White House news

• Venezuela military defends protests role, backs Maduro congress

  25-05-2017 21:21
  
  By Andrew CawthorneCARACAS (Reuters) - Decried by protesters as "murderers" defending a dictator, Venezuela's military insisted on Thursday it was not taking sides in the national political turmoil, though it did back socialist President Nicolas Maduro's controversial plan for a new congress.The armed forces' National Guard unit has played a pivotal role in two months of unrest rocking Venezuela, often blocking marches and using teargas and water cannons to fight youths hurling stones and Moloto
  
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• Senior Democrat says Johnson's plan risks 'boiling Ukraine to death slowly'

  16-04-2024 17:47 via thehill.com
  
  Democratic Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.) on Tuesday said he is "deeply concerned" about Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)'s new plan for foreign aid, calling on the Speaker to instead bring the Senate-passed security supplemental to the floor to secure funding for Ukraine.
  "We've already waited weeks too long. And I do also want to go on record as being deeply concerned about the convoluted process that the Speaker announced yesterday for trying to get that help to Ukraine," Smith, the ranking member of th
  
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• China funding fentanyl crisis, House panel says

  16-04-2024 17:47 via thehill.com
  
  The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has subsidized the manufacturing and export of materials used to make fentanyl through tax rebates, a House select committee alleged in its report.A monthslong investigation into Chinese websites, government documents and data points for narcotics companies has led the House Select Committee on China to believe that the country, under the CCP's control, has been directly funding the global fentanyl crisis.By giving tax rebates, the CCP directly subsidized the &l
  
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• Speaker Johnson calls ouster threat ‘absurd’

  16-04-2024 17:00 via thehill.com
  
  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Tuesday pushed back on the growing ouster effort against him, calling it “absurd” and “not helpful.”The comment came shortly after Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) announced that he would co-sponsor Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) motion to vacate resolution, becoming the first lawmaker to publicly back the Georgia Republican’s measure.“It is, in my view, an absurd notion that someone would bring a vacate motion when we a
  
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• Garland testifies before House Appropriations Committee: Watch live

  16-04-2024 16:16 via thehill.com
  
  Members of the House Appropriations Committee will hear from Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday.Funds for federal law enforcement are an important part of overall budgeting considerations. Republicans in the House have expressed reluctance to fund the FBI and other agencies with policing authority, which they accuse of following a political agenda beyond their mandate.Among other major expenses, the FBI has plans to move to a new headquarters.The hearing is slated to start 10 a.m. EDT.
  
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• Mayorkas testifies before panel: Watch live

  16-04-2024 15:53 via thehill.com
  
  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will appear before the House Homeland Security committee Tuesday morning, as House GOP members prepare to deliver articles of impeachment against him to the Senate.The presentation of articles had been delayed, with some Republican senators arguing that they needed more time to prepare for a trial. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has made it clear he intends to dismiss the charges as quickly as he can. There may also be procedural del
  
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• Mayorkas testifies before House panel: Watch live

  16-04-2024 15:53 via thehill.com
  
  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will appear before the House Homeland Security Committee Tuesday morning, as House GOP members prepare to deliver articles of impeachment against him to the Senate.The presentation of articles had been delayed, with some Republican senators arguing that they needed more time to prepare for a trial. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has made it clear he intends to dismiss the charges as quickly as he can. There may also be procedural dela
  
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• First Republican publicly backs Greene effort to oust Speaker Johnson

  16-04-2024 15:52 via thehill.com
  
  Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) announced Tuesday he will co-sponsor a resolution to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from the House's top job.Massie told his colleagues during a closed-door conference meeting that he will co-sponsor the motion to vacate resolution filed late last month by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), according to three GOP lawmakers in the room, becoming the first lawmaker to publicly join Greene's effort.Massie confirmed his announcement in a post on the social platform X.
  
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• Intelligence community largely won House FISA fight. Now comes the Senate

  16-04-2024 12:00 via thehill.com
  
  A bill to reauthorize the nation’s warrantless spy powers is headed to the Senate in what is largely viewed as a victory for the intelligence community, as the House declined to require authorities to first get a warrant and added several other provisions opposed by privacy hawks.In a nail-biter of a Friday vote, the House declined to approve an amendment spearheaded by the House Judiciary Committee that would require law enforcement to get a warrant before looking at Americans’ data
  
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• House GOP looks for reset on government funding

  16-04-2024 12:00 via thehill.com
  
  House Republicans are looking for a reset on government funding following the chaotic — and prolonged — spending process over the last year, adding to the pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who already faces an uphill climb to achieve many of the conference's goals.The push for a clean slate on 2025 spending comes shortly after the House wrapped up fiscal year 2024 appropriations, which required four funding stopgaps, brought W
  
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• Biden to hit Trump over tax policies in hometown of Scranton, Pa

  16-04-2024 11:00 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden will travel to Scranton, Pa., on Tuesday to hit former President Trump over his tax policies as he kicks off his Pennsylvania campaign swing.Biden will start the three-day swing in his hometown of Scranton to outline what he argues is Trump’s three-point tax plan if he wins another term in the White House.He will argue that the first point is that Trump wants to lower billionaires’ tax bills by repealing the Affordable Care Act, which he will say would deliver a tax c
  
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• House passes series of bills aimed at squeezing Tehran financially

  16-04-2024 01:38 via thehill.com
  
  The Republican-led House on Monday voted in favor of a series of bills aimed at squeezing Iran financially in response to an unprecedented drone and missile attack launched by the Islamic Republic against Israel over the weekend.Three separate bills were brought to the floor Monday under suspension of the rules, a fast-track process that requires two-thirds support for passage, allowing for floor votes to be taken immediately.
  The bills largely seek to impose financial penalties on Iran, those t
  
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• House sends foreign surveillance reform bill to Senate

  16-04-2024 01:12 via thehill.com
  
  The House on Monday settled its procedural business on a bill to reform the nation's warrantless surveillance powers, kicking the controversial reauthorization over to the Senate.The Monday vote came after a tie in the chamber on an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).The push by privacy hawks was down to the wire, failing with a 212-212 vote. Two representatives then offered competing motions on whether to
  
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• Speaker Johnson unveils plan for Ukraine, Israel at closed-door GOP meeting

  16-04-2024 00:18 via thehill.com
  
  Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has unveiled his plan to move foreign aid through the House, pitching four separate bills to address aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other national security priorities.Johnson rolled out his proposal during a closed-door House GOP conference meeting on Monday, after months of delaying any decisions on the politically prickly topic.The plan — according to two GOP lawmakers at the meeting — is to move the four bills under one procedural rule t
  
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• Bidens report nearly $620K in income, Harris and her husband report over $450K

  15-04-2024 23:30 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden and first lady Jill Biden made a combined income of $619,976 last year, and Vice President Harris and her husband made $450,299, according to the couples’ 2023 tax returns the White House released Monday.The president and his wife paid an effective federal income tax rate of 23.7 percent, the documents showed, and paid a total of $146,629 in federal income tax.The annual salary of a president is $400,000, and Jill Biden works as a professor at Northern Virginia Community Co
  
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• Bidens report nearly $620K in income, Harris and her husband report more than $450K

  15-04-2024 23:30 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden and first lady Jill Biden made a combined income of $619,976 last year, and Vice President Harris and her husband made $450,299, according to the couples’ 2023 tax returns the White House released Monday.The president and his wife paid an effective federal income tax rate of 23.7 percent, the documents showed, and paid a total of $146,629 in federal income tax.The annual salary of a president is $400,000, and Jill Biden works as a professor at Northern Virginia Community Co
  
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• McCarthy thinks Trump is 'gonna play Apprentice' with VP pick

  15-04-2024 23:02 via thehill.com
  
  Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) predicted former President Trump would "play 'Apprentice'" to decide on his vice-presidential pick and advised that he look to Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) as his best choices.McCarthy on Monday spoke at an annual membership meeting of the American Health Association, giving his thoughts on the 2024 election cycle. A member of the audience asked what the "smartest" choice would be for Trump's running mate."T
  
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• McCarthy on Greene's move to vacate Johnson: 'I don't think it'll ever happen' 

  15-04-2024 22:54 via thehill.com
  
  Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) poured cold water on the prospect of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) being ousted from his role, stating he does not think it "will ever happen."
  "It makes a lot of good news, doesn't it? But this is what I think ... I don't think it'll ever happen," McCarthy said Monday while speaking at an annual membership meeting of the American Hospital Association.
  "We just have to try to inspire. I think you just bring people in. I don't believe this will ever h
  
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• Dems roast Trump for appearing to sleep in court

  15-04-2024 22:28 via thehill.com
  
  Democratic strategists are roasting former President Trump on Monday for appearing to fall asleep in a New York courtroom during the first day of his hush money trial.Trump at times during the day closed his eyes, appearing to nod off. He also would lean back in his chair motionless with his arms crossed for considerable periods, but opinions differed among the press corps about whether the former president was actually asleep.Maggie Haberman, senior political correspondent at The New York Times
  
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• Iran attack highlights shadow war, triggers fears of wider conflict

  15-04-2024 21:30 via thehill.com
  
  The massive Iranian attack on Israel over the weekend thrust the decades-long shadow war between the two countries out into the open, highlighting a spiraling conflict that threatens to grow even more dangerous in the future.
  Iran’s brazen attack, which included some 300 ballistic and cruise missiles along with explosive drones, was largely defeated by Israeli and allied defense systems. But Tehran’s bold move to directly launch an assault on Israel for the first time underscore
  
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• White House opposes standalone Israel aid bill following Iranian attack

  15-04-2024 21:06 via thehill.com
  
  The White House said Monday it would not support a standalone bill only providing aid to Israel in the wake of Iran's recent attack, urging the House to pass a national security supplemental that included assistance for Ukraine, Israel and other allies.“We are opposed to a standalone bill that would just work on Israel, as we’ve seen proposed. We would oppose a standalone bill, yes," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Sund
  
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• White House opposes stand-alone Israel aid bill following Iranian attack

  15-04-2024 21:06 via thehill.com
  
  The White House said Monday it would not support a stand-alone bill only providing aid to Israel in the wake of Iran's recent attack, urging the House to pass a national security supplemental that included assistance for Ukraine, Israel and other allies.“We are opposed to a stand-alone bill that would just work on Israel, as we’ve seen proposed. We would oppose a stand-alone bill, yes," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sai
  
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• Freedom Caucus: Iran attack on Israel sets up 'bogus' reason to pass Ukraine aid

  15-04-2024 21:01 via thehill.com
  
  The House Freedom Caucus is warning GOP leadership not to use Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend as “justification” to send additional aid to Ukraine, as lawmakers in both parties and chambers call on the lower chamber to pass the Senate-approved foreign aid package — which includes support for both Israel and Ukraine.In an official statement released Monday, the conservative group said the attack is a “bogus justification” to approve more assistan
  
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• Kirby calls idea Iran gave US warning about Israel attack 'ridiculous'

  15-04-2024 20:14 via thehill.com
  
  White House spokesperson John Kirby on Monday disputed reports that Iranian officials provided the United States advance notice of the timing and targets of its attacks against Israel over the weekend."This whole narrative out there that Iran passed us a message with what they were gonna do is ridiculous," Kirby told reporters at a briefing.Kirby told reporters Iran had failed in its attack against Israel on Saturday, in which it launched hundreds of drones and missiles in response to an Israeli
  
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• State Department condemns West Bank violence between Palestinians, Israeli settlers

  15-04-2024 19:35 via thehill.com
  
  The State Department condemned rising violence in the West Bank on Monday, encouraging both sides to de-escalate tensions after clashes that have killed an Israeli and two Palestinians.Violence broke out last week as Israeli settlers searched for a missing 14-year-old boy. Dozens of Israeli settlers rushed into towns in the West Bank, burning homes and cars and fighting with Palestinians. Two Palestinians, a 25-year-old and a 17-year-old, were killed in the clashes, and dozens were injured, the
  
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• Jeffries: GOP is 'out of excuses' on foreign aid

  15-04-2024 19:27 via thehill.com
  
  House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said House Republicans were “out of excuses” and must “act immediately” to pass the Senate-passed national security supplemental bill to aid foreign allies including Ukraine and Israel.In a "Dear Colleague" letter released Monday, Jeffries joined a chorus of lawmakers and government officials using the Iranian attack on Israel this past weekend to underscore the urgency of passing immediate foreign aid — which for month
  
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• House to send Mayorkas impeachment articles to Senate on Tuesday

  15-04-2024 19:09 via thehill.com
  
  House Republican impeachment managers are set to send the Senate articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill, after Senate conservatives successfully lobbied Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to delay the delivery of the charges.The transfer of the articles will officially force the Senate to take up the matter of impeachment against Mayorkas, which has been pending Since the House approved the
  
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• Biden sees highest approval rating since November

  15-04-2024 15:45 via thehill.com
  
  President Biden on Monday saw his highest approval rating since November, ticking up to 43 percent.A new poll from the Financial Times and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business that found Biden’s approval rating at 43 percent marks a four-point increase from the same poll in March.The poll also found that 41 percent of registered voters approved of his handling of the economy, which was a five point increase from March.Comparing Biden to former President Trum
  
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• Republicans, Democrats call for immediate vote on military aid package after Iran strike on Israel

  15-04-2024 15:19 via thehill.com
  
  Nearly 100 House Democrats and Republicans are imploring Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to immediately bring the Senate-passed package that includes aid for Israel for a House vote, following Iran’s unprecedented attack on the country over the weekend. In a letter sent Sunday night, the lawmakers push for Johnson to put the Senate-passed $95 billion national security supplemental that includes military aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan on the floor Monday evening.“This weekend, t
  
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• Biden administration agrees to provide billions to Samsung to expand chip manufacturing in Texas

  15-04-2024 14:57 via thehill.com
  
  The Biden administration on Monday announced a multibillion-dollar agreement with Samsung, which will invest in semiconductor chip manufacturing in Texas.The $6.4 billion preliminary deal is the latest agreement struck using funds from the CHIPS and Science Act, a bipartisan law Biden signed in 2022. Samsung is expected to invest more than $40 billion in the region over the next several years to build out new facilities in Taylor, Texas, and Austin.The Biden administration said the deal is expec
  
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