No Speaker vote is officially scheduled, but Hern says GOP is close to unityRep. Kevin Hern (R-Oklahoma) said on Washington Watch Wednesday that unity among the Republican Party is near, though mainstream media reporting paints a different picture. Hern called the narrow election of Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) as the party's choice to advance to the full floor of the House for a vote "a pathway to reuniting the party." Scalise earned enough support to hasten the exit of Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who had gained the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Later in the day Wednesday, Jordan officially endorsed Scalise – but that didn't necessarily mean his supporters did. The House recessed and is scheduled to convene Thursday, but no vote is scheduled. The absence of a vote on the docket indicates Scalise is trying to hustle the necessary support, The Washington Post speculated. Hern said as much to show host Tony Perkins. "He's doing what he's always done. He's working on bringing in those few votes who are remaining, who have some questions about whether should they support him or not. I think he's going to get those sooner rather than later," Hern said. Hern said Republicans, in light of Saturday's Hamas attack on Israel, "know how important it is for the American government to show unity, to show we're back in business, to get away from the chaos we've been seeing the last seven or eight days." While no floor vote for Speaker has been announced, Hern said Republicans are "rallying around [Scalise] now, which is what you'd like to see in our new leader so we can move forward." Scalise currently serves as House Majority Leader, a chief operating officer so to speak, who supports House leadership and does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of collecting votes and creating unity. The majority leader also sets the calendar for the House. If Scalise is elected, Hern would be a candidate for majority leader. Hern: When a Speaker is elected, it won't be a repeat 15-rounder Hern said when a vote for Speaker comes, he expects it to move more quickly than the 15 rounds of voting it took to name former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in January. "[This time] we're going to know where the votes are. It's a different set of interests, I believe, talking to Steve versus talking to former Speaker McCarthy the first week of the year about direction," Hern predicted. "A lot of those [voting] rules are going to stay in place … single-issue appropriation bills, having open amendments. That was a lot of the dialogue that happened in the first week that won't be revisited. Those [rules] are going to be in place, and now it's just cleaning up, if you will, of some of the policies that some of these members will like to see." |
The Department of Homeland Security in its 2024 Homeland Threat Assessment report last month said it is experiencing an increasing number of interactions with individuals on the U.S. terrorist watch list. DHS reported about 160 such interactions in July.
More than 1.7 million people have crossed the border during the Joe Biden presidency.
"One thing the government is supposed to do is make sure we have a sovereign nation, that we're protecting people. That's your first charge as a government. That's the reason we have a strong central government, otherwise why even bother?" Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Georgia) said on Washington Watch Wednesday. "It's very concerning to me that we're not taking the border seriously."
It looks like some on Capitol Hill are beginning to take the border seriously even as the Republicans struggle to unite behind one Speaker candidate lingers. A Politico report last week indicated Democrats, reluctantly, are warming up to the idea of concessions to Republicans on the topic of the border if the GOP will continue to fund Ukraine in its war against Russia.
According to a Breitbart report, White House officials have reached out to members of each party in Congress to gauge their receptiveness to tying the two items. Most believe Republicans are unlikely to spend more money on Ukraine without significant changes in border policy.
Conservatives balk at imbalance in funding request
The White House was far more concerned with Ukraine than America's own southern border when it made its initial spending request in September and asked for $24 billion for Ukraine but only $4 billion for the border.
Conservatives balked at that imbalance. Ukraine aid is increasingly unpopular among voters, and Congress has already allocated $113 billion to the war.
With migrants flowing freely into the country and DHS admitting that it knows about 160 who are on the terrorist watch list, it's not a stretch to think there are many more that DHS doesn't know about.
"If you're coming here to do us harm, you're probably more intent on eluding capture than anybody. People who want to do us harm are not going to turn themselves in and say, 'Let me go for asylum,'" McCormick told show host Tony Perkins.
The Biden administration announced last week it would build approximately 20 miles of a wall at the southern border but quickly seemed to apologize for its decision. "There is no new administration policy with respect to border walls," DHS Director Alejandro Mayorkas told Fox News. "From Day One the administration has made clear that a border wall is not the answer."
That strong stance clearly aligns with the Biden administration's actions since his time in office; the images of migrants pouring across the border, and of border agents clipping barbed wire and extending helping hands; and the president's contentious relationship with the state of Texas as it has tried to protect its border.
But Mayorkas' comments are a 180-degree turn from what he wrote in an official DHS statement earlier Thursday that announced the wall construction:
"There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas pursuant to sections 102(a) and 102 (b) of (the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996)."
In spite of barbaric attack, many still oppose Israel
In the wake of the weekend Hamas attack, support for Israel has come from many voices worldwide, but so has opposition. Many who have opposed Israel for years, painting it as an oppressor for its policies in dealing with the Hamas-led Gaza Strip, continue to voice opposition to Israel.
Pro-Palestinian rallies have been held in major urban centers across the country, many including violent clashes with pro-Israeli counter protesters.
McCormick says people should understand that there are people inside the U.S. who seek to do harm. Part of the problem, he says, lies with teachers and administrators in many schools.
"It always is amazing to me when you see the cheers for Palestine. The irony can't be explained when you think about what that means, people who literally would kill you for who you're supporting? You're a bit uneducated. The fact is that we're losing the battle on our education front. These kids should know better, should know what [Hamas] stands for, these people who would behead babies. Think about how egregious that is to your common sense and sensibilities," McCormick said.
The Georgia Republican believes a bipartisan border bill can be passed once a speaker is elected.
"I don't think [the border] ever stopped being an issue with us. We've always been united on this front. It's not just a Republican issue. It's a bipartisan issue, it's an American issue," he stated.
"Even the Democrats now, even the sanctuary cities, they understand now once they started suffering the consequences. They understand, 'Hey, this is a bad idea.' Even in Congress, Democrats now are like, 'Enough is enough.' This shouldn't be a contentious issue. We can get this border done and secured, and everybody will be a lot better off," he said.
