The bill — titled the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” and sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — would make it a class C felony to treat minors with gender-affirming care like surgeries and puberty blockers. If enacted, the bill could imprison doctors who provide such care for up to ten years.

It’s unclear whether the GOP-led Senate will take up the measure, though it is unlikely it would get enough Democratic support to pass out of that chamber.

Continue reading HERE

Source: https://nz.news.yahoo.com/house-passes-bill-criminalizing-gender-003219839.html

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Although four White House officials have blown off congressional subpoenas to testify before the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry, House Democrats reportedly aren’t sweating it.

Politico reports that House investigators believe they have already compiled enough damning evidence against the president to make a strong case for his impeachment and removal, and thus aren’t concerned about officials who are defying their subpoenas.

The one remaining witness whom Democrats would most like to see testify is White House attorney John Eisenberg, who allegedly ordered that the readout of President Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky be placed into a top-secret server after Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman raised alarms about the president asking a foreign country to investigate his domestic political opponents.

House Democrats are planning to start holding public impeachment hearings as early as next week and have already lined up several potential star witnesses. In addition to Vindman, Democrats are expected to hold public testimony for ambassador Bill Taylor, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, National Security Council official Tim Morrison, and former National Security Council official Fiona Hill.

Source: https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/dems-already-have-enough-evidence-to-impeach-trump-and-dont-care-about-white-house-defying-subpoenas/

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In a letter sent to Democratic House lawmakers, Pelosi, D-Calif., said the resolution “affirms the ongoing, existing investigation” and “establishes the procedure” for future investigative steps.

“We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives,” Pelosi said.

Fox News has learned the vote will take place Thursday on the House floor.

It is not an actual article of impeachment, but rather a resolution that sets process ground rules.

MORE QUESTIONS EMERGE ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN’S BUSINESS DEALINGS, EVEN AS TRUMP IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY INTENSIFIES

Republicans hit back Monday at Pelosi over the planned vote, with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham — the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would play a role in a Senate impeachment trial — saying, “A vote now is a bit like un-ringing a bell as House Democrats have selectively leaked information in order to damage President Trump for weeks.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News: “What it authorizes is that we were right. You can’t go back now.”

The White House argued Monday that the move proves Democrats have been conducting an “unauthorized” inquiry.

“We won’t be able to comment fully until we see the actual text, but Speaker Pelosi is finally admitting what the rest of America already knew – that Democrats were conducting an unauthorized impeachment proceeding, refusing to give the President due process, and their secret, shady, closed-door depositions are completely and irreversibly illegitimate,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.

Republicans for weeks have called for a formal House vote, challenging the legitimacy of the current framework for impeachment proceedings in the absence of one. Earlier this month, the White House wrote a defiant eight-page letter to Pelosi and top Democrats saying it would not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.

“I take pride in the fact that our vigorous response to their underhanded tactics ended up making the House Democrat position untenable,” Graham said Monday. “Today, they were forced to change course.”

Pelosi made clear in her letter that the vote is being conducted because of the Republican complaints. She accused Trump and his GOP allies of holding the position that “because the House has not taken a vote, they may simply pretend the impeachment inquiry does not exist.”

Even as she announced a formal vote, Pelosi insisted Monday that this argument “has no merit.”

“This resolution establishes the procedure for hearings that are open to the American people, authorizes the disclosure of deposition transcripts, outlines procedures to transfer evidence to the Judiciary Committee as it considers potential articles of impeachment, and sets forth due process rights for the president and his counsel,” she said.

In a statement, California Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a key Democrat involved in the inquiry, said: “This week, we will bring to the floor a resolution that establishes the format for open hearings that will be conducted by the House Intelligence Committee as part of the House’s ongoing impeachment inquiry, as well as procedures to transmit any evidence or report to the Judiciary Committee. The American people will hear firsthand about the president’s misconduct.”

Just two weeks ago, Pelosi met with the Democratic caucus and said that there would be no formal vote at that point on the launch of formal impeachment proceedings, despite the GOP pressure. But Democrats said Pelosi is now embracing a vote for strategic reasons.

“She wants to nullify their process argument,” a senior Democratic source told Fox News. “That’s all they talk about. Republicans won’t touch the substance. So this is her way of forcing their hand.”

On Wednesday, the Democratic chairman of the Rules Committee, Massachusetts Rep. James McGovern, said the committee will mark up the impeachment procedure resolution Wednesday. Fox News is told that the resolution should be available for review Tuesday but is not yet complete.

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“As committees continue to gather evidence and prepare to present their findings, I will be introducing a resolution to ensure transparency and provide a clear path forward, which the Rules Committee will mark up this week. This is the right thing to do for the institution and the American people,” McGovern said.

Pelosi on Sept. 24 announced the formalization of the Trump impeachment inquiry, saying at the time that “the president must be held accountable” for his “betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and the betrayal of the integrity of our elections.”

The inquiry was opened after a whistleblower complaint alleged that Trump, during a July phone call, pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as military aid to the country was being withheld.

Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Mike Emanuel, and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-says-house-will-vote-this-week-on-resolution-formalizing-impeachment-procedures

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The House will vote this week on affirming the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and Ukraine, as Democrats move forward with a formal vote after initially resisting.

The Thursday vote will push back against a White House and Republican congressional talking point that the impeachment inquiry is not legitimate because it hasn’t been formally authorized, which comes as Democrats are facing off for the first time with a witness defying a subpoena as part of the inquiry.

The resolution, which will be introduced and marked up in the House Rules Committee, would be the first vote the full House will take related to impeachment after the House did not vote to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry earlier this month.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday in a “Dear Colleague” letter that the resolution was not legally necessary, but the House would take the vote “to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives.”

“This week, we will bring a resolution to the Floor that affirms the ongoing, existing investigation that is currently being conducted by our committees as part of this impeachment inquiry, including all requests for documents, subpoenas for records and testimony, and any other investigative steps previously taken or to be taken as part of this investigation,” Pelosi wrote.

Pelosi said that the resolution would establish the procedure for open hearings, authorize the release of deposition transcripts and outline how the Intelligence Committee can transfer evidence to the Judiciary Committee, which would be the panel that would take up potential articles of impeachment.

The Rules Committee website says the resolution is “directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump.”

The text of the resolution has not been released, but House Rules Chairman Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement that the measure will lay out how the House is “ensuring transparency” as it moves toward the “public phase” of the impeachment inquiry.

“This is the right thing to do for the institution and the American people,” McGovern said in a statement.

Source: https://fox43.com/2019/10/28/house-to-vote-on-impeachment-inquiry-procedures/

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Appearing on “Fox & Friends: Weekend” with host Jedidiah Bila, Strassel said, “We’ve been told for three years that it’s Donald Trump who is breaking institutions, destroying democracy, undermining the way we operate…I think if you stepped back and looked at it objectively, the lasting damage that we’re getting is to institutions that are coming under assault as part of this resistance drive to push him out of office.”

Strassel said that impeachment is one of the ” most awesome sober tools we are provided in the constitution,” noting that the Founding Fathers almost didn’t write it into the Constitution because “they were worried that it’d be misused.”

“And, that’s what we see happening,” she told Bila. “For three years, people were calling about impeachment, calling for impeachment the day Donald Trump was elected.”

According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, 89 percent of Democrats approve of the House of Representatives’ decision to conduct an impeachment inquiry and 93 percent think Trump has done things that are grounds for impeachment.

A recent Quinnipiac poll, in addition to finding 9 in 10 Democrats expressing approval of the impeachment inquiry, found 85 percent of Democrats say they think Trump should be impeached and removed from office.

At a 2020 campaign rally in Dallas on Thursday, the president hit back: “For three straight years, radical Democrats have been trying to overthrow the results of a great, great, election, maybe the greatest election in the history of our country. They want to impose an extreme agenda.”

“They cannot pass it and they cannot win it at the ballot box. They’re not going to win that evening again. They won’t come close in 2020. They know it. They know they’re not going to win it,” he said. Adding, “You know, I really don’t believe anymore that they love our country.”

“Look at their own words,” Strassel pointed out. “They say that the original offense was that Donald Trump demanded a quid pro quo that he was going to withhold Ukrainian aid for the Ukraine unless the country gave him dirt on Joe Biden.”

“We saw the transcript. We’ve had Ukraine say, ‘No, there was no quid pro quo.’ They’ve even said that they didn’t even know the money was being withheld,” she added.

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Imam Omar Suleiman addresses the House of Representatives on Thursday.. (photo credit: SCREENSHOT/YOU TUBE)

Popular American Imam Omar Suleiman, known for his Israel-bashing antics, gave the Ramadan invocation at the opening of Thursday’s House of Representatives session.

Suleiman is the founder and president of the Irving, Texas-based Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research. He was invited to give Thursday’s invocation by US Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), a Yaqeen Institute statement said.
The information was originally revealed and reported by the Investigative Project on Terrorism.

“We pray for peace, not war,” he said. “Love not hate. Benevolence, not greed. Unity, not division. And we commit ourselves to not betraying our prayers with actions that contradict them. Let us be for truth, no matter who, or for is against it.”
Suleiman has made several vehemently anti-Israel comments and also seemed to side with Hamas in an August 2014 Facebook post.

As the 2014 Gaza War broke out, Suleiman said on social media: “How befitting that the 3rd Intifada starts on the 27th night of Ramadan as worshippers are denied prayer in Masjid Al Aqsa.” He ended his post with a prayer of sorts: “God willing on this blessed night as the 3rd Intifada begins, the beginning of the end of Zionism is here. May Allah help us overcome this monster, protect the innocent of the world, and accept the murdered as martyrs. ameen.”

During the war, Suleiman also denied that Hamas uses human shields in an attempt to stop the IDF from retaliating against rocket fire sent from Gaza into Israeli civilian communities.

“If Hamas was using human shields, wouldn’t the Palestinians say something about it?” he wrote. “Surprise, surprise: apparently the IDF was guilty even as they tried to convince the world that the reason why they couldn’t stop massacring civilians was because of the use of human shields. This is disgusting… #FreePalestine #ICC4Israel”

Also in 2014, Suleiman also made a comment on social media alluding to the antisemitic idea that Israel controls American foreign policy, claiming that it is the “51st state.
In 2017, he also addressed a rally protesting the US Embassy move to Jerusalem was organized by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), a group which seeks “to challenge the legitimacy of the State of Israel.”

He denied the Jewish claim to Jerusalem while speaking at the event.

“Your recognition means nothing to us,” he said. “Your maps mean nothing to us, your embassy is as illegitimate as the occupation it seeks to legitimize. Our land is our land, our dignity is our dignity.

“Our determination is our determination. Our boycott is our boycott. Our Aqsa [the holy mosque in Jerusalem] is our Aqsa. Our Palestine is our Palestine,” he added.

He has also openly supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, as well as Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, and Women’s March founder Linda Sarsour – all who have shared vehemently anti-Israel sentiments.

In a 2018 blog post advocating for AMP, Suleiman said that the tide in the fight for Palestinians “is turning.”
“There is no longer one side dominating the political discourse in America,” he said. “In the last month [referring to December], we heard from newly-elected congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib openly express their support for BDS and Palestinian rights.”

“I can’t stress to you enough how essential it is to invest in Palestine advocacy work,” he wrote. “We need to organize at the legislative level to shift US policy toward one of justice and equality for Palestinians.”

Source: https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Israel-bashing-Imam-delivers-opening-prayer-at-House-of-Representatives-589337

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The Senate increased its total salaries of officers and employees by $12.6 million in the 2,232-page bill that lawmakers had fewer than 48 hours to read and vote on. The bill avoids a government shutdown that would take place at midnight on Friday.

Aside from giving their own institutions a bonus, the omnibus also gives away millions to prevent “elderly falls,” promote breastfeeding, and fight “excessive alcohol use.”

The legislation increases the Senate budget to $919.9 million, up $48.8 million from fiscal year 2017, according to the congressional summary of the bill.

“The increase provides funding necessary for critical modernization and upgrades of the Senate financial management system and investments in IT security,” the summary states.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives increased its budget to $1.2 billion, which is $10.9 million above 2017 levels.

Salaries of staffers in the Senate are also set for an increase. Division I of the legislation breaks down the total salaries of officers and employees, which are being raised from $182 million in 2017 to $194.8 million in the final bill, an increase of $12.58 million.

The Senate also increased its expense account, as expense allowances are going from $177,000 to $192,000, an increase of $15,000.

The House, however, kept its budget for salaries the same at $22.3 million and lowered expenses by $4.4 million.

Committee offices got an increase of $22.9 million in salaries, from $181.5 million in 2017 to $204.4 million in the final bill.

The omnibus also boosts funding for health research, including a $3 billion increase to the ever-growing budget of the National Institutes of Health.

Health care spending in the omnibus includes $4 million to combat “excessive alcohol use” through a CDC prevention and health promotion program.

Another $15 million goes to study “high obesity counties” and an increase of $5 million for the CDC program that seeks to “address obesity in counties” by leveraging “the community extension services provided by land grant universities who are mandated to translate science into practical action and promote healthy lifestyles.”

The bill also spends $2.05 million to prevent “elderly falls” and $8 million in the form of “breastfeeding grants.”

The legislation also mandates the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to improve “wine label accuracy.”

The House passed the spending package Friday, and the Senate is expected to follow.

Source: http://freebeacon.com/politics/congress-gives-bonus-omnibus/

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