The House Judiciary Committee advanced a bill to ban assault weapons on Wednesday, the first time in two decades a congressional panel has moved to prohibit the sale, transfer and possession of the popular firearms.
The committee approved the Assault Weapons Ban of 2021 in a 25-18 vote following an hours-long markup.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the committee, announced last week that the panel would move on the legislation. The move comes after a spate of mass shootings in the U.S., a number of which were perpetrated by young men reportedly wielding assault-style semi-automatic rifles.
A gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas in May, killing 19 students and two teachers. Earlier this month, seven people were fatally shot at a July Fourth parade in Highland Park, Ill.
In both incidents, the alleged shooter was young man with an AR-style semi-automatic weapon, which is the main firearm the legislation aims to restrict.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), specifically seeks to prohibit the sale, manufacture, transfer or import of all semi-automatic rifles that can accept a detachable magazine and have a pistol grip; a forward grip; a folding, telescoping or detachable stock; a grenade launcher; a barrel shroud or a threaded barrel.
It also places restrictions on semi-automatic rifles with fixed magazines that can fit more than 10 rounds, bump fire stocks, high-capacity feeding devices that can hold more than 10 rounds, and semi-automatic shotguns with specific features.
The measure does not, however, apply to antique firearms, manually-operated firearms and upwards of 2,000 specific models of firearms used for hunting and sporting.
While the assault weapons ban passed through committee on Wednesday, it is unclear when — and if — it will be brought to the House floor for a vote. Nadler last week said he was looking forward to “moving this legislation through the Judiciary Committee next week and onto the House floor,” but House leadership has not yet announced a vote.
That is likely because it is unclear if the legislation has the votes to pass.
Two Democrats, Reps. Jared Golden (Maine) and Henry Cuellar (Texas), have said they will not support the bill, and a handful of others remain undecided.
On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.) has said he would support an assault weapons ban if it came to the floor. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) has backed the concept of an assault weapons ban, but he has not yet said if he will support the specific bill under consideration.
During her weekly press conference last week, Pelosi said “there is great support in our Caucus for an assault weapons ban.”
Asked if he plans to bring the bill to the floor before August recess, House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters on Tuesday “I may do that.”
“Obviously, the committee’s going to be dealing with it tomorrow, and we’ll talk to the chairman about it. But I think it’s an important bill for us to consider,” he added.
Former President Clinton signed an assault weapons ban in 1994, which eventually expired in 2004.
In opening remarks at the markup on Wednesday, Nadler made the case for banning assault weapons.
“As we have learned all too well in recent years, assault weapons — especially when combined with high-capacity magazines — are the weapon of choice for mass shootings. These military-style weapons are designed to kill the most people in the shortest amount of time,” he said. “Quite simply, there is no place for them on our streets.”
The chairman said assault weapons are solely meant “to kill people efficiently,” adding “it is time to protect our communities and to ban them once more.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), ranking member of the committee, argued in opening remarks that the bill would “strip Americans of their right” and asserted that “it would do nothing to make our communities safer.”
“Democrats know this legislation will not reduce violent crime or reduce the likelihood of mass shootings, but they are obsessed with attacking law-abiding Americans’ Second Amendment liberties,” he added.
The Ohio Republican also said the assault weapons ban would prevent law-abiding Americans from using weapons “to defend themselves against violent intruders in their home.”
“Prevented from defending themselves, their family, their property because of this legislation. This legislation is dangerous, it doesn’t square with the Constitution, with the Second Amendment in any way, and it has failed in the past,” he added.
Last month, Congress passed and President Biden signed a gun safety bill into law. The measure bolstered background checks for firearm purchasers ages 18 to 21 and created a federal offense for people who acquired firearms through straw purchases or trafficking, among other measures.
Aside from that, the House previously passed bills to nationalize red flag laws and create an active shooter communications network, and it approved a sweeping firearm package that, among other provisions, called for raising the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21.
However, those bills, like the assault weapons ban, had little chance of advancing given GOP opposition in the evenly divided Senate.
University of South Carolina women’s basketball player Aliyah Boston has called out sports network ESPN for not inviting her to its annual ESPY Awards show.
Boston, who was named the Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year last season, released a statement on Wednesday that she was hurt by the network’s decision to not invite her to the ceremony.
After leading the Gamecocks to their second national championship earlier this year, Boston was nominated for the category of best college athlete in women’s sports. She said the network didn’t have plans to televise the category despite televising the category last year.
The network quickly changed its decision and invited Boston to the awards show, but she declined.
“To be nominated for an ESPY this year meant the world to me and my family,” Boston said in her statement, adding that “it hurt more to see ESPN change course and invite me only after social media caught wind of it. Respectfully, I declined.”
Boston characterized the move as another moment of “disrespect and erasure of Black women” that was brushed off as a mistake or oversight, more than 50 years after Title IX was passed.
“To every Black girl and every Black woman: no one can take away what God has in store for us. You matter. You are valuable. You are a priority. You are seen, and you are LOVED — don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” Boston said.
In a statement to The State, an ESPN spokesperson said Boston wasn’t invited to the awards show due to COVID-19 restrictions and a smaller venue with less seating.
“We have the utmost respect for Aliyah Boston, Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks,” An ESPN spokesperson told the newspaper. “Due to both COVID restrictions and a new venue with much less seating capacity than previous shows, The 2022 ESPYS prioritized athlete invitations to focus on specific awards that will be handed out during the broadcast.”
University of South Carolina head coach and basketball legend Dawn Staley called the network out on Twitter for neglecting to invite Boston to the award ceremony.
“Like really….who in the room from @espn @ESPYS decided it was a great idea not to invite @MarchMadnessWBB NPOY DPOY….not one person was able to see the uproar this would cause? There’s definitely something wrong with the make up of the room……the fight continue….#WBBSTANDUP,” Staley tweeted.
CIA Director William Burns on Wednesday estimated that 15,000 Russians have died in Ukraine and some 45,000 have been wounded.
Burns, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in an interview with NBC News chief Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell, said intelligence estimates of battlefield casualties are “always a range.”
“There’s no perfect number,” Burns said.
“I think the latest estimates from the U.S. intelligence community would be something in the vicinity of 15,000 killed and maybe three times that wounded, so a quite significant set of losses,” he continued. “And the Ukrainians have suffered as well, probably a little less than that. But significant casualties.”
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights estimated last week that Russia’s invasion had resulted in 5,024 civilian deaths and 6,520 civilians injured.
Burns also weighed in on speculation about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mental and physical health, saying that while he was “unstable,” the Russian leader has his “own way of looking at reality.”
“There are lots of rumors about President Putin’s health, and, as far as we can tell, he’s entirely too healthy,” Burns said. “It’s not a formal intelligence judgment.”
Burns added that Russia faced “catastrophic failures” in the first phase of its invasion, when it failed to take Kyiv and western areas of Ukraine, but noted how it has since realigned its efforts to focus on the industrial heartland in Ukraine’s east, known as the Donbas.
The CIA chief described the new phase of the war as a more “comfortable way of war” for the Russians, saying it enables them to use long-range weapons and avoid continued significant casualties even with “weaknesses” in their remaining manpower.
“The Russians and the Russian military have adapted,” Burns said. “One of my recent conversations with one of my Ukrainian counterparts, he pointed out that the dumb Russians are all dead.”
The U.S. since about early June has been sending Ukraine High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems so it can more precisely strike targets from greater distances.
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday hailed the end of Roe v. Wade and outlined steps he hoped to see states take to further roll back abortion access in his first public remarks since the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe.
“I believe with all my heart that with Roe gone, we have the opportunity to become a more perfect union,” Pence said in a speech at the Florence Baptist Temple in Florence, South Carolina.
“But make no mistake about it: As we gather tonight, we must recognize that we have only come to the end of the beginning,” Pence continued. “Standing here in the first days of post-Roe America, we must resolve that we will not rest, we will not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the nation.”
Pence, who has championed anti-abortion policies for decades and is seen as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, addressed the church roughly one month after a conservative majority on the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, eliminating the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion and handing states authority to drastically limit or ban the procedure.
The former vice president used Wednesday’s speech to lay out his vision for “a post-Roe America.”
Pence urged those in attendance to elect anti-abortion officials at the state level so they could carft policies restricting abortion. He pointed to a law he signed as governor of Indiana banning abortion based on a child’s race, gender or disability.
He further called for ending “mail-order abortion” by restricting access to abortion pills, something the Biden administration has vowed it will protect in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.
And Pence called for reforms to make abortion more accessible and less costly, arguing it’s not enough for conservatives to be pro-life, but they most also be pro-adoption.
“We have work to do. We’ve come to a new beginning for life. But it’s just a beginning,” Pence said.
“Though I do not know if I will be here to see it, I believe with all my heart the day will come when the right to life is the law of the land in every state in this country, and this generation will lead us to a pro-life America,” Pence added.
The Supreme Court ruling last month triggered a wave of protests and calls from the left for the White House to take steps to protect access to abortion.
The administration responded by directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to strengthen privacy for those accessing reproductive care, protect travel across state lines for abortions and ensure access to abortion pills.
Republicans, meanwhile, have carried out a debate of their own over how far to push on the issue in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling.
Pence and other conservatives have pushed for states to individually outlaw the procedure, and some Republicans in Congress have introduced a federal law that would drastically limit abortion access nationwide.
But some Republicans, wary of the political fallout, have downplayed the likelihood of any federal action restriction abortion. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), for example, has argued the Senate would not have the 60 votes needed even under Republican control to pass an abortion ban.
Pence’s speech in South Carolina marked his third trip to the early primary state since leaving office. He is also slated to visit New Hampshire next month, marking yet another trip to the first primary state amid talk of a potential presidential bid.
The United States and its allies are considering providing Ukraine with new fighter jets in ongoing efforts to bolster its military as the war with Russia stretches into its sixth month, Gen. Charles Brown, chief of staff of the Air Force, said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in an interview with Courtney Kube, a Pentagon correspondent for NBC News, Brown said the jets could come from a range of different allies.
“There’s a number of different platforms that could go to Ukraine…it’ll be something non-Russian, I could probably tell you that,” Brown said. “But I can’t tell you exactly what it’s going to be.”
Among the options Brown mentioned were U.S. fighter jets, Swedish Gripen fighters, the Eurofighter Typhoon or French Rafale fighters.
Poland had proposed transferring its fleet of MiG-29s to the U.S. military’s Ramstein Air Base in Germany for eventual transfer to Ukraine, which came as Kyiv begged Western officials for the Russian-made combat aircraft, which its pilots are trained to fly. The Pentagon had called the plan “untenable.”
In the more than four months since the Pentagon declined that scheme, Russia has failed to take the capital city of Kyiv and instead moved its focus to the Donbas region in Ukraine’s east, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Kyiv’s military for years.
“Russia thinks that it can outlast Ukraine and outlast us,” Lloyd said on Wednesday. “But that’s just the latest in Russia’s string of miscalculations.”
Former NFL player and Minnesota lieutenant governor candidate Matt Birk (R) is facing scrutiny after saying women have abortions in pursuit of their careers.
Speaking at the National Right to Life conference in Georgia last month, Birk said during his speech that American culture “stealthily promotes” abortions by “telling women they should look a certain way” and saying that they should have careers instead of children.
Birk, who spent 14 NFL seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens, made headlines in 2013 for refusing an invitation to the White House in celebration of the Ravens’s Super Bowl win due to his stance on abortion. Birk gave his remarks on the same day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision that gave the constitutional right to abortion to women.
A video of the former NFL player’s remarks was posted on social media by Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Tuesday.
“Our culture loudly but also stealthily promotes abortion. You’re telling women they should look a certain way, they should have careers, all these things,” Birk said at the conference.
Birk also mentioned in his speech that abortion rights advocates “always want to go to the rape card” to gain support for their issue. He said while rape is not okay, “the two wrongs are not going to make a right.”
The former NFL player went so far as to compare abortion to slavery. In his speech, Birk claimed abortion rights activists view an unborn child as property, much like slaveowners viewed slaves, and that legality does not equal legitimacy.
“They say ‘well, it’s legal.’ A lot of things were legal before, that we’ve changed. I’m sure you’ve heard, I know I’m talking to a bunch of pro-life warriors here, you know, slavery used to be legal, right?”
The former NFL player turned politician is now a running mate for gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen (R) in Minnesota’s gubernatorial election.
Birk’s opponent, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D), reacted to his remarks at a press conference on Tuesday and said Birk is a person “who does not trust or respect women,” the Minnesota Star-Tribune reported.
“A woman’s choice to have a career, much like her decision on when and whether to have a child, is none of Matt Birk’s business,” Flanagan said.
In a tweet, Birk clarified his remarks on abortion saying that he was trying to promote the idea that women can embrace being mothers and having careers, accusing Flanagan of sparking up political “shenanigans”.
“But when you when you purposely misinterpret comments I make and make it political. I don’t know Peggy? Birk said. “Peggy Flanagan, these are shenanigans and I don’t think the people in Minnesota are gonna buy it.”
The Hill has reached out to both Birk’s and Jensen’s office for a comment.
window.loadAnvato({“mcp”:”LIN”,”width”:”100%”,”height”:”100%”,”video”:”7771063″,”autoplay”:false,”expect_preroll”:true,”pInstance”:”p1″,”plugins”:{“comscore”:{“clientId”:”6036439″,”c3″:”thehill.com”,”version”:”5.2.0″,”useDerivedMetadata”:true,”mapping”:{“c3″:”thehill.com”,”ns_st_st”:”hill”,”ns_st_pu”:”Nexstar”,”ns_st_ge”:”TheHill.com”,”cs_ucfr”:””}},”dfp”:{“adTagUrl”:”https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=1×1000&iu=/5678/nx.thehill/news/landing&ciu_szs=300×250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vmap&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&description_url=https://thehill.com/homenews/feed/&cust_params=vid%3D7771063%26pers_cid%3Dunknown%26vidcat%3D/news%26bob_ck%3D[bob_ck_val]%26d_code%3D291%2C245%2C295%2C904%2C905%2C297%2C249%2C302%2C303%2C304%2C306%2C270%2C298%2C242%2C279%2C268%2C277%2C293%2C286%26pagetype%3Dsubindex%26hlmeta%3Dhomenews”},”segmentCustom”:{“script”:”https://segment.psg.nexstardigital.net/anvato.js”,”writeKey”:”7pQqdpSKE8rc12w83fBiAoQVD4llInQJ”,”pluginsLoadingTimeout”:12}},”expectPrerollTimeout”:8,”accessKey”:”q261XAmOMdqqRf1p7eCo7IYmO1kyPmMB”,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3NzcxMDYzIiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.UNfvpJhwP39_NM8ifQoFtKqJYDz_ft3vTrw13mSqhlI”,”nxs”:{“mp4Url”:”https://tkx.mp.lura.live/rest/v2/mcp/video/7771063?anvack=q261XAmOMdqqRf1p7eCo7IYmO1kyPmMB&token=%7E6S%2B%2BcJMBbkS5PihVYVunX7loGseZvo70MQ%3D%3D”,”enableFloatingPlayer”:true},”disableMutedAutoplay”:false,”recommendations”:{“items”:[{“mcpid”:”7850596″,”title”:”Garland: No person is above the law”,”image”:”https://h104216-fcdn.mp.lura.live/1/938892/pvw_lin/562/6F4/5626F48C0F892DFD1D86B59157E96466_2.jpg?aktaexp=2082787200&aktasgn=d15ab0dafd6c5436809f8512d387591f”,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3ODUwNTk2IiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.Tk7-ICKF-IiONUXJh_rogH61mVw3w-r_Wc12swEJVNI”,”ad_unit_path”:””},{“mcpid”:”7850275″,”title”:”Pension & Retirement Security Panel | Securing Americau2019s Retirement”,”image”:”https://h104216-fcdn.mp.lura.live/1/938892/pvw_lin/7FC/865/7FC865144B497059A91D05AC774F137F_8.jpg?aktaexp=2082787200&aktasgn=bfd1997a8459a0f5d1347801802f021a”,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3ODUwMjc1IiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.ecX1tz5QQLkovxBMrY_DL5Kyfnoxys1TMA0uIPI2Oz8″,”ad_unit_path”:””},{“mcpid”:”7783804″,”title”:”This Puerto Rican software company is using satellite data to save the beaches”,”image”:”https://h104216-fcdn.mp.lura.live/1/938892/pvw_lin/55A/571/55A57198EBF0C935A93D53919F15E59D_6.jpg?aktaexp=2082787200&aktasgn=cbb6019fa21a73c4db77f7452da1d131″,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3NzgzODA0IiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.3RJVs_xQN3VhtV6aXbePseyO7PY-1CnTY5u7jpFSCLo”,”ad_unit_path”:”/5678/nx.thehill/changing_america/special_video_series/agents_of_change”},{“mcpid”:”7734931″,”title”:”Former lieutenant colonel: New US aid unhelpful for Ukraine”,”image”:”https://h104216-fcdn.mp.lura.live/1/938892/pvw_lin/1B4/ABE/1B4ABEF975046797C557C760F062B2F2_1.jpg?aktaexp=2082787200&aktasgn=b991e2443ba415a56e377d3abdb6bd69″,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3NzM0OTMxIiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.W8zCUVWvn5JvtOx3WW35K7j8wRLv3aSwTxC-ywyMuLw”,”ad_unit_path”:”/5678/nx.thehill/the_hill_tv/rising”},{“mcpid”:”7850114″,”title”:”Reporter: Facebook using ex-CIA to decide misinformation policy is ‘very, very worrying'”,”image”:”https://h104216-fcdn.mp.lura.live/1/938892/pvw_lin/D59/B0F/D59B0F5CDC1E7A69024E9A351267783B_4.jpg?aktaexp=2082787200&aktasgn=81f10cf4884e98e12b0d331901852de1″,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3ODUwMTE0IiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.WYcL5M_RjBANS8EM0Eh6QPw_7O9yZ9lbJPwGPhaPBOU”,”ad_unit_path”:””},{“mcpid”:”7850046″,”title”:”Steve Bannon: They will never shut me up”,”image”:”https://h104216-fcdn.mp.lura.live/1/938892/pvw_lin/426/887/426887DDA9018C43FD2DEDD9C7F4E754_1.jpg?aktaexp=2082787200&aktasgn=79fb1449a2230010d6ca5ee98fd33b0f”,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3ODUwMDQ2IiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.sDUMthgEoF3ZMduzY2721NQFpKEgkGtfvAzXdztv2Ow”,”ad_unit_path”:””},{“mcpid”:”7849880″,”title”:”Democrats want Biden to go scorched-earth on GOP”,”image”:”https://h104216-fcdn.mp.lura.live/1/938892/pvw_lin/DAD/02C/DAD02C31E01C0167888040D84A948F33_4.jpg?aktaexp=2082787200&aktasgn=3c1143409adb380b6f1a8e6572965501″,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3ODQ5ODgwIiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.iWjNycUC5tu-kwFIzbjTsxIysnpJ10JiVesvK1p9q2U”,”ad_unit_path”:””},{“mcpid”:”7849684″,”title”:”Securing Americau2019s Retirement | The Hill Events”,”image”:”https://h104216-fcdn.mp.lura.live/1/938892/pvw_lin/323/155/32315588F2C4688C89B44FAC9467DB7E_4.jpg?aktaexp=2082787200&aktasgn=73ca009e6d65941cc8b5e8fc957e3148″,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3ODQ5Njg0IiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.kQhwOosO9ZuuUUA6II7gu-_HGo6kvpY1ObU1fXoidBo”,”ad_unit_path”:””},{“mcpid”:”7849518″,”title”:”Pelosi: Want to put Republicans ‘on the record’ for contraception”,”image”:”https://h104216-fcdn.mp.lura.live/1/938892/pvw_lin/1F2/12E/1F212E60A09385B6FE1154CE01F6AEB8_6.jpg?aktaexp=2082787200&aktasgn=223097901740424e7a21eb2de4b4d90b”,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3ODQ5NTE4IiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.pkE9_QI3PUILLHUKFxssdg-5y56MW6ktVGL6EaM_UYI”,”ad_unit_path”:””},{“mcpid”:”7849477″,”title”:”This week’s stories you might have missed”,”image”:”https://h104216-fcdn.mp.lura.live/1/938892/pvw_lin/BC0/5D3/BC05D312ED52AC459C0F5DF60DA57972_6.jpg?aktaexp=2082787200&aktasgn=f119d336d41f6175c1ea22ddfc3214f3″,”token”:”eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJ2aWQiOiI3ODQ5NDc3IiwiaXNzIjoicTI2MVhBbU9NZHFxUmYxcDdlQ283SVltTzFreVBtTUIiLCJleHAiOjE2NTgzNjk0Nzl9.Jbn5JlFwL8QqBf7SzJCRucwrf4dCiRGutSJCANiBmiI”,”ad_unit_path”:””}],”duration”:5},”expectPreroll”:true,”titleVisible”:true,”pauseOnClick”:true,”trackTimePeriod”:60,”isPermutiveEnabled”:true});
Former Vice President Mike Pence is getting more assertive in attending campaign-style events and making appearances that seem to pit him against former President Trump, finding a warm embrace from House Republicans along the way.
On Tuesday, Pence spoke at a National Republican Congressional Committee dinner for its “Young Guns” candidate program. And on Wednesday, Pence was welcomed on Capitol Hill by the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House, which Pence chaired from 2005 to 2006.
The moves put lawmakers at the crux of tensions between Trump and his former deputy, whom he pressured to unilaterally overturn the 2020 election, forecasting a GOP reckoning on Trump’s role in the party moving forward as both he and Pence eye 2024.
Members at the Wednesday Republican Study Committee meeting broke out in applause after Rep. Chip Roy (Texas) praised Pence for showing courage and commitment to the Constitution on Jan. 6, according to sources and members in the room, even though many of the caucus’s members voted to object to certifying electoral votes.
The former vice president is scheduled to make numerous appearances in the weeks ahead, putting him in direct conflict with Trump in some cases and in others stoking talk of a potential presidential campaign.
Pence on Monday endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson in the Arizona governor’s race. Robson is going up against Kari Lake, who is Trump’s preferred candidate. Both Pence and Trump will be in Arizona this weekend to campaign for their respective candidates.
Next week, Pence will speak at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., one day before Trump speaks at an America First Policy Institute event in the nation’s capital. Pence will also travel to New Hampshire in the first week of August, returning to the early primary state and fueling further speculation about his 2024 intentions.
Pence’s busier schedule comes against the backdrop of the House Jan. 6 select committee hearings, where Trump’s role in the Capitol riot has been front and center and raised fresh questions about his viability should he run again for president in 2024. One hearing focused specifically on Pence’s decision to buck pressure from Trump and his allies and certify the 2020 election.
The committee is still deciding whether it will ask Pence or Trump to appear before the panel. Its potentially last prime-time hearing is set for Thursday evening.
But many GOP members are not ready to pick sides in a Trump-Pence clash, at least not before the midterm elections, publicly downplaying or denying that there is any awkwardness or tension with members embracing the former vice president.
“Both men, Trump and Pence, have a role to play in helping House Republicans take back the majority, and each one of them may play a stronger role depending on the congressional districts,” said Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.). ”The president is doing his thing. He’s doing his thing. They’re not mutually exclusive.”
“The president and the vice president had a disagreement about exactly what the vice president’s role was and how much he could affect the procedure itself. And our district gets that, you know. But I think, all in all, that they still like both,” said Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas),
Members agreed, though, that Pence’s welcome by Republican lawmakers this week shows that he still has friends on Capitol Hill, which could be an asset in a presidential run.
Rep. Jim Banks (Ind.), the current chairman of the Republican Study Committee, reportedly said early last year that Pence was at “the top of his list” for a 2024 GOP presidential nominee. But Banks has also embraced Trump in many ways, crediting him for bringing working-class voters into the GOP, and countermessaging against the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Pence strayed away from talking about 2024 in the Wednesday morning meeting, lawmakers said, though the topic did come up.
“I’m sure he’s interested in serving. So we’ll see what happens — not necessarily as president, but we’ll see what happens. And we’ll see what his level of popularity is.” said Rep. Dan Meuser (R- Pa.).
Pence has spent recent months speaking to state and local Republican groups, outlining his “Freedom Agenda” that details his policy views on taxes, education, government regulations, foreign policy and culture war issues such as rules surrounding transgender athletes. Later on Wednesday, Pence is set to deliver a speech in South Carolina on the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
He has also campaigned for House GOP lawmakers and candidates and offered to do more for members during Wednesday’s meeting.
”I welcome the vice president to come out,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), whom Pence has already traveled to campaign for. “In the end, it’s all about values and ideas and policies. And I think if we can put that up forefront and push the personality stuff to the side, that’s what we should be focused on.”
Some Republican lawmakers have openly expressed anxiety about the prospect of Trump declaring his candidacy this summer, worrying that doing so would undercut GOP momentum heading into the midterms and make November’s elections a referendum on the former president.
“I think we’re going to have a crowded field for president. I assume most of that will unfold later and people will be picking their candidates in a crowded primary field,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters when asked whether he would oppose Trump or stay neutral in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
But some feel differently, demonstrating the grip that Trump still has in the GOP despite some lawmakers’ opening to Pence. Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) has tweeted that he wished Trump would have announced a 2024 run.
“Pence is a great guy, and he’s gonna do what he wants to do. I think everyone’s making preparations in case Trump does not run, whether it’s Mike Pompeo or Nikki Haley or any of them,” Long said. “If anyone runs against Trump, it’d be foolhardy.”
President Biden stopped short of issuing a climate emergency declaration Wednesday, but is vowing action to combat global warming.
We’ll look at the president’s speech in Massachusetts. Plus: A new push for offshore wind in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Postal Service is upping its electric vehicles.
This is Overnight Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. For The Hill, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk.
Want a copy of this newsletter in your inbox each day? Subscribe here.
Let’s jump in.
Biden stops short of formal climate declaration
President Biden labeled climate change an “emergency” on Wednesday but stopped short of declaring a national emergency following pressure from climate advocates.
In a speech at a former coal plant in Somerset, Mass., Biden also pledged to take action to combat the threat of climate change after congressional action stalled.
So what’s on the table? “As president, I have a responsibility to act with urgency and resolve when our nation faces clear and present danger. And that is what climate change is about,” Biden said. “This is an emergency.”
“As president, I’ll use my executive powers to combat the climate crisis in the absence of congressional action,” he added.
Biden delivered the speech less than a week after opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) derailed his sweeping climate proposal that had been stalled on Capitol Hill for months.
The collapse of those negotiations has led to the renewed focus on executive climate action.
Looking outward: In his speech, Biden explicitly blamed Republican lawmakers, rather than Manchin, for the lack of action on Capitol Hill.
“Not a single Republican in Congress stepped up to support my climate plan,” Biden said.
He did not directly acknowledge Manchin’s decision to walk away from the talks.
Democrats had tried to pass Biden’s climate and social policy vision with a simple majority through a process known as budget reconciliation, which would allow them to sidestep the GOP filibuster. But doing so meant garnering support from all 50 Senate Democrats, including Manchin.
Biden delivered the speech at the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, a coal-fired power plant that is being transformed into an offshore wind manufacturing facility.
The U.S. Postal Service will order more than twice the number of electric vehicles initially projected for its new fleet, the agency announced Wednesday.
The move follows months of controversy after the Postal Service initially sought to make about 10 percent of its fleet electric. Now it plans to make at least 40 percent of its fleet electric.
The Postal Service said in a statement it adjusted the fleet’s Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to include more electric vehicles under the current contract and is targeting a purchase of at least 25,000 electric vehicles.
How’d we get here? The Postal Service said in February that its initial order to have 10 percent of its new trucks be electric included an option to adjust the percentage later, but the announcement sparked pushback from members of Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Postal Service maintains the largest vehicle fleet in the federal government, and critics argued that not including more electric vehicles in the fleet would fly in the face of President Biden’s push for the federal government to pursue carbon neutrality.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy argued increasing the electric vehicles in the fleet was financially unfeasible, but critics suggested DeJoy, a longtime donor to Republicans and former President Trump, was deliberately undermining the Biden administration’s climate goals.
In June, the Postal Service opened the door to increasing the number of electric trucks but maintained it was always an option and was not in response to the controversy.
In March, Congress passed a Postal Service reform package freeing up billions in funds, while DeJoy has also reorganized mail carrier routes that make the charging process for delivery drivers more efficient.
Also significantly, however, Biden has secured a majority of appointees on the Postal Service’s board of governors, the only entity with the power to dismiss DeJoy.
The Biden administration will pursue the development of offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Mexico, the White House said Wednesday.
The new proposed offshore wind areas in the Gulf would represent the first time that wind energy is produced in the Gulf, which is typically a hub for oil and gas production.
According to a White House fact sheet, the areas where it is proposing offshore wind development have the potential to power 3 million homes.
President Biden will also direct Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to advance wind energy off the mid- and Southern Atlantic Coasts and Florida’s Gulf Coast, though the White House did not announce any concrete plans to develop wind energy in these regions.
The announcement came as Biden was set to deliver his remarks on climate change in Massachusetts on Wednesday.
Biden is facing increasing pressure to act on climate change after swing vote Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) walked away from Senate climate talks recently.
But progressives are likely to be unsatisfied by Biden’s Wednesday announcements, especially as many are calling for the declaration of a climate emergency.
Biden also made announcements aimed at tackling extreme heat, as communities in the U.S. and around the world faced high temperatures this week.
BIDEN ELIMINATES LAST OF TRUMP-ERA ENDANGERED SPECIES RULES
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday announced the repeal of the last remaining Trump-era changes to Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations, reverting certain decisions on critical habitats to the Interior Department.
Under the Trump rule, the Fish and Wildlife Service was required to accept private landowners’ claims that including an area in a protected habitat would result in economic harm. Under the pre-Trump rule, which the regulation restores, these exclusions are at the discretion of the Interior secretary.
The announcement comes weeks after a federal judge vacated another Trump ESA rule, this one saying equal protections did not apply to endangered species and those classified as threatened or likely to become endangered.
It also comes the month after the administration revoked a separate Trump-era rule imposing stricter constraints on which areas qualify as critical habitats, limiting them to those that can currently support species rather than also those that could later support them.
Environmental organizations praised the decision Wednesday but called on the administration to take steps building on those of the Obama administration rather than simply reverting to the pre-Trump status quo.
“We are thrilled to see the Biden administration take this important step towards restoring Endangered Species Act protections,” Andrew Carter, senior conservation policy analyst for Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement. “Our health and well-being depends on our nation’s rich biodiversity, and the Biden administration needs to keep taking every possible step to shore up the law responsible for saving it, including developing a national biodiversity strategy.”
US demands talks on Mexican energy policies it calls unfair (The Associated Press)
How Boeing created a nature preserve that may also preserve pollution (Reuters)
Manchin Directed Millions to Wetlands Near Vacation Condo (The Intercept)
Watchdog: EPA botched pesticide cancer review (E&E News)
ON TAP TOMORROW
The Senate Energy Committee will hold a hearing to consider the nomination of Laura Daniel-Davis for Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management.
Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) was arrested for a second day in a row on Wednesday while protesting with Senate cafeteria workers.
The Michigan Democrat joined Senate cafeteria workers in a peaceful civil disobedience demonstration outside the Capitol as part of their push for a union contract, according to his Twitter account.
The congressman’s office confirmed that Levin, a longtime union organizer, was arrested while protesting.
He was also among a group of lawmakers arrested on Tuesday at an abortion rights rally outside the Supreme Court. Levin’s office was one of eight in which staffers began the unionization process this week.
The U.S. Capitol Police said 17 people were arrested during Wednesday’s protest for crowding, obstructing or incommoding, including one member of Congress.
The demonstration came after Restaurant Associates, the food service contractor in the Senate, penned a memo to workers last week informing them that the Architect of the Capitol (AoC) could not guarantee that it had the funds to meet payroll through the end of September, according to Politico.
As a result of the AoC’s message, Restaurant Associates said it “shall manage payroll and staffing to begin to right-size their organization as soon as possible,” giving 56 employees a two-week notice for layoffs.
In April, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had set aside $3.75 million from the AoC to safeguard 81 workers from layoffs, Politico noted. Those funds were reportedly meant to be enough to last through Sept. 30.
On Wednesday, however, Unite Here, the labor union Restaurant Associates employees voted to unionize under, said the AoC told the contractor that the previously announced layoffs would not be necessary for the time being.
Despite layoffs being taken off the table, the cafeteria workers decided to keep their demonstration on the calendar as a way to drum up support for securing a union contract.
The employees voted to unionize in the fall and subsequently joined Unite Here Local 23, but they are still in the collective bargaining phase and have not yet landed a contract with Restaurant Associates.
“While we appreciate the quick resolution of this round of layoffs, these workers need the long-term stability in their lives that only a union contract can provide,” Unite Here said in a statement.
Droves of small-business owners descended on Capitol Hill this week in a bid for congressional support as they brace for a looming recession.
We’ll also look at GOP efforts targeting the Biden administration’s ability to cancel student loan debt, what the strong dollar means for Americans, and more.
Welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. For The Hill, we’re Sylvan Lane, Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom. Someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.
Business owners express inflation, recession fears
Thousands of small-business owners descended on Capitol Hill this week in a bid for congressional support as they brace for a looming recession that threatens to wipe out numerous mom-and-pop stores.
Small-business owners, who employ nearly half of all U.S. workers, say they’re being hammered by inflation, hiring difficulties, supply chain snags, child care shortages and limited access to capital. Weathering the storm will get much harder if a recession dents consumer demand for their goods and services.
Roughly 2,500 small-business owners flew to Washington to meet with more than 400 lawmakers and federal government officials on Tuesday and Wednesday. The two-day summit is hosted by Goldman Sachs’s 10,000 Small Businesses program, which provides education and support to entrepreneurs.
But it’s unclear to many business owners whether Congress is willing or able to help them overcome a slew of challenges. They point to the fact that lawmakers haven’t reauthorized the Small Business Administration (SBA) in two decades, inaction that has rendered key agency programs outdated and ineffective.
A recent survey of small-business owners in the Goldman Sachs program found that 38 percent reported a recent decline in consumer demand due to price hikes. Roughly one-third of business owners said that inflation is their top challenge, while 13 percent pointed to supply chain issues.
Consumer prices rose 9.1 percent over the past 12 months ending in June, while wholesale costs soared an even higher 11.3 percent, according to most recent Labor Department data, forcing most businesses to raise their prices.
Forty-five percent of small-business owners said that finding workers was their biggest challenge, with 78 percent reporting struggling to compete with larger employers when it comes to pay and benefits. They say Congress could help small businesses compete in the tight labor market by making it cheaper and less complicated for smaller employers to set up retirement and health care plans.
GOP ramps up efforts to rein in Biden on student debt
Republicans have been ramping up efforts to rein in the Biden administration’s ability to cancel student loan debt, arguing such plans are “wildly inflationary” and would only contribute to climbing prices.
Since the Biden administration extended a nationwide pause on federal student loan payments and interest accrual in the spring, Republicans in both chambers have been introducing legislation targeting the president’s authority on student loans.
Legislation introduced in recent weeks includes multiple measures seeking to keep Biden from greenlighting mass cancellation of student debt without buy-in from Congress, as well as a bill codifying that the president lacks the authority to “blanket cancel federal student loans.”
The bills face an uphill climb in the Democratic-led Congress, but Republicans behind the effort say it’s necessary to combat what they argue will be an unfair burden on taxpayers.
The efforts also coincide with an ongoing push by progressives and advocates for widespread debt cancellation, which has gained steam as the Biden administration has signaled it is closing in on a decision on student debt cancellation.
However, while experts say there’s a case to be made linking the pause on student loan payments to inflation, they largely downplay the moratorium on student debt’s impact on decades-high inflation.
“Anytime you put cash into the hands of Americans, you are affecting their demand for consumption,” said Beth Akers, senior fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. However, Akers, who studies the economics of higher education, also said that “the effect on consumer demand is pretty modest.”
“And so, in a greater discussion about inflation, it’s not going to be a huge consequence,” she said.
The U.S. dollar is getting stronger amid a global battle with high inflation.
Americans are getting less bang for their buck at home, but a stronger dollar makes foreign goods more affordable and international travel relatively cheaper.
Here’s what the dollar’s power means for Americans:
Cheaper imports, foreign travel: The dollar’s value has caught up with the euro, making it much cheaper for Americans to purchase goods from and travel through Europe in the middle of a steep rebound in summer vacationing.
Slowing exports and corporate profits: A strong dollar makes foreign goods and services relatively less expensive compared to U.S. products. While that may give American consumers some relief at the cash register, it is a blow for manufacturers already struggling with supply chain snarls and material shortages.
Lower inflation, but at a potentially steep cost: Cheaper imports and higher interest rates driven by a strong dollar should help bring down soaring inflation in the U.S.
House approves more than $400 billion of government funding
The House on Wednesday passed a sprawling spending package for the coming fiscal year, approving more than $400 billion in government spending ahead of the August recess.
The lower chamber voted 220 to 207 in a largely party-line vote to pass the so-called “minibus” package, which contains six spending bills providing fiscal 2023 funding for various agencies, including the departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Transportation (DOT), Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs (VA) as well as the Food and Drug Administration.
The legislation passed Wednesday includes funding for a slew of Democratic-backed priorities, with a proposed 18 percent boost in spending from the current fiscal year’s levels for the Department of the Interior, the Department of Energy and related agencies, as well as double digit spending increases in areas like military construction and the VA, HUD and DOT.
But despite speedy appropriations work seen in the House in recent weeks, Senate negotiators have yet to publicly roll out text for any of their dozen annual spending bills. Leaders are struggling to strike a larger bipartisan deal on how to fund the government.
CEOs of the top 500 companies in the U.S. earned 324 times more money in 2021 than their employees, with executive compensation climbing $2.8 million dollars in the past year on average as worker wages declined, according to an AFL-CIO report.
While the report found that real worker wages fell 2.4 percent in 2021 after adjusting for inflation, the average compensation for the top CEOs in the nation last year was $18.3 million, a more than $5 million increase over the past decade.
Here’s what else we have our eye on:
Existing home sales declined for the fifth straight month in June, falling 5.4 percent from the previous month, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released Wednesday.
U.S.-based transport service Lyft has reportedly laid off approximately 60 employees amid growing economic concerns within the company.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.
