Latest news with #Cornyn
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Republicans allege massive ‘cover up' of Biden's cognitive decline as Democrats boycott hearing
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) on Wednesday accused former Biden Cabinet officials, Democratic members of Congress and the media of participating in a massive 'cover up' to hide what they claim was President Biden's obvious and alarming cognitive decline during his final two years in office. 'There was a conspiracy to hide the president's true condition by his family, by his staff, by the media, and many elected officials. This was a constitutional crisis bigger than President Biden, bigger than any single election, and one that cannot be absolved by the collective apology of the press and an election where the president's party lost,' Cornyn said in his opening statement of a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Cornyn and Schmitt rolled out their accusations against the former president and his inner circle to a mostly empty room after most Democrats on the panel boycotted the hearing. Yet Cornyn argued that Congress has a responsibility to investigate who was in charge of the executive branch during the final months of Biden's presidency, when Biden was having difficulty navigating the demands of his job and his reelection campaign, according to books that provided insider-sourced accounts of that time. 'We need to know who was in charge during the last months of the Biden administration. Was it his wife, his chief of staff, nameless others? None of these people were elected by the American people, nor were they authorized by the Constitution and laws of the United States to carry out the duties of the president of the United States,' Cornyn said at the hearing. Schmitt declared that Biden was 'mentally unfit to carry out the responsibilities of the most powerful office in the world.' 'Given his mental incapacity, the American people deserve to know who was running the country the last four years,' he said. Schmitt called it 'deeply disappointing' that most Democrats on the panel chose to 'boycott' the meeting and decided not to call a single witness to testify. Schmitt claimed that Biden's decline 'did not suddenly begin in June of 2024,' when he performed disastrously at the presidential debate against Trump. 'It was a persistent and obvious truth that was evident for years to anyone who was willing to see it,' he said. Cornyn and Schmitt called on former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer to testify along with University of Virginia law school professor John Harrison and Heritage Foundation fellow Theodore Wold. The Republicans claims of a cover-up received pushback from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who provided some opening remarks before leaving the room. Durbin dinged his GOP colleagues for not holding oversight hearings about the Trump administration or looking into the recent detainment of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) at a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem or Trump's deployment of active-duty Marines during protests in Los Angeles. 'So far this year the Republican majority on this committee has not held a single oversight hearing, despite numerous critical challenges facing the nation that our under our jurisdiction,' he said. Durbin accused his GOP colleagues of 'armchair diagnosing' Biden instead of investigating issues he argued would be more deserving of congressional oversight.
Axios
4 days ago
- Business
- Axios
The GOP's come to Jesus moment on Texas Senate race
A new private GOP poll is showing Republicans facing a growing problem in the Texas Senate race, the third such survey in just a month. Why it matters: Republicans haven't lost a statewide race in Texas in more than three decades, but party officials concede they may need to spend millions to keep the seat this year. "The problem is nobody with the necessary gravitas seems to be willing to state the obvious: this is shaping up to be a f***ing disaster," a senior GOP Senate aide told Axios. Zoom in: Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) trails state Attorney General Ken Paxton by 16 percentage points in a new survey conducted by veteran Republican pollster Chris Wilson. A copy was obtained by Axios. But Paxton trails a generic Democrat by three percentage points in a general election matchup. The establishment-aligned Cornyn performs far better than Paxton in a general election, leading a Democrat by seven percentage points. The survey results are similar to recent surveys conducted by the GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund super PAC and the American Opportunity Alliance, a network of influential Republican donors. Between the lines: Paxton was impeached by the state House of Representatives in 2023 on bribery and corruption charges but was later acquitted by the state Senate. "If the goal is to maintain a GOP Senate majority and maximize Trump's down-ballot coattails in Texas, Paxton's nomination is a strategic liability," Wilson, who has advised Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), said in a memo accompanying the poll. "If Paxton wins the primary, the GOP is on a path to hand Democrats their best Senate opportunity in a generation," Wilson added. Yes, but: Cornyn has more than $8 million in the bank between his campaign and super PAC accounts and has yet to begin unloading on Paxton, which Cornyn aides insist will tighten the primary contest. Cornyn has also assembled a seasoned team of operatives that includes senior Trump political advisers Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio. The bottom line: "The Cornyn campaign remains confident that once Texas GOP primary voters fully understand Ken Paxton's record of mismanagement, self-dealing and ethical failures, we will win the primary," said Cornyn spokesperson Matt Mackowiak.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sen. Cornyn: Provision to reimburse Texas for border security included in ‘Big Beautiful Bill'
AUSTIN (KXAN) — U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said his provision to reimburse Texas for money spent on border security was included in the Senate's One Big Beautiful Bill. RELATED | What issues to watch as 'big, beautiful bill' moves to the Senate The Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs recently released the legislative text for the bill. 'I was proud to lead this push in the Senate, and I look forward to voting for the One Big Beautiful Bill with this border security reimbursement for Texas included in the coming weeks,' Cornyn said. RELATED | Trump's 'beautiful' bill spans 1,116 pages. Here's what's inside it According to Cornyn's office, Texas had spent more than $11 billion of taxpayer dollars on Operation Lone Star for border security. 'This is a win for Governor Abbott and the Texas Republican congressional delegation, who I worked with closely to ensure this reimbursement was made a priority,' Cornyn said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Politico
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Politico
‘Trump movement' turns on Cornyn, poll finds
MAGA loyalists have put Sen. John Cornyn's reelection campaign in a Texas-size hole. An early May poll commissioned by the American Opportunity Alliance, a major conservative funding group linked to megadonor Paul Singer, shows the Texas Republican down 17 points in a head-to-head primary matchup with state attorney general Ken Paxton. Below the top-line of Paxton's 52-percent-to-35-percent advantage, the poll found a clear divide between those voters who were defined as 'Trump Movement' voters and those who were 'Traditional Republicans.' In the former category, which made up of 58 percent of the electorate, Paxton had a 45-point lead. Among the latter, who made up only 35 percent of voters, Cornyn had a 27-point lead. The findings reflect a increasingly prominent divide among Republican primary voters in Texas where an insurgent hard-right faction has been steadily gaining ground in recent years while ousting more traditional GOP elected officials. Paxton, who has faced federal investigation and impeachment, has long been a darling of right-wingers in Texas, while Cornyn — first elected to the Senate in 2002 — is considered a pillar of the establishment GOP. In a speculative three-way race with GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt, who is exploring a bid, the margin barely narrowed with the Cornyn trailing Paxton, 43 percent to 27 percent, with Hunt receiving 14 percent. There was some good news for the incumbent in the poll. Despite trailing Paxton significantly, he is still viewed favorably by the Republican primary electorate in the Lone Star State — just not as favorably as the state attorney general. The poll, conducted from April 29 through May 1 among 800 Republican primary voters, is among a series of public and private surveys all showing Cornyn significantly trailing Paxton. They have sparked increasing concern from national Republican operatives about a potentially ugly and costly primary, as well as the possible elevation of a scandal-plagued candidate who might be at risk in a general election. The American Opportunity Alliance's interest in the race is notable; it's one of the key donor consortiums in Republican politics and its members including Singer and Chuck Schwab are some of the biggest funders on the right.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trouble signs grow for Cornyn in Texas
Sen. John Cornyn's (R-Texas) reelection campaign is facing serious warning signs as new polling shows the state's Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) widening his lead in the Republican Senate primary. A poll conducted by GOP pollster Robert Blizzard on behalf of the Educational Freedom Institute showed Cornyn trailing Paxton by 22 points among the state's Republican primary voters. The same poll shows Paxton leading among key demographics within the state's GOP primary electorate, including seniors and voters who identified as 'MAGA.' While Cornyn's campaign has dismissed the findings as biased and as 'silly season' for polling, the findings are the latest in a string of polls showing the longtime incumbent trailing his primary challenger. Texas Republicans say it's another sign that Cornyn needs to ramp up his attacks and spending ahead of February's primary. 'I think those numbers today are going to force Cornyn to go up on air and take a chunk out of Ken Paxton pretty damn soon,' one Republican strategist told The Hill. 'The question is, can he?' The senator's former campaign manager Brendan Steinhauser noted that Cornyn's team will not hold back in an effort to define Paxton early in the primary. 'I think they're going to have to spend a lot of money early to try and make their case given where we are in the polling right out of the gate,' Steinhauser said. And Cornyn's campaign has already begun going on offense against Paxton. Last week, the incumbent senator's campaign rolled out four new ads hitting Paxton over money his office gave to several Texas entities, accusing Paxton of 'funding the left.' The spots were part of a five-figure digital ad buy. Cornyn's allies point out that the primary is in February of next year, which allows ample time to close the gap with Paxton. 'The primary is in nine months,' said Matt Mackowiak, a senior adviser to Cornyn's campaign. 'This is going to be a very close race and Sen. Cornyn is fully committed to winning it.' Mackowiak cited a poll of the race released last week by Texas Southern University as 'the last credible independent poll' of the contest. While that poll showed Paxton holding a nine-point lead in the primary, it also had Cornyn leading hypothetical Democratic candidate Collin Allred by four points and Paxton leading Allred by just two, within the margin of error. Last month, a Senate Leadership Fund poll showed Cornyn trailing Paxton by 16 points. But in a hypothetical general election poll, Paxton lost by 1 point to Allred. And even Paxton allies acknowledge it's early in the race. 'Cornyn's folks are right, it is silly season for polling,' said Republican donor Dan Eberhart, who is supporting Paxton. 'But he definitely has an uphill battle.' A senior Cornyn adviser told The Hill that they didn't expect any movement in the polls until early next year. 'These races don't move much until the end,' the adviser said. 'You'd be wasting money to spend money right now. Cornyn's going to have to spend money though.' Some Republicans question whether Cornyn will be able to make that case, given the state of the conservative grassroots in Texas. The incumbent senator garnered the wrath of the grassroots in 2022 when he helped lead the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which addressed gun control and school safety, through Congress after the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Cornyn was later booed at the Texas GOP convention that year, and the Collin County GOP voted to censure him. And in 2023, Cornyn said he believed Trump's 'time has passed him by' in terms of whether he could win another election. Cornyn later endorsed Trump, saying the president 'was right and I was wrong.' 'Holy cow, like how does he ever anticipate climbing back into this in the good graces of a MAGA-led GOP base with those two anchors around his neck?' the unnamed GOP strategist said. Others note that the latest polling is less about Cornyn and more about Paxton's own popularity with the base, particularly coming out of the latter's impeachment trial in the Texas state House. Paxton has been a central figure in an ongoing civil war within the Texas Republican Party. In 2023, he was acquitted in 2023 on 16 articles of impeachment amid allegations that he had used the power of his office to aid his friend. The impeachment effort partly led to a campaign by Paxton and his allies in the Lone Star State to purge the legislature of Republicans they saw as disloyal. Next year's Senate primary is seen as the latest development in that intraparty conflict. 'A lot of Republican grassroots activists and voters like what they see in terms of his leadership at the office of attorney general,' Steinhauser said. 'They see Paxton as someone who is on the right wing of the party and so a lot of the activists are excited about his candidacy.' 'If there was someone else running against Cornyn, maybe even a congressman or a state senator or someone like that, I don't think you would see those numbers,' he continued. Paxton has painted himself as a victim of the political establishment, in many ways mirroring the strategy Trump deployed in his runs for office. 'I think it's MAGA vs. DC,' Eberhart said. 'Cornyn is a gentler Republican from a past era. Paxton is a fighter and that's what Texas Republicans want.' Still, it's unclear whether Trump will endorse in the primary. The president is fond of Paxton, but has worked with Cornyn in the Senate. And even if Trump were to back Cornyn, the internal poll released earlier this week showed Paxton continuing to lead Cornyn. After voters were told to assume Trump would endorse Cornyn, Paxton would attack Cornyn for his past comments on Trump and Paxton would attack Cornyn over working with Democrats on gun safety legislation, Cornyn trailed Paxton 62 percent to 21 percent. 'I wouldn't underestimate [Cornyn],' Steinhauser said, referring to Cornyn. 'He's never lost an election yet in Texas. He still has a lot of loyal voters. I think if Trump stays out of the race, which I think he's going to do, then I think it will tighten up a bit.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
