The Biden administration is on the brink of impeachment proceedings.
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed it has hired a law firm to aid in responding to the potential GOP House-led impeachment of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
According to reports from The Hill, the contract, signed with New-York based firm Debevoise & Plimpton, comes a week after a second article of impeachment was filed by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.).
“The Department of Homeland Security has retained outside counsel to help ensure the Department’s vital mission is not interrupted by the unprecedented, unjustified, and partisan impeachment efforts by some Members of Congress, who have already taken steps to initiate proceedings,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
“DHS will continue prioritizing its work to protect our country from terrorism, respond to natural disasters, and secure our borders while responding appropriately to the over 70 Congressional committees and subcommittees that have oversight of DHS.”
DHS doesn’t have any staff on hand with expertise in such a matter, an agency official told The Hill, and said the scale of legal assistance needed will depend on how the GOP decides to proceed with its probe. Still, the department declined to outline other financial details of the retainer.
Republicans have yet to take any action on the resolutions, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other Republican leaders have pledged what could be lengthy investigations ahead of an eventual impeachment.
The impeachment of Cabinet officials is rare and hasn’t occurred since 1876.
While the Biden administration remains hellbent on allowing thousands upon thousands of migrants and asylum seekers to pour into U.S. cities with little to no regard for American citizens.
However, despite Biden’s disregard for order at the border or within his own country asylum seekers say that the chaos in American cities has them already looking for the exit.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, asylum seekers in New York City are desperate to flee the liberal city for “safer” Canada and New York City mayor Eric Adams (D) is happy to oblige.
Multiple Latin American asylum seekers told reporters that the alarming and blatant drug use coupled with the ongoing homeless crisis has left migrants feeling hopeless and searching for answers. In response to the complaints being levied by migrants, as well as taxpaying residents, the mayor has funded bus tickets to transport migrants across the U.S.- Canada border.
“Those who are seeking to go somewhere else — not that we’re pushing or forcing — if they’re seeking to go somewhere else, we are helping in the re-ticketing process,” Mayor Adams said on Monday in an interview with Fox 5.
“I wanted to live in New York because I thought it would be a better future for my daughters,” said Susy Sanchez Solzarno, 33, from Peru. “But as the days went by, I saw insecurity, many homeless people, many people who shout and are disrespectful, and many people on drugs. … I am going to Canada for the safety and future of my girls.”
“A lot of the Americans used drugs [in New York],” said Manuel Rodon, 26, from Venezuela. “I feel like Canada will be safer. It is a much quieter country than America.”
Since 2021, the Biden administration has forced states to take in thousands of migrants and bear the brunt of feeding and housing costs as well as other complications. The move has taken a distinct toll on various U.S. cities, especially NYC.
The latest Quinnipiac University poll reflects New Yorker’s unhappiness with Mayor Adams.
A Quinnipiac University poll of New York City registered voters out Wednesday found that 37% approve of the way he’s handling his job, while 43% disapprove and 20% don’t know.
That negative 6% approval rating is a flip from Quinnipiac’s last poll, in May 2022, where 43% of voters approved, 37% disapproved, and 20% didn’t know – a positive 6% approval rating.
“Polls go up and down, up and down. And we’re just going to continue to do what we do. And that’s produce for New Yorkers,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference Wednesday, after being told about the results of the poll. “I am really pleased with the administration the way they are. We’re going to continue to stay focused, no distractions and grind.”
Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy and Fox Business reporter Hillary Vaughn announced their first child’s birth on Thursday.
Doocy and Vaughn, who have been married since 2021, confirmed to People magazine that their daughter, Bridget Blake Doocy, was born on Feb. 1.
“I didn’t realize this until now, but I’ve been training for motherhood my entire career by trying to get lawmakers on Capitol Hill to respond to my questions. This job isn’t much different,” Vaughn told People magazine.
Vaughn said her water broke when she was on her way to work at Capitol Hill, which she was “prepared” for. She said she knew where to find senators who used to be doctors, and that Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who was a doctor in Wyoming, told her to reach out if she needs anything.
Doocy said that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre joked with him about what he should name his baby last month, joking that he could name her “Karine.”
“During a briefing last month, the press secretary gave me permission to name the baby Karine and I joked we were considering naming the baby after the president: ‘Joe-sephine.’ But we can report here for the first time her name is Bridget Blake Doocy,” he told People.
“Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy also announce the arrival of his first granddaughter on Thursday’s show, saying that he is “so proud.”
“I’ve got an announcement: I am now a grandfather,” he said on Thursday’s “Fox & Friends” show.
Last year, President Biden was caught calling the White House correspondent a “stupid son of a bitch” after Doocy asked Biden whether inflation was a political liability for him.
The verbal slip took place during a White House event on Biden administration efforts to combat inflation. After the president complained that all the press questions were about the military buildup around Ukraine, Doocy shouted: “Will you take questions about inflation? Do you think inflation is a political liability ahead of the midterms?”
Thinking his microphone was turned off, Biden responded sarcastically: “No, that’s a great asset. More inflation.”
He added, “What a stupid son of a bitch.”
Later, Bret Baier asked Doocy about the “colorful exchange” with the president, Doocy replied: “He didn’t want to take any questions off-topic. He was at an event about inflation. I asked about inflation. Now wait to see if the White House has to bleep that on the transcript.”
Baier then asked: “What did the other reporters say about that? Did you talk with them?” Doocy replied: “They actually had to tell me he had said it, because I couldn’t hear anything over the shouting of the wranglers. So now the clip will live on.”
Ultimately, President Biden apologized to Doocy for the remark.
Last month, over 20 House Republican lawmakers refused to vote for Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid for House Speaker. However, after 15 grueling rounds of voting McCarthy finally held the Speaker’s gavel.
Not every holdout got exactly what he or she had asked for, some won plum committee assignments from McCarthy, here’s what we know so far:
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a vocal McCarthy foe during the speaker fight, flipped to “present” in the 14th round. Gaetz will continue to serve on the Judiciary panel and was appointed by the Speaker to the new weaponization subcommittee.
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona a former head of the Freedom Caucus and one of the five so-called “Never Kevins,” kept his position on the powerful Judiciary and Oversight committee. The Arizona Congressman was also named chairman of the Judiciary’s subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance. Ultimately, Biggs changed his vote to “present” on the final ballot for speaker, helping propell McCarthy over the finish line.
Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina flipped to back McCarthy on the 12th ballot, and will continue to serve on both the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees. McCarthy also named Bishop to the Judiciary’s new subcommittee on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, the vocal McCarthy critic who voted “present” on the 14th and 15th ballots, was awarded a seat on the Oversight and Accountability Committee. She will also continue to serve on the Natural Resources panel.
Rep. Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, the freshman Congressman flipped to McCarthy on the 12th ballot and won seats on the Homeland Security Committee and Budget committees.
Rep. Mike Cloud of Texas flipped to McCarthy on the 12th ballot. The Lone Star state Congressman won a new seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, which controls federal spending. McCarthy also named him to the new select committee investigating the origins of the Covid pandemic.
Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, another lawmaker who flipped to McCarthy on the 12th ballot, will serve on the Appropriations Committee for the first time.
Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona will serve on the Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida was nominated to run against McCarthy for speaker and flipped to him on the 12th ballot. Donalds was named by McCarthy as the “speaker’s designee” on the influential Steering Committee, which decides which lawmakers get committee gavels and seats. Donalds also won a coveted spot on the Financial Services Committee, a top panel known on Capitol Hill as an “A” committee.
Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, one of the Never Kevins who flipped to “present” in the last round of voting, will serve on the Budget and Education and Workforce committees.
Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona flipped to McCarthy on the 12th ballot and was reinstated by Republicans on two committees —Oversight and Natural Resources panels. He was named chairman of the Natural Resources subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland will continue to serve on the Appropriations panel. Harris, a physician, will be the chairman of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration subcommittee.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida flipped to McCarthy on the 12th ballot. The freshman Congresswoman won a seat on the Oversight and Natural Resources panels.
Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois will remain on the Agriculture Committee.
Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, one of the “Never Kevins” who flipped to McCarthy on the 12th ballot, was named by the speaker as one of nine Republicans on the Rules Committee. Additionally, the South Carolina congressman will remain on the Financial Services panel and will serve on the Budget Committee too.
Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee won a seat on the Financial Services Committee.
Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus who brokered a deal between conservatives and McCarthy, will remain on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Perry also won a new seat on the Oversight committee.
Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, a “Never Kevin” who flipped to “present” on the final ballot, will continue to serve on Natural Resources.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, who helped Perry negotiate a deal with McCarthy, was tapped to serve on the Budget committee and the influential Rules Committee. The Lone Star state congressman will also keep his seat on the Judiciary panel.
Rep. Keith Self of Texas will serve on the Foreign Affairs panel.
Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana, who flipped from “present” to vote for McCarthy on the 12th ballot, will continue to serve on the Judiciary panel.
Trump promoted a post that showed a grainy photograph of someone that is alleged to be DeSantis standing next to several women at a party who appear to be roughly the same age.
“Here is Ron DeSanctimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher,” the post claimed.
Trump promoted the post on his social media channel, writing: “That’s not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!”
The New York Times previously reported that the photo was published by a blog run by a Democrat super PAC and that two former female students said parties that DeSantis attended “took place after” they had graduated.
The Florida Governor has been the recent target of a number of verbal attacks from Trump, however, the Governor refuses to sink to his level.
On Wednesday, a reporter asked if DeSantis’s proposal to make it easier for government officials to sue the media for defamation would address Trump’s “damaging” posts about him. After defending his panel proposals, DeSantis got more direct about Trump’s attack:
“I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida and fighting against Joe Biden,” DeSantis said to applause. “That’s how I spend my time. I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans.”
The Club for Growth has invited six possible Republican presidential candidates to its annual donor retreat. Former President Donald Trump isn’t one of them.
The anti-tax super PAC spent $150 million in the past two election cycles boosting GOP candidates across the country. Its leader, David McIntosh, believes the Republican Party’s chances of reclaiming the White House in two years’ time will be significantly diminished if Trump becomes the party’s nominee.
Now, McIntosh wants to do all he can to introduce major donors to other possibilities.
“The party should be open to another candidate,” Mr. McIntosh said, suggesting that Republicans had already lost too many elections with Mr. Trump as the face of the party.
The group and the former president clashed during last year’s Ohio GOP Senate primary. Trump sent McIntosh a vulgar message less than one month after graciously introducing him at a rally.
In OHSEN, Trump had expected McIntosh from the Club for Growth to stop supporting Mandel after Trump backed Vance. The Club aired a new spot today featuring Vance quotes criticizing Trump in the past. Trump had his assistant send McIntosh a text saying, “Go f*^% yourself.” April 21, 2022
The Times continues:
Mr. McIntosh insisted that there was no personal animosity guiding the group’s interest in seeking another option for the 2024 nomination. Instead, he said that Mr. Trump had proved to be toxic among general election voters, adding that Republicans had lost elections in 2018, 2020 and 2022 on the former president’s watch.
Mr. Trump’s standing among Republicans dipped in public opinion polls in November and December. In addition to being largely blamed for the Republicans’ disappointing midterm season, he was also roundly criticized after hosting a private dinner — a week after his campaign announcement — with Kanye West, who has been denounced for making antisemitic statements, and Nick Fuentes, an outspoken antisemite and prominent young white supremacist.
What do you think? Is Trump the strongest nominee to win in 2024? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
President Biden’s incompetency as President is unavoidable.
After the President permitted a Chinese spy balloon to traverse the country for the better part of a week it is important to remind Americans that last year Biden chose to cancel a program launched by the Trump administration to identify Chinese threats to national security.
According to The Daily Wire, Matt Olsen, the Biden administration’s assistant attorney general in charge of the national security division, claimed that Asians had said the program was biased against them, saying, “We helped give rise to a harmful perception that the department applies a lower standard to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct related to that country or that we in some way view people with racial, ethnic, or family ties to China differently.”
“Make no mistake. We will be relentless in defending our country from China,” he added.
A few weeks before Biden ended Trump’s China Initiative, former FBI director Christopher Wray acknowledged that when he took his job in 2017 and examined the scope of Chinese theft of American technology, it “blew me away. And I’m not the kind of guy that uses words like ‘blown away’ easily.”
“There is no country that presents a broader, more severe threat to our innovation, our ideas and our economic security than China does,” he added.
“The scale of their hacking program, and the amount of personal and corporate data that their hackers have stolen, is greater than every other country combined,” Wray concluded.
The China Initiative was implemented by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2018.
“Today, we see Chinese espionage not just taking place against traditional targets like our defense and intelligence agencies, but against targets like research labs and universities, and we see Chinese propaganda disseminated on our campuses. … This Department of Justice—and the Trump administration—have already made our decision: we will not allow our sovereignty to be disrespected, our intellectual property to be stolen, or our people to be robbed of their hard-earned prosperity. We want fair trade and good relationships based on honest dealing. We will enforce our laws—and we will protect America’s national interests.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received an unexpected rescue after being called a racist.
Black leaders in Miami apologized to Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis after one of its members called him a racist last week, according to reports from Fox News.
Pierre Rutledge, chair of the Miami-Dade Black Affairs Advisory Board, issued a statement on behalf of his board that apologized to DeSantis for a comment made at their Wednesday meeting from a member who said, “Our governor is racist.”
“We take it to heart when someone uses the term racist,” Rutledge said Friday. “Words matter. And so as chair, I must start by saying we want to pull that back. There’s nothing wrong with saying ‘we’re sorry.’ That’s not what we intended to say or be depicted by anyone. And that’s not the feeling of this board.”
The member labeled DeSantis a racist due to the ongoing controversy of an African-American history Advanced Placement course. Earlier this year, Gov. DeSantis rejected the course because he claimed the content did not focus on Black history, instead, the course contained Black Lives Matter and queer issues.
DeSantis has defended the decision from his Department of Education to remove the African-American history course, which he said pushes a political agenda.
“This course on Black history, what’s one of the lessons about? Queer theory,” DeSantis said. “Now, who would say that an important part of Black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda.”
Black leaders and Democrats in Florida have pledged to defend and keep the course in schools.
The College Board removed aspects of the course last Wednesday opposed by DeSantis. The course will be reevaluated by the Florida Department of Education to determine if it is appropriate for schools.
Donald Trump seems to have his eyes set on dragging Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s name through the mud.
Trump made his latest unprovoked attack against the Florida governor during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday.
“Ron DeSantis got elected because of me. You remember he had nothing. He was dead. He was leaving the race,” Trump claimed. “He came over and he begged me, begged me for an endorsement. He was getting ready to drop out. I gave him an endorsement, and as soon as I gave that endorsement, in fact, I said you’re going to have a hard time.”
“He said if you endorse me, I’ll win. And there were tears coming down from his eyes,” Trump claimed. “He said if you endorse me, I’ll win. I said you know what, Ron, Ron was one of 150 people that was on television. I mean, Jim Jordan was the best, and others were great. But he was one of 150, Hugh, that was on television, and he was supporting me on the impeachment hoax number one, and a little bit on the impeachment hoax number two. And I said I don’t know Adam Putnam, so we’ll do it.”
During the sprawling interview, Trump also slammed his former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley over her potential White House run.
Trump has recently fired off a barrage of attacks against DeSantis, who is potentially considering mounting his own presidential campaign.
On Wednesday, Trump accused DeSantis of being a “RINO Globalist” as he criticized his response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The real Ron is a RINO GLOBALIST, who closed quickly down Florida and even its beaches,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Loved the Vaccines and wasted big money on ‘Testing.’ How quickly people forget!”