Dem
51
GOP
49
Boy howdy was there a lot of news yesterday. As you can see above, we have 13 items today. It could easily have been two or three times that; we only got it that low by combining similar stories. We're going to start with some of the machinations going on in the U.S. House of Representatives.
For those who have been eagerly (or not-so-eagerly) awaiting the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the moment will soon be at hand. On April 10, shortly after the House returns from a 2-week break, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will deliver the articles of impeachment to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Johnson also announced which members will serve as impeachment managers; the list of 10 includes Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Clay Higgins (R-LA) and... Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Those are three of the biggest show horses in the House. They engage in so many stunts that each of them should change their name to Evel(ine) Knievel. Is Johnson trying to maximize the circus-like aspect of this thing? Is he trying to mollify the Freedom Caucus by including some of their members? Is he trying to let the FCers hang themselves by giving them the rope with which to do it? Could be any or all of these. In any case, the trial isn't going to last long; Schumer says it will commence the morning of April 11, and it's a pretty good guess it won't last too many days after that. In fact, it may not last too many hours. Or too many minutes.
Meanwhile, speaking of the relationship between Greene and Johnson, she apparently plans to press her motion to vacate, up to and including making it a privileged motion (which would then require the House to take up the matter within 2 days). If Greene does move ahead, she could end up regretting it. Johnson would almost certainly need Democratic votes to keep his job, and some Democrats are increasingly comfortable with the idea of trading those votes in exchange for passing the Ukraine funding bill.
There's also one other bit of news worth mentioning, from the Democratic side of the aisle. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) is going to introduce a bill called the Guarding United States Against Reckless Disclosures (GUARD) Act, which would prohibit the president, vice president, members of Congress and federal candidates from viewing classified information if they have been charged with certain crimes, like obstructing an official proceeding, unlawfully retaining classified defense information, or acting as a foreign agent.
You'll have to figure out for yourself which current presidential candidate and which current senator from Sherrill's home state that she might have in mind here. Since this would seem to be a commonsense measure, it should have a good chance of becoming law. However, since it quite obviously targets a man who thinks nothing of siccing his followers on any Republican who dares cast a vote contrary to his interests, we have to assume it's dead in the water. (Z)