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These 5 Republicans are Refusing to Back McCarthy for Speaker

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    House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delivers remarks at the 2021 Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Washington DC, December 1, 2021. USDA Forest Service photo by Tanya E. Flores.

    Current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is facing unexpected pushback as he seeks to become House Speaker when Republicans officially re-take control of Congress in January.

    So far, five Republican lawmakers have publicly announced they do not plan to support McCarthy’s campaign to become Speaker and he will need every vote he can get with Republicans holding a smaller-than-expected majority.

    The GOP is expected to wind up with a 222-seat majority in January, compared to an estimated 213 seats for Democrats. If all 435 members of the House are present and voting for speaker in January, McCarthy can lose no more than four Republican votes. 

    These are the 5 Republicans jeopardizing McCarthy’s rise to the Speaker’s podium:

    Rep. Matt Gaetz

    Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    “House Republicans need a leader with credibility across every spectrum of the GOP conference in order to be a capable fighting force for the American people,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). “That person is not Kevin McCarthy.” 

    Rep. Andy Biggs

    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs initially cast doubt on McCarthy’s bid for Speaker after Republicans saw lackluster midterm results. The House Freedom Caucus chairman is now directly challenging McCarthy to become Speaker himself.

    “I think we need to have a real discussion about whether he should be the speaker or not,” Biggs told reporters the Thursday after Election Day.

    “I think that his statement recently that we shouldn’t impeach Secretary Mayorkas indicates that maybe we’re not going to be as aggressive going forward as we should be. I think we need to have a very positive statement of what we’re going to accomplish and do, and I haven’t seen that yet,” he added. “That’s — those are things that I think we should have a very frank discussion internally about, where we’re going to be going forward.”

    Rep. Matt Rosendale

    Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale has also expressed his doubts over McCarthy’s potential Speakership but hasn’t ruled out voting for him or for Rep. Biggs.

    “Each member of Congress has earned and deserves equal participation in the legislative process,” said Rosendale. 

    Rep. Matt Rosendale

    The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman has also made it clear he won’t be casting his vote for McCarthy regardless of any concession the California lawmaker plans to make.

    “I’m not going to support Kevin McCarthy,” Norman told Just the News. “Washington is broken. There’s a cancer in this country, and it can’t be fixed with aspirin. It’s called overspending. When you’re bankrupt, you can’t function as a country.”

    Rep. Bob Good

    House Creative Committee, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Virginia Rep. Bob Good also signaled he will take a hard stance against McCarthy this January.

    “I believe we have at least a dozen or so that are strong, courageous, that will do what needs to be done on the House floor to ensure that we get an improvement in the speaker situation,” Rep. Good said to the “John Fredericks Show.”

    Woke Former Twitter Censorship Czar Says ‘Misgendering’ Can’t be Allowed

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    Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine answering questions from the press. As states across the country begin to reopen and nearly half are seeing COVID-19 cases rise, Governor Tom Wolf announced Friday that Pennsylvania is not one of them. ...Today at a daily COVID briefing with Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, he noted another milestone: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention proprietary data for states indicates that we are one of just three states that has had a downward trajectory of COVID- 19 cases for more than 42 days. The other two states are Montana and Hawaii. JUNE 17, 2020 - HARRISBURG, PA.

    ANALYSIS – This is how the world ends, not with a bang, but a ‘misgendering.’  

    A recent podcast interview with the ex-Twitter censorship czar provides insight into the warped woke ‘logic’ behind insanely dangerous leftist censorship.

    The illuminating comments were made by the former head of trust and safety at Twitter to defend the company’s earlier choice to suspend the Babylon Bee, a Christian satire outlet, for ‘misgendering’ a public official.

    Misgendering is the new made-up woke term that refers to someone not calling someone else by their own totally made-up preferred gender identity. 

    And to the Left, this simple choice is a horrific act of brutality against a  ‘vulnerable community’ and cannot be tolerated under any circumstances – “full stop.”

    In the interview Yoel Roth stated:

    “So let’s start from a premise that it’s fu**ed up. But then again let’s look at what Twitter’s written policies are, Twitter’s written policies prohibit misgendering, full stop. And the Babylon Bee, in the name of satire, misgendered Admiral Rachel Levine.”

    Oh, the horror…

    As Fox News reported:

    Ex-Twitter safety chief Yoel Roth slammed conservative Twitter accounts during a discussion with journalist Kara Swisher that was later released on her Thursday podcast. 

    The Babylon Bee (The Bee) was suspended from Twitter after it made a joke at the expense of transgender Health and Human Services assistant secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, who identifies as a female. 

    The Bee had published a satirical piece congratulating the government official for being dubbed its “Man of the Year” for 2022.

    While letting him know that she did not agree with Twitter’s choice to suspend The Bee, Swisher invited Roth to explain his company’s course of action at the time.

    “It’s interesting to think about what the competing tensions around that are. I want to start by acknowledging that the targeting and the victimization of the trans community on Twitter is very real, very life-threatening, and extraordinarily serious,” Roth claimed. 

    “We have seen from a number of Twitter accounts, including LibsOfTikTok notably, that there are orchestrated campaigns that particularly are singling out a group that is already particularly vulnerable within society.”

    He went on to say, “Not only is it not funny, but it is dangerous, and it does contribute to an environment that makes people unsafe in the world.”

    The former Twitter official then went on to shield himself behind Twitter’s regulations, suggesting that his team was merely enforcing the rules on the books.

    Well, not only are Roth’s comments outrageous nonsense, they are dangerous to all our freedoms.

    It is a scientific fact that biological men and women cannot change sex. Despite every painful effort,  they can only change their appearance. 

    Biology and chromosomes can’t be transformed, even if genitals and breasts can be mutilated, and supplemented by a lifetime regimen of drugs and hormone injections. 

    Of course, clothing, accessories, and behavior can also be adjusted and modified.

    But, these are all essentially cosmetic, even when some are horribly invasive, changes.

    Calling a biological man a man is simply scientific fact. 

    It is even more accurate when the man has not undergone any sexual transition procedures, but simply ‘identifies’ as a woman.

    The same applies to women ‘identifying’ as men.

    But banning ‘misgendering’ isn’t enough, Twitter’s Terms of Service continues the insanity by prohibiting ‘deadnaming’ transgender individuals. 

    ‘Deadnaming’ is another newly made up woke term that refers to simply calling someone by the name they were known by prior to their deciding to identify with the opposite sex.

    In the case of Rachel Levine, that means calling him Richard, his name for the majority of his male life.

    Notice I just ‘misgendered,’ and ‘deadnamed’ Levine.

    While on a personal level some of us may choose to accept the preferred gender identity, pronouns, or new name of a ‘transgender’ individual, out of courtesy or whatever other reason, that choice should not be dictated by Big Tech, or anyone else. 

    And doing so has created a dangerous new logic that the right of a ‘transgender’ individual to demand everyone use his or her gender identity, or new name, absolutely trumps all our rights to our own beliefs and our constitutional right to free speech. 

    And that is the most dangerous thing of all 

    Please note that new ‘Chief Twit’ Elon Musk has reinstated Twitter accounts, such as Babylon Bee, previously suspended for policy violations, Twitter’s terms of service still lay out the old rules about misgendering.

    Musk needs to quickly,  but carefully, change those rules. How he does that will set a new standard for how these issues should be dealt with by other platforms, and society in general. GAND

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Democrat State Senator Announces Switch to GOP

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    Democrats via Pixabay images

    As the Democrat Party steadily inches leftward toward outright disaster members are seeking to distance themselves from increasingly radical values by any means necessary.

    A prominent West Virginia Democrat state senator officially flipped his registration to Republican this week. State Senator Glenn Jeffries submitted paperwork to join the Republican caucus after being elected in 2016 to serve as a Democrat. 

    According to The Daily Wire, Republicans now hold a majority in the state senate of 31 senators. 

    “I have the greatest respect for the many friends and supporters I have been blessed with during my time in public office,” Jeffries said in his announcement. “I hope to continue and strengthen those relationships going forward.”

    “Our politics have gotten so personal and difficult. I want to make sure that I serve constituents and our state in a respectful, thoughtful way that leads to a better life for all West Virginians,” he added. 

    Jeffries didn’t disclose what exactly led up to his decision to abandon the Democrat Party however in a release, the West Virginia Democrats said the change was because of “discomfort with Democratic Party values.”

    His change in party status was first announced by the Putnam County Republican Executive Committee. 

    “I warmly welcome Senator Glenn Jeffries into the West Virginia Republican Party,” Tony Hodge, the Putnam County Republican Party Chairman and the Co-Chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, said. “Senator Jeffries has proven himself to be a very hard worker for Putnam County. His efforts to improve infrastructure such as water and sewer services as well as road maintenance have been exemplary.”

    Senate President Craig Blair welcomed Jeffries to the GOP in a statement this week.

    “With Senator Jeffries as a member of our caucus, we stand at 31 members strong. Glenn has been a leader in the minority caucus with his work in economic development and infrastructure,” Blair said. “As a successful small business owner, he knows what meeting a payroll, hard work, responsibility, and teamwork mean. I know he has been – and will continue to be – an incredibly valuable member of the West Virginia Senate.”

    As progressive Democrats continue to push the party towards insanity will moderate Dems make the eventual switch to the GOP? Tell us what you think in the comments below!

    Air Marshalls Reportedly Planning Revolt Over Biden’s Border Demand

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    CBP Photography, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    U.S. air marshalls are reportedly planning to rebel against a recent order from the White House instructing them to leave positions on commercial flights to take up new posts at the border.

    Air Marshal National Council President David Londo says dozens of air marshalls have confirmed their plans to reject President Biden’s demand.

    President Joe Biden has reportedly ordered U.S. air marshals to the southern border to make up for a lack of Border Patrol agents. The move is expected to leave the marshals at one-eighth of their normal coverage of U.S. flights- especially as the country heads into its busiest travel season.

    The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has denied Londo’s claim.

    It is “entirely inaccurate and does not reflect the critical and professional law enforcement role these officers perform,” the TSA said in a statement.

    According to The Daily Wire, Londo wrote to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, TSA Administrator David Pekoske, and Federal Air Marshal Service Director Tirrell Stevenson that the marshals had lost “confidence” in the officials’ ability to lead.

    “As it stands today, we believe that many FAMs will refuse to deploy, believing the order is reckless and leaving our country vulnerable to attack,” Londo wrote. “On behalf of our membership, stop these dangerous and irresponsible deployments before our adversaries take advantage of the opportunity this policy has provided.”

    “The Federal Air Marshal Service is understaffed and covering the fewest number of flights since before September 11, 2001,” the association said. “We strongly question the decision by the Department of Homeland Security to divert much-needed aviation security to the southern border especially as we enter the busiest travel season of the year, particularly as a federal emergency has not been declared at the border.”

    The Department of Homeland Security pushed back against Londo’s claims.

    “The suggestion that flights are being left unprotected is completely false,” the department said in a statement to Fox News. “TSA takes its responsibility to secure the skies for the traveling public very seriously. We will continue to protect commercial flights though [sic] our multi-layered security processes, including through the Federal Air Marshal Service which supports this critical mission on the ground and onboard aircrafts.”

    Last year, The Federal Air Marshal Service asked marshals to volunteer to spend a 30-day period at the southern border assisting agents processing migrants. However, the Biden administration made the deployments mandatory last month.

    The U.S.-Mexico border has seen an explosion in migrant crossings since Biden’s inauguration. On Thursday, new data revealed more than 73,000 illegal immigrants evaded Border Patrol agents in November alone.

    According to Fox News, the number of gotaways for November means that there are already over 137,000 gotaways so far this fiscal year, which began in October. In FY2022 there were nearly 600,000 gotaways. There were 389,155 gotaways at the border in FY2021.

    There were more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in FY2022 and more than 1.7 million in FY2021. So far, FY2023 is on track to exceed both of those numbers. 

    Amanda Head: Trudeau Encourages Chinese Protestors After Squashing Canada’s Freedom Convoy

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    What a double standard…

    President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both worked overtime to squash anti-Covid lockdown freedom convoy protests in the U.S. and Canada but suddenly support the protest in China.

    Watch Amanda explain the hypocritical move below:

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Democrat Senators Pressure Biden to Reconsider Rescinding Trump-era Title 42

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    Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

    Americans need Joe Biden to get some common sense and address the crisis at the border.

    Democrat senators are asking Homeland Security Department officials to reconsider ending the Trump-era Title 42 border policy used to expel some migrants.

    In a November letter to Sec. Mayorkas, Democrat Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Mark Kelly of Arizona, John Tester of Montana and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire argued that the Biden administration isn’t prepared for the surge of illegal migrants expected at the border when the policy end, according to The Daily Caller.

    “Since the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued the Public Health Determination and terminated the Title 42 Order on April 1, 2022, we have expressed concern with DHS’ preparations for the end of Title 42, especially as the situation has deteriorated at times,” the senators wrote.

    “Record annual encounters have led to untenable situations. In Arizona, shelters have been forced well beyond capacity. This month, El Paso has seen over 700 migrants released directly onto city streets due to overcrowding. This is not safe, and creates a dangerous situation for migrants and communities,” they added.

    A federal judge ruled on Nov. 15 that the Biden administration must end Title 42, which has resulted in the expulsion of more than 2 million illegal migrants.

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered more than 2.3 million migrants at the southern border in the fiscal year 2022 and upwards of 230,000 migrants in October alone.

    Republicans have also mulled impeaching Mayorkas once the GOP retakes control of Congress in January.

    McCarthy Signals Incoming Jan. 6 Panel Investigation

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    Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer attend medal ceremony via Wikimedia Commons

    House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) is threatening to investigate Nancy Pelosi’s partisan Jan. 6th committee when Republicans officially take control of Congress in January.

    In a letter to Select Committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), McCarthy told the panel to save all documents because the coming Republican majority plans to review its work, according to The Hill.

    “It is imperative that all information collected be preserved not just for institutional prerogatives but for transparency to the American people,” McCarthy wrote.

    “The American people have a right to know that the allegations you have made are supported by the facts and to be able to view the transcripts.”

    Rep. Thompson responded to McCarthy’s letter noting that multiple Republican lawmakers were offered seats on the panel and noted the committee was originally planning to release its findings to the public.

    “He had a chance to have members on the committee. So he had a chance to come and testify before the committee. So I think the horse has left the barn. And we will do our work, we will end Dec. 31. If he wants to conduct whatever he wants as Speaker, it’s his choice. But we sunset Dec. 31. He can read the report. We won’t have anything in our possession after Dec. 31,” Thompson said.

    “The subpoena I signed for him to come and testify before the committee will be part of the record.”

    McCarthy’s threat comes as the panel is set to meet Friday to evaluate how to deal with the five Republican lawmakers who failed to comply with their subpoenas- which includes McCarthy. The Select Committee meeting will also cover whether to make criminal referrals to the Justice Department.

    So far the committee has made four such referrals to the DOJ, which ultimately chose to pursue charges in two cases: against former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.

    Latest ISIS Terror Leader Reportedly Killed – How Long Will Next One Last?

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    Photo via Pixabay images

    ANALYSIS – A spokesman for the Islamist terror group Islamic State, or ISIS, has announced that their latest leader has been killed “in action.”

    His death has not yet been independently verified, and no one has claimed responsibility for the killing.

    Asked in Washington about Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi‘s death, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told The Associated Press

    “We certainly welcome the news of the death of another ISIS leader. I don’t have any additional operational details to provide at this time.”

    Qurashi refers to the tribe of Islam’s founder, the Prophet Muhammad, from whom ISIS leaders must claim descent.

    If the latest leader’s death is true, he would be the second ISIS leader killed this year, about 10 months after the death of the previous leader killed in a U.S. raid in northwest Syria in March.

    He would also be the third leader eliminated since the founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by U.S. forces in Idlib, Syria in 2019.

    Their deaths came after the meteoric rise of ISIS in 2013-2014 following Barack Obama’s reckless withdrawal from Iraq in December 2011.

    Obama famously called ISIS the “JV team.”

    Meanwhile, some doubt the veracity of the claim that the latest ISIS leader has been killed.

    According to the Mirror, Hassan Hassan, co-author of the book “ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror,” urged caution about the news and says ISIS could have “easily” said “that person was killed and replaced with ‘Abu al-HussAIN al-Qurashi.’ Who could tell?”

    The Mirror reported:

    Writing on Twitter Mr Hassan continued: “Important to note that this is quite possibly a fake announcement.

    “Scenario 1 is that the ISIS leader was killed ‘accidentally’ during a raid or fighting without him being known to whoever killed him (the US, Iraqis, Kurds) so those did not know they killed the leader. That’d be unprecedented, but possible.

    “Also, jihadist groups have a long history of claiming leaders/commanders dead, just to get intelligence/security agencies off their back.”

    ISIS has been mostly defeated in Iraq and Syria, under relentless attacks during Trump’s administration, but sleeper cells still carry out attacks on both countries

    The ISIS threat has also been increasing recently, under Joe Biden, especially in Africa.

    Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was reportedly replaced by Abu al-Hussain al-Hussaini al-Qurashi as the despicable terror group’s new caliph.

    The Daily Mail reported:

    The [ISIS] spokesman did not provide details on the new leader, but said he was a ‘veteran’ jihadist and called on all groups loyal to IS to pledge their allegiance.

    Little else is known of the leader who is taking control of the beleaguered terror group whose influence over the Middle East has waned in recent years.

    Apparently, being chosen the ISIS leader, or caliph, brings with it a very short life span. 

    Let’s see how long this new leader lasts before being sent to enjoy his 72 virgins.

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Amanda Head: Hollywood Star Defends Common Sense!

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    “Harry Potter” actress Helena Bonham Carter has landed herself in hot water after speaking out against liberals’ favorite weapon of choice: cancel culture.

    Watch Amanda explain the controversy below:

    Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Great America News Desk.

    Biden Defends China’s ‘COVID Freedom’ Protests, But Not U.S. and Canadian Ones 

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    The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    ANALYSIS – The massive protests against the communist Chinese dictatorship, and its draconian anti-COVID repression continues.

    And so does the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) crackdown.

    As these Chinese ‘freedom protests’ grow and spread, hypocritical Western leaders, who until recently pursued their own, less harsh, COVID crackdowns and vaccine mandates, are showing their support.

    Among them, is Joe Biden. 

    A Monday White House statement in response to anti-lockdown demonstrations that swept through major Chinese cities reads:

    We think it’s going to be very difficult for the People’s Republic of China to be able to contain this virus through their zero COVID strategy. We’ve long said everyone has a right to peacefully protest, here in the United States and around the world. This includes the PRC.

    Sadly, while he could be far more aggressive in his response to China’s COVID repression, Biden was doing just the opposite with earlier Canadian and American COVID crackdown protests.

    Justin Trudeau’s authoritarian overkill in response to Canadian truckers was particularly egregious.

    An unquestionably authoritarian move, it received criticism from the left, right, and center.

    The leftist Canadian Civil Liberties Association called Trudeau’s actions “unnecessary, unjustifiable and unconstitutional.” 

    Reason Magazine’s J.D. Tuccille said at the time that Trudeau had a “bad case of China-envy.”

    Yet, Biden wholeheartedly backed Trudeau’s repression.

    As Reason explains:

    The Biden administration urged the Canadian government to use whatever means it had to reopen border crossings barricaded by the so-called “Freedom convoy” and get a handle on the protests.

    That’s according to revelations of an ongoing Canadian inquiry into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unprecedented invocation of Canada’s Emergencies Act.

    Why was Biden so gung-ho about Trudeau’s crushing of the peaceful trucker freedom protests?

    Reason argues that in part:

    Biden embraced an expansive view of his executive powers to effectively mandate vaccines for millions of Americans. That contributed to his support for the suppression of Canadian anti-mandate demonstrations. 

    REASON added: “The only people who seem to support Trudeau’s use of emergency powers against peaceful protestors are the prime minister himself—and the Biden White House.”

    And Biden’s strong backing of Trudeau’s repression makes his current defense of China’s protests all the more laughable.

    It also erodes his moral authority to lecture the Chinese government now on the right of the people to peaceful protest.

    As Reason concludes: “It’s also a lesson in how restrictions on freedom in one country can damage it everywhere.” 

    When America allows the crushing of political dissent at home and promotes repression by its liberal northern neighbor, it not only hurts us, it fuels more repression among our enemies.

    This only helps authoritarianism grow globally.