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Five takeaways from Putin’s speech ramping up the Ukraine war

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a rare address to the nation on Wednesday, putting the West on nuclear notice and mobilizing hundreds of thousands of additional troops for his war in Ukraine. 

The speech followed two weeks of embarrassing losses to Ukrainians, who took back thousands of square kilometers of occupied territory in the northeast in a stunning counteroffensive. 

The Ukrainian rout spurred criticism of the war on Russian state TV and among some Putin allies, posing the toughest test to his leadership yet. 

Here are five takeaways from his address on Thursday.

Partial mobilization

Putin announced a partial mobilization effective Sept. 21, a move that his defense minister said would call up roughly 300,000 reservists.

The move came short of full mobilization or conscription, which would force civilians into the war. But it still risks bringing the war closer to home for many Russians, posing a political risk for Putin, who initially raised expectations that the war could be won in a matter of days. 

“As I have said, we are talking about partial mobilization. In other words, only military reservists, primarily those who served in the armed forces and have specific military occupational specialties and corresponding experience, will be called up,” Putin said. 

“Before being sent to their units, those called up for active duty will undergo mandatory additional military training based on the experience of the special military operation.”

The decision is likely to appease Ukraine war hawks, who have been clamoring for Putin to ramp up manpower to beat back Ukraine’s advances and turn the tide of the war. 

However, the announcement sent shockwaves across the country, with reports of small-scale anti-mobilization protests across the country, and flights leaving Russia quickly selling out. 

Nuclear threat

Putin accused the West of “nuclear blackmail,” and made explicit threats about deploying Moscow’s own formidable nuclear stockpile. 

“When the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we, of course, will use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people,” Putin said. 

“This is not a bluff. And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them.”

The Russian leader has made veiled nuclear threats throughout the war, warning when his invasion began in February that Western intervention “will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history.”

However, US officials have generally played down fears that Putin might make good on the threat. 

John Kirby, spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday that the U.S. was taking Putin’s “irresponsible” threat “seriously.”

President Biden mentioned Putin’s “irresponsible nuclear threats” in his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, adding “a nuclear war cannot be won, and must never be fought.”

West has ‘crossed every line’

Putin repeatedly framed the war in Ukraine as a global showdown with the western world, which he said had “crossed every line” in what he described as efforts to wipe out Russia. 

“In its aggressive anti-Russian policy, the West has crossed every line. We constantly hear threats against our country and our people,” he said. 

“The purpose of this West is to weaken, divide and ultimately destroy our country. They are already saying that in 1991 they were able to break up the Soviet Union, and now the time has come for Russia itself that it should disintegrate. And they have been planning it for a long time.”

The Biden administration, along with governments in Europe, have become increasingly aggressive as the war has dragged on in their support for Ukraine, providing increasingly heavy weapons being used to inflict serious damage to Russian forces on the ground. 

However, those arms have been provided with strict conditions that they not be used on targets in Russia, for fear of triggering a wider war. And the U.S. and allies such as Germany has resisted calls to provide even heavier missile systems, tanks and fighter jets. 

Putin also claimed that Ukraine would have been willing to concede to Russia’s demands before the invasion — such as agreeing to never join NATO and cede contested territory — but that the West instead forced Kyiv into the war. 

“More weapons were pumped into Ukraine,” he said. “The Kyiv regime brought into play new groups of foreign mercenaries and nationalists, military units trained according to NATO standards and receiving orders from Western advisers.”

Referendums in occupied areas

The Russian leader gave his full support to independence referendums planned in Russian occupied regions, which are seen as a pretext for Russian annexation. 

“Parliaments in the People’s Republics of the Donbas as well as the civil-military administrations in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have decided to hold referendums on the future of the territories and have appealed to Russia to support such a step. We will do everything to ensure safe conditions to hold the referendums so that people can express their will,” Putin said. 

“We will support the decision on their future, which will be made by the majority of residents in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.”

The White House on Tuesday described the votes as “sham referendums” and said the U.S. would not recognize the outcomes should they materialize. 

“We know that these referenda will be manipulated. We know that Russia will use the sham referenda as a basis to purportedly annex these territories, either now or in the future,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a press conference. 

“Let me be clear: If this does transpire, the United States will never recognize Russia’s claims to any purportedly annexed parts of Ukraine. We will never recognize this territory as anything other than a part of Ukraine. We reject Russia’s actions unequivocally.”

Pre-emptive war was ‘only option’

Putin argued that Russia had no choice but to launch its invasion in Ukraine, facing the threat of annihilation by the West and a “nazi” regime seeking nuclear weapons across the border in Ukraine. 

“After the Kyiv regime publicly refused to settle the issue of Donbas peacefully and went as far as to announce its ambition to possess nuclear weapons, it became clear that a new offensive in Donbas … was inevitable, and that it would be inevitably followed by an attack on Russia’s Crimea, that is, on Russia,” he said. 

“In this connection, the decision to start a pre-emptive military operation was necessary and the only option. The main goal of this operation, which is to liberate the whole of Donbas, remains unaltered.”

Putin’s ultimate goals in Ukraine have been unclear. Russia initially sought to surround and seize Kyiv; however, it was forced to pull out forces around the capital amid supply line struggles and heavy losses. 

Moscow has since focused its fighting on the Donbas, an eastern region with large areas controlled by Russian separatists. Russia annexed Crimea following its invasion in 2014. That move also followed an independence referendum, and observers see the Kremlin using the same playbook in its efforts to seize other occupied areas.

One of Putin’s motivations for the war was preventing the expansion of NATO into his backyard. The invasion has backfired in that way, accelerating Ukraine’s application to join the security alliance and pushing Sweden and Finland to move swiftly to become NATO members. 

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New York attorney general sues Trump and three adult children, alleging business fraud

New York’s attorney general is suing former President Trump and his three adult children, alleging business fraud.

The civil lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan, is the culmination of a three-year investigation by the office of Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) into whether the former president’s company misled investors and tax authorities by inflating property values to get investments and subsequently deflating them to get tax and loan benefits.

The attorney general’s office is seeking $250 million in financial penalties and asking the court to, among other things, permanently bar Trump and his children — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump — from serving as an office or director in any corporation registered or licensed in the state.

The lawsuit also asks the court to bar Trump and the Trump Organization from entering into any real estate acquisition in New York or from applying for loans from any financial institution in the state for five years.

Trump “falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and to cheat the system, thereby cheating all of us,” James said at a press conference Wednesday. 

James also noted that the former president was aided by former longtime Trump Organization executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney.

The group “repeatedly and persistently manipulated the value of assets to induce banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms than would otherwise have been available to the company, to pay lower taxes, to satisfy continuing loan agreements and to induce insurance companies to provide insurance coverage for higher limits and at lower premiums,” James said.  

James alleged the conduct was in violation of both state and federal criminal law.  

Trump and his team engaged in a conspiracy to falsify business records, issue false financial statements, commit insurance fraud, James argued.

She said she’s referred the alleged federal law violations to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District for New York and the Internal Revenue Service. 

Trump has dismissed what he called a “phony years-long crusade” against him and criticized James for the inquiry.

When he appeared before the attorney general’s office for questioning last month, Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and declined to answer questions.

Two of Trump’s children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., were subpoenaed along with their father and sat for depositions earlier this year.

An attorney for Trump blasted the decision.

“Today’s filing is neither focused on the facts nor the law — rather, it is solely focused on advancing the Attorney General’s political agenda,” the Trump attorney, Alina Habba, said in a statement.

“It is abundantly clear that the Attorney General’s Office has exceeded its statutory authority by prying into transactions where absolutely no wrongdoing has taken place. We are confident that our judicial system will not stand for this unchecked abuse of authority, and we look forward to defending our client against each and every one of the Attorney General’s meritless claims,” Habba said.

This story was updated at 12:14 p.m.

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Putin announces partial call-up of Russian military

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday a partial call-up of Russian military forces amid multiple setbacks in its seven-month conflict with neighboring Ukraine. 

Putin made the announcement during an address to his nation, marking the first time Russia has called up another round of troops since World War II. 

Kremlin officials said that up to 300,000 individuals could be called up to join the military.

After his announcement, the demand for plane tickets out of the country spiked, a sign that Russian citizens appear to be scrambling to leave the country.

Putin also called out the West for supporting Ukraine in his speech, saying he is willing to use anything at his disposal to protect Russia’s territory.

Russia has made numerous attempts to recruit more troops for its volunteer battalions, including widespread recruitment initiatives in prisons. 

The latest military call-up comes as the Russian-controlled regions of Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk are voting later this week in an effort to become integral parts of Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has referred to the referendums being conducted by Russia as illegitimate and a “sham.” 

During an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told anchor George Stephanopoulos that he sees the latest military call up from Russia as a sign that Russian forces are “struggling.”

“It’s definitely a sign that he’s struggling,” Kirby told Stephanopoulos, adding that Putin has suffered tens of thousands of casualties.

“He’s got desertion problems and he’s forcing the wounded back into the fight,” Kirby added. “So clearly, manpower is a problem for him.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Watch live: Biden delivers remarks to UN General Assembly

President Biden will address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday morning at the global body’s New York City headquarters.

The president’s speech is scheduled for 10:35 a.m. ET.

Watch the live video above.

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The Hill's Morning Report — Putin mobilizes troops; polls fuel Senate midterm suspense

With seven weeks until Election Day and the Senate majority on the line in key races, polls across the country suggest the possibility of photo finishes. In Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and elsewhere, close poll results and skepticism about the accuracy of this year’s midterm surveys leave campaigns scrambling for advantages with 48 days to go. 

In Georgia, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) is leading Republican challenger Herschel Walker by 5 points in the state’s Senate race, according to a Marist poll released Tuesday. The poll of registered voters shows Warnock with 47 percent, while Walker trails at 42 percent (The Hill).

Warnock and Walker appeared deadlocked Tuesday after Walker posted a modest 2-point lead over Warnock in early September (The Hill). The challenger’s early campaign efforts included stumbles and revelations that prompted hand-wringing among top Senate Republicans, The Hill’s Max Greenwood reports, but party officials said they’re beginning to see a more professional operation from the former football player’s campaign. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wants to leave nothing to chance in key contests that could put his party in control of the upper chamber next year. He will host a fundraiser for Walker on Thursday. McConnell came under scrutiny last month after he said Republicans were more likely to win the House than the Senate, citing “candidate quality” as a factor (The Hill).

As congressional races come down to the wire and both parties vie for control, measures of voter enthusiasm beyond polls are in focus, including voter registration, fundraising and advertising.

Democrats want to capitalize on the Supreme Court’s June ruling that turned abortion restrictions over to the states. Their hope is that momentum within the party will translate into higher turnout among women, young voters, minorities and perhaps independents. Democrats are on a voter-registration tear since the Supreme Court decision, but there’s a hitch — they are digging out from major Republican registration gains in the previous 18 months (Politico). 

Republicans are confronting emerging signs that former President Trump could be complicating their prospects in key congressional races, writes The Hill’s Brett Samuels. Recent polling has shown he’s struggling with voters as he grapples with a slew of investigations — including the key demographic of independents.

But polling isn’t an exact science, as both sides of the aisle have learned over the last few election cycles. Democrats had to contend with a surprise Trump win in 2016, while recent surveys may again be underrepresenting Republican voters (The New York Times).

Nationally, a new NBC News poll finds the two parties’ registered voters tied at 46 percent in generic congressional preference, with Democrats narrowly trailing Republicans in election interest.

“We often think about wave elections,” Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates told NBC News. “But this year, we may think instead about a ‘waves’ election where unprecedentedly strong crosscurrents push voters in different directions, with an end result that may not be what we expected.”

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, Democratic Senate candidate and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is stepping up his public appearances after weeks of heavy scrutiny over his health, including from his Republican opponent, Mehmet Oz.

Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in May, only recently agreed to a live debate against Oz, which is scheduled next month, writes The Hill’s Julia Manchester. 

Fetterman, a social media standout against Oz, had a 52 percent to 47 percent lead among likely voters against his opponent in mid-September (The Associated Press and The Philadelphia Inquirer).

The Senate contest is tighter in Wisconsin, where Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) leads Sen. Ron Johnson (R) by 1 percentage point among likely voters, according to a Tuesday Spectrum News-Siena College poll.

The race is considered a toss-up (The Hill). The Spectrum News poll’s results are the exact opposite of a Marquette University Law School poll from last week, which showed Johnson leading Barnes by 1 point among likely voters, 49 percent to 48 percent.

Related Articles

▪ Time: Why the polls may be feeding liberals another blue mirage.

▪ NBC News: New poll shows Democratic midterm message outperforms GOP’s message.

▪ The Hill: Voters are split on which party they trust more on education, guns and inflation.

▪ The Hill: A Republican super PAC cuts more than $9 million in ad reservations in Arizona.

▪ The New York Times: Perfectly reasonable question: Can we trust the polls?

▪ The Hill: Rep Ted Budd (R) holds 3-point lead over Democrat Cheri Beasley in North Carolina Senate race.

LEADING THE DAY

 ➤ CONGRESS

Senate Democrats, who pushed four major pieces of legislation into law in recent months, now want to play it safe in Washington for the next seven weeks. That means no government shutdown ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline, no votes on controversial issues until after Election Day and avoidance of GOP accusations that Democrats are weak on defense.

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton translates the Senate’s must-dos from its will-dos, reporting that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), who wants to crack down on the power of Apple and Amazon, is an example of a Democrat who will have to wait to see action on a bill she is sponsoring on a hot-button issue. 

Members of both parties in both chambers insist there will be no lapse in government funding next week, even if a planned stopgap spending bill envisioned to last through mid-December needs a mini “failsafe” backup for days or hours if the fiscal year ends without a budget.

Democrats want to seal off any potential openings for Republican colleagues to assail the majority as equivocal about U.S. defense, so a defense authorization bill is a must-do before leaving town.

Defense spending is important enough to both parties ahead of Election Day that some Republicans want to lock in new Pentagon funding as soon as possible and are balking at some House conservatives who want to wait to lock in spending in case Republicans control the House next year (The Hill). 

Democratic senators think they have the votes to fund the government without stumbling, but an add-on backed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), which has stirred criticism from the left and the right before any of his colleagues have seen the legislative language, appears vulnerable in both chambers. And Manchin is unhappy.

The West Virginia centrist says he’ll unveil legislative specifics today to explain a deal he struck with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in exchange for his vote for a major climate, health and tax bill enacted in August. House progressives have erected hurdles, but Schumer is uncertain they would effectively force a government shutdown in an election year to put the brakes on federal help for the fossil fuel industry (The Hill).

Manchin on Tuesday defended his proposal, arguing that “we do not bypass any of the environmental reviews,” which he said is a difference between his package and a separate proposal from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).

The language, according to Manchin, explicitly speeds up the approval process for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is a controversial proposed project that would carry natural gas from West Virginia to Virginia.

“It’s like the revenge politics, basically revenge towards one person: me,” Manchin said in response to resistance he’s receiving from Republicans as well. “And I’m thinking, this is not about me” (The Hill).

▪ The Hill: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday urged his members to vote against a stopgap spending bill as a way to challenge border and immigration issues. 

▪ The Hill: The House today plans to vote on a bill led by a bipartisan duo on the Jan. 6 panel that would reform the Electoral Count Act, moving swiftly on legislation designed to prevent interference in elections. A competing measure is pending in the Senate, which means such legislation will likely stall until after the elections.

▪ The Hill: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Tuesday that Democrats are eyeing a vote this week on a trimmed policing bill.

▪ The Hill: A competitive GOP House contest for a potential opening to be majority whip next year features three contenders actively vying for colleagues’ support.

➤ MORE POLITICS 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has said many things about abortion rights over the years, not all of them welcome within his party or consistent. His latest assertion that abortion is not a states’ rights issue at the same time he is urging federal legislation that would create a 15-week federal ban on most abortions — against the backdrop of a conservative Supreme Court that turned abortion back to the states — gave some Republicans pause again on Tuesday, The Hill’s Al Weaver reports. 

GOP candidates are in a dogfight to capture control of the Senate and would much prefer to discuss inflation, crime, border security and prudent federal spending, all of which the conservatives say put Democratic candidates more firmly on the ropes before Nov. 8. Democrats say they are happy to let Graham keep talking.

The abortion debate “is as tough as any candidate wants to make it. The reality is voters who remain undecided at this point are not voting on abortion. They’re voting on the economy, crime, border,” one GOP strategist told The Hill. “Anybody who has very strong feelings about abortion is not an undecided voter. It’s very important for Republicans to talk to the voters who are still gettable at this point, and those are the people who are struggling to buy their groceries and hoping for change.”

The Associated Press: Ad spending shows Democrats are hinging their midterm hopes on abortion.

Separately, migration out of countries led by authoritarian dictators, including Venezuela, has increased, a trend now spotlighted by red-state governors’ decisions to bus and fly immigrants across their borders to convey a domestic “crisis,” explains The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch. 

▪ The Hill: On Tuesday, Venezuelan migrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard last week by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) filed a class-action lawsuit against him and the state’s transportation secretary.

▪ The Hill: In news about the Mar-a-Lago documents battle between the Justice Department and lawyers for Trump, special master Raymond Dearie on Tuesday advised the Trump team, “You can’t have your cake and eat it,” referring to its reluctance to assert in legal filings whether the former president officially declassified sensitive documents he took when he left the White House. He says he did. There’s no evidence.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ ADMINISTRATION

International and domestic money trails:

🛢️Officials with the Treasury and Justice departments on Tuesday defended the effectiveness of wide-ranging U.S. sanctions on Russia following the Kremlin’s February invasion of Ukraine. During Senate Banking Committee testimony, they challenged criticism that sanctions are not working. The administration’s view: Coordinated Western efforts to cut Russia off from the international financial system and energy markets are working to drain resources from Moscow’s war effort and are bolstering Ukrainian military gains, including the recapture this month of territory held by Russian forces. Analysts point out that despite a U.S. embargo on Russian oil enacted in March and European and Russian measures that resulted in fewer natural gas shipments to Europe, India and China have filled energy market voids that help Russia maintain export volumes close to pre-war levels (The Hill). 

⚖️ The Justice Department charged 47 people on Tuesday with creating shell companies in Minnesota to launder $250 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic assistance originally intended to provide meals to children from low-income families (The Hill). 

📚The Education Department’s announced policies this year to try to reduce or forgive student loan debts and lower the costs of higher education remain under scrutiny among education analysts, who assert that the administration is failing to directly tackle rising college tuition and fees. They say reforms would require Congress but that the Education Department could also introduce new regulations and revive campus-based aid programs (The Hill). 

OPINION

■  Mental health is political, by Danielle Carr, guest essayist, The New York Times. https://nyti.ms/3ShQx5I

■  I paid off student loans but support relief for those who can’t, by Erin Lowry, Bloomberg Opinion columnist. https://bloom.bg/3DGz5Ul

WHERE AND WHEN

The House meets at 10 a.m.

The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. and will proceed to executive session to consider an amendment to the Montreal Protocol. … Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) will participate from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. in a Q&A newsmaker event about climate and energy hosted by Axios.  

President Biden is in New York City and will speak at 10:35 a.m. during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. He will meet for the first time with British Prime Minister Liz Truss at 1:15 p.m. The president will host and speak at a conference of the Global Fund at 4 p.m., which is focused on battling HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Biden hosts a reception at 7 p.m. at the American Museum of Natural History for global leaders who are in Gotham.

Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff at 11 a.m. will attend a “Service of Thanksgiving” for the late Queen Elizabeth II at Washington National Cathedral. The vice president at 2:15 p.m. will join a call with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the news media about the Emergency Capital Investment Program benefiting states.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in New York for events tied to the United Nations and has a full schedule with the president. He will participate at 6:10 p.m. in a Group of Seven working dinner.

Economic indicators: The Federal Reserve at 2 p.m. releases a statement at the conclusion of its two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell holds a press conference at 2:30 p.m. … The National Association of Realtors at 10 a.m. releases an August snapshot of existing home sales, which have fallen for six consecutive months through July.

First lady Jill Biden has a packed schedule while traveling with the president in New York. She and Queen Letizia of Spain at 12:15 p.m. will tour and speak at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center to champion cancer research and global cooperation to try to end cancer. Two hours later, the first lady is scheduled to speak at the Concordia Annual Summit. This evening in New York City, she will co-host with the president a reception for the United Nations gathering at the American Museum of Natural History.

🖥  Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features news and interviews at http://thehill.com/hilltv, on YouTube and on Facebook at 10:30 a.m. ET. Also, check out the “Rising” podcast here.

ELSEWHERE

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced early today in a rare address from Moscow that he ordered a “partial mobilization” of troops, which he said was necessary to defend Russian sovereignty against the West. Putin, in fact, gave his order to invade Ukraine in February, describing at the time a “special military operation” to seize territory he asserted belonged to Russia. 

In his address (Kremlin transcript is HERE), Putin suggested that western countries are attempting to “divide and destroy” Russia and claimed a loss of 6,000 troops. Experts believe Russia’s toll in Ukraine has been much higher. 

He made an ominous reference to possible use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal, saying, “we of course will use all the means at our disposal, this is not a bluff” (The Washington Post).

The Russian president, who had been expected to deliver his address on Tuesday night until the Kremlin postponed it, spoke as Ukraine is in the midst of a counteroffensive and as Kremlin-backed officials press ahead with staged referendums that could result in Moscow annexing occupied parts of Ukraine — an act that could mark a major escalation in the conflict. 

▪ Reuters: Putin mobilizes more troops for Ukraine, accuses West of “nuclear blackmail.”

▪ The Associated Press: Putin sets martial military call-up, won’t bluff on nukes. 

World leaders today are gathered for the U.N. General Assembly in New York, at which Biden will speak this morning about Russia’s “naked aggression” (The Hill). In speeches defending Ukraine, global leaders at the U.N. have been describing Putin’s war as a threat to global order and world peace. 

On Tuesday, four Russian-controlled regions of eastern and southern Ukraine announced hastily planned votes this week on whether to become part of Russia. The Moscow-backed referendums could set the stage for a new phase of escalation (The Associated Press).

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesdaywelcomed General Assembly participants with somber remarks describing the world’s current woes, including war, poverty and environmental destruction. “Our world is in peril and paralyzed,” he said. “We cannot go on like this” (CNBC). Biden and Guterres will meet this morning.

The Associated Press: French President Emmanuel Macron said in New York on Tuesday that no nation can stay “indifferent” during Russia’s war with Ukraine. He said any possible negotiated ending to Russia’s aggression can succeed only “if Ukraine’s sovereignty is respected, its territory liberated and its security protected.”

➤ PANDEMIC & HEALTH 

New York City on Nov. 1 will end its COVID-19 vaccine mandates for private-sector employees and students participating in sports and extracurricular activities, Mayor Eric Adams (D) announced Tuesday. The city at the same time is trying to kick-start a public campaign to promote COVID-19 boosters tailored for the BA.5 variant of omicron (The Hill). 

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,054,333. Current average U.S. COVID-19 daily deaths are 355, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

THE CLOSER

And finally … 🏈 Members of Congress tonight will get some help from former NFL players to take on a team of U.S. Capitol Police at Audi Field stadium in Washington for a now-annual sporting event to raise money for charity. 

Ticketed at $12.50 and open to the public (information HERE), proceeds go to the U.S. Capitol Police Memorial Fund, Our Military Kids, A Advantage 4 Kids and the Boys & Girls Club of America.

“Football has a way of unifying our country, no matter our politics, and this game brings us together for an especially important cause,” John Booty, who played with the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles, said in a statement as the coach. 

“The Guards” police team, with approximately 29 Capitol Police players, will take on “The Mean Machine” team made up of usually necktied-and-loafered lawmakers. The roster includes Reps. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), serving as captains, Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.), Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), Thomas Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), August Pfluger (R-Texas), Mike Bost (R-Ill.), Blake Moore (R-Utah), David Valadao (R-Calif.), Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.), Colin Allred (D-Texas), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Tracy Mann (R-Kan.), Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Kaiali’i Kahele (D-Hawaii), Jake Ellzey (R-Texas) and Jack Bergman (R-Mich.). 

The former NFLers who are lending their expertise in addition to Booty include Cliff Crosby, Lamont Jordan, Rocky McIntosh and Ken Harvey.

Stay Engaged

We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch. Follow us on Twitter (@asimendinger and @kristinakarisch) and suggest this newsletter to friends!

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Manchin, allies turn up the heat on permitting reform

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and supporters of his energy permitting reform effort are turning up the heat as the side deal he engineered for his vote on the Inflation Reduction Act struggles to become law.   

Manchin on Tuesday blasted what he described as “revenge politics” as Republicans and progressives alike say they want to stop his deal from getting past the finishing line.   

GOP senators are sore that they voted for a semiconductor manufacturing bill over the summer after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned they’d oppose that measure if Democrats went forward with their tax, climate and health care bill under a process that dodges a filibuster.   

Shortly after the semiconductor bill passed the Senate, Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced a surprise deal on their package allowing the massive Democratic bill to move forward.   

“I’m hearing that the Republican leadership is upset and they’re saying ‘We’re not going to give a victory to Joe Manchin’ — Joe Manchin’s not looking for a victory,” Manchin said on Tuesday.   

“We’ve got a good piece of legislation that’s extremely balanced and I think it’ll prove itself in time. The bottom line is, how much suffering and how much pain do you want to inflict on the American people for the time?” he added.   

Progressives in the House also have lingering anger toward Manchin, whose demands torpedoed their efforts for an even larger tax, climate and health care package.   

Their opposition now is more centered on the permitting changes for new energy projects desired by Manchin, which they say would hurt the environment and contribute to climate change.   

Manchin said that he is talking to both Republicans and Democrats on the issue, saying, “I’ve had conversations with everybody, I always do that.”  

Schumer wants to add Manchin’s permitting reform legislation to a must-pass spending bill that has to be approved by Congress by Oct. 1 to prevent a government shutdown.   

In the Senate, it appears such a package will need at least 12 Republican votes to get to 60, the number needed to overcome a filibuster. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) say they will vote against a funding bill that includes the permitting reforms.   

On the House side, a group of nearly 80 Democrats are calling for stopgap funding to be separated from the permitting reforms. A few dozen conservative House Republicans also say they’ll oppose any stopgap funding measure that doesn’t continue into next year — when Republicans hope they’ll have new House and Senate majorities.   

Many of the progressives opposing the Manchin push, however, may not be willing to shut down the government over the issue.   

Schumer insisted on Tuesday that the permitting reform measures would remain in the stopgap funding package, telling reporters, “There’s no reason Republicans shouldn’t support it.”  

Meanwhile, Axios reported Friday that White House chief of staff Ron Klain had called Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, to try to convince her to support the bill.   

Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti and legislative affairs director Louisa Terrell have also been in touch with lawmakers, according to the news outlet.   

Asked for comment, a White House official told The Hill that senior officials, led by Terrell, are always in contact with Congress on White House priorities, but declined to remark on the specifics.  

Politico recently reported that Schumer had also been talking to progressives, including Jayapal.   

Asked Tuesday about her conversations with Schumer and the White House, Jayapal said, “We haven’t had any recently. We’re waiting to see what the Senate can do, and we’ll go from there.”  

“But I think we’ve made it clear where the caucus is and we’ll just see,” she added.   

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who has vocally opposed the permitting deal, also told Politico that he had planned to discuss the issue with Schumer. The conversation was reportedly one of several the Democratic leader had planned in an attempt to sway progressives.   

Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who has been spearheading the push against the Manchin language, said he was working on scheduling a time to meet with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and hoped to meet with her before other officials.  

Grijalva also cautioned that any progressive who opines on permitting reform in these meetings may not speak for the entire caucus — which, depending on where Republicans land, could be important, given the small Democratic majority in the House.   

“The Senate seems to stereotype that we’re a monolith. We’re not,” he said. “Progressives are diverse and the people who care about this issue are going to continue to care about it.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Democrats shift strategies to keep majority

Senate Democrats are opting to play it safe in the final weeks before the midterm election by pledging not to allow a government shutdown over Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) controversial permitting reform bill or any other divisive issue that could give beleaguered Republican candidates a second wind. 

They are sidestepping partisan showdowns over a marriage equality bill, a measure to cap the price of insulin, legislation to crack down on powerful tech platforms such as Apple and Amazon and a proposal to ban members of Congress from owning and trading stocks.

This pivot comes after a productive summer when Democrats enacted a handful of high-profile bills into law.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has scheduled votes this week on a broadly bipartisan treaty amendment to cut down on climate warming hydrofluorocarbon emissions and a previously considered measure to require dark money groups to publicly disclose their donors. 

The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an agreement originally signed in 1987 to protect the ozone layer, advanced easily by a vote of 64 to 30 on Tuesday. It is expected to garner the 67 votes needed for ratification on Wednesday. 

The Disclose Act, which would require organizations that spend money in federal elections and on judicial nomination to disclose their donors, has already been voted on several times this Congress as part of broader election reform legislation. 

Every single member of the Democratic caucus has either sponsored or co-sponsored the bill. It isn’t expected to attract any GOP votes. 

Next week, Schumer will focus on a bill to fund the government, which he will keep as clean as possible to avoid a last-minute blowup that could threaten to shutter federal departments and agencies. 

“There’s kind of a ‘first do no harm’ mentality, which I think is very smart and strategic,” said a Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to discuss Democratic caucus strategy. 

“I don’t know whether I would have made the decision to not put up a vote on the marriage act; I probably would have forced a vote on the marriage act,” the senator added, expressing disappointment that Schumer postponed a vote to protect the right of same-sex couples to marry after it became clear it could not muster at least 10 Republican votes before Election Day. 

Schumer has promised to bring the Respect for Marriage Act, which passed the House with an overwhelming bipartisan majority in July, to the Senate floor after the election. 

He has also pledged to move a controversial proposal crafted by Manchin to speed the permitting of fossil fuel and other energy projects — something he agreed to do as part of a deal to secure Manchin’s vote for a sweeping tax reform and climate bill in August.

But House and Senate Democrats say they won’t allow it to derail the funding bill, which must pass by Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown. Democrats say they’ll vote for Manchin’s permitting reform proposal to keep the federal government operating or take it out if it jeopardizes the Republican support the funding stopgap  needs to pass the upper chamber next week. 

“With a White House that’s a Democratic White House and two Democratic houses [of Congress,] we’re going to get a CR done, we’re not going to shut government down,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), pledging that Democrats will support a continuing resolution to fund the government, even if it includes permitting reform language they would prefer to set aside.

“I don’t think we’re going to run the risk of any sort of shutdown, even for a couple of days,” he added. 

A second Democratic senator who requested anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes deliberation said House progressives would likely back down and accept the Manchin permitting reform proposal if it’s added to the short-term funding measure. 

Instead, it’s the opposition of Senate Republicans that would force Schumer to pull Manchin’s legislation out of the funding resolution.

“We’ve got political winds greatly shifted in our favor and if we have a big fight among Democrats at this moment, it undoes the sense of unity and mobilization” heading into an election, said the Senate Democrat, explaining a desire to avoid an internal battle over Manchin’s side deal with Schumer. 

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said he’s going to vote for the short-term government funding measure, even if it includes Manchin’s permitting reform proposal. 

“We’re very pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish,” he said, referring to the passage of a $280 billion chips and science bill in late July and the Inflation Reduction Act in August, which will reform the tax code, fight climate change, lower prescription drug costs and reduce the federal deficit. 

“I don’t think we’re going to upset the apple cart; I think we just want to continue to focus on the issues we think are important. Obviously, the CR we’ve got to get done,” he said, making reference to the continuing resolution to fund the government. 

After passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which accomplished several key objectives of President Biden’s agenda, Senate Democrats feel like their political fortunes have improved significantly. 

Biden’s approval rating, which had been mired around 40 percent for much of this year, has ticked up in recent weeks. 

A Gallup tracking poll published in late July found that Biden’s job approval rating rose by 6 points to 44 percent, his highest in a year. 

Political handicappers now say Democrats are favored to keep the Senate as GOP candidates allied with former President Trump have failed to meet fundraising expectations and/or struggled in the polls. 

Feeling better about their chances of keeping their majority, Democrats are opting for conservative play calls in the final weeks of the election, like a football team running the ball in the fourth quarter to wind down the game clock. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who warned in a New York Times op-ed in April that Democrats in Congress needed to enact more bold reforms to keep their majority in 2023, said  Tuesday that Democrats have a strong enough list of accomplishments heading into Election Day. 

“Democrats have been delivering big time. We’ve still got more in front of us that we could do before the election, and I’d like to see us do that,” she said.

“Two good places would be with the Disclose Act to bring down the influence of dark money and the second is the Stock Act to put a stop to members trading on Wall Street. We could do both of those,” she said. 

Schumer has committed to a vote on the Disclose Act, which is expected to fall neatly along party lines and fail to muster the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. But the Democratic leader has already indicated to negotiators that a vote on a stock trading ban, which divides Democratic lawmakers, will not come to the floor before the election.

And Schumer hasn’t scheduled a vote before November on a bill sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to crack down on the market power of major tech platforms such as Apple and Amazon. Picking a fight with the deep-pocketed tech industry a few weeks before the election is seen as a dangerous political move, say Democratic senators. 

Instead, Schumer announced Tuesday that the Senate will return to Washington after an early October recess to take up the annual defense authorization bill. Passing that bill a few weeks before the election will blunt Republican attacks that Democrats are weak on national security. 

Source: TEST FEED1

GOP feeling better about Walker's chances in Georgia

Republicans are experiencing a jolt of optimism in Georgia’s hotly contested Senate race amid signs that their candidate, former football star Herschel Walker, is starting to close the gap with Sen. Raphael Warnock (D). 

After a series of early stumbles that prompted intense handwringing among top Senate Republicans, party officials say they’re beginning to see a more professional operation emerge from Walker’s campaign.  

And despite the surge that Democratic Senate candidates have seen in other states over the past two months, the polls in Georgia have shown a race that’s largely tightening. An InsiderAdvantage-Fox 5 Atlanta poll released earlier this month found Walker with a 3-point lead over Warnock — a reversal from July, when the Democratic incumbent led by the same margin. 

“I think you’re seeing the professionalization of Herschel as a candidate,” said Chuck Clay, a former state senator and Georgia GOP chair. “He is who he is. His early on statements that were kind of goofy or off the wall — but never malicious or mean-spirited — have sort of been brought under control.” 

 Walker’s more-disciplined approach to the race isn’t just a fluke, another Republican strategist said.  

As he faced a rocky summer on the campaign trail, the former Dallas Cowboys running back moved to revamp his political operation, bringing on a team of veteran Republican operatives including longtime strategist Chip Lake and Gail Gitcho, who served as communications director for Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) 2012 presidential campaign. 

“They’ve focused him, and he’s also trained himself to be more focused, to be less loquacious, and I think it’s showing,” the strategist said. 

The result has been a more-focused campaign; Walker has more regularly hammered Warnock on issues like inflation, crime and border security, while playing himself up as a uniting force. In one ad from Walker and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) released earlier this month, he accused Warnock and Democrats of using “race to divide” Americans, adding that he wants to “bring us together.” 

Ousting Warnock would be one the GOP’s biggest victories of the year, if the party can pull it off. Republicans need to net just one seat in the Senate to recapture their majority, and given President Biden’s ultra-narrow win in Georgia in 2020, the state still represents one of their best targets. 

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the chair of the NRSC, said he was confident in Walker’s chances in November and predicted that Republicans would ultimately end up with “52-plus” seats in the Senate next year. 

“I think we’re going to get 52,” Scott said. “I think Herschel Walker is going to win.” 

In one sign that Washington Republicans are more enthusiastically eyeing the Georgia Senate race, Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will host a fundraiser for Walker this week — his second event benefiting the former NFL star in less than a month.  

Another GOP heavyweight, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), also trekked to Georgia last month to stump for Walker. One Republican consultant described the flurry of activity from national GOP figures as a sign that party leaders “are closing ranks” in the run-up to Election Day. 

But Warnock, an affable Atlanta pastor who narrowly won his Senate seat last year in a high-stakes runoff election, won’t be easy to unseat.  

He has both the advantage of incumbency and more campaign cash than Walker. And while some polls have found Walker closing in on him, others — including a Marist College survey released on Tuesday — still show Warnock with a solid lead.  

And Walker isn’t immune to the same challenges facing Republicans nationally. Former President Trump’s reemergence as headline-grabbing figure could resurface questions about Walker’s ties to him, especially given that the former president endorsed him early on in his campaign.  

Trump hasn’t been to Georgia in months, despite stumping for Republican candidates in other Senate battlegrounds more recently, though he is said to be weighing a potential rally in the state in the coming weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter.  

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported that the former president may be considering an upcoming campaign event for Walker.   

There’s also the ongoing fight over abortion rights that has put Republicans in a politically precarious position since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade over the summer. After Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced legislation last week that would ban abortions nationally after 15 weeks of pregnancy, Walker said he would support such a policy. 

Yet many aspects of the race between Warnock and Walker are personal.  

Warnock has sought to highlight Walker’s gaffes and his messy past, including allegations of domestic violence and exaggerations about his business and academic achievements. Walker, meanwhile, has responded with questions about Warnock’s finances, including a $7,400 monthly housing allowance he receives as senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church.  

Warnock’s campaign has defended the senator’s financial arrangements, saying that they abide by Senate rules.  

But perhaps the most daunting reality for Warnock — or any Democrat for that matter — is the political environment this year. The party in power almost always loses ground in Congress in midterm elections, and despite Democrats’ recent momentum, the party still faces a tough challenge.  

“People are really frustrated by Biden; they’re really frustrated by the economy,” said Jay Williams, a Georgia Republican strategist. “It’s a much more nationalized election, and I think people in Georgia are going to swing Republican.” 

Republicans also said that they’re not surprised that the Senate race in Georgia has tightened in recent weeks. It’s still considered among the most competitive of the year, and election handicappers across the board have kept it firmly in the toss-up column. 

“The race was always going to get closer,” Clay, the former Georgia state senator, said. “Herschel has become a much better candidate through the process. And now it’s down to the last 1 or 2 percent that’ll make that call.” 

“Can Herschel win? Yes,” he added. “Do I still say slight advantage for Warnock? For now, yes.”  

Al Weaver contributed.

Source: TEST FEED1

GOP ‘stunts’ with migrants sweep up those fleeing regimes they denounce

Republican governors’ determination to send newly arrived migrants to liberal-leaning parts of the U.S. is coinciding with another trend: an uptick in migration from countries led by authoritarian dictators.  

The group of 50 migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last week had nearly all recently arrived from Venezuela. Another group of 100 dropped outside the vice president’s Washington, D.C., residence this weekend also included those fleeing the country. And buses sent to Chicago by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) largely included Venezuelans. 

The U.S. in recent weeks has seen an even greater shift in migration from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. Migrants from the three countries represented 35 percent of those who crossed the southwest border in August — nearly double what it was just last year — a pattern fueled by struggles in the trio of Latin American countries.  

Many are asylum-seekers, legally allowed to seek refuge from political and other types of persecution, and the U.S. is largely unable to return them given the lack of agreements with their home countries.  

“That’s the hypocritical thing, is that DeSantis and Abbott and other politicians are constantly beating up on places like Cuba and Venezuela because they claim the leaders are so repressive and make the countries dangerous for the people, and yet when the people try to flee, they treat them like shit. And they use them as pawns in these stunts,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) told The Hill.   

Migrants on the Martha’s Vineyard flight have since told lawyers they were informed they were going to Boston and would be afforded employment opportunities and immigration relief. They were also given a brochure of Massachusetts benefits for refugees — services they are not eligible for as asylum-seekers.

“This is really sadistic behavior. They’re lying. They’re deceiving these people and luring them onto planes and buses with promises of jobs and clothing and shelter,” Castro said. “And then they’re abandoning them, sometimes in remote places like Martha’s Vineyard.”   

DeSantis, Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) have been vocal about an effort they say is designed to give liberal enclaves a taste of the struggles at the southwest border. Though DeSantis has said the move is needed to protect Floridians, the flights he has paid some $12 million for have originated in Texas.  

“If there’s any hypocrisy going on here, it’s hypocrisy on the part of cities that are now upset about the surge in asylum-seekers. Well, welcome to our world. Arizona has been dealing with this for years,” said C.J. Karamargin, communications director for Ducey, who has bused 1,849 migrants to D.C., the bulk of whom have been Colombian, though 13 percent hail from Venezuela.  

A spokeswoman for Abbott, Renae Eze, similarly said “hypocritical Democrats and sanctuary city mayors need to stop complaining about a few thousand migrants,” blaming President Biden for the situation at the border.

DeSantis’s office did not respond to a request for comment. 

The governors have sought to build their brand as opponents of communism, particularly DeSantis in Florida, where Cubans and Venezuelans make up a significant part of the electorate.  

The staggering influx of migrants from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua — some 55,333 in August — puts the trio on a path to overtake migration from Mexico and northern Central America, where just more than 56,000 migrants left this month.  

“Failing communist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba are driving a new wave of migration across the Western Hemisphere, including the recent increase in encounters at the southwest U.S. border,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus said in a Monday press release.  

Migration from Venezuela follows years of food shortages and instability under President Nicolás Maduro. In Cuba, last year’s summer protests against the government were met with violence by the country’s military and police. And in Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega has cracked down violently on protesters and any opposition to his government, building an increasingly totalitarian dictatorship.  

“The Republicans are so quick to bash the Venezuelan government and to say, ‘But we love the Venezuelans.’ And then the minute that vulnerable populations from Venezuela arrive in our country, they then use them as political pawns. It’s really beyond reprehensible. It’s a really repugnant motivation,” Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) told The Hill.  

She also pushed back against the argument that Republican governors are simply doing what the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) already do.  

“NGOs and communities have long bused migrants to other destinations. They’ve used Greyhound buses, but normally it’s to get them to other NGOs or to their sponsors in other communities,” Escobar said.  

“What is different with DeSantis and with Abbott and Ducey is they are using people as political pawns in this culture war. DeSantis has sunk to a new low by lying to people, and I guess securing a private jet to send them to Martha’s Vineyard. But the Republicans always want to have it both ways. While they want to condemn Venezuela and say they support Venezuelans, the minute Venezuelans need help, they debase themselves in the way that they treat them.”  

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) criticized DeSantis while urging Biden to offer more protections for those fleeing oppressive governments.  

“These are people — human beings yearning to breathe free — fleeing repression and hopelessness. But instead of welcoming these refugees and providing even the most basic care, Gov. DeSantis decided to spend millions of taxpayer dollars in transportation costs, just to rile up his right-wing supporters and get more hits on Fox News,” he said in a statement last week.  

“[Biden] should welcome these refugees and those from Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba that have been bussed to other states, and allow them to seek temporary protections in the United States. This was the right thing to do for Ukrainians who could not return home, and it is the right thing to do now.”  

Many Republicans who have campaigned on confronting such governments did not find fault with DeSantis’s actions.  

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a vocal critic of Maduro as well as the Communist Party of Cuba, downplayed the number of migrants involved in the Massachusetts flight, though at least 13,000 migrants have been moved in the overall effort.  

“What was flown to Martha’s Vineyard is but a small, like minuscule, fraction of the problem being faced and the burden being carried by just a handful of states,” he said. “A handful of border states and a handful of communities in those states are taking on 90 percent of the burden.”  

“I always sympathize with people that are coming to this country,” Rubio added. “They’re desperate. Because of communism, because of poverty, because of violence. Of course. But the truth of the matter is every country in the world has to have immigration laws.”  

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said the solution is to welcome “legal migration.”   

So far, none of the migrants who have publicly divulged their status are undocumented. A majority, if not all, are asylum-seekers who must present themselves on U.S. soil and have been processed by U.S. border officials and allowed to remain in the country until their cases are resolved by immigration court.

“Different governors are doing things to try to get people to focus on the problem that’s happening in their states as a result of this,” Scott said.  

“Secure the border and have an immigration policy that works — we got to have an immigration policy that people [who] want to live our dream can come here.”  

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), whose parents fled to the U.S. from Cuba and who interviewed a number of communist dictators during her career as a journalist, likewise touted legislation as the solution.   

“You know how we solve this? I presented an immigration reform law. Do you know about it? It’s called the Dignity Act. Why don’t we have [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi bring it to the floor?” she asked.   

While bipartisan immigration reform packages were approved by the Senate in 2006 and 2013, the then-Republican-led House both times refused to take them up for a vote.  

It’s a detail that Escobar said makes Republicans’ claims around the need for immigration reform insincere.  

“The United States, mostly because of Republicans, has approached immigration as a border-only issue. Republicans have refused to pass immigration reform. They’ve refused to update or modernize our laws. They’ve insisted on only dealing with it as a border issue. This is the consequence of dealing with immigration as a border issue,” she said, noting that has corresponded with limiting some legal pathways.   

“Of course we’re going to see an increase in irregular migration. And yet Republicans want to point at the border and call it ‘Biden’s border crisis’ when this is a crisis by design.”  

According to several reports, the migrants have been led astray at every turn, with the Martha’s Vineyard group also told to report their new addresses to an agency that processes visas, not asylum claims.  

Some migrants were also assigned addresses of various homeless shelters to list as their own.  

Both those clerical errors would require migrants to report to immigration authorities in random destinations and would likely speed a process to deport them for not showing up for their asylum court dates.  

Rubio took aim at DHS officials, some of whom are likely behind the instructions to report to homeless shelters.  

“Today I will be demanding answers from @DHSgov about reports from Martha’s Vineyard that federal agents assigned random homeless shelters across the country as the mailing addresses of illegal migrants, even after the migrants told them they had no address in the U.S.,” Rubio wrote on Twitter.

Castro said GOP leaders need to do more to help than just bashing leftist leaders.  

“If you’re going to treat the people like that when they try to flee these very desperate, repressive situations, then you should just shut your mouth and stop complaining about Maduro if you’re not going to do anything to help the people that are trying to flee Venezuela,” he said. 

Rafael Bernal contributed. 

Source: TEST FEED1