of sensitive issues, including the southern border wall, and the recent pro-abortion legislation passed in New York. He began, however, with a call for…
Read MoreCommentary: Congress Has a Little Time to Get Immigration Right
by Rachel Bovard After refusing for weeks to negotiate over border security “until the government is open,” the bluff has been called on congressional Democrats. Congress has until February 15 to craft a border security package ahead of what could be yet another partial government shutdown. Talks among the 17…
Read MoreZero Democrats Co-Sponsor Bill That Would Tackle Female Genital Mutilation in Minnesota
Minnesota Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) recently introduced a bill that would expand the criminal definition of female genital mutilation (FGM), but zero Democratic House colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors. Under current Minnesota law, it is illegal for doctors to perform FGM, but there are no penalties in place for…
Read MoreIlhan Omar Lands $250K Book Deal Amid Outcry Over Past Comments
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) has landed her first major book deal with Dey Street Books and will receive an initial commission of up to $250,000. The deal was announced on Publishers Marketplace and is said to chronicle Omar’s “journey fleeing war in Somalia as a little girl, becoming a refugee…
Read MoreCommentary: Trump Is Right, Congress Needs to Do Its Job
by Rachel Bovard As the partial government shutdown enters its third week with little hope of an end in sight, President Trump continues to demand funding for a southern border wall. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) flat out refuses to pass any funding at all. In the Senate, Majority Leader…
Read MoreCommentary: Dump The National Emergencies Act
by Julie Kelly One of the more revelatory aspects of the Trump era is how the national media, after taking an extended nap between 2009 and 2017, now are very worried about constitutional overreach by the executive branch. Presidential power-grabs – which were super cool just five years ago…
Read MoreMinnesota Democrat Says Most People Calling His Office Support ‘The Wall’
Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN-07) told Fox News that the overwhelming majority of calls his office is receiving are from constituents who support President Donald Trump’s border wall. “From what I can tell, they’re still hanging with the president. Today, we got 67 calls for building the wall and five…
Read MoreDaines Introduces Bill Withholding Pay from Congressmen During Government Shutdowns, Others Join
by Henry Rodgers Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines introduced a bill on the Senate floor Thursday that would withhold the pay of members of Congress during future government shutdowns. Daines’s introduction of the bill, sponsored by Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn, comes hours after Daines announced he sent a…
Read MoreIlhan Omar Pictured With Anti-Semitic, Sharia Law Apologist Who Partied With Muslim Brotherhood
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) was pictured with anti-Semite and alleged Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer Linda Sarsour on Thursday, Omar’s first official day in Congress. “These past two years have been difficult. So much heartache, exhaustion, pain, losses, drama, bad policy after bad policy yet today was all worth it. Today was…
Read MoreRep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Who Said ‘Congressional Salaries Should Be Furloughed’ During Shutdown, Not on List of Those Refusing Paycheck
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14), who previously called for a furlough of Congressional salaries in response to the partial shutdown of the federal shutdown, apparently has not followed through and has even ducked a reporter’s question about it. The New York Post reported on Thursday that Oscasio-Cortez ran away when…
Read MoreDean Phillips Goes Back on Campaign Promise and Votes for Pelosi As Speaker
Both Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) and Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN-02) voted for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) as the next speaker of the house Thursday in one of their first official acts as members of Congress. Craig and Phillips both indicated on the campaign trail that they would like to see…
Read MorePresident Trump’s Executive Order Freezing Federal Pay Saves Taxpayers from Double-Digit Pay Increases
by Rachel Greszler President Donald Trump issued an executive order effectively freezing federal pay for 2019 at current 2018 levels. Had the president not issued this executive order (and lacking congressional action on federal pay), federal workers would have received a 2.1 percent across-the-board pay increase, as well as a…
Read More2018 Marks the Fall of Social Media
by Michelle Quinn Silicon Valley has enjoyed years of popularity and growing markets. But 2018 has been rocky for the industry. Data breaches, controversies over offensive speech and misinformation — as well as reports of foreign operatives’ use of their services — have left many people skeptical about the…
Read MoreDr. Carol M. Swain Commentary: Congress’s Role in Creating America’s Healthcare Crisis
by Dr. Carol M. Swain In 2017, President-elect Donald Trump sent pharmaceutical stocks into a nosedive by speaking an important truth. Drug companies, he said, are “getting away with murder” with their pricing of lifesaving drugs. True to his word, the president, since his election, has pushed for needed reforms aimed at…
Read MoreDr. Carol M. Swan Commentary: Congress’s Role in Creating America’s Healthcare Crisis
by Dr. Carol M. Swain In 2017, President-elect Donald Trump sent pharmaceutical stocks into a nosedive by speaking an important truth. Drug companies, he said, are “getting away with murder” with their pricing of lifesaving drugs. True to his word, the president, since his election, has pushed for needed reforms aimed at…
Read MoreThe 2018 Partial Government Shutdown, Detailed
by Joe Carter On Friday the federal government entered a partial shutdown after the Senate failed to pass a spending bill that includes border wall funding. President Trump refuses to sign any additional funding that does not include $5.1 billion in additional money to pay for an extension of…
Read MoreMark Meadows Says Trump Will Not Budge on Requested Amount for Wall Funding
by Henry Rodgers Republican North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows said President Donald Trump will not budge on the $5 billion requested for a border wall Wednesday, as the government enters its sixth day of a partial shutdown. Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said he does not believe…
Read MoreCommentary: Congress’ Dated Energy Regulations Have Outlived Their Purpose
by Robert Romano At the height of 1970s inflation and in response to the 1973 Arab oil embargo, Congress passed the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978. The legislation requires electric utilities to purchase energy from small renewable generators. It has also outlived its usefulness. Since that…
Read MoreCommentary: Our Globalist Congress Cares More About Securing Syria Than Securing Our Own Southern Border
by Robert Romano Congress apparently cares more about securing Syria than securing the U.S. southern border by building the wall. That’s about all that can be taken away from some of the Congressional outcry against President Donald Trump who has announced the U.S. will be withdrawing troops from Syria…
Read MoreACLU Defends Chelsea Manning But Silent About FBI Raid Against Reported Clinton Whistleblower
by Richard Pollock The American Civil Liberties Union and other left-wing civil liberties groups defend Chelsea Manning and other whistleblowers, but have remained silent about an FBI raid on a reportedly protected whistleblower. The Daily Caller News Foundation sought comment from a variety of organizations and advocates that defend…
Read MoreCongress Considered to Have Lowest Ethics of All Professions
by Evie Fordham Members of Congress are considered the least honest and ethical of professions including telemarketers and car salespeople, according to a Gallup survey released Thursday. Fifty-eight percent of people said they had low or very low faith in the honesty and ethics of members of Congress, according…
Read MoreTrump Admin Works Around Congress to Raise Work Requirements on Food Stamps
by Tim Pearce The Trump administration is proposing to limit states’ ability to exempt welfare recipients of abiding by the work requirements in the U.S. food stamp program, the Department of Agriculture announced Thursday. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is pushing the reform to cut down on abuse within the…
Read MoreJason Lewis’ Juvenile Justice Reform Bill Signed Into Law
Rep. Jason Lewis’ (R-MN-02) Juvenile Justice Reform Act (JJRA) was signed into law Friday by President Donald Trump as part of Congress’ sweeping criminal justice reform measures. According to Lewis, the JJRA hadn’t been “reauthorized or modernized since 2002.” Lewis’ reforms respond to the need for alternatives to detaining juveniles…
Read MoreCommentary: Art of the Veto: How Trump Can Force a Vote on the Wall
by Robert Romano [Click here to urge Congress to build the wall!] There won’t be any vote on wall funding this year or any year at the rate we’re going — because nobody in Congressional leadership is apparently willing to stick it in a bill and simply vote on…
Read MoreHouse Freedom Caucus Opposes Short-Term Spending Bill Over Border Wall
by Henry Rodgers North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows and House Freedom Caucus members will vote “no” on a short-term funding bill that would fund the government until Feb. 8, as funding is set to expire Friday, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned. “The time to stand up…
Read MoreJames Comey ‘Thinks the Rules Don’t Apply to Him’, says Jim Jordan
by Nick Givas GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said former FBI Director James Comey “thinks the rules don’t apply to him,” on “Fox & Friends” Monday. Comey will reappear before Congress Monday to face questions about his handling of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email scandal and…
Read MoreIndiana AG Says Obamacare Ruling Gives Congress Another Shot at Fixing Healthcare
by Nick Givas Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill said Friday’s Obamacare ruling from a federal judge in Texas gives Congress another shot at fixing America’s healthcare system. “The Individual Mandate can no longer be fairly read as an exercise of Congress’s Tax Power and is still impermissible under the…
Read MoreMN Gov.-Elect Tim Walz Has Missed 80 Percent of House Votes Since August Primary
Gov.-elect Tim Walz (D-MN), still a U.S. congressman until January, has missed 45 votes on the House floor since winning August’s Democratic gubernatorial primary in Minnesota. Between the days of September 4 and December 13, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted on 56 different measures, but Walz has been…
Read MoreCommentary: James and the Giant Impeachment
by Julie Kelly For those concerned that former FBI Director James Comey is suffering from early dementia, have no fear: His memory returned with a vengeance during a Sunday night interview with MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace. On Friday, under questioning by House Judiciary Committee members, Comey answered, “I don’t…
Read MoreMichael Cohen Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Prison
by Chuck Ross Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney for Donald Trump, was sentenced to three years in prison by a judge in New York on Wednesday. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley, is lower than prosecutors’ recommendation that the longtime Trump fixer receive…
Read MoreChuck Schumer Demands Climate Concessions From Trump on Infrastructure Spending
by Michael Bastach Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told President Donald Trump that Democrats won’t cut a deal with him on infrastructure spending unless it includes a slew of policies aimed at fighting global warming. Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, called for, among other things, making green energy and…
Read MoreCommentary: A Work Requirement for Food Stamps Isn’t Too Much to Ask
by Robert Romano The conference committee for H.R. 2, the farm bill, has stripped out its additional work requirements as a condition for collecting food stamps from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The provision would have required able-bodied adults to work a minimum of 20 hours a week…
Read MoreIdea of Building Dorms for Members of Congress Returns
by Evie Fordham The difficulties some members of Congress have affording housing are again front and center because of Nov. 8 comments from Democratic New York Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about making rent. Her comments about “squirreling away” money until she starts receiving her congressional salary of $174,000 in January…
Read MoreIlhan Omar Joins Ocasio-Cortez in Pushing for ‘Green New Deal’
Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) is backing Democratic colleague Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY-14) “Green New Deal” proposal that would force “100 percent of national power generation” on to “renewable sources.” “The science is clear—we need urgent action on climate change now. Actually, we needed it 15 years ago. Now we’re running…
Read MoreMichigan Muslim Sect Cleared of Female Genital Mutilation Charges
A federal judge in Detroit has tossed out female genital mutilation charges against members of a Muslim sect, arguing that Congress “overstepped its bounds” in prohibiting the practice. The 22-year-old federal ban on female genital mutilation went untested until April 2017, when Dr. Jumana Nagarwala (pictured above) of Northville, Michigan…
Read MoreCraig And Phillips Skip Out On Letter from Fellow Democrats Vowing to Vote Against Pelosi for Speaker
A group of Democratic House members issued a letter to their colleagues Monday vowing to vote against Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-11) in her bid for the speakership. The letter calls for “new leadership” in Congress, but some of Minnesota’s newly-elected members who made similar claims on the campaign trail…
Read MoreDan Feehan Concedes to Hagedorn Ten Days After Election
Democrat Dan Feehan conceded in the race for Minnesota’s First Congressional District on Friday, nearly 10 days after his loss to Republican Jim Hagedorn. For the second time in a row, Minnesota’s First District was the closest race in the state, and one of the closest in the country, but…
Read MoreCommentary: The Art of the Veto
by Robert Romano By last count, Republicans lost at least 32 seats in the House in the midterm elections, and U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is once again poised to be elected House Speaker. This means all legislation will now have to be worked out between a Democratic House…
Read MoreHouse Winners And Losers: DFL And GOP Both Flip Two Seats in Minnesota
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party won five of Minnesota’s eight congressional districts, adding to an already decisive night of Democratic victories across the state. There were, however, some key Republican upsets throughout Minnesota, particularly in Minnesota’s First Congressional District where Republican Jim Hagedorn was called the winner early Wednesday morning. Republican…
Read MoreRuth Bader Ginsburg Calls Congress the Culprit in Polarizing Judicial Confirmation Process
by Tristan Justice Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg points the finger at an increasingly partisan Congress for polarizing the judicial confirmation process. Speaking at the federal courthouse in Washington on Wednesday, Ginsburg said a lack of collegiality and bipartisanship among lawmakers was to blame for polarizing the confirmation…
Read MorePelosi Outlines Agenda if Democrats Retake House
Projecting confidence about her party’s chances, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi outlined five of the top 10 agenda items Democrats will pursue if they retake the House in next month’s election. Lowering health care costs, rebuilding infrastructure, and running the House chamber with more transparency and openness are near the top…
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