Tag: Kathleen Rice

Beto O’Rourke thinks he is born to run for president, and so far, it looks like two members of New York’s congressional delegation agree. In doing so, Maloney and Rice became the first members of New York’s congressional delegation to endorse any of the politicians currently vying for the Democratic nomination. O’Rourke, 46, represented El Paso in Congress for three terms. That, Democratic political consultant Bruce Gyory says, is why moderates Rice and Maloney are backing him. To endorse so early in the race – before candidates have even outlined their national policy platforms – might seem rash, but Kathleen Rice said working with O’Rourke in Congress made her confident in his policy positions. Maloney, arguably the most moderate Democrat in New York’s House delegation, could be attempting to bolster his credentials in a swing district. But it may just be that like Rice, he and O’Rourke already have a relationship. What is perhaps most notable – if not totally surprising – about this pair of endorsements, is that the only 2020 Democratic presidential candidate from New York still has no support from New York’s congressional delegation. Beto O'Rourke represents energy in a Democratic Party that is breaking up into pieces that will hopefully unite during the November general election.” So while Rice and Maloney may not have been likely to support Gillibrand, their endorsements of O’Rourke have drawn more attention to the fact that Gillibrand is still running without home state support. “I have a great relationship with Sen. Gillibrand,” Rice said.

Welcome to On Politics, your guide to the day in national politics. [Get On Politics delivered to your inbox.] Late Thursday afternoon, he revoked her military transport for a secret trip to Afghanistan — a visit to a war zone that Mr. Trump derided as a “public relations event.” He suggested Ms. Pelosi, third in line for the presidency, fly commercial. Now, none of the fighting over flights gets the country any closer to ending a government shutdown that’s crippling the finances of 800,000 federal workers and starting to have economic impacts far bigger than even the White House anticipated. Dozens of Democrats spent months campaigning against supporting Ms. Pelosi as speaker. Ms. Pelosi kept Representative Kathleen Rice’s name off the list of suggested members for the Judiciary Committee, a powerful spot that will be at the center of investigations into Mr. Trump — and any possible impeachment. Divided government, a special counsel investigation, the longest government shutdown in history, the biggest Democratic primary field in decades, secretive meetings with Russia — at this point in the Trump administration, we’ve written “unprecedented” so much that it’s become a cliché. This is, “Wait, can they do that?” Our first topic: Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking President Trump to scrap or delay his State of the Union address. After George Washington gave the first address on Jan. 8, 1790, in New York, the practiced continued for about a decade. Thanks for reading.

A small, bipartisan group of representatives introduced a bill Thursday that aims to greatly increase transparency of political spending. 7267), sponsored by U.S. Representatives Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), would require any organization that runs political ads to disclose its top donors and tighten rules preventing candidates from coordinating with super PACs on independent expenditures, among other changes. “For too long, we’ve allowed outside money to play an outsized and arcane role in our politics, blurring the lines between special interest groups and the candidates they support,” Rice said in a statement. It’s unclear whether the measure, if passed, would work as intended. More than $800 million in dark money has been spent on elections since the landmark Citizens United Supreme Court decision, 75 percent of which came from just 15 groups, according to an Issue One analysis of Center for Responsive Politics data. The bill would clarify that outside groups and campaigns cannot coordinate on communications that mention a candidate starting 120 days before a primary and through the general election. “Strengthening the law requiring independence of candidates from outside groups is critical to loosening the influence that megadonors who fund super PACs holdover candidates and officeholders,” said Trevor Potter, President of the Campaign Legal Center and former Republican Chairman of the Federal Election Commission. Liberal donors Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer each spent around $60 million toward independent expenditures supporting Democratic candidates. The bill also aims to end misuse of leadership PACs by clarifying that the “personal use” restriction on campaign funds applies to all committees, including leadership PACs.

House Democrats overwhelmingly nominated Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday to be the next speaker – but she failed to defuse a rebellion within her ranks, setting the stage for a potential showdown on the chamber floor when the new Congress convenes in January. Read more The 203-32 vote represented a critical test of strength for the longtime Democratic leader, and proved she commands broad support from her caucus. If Democrats win a final House race yet to be called after the midterm elections, and where their candidate is leading, they will hold 235 seats, meaning Pelosi could afford to lose 17 Democratic votes if all Republicans oppose her. “I’m talking about scores of members of Congress who just gave me a vote – are giving me a vote of confidence,” Pelosi said. When it came to the floor vote, only four Democrats opposed her. This time could prove trickier after several new members vowed to vote against Pelosi as candidates. “We remain united behind our goal of new leadership and we intend to vote against Leader Pelosi in Caucus and on the floor of the House.” Moulton, who circulated a letter signed by 16 Democratic incumbents and new members, that calls for a change in leadership, called on Pelosi to develop a “plan for succession”. “But we still have many glass ceilings to break for women of color.” Jeffries’ ascent to the No 5 spot ensures that the caucus will have two African Americans on the leadership team for the first time. Both are viewed by their colleagues as a potential heirs when Pelosi steps down. “There are a lot of differing views, even within the Democratic caucus.