Dem says Gaetz can’t ‘resign away’ ethics probe; Mike Johnson says release would not be ‘appropriate’
The office of Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., shouldn’t be able to “resign away” an ethics investigation into misconduct allegations, citing Gaetz’s nomination to serve as U.S. attorney general under President-elect Trump. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has pushed for the House Ethics Committee not to release a potentially damaging report on a three-year probe of Gaetz amid allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor and illicit drug use. Gaetz has denied the claims against him. Gaetz’s resignation effectively ended the investigation because he is no longer a member of Congress. Speaking with reporters at the U.S. Capitol Friday, Johnson said releasing the report would “open a dangerous Pandora’s box.” MATT GAETZ FACES GOP SENATE OPPOSITION AFTER TRUMP SELECTION FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL Durbin spokesperson Josh Sorbe said the senator, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, has pushed for the report’s release to the public. “There is longstanding precedent for releasing ethics investigation materials after a member resigns, whether in the House or Senate,” said Sorbe. “The now former congressman shouldn’t be able to resign away an ethics investigation involving allegations of grave misconduct, especially when he will be nominated to be our country’s top law enforcement officer. MATT GAETZ RESIGNS FROM CONGRESS OVER TRUMP NOD TO BE ATTORNEY GENERAL, JOHNSON SAYS “There is bipartisan support for the Senate Judiciary Committee having access to this information,” he added. “Chair Durbin will continue pursuing it so members of the committee can fulfill their constitutional obligation of advice and consent on this deeply problematic nominee.” After news broke Wednesday that Gaetz was chosen for the Trump Cabinet, House Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters the investigation would end if Gaetz were to step down from Congress. On Friday, Johnson said he won’t be reaching out or speaking with the Ethics Committee to ask it not to release the report when asked by Fox News. “I don’t know anything about the investigation. The speaker of the House is not involved with those things,” Johnson said. “I am reacting to media reports that a report is currently in some draft form and was going to be released on what is now a former member of the House.” He added that he didn’t believe releasing the report would be “appropriate.” “It doesn’t follow our rules and traditions, and there is a reason for that,” said Johnson. “That would open up Pandora’s box, and I don’t think that’s a healthy thing for the institution. So, that’s my position.” Gaetz’s nomination has come under fire by some considering the allegations against him. Some GOP members of the Senate have said he faces an uphill battle to get confirmed.
Democrats’ furor over ‘unqualified’ Trump nominees puts Biden’s staffing decisions back in the spotlight
Conservatives are pushing back after Democrats have criticized President-elect Trump’s Cabinet appointments for not being “qualified” by pointing to several examples of members of the Biden-Harris administration and campaign having questionable qualifications for their roles. In recent days, Democrats in Congress and in the media have blasted Trump Cabinet nominees over their qualifications, including combat veteran Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as secretary of homeland security; Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., as attorney general; and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), among others. “Three recent Trump nominees – Gaetz, Hegseth, and Gabbard – are far less qualified than Senate confirmation rejects like Bork, Tower, and Mier,” Harvard Professor Lawrence Summers, who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations, posted on X. “I hope that the Senate will do its duty.” “Pete Hegseth is not remotely qualified to be Secretary of Defense,” Dem. Rep. Jason Crow posted on X. BIDEN JUDICIAL NOMINEE UNDER FIRE FOR ALLEGED LACK OF LEGAL KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE “[Pete Hegseth] is not qualified to be the Secretary of Defense. I lead the Senate military personnel panel. All three of my brothers served in uniform,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said, omitting his decades-long military career. “I respect every one of our servicemembers. Donald Trump’s pick will make us less safe and must be rejected.” Democrats have also slammed Trump for nominating Kennedy as his HHS secretary despite a resurfaced Politico report revealing that Kennedy was being considered by Obama for Environmental Protection Agency during his 2008 presidential transition. Since taking office in 2021, Biden has faced criticism from Republicans over several members of his administration who were believed to be lacking key attributes needed to perform the duties they were assigned in addition to scandals. “The Democrats are melting down over Trump‘s cabinet picks so far, but they had no problem with ‘Mayor Pete’ being appointed Secretary of Transportation with no prior qualifications,” Link Lauren, conservative influencer and political commentator, who served as senior adviser to the Kennedy campaign, told Fox News Digital. “Trump won the popular vote, the electoral college, the House and the Senate. That is a mandate from the American people that they want systemic change. I understand some of Trump‘s appointees have garnered mixed reactions — even from Republicans. But let’s give Trump’s appointees a chance, then verify in time that they are doing a great job.” Buttigieg was appointed Biden’s transportation secretary after serving as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, for eight years, with some questioning at the time whether he had enough related experience for the job. Since taking office, Republicans have amplified those concerns after a series of perceived missteps from Buttigieg, including the fallout from the supply chain crises and the devastating train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. WHO ARE TRUMP’S LIKELY TOP CONTENDERS TO LEAD COMMS TEAM, INTERACT WITH THE MEDIA? “Take Secretary Buttigieg — his only qualifications for the job was a failed presidential campaign and time spent as a university-town mayor,” Bradley Devlin, Politics Editor at The Daily Signal, told Fox News Digital. “From East Palestine to electric chargers, it hasn’t gone well for ‘Mayor Pete,’ but Buttigieg has retained his job because he’s remained loyal to the Biden administration’s attempted radical energy and transportation policies.” Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, who worked as a lawyer before serving as counsel to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., then an adviser to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, rose through the ranks into high-profile positions in the Obama administration but has been maligned as unqualified by Republicans over a series of national security blunders that occurred during his tenure, including the botched Afghanistan withdrawal and falsely claiming that the “Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades” days before Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelis in a vicious attack. Republicans criticized Sullivan’s role as Biden’s national security adviser, the youngest in history, due to his previous pushing of the “Russia collusion hoax” as part of the Clinton campaign and his role in her State Department office amid the Benghazi cover-up. Several other Biden officials have faced heated criticism over their qualifications in recent years, including former senior Department of Energy official Sam Brinton, who identifies as nonbinary and was arrested multiple times for baggage theft at airports. Eric Lipka, who served as a deputy press secretary on the Biden-Harris campaign, sparked controversy earlier this year over his drag queen alter ego “Erotica the Drag Queen.” Tyler Cherry, who worked in both the Biden White House and the Department of Interior, was hired and promoted despite several social media posts comparing police to “slave patrols,” promoting conspiracies about Russia colluding with Trump and supporting the anti-Israel movement. TRUMP’S SPEEDY CABINET PICKS SHOW HIS ‘PRIORITY TO PUT AMERICA FIRST,’ TRANSITION TEAM SAYS Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., when asked on Thursday about the controversy surrounding Trump’s appointment of Gaetz, held up a photo of assistant HHS Secretary Rachel Levine and Brinton asked, “Did you ask Democratic senators about this?” Levine, the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate, has faced criticism from Republicans on various issues such as sex change surgeries for minors and was labeled by a New York Post op-ed as “America’s No.1 gender extremist.” Dozens of scientists from universities and environmental groups pushed for the removal of the head of Biden’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, claiming she lacked the educational background required to run the agency despite securing Senate confirmation. “Liberals and progressives bemoaning these nominees’ alleged lack of qualifications are simply looking to protect the system they created — a government of, by and for the ‘experts’ — and that benefits them politically,” Devlin told Fox News Digital. “This can be seen well beyond Biden’s cabinet picks, too. For example, the first 10 Biden-appointed appellate judges averaged merely 14 authored opinions each from the bench. Trump’s first 12 appellate judges, meanwhile, had averaged 34 over a similar time period — twice as many
Ranked choice voting dealt blow by voters, rejected in numerous states
Ranked choice voting suffered a blow as several states, including Nevada, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho rejected measures last week. In Colorado, Proposition 131 would have created an open primary system for candidates of any party, and the top four vote-getters would move on to the general election after voters ranked their choices from first to last. “The ranked choice voting movement has pushed really hard to convince everyone it’s a great idea,” data scientist Seth Werfel told Colorado Public Radio. “It has some merits, but it’s not a slam dunk. And I think voters are skeptical of anything that they can’t immediately understand.” In Idaho, Proposition 1 would also have ended the party primary system. RANKED CHOICE VOTING AND THE LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP BOTH DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS HAVE WITH IT It was rejected by nearly 70% of the voters. “You need a scandal, you need corruption, you need something that’s happening statewide to make the case to pass something complicated like this,” CalTech professor Michael Alvarez told Boise State Public Radio. “I’m not super deeply immersed in the politics of these various states, but I don’t see that common ‘why’ there.” Oregon’s ranked choice voting measure, Proposition 117, was rejected by 58% of the voters. “Voters this year were reluctant to make dramatic changes to the way they vote,” Chandler James, who teaches political science at the University of Oregon, told Oregon Public Radio. “But I don’t think that it spells the end for ranked choice voting in the future.” TRUMP’S PICKS SO FAR: HERE’S WHO WILL BE ADVISING THE NEW PRESIDENT A similar measure in Nevada was rejected by 53% of voters. The same measure was passed by nearly 6% in 2022, but Nevada measures that require amendments to the state constitution don’t go into effect until they’re passed in two consecutive elections, according to the Nevada Independent. Ranked choice voting is already used statewide in Alaska and Maine and places like New York City, but, in Alaska, a measure to repeal it looks like it could pass narrowly. Hawaii uses ranked choice voting for some special elections. In Missouri, voters approved a constitutional amendment banning ranked choice voting. “We believe in the one person, one vote system of elections that our country was founded upon,” Missouri state Sen. Ben Brown, who sponsored the measure, previously said in an interview, according to NPR. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Other states that have bans on ranked choice voting include Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee and Florida.
Biden pushes to finalize more student debt relief before end of term, including for ‘future borrowers’
President Biden’s Department of Education is trying to push through a new federal rule during the final weeks before President-elect Trump takes over to provide additional student loan forgiveness for 8 million borrowers who face financial hardships. If finalized, the new rule would authorize student debt forgiveness on a one-time basis for people who the department considers to have at least an 80% chance of defaulting on loans based on a “predictive assessment using existing borrower data.” The rule would also allow people, including potential “future borrowers,” to apply for relief that will be awarded based on “a holistic assessment of the borrower’s hardship.” Negotiated rulemaking for higher education between 2023 and 2024 began last year, and this latest rule was discussed in committee as early as November 2023. However, the rule was not proposed until Oct. 31 and is working its way through a public notice and comment period expected to end Dec. 2. GOP-LED STATES ASK SCOTUS TO TEMPORARILY BLOCK BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT PROGRAM “For far too long, our broken student loan system has made it too hard for borrowers experiencing heartbreaking and financially devastating hardships to access relief, and it’s not right,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “The rules proposed by the Biden-Harris administration today would provide hope to millions of struggling Americans whose challenges may make them eligible for student debt relief.” While a handful of Biden’s previous attempts to wipe out student debt have been struck down as an overreach of power by the courts, and despite federal rulemaking typically taking anywhere from a few months to a few years to be completed, the Biden administration has not been dissuaded from initiating additional attempts to eliminate Americans’ student loan debt during its final weeks. In 2023, Biden announced his administration’s greatest effort to wipe out student debt for millions of borrowers through a new “SAVE” plan that sought to reduce borrowers’ debt obligations based on their economic circumstances. However, the effort was shot down by the Supreme Court after it was determined Biden did not have authority under a 2003 federal law to unilaterally forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt. KEVIN O’LEARY TORCHES BIDEN STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT AS UNFAIR’ AND ‘UN-AMERICAN’: ‘I REALLY REALLY HATE THIS’ In addition to the SAVE program, other efforts by the Biden administration to cancel student debt relief remain tied up in the courts. President-elect Trump has described Biden’s attempts to wipe out debt for student borrowers “a total catastrophe.” “They didn’t even come close to getting student loans,” Trump said during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in September, referring to the courts shooting down Biden’s student debt forgiveness attempts. “They taunted young people and a lot of other people that had loans. They can never get this approved.” The White House did not respond with an on-the-record comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
Rand Paul wants to abolish agency established under Trump, but calls prospect ‘unlikely’
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wants the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to be abolished, but described the prospect as “unlikely,” he told Politico. “I’d like to eliminate it,” Paul told the outlet. “The First Amendment is pretty important, that’s why we listed it as the First Amendment, and I would have liked to, at the very least, eliminate their ability to censor content online.” “While it’s unlikely we could get rid of CISA, we survived for what, 248 years without them,” Paul said, according to Politico. “I think a lot of what they do is intrusive, and I’d like to end their intrusions into the First Amendment.” RAND PAUL HITS ‘BIDEN/HARRIS CDC’ OVER COVID-19 VACCINE GUIDANCE FOR 6-MONTH-OLDS “CISA does not and has never censored speech or facilitated censorship,” CISA senior adviser for public affairs Ron Eckstein asserted in a statement, according to the outlet. “Such allegations are riddled with factual inaccuracies. Every day, the men and women of CISA execute the agency’s mission of reducing risk to U.S. critical infrastructure in a way that protects Americans’ freedom of speech, civil rights, civil liberties and privacy,” he asserted. CISA was established in 2018 during President-elect Trump’s White House tenure. “On November 16, 2018, the President signed into law the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018,” which established CISA, according to cisa.gov. RAND PAUL BACKS KAT CAMMACK FOR HOUSE REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE CHAIR, RICK SCOTT FOR SENATE MAJORITY LEADER Republicans won the Senate majority during the 2024 election, and Paul, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, is slated to become the chair during the next session of Congress. “I chose to chair this Committee over another because I believe that, for the health of our republic, Congress must stand up once again for its constitutional role,” the senator noted, according to a press release. FBI, CISA SAY CHINESE HACKERS BREACHED MULTIPLE US TELECOM PROVIDERS IN TARGETED ATTACK “This Committee’s mission of oversight and investigations is critical to Congress reasserting itself. Our first hearing will examine reinstating the successful Remain in Mexico policy from the first Trump Administration,” he said. Paul has served in the Senate since 2011. Fox News Digital has reached out to CISA for comment.
‘This s— has to stop’: Former Jill Biden spox rips Dems for ‘vilifying’ DEI critics as ‘White supremacists’
First lady Jill Biden’s former press secretary blasted Democrats who label opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as racist this week after an MSNBC guest called President-elect Trump’s Secretary of Defense nominee a “White supremacist.” “This s— has to stop,” Michael LaRosa, who served as the first lady’s press secretary from 2021 to 2022, posted on X in response to an MSNBC guest calling President-elect Trump’s Defense Secretary nominee and former Fox News host, Pete Hegseth, a “White supremacist” in response to his opposition to DEI policies. “Opposing DEI initiatives does not make you a white supremacist. Conversations and demonization like this are a big part of the reason we got our a–es kicked,” he continued. “The answer to extremism is not more extremism. Voices like this on the left are turning the Democratic Party into a joke. We’ve got to knock it off and get serious guests who are going to diagnose politics, not make it worse,” LaRosa continued. “Name calling, vilifying, and defaming nominees you oppose, even if there is very good reason to oppose them, represents everything the Democratic Party should be RUNNING away from.” MELANIA TRUMP QUESTIONS ‘WHETHER JILL’S CONCERN WAS GENUINE’ FOLLOWING TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT LaRosa explained that Democrats should “fight back with strategy and tactics” rather than “pointless, defamatory and juvenile invective.” “We need to get serious people opining about policy and politics, not one-upping each other or competing for who can make the most provocative insult about a Trump nominee you oppose,” he said. The MSNBC guest speaking on Chris Hayes’ show, former NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Sherrilyn Ifill, drew widespread condemnation from conservatives on social media. JILL BIDEN’S APPARENT COLD SHOULDER FOR KAMALA HARRIS IGNITES SOCIAL MEDIA “Shame on @chrislhayes and @comcast for this pathetic attack,” former Trump acting Director of National Intelligence RIchard Grenell posted on X. “Sue her,” Red State writer Bonchie posted on X. “Enough of this crap.” “Appalling smear,” Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X. LaRosa told Fox News Digital on Friday that “there are too many on the left who preach at everyone, and if you disagree, then you are not only wrong, but you’re a bad human being as well.” “The Democratic Party I’ve always known is the party that represents the values of inclusiveness and tolerance,” LaRosa continued. “But that means inclusiveness and tolerance of diverse views, too, not just diversity for diversity’s sake. Let’s have a spirited disagreement or a debate but stop tagging people you disagree with as Hitler, fascists or white supremacists. It’s not a serious contribution to the path forward in opposing Trump, his policy or his nominees.” “If politics is about addition, conversations like that are precisely why we’re doing more subtraction lately, as Democrats.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital reached out to Ifill for comment but did not receive a response. In recent days, Democrats and pundits in the media have been searching for answers and explanations for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential election loss, with many concluding that the campaign alienated voters with identity politics. “This kind of obsession made Democrats view people too much through their ethnic or racial or gender identity and made them miss, for example, that working-class Latinos were moving toward Trump, perhaps, because they were socially conservative or liked his macho rhetoric or even agreed with his hard-line stance on immigration,” CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said after the election. “The problem is deeper than one about nouns and pronouns. The entire focus on identity has morphed into something deeply illiberal. Judging people by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character.”
Trump picks Steven Cheung for communications director, Sergio Gor for personnel office director
President-elect Trump announced two more additions to his White House staff on Friday, promoting his campaign spokesman to lead the communications shop. Trump announced that Steven Cheung would return to the White House as assistant to the president and director of communications. Cheung previously served as communications director for the Trump-Vance campaign and was the White House director of strategic response in Trump’s first term. Additionally, Trump confirmed that Sergio Gor will join the White House as director of the presidential personnel office. Gor, an ally and business partner of Donald Trump Jr.’s, was in charge of the pro-Trump political action committee Right For America and previously worked in Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s office. “Steven Cheung and Sergio Gor have been trusted Advisors since my first Presidential Campaign in 2016, and have continued to champion America First principles throughout my First Term, all the way to our HIstoric Victory in 2024,” Trump said in a statement. “I am thrilled to have them join my White House, as we Make America Great Again!” DONALD TRUMP JR ALLY SERGIO GOR OFFERED TOP WHITE HOUSE PERSONNEL JOB: REPORT Gor’s impending appointment was first reported by Semafor on Thursday and was welcomed by Trump Jr. “Awesome news. Sergio will be great!” the first son posted on X. Both Cheung and Gor are loyal to the president-elect. TRUMP’S PICKS SO FAR: HERE’S WHO WILL BE ADVISING THE NEW PRESIDENT Trump has previously said that the biggest mistake of his first presidency was picking disloyal people to join his administration. “The biggest mistake I made was I picked some people – I picked some great people, you know, but you don’t think about that. I picked some people that I shouldn’t have picked,” Trump said last month on the “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “I picked a few people that I shouldn’t have picked,” he said. TRUMP’S SPEEDY CABINET PICKS SHOW HIS ‘PRIORITY TO PUT AMERICA FIRST,’ TRANSITION TEAM SAYS The president-elect has also picked, among others, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., for national security adviser and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for secretary of state. Tesla CEO and billionaire endorser Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy are expected to lead Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency. Controversially, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. has been tapped to be Trump’s attorney general and campaign surrogate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
‘Political prosecutions’: Republican AGs demand end to ‘lawfare’ prosecutions of President-elect Trump
Republican attorneys general are putting President-elect Donald Trump’s prosecutors on notice, urging them to halt “political prosecutions of the incoming president.” “The cases brought against President Trump, particularly the criminal prosecutions, had nothing to do with crime,” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird told Fox News Digital in an interview this week. “They had everything to do with the fact that he was running for president again. He is innocent. He didn’t do anything wrong, and those cases never should have been brought in the first place. That was another way they were trying to wage campaign lawfare.” NEW YORK APPEALS COURT APPEARS RECEPTIVE TO REVERSING OR REDUCING $454M TRUMP CIVIL FRAUD JUDGMENT Bird, alongside more than 20 other attorneys general, sent a letter to Special Counsel Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, calling on them to drop their cases to avoid the risk of a “constitutional crisis.” Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia signed onto the letter. “Mr. Smith, a federal court has already dismissed your claims in one case due to your improper appointment,” the AGs wrote in the letter. “That appointment flouts both the Appointments Clause and Article II of the U.S. Constitution. Not only that, your prosecutions of President Trump—President Biden and Vice President Harris’s political rival—violated multiple Department of Justice policies.” MATT GAETZ FACES GOP SENATE OPPOSITION AFTER TRUMP SELECTION FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL “President of the United States is the most important job in the world,” they wrote. “The President leads the free world. And America just gave President Trump a mandate to lead the United States to a brighter future. Prosecutions aimed at “self-promotion” are at no time appropriate.” The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that it is seeking to wind down two federal criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his second term. Trump was indicted on 37 federal counts in June 2023 on charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. Trump was indicted in Georgia in August 2023 after a yearslong criminal investigation led by state prosecutors into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts. TRUMP’S PICKS SO FAR: HERE’S WHO WILL BE ADVISING THE NEW PRESIDENT In early 2023, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six of the charges against Trump, saying that District Attorney Fani Willis had failed to allege sufficient detail. The situation was then thrown into disarray when it was revealed that Willis had reportedly had an “improper affair” with Nathan Wade, a prosecutor she had hired to help bring the case against Trump. Wade was later removed. About three months into taking office, James announced an investigation into the Trump Organization, claiming there was evidence indicating that the president and his company had falsely valued assets to obtain loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions. The investigation was launched after Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who had previously served federal prison time for violating campaign finance laws, testified before Congress that the Trump Organization had exaggerated the value of assets. Fox News Digital’s Haley Chi-Sing and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to potentially releasing the Ethics Committee report on Gaetz
Fox News has been told for several days now that the House Ethics Committee no longer has any jurisdiction over former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. Gaetz resigned Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump picked him to serve as attorney general. The ethics panel was planning on releasing its report investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and alleged drug use by Gaetz, but the panel canceled its meeting Friday, and no report has appeared. House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., said the following on Wednesday when asked about the Gaetz inquiry. “Once the investigation is complete, then a report will be issued. 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,” said Guest. TRUMP TAPS MATT GAETZ FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL That is generally how the Ethics Committee has rolled when it comes to outstanding ethics investigations involving former members. However, it is not a hard and fast rule. Fox News has found that the Ethics Committee released the findings of its probe into potential influence peddling by the late Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., after his death in 2010. MATT GAETZ FACES GOP SENATE OPPOSITION AFTER TRUMP SELECTION FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL The Ethics Committee also released a 699-page report on former Rep. Bob Boner, D-Tenn., after he left office in 1987. The committee found that Boner used campaign funds to travel to Hong Kong and may have used his office to influence a defense contractor. That said, there is a way on the floor to dislodge an Ethics Committee report. There is a device called “question of privileges of the House.” A lawmaker could get to the floor under this procedure and make the argument that keeping the Gaetz ethics report under wraps impugns the dignity and integrity of the House. The House would be required to vote on such a motion. If successful on the floor, the ethics panel could be compelled to release the report. Yours truly asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Friday morning if Democrats might try to dislodge the Gaetz report from the Ethics Committee. Pergram: “Could you envision a scenario where Democrats try to somehow dislodge this ethics report through a parliamentary maneuver?” Jeffries: “The Ethics Committee is an incredibly bipartisan committee. It’s the only committee in the Congress that is evenly divided. And it has a long history of having principled individuals on it. And I defer at this moment to whatever course they decide to take. And I hope they take a course that is bipartisan.”
‘Not committed’: Conservatives warn Mike Johnson still has hill to climb before winning speaker’s gavel
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., won unanimous approval from Republican lawmakers earlier this week to lead the House of Representatives next year, but some conservatives are warning that he still has an uphill climb before the House-wide election in January. “I think there’s still a lot of people that, as a favor to President Trump, didn’t request a vote, but it remains to be seen,” Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “I’m going to be ready to get ready to govern, but he has a lot of people not committed. But as a favor to President Trump, we didn’t object.” Johnson won a unanimous voice vote to be the Republicans’ speaker nominee on Wednesday, hours after President-elect Donald Trump told GOP lawmakers he was fully backing the Louisiana Republican. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’ The speaker was the only candidate in the race after it was revealed that Republicans managed to keep the chamber for another two years. Just a day earlier, GOP hardliners were threatening to force a vote via secret ballot to delay the process and keep Johnson from winning the speaker nomination unanimously in protest of his handling of government spending. It never materialized, but two conservatives who spoke with Fox News Digital also said there could still be holdouts in January. With just a razor-thin majority expected in the House, Johnson may have to work to avoid a messy, protracted battle for the gavel in January – not dissimilar to the one his predecessor Kevin McCarthy went through two years ago. He will need to win a majority of the entire House chamber to clinch the top spot again. REPUBLICANS PROJECTED TO KEEP CONTROL OF HOUSE AS TRUMP PREPARES TO IMPLEMENT AGENDA “I understand that might be the case,” one GOP lawmaker said when asked if there were still skeptics of Johnson’s leadership. “I’m concerned about informal deals that might be done. I want things in writing… We did not get to the long end of the stick with McCarthy because of handshake deals, so I don’t want to see that anymore.” A second GOP lawmaker said, “I don’t want to just see in December, ‘We’re going to throw another $100 billion in disaster relief spending. We’re going to throw $20 billion at a farm product…the speaker said he’s not going to do an omnibus, but I just want to see how this stuff plays out and see how we’re going to organize and how he wants to set up for January to succeed.” MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN AFTER TRUMP ENDORSEMENT “We made some baby steps in the last few days, and we need to take some more,” the second lawmaker said. However, not all conservatives agree – a third lawmaker who spoke with Fox News Digital said, “I think it’s going to be fine.” “President Trump came here and endorsed him yesterday. Yesterday was a resounding yes…this isn’t like two years ago,” they said on Thursday. Meanwhile, others who are inclined to support Johnson in January have also sought commitments from him for the next Congress. “He promised to work with me on legislation to protect women. He made that promise in front of the Congress, and I’m going to hold him to it,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Additionally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital that Johnson promised her the House would not pass more aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia. Both cited Trump’s endorsement, however, in signaling that he has their support in January. Johnson won the gavel via a unanimous vote by all House Republicans late last year after McCarthy’s ouster. When reached for comment, his office pointed Fox News Digital to Johnson’s comments after his unanimous election on Wednesday. He said, “The theme that you’ll hear over and over from all of our members across the conference is that we are unified and energized and ready to go. We have to deliver for the American people. Beginning on day one in the new Congress, and we will be ready for that.”