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Santos reportedly used 'Anthony Zabrovsky' alias on charity GoFundMe page

Additional claims that Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) fabricated information about his personal background have emerged, adding to mounting questions about his résumé and personal history.

Santos claimed earlier this year that his maternal grandparents changed their last name from Zabrovsky to conceal their Jewish heritage. Records show that the newly elected representative used the alias “Anthony Zabrovsky” for a pet charity on GoFundMe, the web page for which no longer exists.

In a Fox News interview in February, Santos spoke about his grandparents and why they needed to change their last name for “survival.”

“We don’t carry the Ukrainian last name,” Santos said. “For a lot of people who are descendants of World War II refugees or survivors of the Holocaust, a lot of names and paperwork were changed in the name of survival. So I don’t carry the family last name that would’ve been Zabrovsky. I carry my mother’s maiden name which is the Dutch side of the family.”

News outlets have questioned Santos’s claims about his family in recent weeks, citing genealogy records that show his grandparents were born in Brazil before the Nazis rose to power. Santos claimed that they emigrated to Brazil during World War II.

Author and professional genealogist Megan Smolenyak, who researched Santos’s family history for CNN, told the outlet that “there’s no sign of Jewish and/or Ukrainian heritage and no indication of name changes along the way.”

The news comes as the Republican Jewish Coalition announced this week that Santos is not welcome at organization events due to his misrepresentation of his heritage.

The congressman-elect also admitted in an interview with the New York Post that he embellished parts of his résumé, including working for Wall Street firms Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

“I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume,” he said. “We do stupid things in life.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Southwest hopes to have schedule fixed by Friday

Southwest Airlines is looking to restore its flight schedule by Friday after canceling more than 15,000 flights over the last week, potentially bringing relief to stranded holiday travelers. 

The airline has scheduled just 39 cancellations for Friday, according to data from flight tracking website FlightAware, after shutting down nearly 2,400 flights on Thursday and 2,500 on Wednesday.  

“Right now it looks like a pretty smooth operation as we head into this transition tomorrow to allow us to resume operations on Friday at our normal schedule, which is a big step up,” Southwest Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said in a message to employees Wednesday evening, according to The Dallas Morning News. 

Southwest’s archaic scheduling systems went haywire after winter storms hit its hubs in Denver and Chicago, making it difficult to route pilots and flight attendants to the right planes.

The airline was forced to cancel nearly two-thirds of its flights for much of the week to restore stability. 

“A systemic failure of Southwest Airlines leaders to modernize, support, and staff its operation leaves every frontline employee, pilots included, tired of apologizing to our passengers,” the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said in a statement Wednesday. 

The meltdown, which has disrupted the holiday plans of millions, has drawn federal scrutiny from prominent lawmakers and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has pledged to ensure that stranded travelers are reimbursed for unexpected food, travel and lodging costs.

“We’ve never seen a situation, at least not on my watch, with this volume of disruptions, so this is going to take an extraordinary level of effort by Southwest. And we will mount an extraordinary effort to make sure that they’re meeting their obligations,” Buttigieg said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan issued a video apology Wednesday and acknowledged that the airline must update its scheduling systems.

“The tools we use to recover from disruption serve us well 99 percent of the time, but clearly we need to double down on our already existing plans to upgrade systems for these extreme circumstances so that we never again face what’s happening right now,” Jordan said.

Source: TEST FEED1

The Hill's Morning Report — Republicans in turmoil heading into 2023

Editor’s note: The Hill’s Morning Report is our daily newsletter that dives deep into Washington’s agenda. To subscribe, click here or fill out the box below.

The Republican Party, which entered 2022 with ambitions of recapturing both chambers of Congress and using discontent with President Biden to mount a strong case for retaking the White House in 2024, is ending the year in a state of uncertainty across the board, writes The Hill’s Brett Samuels. 

Former President Trump, who has for the last six years had a vice grip on the GOP, is politically weakened and legally vulnerable. Trump is the only declared candidate in the 2024 field, but the landscape for the presidential nomination remains unsettled with several others eyeing a bid. Meanwhile, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is facing blowback from a handful of state party leaders and some conservatives as she seeks to win another term during the party’s meetings next month. And in the Senate, Republicans are coming off a disappointing midterm showing that saw them fail to recapture the majority. Across the Capitol, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is still short of the votes needed to secure the Speaker’s gavel in January as a handful of conservative firebrands continue to withhold their support.

“The Republican-on-Republican attacks aren’t helping the party reset after the midterms,” Dan Eberhart, a GOP donor and fundraiser, told The Hill. “We just look weak. But it’s a process we may have to endure to come back as a reinvigorated party for the 2024 contest.”

▪ The New York Times: Republicans step up attacks on the FBI as it investigates Trump.

▪ Politico: A Republican free-for-all looms in the 2024 Indiana Senate race.

▪ The New York Times: The race for the GOP chair obscures the party’s bigger problems.

▪ The Hill: Republicans rethink abortion strategy after bruising midterms.

Not helping the GOP is the unfolding situation surrounding Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.), who, as The Hill’s Emily Brooks reports, has put Republicans in a pickle. Party leaders must ask themselves how to deal with his fabrications without jeopardizing their slim majority. 

Throughout the revelations, House GOP leaders have largely remained silent. The reality is that the party’s upcoming slim majority makes it more difficult to come down hard on Santos, as lawmakers need his vote to pass their priorities — and McCarthy needs his support to secure the Speakership. There is also a worry that being too forceful could create a dangerous precedent, as House members are rarely expelled from Congress. 

Still, some Republicans are starting to speak out to condemn him, including two of his fellow GOP New York representatives-elect (The Hill). But others, such as firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), are coming to his defense.

On Wednesday, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly (R) said her office would investigate Santos (The Hill).

“The numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing short of stunning,” Donnelly said. “The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress. No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it.”

Federal prosecutors have started looking into public filings by the congressman-elect (ABC News).

▪ Vox: Did Santos lie about everything?

▪ CNN: More false claims from Santos about his work, education and family history.

▪ Business Insider: Tulsi Gabbard grilled Santos on Fox News: “Do you have no shame?”

Related Articles

▪ Roll Call: Biden faces international climate-aid challenge in fiscal 2024.

▪ Axios: Co-leader in plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) sentenced to more than 19 years in prison.

▪ Vox: What to know about the most important elections in 2023.

▪ The Washington Post: Art in the Capitol honors 141 enslavers and 13 Confederates. Who are they?

LEADING THE DAY

➤ MORE POLITICS

In 2022, more than two dozen states sought to enact measures to heavily restrict or ban access to gender-affirming health care for transgender youth, writes The Hill’s Brooke Migdon, marking one of the worst years on record for anti-LGBTQ legislation.

In the leadup to next year’s legislative session, no fewer than 20 bills targeting transgender medical care have been prefiled in at least nine states — Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

But lawmakers in at least three states have announced efforts to protect access to gender-affirming health care for transgender youth and adults in 2023 (The Hill).

Politico: Defining “woman” battle heads to states amid new wave of LGBTQ bills.

The Supreme Court has punted a brewing debate over immigration policy to the spring with its decision to keep a Trump administration border measure that restricts the flow of migrants into the United States in place, writes The Hill’s Brett Samuels. The court ruled on Tuesday that Title 42, which has for the last two years allowed the government to expel migrants who might otherwise qualify for asylum because of the COVID-19 pandemic, must continue — a win for Republican officials who had pushed for the rule. 

But it also presents a reprieve for the Biden administration, which had faced growing questions from lawmakers about whether it was prepared to handle the influx of migrants that was expected to follow the end of the rule.

Politico: Newly released records show top adviser to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) used a private email and alias to coordinate migrant flights.

Politico examines how the Hill’s newest progressives plan to wield power. Five new members-elect — including Rep.-elect Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), the first Gen Z member of Congress — are taking cues from the liberal squad, ready to bypass the limits of being a first-term lawmaker and use their voices to turn the party leftward.

➤ TRANSPORTATION

The federal government is zeroing in on Southwest Airlines after it canceled thousands of flights over the Christmas holidays, stranding tens of thousands of people, writes The Hill’s Karl Evers-Hillstrom, and the airline’s problems can’t completely be blamed on the weather. While other carriers also had weather-related cancellations, Southwest shut down more than 15,000 flights over the holidays and likely won’t resume normal operations until the new year.

Southwest canceled nearly 5,000 flights Wednesday and Thursday while trying to recover from the internal meltdown, but a Dec. 21 memo that highlighted a worker shortage in Denver, where Southwest has significant operations and which was pounded by the storm, may have foreshadowed the trouble.

In anticipating staffing shortages and adverse weather conditions, Southwest’s vice president for ground operations, Chris Johnson, declared a “state of operational emergency” because of an “unusually high number of absences” of Denver-based ramp employees, according to the memo. “We have an obligation to our Customers and to our fellow Employees to safely and efficiently run our operation,” Johnson wrote.

Southwest officials, meanwhile, have said publicly the airline was not short-staffed before the storm hit, pointing instead to the inability of internal logistics and scheduling systems — some of which are outdated and have made it difficult to coordinate flight crew assignments — to recover after widespread disruptions.

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan issued a video apology Wednesday and said that the company would “go above and beyond” to provide customers with refunds and help those who took expensive detours (The Washington Post).

▪ The Wall Street Journal: Airlines cap fares as Southwest cancellations continue.

▪ Bloomberg News: Southwest chaos is a told-you-so moment after warnings on old tech.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that the Department of Transportation “will mount an extraordinary effort” to ensure that Southwest meets its obligations to its customers — including refunds (Politico).

“In order to restore that relationship with their customers, Southwest is going to have to not only make them financially whole but find a way to really rebuild trust and confidence,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “They pledged to me that they’re going to do that. I want to see exactly what that means.”

It marks Buttigieg’s biggest test yet, write The Hill’s Karl Evers-Hillstrom and Alex Gangitano. Under pressure to help get travelers home, ensure they are reimbursed for unexpected costs and take steps to prevent this kind of meltdown from ever happening again, it’s perhaps the most high-profile moment of Buttigieg’s tenure in the administration — and one that could make or break his future political ambitions.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Fighting is intensifying in southern Ukraine as Russia doubles down on its calls for Kyiv to meet its demands before any talks to end the war. 

The regional governor, Yaroslav Yanushevych, said a total of 50 rockets fell in the Kherson region, including on military targets. Officials said 33 Russian rockets were fired at civilian targets in the city of Kherson on Wednesday alone, following days of continued shelling of the city and its surrounding region, even after the occupying forces retreated in November.

The Kremlin has dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s 10-point so-called peace plan, saying proposals to end the conflict must take into account what it claims are “today’s realities” of four Ukrainian regions having joined Russia (NBC News).

▪ Radio Free Europe: “We fight with our brains. They fight with numbers”: Ukrainian paratroopers on the battle for the Donbas city of Kreminna.

▪ The New York Times: U.S. scrambles to stop Iran from providing drones for Russia.

Zelensky and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink on Wednesday agreed to coordinate investment efforts to reconstruct Ukraine. The announcement came after Ukraine’s economic ministry signed a memorandum of understanding in November for BlackRock to provide advisory support for designing an investment framework.

Russia’s war in Ukraine entered its 11th month this weekend, and Ukraine has signaled hope for a peace summit by the end of February (The Hill).

▪ The Hill: U.S. to impose new COVID-19 testing requirements for travelers from China.

▪ Reuters: As the West backs Nigeria’s war on insurgents, it backs off on human rights.

OPINION

■ How the house of Trump was built, by Carlos Lozada, columnist, The New York Times. https://nyti.ms/3hUQIaw 

■ China’s government Is a self-made COVID-19 victim, by Howard W. French, columnist, Foreign Policy. https://bit.ly/3WSq0hN

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 will convene on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

The Senate will convene on Friday at 9:30 a.m. for a pro forma session.

The president has no public schedule. He and first lady Jill Biden are in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands, with their family.

The vice president will head to Los Angeles with the second gentleman.

The first lady is in St. Croix with the president.

ELSEWHERE

➤ ECONOMY

With home prices and mortgage rates soaring, inventory levels still at a low and inflation affecting all levels of the economy, new research shows half of all Americans couldn’t afford to buy their current home. As The Hill’s Daniel de Visé reports, 55 percent of U.S. homeowners say they could not raise the funds to purchase their home at current prices and interest rates, according to the 2022 Housing Affordability Survey by Cato Institute. 

“I think that the psychology is different now, even compared with January of this year,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at real-estate brokerage Redfin.

While inflation is often called a tax on the poor, this time it’s hit middle-income households the hardest, new research shows. According to studies by the Congressional Budget Office and others, many people in low-income households — benefiting from exceptionally low unemployment rates — have found jobs and experienced wage increases that lifted income more than the cost of living. Some were also bolstered by federal payments during the pandemic.

Purchasing power from paychecks fell 2.9 percent for middle-income households in 2022 compared with 2021, while rising 1.5 percent for the bottom fifth of households and 1.1 percent for the top, according to the CBO study. Census Bureau surveys, meanwhile, show a growing share of middle-income households say they are having more trouble making ends meet (The Wall Street Journal).

➤ PANDEMIC & HEALTH 

Going on three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus has remained persistent. So, too, has misinformation about it. As cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise in parts of the country, false narratives continue to evolve and spread, evading content moderators and exasperating doctors and public health officials (The New York Times).

“It’s easy to forget that health misinformation, including about COVID, can still contribute to people not getting vaccinated or creating stigmas,” Megan Marrelli, the editorial director of Meedan, a nonprofit focused on digital literacy and information access, told the Times. “We know for a fact that health misinformation contributes to the spread of real-world disease.”

Amid a year when public distrust and misinformation plagued the public health system at large, the tangible wins reinforced the importance of an undervalued and often underfunded strategy: using grassroots, community-led campaigns to save lives and improve health. Vox spotlighted some of the mostly local campaigns that subdued an outbreak of a disease traveling fast through sexual networks, extended COVID-19 vaccines to underserved populations, and overcame stigma and provider shortages to soften the impacts of mental illness, substance use, and overdoses.

The Washington Post: U.S. watchdogs guarding $5 trillion in COVID-19 aid say they need more money.

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

Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported as of this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (trackers all vary slightly): 1,091,473. Current U.S. COVID-19 deaths are 2,952 for the week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The CDC shifted its tally of available data from daily to weekly, now reported on Fridays.)

THE CLOSER

Take Our Morning Report Quiz

And finally … 🎆 It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by the upcoming new year, we’re eager for some smart guesses about newsy events in 2022.

When Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) mixed up Gestapo and the Spanish cold soup gazpacho — resulting in the ever-memorable term “gazpacho police” — what was she criticizing?

1. Routine security checks by the Capitol Police

2. COVID-19 mask enforcement

3. Troops at the U.S.-Mexico border

4. The Jan. 6 select committee

Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine thrust Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into the global spotlight as he led his country through a brutal war. But before taking office, Zelensky had a very different career as a ____?

1. Janitor

2. Comedian

3. Pilot

4. Teacher

Liz Truss became the U.K.’s shortest-serving prime minister this year, resigning after only how many days in office?

1. 112

2. 17

3. 44

4. 56

During the midterms, much of Sen.-elect John Fetterman’s (D-Pa.) social media strategy hinged on trolling Republican opponent Mehmet Oz’s long-term residence in what state?

1. New York

2. New Jersey

3. Connecticut

4. Rhode Island

Email your responses to kkarisch@thehill.com, and please add “Quiz” to subject lines. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.

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!

Most Americans couldn’t afford to buy their own home today: survey

A homeowner’s refrain, oft-heard around the nation’s capital in recent years, has hardened into sobering fact: Most Americans couldn’t afford to buy their own home in today’s market. 

Fifty-five percent of U.S. homeowners say they could not raise the funds to purchase their home at current prices and interest rates, according to the 2022 Housing Affordability Survey by Cato Institute, findings released this month. 

Housing prices have risen more than 40 percent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A year ago, soaring home values were a point of pride. Now, for potential buyers and sellers, they are a source of fear. 

“I think that the psychology is different now, even compared with January of this year,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at real-estate brokerage Redfin.

Cato researchers found that 87 percent of Americans are concerned about rising home prices. Three-quarters believe average people would not be able to afford a home in their community. Many fear their own children and grandchildren will not be able to purchase a home. 

The facts support their fears. A recent report by the National Association of Home Builders found that three-quarters of Arizona residents would not be able to purchase an average Arizona home at current prices. Other research suggests most renters are priced out of the home-buying market in their own cities.   

Interest rates on a standard 30-year mortgage flew past 7 percent this year after starting 2022 around 3 percent, the largest single-year increase in at least 50 years.  

The spread between 3 percent and 7 percent interest adds up to roughly $1,000 more in a monthly mortgage payment on the mid-priced American home.  

Rates have retreated to around 6.5 percent. That’s close to historic averages for home mortgages. Yet, by comparison to the low-interest housing boom of the last few years, borrowing costs seem impossibly steep to many Americans. 

Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, predicts that interest rates will decline to 6 percent, if not lower, by the end of 2023. “I think the 5 ½ to 6 ½ rate will be the kind of settling-down point,” he said. 

That’s good news for potential buyers and sellers. But higher prices and rates have already sent the housing market tumbling into recession. Economists expect the broader U.S. economy to follow, sometime next year. 

Home sales are plummeting. The National Association of Realtors recently forecast a 15-percent drop in 2022 and a 7-percent dip in 2023.  

Home prices remain elevated, but they, too, will probably fall. Redfin predicts prices will dip by 4 percent in 2023, to a median value of $368,000. 

Those trends are of greater concern, of course, to people looking to buy or sell. Most current homeowners locked in historically low rates and need not worry about the current market, so long as they aren’t planning to sell or borrow against their equity. 

“The money’s still there,” Fairweather said, “but it’s a lot harder to get now.” 

From an economist’s perspective, the current housing crisis is largely a matter of supply and demand, and the solution lies in increased supply: Not more McMansions, but smaller, denser, more affordable dwellings. 

“The way to make the numbers work will be to start building things more affordable,” Yun said. “And the only way to do that is to build smaller.” 

Current renters strongly favor more home building, while homeowners oppose new construction, according to the Cato survey. And Democrats mostly favor more construction, while Republicans mostly do not. Their aversion seems rooted in fears that new housing might dampen the value of their own homes and concerns about traffic congestion and strained infrastructure.  

The single-family home remains a dream for most Americans. In the Cato survey, 89 percent of respondents said they would prefer to live in one. Almost no one, it seems, prefers townhouse or condominium living.  

But townhouses and condos are exactly what the housing market needs, economists say, especially in areas where prices are high and space at a premium. 

“The best way to increase supply is to build dense, affordable housing,” Fairweather said. 

The one demographic group that seems to be perfectly content with townhouses, condos and apartment living is urbanites, especially those of the millennial generation. One recent survey showed that one millennial in four is prepared to be a “forever renter,” with no plans to purchase a home.   

“Don’t discount downtown living,” Yun said. “I think it is the dream of the millennials. The millennials need walkability, seeing friends, or at least the TV show ‘Friends.’” 

Source: TEST FEED1

Divided GOP enters 2023 attacking itself

The Republican Party, which entered 2022 with ambitions of recapturing both chambers of Congress and using discontent with President Biden to mount a strong case for retaking the White House in 2024, is entering 2023 in a state of uncertainty across the board.

Former President Trump, who for the last six years has had a vice grip on the GOP, is politically weakened and legally vulnerable. Trump is the only declared candidate in the 2024 field, but the landscape for the presidential nomination remains unsettled with several others eyeing a bid.

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is facing blowback from a handful of state party leaders and some conservatives as she seeks to win another term during the party’s meetings next month.

In the Senate, Republicans are coming off a disappointing midterm showing that saw them fail to recapture the majority. And in the House, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is still short of the votes needed to secure the Speaker’s gavel next month as a handful of conservative firebrands withhold their support.

“The Republican-on-Republican attacks aren’t helping the party reset after the midterms,” said Dan Eberhart, a GOP donor and fundraiser. “We just look weak. But it’s a process we may have to endure to come back as a reinvigorated party for the 2024 contest.”

The GOP’s uncertain future starts at the very top, where some conservatives are calling for McDaniel to be replaced as head of the national party after an underwhelming midterm election cycle. 

McDaniel needs a majority of support from the RNC’s 168 members at next month’s party meeting, and she has the backing of 107 as of mid-December. But Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney who has represented Trump in his election lawsuits, is seeking to mount a challenge, and a few state party leaders have called on McDaniel to step down.

McDaniel’s supporters argue she is not to blame for the GOP’s problems heading into 2023. Instead, they point to candidate quality issues and the shadow of Trump looming over November’s elections.

Trump-backed candidates lost key Senate races in Pennsylvania, Arizona, New Hampshire, Nevada and Georgia. Had Republicans won two of those races, they would have held onto the majority.

Instead, Senate Republicans enter 2023 in the minority and aiming to reorganize after Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) unsuccessfully challenged Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to lead the conference. 

Even in the House, where Republicans hoped to be celebrating a new majority heading into the new year, the GOP is facing down multiple obstacles.

McCarthy, who has been angling to become Speaker for years, still appears short of the 218 votes he’ll need on Jan. 3 when the new Congress begins. Republicans have 222 seats, meaning McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes.

At least five House Republicans have explicitly said or strongly indicated they will not vote for McCarthy to be Speaker, and several others have withheld support for him as they push for commitments on governing priorities and rules changes that would empower individual members. 

If McCarthy’s difficulty getting to 218 weren’t enough, the party is also facing a new controversy: Incoming Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is under scrutiny for embellishing or fabricating various parts of his background, from his claim that he was Jewish to his wealth and his place of residence.

GOP leadership has yet to weigh in on the situation, but Rep.-elect Nick LaLota, a fellow New York Republican, has called for a House Ethics Committee investigation into Santos, and for law enforcement to get involved if needed.

“House Republicans like me are eager to be sworn in and focus on our Commitment to America and our respective districts,” LaLota said in a statement. “Yet, over the last few weeks I have heard from countless Long Islanders how deeply troubled they are by the headlines surrounding George Santos.”

While the uncertainty at the RNC and in Congress is likely to be sorted out in the coming weeks, Republicans are likely to be dealing with the murky nature of the 2024 presidential primary well into the new year.

Trump is the only declared candidate in the 2024 race going into 2023, but that is expected to change.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a handful of GOP senators and governors are expected to decide in the coming months whether to challenge Trump, who is at his most politically vulnerable since the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.

Many of Trump’s most high-profile endorsed candidates lost their midterm elections; polls in recent months have shown voters are ready to move on to another candidate in 2024; his reelection campaign has largely been inactive; and Trump has created headaches for Republican lawmakers by dining with a white nationalist and suggesting the Constitution be terminated to allow his return to power.

Conservatives remain optimistic the party will work out its issues and provide a credible alternative to the Biden administration by 2024. But there are problems to sort out in the new year.

“It’s more a prolonged transition than disarray,” said Eberhart, the GOP fundraiser who is also CEO of Canary, LLC. 

“But at the end of the day, Republicans must show voters they can govern. If they can’t, Republicans will have more disappointing election cycles like this one,” he added

Source: TEST FEED1

Republicans rethink abortion strategy after bruising midterms

Republicans are recalibrating their messaging on abortion after Democrats successfully used the issue to galvanize their base and win over swing voters in 2022. 

While the GOP largely focused on the three-pronged message of combatting rising inflation, crime, and the flow of migrants over the southern border, exit polls showed that abortion was a top priority for voters at the ballot box. 

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel has attributed some of the party’s losses to candidates ignoring the issue. 

“It was probably a bigger factor than a lot of people thought,” McDaniel said in an interview earlier this month with radio talk show host John Catsimatidis. “We’ve got to get conversant on that.”

“We can’t just do an ostrich method and pretend that it doesn’t exist when Democrats are spending $30 million on that message.”

According to exit polling, 27 percent of voters said that abortion was the most important issue in deciding their vote, coming in only behind inflation at 31 percent. 

The issue played a key role in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, where Sen.-elect John Fetterman (D) strongly elevated the issue, particularly in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Thirty-six percent of voters in that state said abortion was their top issue, while 29 percent said inflation. 

Abortion access proponents were also victorious on a number of ballot measures, with voters in California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont voting in favor of abortion rights. 

The victories followed the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, which punted the issue of abortion access back to the states. Republicans in a number of states moved to limit access to the procedure following the ruling, sparking a chain reaction among Democrats calling to protect abortion rights.

“The Dobbs decision was not unlike a political earthquake,” said Marilyn Musgrave, the vice president of government affairs at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.  “Republicans, in my opinion, could have had a much better response.” 

An RNC polling memo published in September appeared to foreshadow the difficulty Republicans could face on the issue due to the Dobbs decision, with 80 percent of voters polled saying they were “not pleased” with the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter. 

However, the memo did encourage Republicans to appeal to the same voters by taking a more middle-of-the-road approach by not taking a hard-line stance on the issue, but rather being open to exceptions to bans. 

“When comparing a Democrat who supports abortion at any time for any reason, against a Pro-life Republican who supports exceptions for instances of rape, incest, or the life of the mother, the GOP candidate holds a +22 percent advantage,” the memo read. 

In a separate post-election interview, McDaniel addressed what she said was a hesitancy among many political consultants to encourage their candidates to address abortion attacks head-on. 

“We put out a memo, we said address this, take this head-on,” McDaniel said on “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.” 

“How many candidate consultants said we don’t want to talk about it, it’s not polling well? But the reality is, when you’re putting $30 million behind something, it doesn’t matter how it’s polling, it’s an issue,” she added, referring to Democratic spending on the issue. 

Anti-abortion advocates have argued that many Republicans missed an opportunity by not being more consistent in labeling Democrats as “extreme” on the issue. 

Musgrave called for “building a national consensus on reasonable limits on abortion.” 

“I’m very confident that the voters are with us on this,” Musgrave said. “They just need to get that information and they need leaders and they need candidates talking about this. And of course, it will be a big issue in the presidential, so here we go.” 

While most polling shows that a majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal, these findings shift when asked about specific trimesters in pregnancy. A Gallup poll released shortly before Roe was overturned earlier this year found that roughly 60 percent of U.S. adults believe abortion should be legal in the first three months of pregnancy. However, that support declined to 28 percent for abortions taking place in the second trimester, and then to 13 percent in the last trimester. 

And when some exceptions were factored into the polling, there was still general support for the procedure in the third trimester. Seventy-five percent of Americans said they believe abortion should be legal in the third trimester when the person’s life is endangered while 52 percent said the same in the case of rape or incest. 

Jennifer Horn, who formerly served as the chair of New Hampshire’s GOP and has since become an independent, suggested that Republicans have made a mistake in not viewing abortion as a complex issue. 

“For, at least Republican woman, a pro-life governor who is advancing limits on abortion is not unappealing,” said Horn, who personally described herself as pro-life. “You can believe that women have a right to make this choice and that there should be limits on how far into a pregnancy that right should exist.” 

GOP stances on the issue could likely vary state to state in races down the ballot in 2024, but more eyes are starting to turn to how the issue will play in 2024. 

“Heading into 2024, it is essential for any pro-life candidate to embrace the issue head-on, clearly defining their own position and contrasting it with the unpopular, extreme, abortion up-until-birth position of their opponent,” said Jeanne Mancini, the president of March for Life. 

Republicans and anti-abortion advocates are pointing to Republican governors who have taken restrictive abortion stances and were victorious in 2022 as a bright spot going forward. 

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) were among those with anti-abortion stances who handily won reelection in 2022. 

“Success stories in the states were very encouraging, and you really don’t hear much about that,” Musgrave said. “Those guys really came out fighting.”

Others argue that their wins did not directly correlate with their stances on abortion, arguing that other factors including incumbency, their opponents and other state and local issues were at play. 

But anti-abortion advocates say it’s important to have someone like DeSantis, who is growing his national profile and his standing in 2024 polls every day. When asked at a press conference earlier this month whether he would support a “heartbeat bill” that would presumably ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, DeSantis did not directly commit to heartbeat legislation but said “I’m willing to sign great life legislation.”

“For candidates like DeSantis who are clearly looking to become the next president of the United States, through the Republican primary process, this issue and every other issue that comes up over the next two years is going to be addressed through an I-want-to-be, presidency filter,” Horn said. 

Source: TEST FEED1

George Santos puts GOP in a tight spot

Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) has put Republicans in a pickle: How do party leaders deal with his fabrications and misrepresentations without jeopardizing their slim majority or setting a precedent? 

The answer so far, for the most part, is to say nothing and let Santos speak for himself — and perhaps to let voters decide Santos’s fate in 2024.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Emmer (Minn.) and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) have not commented on the revelations surrounding Santos’s background and falsehoods. 

The reality is that a slim incoming majority of 222 GOP seats to 212 Democratic seats and one vacancy leaves Republicans little political incentive to come down hard on Santos, as they might need his vote to pass their priorities.

And McCarthy, who is facing opposition from a handful of hard-line House Republicans threatening to sink his Speaker bid, may need Santos’s vote to secure the Speakership on Jan. 3. Santos expressed support for McCarthy for Speaker in a tweet last week that has since been deleted. 

McCarthy did not answer questions about Santos in the Capitol last week, and House GOP leaders did not respond to or comment on Santos on Wednesday.

“He’s eventually going to pay a price,” one Republican strategist said of Santos, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “But he’s not going to pay a price at least until after the Speaker vote because of the tight majority.”

“You have to honestly play the counterfactual. If this situation erupted within the Democratic caucus, [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.] would keep this under wraps as well and not hand out a punishment until after that happens, whatever that punishment may be,” the strategist said. “And unfortunately, you also have a slippery slope here. If you go after this guy for lying, where does it stop?”

As leaders remain silent, some Republicans are starting to speak out against Santos. Three Republican members-elect from New York have scolded Santos this week. 

Nick LaLota on Tuesday called for “a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee and, if necessary, law enforcement” into Santos. Anthony D’Esposito said that Santos’s “fabrications regarding the Holocaust and his family’s history are particularly harmful.” And Mike Lawler said Wednesday that Santos “should cooperate fully” with federal, state and local investigations “if he is to regain the trust of his constituents and colleagues.”

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), a former chairman of the NRCC from 2009 to 2013, told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that he is “not supportive of him being in our conference at all from what I know.” But Sessions said that the revelations about Santos do not necessarily “mean he’s expelled.”

“It means that his placement within any committee structure, his placement within our party, and his reelection should be evaluated,” Sessions said.

Santos does have a strong defender in Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who was removed from her committee assignments after uproar about her social media posts spreading conspiracy theories and interacting with posts advocating violence against Democrats.

“I think we Republicans should give George Santos a chance and see how he legislates and votes, not treat him the same as the left is,” Greene tweeted on Tuesday.

There is also a danger that being too forceful could create a precedent that Republicans do not want. Some lawmakers have stayed in Congress through scandals without resigning or being expelled until after a criminal conviction.

Greene and Santos, who says he will not step down, have pointed to what they say are equally damaging scandals and falsehoods from Democrats and President Biden — and implicitly argue Santos should continue serving in Congress. 

“I’m not resigning. If I have to leave Congress,” Santos said in a City & State interview this week, “it’s going to be by a pink slip by the voters, November of 2024.”

If history is any indication, it is unlikely that Santos will be prevented from being sworn in or forcibly removed from his post unless more substantial legal issues arise. House Ethics Committee investigations can also take months or years to be resolved, and the panel rarely doles out harsh punishments.

The Republican Steering Committee, on which McCarthy will have outsize power assuming he becomes Speaker, controls most committee assignments for House Republicans and could opt to keep Santos off prime panels — or potentially any panels. The committee is expected to pick contested chairs and assign committees after a Speaker is elected.

The House can expel members with a two-thirds majority vote, but that rarely happens. Only five House members have been expelled in the history of Congress, three in 1861 for supporting the Confederacy and two in 1980 and 2002 after criminal convictions for conspiracy to commit bribery.

Santos’s public image problems, though, could be evolving into legal ones. The Nassau County district attorney’s office said Wednesday that it is looking into Santos, with District Attorney Anne Donnelly, a Republican, saying that the “numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing short of stunning.”

Meanwhile, Santos went on a media tour this week with the New York Post, radio station WABC, New York outlet City & State and Fox News to address his past and misrepresentations about his background. He admitted that he did not graduate from any college and said he used a “poor choice of words” when he said he worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs when he actually worked with a company that did business with the financial giants. 

But the media blitz has only brought more attention to his misrepresentations — and more criticism. Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo said on Tuesday that he is ”deeply disappointed in Mr. Santos” and expects “more than just a blanket apology.” 

Questions remain about Santos’s influx of personal wealth that he used to fund his campaign, an allegation of check fraud in Brazil that he has denied, his assertion about connections to victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting, work with an animal rescue group and his representation of Jewish heritage, among other issues.

Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, dug in on Santos as she filled in for Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday.

“Do you have no shame?” Gabbard asked.

Santos deflected, bringing up falsehoods from Democrats and Biden.

Rep. Jim Banks (Ind.), the outgoing head of the powerful Republican Study Committee, commented on Twitter that Gabbard did a “good job.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Buttigieg faces key test amid Southwest meltdown

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg faces one of his biggest tests yet as tens of thousands of outraged Southwest Airlines travelers remain stranded at airports across the country. 

Buttigieg is under pressure to help get travelers home, ensure they are reimbursed for unexpected costs and take steps to prevent this kind of meltdown from happening again.

It’s perhaps the most high-profile moment of the former — and potentially future — presidential candidate’s tenure in the Biden administration. And it presents an opportunity for Buttigieg to take decision action, something critics say has been lacking during his tenure.

“Now, we’ve never seen a situation, at least not on my watch, with this volume of disruptions, so this is going to take an extraordinary level of effort by Southwest. And we will mount an extraordinary effort to make sure that they’re meeting their obligations,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.

Buttigieg spoke with the CEO of Southwest Airlines on Tuesday, conveying that he expects the airline to “live up to the commitments it has made to passengers, including providing meal vouchers, refunds, and hotel accommodations,” according to a Department of Transportation spokesperson. He also spoke to union leaders that represent Southwest’s flight attendants and pilots.

Southwest has canceled more than 15,000 flights over the holiday period due to rampant scheduling glitches and winter storms, disrupting travel plans for millions of customers. 

“What’s happening this week is just the latest and perhaps the worst manifestation of problems that have been going on since Buttigieg took office,” said William McGee, a former aircraft dispatcher who is a senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project.

McGee and other consumer advocates who push for tougher rules on airlines say Buttigieg has failed to crack down on industry practices that have led to widespread consumer complaints. They note that Buttigieg hasn’t levied any fines against large carriers for canceling flights at the last minute or failing to provide refunds.

“We had high hopes for him, and I think, quite frankly, he has been a tremendous disappointment. He could be doing much more, and for whatever reason he has chosen not to use the authority that he clearly has,” McGee said.

Supporters of tougher rules say they would discourage airlines from overbooking flights — a practice that contributed to Southwest’s mass cancellations — and mishandling customers’ luggage. It will be up to Southwest to fix its archaic scheduling system that went haywire over the holidays.

In August, Buttigieg proposed a rule that would require airlines to give refunds if a flight is canceled or significantly delayed. Still, Democrats said it didn’t go far enough, arguing that carriers should also have to pay for secondary costs such as food, lodging and transportation. 

Those lawmakers include Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, who said Tuesday that the Southwest meltdown — which has stranded some travelers for several days — shows why the rule needs to be strengthened.

“Consumers deserve strong protections, including an updated consumer refund rule,” Cantwell said in a statement.

Last week, 34 state attorneys general from both parties sent a letter to Buttigieg pushing for tougher airline rules, arguing that the department should impose significant fines for avoidable cancellations and prohibit carriers from selling flights that aren’t adequately staffed. 

Buttigieg isn’t the first Transportation secretary to draw criticism for being too friendly to the airline industry. States have long bemoaned that federal law prevents them from investigating airline customer complaints, citing the department’s futility. 

“Americans are justifiably frustrated that federal government agencies charged with overseeing airline consumer protection are unable or unwilling to hold the airline industry accountable and to swiftly investigate complaints submitted to the US DOT,” attorneys general wrote in a letter to congressional leaders in August pushing them to revoke the law.

Buttigieg’s performance as Transportation secretary is under a microscope in part because he is largely considered to have aspirations beyond the Biden administration. 

Buttigieg’s campaign to be the 2020 Democratic nominee for president gained him national attention and put him on the map as a Democrat to watch for future White House bids. The former Mayor of South Bend, Ind., exceeded expectations and won the Iowa caucuses before bowing out of the race and endorsing Biden. 

Brian Keeter, a former Department of Transportation official under President George W. Bush, predicted that Buttigieg will seek middle ground in his Southwest response.

“The challenge for Secretary Buttigieg is resisting populist demands from some on the left to attack Southwest as a heartless behemoth and call for a heavy-handed regulatory solution with unintended consequences. He’s much too smart for that, and he knows it wouldn’t serve well either the flying public or his political future,” he said. 

Keeter added that he thinks Buttigieg will appropriate this issue “adroitly” and compared it to how he worked with businesses to fix supply chain issues early in the Biden administration. 

“It’s an opportunity for his brand of strategic, collaborative leadership that brings the best minds to the table, strengthens private-public collaboration and gets a long-term win for all involved, especially consumers,” said Keeter, a senior director at public relations consultancy APCO Worldwide.

President Biden on Tuesday said the administration will hold airlines accountable for mass flight cancellations and urged customers who were affected to visit the Department of Transportation’s website to see if they are entitled to compensation.

Biden has previously targeted airlines over so-called junk fees added to the price of tickets. His steps to eliminate junk fees for customers were announced in October as part of his broader efforts to combat inflation.

Republicans, meanwhile, are attempting to pin the blame on Buttigieg for the travel issues.

“Where’s @SecretaryPete? #SouthwestAirlines,” the House Judiciary Committee Republicans wrote on Twitter.

Buttigieg responded, “Good morning! At the moment I’m on Capitol Hill, not far from your offices. We’ll keep getting results for passengers using our authorities & resources as an agency. If you’re calling for policies that would deepen those resources, please be specific – I’d welcome the dialogue.”

Source: TEST FEED1

DeSantis administration launches investigation into holiday drag show

Florida’s Department of Business and Regulation (DBPR) on Wednesday announced it was investigating a holiday-themed drag show in South Florida.

It said the department had received “multiple complaints” alleging a Dec. 26 performance of Drag Fans’ “A Drag Queen Christmas” was “sexually explicit” and “marketed to children.”

“The Department is actively investigating this matter, including video footage and photographs from the event,” said a statement from the department circulated by Bryan Griffin, a press secretary for DeSantis. “DBPR will, like in other cases, take action.”

The statement said that the department plans to share any evidence collected in its investigation with the state Department of Law Enforcement for criminal liability.

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the Fort Lauderdale venue that hosted the holiday drag performance at the center of the state’s investigation, may be at risk of losing its liquor license and its ability to operate as a business in Florida, the statement said.

A spokesperson for the Broward Center said the venue as of late Wednesday afternoon had not been contacted by state officials.

According to the spokesperson for the Broward Center, admission to “A Drag Queen Christmas” on Dec. 26 was limited to patrons 18 years or older, unless accompanied by a parent.

To ensure viewers were aware of the adult themes and content of the show, ticket buyers were informed directly through a “Know Before You Go” message that is sent out via email in advance of most shows hosted by the Broward Center, the spokesperson said.

In a Wednesday email to the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation – the penultimate stop on the “A Drag Queen Christmas” tour – venue operators were warned by DBPS Secretary Melanie S. Griffin that minors should be barred from the upcoming performance, which is “of a sexual nature.”

“In short, if you allow children to attend the Drag Fans drag show at your facility, you are putting your license in jeopardy,” Griffin wrote in the email.

DBPS’s investigation is the latest in a series of steps taken by Republican leaders, including DeSantis, to crack down on drag performances accused of being sexually explicit and inappropriate for young audiences.

DeSantis in July filed a complaint against R House, a Miami restaurant, after it hosted a drag brunch event where children were present, citing a 1947 state Supreme Court ruling that “men impersonating women” in a “suggestive and indecent” fashion constitutes a public nuisance.

“Having kids involved in this is wrong,” DeSantis said during a press conference. “That is not consistent with our law and policy in the state of Florida, and it is a disturbing trend in our society to try to sexualize these young people.”

The efforts by DeSantis, a prospective GOP presidential candidate in 2024, and other Republican leaders in states across the country has also sparked fears that it is inciting acts of violence against the LGBTQ community.

Drag performances in particularly have come under threats.

No fewer than 124 drag performances have been targeted by direct threats this year, according to a recent report by GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization.

Efforts to crack down on drag performances have also moved forward in Texas and in Tennessee, where Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R) late last month introduced a bill to include events with “male or female impersonators” and “adult cabaret performances” on a list of adult-oriented businesses prohibited from operating within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks or places of worship.

Federal legislation unveiled in October by Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) would prohibit federal dollars from being used to make “sexually-oriented” materials — including “any topic” related to sexual orientation or gender identity — available to children under the age of 10.

The bill is backed by more than 30 House Republicans and claims that state and federal agencies including the Department of Defense have previously used federal funds to promote and host “sexually-oriented events” like drag queen story hours or burlesque shows for children and families.

Source: TEST FEED1