Closing summary
It is now 4pm in DC. Here are the key events that happened across the country today:
The House voted along party lines as it ousted Democratic representative Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee while Democrats defended her. The vote was divided 218 to 211, CBS reports. One GOP member voted “present.” Omar defended herself on the floor on Thursday, saying: “This debate today, it’s about who gets to be an American? What opinions do we get to have, do we have to have to be counted as American?… That is what this debate is about, Madam Speaker. There is this idea that you are suspect if you are an immigrant. Or if you are from a certain part of the world, of a certain skin tone or a Muslim.”
A New Jersey councilwoman has been fatally shot on Wednesday night, according to New Jersey’s Sayreville police department. In a press statement released on Thursday, police said that they responded to shots fired on Wednesday evening in the Parlin section of Sayreville, New Jersey. Upon arrival, officers “located town councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour, 30, of Sayreville, in her vehicle who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Dwumfour had succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced on scene.”
Senators Joe Manchin and Ted Cruz have introduced a new bill that would protect gas stoves. On Thursday, the senators introduced the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act which would prevent the Consumer Product Safety Commission from banning gas stoves across the country.
Senate majority leader Charles Schumer has said that president Joe Biden stands united alongside Democratic leaders against raising debt limits. In a statement to reporters on Thursday, Schumer said, “I’ve spoken to the president both before and his staff after the meeting. He had the same position — [House Democratic leader] Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, the House Democratic caucus, the Senate Democratic caucus and the president have the exact same position, we should pass the debt ceiling clean. That’s where we’re at,” the Hill reports.
The White House has condemned the Republican-led House vote that ousted Democratic representative Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Omar is a “highly respected member of Congress” and called the move a “political stunt,” the Hill reports.
The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, announced plans this week to block state college programs on diversity, equity and inclusion, and critical race theory in his latest attack on Black and LGBTQ+ people in the public education system. The second-term governor, widely expected to launch a 2024 White House bid, previously blocked an advanced placement course on African American studies from being taught in high schools, saying it violated state law, and championed a “don’t say gay” law prohibiting lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in state primary schools.
The former White House press secretary turned governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders will give the Republican response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. Announcing the move on Thursday, the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, called Huckabee Sanders “a servant-leader of true determination and conviction”, adding: “I’m thrilled Sarah will share her extraordinary story and bold vision for a better America on Tuesday.”
In the latest development in the saga over former presidents and vice-presidents and the improper retention of classified documents, the Wall Street Journal reports that FBI agents will soon search a property belonging to Mike Pence. Yesterday, FBI agents searched a home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, that belongs to President Joe Biden. No additional documents were found but Biden already faced the attentions of a special counsel, appointed to investigate his retention of documents from his time in the Senate and as vice-president to Barack Obama.
Florida Republican senator Rick Scott said that he does not think that Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to remove him from the Senate Commerce Committee “made any sense.” “I’m going to keep doing my job… I put out a plan. He completely opposed me putting out a plan,” Scott told CNN, referring to a plan he announced last year that would have subjected all “government bureaucrats” to a 12-year term limit, shut down the Department of Education, and slashed the federal workforce by 25% within five years, among other proposals.
President Joe Biden called for cooperation and respect at the National Prayer Breakfast where he said that he and House speaker Kevin McCarthy will “treat each other with respect.” “Let’s just sort of, kind of, join hands again a little bit. Let’s start treating each other with respect. That’s what Kevin and I are going to do,” said Biden, the Hill reports.
President Joe Biden has confirmed the departure of his top economic adviser Brian Deese from the White House. In a statement on Thursday, Biden announced that Deese will be stepping down from his role as director of the National Economic Council in the coming days.
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that she will endorse Democratic representative Adam Schiff for California senate if senator Diana Feinstein decides to not run again. In a statement released by Pelosi and reported by Politico, Pelosi wrote: “If Senator Feinstein decides to seek re-election, she has my whole-hearted support. If she decides not to run, I will be supporting House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, who knows well the nexus between a strong Democracy and a strong economy,” she said.
That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as we wrap up the blog for today. We’ll be back tomorrow with the latest updates on US politics. Thank you.
Updated
New Jersey councilwoman fatally shot, authorities say
A New Jersey councilwoman has been fatally shot on Wednesday night, according to New Jersey’s Sayreville police department.
In a press statement released on Thursday, police said that they responded to shots fired on Wednesday evening in the Parlin section of Sayreville, New Jersey.
Upon arrival, officers “located town councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour, 30, of Sayreville, in her vehicle who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Dwumfour had succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced on scene.”
Authorities say that the investigation is currently ongoing and is asking anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area to notify them.
Governor Phil Murphy mourned the loss of the Republican councilwoman, saying that he was “stunned by the news of…[her] murder…in an act of gun violence.”
He added:
“Her career of public service was just beginning, and by all accounts she had already build a reputation as a committed member of the Borough Council who took her responsibility with the utmost diligence and seriousness…”
Senators Joe Manchin and Ted Cruz have introduced a new bill that would protect gas stoves.
On Thursday, the senators introduced the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act which would prevent the Consumer Product Safety Commission from banning gas stoves across the country.
“I’ll tell you one thing, they’re not taking my gas stove out…My wife and I would both be upset,” Manchin said at a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Hill reports.
Cruz echoed Manchin’s sentiments, saying, “Make no mistake, radical environmentalists want to stop Americans from using natural gas… The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s proposed ban on gas stoves is the latest egregious scaremongering by the Far Left and their Biden administration allies.”
Senate majority leader Charles Schumer has said that president Joe Biden stands united alongside Democratic leaders against raising debt limits.
In a statement to reporters on Thursday, Schumer said, “I’ve spoken to the president both before and his staff after the meeting. He had the same position — [House Democratic leader] Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, the House Democratic caucus, the Senate Democratic caucus and the president have the exact same position, we should pass the debt ceiling clean. That’s where we’re at,” the Hill reports.
“We believe the House cannot pass a debt ceiling bill the way they’re talking about. That if it is very minor cuts, the [Make America Great Again] MAGA Republicans will rebel. If it is major cuts, the more mainstream Republicans rebel. That’s why we’re saying, ‘Show us you plan.’ Because I don’t think they can get one together,” he added.
Meanwhile, McCarthy said on Wednesday that he thinks that “there is an opportunity here to come to an agreement on both sides.”
Updated
White House condemns Republican House vote to oust Ilhan Omar
The White House has condemned the Republican-led House vote that ousted Democratic representative Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Omar is a “highly respected member of Congress” and called the move a “political stunt,” the Hill reports.
“The way that we see this it’s a political stunt, much like House Republicans unjust removal of other leading Democrats from key committees in recent weeks, and it is a disservice to the American people,” she said, referring to the removal of California Democratic representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee.
The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, announced plans this week to block state college programs on diversity, equity and inclusion, and critical race theory in his latest attack on Black and LGBTQ+ people in the public education system.
The second-term governor, widely expected to launch a 2024 White House bid, previously blocked an advanced placement course on African American studies from being taught in high schools, saying it violated state law, and championed a “don’t say gay” law prohibiting lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in state primary schools.
DeSantis has pursued aggressive policies to block teaching or discussion about America’s racist past and present, making a name for himself in a national Republican party still defined by the legacy of Donald Trump, who famously mobilized white voters’ racism and resentment of attempts to change the nation’s racial hierarchy into a winning bid for the White House.
Last year, DeSantis signed legislation, dubbed the “Stop Woke Act” that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in schools and businesses. The law bars instruction that says members of one race are inherently racist or should feel guilt for past actions committed by others of the same race, among other things.
In his new effort to restrict diversity efforts at public colleges, DeSantis pledged at a news conference that critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, known as DEI, would get “no funding, and that will wither on the vine”.
Full story:
Speaking of efforts to ban government use of the word “Latinx”, as pursued by the Republican rising star and State of the Union rebutter Sarah Huckabee Sanders, here’s a fascinating report from the Associated Press, about an effort to pass such a ban in Connecticut, a deep blue Democratic state.
The effort is being led by a group of Latino Democrats:
Updated
The former White House press secretary turned governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders will give the Republican response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
Announcing the move on Thursday, the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, called Huckabee Sanders “a servant-leader of true determination and conviction”, adding: “I’m thrilled Sarah will share her extraordinary story and bold vision for a better America on Tuesday.”
Huckabee Sanders, now 40, was the second of Donald Trump’s four press secretaries in an administration under which relations between the press and the White House dwindled to new lows.
Sanders memorably admitted lying to reporters about internal opposition to FBI director James Comey during the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow.
She also told the New York Times it “bothers me” to be called a liar, “because one of the few things you have are your integrity and reputation.”
Huckabee Sanders said: “There’s a difference between misspeaking or not knowing something than maliciously lying.”
She was elected in Arkansas last November, following her father Mike Huckabee into the governor’s mansion. She began her time in power with a flurry of executive orders on culture war subjects.
One banned use in state documents of the word “Latinx”, which one proponent has defined as “a gender-neutral term to describe US residents of Latin American descent”.
Another order banned the teaching of critical race theory in public schools. Critical race theory is an academic discipline that examines the ways in which racism operates in US laws and society. It is rarely taught below college level but Republicans across the US have enthusiastically and successfully used it as a wedge electoral issue.
In her own statement on Thursday, Huckabee Sanders said she was “grateful for this opportunity to address the nation and contrast the GOP’s optimistic vision for the future against the failures of President Biden and the Democrats.
“We are ready to begin a new chapter in the story of America – to be written by a new generation of leaders ready to defend our freedom against the radical left and expand access to quality education, jobs, and opportunity for all.”
Some observers think Huckabee Sanders may in future follow her father (and the Democratic former Arkansas governor Bill Clinton) and run for president.
Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, bass guitarist and pitchman for questionable health products, did so in 2008 and 2016. In his first run he won the Iowa caucuses as part of an unexpectedly strong showing before losing to John McCain. In 2016 he was one of many candidates blown out of the water by Trump.
Republicans also announced on Thursday that a second rebuttal to Biden’s speech will be given by Juan Ciscomani, an Arizona congressman who will speak in Spanish.
Updated
Pence to face FBI documents search – report
In the latest development in the saga over former presidents and vice-presidents and the improper retention of classified documents, the Wall Street Journal reports that FBI agents will soon search a property belonging to Mike Pence.
Yesterday, FBI agents searched a home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, that belongs to President Joe Biden. No additional documents were found but Biden already faced the attentions of a special counsel, appointed to investigate his retention of documents from his time in the Senate and as vice-president to Barack Obama.
In a case of vastly differing scale and complexity – featuring determined attempts to obstruct authorities seeking the records’ return – Donald Trump also faces a special counsel. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida was searched by FBI agents last August, a search the former president and his supporters insist on calling a raid.
Trump has seized on Biden’s difficulties to claim he did nothing wrong. Most analysts say otherwise.
News that Pence also improperly kept classified material emerged last week. Like Biden, Trump’s former vice-president has played straight with authorities since.
According to the WSJ, the DoJ (Department of Justice) is now in negotiations with Pence’s lawyers about scheduling the search of his property in Indiana. The paper did not name sources. The FBI and DoJ did not comment.
As the Journal notes, this is all fiendishly complicated for Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, what with the 2024 presidential election looming on the horizon.
“Mr Pence is also considering a White House bid, a prospect that could test the standard Garland laid out in appointing the two prior prosecutors” to investigate Biden and Trump, the paper says.
Biden is set to run for re-election. Trump is still the only declared challenger for the Republican nomination. And so the classified documents saga goes on.
Here’s our columnist Margaret Sullivan, with more:
The House voted along party lines as it ousted Democratic representative Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee while Democrats defended her.
The vote was divided 218 to 211, CBS reports. One GOP member voted “present.”
Omar defended herself on the floor on Thursday, saying:
“This debate today, it’s about who gets to be an American? What opinions do we get to have, do we have to have to be counted as American?… That is what this debate is about, Madam Speaker. There is this idea that you are suspect if you are an immigrant. Or if you are from a certain part of the world, of a certain skin tone or a Muslim.
Well, I am Muslim. I am an immigrant, and interestingly, from Africa. Is anyone surprised that I’m being targeted? Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy?” she said.
Numerous Democrats came to Omar’s defense. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Thursday that the move was “political revenge.”
New York representative Gregory Meeks who serves as a committee ranking member criticized the Republican-led vote, saying that it is a “double standard.”
“A blatant double standard is being applied here. Something just doesn’t add up. And what is the difference between Rep. Omar and these members? Could it be the way that she looks? Could it be her religious practices?” he said.
Similarly, New York representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez said, “This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America,” according to the NYT.
Meanwhile, Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman criticized Republicans, saying that they are “full of shit” and that Omar is an “incredible legislator,” Politico reports.
Ilhan Omar ousted from House foreign affairs committee
The House of Representatives has voted to oust Minnesota Democratic representative Ilhan Omar from the foreign affairs committee on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.
The vote comes after the House approved Democratic assignments for the powerful foreign affairs committee which included Omar.
Once McCarthy learned of the assignments, he told reporters, “Oh, so now we can vote her off,” the Hill reports.
Republicans claim to have removed Omar due to her previous criticisms of Israel.
Republican representative Max Miller said in a statement that Omar “cannot be an objective decision-maker on the foreign affairs committee given her biases against Israel and against the Jewish people”.
Omar, herself the target of anti-Muslim bigotry since taking office, said last week that the decision to oust her was “purely partisan”.
She added that the move is “also a blow to the integrity of our democratic institutions and a threat to our national security”.
Updated
As transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg said on Thursday that he is “not planning on going anywhere.”
In an interview with Punchbowl News two years after his cabinet confirmation, Buttigieg said, “I don’t have any plans to do any job besides the one I’ve got” and that he has “the best job in the federal government.”
He told the outlet that his tenure with the the transportation department is “above his pay grade” and that he works at the “pleasure of the president for the time being.”
“I love this job and I feel like we’re right in the middle of the action,” he said. “I’m not planning on going anywhere because we’re smack in the middle of historic work,” he added.
Buttigieg heads a department that has distributed $159.70 billion across its 11 sub-components in fiscal year 2023.
Florida Republican senator Rick Scott said that he does not think that Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to remove him from the Senate Commerce Committee “made any sense.”
“I’m going to keep doing my job… I put out a plan. He completely opposed me putting out a plan,” Scott told CNN, referring to a plan he announced last year that would have subjected all “government bureaucrats” to a 12-year term limit, shut down the Department of Education, and slashed the federal workforce by 25% within five years, among other proposals.
Last year, Scott also unsuccessfully challenged McConnell for his Senate leadership position after he felt that McConnell did not do enough to lay out the GOP Senate governing agenda prior to Election Day, the Hill reports.
“He didn’t like that I opposed him because I believe we have to have ideas – fight over ideas. And so, he took [Utah Republican senator] Mike Lee and I off the committee,” Scott told CNN.
Updated
President Joe Biden called for cooperation and respect at the National Prayer Breakfast where he said that he and House speaker Kevin McCarthy will “treat each other with respect.”
“Let’s just sort of, kind of, join hands again a little bit. Let’s start treating each other with respect. That’s what Kevin and I are going to do,” said Biden, the Hill reports.
“Not a joke, we had a good meeting yesterday. I think we got to do it across the board. It doesn’t mean we’re going to agree and fight like hell. But let’s treat each other with respect,” he added.
Biden went on urge Americans to “look out for one another” amidst a slew of mass shootings, extreme weather conditions and frequent incidents of police brutality.
“In our politics and our lives, we too often see each other as opponents and not competitors. We see each other as enemies, not neighbors. And as tough as these times have been, if we look closer, we see the strength, the determination that has long defined America,” he said.
Top economic adviser to exit White House
President Joe Biden has confirmed the departure of his top economic adviser Brian Deese from the White House.
In a statement on Thursday, Biden announced that Deese will be stepping down from his role as director of the National Economic Council in the coming days.
“For the past two years, I have relied on Brian Deese to help me do just that. Brian has a unique ability to translate complex policy challenges into concrete actions that improve the lives of American people. He has helped steer my economic vision into reality, and managed the transition of our historic economic recovery to steady and stable growth,” Biden said.
He went on to cite Deese’s critical role in the passage of various agendas including the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, as well as the CHIPS and Science Act.
“I am grateful to his wife Kara and his children Adeline and Clark for letting us borrow Brian. I know well what it must have been like to say goodbye to him for the regular long commute to Washington, and I know they’re excited to welcome him home,” he added.
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that she will endorse Democratic representative Adam Schiff for California senate if senator Diana Feinstein decides to not run again.
In a statement released by Pelosi and reported by Politico, Pelosi wrote:
“If Senator Feinstein decides to seek re-election, she has my whole-hearted support. If she decides not to run, I will be supporting House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, who knows well the nexus between a strong Democracy and a strong economy,” she said.
“In his service in the House, he has focused on strengthening our Democracy with justice and on building an economy that works for all,” she added.
Pelosi’s announcement comes a week after Adam Schiff announced the launch of his campaign for California senate.
Updated
Ahead of the meeting with president Joe Biden later today, the Congressional Black Caucus released a statement regarding its request to meet Biden following the death of Tyre Nichols who died after being brutally beaten by five Memphis police officers last month.
On behalf of CBC members, CBC chairman and Democratic Nevada representative Steven Horsford wrote:
“The Congressional Black Caucus takes its role to advocate for the safety and protection of the people in our communities very seriously.
To that end, CBC is requesting a meeting with the President this week to push for negotiations on much needed national reforms to our justice system - specifically, the actions and conduct of our law enforcement…
We are calling on our colleagues in the House and Senate to jumpstart negotiations now and work with us to address the public health epidemic of police violence that disproportionately affects many of our communities,” it added.
Democratic representative Ilhan Omar tweeted a expletive-filled threat that her office received last week, writing, “These threats increase whenever Republicans put a target on my back.”
She added that there is a “very real human cost” to Republican attacks against women of color like herself.
Btw as horrific as this is to listen to, I share it because the Republican Party (and the public) need to know that there is a very real human cost to their continued targeting of women of color, not just to me but to those who share my identities.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 2, 2023
The tweet comes amid attempts by new House Republicans seeking to oust Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Last Tuesday, House speaker Kevin McCarthy blocked California Democratic representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from rejoining the House Intelligence Committee.
Last Congress, Democrats removed Georgia’s Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Arizona’s Paul Gosar from their committee assignments following incendiary remarks they made about their colleagues.
Biden to discuss police reform with Congressional Black Caucus
Good morning, US politics blog readers. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris are scheduled to meet members of the Congressional Black Caucus this afternoon to discuss police reform.
The meeting comes a day after Tyre Nichols’ funeral where Harris urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act that would address police brutality and racial profiling. Politico reports that CBC members are preparing a list of executive actions that they want to see the Biden administration take.
Among the attendees will be California Democratic representative Maxine Waters. In a statement reported by Politico, Waters said": “I’m not optimistic. I’m not confident that we are going to be able to get real police reform … I approach working on this issue as a responsibility that I have to do – that we must try.”
Here’s what else we can expect today:
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on whether to remove Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar from the House foreign affairs committee, an apparent move about her former criticisms towards Israel but according to Democrats, about “spite” for removal of far-right extremists in the former Congress.
Biden and former president Bill Clinton will convene at the White House to mark the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act – the 1993 legislation that guaranteed US workers up to 12 unpaid weeks off to recover from illnesses or childbirth.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will deliver a press briefing at 12.45pm EST.
