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Saving the Veterans Administration means adequately staffing it

When members of the U.S. Senate announced they would block confirmation of a nine-member commission that would have closed dozens of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care facilities across the country, it was a huge win for veterans, military families and our country. Lawmakers saw through the guise that closures would help “modernize” the VA and halted a pernicious privatization effort. 

Now it’s time to make the investments necessary to truly modernize the VA, starting with addressing the chronic staffing shortages in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). 

For decades, members of my union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National VA Council, have been alerting lawmakers, the media and the public of the well-known staffing crisis that exists within the department. We’ve testified on Capitol Hill, held rallies, and participated in countless news interviews to shed light on how understaffing negatively impacts those who rely on the VA for care. The VA’s own Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report indicating that “severe occupational staffing shortages” at VHA facilities increased by 22 percent in just the last year. 

This is not a new issue. In 2017, former VA Secretary David Shulkin spoke up about the 45,000 vacancies plaguing the VA health care system at that time. According to the VA’s most recently reported data, there are nearly 65,000 existing vacancies. A recent survey by the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute found that 50 percent of respondents reported that beds, units or programs have been closed at their facilities due to staffing and budget shortages, even when there is patient demand for such services.

Over the past decade, the need for VA health care has increased. The fact that year after year, tens of thousands of positions have continued to go unfilled is completely unacceptable. This is particularly alarming, as front-line doctors, nurses, claims processors, food technicians, housekeepers, addiction and mental health specialists and others who care for our veterans are suffering burnout from constantly being asked to do more with less. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made things worse, shedding light on not only VA health care staffing shortages but the staffing inadequacies of our nation’s healthcare system as a whole. 

When VA hospitals are understaffed, our veterans suffer. Approximately 3.5 million veterans recently had their VA health care benefits expanded following the enactment of the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. In order to handle the imminent increased demand, it is imperative that VHA and Veterans Benefits Administration are fully staffed to ensure that healthcare professionals and claims processors are able to provide veterans timely, quality care. If the VA fails to fully staff its facilities, veterans will continue to be denied care and be sent to non-VA providers, even though most prefer to receive care at the VA.

Overworked VA health care workers at underfunded and understaffed hospitals, outpatient clinics and nursing homes across the country, have continued to provide world-class care because of their dedication and compassion for the veterans they serve. 

Against these daunting odds, the VA workforce continues to show up each day to fulfill the promise “to care for those who have borne the battle.” In order for this to continue, the VA must invest more in its staff and infrastructure, committing to building new hospitals and clinics and modernizing existing facilities. Doing so would be a more veteran-centric, cost-effective strategy compared to forcing veterans to seek care from private healthcare providers who are more focused on financial gain than addressing the unique needs of veterans. Modernizing VA health care does not mean closures and outsourcing, as proponents of privatization argue; it means assessing the actual needs of veterans and investing in resources to meet those needs. 

That’s what AFGE members have been fighting for over the past two decades and it’s what we are currently fighting for at the bargaining table. Although VA negotiators are resistant to negotiating, in good faith, proposals that will positively impact both veterans and employees, AFGE will continue to fight back. The VA must end its stalling tactics. The 283,000 VA employees represented by our union, a third of whom are veterans, have dedicated their lives to serving veterans and they deserve a strong union contract that ensures their ability to do their jobs safely and effectively.

The first step toward solving the VA’s staffing crisis is developing a model to assess staffing needs in each facility. A 2021 OIG report found the underlying cause of the VA’s staffing crisis was the lack of an adequate model or system to proactively and consistently identify staffing requirements and recommended the VA develop staffing models that track veterans’ needs at each facility and then realistically determine the number and type of workers required to meet those needs. This month marks a year since these recommendations were made, and we have yet to see a clear, actionable plan developed. 

A staffing model is long overdue, and for it to be truly successful, the VA must seek input from its workforce and union partners.

If there’s one thing all Americans can agree on, it’s that veterans deserve better. Our union is ready to work with VA leadership to tackle these staffing shortages. The VA workforce is the department’s greatest asset, and they have been neglected for far too long. It’s time the VA start investing in them. It’s time to start investing in our veterans. It’s time to save our VA.

Alma L. Lee is president of the American Federation of Government Employees’ National Veterans Affairs Council representing 283,000 VA employees.

Source: TEST FEED1

Google gets FEC approval to let campaign emails bypass spam filters after GOP criticism

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) voted Thursday to allow Google to push forward a Gmail pilot program that would allow campaign emails to dodge spam filters, a move that comes after accusations from Republicans that the filters were biased against their messages.

The FEC voted 4-1 to approve the program, concluding that the test of new features is permissible under campaign law. 

Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat who voted against the order, said she has “a hard time getting around the fact that this is a unique benefit offered to political committees, and only to political committees.”

Democratic Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum joined the three Republicans in voting for the program, but expressed similar hesitation. 

“I don’t want to [support this], and it’s for the same reasons all the commenters don’t want to, but I think the law and commissioner regulations and commission precedent permits this,” Lindenbaum said. 

“I also don’t want to hamstring innovation and pilot programs. So if Google does move forward with this program, I hope it will reduce and not expand spam and increase best practices for bulk senders,” she added. 

Democratic Commissioner Shana Brossard abstained. 

Google requested the FEC’s approval on the program in June, Axios first reported, after backlash from Republicans over accusations that Gmail filters were pushing more GOP campaign emails to spam. 

Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the company will “reflect on the positive and negative feedback received during the public comment period.” 

“Our goal during this pilot program is to assess alternative ways of addressing concerns from bulk senders, while giving users clear controls over their inboxes to minimize unwanted email. We will continue to monitor feedback as the pilot rolls out to ensure it is meeting its goals,” he said in a statement. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Army identifies Ranger candidates killed by falling tree during Georgia storm

The Army has identified the two Ranger candidates killed by a falling tree Tuesday during a training exercise in the north Georgia mountains. 

Staff Sgt. George Taber, 30, and 2nd Lt. Evan Fitzgibbon, 23, died after they were hit by the tree while sheltering from a storm on Yonah Mountain near Dahlonega, Ga., according to an Army statement. 

Fitzgibbon and Taber, along with three other Ranger candidates, were struck by the tree around 3:15 p.m. “during a weather-induced training hold.”  

All injured personnel were transported to a local hospital, where Fitzgibbon and Taber were later pronounced dead. 

“We are all deeply saddened by the loss of these two outstanding Soldiers and send our heartfelt condolences to their families,” Maj. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, the commanding general of Fort Benning and the Maneuver Center of Excellence, said in the release. “They are in our thoughts and prayers.” 

Yonah Mountain, which sits about 80 miles northeast of Atlanta, is used for training as part of the Army’s grueling, two-month Ranger School.  

Taber, a medical sergeant with the 7th Special Forces Group at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., enlisted in the Army in March 2017, according to the service. 

Fitzgibbon, who was commissioned in May 2021 after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, was assigned to a training unit at Fort Benning.  

This is the second deadly weather-related incident for Georgia-based soldiers within a month.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael D. Clark was killed and nine others were injured by a lightening strike at Fort Gordon in late July.

Source: TEST FEED1

Finding solutions to National Park Service housing challenges

While visitors revel in the beauty of our awe-inspiring national parks this summer, many of the dedicated public servants who facilitate those experiences continue face a housing crisis. Throughout the country, there are numerous examples of National Park Service staffers and their families living in deteriorating and outdated on-park housing, or in nearby communities where easy access to national parks has led to soaring home prices that government employees can’t afford.

As acting director of the National Park Service (NPS), I visited Mt. Rainer in 2020 to see firsthand how the park’s leadership was addressing its housing challenges. Seasonal and maintenance employees living in the park’s housing units told stories about how they had to stuff pillows into cracks that had developed in the walls to keep the night chill at bay, prior to recent renovations.  Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain, Big Cypress and Yosemite National Parks suffer from a low inventory of safe and affordable housing in neighboring communities, straining employee morale and park operations. Similar challenges at Grand Teton and Acadia caused a record number of job offers to be declined. Grand Canyon also had to reduce its offerings because the park doesn’t have the housing to accommodate staff for those programs. 

The stewards of our national parks, their families and local communities deserve better. Some current efforts are addressing the National Park Service’s housing challenges — notably a multimillion-dollar improvement project that began in 2019 at Yellowstone that demolished and replaced trailers in poor condition with high-quality modular cabins and upgraded aging utility lines. But more needs to be done. Superintendents and NPS leadership are identifying creative solutions to housing on a park-by-park basis, but they are also quick to caution against implementing short-term fixes that would create a cycle of quickly deteriorating housing, adding to an ever-increasing maintenance backlog. I agree.

Long-term solutions must encourage durable polices that addresses the housing issue holistically, recognizing the need to incorporate both legislative and administrative solutions. Solutions must involve traditional partners, as well new ones in local and tribal communities and industry, that can deliver long-term sustained support.

In June, I testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forest, and Public Lands on how to increase safe and affordable housing for Park Service employees. Specifically, I discussed provisions within the LODGE and PACTS Acts that would help maximize partnership opportunities and provide clear language supporting public-private partnerships to increase the availability of safe and affordable housing within and near parks. The bill also would increase NPS’s flexibility to enter into innovative housing partnerships, similar to ones other federal agencies have used successfully, including the Department of Defense at installations like Fort Campbell in Kentucky and South Carolina’s Camp Lejeune.

Additionally, the PACTS Act would expand the National Park Service’s ability to enter into cooperative management agreements to address challenges, including employee housing, and support facility maintenance professionals.

But legislation alone will not fix these challenges, and the NPS must address the issue through focused and strategic long-term planning efforts.

The National Park Service should start byrevising Director’s Order 36, which aims to provide accountability, consistency and continuity to the service’s Housing Improvement Program. While this order is well intended, several policies it dictates should be reexamined and updated.

NPS also needs to settle debate on existing legal authorities in the order that should allow a wider range of partnerships with outside groups, such as local businesses and volunteer groups — but have never been used. Addressing these issues will support housing projects in coordination with community partners and contribute to local economic development, explore alternatives to existing housing models while developing a model that would create incentives for companies to invest in these projects.

Identifying problems is always easier than finding solutions, but we must all support tangible solutions to these problem for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations.

Margaret Everson is the executive director of the Oak Grove Initiative, an organization founded to help government agencies improve their internal processes and policies to better distribute funds to support communities while delivering conservation, recreation, and natural-resource benefits. Everson previously served as the acting director of the National Park Service, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and counselor to the secretary of the Interior during the Trump administration.

Source: TEST FEED1

Members of Congress mourn Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski

Members of Congress mourned the loss of the late Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) on Thursday, a little more than a week after the congresswoman died in a car accident.

Walorski’s funeral took place at Granger Community Church in Indiana, according to the South Bend Tribune. She will be buried at the Southlawn Cemetery.

Walorski, 58, along with two of her staffers, Zachery Potts, 27, and Emma Thomson, 28, died on Aug. 3 in a car accident in Indiana. The two-car crash occurred at around 12:30 p.m., according to the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office.

The House sergeant at arms coordinated a plane for members of Congress to fly to South Bend, Indiana, on Thursday for the funeral, according to Punchbowl News.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) all spoke at the service.

“When the minister came up and read about all the occupations of Jackie — be at the Humane Society, reporter, a missionary, a congresswoman. To tell you the truth, Jackie never had a job. She always had a purpose and a mission,” McCarthy said.

“Being a missionary in Romania, helping the underprivileged, the homeless. She’s always had a servant’s heart. Always,” he added.

Walorski was first elected to Congress in 2012, serving as the ranking member of the House Ethics Committee and the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support at the time of her death.

She also sat on the Ways and Means Committee.

Before serving in Congress, Walorski was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives for about five years, and she spent time as a missionary in Romania. She also worked as a reporter at one point in her life.

Walorski was a close friend and ally to McCarthy, according to Punchbowl News. The Republican leader spoke about their relationship at Thursday’s funeral service.

“You’re gonna hear a lot, you know how Jackie lights up a room? I want to be honest with you. She doesn’t just light up a room, she runs the room,” he said, eliciting a chuckle from the crowd.

“With so many things that happen in Congress, it would be Jackie who would call me, or be right behind me, and kind of give me that extra spine you needed. You didn’t even know you needed it at that moment in time, but she did,” he added.

Wagner, who was elected to the House in the same cycle as Walorski, spoke about their “small sorority” of Republican female lawmakers arriving in Washington.

“We were a small sorority of only 19 Republican women serving in the 113th Congress, and we needed to stick together. I may not have been a Hoosier from Indiana, but Jackie and [former Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.)] quickly decided that a conservative, Midwestern Show-Me State girl was good enough for their ranks, and we became fast friends,” she said.

The Missouri Republican choked up when speaking about Walorski.

“To my friends and colleagues in Congress, we have truly lost one of the best of us. We will honor the memory of Jackie Walorski by putting one foot in front of the next in our service to God and country,” she said.

Walorski’s husband, Dean Swihart, also spoke at the funeral service.

“Jackie loves me dearly, but here’s a small list of the things she loved,” he said.

“She loved riding on her cool chopper bicycle that looked like a Harley Davidson with her fists hanging from the, what do you call, the ape hangers. She loved pontooning. As Pastor John already said, she loved palm trees. She loved privacy. She did so much flying with Congress that she was happy to stay at home under our fake palm tree and it was private enough in our backyard that we could swim and the world didn’t know and it was just wonderful. And she enjoyed kicking around in that pool,” he told the audience.

“She also loved our two dogs … she loved catching bass, and she loved darkening up her farmer’s tan,” he added.

The process to fill Walorski’s seat in Indiana’s 21st Congressional District is underway. Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) scheduled a special election for Nov. 8.

Source: TEST FEED1

Newsom unveils new water strategy, warning California's supply could drop 10 percent by 2040

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a set of revamped water strategies on Thursday, warning that the state’s supply is expected to plunge by up to 10 percent by 2040.

In anticipation of these shortfalls, Newsom unveiled a 16-page action document that focuses on “adapting to a hotter, drier future” by adjusting state priorities “based on new data and accelerating climate change.”

Among the strategies are plans for the expansion of water storage and water recycling capacity, as well as the elimination of water waste and the deployment of new technologies.

“The science and the data leads us to now understand that we will lose 10 percent of our water supply by 2040 — if all things are equal, we will lose an additional 10 percent of our supply by 2040,” Newsom said at a press conference in the Bay Area city of Antioch on Thursday.

“As a consequence of that deeper appreciation, that deeper understanding, we have a renewed sense of urgency to address this issue head on,” the governor continued. “But we do so from a multiplicity of perspectives and ways, not just from a scarcity mindset.”

One of these ways, as outlined in the supply strategy document, include creating a storage space for up to 4 million acre-feet of water. Doing so, according to the document, would allow the state “to capitalize on big storms when they do occur and store water for dry periods.”

Another strategy involves recycling and reusing at least 800,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2030, which could optimize the use of wastewater currently released into the ocean, per the document.

An average California household uses between one-half and one acre-foot of water each year, according to the Water Education Foundation. California has about 13.1 million households, per the U.S. Census.

The governor’s plans also call for freeing up 500,000 acre-feet of water for new purposes each year, by permanently eradicating water waste and using water more efficiently.

Newsom characterized these strategies as “moving away from a scarcity mindset to one more of abundance.”

“How can we take the existing resources and be more resourceful, in terms of advancing policies, and direct our energies to create more water, to capture more water?” he said..

Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, stressed that implementing these plans will require a firm partnership with local municipalities.

The new strategy, she said, “means we have to do absolutely everything.”

Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, echoed these sentiments, adding that “Mother Nature is not providing us the budgets that we all thought that we were going to depend upon.”

“But there is a path forward,” Esquivel said, stressing the importance of creating and investing “in a 21st-century way.”

One such way, according to the strategy document, requires California to “move smarter and faster” to upgrade its water systems. Such modernization effort could generate enough water for more than 8.4 million households, per the plans.

Additional water could become available by capturing stormwater, diversifying supplies and optimizing high flows during storm events and desalinating ocean water and salty — or brackish — water in groundwater basins, according to the document.

Thursday’s press conference took place near the site of a forthcoming, $110 million brackish desalination plant. That facility will be the first such site in the San Francisco Bay Delta, Antioch’s mayor, Lamar Thorpe, said at the press conference.

The plant, Thorpe said, will “provide the city with a reliable source of drinking water for generations to come.”

With the desalination construction site in the background, Newsom urged Californians to adapt to a changing reality, noting that the new strategies include “specific goals with specific timelines and dollar figures.”

And those dollars, he said, will come from last year’s $5.2 billion surplus and this year’s $2.8 billion surplus.

Californian will be using these funds “to actualize, not just promote” these critical water supply plans — “moving these projects and doing them with urgency,” without “waiting for the voters,” according to Newsom.

“Money’s not the issue. It’s our ability to attract those dollars, by being more aggressive to draw down those dollars because we have a plan,” the governor added.

Source: TEST FEED1

FDA recommends repeat at-home Covid tests to reduce risk of false negatives

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance on Thursday recommending that people testing themselves for COVID-19 at home take a repeat tests within 48 hours to rule out a potential false negative.

In its guidance, the FDA noted that at-home tests are less likely to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus than PCR tests, with this inaccuracy more likely to occur early on in the infection in people who display no symptoms.

“Currently, all at-home COVID-19 antigen tests are FDA-authorized for repeat, or serial use. This means people should use multiple tests over a certain time period, such as 2-3 days, especially when the people using the tests don’t have COVID-19 symptoms,” the FDA said.

People should keep multiple tests on-hand for the purpose of this new guidance, the agency said. Most over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 tests are sold in multi-packs.

The FDA recommended that people take one initial test if they suspect they may be infected or exposed to COVID-19. If they test negative and have some symptoms, then they should test again 48 hours after the first test. If the second test is still negative, a laboratory molecular-based test should be considered.

If a person has no COVID-19 symptoms but believes they have been exposed to the virus, the FDA said they should also test themselves a second time 48 hours after their first at-home test. If the second test is negative, they should take an additional third test another 48 hours afterward.

If any of these at-home tests come back positive, then the individual likely has COVID-19 and should follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The agency said these most recent recommendations were based on “the latest study results from people with likely omicron infection showing that repeat testing after a negative at-home COVID-19 antigen test result increases the chance of an accurate result.”

There are currently around a dozen at-home COVID-19 tests that have been authorized by the FDA.

Many community health centers across the country have been giving out free at-home COVID-19 tests. Individuals with health insurance can usually either receive free tests at stores and pharmacies or receive reimbursements through their insurers. The Department of Health and Human Services is also distributing free tests through Medicare-certified health clinics.

Source: TEST FEED1

Learning, relearning, and not learning the lessons of COVID-19

Several recent announcements have demonstrated how little has been learned from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the potential need for a national reckoning to assess shortfalls and develop recommendations for preparing for and responding to future pandemics and other biological risks. 

To this end, the United States should create a national commission—not unlike the 9/11 Commission—to develop a way forward. To date, no such reckoning has occurred, yet changes are being implemented at lower levels of government in an uncoordinated manner and the “ad hoc-ery” continues to guide our preparedness and response efforts to emerging infectious diseases. The U.S. response to the monkey pox outbreak provides ample evidence of government’s continuing inability to mount a coordinated national response to a significant biological event.

Recent reporting indicates that the Biden administration will be reorganizing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by elevating the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to a separate office within the department, and on par with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration. Since ASPR’s creation in 2006 following a confused response to Hurricane Katrina, ASPR and the CDC have had a challenging relationship with overlapping, or at least unclear responsibilities, that have contributed to federal preparedness and response activities that are not optimally coordinated or synchronized. The friction between these two HHS organizations has been highly visible in decisions concerning the strategic national stockpile stockage and guidance regarding the return of hundreds of Americans to the United states in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

To complicate matters, the CDC and ASPR “turf wars” obscures a broader group of complexities that could be addressed in any future response to a public health crisis. Important issues such as the role of the Federal Emergency Management  Agency (FEMA) in support of HHS; expectations of other federal departments and agencies including the Department of Defense; the federal interface with the state and local governments and even industry partners; and even the national Emergency Management principles and doctrine that can trace its lineage back over 200 years may need to be factored into any changes that are implemented. Without accounting for these different organizations’ roles in addressing public health crises, the uncoordinated and unsynchronized approaches may continue to permeate our preparedness and response to these crises.

A 9/11-like Commission for COVID-19 should have the mandate to start at the very top in considering necessary changes to current organizations, principles and doctrine. For example, when the Department of Homeland security was created as part of the Homeland Security act of 2002, FEMA was subordinated to the Department of Homeland security. Perhaps it is now time to reconsider whether or not FEMA should be elevated to the Cabinet level and resourced accordingly. In any case, it could present an opportunity to codify what FEMA’s role should be in a biological incident response. Other questions may also need to be addressed such as how FEMA capabilities could be better leveraged to support the HHS pandemic and other biological incident response and how HHS could be better situated to coordinate with FEMA.

The recent White House announcement that a monkey pox response team is being stood up demonstrates that the “ad hoc-ery” continues. This is not to say that having a group at the White House monitoring the monkey pox response is not important, but rather that a team with the mandate “to mitigate the spread of the virus, protect individuals most at risk of contracting the virus, and care for those who have been afflicted with it” would be better placed under an established organization with the proper command and control arrangements, responsibilities and authorities, and interfaces with key partners and stakeholders. The ad hoc approach is made more clear as the White House announcement never mentions a role for ASPR, CDC or FEMA. 

To be sure, this is a busy time with respect to the demands being placed on crisis response enterprises with fires, floods, and two pandemics ongoing. But the world is two-and-a-half years into COVID-19, facing another international and national emerging infectious disease outbreak with monkey pox, and experts have warned that such diseases are only becoming more likely. A serious reckoning beginning with a 9/11-like commission for COVID-19 could be undertaken to develop a system for preparing for and responding to emerging infectious diseases. Relying on “ad hoc-ery” may not be the best option.

Daniel M. Gerstein works at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and is an adjunct professor at American University. He formerly served as the undersecretary (acting) and deputy undersecretary in the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security from 2011-2014. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Campaign Report — The shrinking list of pro-impeachment Republicans

Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, tracking all things related to the 2022 midterm elections. You can expect this newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday leading up to November’s election.   

Email us tips and feedback: Max Greenwood (mgreenwood@thehill.com), Julia Manchester (jmanchester@thehill.com) and Caroline Vakil (cvakil@thehill.com). 

Trump gets his revenge on impeachment

The 2022 midterms aren’t getting any easier for the group of House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Trump last year.

Of the 10 GOP members who broke party lines to vote for Trump’s impeachment in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, most won’t be heading back to Washington next year.  

Four – Reps. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), John Katko (N.Y.), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio) and Fred Upton (Mich.) – opted not to seek reelection. June saw Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) lose renomination to South Carolina state Rep. Russell Fry, who carried Trump’s endorsement.

And just last week, Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), a first-term congressman who had barely taken his oath of office before casting his impeachment vote, was ousted by John Gibbs, a former Trump administration official who campaigned on his support for the former president.

Another one bites the dust: Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) became the latest House Republican who voted to impeach Trump to lose a primary on Tuesday when she conceded to her Trump-backed rival Joe Kent a week after Washington State voters cast their ballots.

So far, only two pro-impeachment House Republicans have survived their primaries: Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) and David Valadao (R-Calif.), though the latter still faces stiff competition in the November general election.

Not over yet: The track record for those Republicans who bucked their own party line in the impeachment vote isn’t good, and it appears likely to get worse next week, when Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) will go before voters in Wyoming.

She’s facing a Trump-backed challenger in Harriet Hageman and the polling doesn’t look good for Cheney. A Casper Star-Tribune poll released last week showed Hageman with a commanding lead in the race – 52 percent to 30 percent.

Also on the ballot next week is Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump on the impeachment charges and the only one of those seven to go up for reelection this year.

Of course, she’s likely to face a much easier path to the general election. Alaska’s new election rules created a ranked-choice voting system in which the top-four candidates will advance to the November election, meaning that she doesn’t have to defeat her Trump-backed opponent Kelly Tshibaka outright to move past the primary.

Regardless of the outcomes, though, one thing is clear: Trump is almost guaranteed to have fewer detractors in Congress next year.  

Republicans stumble on unified messaging

With less than three months to go ahead of November, Republicans are finding themselves in an unlikely position: grappling with how to form a more unified front and more unified messaging in what should be a favorable political environment for them. 

As Max Greenwood and Caroline Vakil write, recent months have complicated the dynamic for Republicans given a recent string of wins for Democrats ranging from an impressive July jobs report to recent data suggesting inflation has tamped down to close special elections in Nebraska and Minnesota.

Meanwhile, the GOP is seeing some divisions playing out publicly within their party, including high-profile primaries with former President Trump and other Republicans like former Vice President Pence, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and others backing opposite candidates.

And while Republicans have sought to hammer home bread-and-butter issues like inflation and the economy, not all candidates seem interested in sticking to that messaging, with some pointing back to the 2020 election.

Key quote: “I don’t think the message has been as sharp as it needs to be,” one longtime Republican strategist said. “It’s about drawing a clear contrast. Now, I think there are folks trying to do that. But some of the other stuff — the election denial stuff, abortion — it all kind of muddles the argument.”

Those close primaries are energizing some Democrats who say not to underestimate their party’s performance in November. Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright said what it “tells me is that there is a tremendous opportunity for us to expand our voting bloc in this election, and bring in some, I would say nontraditional allies and partners this election cycle and build on that.”

But, but, but: That doesn’t mean it’s going to be an easy next couple of months for Democrats. They still have to grapple with President Biden’s lagging approval ratings, inflation that is still at a decades-high and the historical precedent that the president’s party generally suffers some losses in the midterms.  

HAWAII PRIMARY PREVIEW

Hawaii will be holding its primary on Saturday following a busy Tuesday which saw primaries in Connecticut, Vermont, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

On the gubernatorial side of things, a slew of candidates are vying to replace term-limited Gov. David Ige (D). The governors’ race, which has been rated “solid Democrat” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, includes Democratic challengers such as Rep. Kaiali’i Kahele, former Hawaii first lady Vicky Cayetano and Lt. Gov. Josh Green.

On the GOP side, some of the Republicans running for the top seat in Hawaii include former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, federal postal judge Keline Kahau and businessman Gary Cordery, among others.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) is also up for reelection, though he only faces one Democratic opponent, an independent conflict resolution consultant named Steve Tataii. A handful of Republicans are also vying for the Senate seat, including businessman and retired U.S. Marine Timothy Dalhouse, televangelist and Hawaii Republican Party District 26 chair Asia LaVonne and state Rep. Bob McDermott, among others.

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Cheney’s closing message: Things aren’t looking good for Cheney, but she’s making one last appeal to voters. In a new campaign video released on Thursday – just five days from her Aug. 16 primary – the embattled Wyoming Republican went directly after Trump, reminding voters of what she dubbed his disdain for “the rulings of our courts and the rule of law.”

“America cannot remain free if we abandon the truth. The lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen is insidious. It preys on those who love their country,” Cheney opens in a campaign video released Thursday. “It is a door Donald Trump opened to manipulate Americans to abandon their principles, to sacrifice their freedom, to justify violence, to ignore the rulings of our courts and the rule of law.”

“This is Donald Trump’s legacy, but it cannot be the future of our nation. History has shown us over and over again how these types of poisonous lies destroy free nations.”

Lockdown politics: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s campaign is out with the second statewide ad of his reelection bid touting a familiar message. “When other states shut people down, Florida lifted people up,” a narrator says in the spot. “We make decisions based on facts, not fear. But some want to take it all away. We cannot stop fighting. This November, let’s show the world freedom is here to stay.”

You’ll recall that even in the darkest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, DeSantis bucked the advice of public health experts and officials on lockdowns, earning him praise from many conservatives who saw coronavirus-related restrictions as a matter of government overreach. DeSantis’s first reelection ad also touted his anti-lockdown policies. The fact that he’s including the issue in his second spot – which was paid for by the Republican Party of Florida – underscores the extent to which DeSantis plans on making his handling of the pandemic a central theme of his reelection bid. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Campaign page for the latest news and coverage. See you next week. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Almost half of voters in new poll approve of Mar-a-Lago search

Almost half of voters approve of the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, new polling shows.

A new Morning Consult-Politico poll taken a few days after the search found that 49 percent of registered voter surveyeds approve of the decision, with 37 percent of that count strongly approving. 

Democrats approved at a much higher rate than their across-the-aisle counterparts, though, with 68 percent of Democratic respondents and just 7 percent of Republican ones expressing strong approval.

The FBI and the Justice Department haven’t yet released the basis of the search, which was conducted Monday. Trump and his allies have lambasted the FBI for the search, calling it politically motivated, and have been pressing the DOJ to justify it.

Sixty-three percent of Republican respondents to the poll classified the search as “an abuse of power that should be investigated,” compared to 24 percent of Democrats.

Over three-quarters of Democrats polled said the search was primarily due to evidence that the former president had committed a crime, while 69 percent of Republicans polled suggested it was politically motivated, meant to damage Trump’s career.

Conducted on Aug. 10, the poll surveyed 2,004 registered voters, weighted by age, education, race, marital status, home ownership, region and 2020 presidential vote. The margin of error is 2 percentage points. 

Source: TEST FEED1