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Zelensky to address Congress amid rising fears of massive Russian winter offensive

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will make his historic visit to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday at a critical time in his country’s war with Russia, as Ukrainian officials warn Moscow is massing upwards of 200,000 troops for a renewed offensive within the first three months of next year.

Ukraine has urged the United States and other allies to ramp up weapons shipments for the winter fight, a call sure to be reinforced by Zelensky during his visit, which will also include a meeting with President Biden.

Ukrainian forces have appeared to stall out in routing Russian forces from occupied territory since it launched a lightning counter-offensive in September.

“The Russians are preparing some 200,000 fresh troops,” General Valery Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, told the Economist. “I have no doubt they will have another go at Kyiv.”

Zaluzhny further told the outlet that Russia could launch its big attack from Donbas in the east, from the south, or even from Belarus.

Zaluzhny said the new offensive could start as soon as January, but more likely in the spring. Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, told the Guardian that some 150,000 reservists called up earlier this year were now nearing the completion of their training. 

“It means they are trying to start the next wave of the offensive probably in February, like last year. That’s their plan,” Reznikov said.  

Ukrainian officials are concerned that a long, drawn-out war of attrition will degrade U.S. and other international military and economic support for Kyiv. 

To keep the momentum going, Congress has proposed $45 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine – exceeding President Biden’s request for nearly $38 billion.

The president is further expected to announce that the U.S. will provide more advanced air defense systems to help Kyiv survive under Russian missile and drone strikes on its energy and electricity infrastructure.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, told ABC News on Sunday that Ukraine’s Armed Forces “have to be prepared for everything,” when asked if Kyiv is concerned about a renewed Russian offensive. 

“We just have to push back and liberate more,” she said, adding Kyiv and its allies must “continue to stay the course, liberate the territories and defend Ukraine.” 

The warnings come as Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday visited Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko – criticized by the U.S. and allies of illegitimately holding power – raising concerns that Russia is looking to relaunch offenses from Belarus or with cooperation of Belarusian forces. 

US officials have said they have not seen Belarusian troops fighting alongside Russia, and don’t have information of a pending threat of Belarus sending its military across the border into Ukraine. 

Retired Marine Col. Mark Cancian, senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said new offensives appeared likely on both sides in the coming months.

“There’s a widespread expectation that there will be winter offensives, perhaps by both sides, Ukrainians and the Russians,” he said. 

“The Ukrainians, also, are not as dismissive of the Russians as many in the West are, when you listen to their generals and officials. They are respectful of their enemy, in the way that many commentators in the West aren’t.” 

But other experts, including those at Washington D.C.-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War, assessed that a Russian offensive over the next few months “remains questionable,” given the capacity of Moscow’s military. 

“The manpower Russia is generating from mobilized reservists and from the annual fall conscription cycle will not be sufficiently trained to conduct rapid and effective mechanized maneuver this fall,” ISW researchers wrote in an analysis Sunday, describing struggles to maintain arms supplies of tanks, artillery, long-range missiles and other materials. 

“Putin may nevertheless order renewed large-scale offensive operations later this winter, but it is important not to overestimate the likely capabilities of Russian or combined Russo-Belarusian forces to conduct them successfully.”

Also skeptical of a big Russian winter offensive was Michael O’Hanlon, a military analyst at Brookings Institution.

“Last winter their forces were eviscerated when they tried this; why would it go better now?” he told The Hill. “More likely it is a ruse or distraction.”

Ahead of Russia’s February offensive against Ukraine, U.S. officials estimated that Kyiv would fall within 72 hours. Ukrainian forces put up a stiff defense, aided by Russian military failures, and kept the capital city from falling.

Ukrainian officials participated in peace talks with Russian officials towards the end of March as Russia pulled back troops that were in suburbs around Kyiv, but the talks were called off as Ukrainians discovered mass atrocities against civilians in the wake of the retreat.

With U.S. and Western military support, Ukraine has succeeded in liberating nearly 29,000 square miles (74,250 sq km) from the Russians since Moscow first launched its full scale invasion on Feb. 24, according to an ISW analysis.  

Ukraine has liberated nearly 29,000 square miles (74,250 sq km) from the Russians since Moscow first launched its full scale invasion on Feb. 24, according to an ISW analysis.  

Responding to Ukrainian ground successes, the Kremlin in October turned to attacking the country from the air — overloading Ukraine’s air defense systems with cruise missiles and Iranian-made drones laden with explosives. 

The result has been a devastating impact on Ukraine’s energy and electricity infrastructure, cutting off water, heat and electricity for millions of civilians at a time. Civilians have also been killed in the Russian attacks.

The U.S. and partner countries have condemned the Russian tactic as a potential war crime. 

Meanwhile, Putin has worked to bolster his ground forces, announcing in September a “partial mobilization” of 300,000 soldiers. 

The order triggered what appeared to be an exodus of more than 100,000 young men from the country seeking to avoid conscription, and it reportedly drew criticisms domestically for snatching young men from the street, and sending ill-trained and ill-equipped soldiers to battle. 

Still, CSIS’s Cancian said those recruited are likely ready to fight. 

“The Russians, to be fair, they’ve had this partial mobilization, it was chaotic… but it has produced troops and that has strengthened their units, filled them out, so that they do have some capacity for a counter offensive.” 

And the Russians are likely trying to outlast the will of the Ukrainians and their international partners. 

“I think Putin’s strategy is to hold on through the winter and hope that the Europeans buckle — that the combination of energy prices, inflation, recession, cause them to demand peace,” Cancian added. 

French President Emanuel Macron has been a consistent voice of optimism for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Earlier in December he said Ukraine and its supporters must be prepared to address Putin’s demands for security guarantees to what he views are threats from NATO. 

However, Cancian and other war experts warn that peace talks or a ceasefire while Russia still occupies large swathes of Ukraine could essentially lock in Putin’s gains over the past year without any guarantees of long-term security for Ukraine. 

Former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger published his idea for a potential ceasefire last week, which envisions a formal agreement between Ukraine and NATO, and popular elections to decide the future of Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia before the war. 

Kissinger’s proposal, and an earlier proposition in May, were both roundly rejected by the Ukrainians. 

Biden and his officials have said they are following Ukraine’s lead on whether it will continue to pursue a military victory or sue for peace. 

“We firmly believe that Ukraine, and only Ukraine, has the right to decide its future,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Monday.

Ellen Mitchell contributed to this report.

Source: TEST FEED1

Zelensky to visit Washington in historic visit with Biden

President Biden will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House Wednesday, marking an unprecedented visit aimed at underscoring American support for Ukraine nearly 10 months in its fight against Russia’s invasion. 

Biden will also announce an additional $2 billion in military aid that includes advanced air defenses to help Ukraine defend against Russian aerial onslaughts that are targeting its energy and electricity infrastructure.

Zelensky’s visit was earlier confirmed to The Hill by congressional aides but was acknowledged by the White House late Tuesday night, with a senior administration official briefing reporters. 

The unprecedented visit marks the first time Zelensky has left Ukraine since Russia invaded in February. At that time, the U.S. reportedly offered to ferry the Ukrainian president out of besieged Kyiv where he was under threat of assassination — to which Zelensky replied, “I need ammo, not a ride.”

The senior administration official said the White House consulted closely with Zelensky on the security parameters of him being able to depart Ukraine and come to the U.S. for a brief period and return. 

“Of course, it ultimately was his decision to make. He concluded that those security parameters were met. What he needed, we agreed with that, and so we are executing accordingly,” the official said.

Biden will host Zelensky for an “extended bilateral” meeting, where the two leaders will discuss “the way ahead on the battlefield” against Russia, the official said.

The visit comes as Zelensky and his top aides have warned that Russia is preparing to launch a massive ground invasion that could include a renewed push to conquer Kyiv. 

Alongside Zelensky, Biden will announce an additional $2 billion in assistance for Ukraine, that will include Patriot Missile Batteries, which can help target ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as unmanned aircraft. The systems can generally operate with a maximum range of 100 miles, but the U.S. has handicapped other military systems provided to Ukraine in what it said was an effort to avoid further provoking Russia to escalate against the U.S. 

Putting the batteries into use “will take some time,” the official said, noting that the U.S. will train Ukrainian forces how to operate them in a third country. 

“But Ukrainian troops will take that training back to their country to operate this battery and we will continue to prioritize other forms of air defense support as well.”

Biden and Zelensky will hold a joint press conference and Zelensky will address, later that evening, a joint session of Congress which will allow lawmakers to demonstrate “the strong bipartisan support for Ukraine,” the official said.

Congress on Tuesday proposed an emergency aid package related to Russia’s war in Ukraine at $45 billion and that exceeded the White House’s original proposal of $38 billion. 

While the majority of Democrats and Republicans have expressed ironclad support for helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia, Republicans are more critical of Biden and Democrats’ approach to Ukraine. 

Some Republicans are voicing criticism against the administration’s support for a draft bill labeling Russia as an “Aggressor State,” as a way to compromise on Ukrainian calls to designate Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism, a legal designation that the administration says restricts their ability to communicate with the Kremlin. 

And Republicans are generally more hawkish on oversight of U.S. assistance to Ukraine. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), likely to take the Speaker gavel in January, has promised no “blank check” for Ukraine, in responding to calls for more oversight. 

Still, Zelensky’s visit and his address to a joint session of Congress are meant to demonstrate the “broad, deep and bipartisan” support from the U.S., the official said.

“President Biden… will reinforce the fundamental message on this trip to President Zelensky, directly, to the Ukrainian people, the American people and the world publicly, that the United States will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes and that in doing so that support will remain broad, deep and bipartisan.”

Biden has said that the U.S. will not send troops to Ukraine. When asked if the Wednesday visit marks a change to the U.S. involvement in the war, the official said it does not.

The genesis for Zelensky’s visit to Washington came during a phone call with Biden on Dec. 11, and the White House formally invited the Ukrainian president to come on Dec. 14. 

Zelensky accepted the invitation on Friday, and the visit was confirmed on Sunday, the official said. At that point, the White House informed the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to coordinate the Ukrainian president’s visit to Congress. 

The official did not say if Zelensky is traveling with a delegation.

When pressed on why Zelensky is traveling to the U.S. now and if the Ukrainian president is safe to leave the country, the official said Biden and Zelensky agree that it would be important for him to have the opportunity to thank the American people and Democrats and Republicans in Congress for the continued support.

“President Zelensky has indicated he’s very keen—was very keen—to make his first visit to the United States to be able to send this message,” the official said.

In the meeting at the White House, Biden and Zelensky are expected to include “an in depth strategic discussion on the way ahead on the battlefield,” the official said. Additionally, they will discuss the capabilities and training that the U.S. and our allies are providing Ukraine, and sanctions and export controls that have been imposed on Russia.

The trip on Wednesday marks 300 days since the Russian invasion into Ukraine.

While Zelensky has made a point to address virtually many of the countries and civil society supporting Ukraine, his continued presence in the country served as a morale boon to inspire Ukraine’s armed forces and ordinary citizens and an affront to Russian efforts to decapitate the leadership.

On Tuesday, Zelensky made a surprise visit to frontline troops fighting in the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, in the country’s east.

Zelensky’s office said that the president “listened to the commander’s report on the operational situation, logistical support and proposals for further actions” and “while in the area of hostilities…  thanked the Ukrainian warriors for their courage, resilience and strength, which they demonstrate while repelling enemy attacks.”

The senior administration official pointed to Zelensky’s Bakhmut visit as a testament to the Ukrainian’s president’s own determination of his security concerns versus what he feels is the best way to aid Ukraine. 

“He made the same calculus when it comes to, coming to the United States. He feels this is something that is going to aid the fight for Ukraine,” the official said.

“And we are determined to ensure that it aids the fight in Ukraine by projecting a strong message of unity, and resolve from the White House, from Washington, from the free world, on behalf of all the nations supporting Ukraine. That’s what we intend to do tomorrow.”

Source: TEST FEED1

READ: House panel's reports on Trump tax returns

The House Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday along party lines to release information surrounding six years of former President Trump’s tax returns.

The redacted tax returns will likely be released publicly within the coming days. In the meantime, the panel on Tuesday released a pair of reports: one describing the probe of the IRS’s audit of the returns, and the other listing various documents related to the returns.

Read both reports below.

Source: TEST FEED1

Musk says he will resign as Twitter CEO once he finds replacement 

Elon Musk on Tuesday said he’ll step down from his role as CEO of Twitter once he finds someone to replace him, an announcement that comes after a majority of users said he should resign in a poll held on the social media platform.  

“I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams,” Musk wrote on Twitter. 

With over 17.5 million total votes cast, 57.5 percent of users responding to Musk’s poll said he should step down as Twitter’s head, just weeks after Musk acquired the company and took on the position.  

Musk had vowed in posting the poll that he would abide by the results. Another 42.5 percent of users said Musk should not leave the role.

Musk’s tenure as CEO has so far been fraught with controversy as the billionaire moved to slash Twitter staff, scale back on content moderation and change the platform’s user verification system.  

Source: TEST FEED1

Congress aims to label Russia ‘Aggressor State’ instead of state sponsor of terrorism

Congressional leadership is working to quickly introduce a bill condemning Russia as an “Aggressor State” amid plans for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit Washington on Wednesday. 

The designation would provide the president new sanctions authorities to target Russian officials; however a House GOP aide called it a “half-baked” response to Zelensky’s demand that the U.S. designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

The state sponsor of terrorism label would isolate Moscow internationally and compel the U.S. to impose costs on countries engaging with the Kremlin.

The Biden administration has rejected that effort, saying it would tie the hands of the U.S. in engaging with Russia generally and box in the administration on any diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

“We’re working with Congress right now on legislation that would help us get around some of the challenges of using the state sponsor of terrorism designation, which … has some unintended consequences,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with CNN earlier this month.

The draft text is being negotiated between the administration and congressional leadership, Republican congressional aides told The Hill, criticizing the effort for failing to impose any serious costs on Moscow.  

“Zelensky asked for the State Sponsor of Terror designation and instead the Biden Administration has told them it won’t support it, but have concocted an alternative designation that doesn’t even exist under US domestic or international law — there is no legal basis for it,” a congressional aide familiar with negotiations told The Hill.

“It’s a half-baked PR measure that won’t do anything to punish Russia, nor help the Ukrainian people,” the congressional aide added.

A version of the draft text, obtained exclusively by The Hill, says that the president, upon enactment of the measure, can designate Russia an “Aggressor State” and has the power to “designate any foreign country” as an aggressor state if the president determines it is engaged in acts of aggression against Ukraine. 

Belarus has also been widely sanctioned for its support of Russia’s war, with a visit from Russian President Vladimir Putin this week raising fears that it could send troops into Ukraine as well. 

The draft text allows for the president to sanction any individual who is “responsible for, engaged in or complicit in” the crime of aggression as laid out in the bill. 

But critics of the text say that those sanctions authorities are redundant, as the Biden administration has sanctioned Putin and many of his top officials and family members since Moscow launched its invasion against Ukraine in February. 

U.S.-based civil society organizations supporting Ukraine issued a joint statement objecting to the aggressor state legislation. The statement was signed by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Joint Baltic American National Committee and Razom for Ukraine.

“The Biden Administration’s newly proposed ‘Aggressor State’ designation for Russia is a damaging concept that undermines current congressional efforts to support Ukraine,” the groups wrote in a joint statement on Tuesday.

“Russia is engaged currently in a full-scale, ruthless war and genocide against Ukraine and its people. This new proposed designation would do nothing to change Russian actions, to seize Russian state assets, or to meaningfully hold Russia’s government accountable, and simply relies on Executive Branch discretion to determine when Russia’s aggression against Ukraine ends,” the groups added.

The groups further said that they “fear” the aggressor state designation would allow for “easing sanctions and returning frozen assets to war criminals as part of premature negotiations with Russia.”

“While the US Government, Congress, and President Biden have done much to support Ukraine, the ‘Aggressor State’ proposal is counterproductive and should not be adopted,” they wrote.

Republicans further say that the aggressor state text is rhetorically weaker than efforts to condemn Russia as committing genocide in Ukraine. Senators from both sides of the aisle introduced in July a resolution recognizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine as genocide.

“Calling Russia an aggressor state responsible for a campaigns of terror against civilians in Ukraine, we already know that,” the aide said. “We don’t need a new designation for that, and we’re already throwing around terms like genocide that are much stronger.” 

The Hill has reached out to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) office for comment on the aggressor state legislation.

Ukrainian officials acknowledged to The Hill that the aggressor state status does not fulfill their requests for labeling Russia as a terrorist state but are supportive of the measure as a way to describe Russia as carrying out acts of terrorism and can generally support coining a separate term if it provides additional instruments to punish aggressor states. 

The European Union passed a nonbinding resolution in November calling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, a largely symbolic move but one that is viewed by Ukrainian officials as helping establish international consensus isolating Putin. 

Still, legislation condemning Russia as committing the crime of aggression is also in line with Ukrainian efforts to establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian officials, and likely Putin, as instigating the invasion against Ukraine. An estimated 50,000 alleged Russian war crimes have been documented by Ukrainian officials. 

Anton Korynevych, Ukraine’s ambassador-at-large for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was in Washington earlier this month with a delegation aiming to build support for a special tribunal and calling for a bipartisan resolution condemning Russia as committing the crime of aggression. 

Korynevych said a resolution recognizing Russia as committing the crime of aggression against Ukraine was supported by the French parliament and that his meetings in the U.S. sought to build on this effort. 

“We also talked with our … American parliamentarian colleagues, in order for the House of Representatives in U.S. Congress to adopt the same resolution, which is now there and which we hope will be registered in beginning of January and it is a bipartisan draft resolution,” he said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Democrats vote to release six years of Trump's tax returns

Democrats on the main tax-writing committee in the House voted during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday to make six years of former President Trump’s tax returns public — the culmination of years of Democratic efforts to obtain Trump’s financial records and a move that Republicans view as a provocation as they assume control of the House.

The returns, encompassing years 2015 to 2020, could be released in as soon as hours after the announcement, as part of two reports from the Ways and Means Committee to the broader Congress about the presidential audit system of the IRS.

The committee voted along party lines, 24-16, to make the returns public, with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans voting against.

Republicans blasted the decision to release the returns, warning that the move will usher in a new era of disclosing personal financial documents as a “political weapon.”

“This meeting actually sets a terrible precedent that unleashes a dangerous new political weapon that reaches far beyond the former president,” Ways and Means Republican leader Kevin Brady (R-Texas) told reporters on Tuesday.

“I won’t speculate on what the next Congress and this committee will focus on related to tax returns, but I do know that a major focus will be on the IRS,” he said.

Progressive groups cheered on the Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday after the decision release the tax returns to the public.

“Tax fairness starts at the top: if the president is not paying his fair share or is otherwise abusing the tax laws, the American people have the right to know,” Frank Clemente, director of the Americans for Tax Fairness nonprofit, said in a statement. 

“Chairman [Richard Neal [(D-Mass.)] and the Ways and Means Democrats are to be congratulated for their dogged pursuit of this important information. Now they must share the fruit of their labors with the American people, the final arbiters of what is acceptable behavior by our elected leaders,” he said.

Some legal commentators have said that Democrats would be abusing the oversight process by rushing to make private tax returns public without performing a substantial assessment of the presidential audit program that is the ostensible reason for obtaining Trump’s returns.

“Any review of the presidential audit program that starts now and ends when the GOP takes control of the House in January would be slapdash and superficial,” New York University Law School Professor Daniel Hemel wrote for the website Lawfare earlier this month.

“Neal and the House Ways and Means Committee would undermine their own credibility—and could be seen as hoodwinking the courts and the public—if they proceeded to release the returns outside the context of a comprehensive review of the presidential audit program,” he wrote.

Tax experts have expressed doubts about whether the documents obtained by the committee are enough to back up years of investigative reporting that also gained access to Trump’s financial records and painted a dismal picture of Trump as a businessman.

“It could be a case of too little too late,” Steve Rosenthal, an analyst with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said in an interview. “I expect very little, without a fuller probe.”

In 2020, The New York Times reported that Trump paid “no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years – largely because he reported losing much more money than he made.” Trump reported a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax return, theoretically allowing him to avoid income tax for nearly 20 years, the paper reported in 2016.

Trump broke with a decades-long precedent in not releasing his tax returns during his presidential campaign, also declining to do so after he assumed office in 2017. While there is no federal law requiring presidents to make their tax returns public, there is a presidential audit policy at the IRS. 

The refusal incensed Democrats, who blasted Trump frequently during his presidency over his lack of transparency and in light of his public image as a successful businessperson.

After Democrats won the House in 2018, Neal requested Trump’s individual returns and those of eight of his businesses as part of an oversight probe.

Neal told then-IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig in a 2019 letter that the committee needed information on the way the IRS audits U.S. presidents as part of its internal procedures and on how it takes their business dealings into account.

“It is necessary for the Committee to determine the scope of any such examination and whether it includes a review of underlying business activities required to be reported on the individual income tax return,” Neal wrote to Rettig.

Tax returns of private individuals are protected under federal law, but a section of the tax code allows the Ways and Means Committee to gain access to private returns for purposes of oversight. By issuing a report to Congress in the fulfillment of its oversight duties, those returns can legally become public.

In July of 2021, the Department of Justice signed off on Neal’s request to gain access to Trump’s returns, saying the committee “has invoked sufficient reasons for requesting the former President’s tax information.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden administration asks Chief Justice to allow Title 42 to end

The Biden administration on Tuesday asked Chief Justice John Roberts to rule against GOP-led states who initiated court action to keep the controversial Title 42 policy in place.

The administration was responding to Roberts’ administrative stay from Monday, where he temporarily halted the end of the policy, set to end Wednesday.

Title 42 has taken center stage in the political debate over immigration and border policy.

Most Republicans and some Democrats call it essential to border control, while immigration advocates and most Democrats oppose Title 42 mainly because it undermines the asylum system.

In its response to Roberts, the administration publicly recognized that the public health reasoning behind the policy is no longer valid.

“The government recognizes that the end of the Title 42 orders will likely lead to disruption and a temporary increase in unlawful border crossings. The government in no way seeks to minimize the seriousness of that problem. But the solution to that immigration problem cannot be to extend indefinitely a public-health measure that all now acknowledge has outlived its public-health justification,” wrote Solicitor General Elizabeth Preolgar.

Source: TEST FEED1

Lawmakers race to finish year’s work before winter storm 

Senators are scrambling to finish work on a 4,155-page omnibus spending package before a winter storm unleashes blizzard conditions across the country, which could wreak havoc on airports and roads right before Christmas.  

Democratic and Republican lawmakers say they hope they could pass the $1.645 trillion package on Wednesday evening and give the House a chance to pass it on Thursday, two days before Christmas Eve.  

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday urged colleagues to cooperate with his plan to pass the bill as soon as possible to avoid the risk of getting marooned in Washington before Christmas because of looming bad weather.  

“We must finish passing this omnibus before the deadline on Friday when government funding runs out, but we hope to do it much sooner than that, because we’re mindful that a Nor’easter is barreling down the East Coast on Thursday and Friday,” Schumer implored colleagues on the floor.  

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to the Senate GOP leadership team, said there’s growing desire among Republicans to get the omnibus wrapped up quickly so senators don’t get stuck in Washington because of the massive storm, which is projected to create bomb-cyclone conditions over the Midwest.  

“I think we’re coalescing behind that plan,” he said. “There’s some desire for some  amendments but I think we can knock those pretty quickly.”

“I think the storm is accelerating people’s interest,” he added. “I’m a little concerned even if the weather’s not bad, that flights are disrupted and people can’t get home for the holidays, which would be too bad.” 

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.C.) echoed that timeline — and lawmakers’ desire to get out of D.C. before the storm hits.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), a member of the Senate Democratic leadership team, said she hopes that senators can finish voting on the omnibus Wednesday evening, which would then send the package over to the House to pass Thursday.  

“This looks really bad,” she said of the weather reports. “They’re talking bomb cyclones. We’ve been through this before in Michigan … 60 mile-per-hour winds. 

“There’s a great motivation on everybody’s part” to get the omnibus bill wrapped up on Wednesday evening, she added.  

Sen. John Tester (D-Mont.) said no senator wants to spend Christmas in Washington because their flight home gets canceled because of weather.  

“It depends if people want to spend Christmas here in D.C.,” he quipped when asked if the omnibus needs to get wrapped up quickly to get out of town before high winds and snow move across the Midwest and Northeast.   

“I think, hopefully, common sense will prevail here and we’ll move along and get home for Christmas,” he added.  

Al Weaver contributed.

Source: TEST FEED1

Senate GOP pans 'immaturity' by House Republicans with omnibus threat

GOP senators had a message for a group of current and incoming House Republicans threatening to stop any bill supported by someone who votes for the omnibus spending package in its tracks: We don’t care. 

Thirteen GOP representatives and representatives-elect on Monday sent a letter calling for any legislative priorities backed by a GOP senator who supports the $1.7 trillion year-end spending bill to be thwarted in the 118th Congress.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is trying to lock down enough votes to be elected Speaker, endorsed the letter on Tuesday.

That message was met with dismissiveness and some derision from across the Capitol.

“It’s not [good]. … I mean, really? If you just think about what they’re suggesting, it flies in the face of maturity and the ability to lead,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who plans to vote against the omnibus spending bill. “The reality is this kind of chest thumping and immaturity doesn’t instill confidence in their ability to lead. Now, maybe it helps Kevin get elected speaker — I hope it does. I hope he becomes Speaker. I want him to become Speaker, but it’s not a good start to leading.”

Cramer, a former member of the lower chamber, added that the 13 House Republicans are putting the GOP leader in a “horrible spot.” 

The Senate early Tuesday morning unveiled the $1.7 trillion bill, negotiated between Democrats and Republicans, to fund the government through the end of fiscal year 2023. The current week-long stopgap bill keeping the government operating expires Friday at midnight.

The letter’s signatories included five who have said or strongly indicated they will not vote for McCarthy for Speaker: Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Matt Rosendale (Mont.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Ralph Norman (S.C.) and Bob Good (Va.).

“Further, we are obliged to inform you that if any omnibus passes in the remaining days of this Congress, we will oppose and whip opposition to any legislative priority of those senators who vote for this bill – including the Republican leader,” the letter said. “We will oppose any rule, any consent request, suspension voice vote, or roll call vote of any such Senate bill, and will otherwise do everything in our power to thwart even the smallest legislative and policy efforts of those senators.”

McCarthy on Tuesday tweeted his approval.

“Agreed. Except no need to whip—when I’m Speaker, their bills will be dead on arrival in the House if this nearly $2T monstrosity is allowed to move forward over our objections and the will of the American people,” he said.

Later on Tuesday, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) office sent out a notice recommending a “no” vote on the spending bill.

Leading Senate Republicans didn’t appear to take the threat from the 13 lawmakers seriously.

“That doesn’t sound like a recipe for working together in the best interest of the country, so I think this is just words spoken during the heat of passion,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is an “aye” vote for the omnibus. “Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail.”  

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) labeled the letter “an idle threat.”

“I think respect for people’s votes is what [these] whole institutions are built on and that we all have different reasons for making different votes, whether it’s who we represent, what lens we’re looking through,” Capito said. “I think they need to settle their Speakership quickly, and I hope Kevin’s the Speaker.” 

Capito, the newly-minted No. 5 member of Senate GOP leadership, added that it’s “pretty obvious” the letter and McCarthy’s support is a byproduct of the Speaker’s race. 

Whether the threat has any teeth in a divided Congress remains to be seen.

Despite the letter, top Senate Republicans are still hopeful McCarthy makes it across the finish line. McConnell on Tuesday told reporters that he is “pulling” for the California Republican to win the top job despite a number of barbs McCarthy has thrown in the Senate GOP leader’s direction in recent weeks. 

“I think Kevin McCarthy will probably be able to ultimately become Speaker of the House,” Cramer said. “I just hope he doesn’t live to regret it.”

Source: TEST FEED1