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Harris declines to say whether she would establish commission to study reparations

Harris declines to say whether she would establish commission to study reparations

Vice President Kamala Harris declined to say whether she supports a commission to study reparations, despite being behind such legislation in Congress.  She suggested Congress should take the lead on studying the history of racism and the potential need for reparations, not the White House.  During a conversation with members of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Tuesday in Philadelphia, the Democratic presidential nominee said when asked whether she would create such a committee: “We just need to speak truth about history. In spite of the fact that some people are trying to erase history and try and teach our children otherwise, we need to speak truth about the generational impact of our history, in terms of the generational impact of slavery, the generational impact of of redlining, of Jim Crow law, I could go on and on.” “I think Congress ultimately will have the ability to do this work,” Harris said.  NYC COUNCIL PASSES SLAVERY REPARATIONS LEGISLATION  Racial justice groups and some Democrats have been pushing President Biden for years to establish a national reparations commission by executive order – so far to no avail. “We ask with no apologies for an executive order to be in place,” the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said in December 2022. Her milestone legislative proposal was a bill that would have established a commission to study reparations. “I want for once an acceptance of the history, of the journey that African Americans have taken, to be an accepted reality in America.” Liberal cities and states have launched their own efforts to give reparations to Black Americans. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., introduced a proposal last year to pay $14 trillion to compensate for what she believes are racist government policies that created a wealth gap between White and Black people. Harris, meanwhile, pivoted to her own proposals she believed would boost African Americans.  “Part of what we can do right now is, for example, what I’m talking about in terms of building an opportunity economy, which is addressing explicitly the obstacles that historically and currently exist, and dealing with them, student loan debt, medical debt, bias and home appraisals. What we need to do in terms of dealing with an issue that I have championed for years, Black maternal mortality, which is the fact that Black women are three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth than other women.” PROTESTS ERUPT AT CALIFORNIA STATE CAPITOL AFTER PAIR OF REPARATIONS BILLS SHELVED The vice president was also asked about Black men who are considering voting for former President Trump. “I think it’s very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket,” Harris responded.  “Black men are like any other voting group. You gotta earn their vote. So I’m working to earn the vote, not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black, but because the policies and the perspectives I have understand what we must do to recognize the needs of all communities.”

Ryan Routh’s ‘poor man’s surveillance’ enough to scout out spot to target Trump: expert

Ryan Routh’s ‘poor man’s surveillance’ enough to scout out spot to target Trump: expert

The suspect in the second failed Trump assassination attempt, Ryan Routh, may have relied on “poor man’s surveillance” to target the 45th president as he waited about 12 hours outside the golf club before his arrest on Sunday. Bill Stanton, a former NYPD officer and an executive protection expert, spoke with Fox News Digital on Tuesday regarding security failures surrounding the second attempt on Trump’s life. Authorities have not yet confirmed how Routh knew Trump would be on that golf course Sunday afternoon, with Stanton saying the suspect may have employed a laser focus on Trump — which he called “Forrest Gump focus” in a nod to the classic 1994 movie — and simply Googled Trump’s frequent non-campaign activities to stake out a location. “If you have someone with like, this Forrest Gump focus… he could have done a journeyman’s research on Google,” Stanton said, and simply searched, “Where does Trump usually go when he’s home in Florida?” before heading to Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach.  “If I’m that guy, I’m doing that, and then I’m going to do a poor man’s surveillance,” Stanton said, explaining the suspect would keep his eyes peeled for Trump’s caravan to roll up to the course.  HOUSE DEM LEADER RAILS ‘WE MUST STOP’ MAGA AMID NEWS OF 2ND TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT  “I’m guessing [Trump] has a lead car. I’m guessing he has his main car and then the chase car. So that’s a little motorcade. That’s at minimum three cars, not to mention the advance car. So that’s about four vehicles right there, and [Routh] could have guessed it,” Stanton said of Routh likely monitoring the club for Trump’s motorcade ahead of the attempt.  News broke Sunday afternoon that Trump had been safely escorted from the course at his Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach after reports of gunfire in his vicinity. Trump was not injured during what is being investigated as a likely assassination attempt, with the suspect identified as a 58-year-old man from Hawaii, Ryan Wesley Routh.  Federal authorities on Monday released charging documents related to Routh’s charges stemming from the suspected assassination attempt, and found Routh’s phone was located near the golf club for about 12 hours, beginning at 1:59 a.m. Sunday until approximately 1:31 p.m. that same day.  “Agents requested T-Mobile, on an emergency basis, to provide law enforcement with information pertaining to Routh’s mobile phone usage. Those records indicated that Routh’s mobile phone was located in the vicinity of the area along the tree line from approximately 1:59 AM until approximately 1:31 PM on September 15,” the charging document reads. WOULD-BE TRUMP ASSASSIN RYAN ROUTH CAMPED UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS FOR 12 HOURS: COURT DOCS Routh was arrested shortly after 1:30 p.m. Sunday, after he allegedly pointed an AK-47-style rifle through a chain-link fence towards where Trump was playing golf. U.S. Secret Service protecting the president on the golf course noticed the muzzle of the rifle and fired at the suspect.  Despite no confirmation from authorities on how Routh knew Trump’s whereabouts, Trump’s love of golf has been well documented across his political career. TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT LAUGHS, SMILES DURING FIRST COURT APPEARANCE IN FLORIDA Trump frequently golfs over holidays and on weekends when he is not on the campaign trail. Left-wing media outlets criticized Trump during his presidency for playing rounds of golf, including keeping running tabs on the number of days he spent on the course and comparing the stats to how often former President Barack Obama frequented the green.  Routh’s location near the golf course was additionally revealed in a New York Post exclusive this week to be a common paparazzi hang out.  Stanton explained that every person is a creature of habit, but that it’s up to the Secret Service to accommodate Trump’s schedule.  “It’s not the protected — in this case, former President Trump — to be told what he can and cannot do. It is up to the Secret Service to accommodate the will and travels of President Trump, not the other way around. The tail doesn’t wag the dog. The dog wags the tail,” Stanton, the author of 2019 book “Prepared Not Scared: Your Go-To Guide for Staying Safe in an Unsafe World,” said.  “We are all creatures of habit, especially when you’re in your home. We think we’re not. The same way Google does predictives, we’re like that in the real world: We go get our coffee. We go to the gym, yada yada yada. Now it’s just a little bit more esoteric with Trump because he’s all over the place,” Stanton said. Trump spoke to Fox Digital on Monday and blamed rhetoric promoted by Democrats, namely President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, for the attempt on his life Sunday.  “[The suspect] believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said in the interview. “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”  RYAN ROUTH, ARMED MAN ARRESTED AT TRUMP GOLF COURSE, POSTED PROLIFICALLY ABOUT TRUMP, POLITICS  “It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat,” Trump added.  Stanton added in a comment to Fox Digital that the U.S. is facing a “perfect storm of heightened political rhetoric” that can cause people to become “self-radicalized.” “You have these keyboard warriors. It’s like a drug. They go out, and they spew all their hate and venom online,” he said. “[The internet] has allowed these people, for them to stew in their own psychosis. And then, when that drug doesn’t become enough, now you see it going from like ‘The Matrix’ from the cyber world into the real world.” Stanton added that the attempt could have been far worse if it had been carried out by trained professionals or a “super villain” who not only could have gotten as close

Tulsi Gabbard says she would be ‘honored’ to join a potential Trump administration

Tulsi Gabbard says she would be ‘honored’ to join a potential Trump administration

Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, told Fox News Digital Monday that she would “be honored to serve” in a potential Trump administration. If tapped, Gabbard expressed her desire to work in a position where she can make the greatest impact, particularly in areas related to foreign policy or national security. Gabbard is an active-duty military veteran who completed two tours in the Middle East, and currently serves as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves.  “I feel I can make the most impact in these areas of national security and foreign policy, and work to bring about the changes that President Trump talks about,” Gabbard said Monday evening from a campaign fundraising event in Atlanta, Georgia. Gabbard added that bringing an end “to the influence of the military industrial complex,” working to prevent World War III and bringing the U.S. back “from the brink of nuclear war” would be among her priorities. War should be a “last resort,” Gabbard said. She has also supported former President Trump’s plans to end the war in Ukraine. TULSI GABBARD REVEALS HOW SHE ‘DISSECTED’ KAMALA HARRIS DURING 2019 DEM PRIMARY DEBATE Gabbard spent time as the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee between 2013 and 2016, and previously supported candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, and President Biden. However, blaming a shift within her former party that she has not agreed with, Gabbard became increasingly friendly with the GOP before leaving the party and eventually joining Trump’s transition team last month.  “There are a lot of people who I meet in a lot of different places every day who are former Democrats, or people who are leaving the Democratic Party,” Gabbard said Monday. “People who recognize the same things that I have and experienced the same things that I have and realize that the Democratic Party of today doesn’t stand for them, doesn’t stand for freedom, it doesn’t stand for civil liberties… doesn’t stand for peace.”   The former Democratic congresswoman has been outspoken against what a Harris administration could do to peace around the world and, on Monday, she slammed Democrats – including Vice President Kamala Harris – for what she described as their refusal to engage in diplomacy with U.S. adversaries.  “President Trump did in his last administration what President Obama refused to do, what President Biden refused to do, what Kamala Harris has made clear she refuses to do – which is to go out and do that tough work that a president and commander in chief has to do in diplomacy,” Gabbard said. “Not just hanging out with your friends, and your allies, and your partners, but actually going out and talking to your adversaries.” KAMALA HARRIS’ FOREIGN POLICY CHOPS QUESTIONED: WHAT HAS SHE DONE, WHERE HAS SHE BEEN? Gabbard argued that peace will remain elusive until the leaders in the White House are willing to do this sort of diplomacy. She also slammed Harris for escalating the war in Ukraine and being “flippant” about the chances of a nuclear disaster. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The longer this war goes on and the more that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and the neocons of Washington continue to escalate this war, the greater risk we are of a potential nuclear war, World War III,” Gabbard said on Monday. “It is unconscionable and unacceptable that Kamala Harris and others who are continuing to escalate [the war in Ukraine] are so flippant about the reality of nuclear war.”

Ohio AG eyes ‘creative’ path to get ‘mishandled’ Springfield migrant crisis in front of federal judge

Ohio AG eyes ‘creative’ path to get ‘mishandled’ Springfield migrant crisis in front of federal judge

Ohio’s Republican attorney general is blasting the federal government over the developing migrant crisis in Springfield, Ohio, and says his office has begun the process of trying to get the issue in front of a federal judge. “I’ve asked my staff to take a look at the law and put their creative hats on to see if there’s a way we can get in front of a federal judge to review this situation,” Ohio AG Dave Yost told Fox News Digital during an interview. “I mean, think about this. If it could happen to Springfield, it could happen to any town in America. There has to be some kind of limit to the federal government’s authority to simply continue letting people in and allowing them to run free in the country and congregate in a place like Springfield that’s not prepared to handle it.” Yost told Fox News Digital that the federal government has “completely mishandled” Springfield, where between 15,000 and 20,000 Haitian migrants have settled in the town of 60,000 and many of those migrants have come to the U.S. with temporary protected status, allowing them the ability to live and work in the U.S. for a limited amount of time. TRUMP TALKS ABC NEWS PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, IN FOX NEWS INTERVIEW Yost says the federal government has not properly coordinated resettling those migrants with the town and it is therefore “stressing the schools, the health care system, and the safety net” and said that at least 4,000 Haitians are receiving government assistance. “What I’m hearing from the people of Springfield is, first of all, we need help with our town as it’s not set up to take 20,000 people to stay here for a long time,” Yost said. “And I understand that there’s also some frustration in the city because they’re goodhearted people, they’ve tried to be kind, they’ve tried to be supportive of folks that are clearly fleeing a terrible situation in Haiti, but they feel like they’re being left to handle it on their own and I don’t blame them.” Fox News Digital asked Yost what he hopes the federal government will do in the future to avoid issues like this.  SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, RESIDENT DETAILS ‘DYSTOPIAN NIGHTMARE’ AS HAITIAN MIGRANTS OVERRUN TOWN: ‘BREAKS MY HEART’ “Well, for starters, they need to keep track of people once they’re in the country,” Yost said. “The notion that we’re going to release somebody on a temporary basis, whether that’s on parole or temporary protection or whatever bureaucratic ‘gobblese’ they’re using this week, they ought to know where these folks are, make sure that they can get to court on their court date and if they’re not supposed to be here, that they can be sent home.” “I don’t see any evidence that they know that. If they do know that, they’re not sharing it with local communities who need to know to be able to plan their response. I would argue, though, that there has to be a limiting principle. What if they just decided that the 8 to 12, I mean, estimates vary, but there’s millions of people that came into the country in the last four years,” Yost continued. “Can you just put all of them in Ohio and basically double our population? There has to be a limiting principle here. And we’re looking for a way to get this in front of the court.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response. Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report

Biden admin moves to reinstate Trump-era rule, delist gray wolves from endangered species list

Biden admin moves to reinstate Trump-era rule, delist gray wolves from endangered species list

The Biden administration is moving to reinstate a Trump-era rule that lifted endangered species protections on gray wolves in the U.S. Wolves were delisted from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) under President Trump in 2020, returning management of gray wolf populations to state and tribal wildlife professionals, according to a press release from the Department of Interior. However, a federal judge reversed Trump’s decision in 2022 after environmental groups sued the Department of the Interior over the delisting, reinstating protection for the species. Gray wolves are currently protected under the ESA as “threatened” in Minnesota and “endangered” in the remaining states, except for those in the Northern Rocky Mountain region, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. However, a new filing by the Biden administration suggests that the Trump-era ruling should be reinstated. WOLVES REINTRODUCED IN COLORADO BLAMED FOR REPEATED ATTACKS ON LIVESTOCK Attorneys with the Justice Department filed a motion with the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals on Friday to reverse the court’s decision on the Trump-era delisting and lift ESA protections on gray wolves. WASHINGTON OFFICIALS WILL VOTE TO REMOVE GRAY WOLF FROM ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST The filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco claimed that the court was wrong in overturning the Trump-era ruling on the species.  “The district court misunderstood the ESA’s clear mandate and compounded that error by imposing its own views of the science,” court documents read. “Its decision invalidating the rule should be reversed.” The Biden administration claimed in its 87-page filing that gray wolves no longer meet ESA standards of protection in that they are no longer considered “endangered” or “threatened.” Court documents referenced the 2020 ruling from Trump’s Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service that delisted the wolf species. “After that thorough analysis, the Service concluded that no configuration of gray wolves was threatened or endangered in all or a significant portion of its range. That analysis was well-reasoned and well-supported by the administrative record,” the brief reads. The move comes just months after a group of 20 House Republicans sent a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Martha Williams, urging the Biden administration to remove protections for the gray wolf, citing sometimes life-threatening conflicts with ranchers and farmers. In February, FWS rejected requests from conservation groups to restore protection for gray wolves across the Northern Rocky Mountain region.  Most recently, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers passed legislation in April to end federal protection for gray wolves and remove them from the endangered species list. 

Government, private think tanks hype right-wing threat, ignore left-wing violence: experts

Government, private think tanks hype right-wing threat, ignore left-wing violence: experts

Researchers in government and taxpayer-assisted private think tanks have hyped the threat of “far-right extremists” while failing to acknowledge growing threats of left-wing violence, critics say, pointing to the two assassination attempts against former President Trump to demonstrate the danger posed by some on the left. “I think it goes without saying that violence of any kind is intolerable,” legal fellow at Heritage Foundation Zach Smith told Fox News Digital. “It shouldn’t be tolerated in our country. And while I appreciate some of the left have paid lip service to that ideal, they haven’t followed through with their actions. They haven’t followed through in terms of the resources and the willingness to confront the left-wing extremists that we’ve seen.” Regarding threats against Donald Trump and his associates, Smith said, “We’ve seen condemnations of violence on the left, that’s good, and that’s appropriate.” WITNESS SAW TRUMP ASSASSINATION SUSPECT FLEE BUSHES, TOOK PHOTO OF GETAWAY CAR “And yet we still hear many on the left saying things like, ‘Donald Trump is a threat to democracy,’ that type of heated rhetoric,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, I think it was foreseeable that it would lead to these types of actions against Donald Trump and potentially others who support him, which I think, very tragic. And so, if those on the left want to focus on something, I think certainly ratcheting down the rhetoric would be a good place to start.” While government organizations have categorized right-wing extremism as a major threat to the political landscape, the second alleged Trump gunman who pointed an assault rifle through a chain-link fence 500 yards away from where Trump was playing golf on Sunday – identified as Ryan Routh – backed Democrat candidates and echoed anti-Trump rhetoric on his social media accounts, saying “Democracy is on the ballot” and “we cannot lose.” “Look at what’s happening with Antifa in many cities like Portland and Seattle, as you mentioned, the left-wing campus acts of violence, the intimidation of Jewish students that are intolerable, that you would hope would get louder condemnation,” Smith said. “And so there certainly does appear to be this double standard that’s playing out too often today.” The Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) have all published reports condemning right-wing violence and citing a rise in right-wing attacks in the last few years. The NIJ reported this year that far-right extremists have committed more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist groups since 1990. WHO IS RYAN WESLEY ROUTH: ALLEGED GUNMAN AT TRUMP GOLF CLUB “A recent threat assessment by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security concluded that domestic violent extremists are an acute threat and highlighted a probability that COVID-19 pandemic-related stressors, long-standing ideological grievances related to immigration, and narratives surrounding electoral fraud will continue to serve as a justification for violent actions,” the report noted.  Hans A. von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital, “I’m just astonished that they would make that claim.” “It was radical left-wing movements headed by BLM and Antifa that were engaged in arson riots, violence in cities across America,” he said. “I don’t seem to recall any right-wing groups burning cities over the country, like they are, like they are talking about there.” “Any fear we should have today, it’s of the extreme left-wing violence that we have seen over the past few years in cities all across the country and now in two assassination attempts on a major candidate of one of the two major political parties, running for president,” von Spakovsky added. Right-wing extremist terror incidents in the U.S. surged dramatically in recent years, rising from seven incidents in 2005-2007 to 40 in 2020-2022, according to a 2023 ADL report. According to CharityWatch.org, ADL receives a significant portion, up to 24%, of its “cash revenue,” from “government sources.” “As a nonpartisan organization that fights antisemitism, extremism and all forms of hate, ADL tracks extremism from the far left to the far right,” an ADL spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Our vast resources and backgrounders provide information on individuals, groups and movements from across the ideological spectrum.” ALLEGED TRUMP GUNMAN RYAN ROUTH HAS A PAPER TRAIL OF PRO-UKRAINE ADVOCACY: REPORTS For its part, CSIS reported in 2020, “Based on a CSIS data set of terrorist incidents, the most significant threat likely comes from White supremacists, though anarchists and religious extremists inspired by the Islamic State and al Qaeda could present a potential threat as well.” In an email, a senior CSIS spokesperson said the organization has “built a data set of all terrorist attacks and plots” in the U.S. since 1994.  While it is a private nonprofit deriving most of its funding from donations and private sources, according to its website, CSIS also “receives funding from U.S. government entities” as well as “international ally and partner governments.” Between 2010 and 2021, the Department of Homeland Security also reported 231 domestic terrorism incidents, with 35% being racially- or ethnically-motivated, making them the deadliest, according to the GAO. “Anti-government or anti-authority motivated violent extremism” was the second most common, according to the GAO, resulting in 15 deaths. 

Top House committee ramps up pressure to obtain ‘important’ docs on Harris’ role in border crisis

Top House committee ramps up pressure to obtain ‘important’ docs on Harris’ role in border crisis

FIRST ON FOX: A top House committee is doubling down on its efforts to get documents from the Biden administration about Vice President Kamala Harris’ role in what lawmakers call “the worst border crisis in American history.” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., wrote to acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Troy Miller following up on a request last month for documents and communications between Harris’ office and CBP. “It is important the Committee and the American people understand Vice President Harris’s role as the border czar in the ongoing border crisis,” Comer said in the letter obtained by Fox News Digital. TOP HOUSE COMMITTEE DEMANDS INTERNAL DOCS ON HARRIS’ ROLE IN BORDER CRISIS: ‘ABJECT FAILURE’  “The mass illegal entry and release of illegal aliens into the United States under the Biden-Harris Administration has contributed to murders, sexual assaults, and serious bodily injuries committed against numerous Americans at the hands of illegal aliens. These crimes should have never happened.” The letter notes a number of crimes more recently committed allegedly by illegal immigrants, including one by an MS-13 gang member and a rape in New York City, allegedly by two migrants. Comer says the committee set an Aug 20., deadline, reiterating the request on Aug. 20 and Sept. 6. It now sets a deadline of Oct. 1 and Comer threatens additional action if the request is not met. TRUMP REVEALS NEW PLEDGE AMID HAITIAN REFUGEE CONTROVERSY: ‘I WILL SAVE OUR CITIES’  “If CBP continues to withhold documents and communications on this matter, the Committee will consider alternative measures to obtain this information, including through the compulsory process,” he says. The fight over the documents comes amid an ongoing debate about who is responsible for the border crisis and which presidential candidate is best suited to fix it. Republicans have blamed the crisis on the policies of the Biden-Harris administration, saying that the historic three-year crisis came as a direct result of the rolling back of Trump-era policies and the implementation of what they say are “open borders” policies by the administration. They have focused on Harris due to her role tackling “root causes” of migration, which she was given in 2021. It led to her being dubbed the “border czar,” but it’s a title the White House rejected. The Biden administration has argued it is dealing with a historic hemisphere-wide crisis that needs more funding and immigration reform from Congress to fix a “broken” system. It has pointed to a sharp decrease in numbers since Biden signed an executive order limiting arrivals in June. Officials say there has been a more than 50% decrease in encounters since then, including August encounters that were 68% lower than August 2023. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS Harris, meanwhile, has been critical of former President Trump for not supporting bipartisan legislation introduced earlier this year that conservatives said would regularize high numbers, but supporters said would increase funding to the border and limit entries into the U.S. “Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. The Border Patrol endorsed it. But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign, so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal. Well, I refuse to play politics with our security, and here is my pledge to you: As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law,” she said at the Democratic National Convention last month. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the vice president said Republicans “continue to block a bipartisan border security bill supported by the Biden-Harris Administration and a bipartisan group of Senators.” “This Administration has delivered record border security funding, and continues to fight to ensure the border is properly resourced, including by deploying cutting-edge fentanyl-detection machines. The Administration’s executive actions have brought unauthorized crossings to a lower level than when Trump left office,” spokesperson Ernesto Apreza told Fox News Digital. “President Biden and Vice President Harris are leading on border security solutions while congressional Republicans continue to exploit the issue to score political points.”

Johnson moves forward on House vote to stop government shutdown with noncitizen voting prevention attached

Johnson moves forward on House vote to stop government shutdown with noncitizen voting prevention attached

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced Tuesday that he was moving forward with a chamber-wide vote to stop a government shutdown with a bill attached meant to crack down on noncitizen voting.  “Congress has an immediate obligation to do two things: responsibly fund the federal government, and ensure the security of our elections,” Johnson said in a statement.  “Because we owe this to our constituents, we will move forward on Wednesday with a vote on the 6-month CR with the SAVE Act attached,” he added. “I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightfully demand and deserve – prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections.” Johnson is proposing a six-month extension of the current fiscal year’s government funding levels, known as a continuing resolution (CR), and attaching a bill known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which aims to require states to obtain proof of citizenship – in person – when registering an individual to vote and require states to remove noncitizens from existing voter rolls.  HOUSE GOP DOUBTS GROW AS JOHNSON DIGS IN ON FUNDING FIGHT: ‘PLAYING WITH A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN’  Most Democrats oppose the CR with the SAVE Act attached, and the Biden-Harris White House has threatened to veto such a measure. The CR also maintains opposition from some House Republicans.  “Your bill does NOT responsibly fund government,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wrote, responding to Johnson’s statement on X. “It’s 12 bills rolled into one bill that continues the profligate spending that’s ruining our country. The fact that you’ve added a 13th bill to it does not make it a serious solution. Please quit insulting our constituents.”  “Like an undead but doomed zombie, the CR+Save Act is back,” Massie added in a separate post. “Speaker Johnson is fake fighting by attaching a bright shiny object (that he will later abandon) to a bill that continues our path of destructive spending. I won’t be any part of this insulting charade. I’m a hell no.”  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., condemned Johnson for calling the vote Wednesday, writing, “This is classic bait and switch that will enrage the base, only one month before the election, when they find out they have been tricked and let down again. The only way to make the SAVE Act a law would be to refuse to pass a CR until the Senate agrees to pass the SAVE Act and Biden agrees to sign it into law.” That, she wrote, would force a government shutdown on Oct. 1, “because Biden and Schumer both said they will shutdown the government as they are that adamant against the SAVE Act.” “Johnson will NOT commit to standing up against the Democrats in a shutdown fight and will allow passage of a clean CR in order to fund the government because he believes a gov shutdown will be blamed on Republicans and will hurt their elections,” Greene continued. “Johnson is leading a fake fight that he has no intention of actually fighting.” “Even with a shutdown and full fight into Oct, it would be too late for the SAVE Act to make a difference for this election because absentee ballots would already be being mailed and early voting already starting. I refuse to lie to anyone that this plan will work, and it’s already DOA this week,” she said. “Speaker Johnson needs to go to the Democrats, who he has worked with the entire time, to get the votes he needs to do what he is already planning to do.”  “Congress cannot continue kicking the can down the road while our national debt skyrockets, our border remains wide open, and Biden and Kamala’s radical policies remain FULLY funded,” Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, wrote. “I have always and will ALWAYS be a NO on a Continuing Resolution!”  REPUBLICANS SAY SCHUMER MUST ACT ON VOTER PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP BILL IF DEMOCRAT ‘REALLY CARES ABOUT DEMOCRACY’  The congressman who sponsored the SAVE Act, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, slammed Republicans threatening to defect on Johnson’s continuing resolution on Tuesday.   “Now, there’ll be a govt funding continuing resolution before the election. Only questions: when it comes, how long it lasts, & what could’ve been achieved re: #SAVEAct & non-citizen voting. But a few ‘conservative’ prophets write their self-fulfilling script to achieve failure,” Roy wrote on X.  Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., also noted how “Ohio, Virginia, Texas, & other states found non-citizens on their voter rolls, with some even casting ballots.” “The SAVE Act requires proof of citizenship to vote and ensures non-citizens are removed from voter rolls. But Democrats want to shut down the gov so it does not pass,” Tiffany wrote Tuesday.  The speaker could get some help from Democratic defectors. Five House Democrats broke from their party to vote for the SAVE Act earlier this year. Former President Donald Trump has supported the SAVE Act.  Last week, the Republican presidential nominee said on TRUTH Social, however, “If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO ‘STUFF’ VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN – CLOSE IT DOWN!!!”  A CR through March would mean the government funding debate will be taken up by a new White House – run by either Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris – and a new Congress. Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.