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GOP senator hails House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Tuesday hailed House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in a rare show of bipartisan support for a congressional member on the other side of the political aisle.

Blunt praised Hoyer following a Washington Post editorial about Hoyer deciding to step down from Democratic leadership in the House.

“An editorial in today’s Washington Post referred to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer as a ‘beloved, admired giant on Capitol Hill.’ I couldn’t agree more,” Blunt said. “During the almost 10 years we served together as the Republican and Democratic Whips in the House, we often didn’t vote the same way, but when something had to get done we almost always did vote the same way.”

Blunt, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, added that Hoyer has “has always understood that doing the best you can is a good thing.”

“Democracy is best defined by advocating for what you believe and finding the place where compromise moves the country forward,” the senator said. “No one understands that better than Congressman Steny Hoyer.”

Hoyer, 83, decided not to seek reelection in House leadership last week. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced earlier that she would step down to make way for a new generation.

The Post’s editorial board called Hoyer a “model lawmaker,” saying he was the rare congressman who could work across the aisle and noting that some of his “biggest accomplishments” on Capitol Hill were done under Republican presidents.

“Amid the many causes for cynicism that colors Americans’ view of Congress, a gold-plated exception is warranted for Rep. Steny H. Hoyer,” the editors noted.

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The Hill's Morning Report — Americans tap savings amid higher prices

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Americans tap savings amid higher prices 

When families gather this week for Thanksgiving meals, sticker shock may resonate.

Inflated food prices mean consumers spend more on holiday classics after two years of steadily rising grocery expenditures. Economists and experts blame the pinch on everything from supply chain snags to the impact of war in Ukraine on grain shipments to the spread of avian influenza, which forced some poultry and turkey farms to cull flocks, thus reducing supplies for Americans’ feasts.

Poultry prices rose almost 15 percent on an annual basis in October, according to the Labor Department. Pre-made baked goods, baking mixes and frozen desserts were also at least 15 percent more expensive last month than a year ago, reports The Hill’s Sylvan Lane.

“As we’ve seen across the economy, American consumers are experiencing higher prices driven by a perfect storm of factors,” said Laura Strange, senior vice president for National Grocers Association, a trade group for independent grocery stores.

Emptier wallets also nudged Americans to plan fewer holiday gift purchases this year — an average of nine instead of 16 in 2021 (The Wall Street Journal). Charitable giving also is projected to decline as the year comes to an end. The culprit? Inflation. 

Making ends meet amid higher prices for basic commodities such as food, energy and shelter impact “excess savings,” which accumulated when Americans initially eschewed restaurant dining, travel and luxuries during the height of the pandemic. How long will those savings hold out? Experts say about nine to 12 more months (The Wall Street Journal).

The trend is worrisome. The personal savings of Americans hit $626 billion in the third quarter of 2022, reports MarketWatch. That’s down from $1.98 trillion — with a “t” — in the second quarter of 2021, and down from $4.85 trillion in the second quarter of 2020 when savings were boosted by government stimulus checks. But it’s also down from $1.41 trillion in the second quarter of 2019, well before the coronavirus pandemic shut down economic activity and, at least temporarily, many U.S. jobs.

The general outlook among consumers dimmed noticeably in November, according to the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers. It’s not hard to figure out why. Higher mortgage and interest rates, rising gasoline costs, talk of a potential recession and shrinking investment accounts contributed to a funk about the state of the economy, now and next year (CNBC).

There was one good news-bad news headline on Monday as oil prices plunged while economic woes intensified globally. It suggested that U.S. gasoline prices might drop below $3 per gallon for the first time in 18 months (Forbes).

Related Articles

▪ The New York Times: Today, 31 states and Washington, D.C., permit sports gambling either online or in person and five more states have passed laws that will allow such betting. Americans placed an average of nearly $8 billion per month in legal sports bets in the first half of 2022, compared with less than $1 billion a month three years earlier, according to SportsHandle, a trade publication. By 2026, some analysts predict, the average could hit $20 billion a month.. 

▪ Yahoo Finance: The Federal Reserve on Wednesday will release minutes from its two-day meeting earlier this month, offering hindsight clues about the central bank’s economic outlook. 

LEADING THE DAY

➤ POLITICS 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) defeated Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) bid to take his job at the helm of party leadership, but the battle isn’t over as McConnell now faces a fight with Scott and other Senate conservatives over whether to pass an omnibus spending package before Christmas. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that conservatives say they’re going to renew their demand that McConnell pass a long-term stop-gap spending measure until 2023 so that the incoming House majority can negotiate the size and scope of federal spending for next year.

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) is siding with Scott and Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Mike Lee (Utah) — who want to block a year-end spending bill. But that will delay funding for Ukraine and could throw Congress’ annual defense authorization bill into limbo.  

▪ The Wall Street Journal: A GOP House majority could shield industries from new taxes, regulations.

▪ Politico: More moderate House Republicans are taking their turn to plot their leverage in next year’s paper-thin House majority. And even Democratic centrists are discussing the topic.

Looking forward to 2024, a new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill on Monday found that 20 percent of respondents said they believed former President Trump was the biggest loser in the midterms, while 14 percent said MAGA Republicans were the biggest losers. The findings add to questions within the party about Trump’s strength heading into 2024 after many of his endorsed candidates lost up and down the ballot earlier this month, fueling speculation that his grip on the party is weakening, writes The Hill’s Julia Manchester.

“Trump emerges from the election a far weaker candidate for re-election than before the midterms,” said Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS-Harris poll. “He remains under water in his personal rating of 44 percent, is seen as having backed losing candidates and now has the possibility of having to fight a real primary in the Republican parties as he drops below 50 percent in a Republican primary. That’s why voters see him as the biggest loser.” 

▪ The Hill: Trump’s record in governor’s race endorsements: a near-even split.

▪ MSNBC: Former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal: “I expect Trump will be indicted by this special counsel.”

▪ The New York Times: Prosecution rests as Trump company trial moves faster than expected.

GOP rising star and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, is already closing the gap with Trump in the Harvard-CAPS poll as he inches closer to a 2024 White House bid. Since last month, the Florida governor’s standing in a hypothetical 2024 Republican primary improved by 11 points, bringing him up to 28 percent (The Hill).

“Month after month DeSantis has been rising and now, he is cutting significantly into Trump,” Penn told The Hill. “If they both run, this will be quite a race and Trump could well lose.”

The Wall Street Journal: DeSantis, others draw distinctions with Trump in 2024 GOP nomination race.

On Dec. 1, former President Obama will hold a rally in Atlanta for Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock (D), who faces off against Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a runoff election on Dec. 6 (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

A growing chorus of Republicans are pleading with the GOP to rebuild its once-robust early and mail voting programs, writes The Hill’s Max Greenwood, and are blaming the party’s reluctance to embrace such efforts for a lackluster showing in the 2022 midterm elections.

Democrats drastically outpaced Republicans in pre-Election Day voting in key battleground states this year, allowing the party and its candidates to run up a massive vote advantage heading into Nov. 8, whereas the GOP banked on heavy Election Day turnout to overpower Democrats. But after the so-called red wave that Republicans had predicted ahead of the midterms failed to materialize, a growing number of influential Republican leaders and operatives say the party needs to compete with Democrats more aggressively when it comes to early and mail voting.

➤ CONGRESS

Because of ties to China and worries about data surveillance, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) has warned parents to reconsider the video-sharing app TikTok, popular among children and young adults on smartphones. The Biden administration is considering allowing the app to continue to be used in the United States under a unique agreement, report WTOP and The New York Times.

“All of that data that your child is inputting and receiving is being stored somewhere in Beijing,” Warner told Fox News Sunday. 

Committee member Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also urged U.S. users to take a closer look. “It’s not just the content you upload to TikTok, but all the data on your phone — other apps, all your personal information, even facial imagery, even where your eyes are looking on your phone,” he said on Fox.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the ranking committee member, is sponsoring legislation that would ban TikTok from use in this country.

Warner and Rubio this year urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate TikTok and its Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — who continues to search for enough supporters this year for proposed changes to the federal permitting process for fossil fuel infrastructure projects after coming up empty-handed in September — faces some key Republican opposition to his push to use the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as a vehicle (Roll Call). 

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) recently said he was hopeful Congress would use the lame-duck period to approve the defense authorization bill and an omnibus spending bill to keep the government funded beyond Dec. 16 through Sept. 30, 2023 (13NewsNow).

“We will likely have a vote on the NDAA and I think we can have a vote the week after the Thanksgiving recess when we get back,” he said last week. “Then, the issue is, do we get a full omnibus budget or do we have another continuing resolution? I have a high degree of confidence we’re going to get an omnibus budget.”

Additional U.S. aid to Ukraine may have to wait for debate in Congress next year, according to some Senate Republicans. But Politico reports that at a security forum taking place in Canada, congressional Republican leaders sound ready to steamroll conservative colleagues who want to stop funding Ukraine’s war effort, a move that’s sure to intensify the GOP divide over U.S. support for Kyiv. Based on interviews at the pro-democracy gathering, lawmakers are ready to allocate well more than the $38 billion the Biden administration requested for Ukraine’s military and economic needs as part of a year-end governing funding bill.

“There are some very loud voices over there,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said during an interview with Politico, referring to conservatives who oppose more assistance for Kyiv. “It doesn’t worry me as much as you wish it wasn’t there … If we were on the other side of this, they’d be pounding the table saying, ‘Send more money to Ukraine.’”

The Hill: Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) may have improperly solicited a sought-after ticket to the exclusive Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit, according to the Office of Congressional Ethics. The congresswoman, who will leave the House at the end of the year, denies any breach of House rules or federal laws. Her lawyer said she did not explicitly solicit an invitation. The New York Times looks at how Maloney’s 2016 ticket led to an ethics inquiry.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ ADMINISTRATION

Vice President Harris on Tuesday will visit the Philippine island chain of Palawan on the edge of the disputed South China Sea at the end of a weeklong trip in Asia, in a move that could raise tensions with Beijing.

China has staked a claim on a majority of the South China Sea, and the Philippines lodged diplomatic protests against China’s maritime activities in the region. Local fishing communities have reported dwindling fish availability and displacement from their traditional fishing grounds amid hostilities from the Chinese coast guard. Harris’ trip signals U.S. support for the Philippines, and she is undertaking the diplomatic mission at a time when tensions with China are rising over trade, Taiwan, human rights and other matters (The Washington Post).

▪ Reuters: Harris affirms “unwavering” U.S. defense commitment to Philippines.

▪ Bloomberg News: U.S. presses China to ease up on Taiwan as defense chiefs meet.

➤ INTERNATIONAL   

Soccer teams representing seven European nations at the World Cup in Qatar announced Monday that their captains won’t wear LGBTQ armbands after FIFA, the organizer, said players sporting them would be penalized. The captains of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland had planned to wear OneLove rainbow armbands to promote diversity and inclusion.

“We are very frustrated by the FIFA decision which we believe is unprecedented,” the teams said in a statement. “As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings.”

Qatar has come under scrutiny in the lead-up to the World Cup regarding human rights, including concerns over the conditions of migrant workers and the country’s conservative stance on LGBTQ people (The Washington Post).

▪ The Athletic: Human rights at the Qatar World Cup — a guide to everything you need to know.

▪ The Washington Post: What should LGBTQ soccer fans expect at the Qatar World Cup?

▪ Reuters: After months of widespread protests in Iran, players opt not to sing their national anthem at the World Cup.

Ukraine is working to evacuate civilians from recently liberated areas of the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, amid fears that the damage to infrastructure caused by the war is too severe for people to endure the winter. The evacuations come just over a week after Ukraine retook the city of Kherson — close to the front line with Russia — and areas around it (The Guardian).

▪ BBC: Millions of lives under threat in Ukraine this winter.

▪ CNBC: Ukraine civilian death toll from war tops 6,500; NATO assembly seeks special tribunal on Russian aggression.

▪ The New York Times: For Ukraine, so much unexpected success, and yet so far to go.

At least 162 people were killed when a powerful earthquake struck Indonesia’s main island of Java on Monday, injuring hundreds and shaking tall buildings in the capital, Jakarta, which is 60 miles away. The magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck near the city of Cianjur, and many people are believed to be trapped beneath the rubble, leading to fears that the death toll will sharply increase (The New York Times).

Developed countries agreed to pay for climate damages suffered by their developing counterparts at the U.N. COP27 conference, but the newly agreed “loss and damage” fund lacks both details and actual funding. This leaves critics skeptical about whether the significant symbolic breakthrough will make a difference on the ground (The Hill). 

OPINION

■ Elon Musk woos Trump for an ugly Twitter codependency, by Timothy O’Brien, executive editor, Bloomberg Opinion. https://bloom.bg/3ERCEHJ 

■ Justice is delayed as Mr. Smith goes to Washington, by Jennifer Taub, contributor, The Washington Monthly. https://bit.ly/3Az236t

WHERE AND WHEN

👉 The Hill: Share a news query tied to an expert journalist’s insights: The Hill launched something new and (we hope) engaging via text with Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack. Learn more and sign up HERE.

The House convenes for a pro forma session at 9:30 a.m. ​​

The Senate will reconvene for a pro forma session at 5:30 p.m. 

The president and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Nantucket, Mass., where they will celebrate Thanksgiving with family.

The vice president is in the Philippines and will fly to Los Angeles to spend the holiday.

Secretary Blinken is in Qatar. He will greet staff from the U.S. Embassy in Doha at 10 a.m. local time, then meet with Qatari officials, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. Blinken will participate today in a working lunch with his counterparts during the U.S.-Qatar Strategic Dialogue and then join bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani in the afternoon for a joint press conference held in Doha. 

ELSEWHERE

➤ TRANSPORTATION

Members of a key rail union on Monday announced their rejection of a tentative contract agreement negotiated by the Biden administration, raising a risk of a walkout on Dec. 9 without additional intervention, including possibly by Congress (The Hill).

Train and engine workers at the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’s transportation division (SMART-TD) narrowly voted down the deal, the union announced. A strike amid the holiday shopping season would pose supply chain challenges because railroads transport around one-third of U.S. freight, including food, packaged goods, fuel and car parts that cannot be shipped by other means. 

“This can all be settled through negotiations and without a strike,” SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson said in a statement. “A settlement would be in the best interests of the workers, the railroads, shippers and the American people.”

➤ PANDEMIC & HEALTH 

🏈 National Football League games attended by fans during the 2020-21 season were linked with increased COVID-19 case rates in the counties where they were held as well as in counties surrounding the stadiums, according to research. A study published in JAMA Network Open shows spikes of confirmed cases were more prominent when games attracted more than 20,000 attendees, while those with fewer than 5,000 fans were not associated with higher case rates.

The findings suggest “large events should be handled with extreme caution during public health event(s) where vaccines, on-site testing, and various countermeasures are not readily available to the public.” In March 2020, the NFL made the controversial decision to hold its 2020-21 professional season during the ongoing pandemic. Teams underwent continuous testing and contact tracing and through these measures the league was able to maintain relatively low rates of infection among players and staff, JAMA authors explained, but less is known about how the season affected fans who attended the games (The Hill).

Information about COVID-19 vaccine and booster shot availability can be found at Vaccines.gov.

▪ Time: What to do if you get COVID-19 during the holidays.

▪ The Los Angeles Times: How to stay safe at Thanksgiving as cases of COVID-19, RSV and the flu rise.

▪ The Hill: One in seven parents has not talked about vaccines with their child’s doctor, a poll shows.

▪ The Washington Post: Coronavirus variants are dodging antibody treatments. New lab-made options may help.

🦠 In China, where the economic impacts of COVID-19 remain a global concern, Beijing on Tuesday shut parks, shopping centers and museums amid a new surge in infections while more cities in China resumed testing for the coronavirus (Reuters). China Monday reported 28,127 new local cases nationally, nearing its daily peak from April, with infections in the southern city of Guangzhou and the southwestern municipality of Chongqing accounting for about half of Monday’s reported cases.

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,077,225. Current U.S. COVID-19 deaths are 2,222 for the week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (The CDC shifted its tally of available data from daily to weekly, now reported on Fridays.)

THE CLOSER

And finally … 🦃 Chocolate and Chip, celebrity wild turkeys, won a sweet deal on Monday: Thanksgiving pardons from the president. 

During a ceremony on a crisp morning outside the White House, Biden offered a spotlight to his feathery guests (and extended his microphone to Chocolate), cracking wise about “fowl play,” according to reporters, who tried without success to pry news nuggets out of the president.

The majestic gobblers, raised in North Carolina, offered some audible retorts as the Marine Band played a version of “Freebird.” 

The fanciful tradition in which U.S. presidents serve mercy to turkeys, according to the White House Historical Association, has been traced to President Abraham Lincoln‘s 1863 decision, recorded in an 1865 dispatch by White House reporter Noah Brooks, who noted, “A live turkey had been brought home for the Christmas dinner, but [Lincoln’s son Tad] interceded in behalf of its life. . . . [Tad’s] plea was admitted and the turkey’s life spared.” 

Attentive Morning Report quizzers will recall that the first official White House pardon did not occur until 1989, when President George H. W. Bush issued a presidential pardon for a turkey he was given that year.

Monday’s VIP ceremony attracted North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and North Carolina first lady Kristin Cooper, as well as Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) and Ronald Parker, chairman of the National Turkey Federation. 

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Republicans seize on early voting after disappointing midterms

A growing chorus of Republicans are pleading with the GOP to rebuild its once-robust early and mail voting programs, blaming the party’s reluctance to embrace such efforts for a lackluster showing in the 2022 midterm elections.

Democrats drastically outpaced Republicans in pre-Election Day voting in key battleground states this year, allowing the party and its candidates to run up a massive vote advantage heading into Nov. 8. Republicans, meanwhile, banked on heavy Election Day turnout to overpower Democrats.

But after the so-called red wave that Republicans had predicted ahead of the midterms failed to materialize, a growing number of influential GOP leaders and operatives say the party needs to more aggressively compete with Democrats when it comes to early and mail voting, fearing that a failure to do so could cost the GOP in future elections.

“We have to reevaluate both the strategy and the tactics. We had so many close races, but we didn’t do a good job at early voting, we didn’t do a lot of mail-in voting,” said Saul Anuzis, a Republican strategist and former Michigan GOP chair. “We don’t like that stuff so we don’t really participate in it.” 

“I think there’s a lot of tactical things that we have to take a look at,” he added. 

For many of the GOP’s most loyal voters, the aversion of pre-Election Day ballot-casting is a direct result of former President Donald Trump, who has spent years fueling distrust in the system with baseless claims that early and mail voting helped rig the 2020 election against him.

Even in announcing his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination last week, Trump called for a ban on practices like early voting and demanded that the U.S. adopt “same-day voting” and mandatory paper ballots. 

But some Republicans say that one of the biggest takeaways from the 2022 midterm elections is that the GOP should take advantage of expanded access to voting rather than fight it.

“You can b—h about the game as much as you want, but you gotta find a way to play the game, because the game’s not going to change right now,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist and former congressional candidate.

Despite efforts in some Republican-controlled states to clamp down on early and mail voting, Democrats racked up a voter turnout edge in key states before Election Day ever came around. 

In three states with competitive statewide races — Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania — Democrats accounted for a higher share of the pre-Election Day vote than they did in both 2018 and 2020. That early turnout ultimately helped Democratic candidates clinch key victories in three of the marquee Senate races.

A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill on Monday also highlighted Democrats’ early and absentee voting advantage. Fifty-two percent of Democrats said they voted before Election Day compared to 45 percent of Republicans.

With the midterms now in the rearview mirror, even some Republicans who once criticized pre-Election Day voting have begun to take another look at the practice. Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and commentator, tweeted last week that “one of the first lessons we have to take from the midterms is the power of early voting.”

“Telling everyone to vote in-person on [Election Day] opens you to traffic jams and machine malfunctions,” he tweeted. “If and when that happens, there’s no rewinding time to change your strategy. You’re at the mercy of the courts and voters’ own schedules.” 

Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor, said that Republicans were being outdone by Democrats when it comes to early and absentee voting and called on the GOP to “play the same game.”

“We were completely outplayed electorally. The Democrats did a full court press to vote early. We sat on our hands,” Haley said during a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s national leadership meeting in Las Vegas over the weekend. “Early and absentee voting are here to stay. We need to play the same game and turn out the maximum number of voters. The left does it, and we don’t.”

And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who boasted during his reelection campaign about how he pushed the state legislature to crack down on ballot harvesting by non-family members, urged Republicans to take advantage of the practice in the states that allow it.

“You can’t just let [Democrats] do it,” DeSantis said during an appearance at the RJC’s meeting in Las Vegas. “Whatever the rules are, take advantage of it.”

Indeed, Florida is one state where Republicans aren’t falling behind when it comes to early voting. Heading into Election Day, Republicans had already outpaced Democrats in early in-person voting, including in Democratic strongholds like Miami-Dade and Osceola Counties. Democrats, meanwhile, held only a narrow lead when it came to mail-in voting.

The election results amounted to a resounding victory for Republicans in the Sunshine State. DeSantis defeated his Democratic rival, Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), by a 19-point margin, while Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) won reelection by more than 16 points.

There’s no indication that pre-Election Day voting is going away anytime soon. Since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first pummeled the United States, a number of states have moved to expand early voting and no-excuse mail voting. 

Connecticut voters approved a ballot measure earlier this month to allow early voting in the state, while Michigan voters OK’ed a state constitutional amendment establishing early voting and expanding access to absentee voting. Come 2024, voters in only three states — Mississippi, Alabama and New Hampshire — will not be able to take advantage of either option.

“Early voting, vote-by-mail – that’s the direction that we’re trending in as a country,” one Republican consultant who’s worked on get-out-the-vote programs said. “By saying, you know, ‘No, we’re just not going to do it because Donald Trump doesn’t like it’ – we’re kneecapping ourselves.”

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Voters name Trump as biggest loser of midterms

Voters and Republican operatives alike are labeling former President Trump the biggest loser of the midterms, raising questions about his strength heading into 2024.

In a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill on Monday, 20 percent of voters said Trump was the clear loser after the Nov. 8 election, while 14 percent said MAGA Republicans were and 12 percent pointed to mainstream Republicans. Additionally, 15 percent said Democrats were the biggest losers, while 23 percent said they were unsure or didn’t know.

The findings come after a number of Trump’s endorsed candidates lost up and down the ballot earlier this month, fueling speculation that his grip on the party is weakening.

“Trump emerges from the election a far weaker candidate for reelection than before the midterms,” said Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll. “He remains under water in his personal rating of 44 percent, is seen as having backed losing candidates and now has the possibility of having to fight a real primary in the Republican parties as he drops below 50% in a Republican primary. That’s why voters see him as the biggest loser.”

And certain Republican strategists and operatives agree. 

“I do think that Trump was absolutely the biggest loser last Tuesday,” said Brian Seitchik, an Arizona-based GOP strategist who is a Trump campaign alum. 

Many of them say they are fatigued by the former president’s involvement in elections. 

“The policies of Donald Trump were a win, but when the rubber hit the road and Donald Trump reemerged and start handpicking candidates, some of whom were grossly underqualified, I think people were calling it ‘oh yeah, the chaos. I can’t take any more of this s–t,’” Seitchik said. 

He argued that many of his handpicked candidates may have been a driving force for voters to come out and vote against Republicans even more so than the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. 

“While that times with Dobbs, I think it’s the reemergence of Trump that really cost us,” Seitchik said, referring to the ruling come down just months before the midterms.

Another GOP strategist told The Hill that the polling and the narrative surrounding Trump at the moment is a “recognition that he’s not guaranteed anything here.” 

Indeed, other Republicans, chiefly Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, whose state was the only part of the country to experience a major red wave, may very well challenge Trump for the nomination. 

DeSantis and a host of other potential 2024 contenders, along with Trump himself, addressed the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas over the weekend. The forum gave the potential GOP contenders a chance to position themselves as alternatives to the former president.

The Florida governor has by far received the lion’s share of the 2024 attention. The most recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll found that 15 percent of respondents dubbed DeSantis “the biggest winner of last week’s election.” Additionally, the poll found that 46 percent of respondents said they would vote for DeSantis if Trump did not run in the GOP presidential primary. 

But some Republicans are also quick to point out that nothing’s guaranteed for DeSantis, either.

“There is a real danger in peaking too early in this business, especially when you haven’t set foot on the battlefield and it is a damn grind,” said the GOP strategist, referring to the Florida governor.

Another Republican strategist noted that DeSantis “has a lot of work to do” to prepare for 2024, while at the same time handling his day job in Tallahassee. 

“He doesn’t want to be seen as cutting and running on Florida,” the strategist said. 

Many agree that it could ultimately come down to Trump-vs.-DeSantis showdown. 

“Whoever the 2024 presidential nominee is, it’s going to be a Floridian,” said Florida-based GOP strategist Ford O’Connell. 

Meanwhile, Trump is laying the blame on the losing midterm candidates for their losses. On Monday, he targeted former Colorado Senate candidate Joe O’Dea (R) and New Hampshire Senate candidate Don Bolduc (R). O’Dea was critical of Trump during the election, while Bolduc sought to distance himself from the former president once he advanced to the general election. 

“Joe O’Dea lost his race in CO by over 12 points because he campaigned against MAGA,” Trump said in a statement. “Likewise, candidates who shifted their ‘messaging’ after winning big in the Primaries (Bolduc!) saw big losses in General. Will they ever learn their lesson? You can’t win without MAGA!”

Trump still enjoys considerable popularity inside the GOP. Trump led the GOP field with 46 percent of respondents in the most recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll saying they would vote for him if the GOP presidential primary were held today. However, that’s down 9 points from the last poll. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they would vote DeSantis if the primary were held today, up from 11 points in the last poll. 

The most recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll also shows Trump beating President Biden in a head-to-head matchup, 44 percent to 42 percent, with 14 percent undecided. Last month’s poll also showed Trump beating Biden by similar margins, 45 percent to 43 percent with 12 percent undecided. 

“I don’t buy the narrative that Trump is the biggest loser or that the Dems have a mandate,” said O’Connell, who argued that a big part of the reason Republicans underperformed in elections, particularly in the Senate, was because the party has not been savvy or aggressive enough with early voting as opposed to relying heavily on in-person Election Day turnout. 

Other Republicans argue that Trump’s outsider brand just didn’t work for other candidates 

“I think Trump’s style only works for Trump, is what this midterm showed. There were candidates at every level who kind of tried to emulate it,” said a third national Republican strategist. 

But others argue Trump’s style and brand is stale at this point. 

“He’s boring,” said Republican strategist Keith Naughton, who penned an op-ed in The Hill last week floating the possibility that Trump may not make it to the GOP primaries. 

“Everyone has seen it before. There’s nothing new. It’s just a rehash of things — a little tweak here, a little tweak there,” he continued. “There isn’t going to be a new Trump.” 

And GOP candidates who distinguished themselves with brands separate from Trump performed better than their MAGA counterparts. 

“Republicans that were able to develop their own brand and then focus on their policy were able to be successful,” Seitchik said, specifically referring to DeSanits, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.

“Candidates who were really one trick ponies, whose campaign was centered around Trumpism, clearly lost,” he added. 

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Seven Republicans most likely to challenge Trump in 2024

All eyes are turning to a number of Republicans to see which rising stars and notable voices might decide to take on former President Trump in 2024.

Though Trump formally announced a third run for the White House earlier this month, the disappointing midterm results for the GOP, which included Trump endorsees who struggled to cross the finish line in their respective races, has only encouraged other Republicans to make their own presidential bids.

Here’s a look at seven Republicans most likely to challenge the former president in the next election cycle:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) 

Though DeSantis was seen as a likely 2024 challenger even before the midterms, Republicans saw his reelection in Florida – by a whopping 19 points over Democrat Charlie Crist – as a silver lining in a generally tough slew of elections for Republicans.

The Florida governor, best known for going head to head with the Biden administration over COVID-19 restrictions and stoking the culture wars against companies like Disney, has evaded questions about whether he’ll run in 2024. But over the weekend, his remarks suggested he isn’t shying away from a bid.

“In times like these, there is no substitute for victory. We in Florida are the light. Freedom will reign supreme with Florida leading the way,” DeSantis said Saturday at a Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, later adding, “We’ve accomplished more over a four year period than anybody thought possible but I can tell you this: We’ve got a lot more to do, and I have only begun to fight.”

While Republicans say DeSantis is buoyed by his successful gubernatorial reelection, GOP strategist and former Trump campaign alum Brian Seitchik also noted that “he has a very favorable legislature. So he’s able to try to pass legislation that will play well in primaries and in a general election.”

Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley

Haley has also teased out hints of 2024 presidential aspirations and made her presence during the midterms very clear as she stumped for candidates like New Hampshire GOP Senate hopeful Don Bolduc and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R).

“And if Biden succeeds in getting back in the Iran Deal, I will make you a promise. I’ve said it before. The next president will shred it on her first day in office,” Haley said during the Republican Jewish Coalition to applause.

A former U.N. ambassador and a former two-term South Carolina governor, Haley is lauded in Republican circles for her impressive resume. But some members of the party suggest Trump’s 2024 presidential bid complicates the prospects of candidates like Haley and others who worked in Trump’s administration and might be viewed as “Trump-adjacent.”

“…that’s the problem some of these Trump-adjacent candidates have. [Mike] Pompeo, [Mike] Pence. Some of these people – I mean they were in his administration. So, why would someone choose you … when they could choose Trump?” said GOP strategist Scott Jennings. 

Haley has previously said that she wouldn’t run if Trump mounted a bid in 2024, telling The Associated Press in 2021 that she’d talk to the former president about it. But Haley’s teasing out possible aspirations suggest she might not stick to that plan.

Former Vice President Pence

Pence has also attracted speculation of a 2024 White House bid as he’s made trips to states like Iowa and New Hampshire. The release of his new memoir has only added to questions about his political future while he’s made hints in passing about what might come next. 

“He gets to run on a record of what he did as the vice president as part of the administration and decisions that were made. But at the same time, he can say ‘I’m a kinder, softer, gentler kind of candidate for president,’” said Republican strategist Saul Anuzis.

Anuzis said while the fallout between Pence and Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot  may complicate whether some members of the party support the former vice president, he suggested that might not play as much a factor among mainstream Republican activists.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

A former Kansas congressman, a former CIA director and a former secretary of state under the Trump administration, Pompeo has teased presidential ambitions and has been comfortable taking indirect swipes at his previous boss. Like Haley, the former secretary of state would come to a possible White House bid with foreign policy experience. 

Seitchik said that Pompeo was “certainly qualified for the job” but also noted that the former secretary of state “doesn’t have a natural fundraising base. He doesn’t have a natural electoral base.”

“I’m not sure if he has that ‘it’ factor that I think is required in today’s modern politics,” he added.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) 

Youngkin made headlines in 2021 when he won the Virginia governor’s race against former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), making him the first Republican in more than a decade to flip the seat red. The former private equity executive has also waded into the culture wars — most notably critical race theory (CRT) during his run in the gubernatorial election — but also sought to project himself as a unifier among different coalitions of his party during the midterm elections.

He campaigned with Republican governor nominees like Kari Lake in Arizona, Tim Michels in Wisconsin and Joe Lombardo in Nevada. “I think that the Republican Party has to be a party where we are not shunning people and excluding them, because we don’t agree on everything,” said Youngkin on CNN’s “State of the Union” last month.

“Youngkin is a solid conservative who won in a quintessential swing state that is still kind of leaning purple or blue even,” said Anuzis. “He showed how you can deliver a conservative message without being, you know, edgy and confrontational, while still addressing some of the confrontational and controversial issues that are out there.”

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) 

While many Republicans have avoided criticizing Trump until more recently once the midterms delivered disappointing results for the party, Hogan hasn’t shied away from making his dissatisfaction with the former president known. The Maryland governor has confirmed he’s considering a possible bid but some Republicans aren’t sure if his brand of never-Trumpism could bode well with blocs of the GOP who still embrace Trump.

“I think if your identity is as a never-Trumper, remember the votes you’re competing for are a bunch of people who voted for Trump twice. It’s a Republican primary, everybody voting in a Republican primary basically voted for Trump twice with a few exceptions,” said Jennings, while noting that Hogan had earned the right to run for president.

“I think a lot of those voters find the never-Trump crowd to be agitating in some way because they saw them as essentially helping the Democrats to pile on during the Trump years,” he continued.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

While Cruz also hasn’t closed the door on another presidential bid, the calculus will be more tricky given that he’s also up for reelection in 2024. The senator confirmed he would be seeking reelection, though it’s unclear if White House ambitions change that planning.

Republicans say they’re interested to see, if Cruz does decide to run, whether he’ll change the way he brands himself as a candidate. Some say that while he has an impressive conservative track record, they aren’t sold quite yet.

“His conservative credentials are impeccable. He is a brilliant guy. Again, he’s qualified to do the job. But I think there’s a likability issue with him,” said Seitchik, later adding, “I don’t think voters found him particularly likable in 2016. Has he evolved since then is an important question.”

Source: TEST FEED1

McConnell fight with GOP opponent shifts to new battleground

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) defeated Sen. Rick Scott’s (Fla.) bid to take his job, but the battle isn’t over.

McConnell now faces a fight with Scott and other Senate conservatives over whether to block a year-end spending package before Christmas.

The GOP leader wants to pass the omnibus package funding the federal government before the end of December, according to Senate Republican and Democratic sources. But he’s coming under increasing pressure from conservatives who want to freeze federal spending until January, when Republicans will take control of the House.  

Scott told The Hill he plans to “actively” press for a stopgap funding measure freezing federal spending levels until next year, something he and Republican Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Ted Cruz (Texas) called for in September in a Fox News op-ed.  

That would put spending negotiations on hold until Republicans take over the House majority and have more leverage to negotiate the top-line spending number and specific priorities, such as more funding to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.  

“We have to have a plan to deal with inflation, we’ve got to have a plan to deal with the border,” Scott said. “My goal is to organize Republicans to have our ideas, what we’re going to get done.” 

Scott, whom colleagues thought was weighing a presidential run in 2024, said he’s focused on the Senate and running for reelection to a second term. 

“I think my role is trying to do the things that are important for Floridians,” he said. “I plan to run for reelection as U.S. senator.”  

Another conservative Republican senator confirmed that there will be a new push for another stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution or CR. The current CR expires Dec. 16.

The GOP lawmaker said the topic didn’t get much discussion during last week’s intense discussions behind closed doors about what went wrong for Republicans in the midterm election but predicted it will become a hot topic of debate after Thanksgiving.  

A Senate aide said Scott is going to continue to put pressure on McConnell when he disagrees about fundamental party strategy — including whether to work with Democrats to pass an omnibus package in the lame-duck session.  

“He’s not quiet when he is upset with the way things are going or has a position on something,” the aide said, noting that Scott’s style “is to get out there pretty aggressively on things.” 

McConnell’s staff drew heat from outside conservative groups last week when they met outside the Capitol along with other senior Senate staff.  

“It did not seem that McConnell is interested in stopping the Biden agenda for another year,” said a person familiar with the discussion.  

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said Republican senators are still debating what spending strategy to adopt when they return to Washington next week.  

“We’re having discussions about that,” he said. “There’s going to be strong argument, I think, for just doing a [continuing resolution] largely because the Dems who run this place right now have not been able to agree on a top line.” 

“It seems like we’re heading toward a CR,” he added, but acknowledged that could lead to a standoff in the early months of next year. “Based on how it feels around here right it seems more likely it’s going to be a CR but that does create … some challenges down the road we would have to deal with next year.”  

The discussions seem to mirror those that took place in 2010, after Republicans won control of the House but Democrats kept control of the Senate. 

Republicans that year insisted on pushing spending negotiations into the next Congress, resulting in a several-month standoff between the Obama administration and the new House Republican majority led by then-Speaker John Boehner (Ohio). Ultimately, then-President Obama agreed to $38.5 billion in spending cuts in April of 2011.  

Republicans now want to cut funding for an estimated 87,000 new IRS agents authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats passed by party-line votes this summer. 

Conservative groups including the Heritage Foundation, Heritage Action, the Club for Growth and the American Conservative Union, called on congressional Republicans earlier this year to insist that any omnibus spending bill end the national COVID-19 emergency declaration, which President Biden has extended through 2023.  

Republicans will have significantly more leverage in negotiations on such a package once they control the House.  

But McConnell and other Senate Republicans are reluctant to push the spending bills for fiscal 2023, which began Oct. 1, until next year. 

Doing so would likely delay, if not imperil, passage of more military and economic aid for Ukraine, a top McConnell priority. 

Last week, the White House asked Congress for $37.7 billion in new funding for Ukraine and more than $8 billion to pay for coronavirus-related vaccines and treatments.  

Senate GOP critics of the proposal to postpone an omnibus spending package until next year argue that doing so could also delay the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which will likely be included with the spending bills in December because of the shortage of floor time.  

“I would prefer both the NDAA and the omnibus … to be done this year so we can start on the next one immediately,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (N.D.), who voted to reelect McConnell as Senate GOP leader.  

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is working on rounding up enough votes to be elected the next Speaker in January, last week floated the prospect of delaying the defense authorization bill, even though members of the Armed Services Committee have prided themselves on passing that bill on time for the past 60 years in a row.  

“I’ve watched what the Democrats have done on many of these things, especially the NDAA — the woke-ism that they want to bring in there,” he told reporters. “I actually believe the NDAA should hold up until the 1st of this year — and let’s get it right.”  

There are other high-priority legislative items that need the omnibus to move before the end of December if they are to have a chance of passing Congress, such as an energy project permitting reform measure that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is negotiating with Republicans.  

The Electoral Count Act, a bipartisan bill that clarifies the vice president only has ministerial role in certifying the winner of a presidential election, is another candidate to be attached to the year-end spending package.   

Cramer dismissed the claims of fellow Republicans that the omnibus could be finished up quickly in January under a new House Republican majority. Instead, he thinks it’s like spending negotiations would drag on for weeks or months, as they did in 2011.  

“The idea that we could somehow deal with it in the first week of the new Congress, that’s just not realistic,” he said.  

“So while I understand particularly the probably Speaker’s desire to delay some of these things, I don’t see there being that much more leverage,” he added, he added referring to McCarthy.

Senate GOP aides say that retiring Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), the top-ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee and a longtime McConnell ally, doesn’t support postponing major spending decisions until next year, when he will no longer be in Congress.  

“I think we ought to do our jobs,” Shelby told reporters in September. “I want to help Leahy best I can to meet our obligation,” referring to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who will also retire at year’s end.  

“I think McConnell is of that persuasion,” he added. “Some people want to kick [funding decisions] down the road.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

McCarthy’s planned expulsions of Intel Democrats prompts howls

A GOP promise to expel two Democrats from the House Intelligence Committee would dramatically escalate partisan warfare over panel assignments, potentially ending the intelligence career of Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.) while increasing fears that the new majority intends to trample on minority rights.  

The vow by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is busily seeking support for the Speakership in the new House, would diminish the power of two of the most vocal critics of former President Trump in Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) just as the former president has launched a reelection bid.  

It is drawing howls of protest from Democrats and also comes as McCarthy promises to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.  

While the committee was always set to undergo a shake-up next year — the result of routine, post-election restructuring — the McCarthy vows, if fulfilled, would represent a much more aggressive action by a new majority to take vengeance on its political opponents.  

McCarthy has accused Schiff of lying to the public, both about President Trump’s ties to Moscow and Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine. And he’s gone after Swalwell for his ties to a Chinese spy who had targeted California politicians.  

“Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the public sector. Why would we ever give him a security clearance in the secrets to America? So I will not allow him to be on Intel,” McCarthy told Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo. 

 “You have Adam Schiff, who had lied to the American public time and again,” McCarthy continued. “We will not allow him to be on the Intel Committee either.“  

Omar, a former Somali refugee who is one of three Muslims in Congress, is frequently critical of the Israeli government on issues of human rights. Omar’s detractors, including McCarthy, say her comments have at times crossed a line into antisemitism.  

The removals, which still require approval of the full House, would mark a sharp escalation in the impassioned partisan debate over who controls the levers of power when it comes to committee assignments — and what sorts of behaviors merit expulsion. Typically, party leaders assign committee seats to their respective members independent of the opposing party.  

That conversation took a fierce turn early last year, just after Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, when Democrats took the extraordinary step of removing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a first-term conservative, from her two committee seats. The vote was prompted by revelations that Greene had promoted the execution of leading Democrats — including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) — in the years before she was elected to Congress.  

Democrats have defended the evictions of Greene and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who was separately removed from the Oversight and Reform Committee and the Natural Resources Committee, pointing to the extraordinarily violent nature of the actions that prompted them.

Gosar had posted an animated video in which his avatar executes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a prominent liberal, with a sword.   

Now, as McCarthy is vowing to retaliate, they’re accusing him of promoting false equivalencies simply to defang his political enemies.  

“That’s always the worry. That’s the institutional concern, that you start normalizing this behavior and that processes were reserved only for the most egregious circumstances,” Tim Bergreen, an attorney who previously served as staff director for the committee’s Democrats, told The Hill. 

In this case, he sees the action as being “based on essentially the fact that … you don’t like the two members in question.” 

“[Schiff] has tried to comport himself in sort of the highest traditions of congressional service. And the same with Swalwell. And that doesn’t mean that they don’t fight hard. And it doesn’t mean that they’re not going to get on television and say tough things about their Republican colleagues,” he said. 

“To somehow compare how they conduct themselves to people who essentially would be happy to torch the institution and have no reverence. … I just think that there’s no comparison,” Bergreen added. 

The members themselves appear to be taking the threat in stride. Swalwell suggested that McCarthy’s difficulties in securing the GOP support he’ll need to be Speaker might preclude any expulsions next year.  

“Talk to me if Kevin McCarthy is Speaker,” Swalwell said in a statement. 

In a Friday appearance on CNN, Swalwell said the move would come “from a place of retaliation, not from any substance or merit.” 

“He’s doing that because I’m effective. I effectively, I think, held Donald Trump to account when I was on the Judiciary and Intelligence committees while he was in the White House, and so did Adam Schiff, who he’s also targeted,” he added.  

“Look, any coach on a Sunday morning, on an NFL field would love to take the other team’s best players off the pitch and, and that’s what Kevin McCarthy is trying to do here.” 

Schiff is also lashing back, accusing McCarthy of bowing to the wishes of Greene, a previous critic, simply to win her support in the Speaker’s vote.  

“Well, I suspect he will do whatever Marjorie Taylor Greene wants him to do. He’s a very weak leader of this conference, meaning that he will adhere to the wishes of the lowest common denominator, and if that lowest common denominator wants to remove people from committees, that’s what they’ll do,” Schiff said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” program.  

For Swalwell, the GOP is focused on his relationship with a woman later revealed to be a Chinese spy. Christine Fang focused on a number of Bay Area politicians, aiding in Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign. After a defensive briefing from the FBI in 2015, Swalwell cut off ties with Fang. His connection with her was first reported five years later. 

Mark Zaid, a national security law and clearance expert, suggested stripping Swalwell’s committee post based on the incident would be a partisan move, impacting a panel that until recently “had been largely immune to such dangers.”  

“Members of Congress are granted access to classified information by virtue of their elected position and are not subject to the Executive Branch’s investigatory or due process system,” he said, dismissing McCarthy’s claims Swalwell would be unable to secure a clearance. 

“A determination of trustworthiness is based on a set of adjudicative guidelines and it is dangerous, and indeed irresponsible, to assess another member’s potential situation, particularly if living in a glass house as so many serving in Congress likely do.”  

For Schiff, McCarthy has accused him of lying in the broader context of the investigation into ties between Trump and Russia.  

Bergreen pointed to the now discredited Steele dossier — named after former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele — that emerged early in the investigation.  

“McCarthy is saying that because Schiff was trying to track down some of the weeds in the Steele dossier, and he would discuss that not only in the committee, but when asked about in the press, that somehow that rendered him unfit to hold a committee chairmanship or even a position on the committee, because it turned out that not everything in the Steele dossier was true, which is a standard of idiocy,” he said. 

“If that’s the standard, then I guess anyone who was part of the Benghazi witch hunt … I guess maybe they ought to be sort of not allowed to serve on a committee,” he added.

Source: TEST FEED1

Two Arizona counties delay certification of 2022 election results

Two rural Arizona counties have voted to delay certifying their ballot canvasses as some in the GOP claim voters were disenfranchised.

Cochise County, a Republican-leaning area in the state’s southeastern corner, delayed its certification on Friday after three conspiracy theorists claimed the county’s vote-counting machines were not properly certified. 

The three men convinced Cochise’s two Republican supervisors to delay certifying the results until a Nov. 28 deadline in a 2-1 vote.

Arizona Elections Director Kori Lorick refuted the allegations at Friday’s meeting, detailing that although the labs used to test voting machines did not receive updated certification ahead of the midterms, the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission had confirmed they were in compliance. Lorick called it an “administrative error.” 

“The equipment used in Cochise County is properly certified under both federal and state laws and requirements. The claims that the SLI testing labs were not properly accredited are false,” Lorick said.

She went on to note that the men who spoke at Friday’s meeting had filed similar claims in court, but the Arizona Supreme Court rejected their arguments.

Cochise County’s two Republican supervisors had also filed a lawsuit against the county’s elections director seeking a hand count of ballots cast on Election Day, but they filed to withdraw the suit on Wednesday.

In Mohave County, which is located in Arizona’s northwestern corner, the five Republicans who comprise the Board of Supervisors delayed their certification of the county canvass in a split vote on Monday.

“Did you hear me say many, many, many, many times that there’s never a perfect election? Never will be,” Allen Tempert, the county’s elections director, told supervisors. “Just the way — it’s just the nature of the beast, just the way things go on. … But this was a very, very, very successful election.”

The supervisors who voted for the delay praised Tempert’s handling of the election, instead framing the decision as a political statement of solidarity after some in the GOP raised concerns about voting in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous jurisdiction, which includes Phoenix. 

Supervisor Hildy Angius (R) said the board had been asked to not certify the election along with multiple other counties in the state, signaling that Mohave will instead certify the results the day of the county’s deadline next week.

“I don’t think it’s fair that we have to pay the price, that we have to go through this angst every election because of what goes on down there,” Angius said at the meeting. “So whatever happens with this vote right now, I want everyone to know it has nothing to do with Mohave County, because you guys did an awesome job.”

Supervisor Jean Bishop (R) called the move “kind of ludicrous” at the meeting.

“We’re not Maricopa County, we’re Mohave County,” Bishop said. “Our vote is solid, our canvass is gonna be solid. Whether or not it’s today or Monday, it’s gonna be the same. We’re good.”

Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has railed against election officials in Maricopa County, claiming without evidence that “many voters” were deprived of their right to vote, in part because of printer malfunctions in some of the county’s vote centers. 

Katie Hobbs (D), Arizona’s current secretary of state, was declared the winner of the governor’s race last week.

The county’s top elections officials have acknowledged that 70 of the county’s 223 voting centers experienced the printing issue but deny that any citizen was denied an opportunity to vote.

Election officials say voters could wait in line until the issue was fixed, cast a ballot at another vote center or deposit their original ballot in a separate, secure box that was sent to the county’s central facility for tabulation. 

Arizona’s attorney general has demanded the county further address the concerns about the elections.

Lake has posted a series of videos on her Twitter account of voters detailing their experiences on Election Day, although many did not claim in the videos that they were denied an opportunity to vote.

Voters in multiple videos said they placed their ballots in the separate box, claiming without evidence that the ballots weren’t counted.

In another video, a voter said they arrived at a vote center at 7 p.m. and were not allowed to join the line despite others standing there already. Under Arizona law, voters must join the line by 7 p.m. to cast a ballot.

Beyond the gubernatorial race, Arizona’s attorney general contest remains too close to call, with more than 2.5 million votes counted but just 510 votes separating the two candidates. The close margin is likely to trigger an automatic recount under state law following certification.

Source: TEST FEED1

Ocasio-Cortez, Democrats slam Boebert for tweet offering ‘prayers’ after Club Q shooting

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) joined dozens of other lawmakers in slamming a message from Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) mourning the victims of a deadly shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado late Saturday.

Ocasio-Cortez and others commented on a Twitter post from Boebert to demand that she take accountability for elevating anti-LGBTQ tropes and rhetoric that have fueled similar attacks against LGBTQ bars, restaurants and hospitals this year.

“You have played a major role in elevating anti-LGBT+ hate rhetoric and anti-trans lies while spending your time in Congress blocking even the most common sense gun safety laws,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in a Sunday afternoon post responding Boebert. “You don’t get to ‘thoughts and prayers’ your way out of this. Look inward and change.”

Boebert tweeted Sunday morning that “The news out of Colorado Springs is absolutely awful,” referring to a mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Sprints on Saturday that left five dead and 25 wounded, according to local authorities.

“This morning the victims & their families are in my prayers,” Boebert wrote. “This lawless violence needs to end and end quickly.”

Boebert, who appears to have narrowly won reelection in the midterms, has long advocated for the right to bear arms and made headlines with a 2021 campaign ad that appeared to show the congresswoman carrying a handgun around Capitol Hill.

Boebert and her husband, Jayson, have owned a gun-themed restaurant in Rifle, Colo. since 2013. The restaurant, Shooter’s Grill, closed earlier this year after the duo’s landlord declined to renew their lease.

In Congress, Boebert has voted against gun control legislation to create universal background checks for individuals seeking to obtain firearms and has proposed defunding state red flag laws, which temporarily remove weapons from people presenting a danger to themselves or others.

Boebert has been repeatedly criticized by watchdog groups and other lawmakers for perpetuating false narratives about LGBTQ people and spreading inflammatory rhetoric online to her millions of followers.

In August, Boebert responded to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate and the Human Rights Campaign that included her Twitter account on a list of high-profile accounts that most frequently spread the false claim that LGBTQ people are “grooming” children with a pledge to increase her posts to claim the number one spot.

“My tweets about groomers are only third?,” Boebert wrote in the now-deleted tweet. “Guess that means I have to tweet about these sick, demented groomers even more.”

Boebert has also denied the existence of transgender people and condemned drag performances that have recently drawn the ire of conservative politicians and right-wing extremist organizations. In April, Boebert suggested that people wait until at least age 21 to come out as LGBTQ, claiming that children and teenagers are not capable of making such “life-altering decisions.”

She has co-sponsored legislation to make it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to transgender youth and to cut federal funding from programs for children that reference “any topic” involving gender identity, sexual orientation or related subjects.

Other members of Congress joined Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday in criticizing Boebert’s tweet to victims of the Club Q shooting and highlighting her track record of spreading anti-LGBTQ hate.

“Your record ‘is absolutely awful,’” Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), one of nine openly gay House members, tweeted Sunday afternoon. “You use hateful rhetoric towards the LGBTQ+ community and helped block even modest efforts to end gun violence.”

“Your rhetoric and lack of legislative courage and humanity radicalized people to do the evil and unthinkable,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) tweeted Sunday afternoon.

Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone (D), the first transgender person elected to the state legislature, replied to Boebert Sunday morning, writing, “There’s blood on your hands.”

“Thanks for the ‘thoughts and prayers’ but that does nothing to offset the damage that you directly did to incite these kinds of attacks on the LGBTQ+ community,” Titone wrote on Twitter. “You spreading tropes and insults contributed to the hatred for us. Just resign.”

Source: TEST FEED1