Tag: Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has weighed in on the most recent controversy involving Rep. Ilhan Omar, retweeting video edited to suggest that the Minnesota Democrat was dismissive of the significance of the Sept. 11 attacks. Trump on Friday tweeted, “WE WILL NEVER FORGET!” Omar’s remark has drawn criticism largely from political opponents and conservatives. Omar told CAIR in Los Angeles that many Muslims saw their civil liberties eroded after the attacks, and she advocated for activism. “For far too long we have lived with the discomfort of being a second-class citizen and, frankly, I’m tired of it, and every single Muslim in this country should be tired of it,” she said in the March 23 speech, according to video posted online. “CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.” CAIR was founded in 1994, according to its website, but its membership increased dramatically after the attacks. Many Republicans and conservative outlets expressed outrage at Omar’s remarks. “First Member of Congress to ever describe terrorists who killed thousands of Americans on 9/11 as ‘some people who did something,'” tweeted Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas. The retired Navy SEAL lost his right eye in 2012 in an explosion in Afghanistan. She tweeted a quote from former President George W. Bush shortly after the attacks, when he said: “‘The people — and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!” “Was Bush downplaying the terrorist attack?” Omar tweeted. “What if he was a Muslim.” Several of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates condemned Trump’s tweet.

In case anyone watching Gov. First came something of an extended victory lap over what he’s done already. Edwards pointed to the fact that, for the first time in his term, he wasn’t there to talk budgetary doom and gloom. “Unlike in the past, today, we have the opportunity to put our names on a budget we can all be proud of. That last line was meant for an audience of one, House Speaker Taylor Barras, who has used his position on the Revenue Estimating Conference to unilaterally block money in economists’ forecasts from being spent. Also on Edwards’ “done” list were Medicaid expansion, impressive strides in foster care and adoption, economic development wins and criminal justice reform. Edwards pushed the teacher pay raise that he and many legislators support, starting at $1,000 this year for teachers and $500 for support staff, as well as a potentially more controversial increase in direct aid to schools. He talked up efforts to protect people with pre-existing conditions from losing their health coverage, now that a lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act — backed by Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry over Edwards’ strenuous objection — is working its way through the courts. “And we should have a robust discussion about why that coverage is now at risk.” Also on the governor’s agenda are two long-stalled items, a minimum wage hike and efforts to overcome Louisiana’s wage gap between men and women. But as Monday's proceeding hinted, this legislative session could be as divisive as usual.

And Sanders is younger than three other American politicians who are qualified to be president, two of whom are considering a run for the office — former vice-president Joe Biden and former California governor Jerry Brown. Biden, 78, is a year older than Sanders. Story continues below Nelson Mandela was the same age that Sanders is today when he became the first democratically elected president of South Africa in 1994. He and his African National Congress dismantled apartheid and wrote a national constitution that became the most progressive in the world. Mandela decided not to run for a second term in 1999. If he had run — and almost certainly he would have won — he would have been 88 at the end of his second term. Like South Africa, Tunisia also allows for two five-year presidential terms. After all, the oldest sitting president in U.S. history, Donald Trump — who was 70 when he was elected in 2016 — may turn out to be the worst. If Trump is removed from office before the 2020 election, along with vice-president Mike Pence (who, unlike Richard Nixon’s vice-president, Gerald Ford, may be seen to be complicit in Trump’s suspected criminality), Pelosi would become president. I am an Elder of the Tribe.” It is time for elders, many of whom for decades have been consigned to rest homes, to assume real power, bringing their wisdom, experience and human discernment to transforming our world for the better.

(Bloomberg)—Nancy Pelosi, who’s facing challenges to her possible return as U.S. House Speaker, urged her Democratic colleagues to unite and support her candidacy to be leader of the party in the new Congress. In a letter sent on Friday, Pelosi thanked those who’ve supported her so far, and said she requests “that we all support the nominee of our Caucus for Speaker on the Floor of the House,” consistent with party rules that require all members to vote in favor of the Democratic candidate. Pelosi praised her colleagues’ views and participation as the party works to implement changes in the next Congress. Democrats will be back in the majority in the House after picking up more than three dozen seats from Republicans in the Nov. 6 midterm election. “Our outstanding victory from sea to shining sea has made this truly a Thanksgiving of Hope,” Pelosi wrote in the letter, which was distributed by her office. She also said Democrats must use technology to be responsive to the party’s grassroots supporters. Pelosi of California, who’ll face her first vote this week in her bid for a second stint as speaker, has seen opposition from various factions, including centrist Democrats who are members of the so-called Problem Solvers Caucus, a bi-partisan group of House members. More than a dozen incoming and returning House Democrats said in a letter last week that they wanted “new leadership,” despite their party’s sizable electoral wins. Since then, Pelosi has muted much of the opposition, and key opponents such as Representatives Marcia Fudge of Ohio and Brian Higgins of New York now say they plan to support her. Contact us at editors@time.com.

Republican Katie Arrington's congressional campaign got a contribution from a former S.C. House Speaker who pleaded guilty to misusing his own campaign funds — and she’s keeping it. "Sanford is a Washington career politician; I am a strong voice for the Lowcountry,” Arrington said. He’s at least the third-ranking Statehouse Republican who once worked with Sanford when he was governor now standing with Arrington. Current House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, and Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill, are both Arrington backers. Sen. Senn says sorry, sort of State Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, stood at the podium Wednesday to address an issue that was admittedly "very uncomfortable" for her — and her Senate colleagues. The freshman lawmaker apologized, at least partly, for publicly alleging last month that one of the Senate's most senior lawmakers offered to trade votes on legislation pending in the Statehouse. Senn wanted her bill related to threats at South Carolina schools to pass, and she alleged Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, offered to vote for her legislation in return for support for another bill. Statehouse session too short, lawmakers say Two years after legislators finally agreed to shorten South Carolina’s annual legislative session, some are complaining they messed up. Rutherford, D-Columbia, said the shortened calendar makes it difficult to pass any bill that’s not on legislative leaders’ priority list. U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford is scheduled to appear.

The news on Wednesday that House Speaker Paul Ryan won’t run for another term wasn’t shocking — it has been rumored for months. Being the speaker of this Republican House was a tough job even pre-Trump The conservatives in the House, particularly the Freedom Caucus, make being speaker very difficult. Trump has made wrangling the House even harder Remember when Congress passed a spending bill last month? But I doubt the more sober-minded Ryan has enjoyed, for example, how California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes has run the House Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation. Ryan is not a natural Trump ally After it became clear that Trump would be the GOP nominee in 2016, Ryan at first would not endorse him. With Trump in the White House, Ryan was able to overhaul U.S. tax policy, as he has long wanted to do. And I doubt that Trump would have strongly embraced them. Moreover, it’s likely that GOP majorities, particularly in the House, will shrink after the midterms, making it even less likely that the party would pass major bills. Democrats appear to have a good chance of winning the House in November. And so will the Republican Party without him.