Kevin McCarthy: What Do We Expect to Do to End Crimes in the era of the Pandemic Emergency in the United States?

When pressed for specific on his plans to fight crime, McCarthy said Republicans would fund the police, provide grants for recruiting and training, and look at how crimes are being prosecuted. He said that they would reduce government spending and make America more energy independent to bring down inflation and gas prices.

The Biden administration continues to rely on a Trump-era pandemic emergency rule, known as Title 42, that allows border authorities to turn migrants away at the US-Mexico border. The US Border Patrol’s data shows there were more than 2 million border encounters in the US in the fiscal year that ended in June. Of those, more than 1 million were turned away under Title 42.

“We will never use impeachment for political purposes,” McCarthy said. “That doesn’t mean if something rises to the occasion, it would not be used at any other time.”

“I’m very supportive of Ukraine,” McCarthy said. “I think there has to be accountability going forward. It is always a need, not a blank check, but to make sure resources are going where they are needed. Congress and the Senate should be able to debate it openly.

Again asked how he’ll handle members of his own party who spread dangerous conspiracy theories, McCarthy responded: “I’ve watched people on both sides of the aisle,” he said. I will be the speaker for the whole House. So it won’t be looking at just Republicans. We’ll be looking at Democrats as well.”

And McCarthy, who had to drop out of the speaker’s race in 2015 amid opposition from the far right House Freedom Caucus, told CNN he believes he’ll have the support this time around to secure the coveted speaker’s gavel – both from his conference and from former President Donald Trump.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/07/politics/kevin-mccarthy-interview-border-security/index.html

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Keeping the Border Patrol in the US and Imminently Migrants in the U.S.

He said that the policy of keeping migrants in Mexico while they wait for their immigration proceedings in the US was wrong and that they should stay in Mexico.

To help stem the flow of fentanyl coming across the border, McCarthy said “you first do a very frontal attack on China to stop the poison from coming,” and then “provide the resources that the border agents need” and “make sure that fentanyl anytime anybody who wants to move it, you can prosecute him for the death penalty.”

Most bills will be primarily messaging endeavors, unlikely to overcome the president’s veto or the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, though they would have to pass legislation to fund the government and raise the national borrowing limit at some point next year. McCarthy stated that Republicans would demand cuts in spending in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling, which could lead to a disastrous debt default.

“If you’re going to give a person a higher limit, wouldn’t you first say you should change your behavior, so you just don’t keep raising and all the time?” he said. You should not say that I will let you keep spending money. No household should do that.”

McCarthy acknowledged Republicans were willing to raise the debt ceiling under Trump, but said the calculus is different now because Democrats spent trillions of dollars under Biden.

When pressed on whether he’s willing to risk a default by using the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip, McCarthy insisted that wouldn’t happen: “People talk about risking it. You are not at risk of a default.

To that end, McCarthy has vowed to reinstate freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to her committee assignments, despite being stripped of her assignments by Democrats last year for her inflammatory remarks.

McCarthy denied that there was any restrictions on which committees Greene could serve. Greene has previously told CNN she wants a seat on the House Oversight Committee, which will play a key role in GOP-led investigations in a majority.

“She’s going to have committees to serve on, just like every other member … He said that they would look at the committees when they went through the steering committee. “She can put through the committees she wants, just like any other member in our conference that gets elected.”

Greene is not the only member who has spouted conspiracy theories or incendiary rhetoric. Most recently, some Republicans have mocked the brutal attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, or peddled fringe conspiracy theories about the incident.

Democrat-Leading Minority Censured Attorney General Paul Gosar and the House of Representatives to Intelligence Committees

He said he would ask the president not to say things about the other half of the nation, because they have a different opinion. I think it starts with the president. It will start with the speaker.

McCarthy has the power to unilaterally block Schiff and Swalwell from serving on the House Intelligence Committee because it is a select committee. The House Foreign Affairs Committee has the power to expel a person, but the full House of Representatives would have to approve it.

McCarthy vowed last year that if Republicans won back the House majority, he would strip Schiff, Swalwell and Omar of committee assignments, arguing that Democrats created a “new standard” when they held the majority by removing Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona from committees for violent rhetoric and posts.

The Democrat-led House censured Gosar and stripped him of committee assignments after he was accused of posting a video to social media showing him killing a lawmaker and attacking a president. The resolution was passed by two House Republicans at the time.

There have been other incidents as well. In 2021, a group of Jewish House Democrats accused Omar of equating the US and Israel with the Taliban and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group designated as a terrorist organization by the US. In response, Omar said that she was “in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries.”

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/02/politics/house-vote-ilhan-omar-committees/index.html

Rep. G. E. Greene, J. M. Fuentes, and a Republican Rep. Santos: “Are Republicans willing to oust me?”

Greene spoke at the America First Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida – an event founded by the far-right activist Nick Fuentes as an alternative to the annual Conservative Political Action Conference. Gosar appeared at the America First Political Action Conference via a pre-recorded video, HuffPost reported. Gosar also attended the same conference last year.

Greene defended her appearance in a lengthy statement, dismissing the blowback as “fake divisions and disingenuous allegations” and proclaiming that she won’t “cancel” other conservatives even if she finds their statements “tasteless, misguided or even repulsive at times.”

A CNN KFile review has found that Gosar has a close relationship with far-right fringe players and has ties to white nationalists. A spokesperson for Gosar declined to comment on specific questions about the congressman’s associates in response to the reporting.

In 2021, Greene apologized for her “offensive” comments comparing Capitol Hill mask-wearing rules to the Holocaust after visiting the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

Democrats had also argued the move is hypocritical by pointing to the fact that embattled GOP Rep. George Santos, who is facing mounting legal issues and growing calls to resign for extensively lying about his resume and identity, had been awarded seats on two committees.

In an abrupt change in course, however, Santos told the House GOP conference on Tuesday behind closed doors that he wants off of his two committees until his issues are resolved, three members told CNN.

McCarthy told CNN that he had the votes to oust the lawmaker. The assertion came after House GOP leaders worked to lock down the votes after several members of their conference had signaled resistance to the move.

One of the Republicans who supports a resolution to oust Omar is now prepared to support it after adding due process language.

“I appreciate Speaker McCarthy’s willingness to address legitimate concerns and add due process language to our resolution. Deliberation and debate are vital for our institution, not top-down approaches,” the congresswoman said in a statement.