Dem
51
GOP
49
The members of Congress have done quite a bit in the last few days, when it comes to stunts that are not likely to produce any tangible benefit for the American people. Let's run down the three biggest.
First up, over in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) moved forward with his bill meant to force the White House to give bombs to Israel. It passed, 224-187, with 16 Democrats crossing the aisle to vote with all the Republicans.
That this bill had little to do with helping Israel, and everything to do with being able to smear Democratic House members as anti-Israel/antisemitic, is indicated by the voting pattern on the blue team's side of the aisle. Nearly all the Democrats who voted for the bill, like Mary Peltola (D-AK) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), are from very swingy districts. Meanwhile, most of the most staunchly pro-Israel Democrats in the House, among them Reps. Kathy Manning (D-NC), Dean Phillips (DFL-MN), Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) not only did not vote for the bill, they issued a statement that reads, in part:
...House Republicans are attempting to weaponize Israel for political gain by bringing partisan bills to the floor in an effort to split Democrats and the American Jewish community. Rather than working with Democrats to develop bipartisan legislation that meets our national security objectives and Israel's security needs, Republicans' latest bill lacks a single Democrat co-sponsor, mischaracterizes President Biden's comments and steadfast support for Israel, removes oversight and accountability for arms sales, and threatens to withhold operating funds and salaries from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Office of the Secretary of State, and the National Security Council at a time the United States and our allies face growing threats across the globe.
We reject such shameless and dangerous attempts to use Israel and the American Jewish community as political pawns, while compromising Israel's—and perhaps our own—security in the process.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed yesterday that he will not bring the bill up for a vote, so that means this little bit of political theater has reached its conclusion.
Meanwhile, the Jim Jordan-led (R-OH) House Judiciary Committee would very much like to hear the recordings that former special counsel Robert Hur made during his interview with Joe Biden. Does Jordan wish to engage in some sort of legitimate oversight (especially since Hur already declined to bring charges), or does he want to cherry-pick some choice excerpts from the recordings and release them to Fox and Newsmax? Readers can decide for themselves which it might be.
In any event, AG Merrick Garland has refused to turn over the recordings, and the White House has asserted executive privilege over them. With nowhere else left to turn, presumably, the House Oversight Committee voted 24-20 late yesterday to hold Garland in contempt of Congress. The next step is for the entire House to take a vote; a majority would be required to refer the matter to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution. The vote would have happened yesterday, except that too many Republican members were in New York for Donald Trump's trial (see above).
Should the House vote in favor of finding the AG in contempt, a decision on whether or not to prosecute Merrick Garland would be made by... Merrick Garland. Given that Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon have been in the headlines this week, due to their convictions for contempt of Congress, one detects more than a faint whiff of "we'll show the world that Democrats play by a different set of rules for Democrats than for Republicans." In any case, we think it unlikely that the AG will decide to prosecute himself. He could hand the decision off to an underling, but we similarly don't think any second- or third-tier DoJ staffer is going to order that their boss be prosecuted.
Meanwhile, over in the other chamber, the Democrats who run the show there also know a thing or two about political theater. Yesterday, Schumer announced that he would resurrect the bipartisan border bill—the one that was created under the guidance of Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), and then died when Donald Trump said he didn't want Biden to get a win on this issue. Schumer does not expect the bill to secure passage in either chamber, much less both. When it fails, the White House will be able to blame Republicans in Congress, and then will be in a position to take action via executive order.
And that brings us to the end of today's Playbill. (Z)