Latest news with #HakeemJeffries
New York Times
11 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump Might Take the U.S. to War. Where Are Schumer and Jeffries?
On many issues, Americans are deeply polarized. War with Iran isn't one of them. An Economist/YouGov poll of U.S. adults taken in the days after Israel's attack last Friday found that Democrats opposed entering the conflict by a margin of 50 points and Republicans opposed entering it by a margin of 30 points. Given these numbers, you might think Democratic leaders would be doing everything they can to prevent President Trump from striking Iran without the approval of Congress. Sadly, they're not. More than 20 years ago, powerful Washington Democrats acceded too timidly to a catastrophic Middle Eastern war. Now they're at risk of doing so again. From the moment Israel struck Iran, it was obvious the United States might be sucked in. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made it clear he wanted Washington to join Israel in attacking Iran's nuclear facilities. And on the day of the first attack, when Tehran retaliated by launching missiles at the Jewish state, the United States helped shoot them down. Despite this, the initial statements by the Democrats' leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, and their House leader, Hakeem Jeffries, said nothing about the need for Congress to authorize war. As the days passed and news reports suggested that Mr. Trump was edging toward entering the fray, Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, invoked the War Powers Act to require the president to gain congressional permission. Thomas Massie, a Republican, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat, proposed something similar in the House. Neither Mr. Schumer nor Mr. Jeffries has signed on. Nor has Mr. Schumer agreed to co-sponsor another bill that Senator Bernie Sanders introduced, prohibiting funding for military force against Iran absent congressional approval (despite backing the same legislation in 2020). In the meantime, the White House said on Thursday that Mr. Trump would decide within two weeks whether to attack Iran, possibly by ordering U.S. forces to strike Iranian nuclear sites with the 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs that Israel lacks. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers call for more safety measures after Minnesota shooting
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers are clamoring for more security funding and around-the-clock safety measures after the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband has left Democrats and Republicans on edge. State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in their suburban Minneapolis home on June 14. The man accused of carrying out the crime, Vance Boelter, was reportedly targeting other lawmakers, including Reps. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, and Hillary Scholten, D-Michigan. The incident is the latest in a string of political violence aimed at public officials and their families, including a hammer-wielding assailant who broke into former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's house and attacked her spouse, and fire set at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's home. Back in Washington, lawmakers on the Hill are pressing for more detailed security briefings and calling on leadership to do more to protect their members. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Democrat Rep. Joe Morelle urged House Speaker Mike Johnson in a June 16 letter to increase lawmakers' office budgets to 'support additional safety and security measures.' That allowance is meant to pay for costs incurred as part of a member's "official and representational duties," which may include travel, rent, printing or supplies. The amount each member receives varies. The Democrats also called on Johnson to direct the House's chief law enforcement officer to 'take all necessary steps' to protect members across the country. "Too many other patriotic public servants have left Congress because they no longer felt safe carrying out their duty as elected officials," they wrote. "We must act to protect each other and preserve this great American institution." The Minnesota shooting has led some lawmakers to change their daily schedules. Scholten, for example, canceled a June 16 town hall meeting in her western Michigan district 'out of an abundance of caution,' according to a statement. Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee is planning to send to a letter later this week to a critical House panel responsible for authorizing lawmakers' security spending that says he and his colleagues are "publicly identifiable at all times" and need 'around-the-clock security services,' according to a draft obtained by USA TODAY. Data from the U.S. Capitol Police shows that threats against members of Congress, their family and staff have significantly risen in the past few years, with 3,939 'concerning statements and direct threats' in 2017 to 9,474 in 2024. On June 16, a 25-year-old man was arraigned on federal charges after sending messages threatening sexual violence against Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer. House Administration Committee Chairman Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin, and Morelle, the committee's ranking member, noted the escalation of threats in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on June 17. They requested Bondi assign federal prosecutors across the country who would work on at least a part-time basis to investigate and prosecute threats against members of Congress. 'We are concerned that the current lack of prosecutorial capacity will allow threat behavior to persist unabated,' they wrote. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawmakers' request. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lawmakers call for more security funding after Minnesota shooting
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Lawmakers call for more security funding after Minnesota shooting
Back in Washington, lawmakers on the Hill are pressing for more detailed security briefings and calling on leadership to do more to protect their members. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Democrat Rep. Joe Morelle urged House Speaker Mike Johnson in a June 16 letter to increase lawmakers' office budgets to "support additional safety and security measures." That allowance is meant to pay for costs incurred as part of a member's "official and representational duties," which may include travel, rent, printing or supplies. The amount each member receives varies. The Democrats also called on Johnson to direct the House's chief law enforcement officer to "take all necessary steps" to protect members across the country. "Too many other patriotic public servants have left Congress because they no longer felt safe carrying out their duty as elected officials," they wrote. "We must act to protect each other and preserve this great American institution." The Minnesota shooting has led some lawmakers to change their daily schedules. Scholten, for example, canceled a June 16 town hall meeting in her western Michigan district "out of an abundance of caution," according to a statement. Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee is planning to send to a letter later this week to a critical House panel responsible for authorizing lawmakers' security spending that says he and his colleagues are "publicly identifiable at all times" and need "around-the-clock security services," according to a draft obtained by USA TODAY. Data from the U.S. Capitol Police shows that threats against members of Congress, their family and staff have significantly risen in the past few years, with 3,939 "concerning statements and direct threats" in 2017 to 9,474 in 2024. On June 16, a 25-year-old man was arraigned on federal charges after sending messages threatening sexual violence against Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer. House Administration Committee Chairman Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin, and Morelle, the committee's ranking member, noted the escalation of threats in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on June 17. They requested Bondi assign federal prosecutors across the country who would work on at least a part-time basis to investigate and prosecute threats against members of Congress. "We are concerned that the current lack of prosecutorial capacity will allow threat behavior to persist unabated," they wrote. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawmakers' request.
USA Today
4 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Deeper Medicaid cuts, limited tax breaks for tips: What's in the Senate tax bill
Deeper Medicaid cuts, limited tax breaks for tips: What's in the Senate tax bill The bill text released June 16 sets up a potentially explosive confrontation with House Republicans. Show Caption Hide Caption Hakeem Jeffries backs Elon Musk's call to 'kill' Trump's tax bill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries backed Elon Musk's call to "kill the bill", saying Trump's tax plan will harm Americans. WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans are proposing deeper cuts to Medicaid than the House of Representatives' recently passed budget bill, to help pay for President Donald Trump's major tax cuts under a budget plan released on June 16. The measure released by GOP leaders serving on a key panel responsible for writing the nation's tax laws also seeks a more limited tax cut for tips and overtime than the House, changing one of Trump's most recognizable 2024 campaign promises. Setting up a showdown with the Republican-led House, which adopted its own version of Trump's so-called "big beautiful bill" in late May, the Senate Finance Committee would not increase the federal deduction for state and local taxes from $10,000 to $40,000 for people earning less than $500,000 per year. Senate Republicans plan to continue to negotiate changes to the so-called SALT tax deduction. The proposal is the culmination of weeks of negotiations among Senate Republicans on the GOP bill that would be Trump's biggest legislative accomplishment in his second term thus far. Senators have been pushing to complete work on the package by July 4, before reconciling changes with the House and passing the bill before August. They have been walking a fine line since the House passed their version three weeks ago: Several senators have demanded deeper spending cuts to the bill, as the House's version is expected to add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years, while others are concerned that potential cuts to Medicaid and green energy tax credits go too far. Meanwhile, any changes they make could disrupt the delicate balance in the House, where Republicans have only a three-vote margin. The House-passed version of the bill would extend Trump's 2017 income tax cuts and implement new temporary tax breaks for tips and overtime. It would create new federally-seeded savings account for children and give seniors an additional tax credit. It would pour billions of dollars into the administration's deportation plans and on defense. And it would add new restrictions to benefit programs like Medicaid and food stamps in an effort to balance out the cost of the sweeping bill, including new Medicaid work requirements for able-bodied adults without children. The House's Medicaid changes are expected to save at least $625 billion and cause 7.6 million Americans to lose their health insurance over the next 10 years, according to initial estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. A CBO estimate released on June 12 showed that the bill would decrease resources for low-income households while boosting resources for middle- and high-income households. Deeper Medicaid cuts As in the House, the Senate has fiscal conservatives who are concerned that the bill will add to the federal deficit and others who have problems with the potential impact on Medicaid health coverage. Appeasing one camp is difficult to do without inflaming the frustrations of the other, forcing Republican leaders to strike a balance to get the votes they need, as no Democrats are expected to support the proposal. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, and Sen. Jim Justice, R-West Virginia, have been critical of a provision in the bill that limits states from raising money to pay for their part of Medicaid spending through health-care-related taxes known as "provider taxes." But instead of rolling back the House's proposal, Senate lawmakers made deeper cuts to Medicaid through changes to the provider tax. They proposed gradually reducing the threshold by which states can guarantee providers will be paid back for contributing to the state's Medicaid funding, which boosts the amount the federal government matches. Right now, states can guarantee reimbursement if tax revenues make up 6% or less of revenues from treating patients. That limit would be gradually reduced to 3.5%. No taxes on tips, overtime A handful of Trump's key campaign promises would be scaled back under the Senate's version of the bill as opposed to the House's in order to rein in the cost of the package. The Senate's proposal would create a new tax deduction on overtime of up to $12,500 for an individual who makes $150,000 or less in a year. It would also create a tax deduction on tipped wages of up to $25,000 for people who make $150,000 or less. In the House's version, tax breaks for overtime and tips would have no limit and would apply to people who make $160,000 or less. SALT math The Senate had made it clear they planned to make some changes to a hotly-contested provision that would benefit people who live in high-tax states: State and local tax deductions, known as SALT. A handful of Republican lawmakers in the House who represent districts in Democratic-controlled states such as New York, New Jersey and California pushed to raise the $10,000 cap on SALT deductions to $40,000 for people earning less than $500,000 per year. But unlike in the House, there are no Republican senators who represent high-tax states that could benefit from the deduction. Adding a cap to the deduction, which Republicans approved during Trump's first presidency, "was one of the best reforms that we had in the bill," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune. The package, as released on June 16, would eliminate that deal and keep the existing $10,000 cap. Some of those GOP lawmakers in the House have already said they won't vote for the bill in the House if their deal on SALT is abandoned. Changing the deal "would be like digging up safely buried radioactive waste – reckless, destabilizing and sure to contaminate everything around it," Rep. Nick Lalota, R-New York, told reporters on June 4.
Axios
4 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Jeffries presses Johnson for more funds to protect lawmakers
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and one of his top deputies are urging Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to "substantially" increase the amount of money give to House offices for security. Why it matters: The plea comes as a growing number of House Democrats are revealed to have been named in documents allegedly belonging to Vance Boelter, the suspect in the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses. Jeffries and House Administration Committee ranking member Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) wrote to Johnson urging him to direct the House sergeant-at-arms to "take all necessary steps to protect House members throughout the country." They also called for Congress to "substantially increase" the Members' Representational Allowance — funds given to each congressional office for salaries, supplies and security. The big picture: The map of possible targets is growing increasingly far flung, with the names of lawmakers from Ohio and even Texas found in the papers. The shooting has alarmed members of Congress in both parties and reignited efforts to secure more security resources for rank-and-file lawmakers. A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
