US Marine Corps Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews gave emotional testimony at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the evacuation from Afghanistan, recounting his experience of the deadly terrorist attack at Kabul airport's Abbey Gate in August 2021. His testimony was a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by US service members in Afghanistan, and the Committee will continue to investigate the circumstances of the attack and withdrawal.
Posts tagged as “House Republican Steering Committee”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has come under fire from both Democrats and Republican Senate leaders for granting Fox News' Tucker Carlson exclusive access to Capitol security footage from the January 6th riot. The footage was used to downplay the attack, despite it being an attempted insurrection. McCarthy defended his decision, but has faced criticism from both sides of the aisle. The White House has also slammed Carlson for misrepresenting the severity of the attack.
The Senate is set to vote Wednesday on a resolution that would invalidate a controversial plan to overhaul the District of Columbia's criminal code. The resolution, which requires a simple majority to pass, is likely to clear the Democratic-led Senate, with President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer both expressing support for the measure. The resolution would reverse changes made by the D.C. Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, which reduced penalties for certain nonviolent offenses and increased the use of alternatives to incarceration.
Oklahoma voters rejected a state question on Tuesday that would have allowed for the recreational use of marijuana, with 57.7% of voters voting against it. Former Republican Gov. Frank Keating and Terri White, the former head of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, led the opposition to the proposal, arguing that the state should focus on medical marijuana. Supporters of the proposal argued that it would create jobs, generate tax revenue, and reduce the number of people incarcerated for marijuana-related offenses.
Hundreds of pages of previously unreleased documents were made public as part of Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News. The documents include emails, text messages, and other material from Fox News executives and on-air personalities, showing how Fox News privately dismissed some of the election conspiracies they promoted on-air. The documents also include statements from Rupert Murdoch rejecting the conspiracy theories about Dominion that his own network promoted. The documents could be used as evidence in the ongoing defamation lawsuit, with the outcome yet to be seen.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that the state will be cutting ties with Walgreens after the company announced it would not sell abortion pills in 20 states. This decision has been met with criticism from Democrats, who argue that it will limit access to abortion services for women in those states. Walgreens has not yet commented on the decision by California to cut ties with the company.
Elon Musk has joined the right-wing chorus denying that a violent riot took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after Fox News aired select frames of security footage provided by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. This footage was part of a debut of over 40,000 hours of tape, and Musk's comments have reignited the debate about the Capitol riot and the footage that was presented. Many have argued that the footage was misleading and that the House committee investigating the riot had withheld evidence for partisan political reasons.
In his fifth state of the state address, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis highlighted his accomplishments and opposition to the "biomedical security state". During the speech, a Republican state legislator proposed a bill that would ban abortion at six weeks of pregnancy. DeSantis did not comment on the legislation, instead focusing on Florida's success as a destination for Americans looking for a better life and his commitment to making Florida a better place for its citizens. The proposed abortion ban has been met with both praise and criticism and is currently being debated in the state legislature.