Democrats are rallying to the defense of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) after House Republicans narrowly voted to remove her from her position on the Foreign Affairs Committee — arguing the move was unfair and motivated by personal bias against her. Omar, who is Muslim and immigrated to the U.S. as a Somali refugee, has come under fire in the past for comments that members of both parties condemned as antisemitic. She struck a defiant tone just before Thursday's vote, which ultimately came down along party lines, 218-211, with Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio) voting "present." "My voice will not be diminished if I am not on this committee for one term. My voice will get louder and stronger," Omar said on the House floor. "So take your vote or not. I am here to stay." Her allies didn't mince words over how they felt about the vote, though. "There is nothing consistent with the Republican Party's continued attack, except for the racism and incitement of violence against women of color in this body," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) blasted his GOP colleagues and accused them of hypocrisy given controversial statements that Republican members have made. "It's a double, triple, quadruple-and-beyond standard when you think about all of the [GOP] members — these are just three — who have engaged in highly offensive, at times antisemitic, behavior, rhetoric [and] hate," Jeffries said during a press briefing in the Capitol. Under Democratic control, two Republicans — Reps. Paul Gosar (Ariz.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) — were stripped of their committee assignments over incendiary remarks and actions targeting Democratic colleagues. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) spent weeks promising that Omar would be removed from the Foreign Affairs panel if he were elected Speaker. His team spent recent days talking to Republicans who were on the fence to try to convince them before bringing the measure to a vote. He denied it was a move of retaliation. "We're not removing her from other committees," McCarthy told reporters after the vote. "If it was tit-for-tat, we would have picked people, took them off all their committees and said nothing about it." |
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Welcome to Evening Report! I'm Elizabeth Crisp, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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- The Northeast could be hit with the coldest weather in decades starting Friday into the weekend, with wind chills forcing temperatures near or below zero degrees Fahrenheit.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg doesn't plan to leave the Biden administration, though his name has been floated for Michigan's open Senate seat.
Without a winner Wednesday, the Powerball jackpot has rolled again to reach an estimated $700 million ahead of the next drawing.
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🗣️ Huckabee Sanders to give GOP response to State of the Union
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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who previously served as White House press secretary under former President Trump, is set to give the Republican rebuttal to President Biden's State of the Union address next week. Sanders, the nation's youngest governor at 40, will give the address from Little Rock. The rebuttal is often used as a way for the party not in power to highlight an up-and-coming star. Only four people who have taken part in the response to the State of the Union have also been president (Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Biden), but they all did it when the rebuttal was still a group effort. Often called the "worst job in politics" in recent years, the response has provided late night joke fodder and many cringe-worthy moments. |
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Lawmakers cautiously optimistic as debt ceiling talks continue
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Thursday marked another day of teetering toward a federal debt default, with little forward progress. But talks haven't collapsed and the outlook remains somewhat optimistic among key figures. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he's just waiting for the White House to set the next meeting to continue talks that started with his
in-person meeting with President Biden on Wednesday. "Yesterday was a very nice conversation for more than an hour," McCarthy told reporters. "I think at the end of the conversation, on both ends, we thought, you know what, this is worthwhile to continue." Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) also struck an optimistic tone during an interview with FoxNews on Thursday. "You put those two in a room, I knew they could get along," he said of the McCarthy-Biden confab. "I'm very hopeful this is going to work out without any drama or any theatrics." |
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💰 Inflation leads to higher campaign donation limits
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Thanks to historic inflation, donors to federal political campaigns can now give $6,600 to each candidate — $3,300 per election including the primary and general election contests — up from $5,800 in the last cycle. Caps on party committee donations also rose to nearly $2 million, a boost of about $230,000. The Federal Election Commission made the adjustment this week. It follows a midterm election cycle that saw record spending and paves the way for wealthy donors to curry more favor with lawmakers. |
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Clinton makes White House return and brings jokes
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Former President Clinton was on hand for a White House event celebrating the 30th anniversary the Family and Medical Leave Act, a law that protects workers from losing their jobs when they take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth of a child or serious illness.
The former president spoke sentimentally about what the law has meant for working families.
"Before I started running for president, I was a governor but I was very interested in this bill," the former Arkansas governor recalled, noting that it seemed the measure would always get vetoed. "By the time I started running for president, I basically made it part of my stump speech."
Clinton's speech was dotted with frequent quips that had the friendly crowd cackling: "All of us who are, dare I say it, 75 years and older — we grew up in a different time," he said at one point in a story. In another aside, Clinton reminisced about the perks of being in office: "Someone once said, 'When do you really know you aren't president anymore?' Well, they don't play music when you enter the room, and you're back on commercial air travel.'" |
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Republicans continue testing the waters for 2024
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The jockeying for the GOP presidential nomination continues, with a growing list of potential candidates eyeing the race. Former President Trump, the only Republican who has already launched a formal campaign, spoke for a half hour with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt about the growing field. He would not commit to endorsing the GOP nominee if it's not him. There are some who Trump seems the most bothered by because they previously supported him or he aided their political careers. "Politics is a microcosm, but even more vicious, of life," he said. 🔹 Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley: The former South Carolina governor is expected to announce Feb. 15 that she is running. "She said I'll never run against my president," Trump told Hewitt. "But Nikki suffers from something that's a very tough thing to suffer from. She's overly ambitious." 🔹 Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.): Perhaps Trump's most formidable foe at this point, DeSantis has been testing the waters for some time for a presidential run. "Ron DeSantis got elected because of me," Trump said. "He came over and he begged me, begged me for an endorsement." In Trump's retelling, DeSantis even shed actual tears. 🔹 Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.): Trump complained Youngkin didn't give him enough credit for his help in the race: "He got elected because of me." 🔹 Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: The former congressman from Kansas was Trump's first CIA director before he was moved to the State Department. "I took Mike out of nothing," Trump said. "I believe he always said he'd never run against the president." |
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🎭 Roy Wood Jr. tapped for White House Correspondents' Dinner
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Comedian Roy Wood Jr. is taking on the tricky task of being lead entertainer at this year's White House Correspondents Association dinner. It's a role that requires an edgy — but not too edgy — touch. Wood says he's ready to take on the "Nerd Prom" crowd. "It will be a great night that will go down in the history books, or not, depending on which state you live in," the "Daily Show" correspondent quipped in a statement shared by WHCA. The dinner will take place April 29 in Washington. The president and first lady traditionally attend, as do senior government officials and prominent members of the press corps. |
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"The debt ceiling — here is what's at stake" — Chris Campbell of financial advisory firm Kroll. (Read here) "Big tobacco is lighting the law on fire to peddle addiction" — Michael Bloomberg, former New York City mayor and founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies. (Read here) |
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President Biden and Vice President Harris speak at the Democratic National Committee's winter convention in Philadelphia. After wrapping up the work week on Thursday, the House is gone until Monday, and the Senate returns Tuesday. |
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There a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: ecrisp@thehill.com |
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