Texas Weekly Online

Menu
Menu
Facebook Twitter Youtube

Author:

What happens to the Gaetz House ethics report?

What happens to the Gaetz House ethics report?

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned from Congress late Wednesday, hours after President-elect Trump nominated him for U.S. Attorney General – and days before a long-awaited House Ethics report was reportedly to be released about him.  Earlier Wednesday, after news broke that Gaetz was chosen for the Trump Cabinet, House Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters that their investigation, which had reportedly centered around allegations Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor and illicit drug use, would end if Gaetz were to step down from Congress.  Gaetz has denied those misconduct allegations.   “This changes nothing,” Guest said in the Capitol, referring to Gaetz’ nomination.  “I’ve been asked, ‘Does this call us to expedite our investigation?’ Once the investigation is complete, then a report will be issued,” Guest said. “Assuming that at that time, that Mr. Gaetz is still a member of Congress. If Mr. Gaetz were to resign because he is taking a position, with the administration, as the attorney general, then the Ethics Committee loses jurisdiction at that point. Once we lose jurisdiction, there would not be a report that would be issued that’s not unique to this case.”  Guest said the Justice Department had previously requested the committee “cease and desist” its probe, which the House had since picked back up and was continuing.  MATT GAETZ RESIGNS FROM CONGRESS OVER TRUMP NOD TO BE ATTORNEY GENERAL, JOHNSON SAYS The committee was slated to vote on whether to release the ethics report as soon as Friday, Punchbowl News first reported.  Citing a Republican source, the New York Times reported that the report had been delayed because of a House rule that prevents releasing negative findings so close to an election. Gaetz was the architect behind the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and dozens of Republican lawmakers tipped off about his resignation before it was formally announced Wednesday night were glad to see him go, Politico reported.  A House Republican told Politico on condition of anonymity that Gaetz was stepping down from Congress to “stymie the ethics investigation that is coming out in one week.”  But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., offered a different explanation. At a press conference later Wednesday, Johnson said Gaetz told him he resigned abruptly to expedite the process of filling his House seat through a special election.  Republicans held onto the House after last week’s election, cementing unified power across Congress and the White House, but there has been some concern over the margin, as Trump plucks House Republicans to join his new administration.  Johnson said he was optimistic about finding Gaetz’s replacement before the House chooses a new speaker on Jan. 3, but it is unclear if state and federal law can accommodate the tight timeline.  MATT GAETZ FACES GOP SENATE OPPOSITION AFTER TRUMP SELECTION FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL “He issued his resignation letter, effective immediately, of Congress. That caught us by surprise a little bit,” Johnson told reporters. “But I asked him what the reasoning was, and he said, ‘Well, you can’t have too many absences.’ So under Florida State law, there’s about an eight-week period to select and fill in a vacancy. And so by doing so today, that allows me – I’ve already placed a call to Governor DeSantis in Florida and said, ‘Let’s start the clock.’ He’s in Italy at the moment. And so we’re going to talk first thing in the morning.”  “And if we start the clock now, if you do the math, we may be able to fill that seat as early as Jan. 3 when we take the new oath of office for the new Congress,” Johnson said. “So, Matt would have done us a great service, by making that decision, as he did on the fly. And so we’re grateful for that.”  House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters earlier Wednesday that Trump’s decision to nominate Gaetz as attorney general “is a strong statement that the weaponization of government, you know, in the Biden administration using government against their political enemies as coming to an end, that party’s over, and we’re going to clean up the mess over at the Department of Justice.”  Politico reported, however, that several Republican senators were doubting Gaetz would be confirmed to the attorney general position., and those doubts appeared to carry over into the House.  “When it comes to all of his selections, I think all of them have been made with a lot of intent and respect and integrity – when it comes to the selection of Rep. Gaetz, I just think it’s silly. I believe that the president is probably rewarding him for being such a loyal soldier,” Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, told reporters. “But the president is smart enough, and his team is smart enough to know that Mr. Gaetz will never get confirmed by the Senate whatsoever. And so this is just going to be a very long period of time for him, that he’s going to get excoriated by members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle, because he’s never been a team player and he’s never helped out this conference.” 

Size of Republican House majority to be decided by 9 remaining uncalled races

Size of Republican House majority to be decided by 9 remaining uncalled races

More than a week after Election Day, the final outcome of the 2024 election is still yet to be decided as nine House races remain uncalled. Republican Donald Trump won the presidency again and the GOP will have the Senate majority. The GOP is projected to maintain a majority in the House of Representatives, but the size of that majority will be unclear until all the votes are counted. The balance of power currently sits at 218 seats for Republicans and 208 for the Democrats.  Here’s where things stand with the uncalled House races:  GOP INCUMBENT PROJECTED TO DEFEAT DEM CHALLENGER IN CLOSELY WATCHED ARIZONA HOUSE RACE Democratic incumbent Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola is in a tight race in Alaska’s at-large congressional district, where she is trailing Republican entrepreneur Nick Begich. As of Thursday morning, Begich holds more than a 3-point lead at 49% of the vote compared to Peltola’s 45.9%. The vote count sits at 145,754 to 136,319, with roughly 94% of the vote counted. Democratic incumbent Josh Harder leads Republican challenger Kevin Lincoln by more than 3 percentage points. Though the race is uncalled, Lincoln has conceded to Harder. “While the results are not what we had hoped for, I remain incredibly proud of the journey we’ve shared and the incredible progress we’ve made together,” Lincoln said in a statement.  “This campaign may have ended, but the work continues.”  The district had about 86% of the vote recorded as of Thursday, and Harder’s lead expanded to 8,125 votes.  Republican Rep. John Duarte is leading former Democratic state assembly member Adam Gray in California’s 13th Congressional District, but the highly contested race remains uncalled as of Thursday. Roughly 74% of the vote has been counted, and Duarte holds a 51.2% to 48.8% lead. The pair is separated by just under 4,000 votes. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Jim Costa leads his Republican challenger, Michael Maher, in a 51.6% to 48.4% race as of Thursday morning. So far, 81.7% of the vote has been counted, and Costa’s lead is more than 5,000 votes.  Incumbent Republican Rep. Michelle Steel leads her Democratic challenger Derek Tran by a few hundred votes as of Thursday morning. A little more than 92% of the votes have been counted, and Steel’s lead has shrunk to 349 votes. REPUBLICANS PROJECTED TO KEEP CONTROL OF HOUSE AS TRUMP PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT AGENDA Republican incumbent Rep. Mariannet Miller-Meeks holds a less than 1% lead over challenger Christina Bohannan with 99% of the vote counted. Miller-Meeks’ lead sits at just under 1,000 votes. Democratic incumbent Jared Golden holds a razor-thin lead over Republican challenger Austin Theriault as of Thursday morning. With 98% of the votes counted, Golden’s lead sits at less than 800 votes. TRUMP THROWS FULL SUPPORT BEHIND MIKE JOHNSON BEFORE SPEAKER ELECTION Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur leads her Republican challenger, Derek Merrin, by less than 1 point with 99% of the votes counted. Kaptur’s lead sits at just over 1,000 votes as of Tuesday. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Republican incumbent Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer is trailing her Democratic challenger, Janelle Bynum, by nearly 3 points with 93% of the votes counted Tuesday. Bynum’s lead sits at just over 10,000 votes. Independent and third-party candidates earned some 27,500 votes in the district. 

Trump says Thune ‘will do an outstanding job’ as Senate majority leader

Trump says Thune ‘will do an outstanding job’ as Senate majority leader

President-elect Donald Trump congratulated Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., after the lawmaker won election to serve as the next Senate Republican leader. Republicans won the majority in the House and Senate during the 2024 elections. “Congratulations to Senator John Thune, the Newly Elected Senate Majority Leader. He moves quickly, and will do an outstanding job,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. RICK SCOTT KNOCKED OUT OF SENATE LEADER RACE ON FIRST BALLOT AS THUNE AND CORNYN ADVANCE GOP Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and John Cornyn of Texas had also been vying for the role. “While it isn’t the result we hoped for, I will do everything possible to make sure John Thune is successful in accomplishing President Trump’s agenda,” Scott said in a statement. “We are united and prepared to enact President Trump’s agenda on day one, and I look forward to working alongside my colleagues to take advantage of the opportunities we will have next year to confirm nominees, address our national debt, extend the Trump tax cuts, and reverse the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous border policies,” Cornyn said in a statement. MITCH MCCONNELL SINGS TRUMP CAMPAIGN PRAISES: ‘SHARPER OPERATION THIS TIME’ Thune will succeed current Senate Republican Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., next year. McConnell, who has long occupied the post, did not seek another term in the role. Trump noted that he looks forward to working with Thune and the other senators selected for various Senate Republican leadership roles. “I look forward to working with him, and Senators John Barrasso (Senate Majority Whip), Tom Cotton (Senate Republican Conference Chairman), Shelley Moore Capito (Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman), James Lankford (Republican Conference Vice Chairman), and Tim Scott (National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman) to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he said in the post. SENATE LEADER CONTENDER JOHN THUNE RESPONDS TO NEW TRUMP LITMUS TEST AHEAD OF ELECTION Thune indicated during remarks on Wednesday that Republican senators will work with House colleagues to implement Trump’s agenda.

Election calendar continues with key post-election dates

Election calendar continues with key post-election dates

Election Day has come and gone, but officials in every state still have several important dates ahead to verify the final vote tally. The process for this election differs from in the past. Several changes were made because of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. “We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen,” then-President Donald Trump said before protesters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. When Congress passed its government spending bill in December 2022, it included the Electoral Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act. The bill included changes to the process in which presidential election results are transferred from the states to Congress. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers backed the measure. HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO ELECT NEW TRUMP-ERA LEADERSHIP WITH MAJORITY STILL UNDECIDED “I was so pleased to see Democrats and Republicans work together to pass the Electoral Reform Act,” President Biden said on Jan. 6, 2023. “America is a land of laws and not chaos, a nation at peace and not violence.” The new law updates legislation from nearly 130 years ago. After the election of 1876, when Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Samuel Tilden, both parties were accused of committing fraud. Republicans stuffed ballot boxes, and Democrats intimidated Black voters, who at the time overwhelmingly supported the Republican Party. Both parties claimed victory after fraudulent incidents were reported. Around 20 electoral votes were contested, but the Constitution contained no guidance on how to handle a contested election. An electoral commission eventually decided each contested state in favor of Hayes, and about a decade later, Congress passed the Electoral Count Act of 1887. The law provided a system for certifying elections, but remained unchanged until 2022. “You’ve got literally a group of insurrectionists trying to overturn the election based on an 1887 law from the Rutherford Hayes days that had not been updated,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. The 1887 law did not include a hard deadline for states to certify their appointment of electors or any guidance on how federal courts could resolve disputes over a state’s appointment of electors. “It is vague and ambiguous and contributed to some of the confusion on Jan. 6,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. State Certification Deadline The Electoral Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act now creates a deadline for when states must certify their appointment of electors. This must happen six days before the electors meet to vote. Legal Challenges Deadline The new law also includes an expedited procedure for courts to resolve disputes over state’s appointment of electors. Any challenges must be addressed before the state electors meet. State Electors Vote Members of the Electoral College meet in each state to cast votes for president and vice president. Electoral Votes Arrive The electoral votes must be received by the president of the Senate and the archivist no later than the fourth Wednesday in December. Congress Counts Electoral Votes Congress will once again count the votes on Jan. 6, but several clarifications have been made to the process. If any members object to the votes, it must be submitted in writing and signed by at least one-fifth of the House and one-fifth of the Senate. “The Congress still has options in case of a truly extraordinary circumstance. But we avoid an arms race or objections with almost no support,” said Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, during a hearing on the bill in September 2022. While the 1887 law did not explicitly state the vice president could decide on the electoral count, the 2022 language clarifies the role of the vice president. It states: “The President of the Senate shall have no power to solely determine, accept, reject, or otherwise adjudicate or resolve disputes over the proper certificate of ascertainment of appointment of electors, the validity of electors, or the votes of electors.”