We tamed the West, won two World Wars, and were the first to plant our flag on the moon.
Democrats on the committee worry that Mast’s takeover of the committee will derail that bipartisanship.
“We have a mandate from the last election.” Why it matters: Kennedy can afford to lose only three Republican votes and still get confirmed, should all Democrats vote against him.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) is also expected to vote to advance the bill, according to a person familiar with his plans.
With four Democrats already supporting the legislation, Republicans need four more – eight total – to break a filibuster and pass the bill.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee, which is led by Republicans, is refining its stance on President-elect Donald Trump’s remarks regarding Greenland and United States expansion abroad, emphasizing that the panel strongly supports him.
The committee posted — and later removed — a post on X on Wednesday that criticized Trump’s thoughts on renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal.
“Warriors and explorers built our nation. We placed our flag on the moon first, conquered the West, and prevailed in two World Wars. The committee account tweeted, “President Trump has the biggest dreams for America and it’s un-American to be afraid of big dreams,” with a screenshot of a New York Post cover titled “The Donroe Doctrine.”. “”.
The committee stated that there was no attempt to dial back the deletion. Having changed the New York Post cover to read “The Trump Doctrine,” it reposted the image with the caption, “This was taken down because we wanted to fix the graphic to reflect that President Trump’s America First vision is worthy of being called by its own doctrine.”. “.”.
The controversial social media posts may serve as a sneak peek at how HFAC, which has long been a stronghold of bipartisan cooperation, is expected to become much more MAGA-fied under its new chair, Representative from Florida. Brian Mast, a prominent Trump supporter. Democrats on the committee fear that this bipartisanship will be ruined by Mast’s takeover.
Trump has come under fire for repeatedly attempting to purchase Greenland from NATO ally Denmark and the Panama Canal from the central American nation. He has also made fun of Canada, calling it the 51st state. Bananas are involved. After Trump declined to rule out using economic or military coercion to acquire Greenland during a press conference on Tuesday, Democratic Representative Jim Himes told CNN, “It’s crazy.”.
A House Foreign Affairs Committee spokesman chose not to respond.
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services was not immediately endorsed by the new chair of the Senate committee that oversees the agency after meeting with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the third Wednesday.
Cassidy, Bill (R-La. claimed to have had a “frank” talk with Kennedy and to have talked “at length” about vaccines in a mild social media post after the meeting.
Doctor Cassidy told Fox News Sunday that Kennedy was “wrong” about vaccinations, despite the fact that Kennedy has been opposing them for years.
Kennedy has stated his intention to increase public access to safety and efficacy data, rather than restricting access to vaccines.
A second round of Kennedy’s meetings with senators is currently underway.
Kennedy told reporters after the meeting with Cassidy that it was “good,” but he would not elaborate. Additionally, he is meeting this week with Democratic caucus members on the HHS oversight committees.
Following a first round of meetings last month, Kennedy received favorable feedback from Republicans. These included meetings with senators who support the agricultural and food industries as well as those who are against abortion. Kennedy has previously opposed American farming and food production methods and supported abortion rights.
Sen. R-Okla. James Lankford. ), who serves as “the Senate’s most pro-life member” and was a Southern Baptist minister prior to entering Congress, told POLITICO last month that he was certain he would support the Trump administration’s abortion policies after meeting with Kennedy.
Chuck Grassley, a Republican who has represented Iowa farmers in the Senate since 1981 and has expressed concern about Kennedy’s intention to control food production and manufacturing, stated in December that he finds many admirable aspects of Kennedy’s anti-establishment stance. “He might be willing to overlook disagreements on agricultural issues,” Grassley said.
“Perhaps he doesn’t have the appropriate responses for me regarding that. But I am aware that he is going to shake up a department that needs to be shaken up,” Grassley remarked. We were given a mandate in the most recent election. “.”.
The reason it matters is that, should all Democrats vote against him, Kennedy could still be confirmed with just three Republican votes lost.
Should Cassidy disagree with him, it would probably be a sign of more widespread GOP defections.
Among others, Cassidy has been singled out by Democrats in the medical and public health fields to exert pressure on them to vote against Kennedy’s confirmation. Hawaii Gov. A Democrat doctor named Josh Green, who is advocating against Kennedy’s confirmation, stated that he hoped to meet with Cassidy to discuss the threats the nominee poses to public health.
The next step is for Cassidy’s Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to meet with Kennedy for confirmation hearings shortly.
Sens. Mark Kelly and Jacky Rosen will be the fifth and sixth Senate Democrats to support the Laken Riley Act, respectively.
In a procedural vote on Friday, GOP senators must have at least eight Democrats support the bill, which calls for detaining undocumented immigrants accused of stealing or breaking and entering. The measure is anticipated to receive more Democratic support.
According to Jacob Peters, Kelly’s spokesperson, “Senator Kelly will vote for the Laken Riley Act and looks forward to working with Republicans and Democrats on it and other solutions to secure the border and fix our broken immigration system.”.
Rosen stated in a quick interview on Wednesday that she would also support the bill.
Democratic Sens. Fetterman John (Pa. Gary Peters (Mich. as well as Ruben Gallego (Ariz. have already declared their intention to back the immigration bill. Sene. D-Ga. Jon Ossoff. stated that he would vote to move the bill forward for debate on Friday.
Bringing the receipts, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum retaliated against President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed the “Gulf of America.”.
Sheinbaum dismissed Trump’s comment during her daily press briefing on Wednesday, saying in Spanish, “Obviously, the Gulf of Mexico is a name recognized by the United Nations.”.
Then, pointing to a historical map that depicted the control of North American territories, she said, “America Mexicana” was painted on portions of the modern United States. “”.
She questioned mockingly in Spanish, “Why don’t we call it Mexican America?”. “Don’t you think it sounds nice?”.
Trump announced Tuesday that he would rename the Gulf of Mexico after the U.S. military during a comprehensive press conference at Mar-a-lago. S. since “it is suitable.”. He claimed that the “Gulf of America” has a stunning ring. “.”.
“With all due respect to President Trump, I believe that he was misinformed yesterday because I know I will be questioned about it. “Because I think they told him that in Mexico, Felipe Calderón was still in power, and García Luna,” Sheinbaum joked, referring to the former Mexican president and his Secretary of Public Security, who both resigned in 2012. Luna received a sentence last year of over 38 years in prison. A. for accepting bribes from the drug cartel in Sinaloa.
But no. “The people rule in Mexico,” she continued.
A request for comment from a Trump transition spokesperson was not immediately answered.
The amusing conversation may foreshadow Trump and Sheinbaum’s relationship as he vows to impose high tariffs on her nation and construct a wall along their shared border.
Carmen Paun helped write this report.
In an attempt to stay in power, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro turned in his passport to authorities while being investigated for allegedly aiding in the planning and execution of a 2023 coup attempt. As a result, Bolsonaro may not be able to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“My attorney, Dr. Paulo Bueno, has already sent a request to Minister Alexandre de Moraes for my passport to be returned so that I can attend this honorable and significant historical event,” Bolsonaro wrote on X in Portuguese on Wednesday, the two-year anniversary of the Jan. 8 coup.
A week after the inauguration of current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, pro-Bolsonaro supporters stormed and ransacked government buildings in Brasilia, which has led to a slew of legal issues and comparisons to the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. S. Capitol as Bolsonaro is accused of being involved in the plot by Brazil’s Federal Police. No misconduct has been acknowledged by the former president.
The same analogies are made by Bolsonaro’s son in a video that is attached to his post on X. According to a translation included with the video, Eduardo Bolsonaro stated in Portuguese, “Donald Trump certainly identifies himself with Jair Bolsonaro in this sense because he was a victim of it in the United States.”.
The relationship between Bolsonaro and Trump dates back to his first term in office, when he invited the right-wing leader to the White House to discuss overthrowing Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. Trump repeatedly urged Brazilians to support Bolsonaro when he was running for reelection, and Bolsonaro introduced Trump’s “fake news” slogan to Brazil. Both Trump and Bolsonaro incited conservative loyalist movements in their respective nations.
This report was written with assistance from Aitor Hernández-Morales.
President Joe Biden confirmed that he has not yet decided whether to grant preemptive pardons to political allies before leaving the White House, indicating that he has not yet decided whether to shield those that President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters have threatened to prosecute. Biden made this statement to USA Today.
He claimed to have instructed Trump not to single out his alleged adversaries.
Trump merely listened, Biden said, without indicating whether he meant to attack the president’s political allies. “I tried to make clear that there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores,” Biden added.
POLITICO first reported on the talks surrounding Biden’s potential preemptive pardons last month, as the president and his advisers became more worried about how many current and former officials might be singled out. These consist of former Rep. Cheney, Liz (R-Wyo. ) and Anthony Fauci, the former director of NIAID, who may be subject to investigations and even indictments — worries that only intensified following Trump’s appointment of Kash Patel to head the FBI. Biden’s supporters and Democrats have persisted in urging the president to act in his last days.
Biden also expressed his concerns about Trump reversing his policies during the extensive interview. Biden stated that he is most concerned about Trump’s potential to repeal parts of the climate law, lift restrictions on pharmaceutical companies, and slash infrastructure spending.
The president’s defensive stance in the months following Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss is reflected in his statement that he could have won reelection. “That’s a presumption, but I believe so,” he said, citing the polling he had examined as support.
He wasn’t as certain, though, that he had the stamina to serve another four years.
“So far, so good,” he said. “However, who the hell knows what I’ll be when I’m eighty-six?”.
Sen. D-Ariz’s Ruben Gallego. is the newest Democratic senator to join the group endorsing the Laken Riley Act, an immigration law passed by the House that has a better chance of passing the upper house.
“To avoid situations like what happened to Laken Riley, we must provide law enforcement with the tools they need to take action when illegal immigrants violate the law,” he said in a statement.
With strong bipartisan support, the bill was passed by the House on Tuesday and would mandate that any undocumented immigrant accused of stealing or breaking and entering be placed under detention. Gallego voted in favor of the legislation during his time in the House of Representatives in the previous Congress. He was elected to the Senate last November and took office last week.
Gallego becomes a member of Sens. Fetterman, John D-Pa. together with Gary Peters (D-Mich. ), who both intend to support the legislation. Sen. . Ossoff, Jon (D-Ga. is also anticipated to support the bill by voting, according to someone with knowledge of his intentions. Republicans need four more Democrats, for a total of eight, to break a filibuster and pass the bill, as four Democrats have already backed it.
