Speaker Johnson floats meeting with Biden on border crisis
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is weighing the possibility of directly negotiating with the White House on border security, a source familiar told Fox News Digital. The idea was raised on a private call between Johnson and first-term House Republican lawmakers on Thursday evening. Johnson said he was considering it, the source said, emphasizing that the main discussions right now were still between the Senate and the White House. A second source familiar with the call said Johnson discussed several potential courses of action regarding the border. “He is good at explaining what he thinks his options are,” the second source said, adding that such an ability is “helpful.” US-MEXICO MIGRATION TALKS INCLUDED BENEFITS OF ‘REGULARIZING’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN US Johnson kicked off the new year with an emphasis on the crisis, leading what the House GOP says is the largest Congressional delegation to the southern border in U.S. history. More than 60 Republicans joined Johnson for a tour of the border section near Eagle Pass, Texas, and meetings with officials on the ground, as bipartisan Senate negotiators try to hash out a deal on border policy and immigration reform with the Biden administration. Republican leaders have made clear that such measures would be necessary to win GOP support for Democrats’ $110 billion supplemental funding request for Ukraine, Israel and other causes. LIBERAL MAYORS PUSH BIDEN FOR EMERGENCY DECLARATION, ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO DEAL WITH MIGRANT CRISIS While in Texas, Johnson reiterated that the House would not consider anything less than the GOP’s H.R. 2 border security bill. He called H.R.2, which the White House and Senate Democrats have already panned as a nonstarter, the “necessary ingredient.” As those talks continue, the worsening crisis has prompted growing calls among Republicans to also leverage the upcoming government shutdown deadlines in a bid to force Democrats to act. Meanwhile, President Biden is facing bipartisan pressure to do something about the worsening situation. December saw more than 300,000 migrants encountered at the U.S. border with Mexico, the highest number ever recorded for a single month. MIGRANT CRISIS INCREASING STRAIN ON BORDER OFFICIALS, IMMIGRATION COURTS WITH MASSIVE NUMBERS Johnson spokesman Raj Shah took aim at the White House on Friday morning for accusing the House GOP of blocking border funding. In a three-page memo, he argued that funding for border and immigration operations has gone up while average monthly encounters at the southern border have also risen. “From the start of President Biden’s term, House Republicans have voted for significant year over year funding increases for Border Patrol and ICE beyond what his administration has requested. And from the start of President Biden’s term, his Administration has implemented policies that have undermined security and created a humanitarian crisis at the Southern border,” Shah wrote. “Now, in a desperate attempt to shift blame for a crisis their policies have induced, they have argued it’s a funding problem.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to ask whether Biden would meet with Johnson but did not immediately hear back.
Eleven miners trapped after collapse of Zimbabwe mine
Mine accidents are not uncommon in Zimbabwe where disused mines often attract young unemployed men. Eleven subsistence mine workers are trapped in an underground shaft after a ground collapse at Zimbabwe’s Redwing Mine, 270 km (167.77 miles) west of the capital Harare, authorities said on Friday. The incident took place on Thursday morning, with initial assessments pointing to earth tremors as the possible cause of the accident, Zimbabwe’s mines ministry said in a statement. Metallon Corporation, which owns Redwing Mine, confirmed the incident in a separate statement. The company has deployed a rescue team to bring the trapped miners back to the surface, it added. “The team has made several rescue attempts. However, the ground remains unstable, rendering rescue operations unsafe. Our teams are diligently assessing ground conditions to make sure the rescue operations proceed safely as soon as possible,” Metallon said. Mining operations at Redwing have been undertaken by subsistence miners carrying out unsanctioned work since the mine was placed under corporate rescue in 2020, the company said. Mine accidents are not uncommon in Zimbabwe. For years, many unemployed young men in Zimbabwe’s gold-rich areas have earned a living by working in unregulated mines with little to no safety procedures. At least nine people died in September after the collapse of Bay Horse Mine, a disused gold mine in Chegutu, about 110km (70 miles) west of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Adblock test (Why?)
Facing high rates of sexual violence, Colombia turns to salsa as therapy
Cali, Colombia – As the only sister to nine brothers, Carmen Diaz enjoyed a boisterous childhood in the port city of Buenaventura, Colombia. Together with her siblings, she would wreak havoc around the house or go out in the streets and kick a ragged ball around for hours. “I adored playing football,” said Diaz, who asked to be called by a pseudonym. But her joyful, rambunctious childhood came to an end when her uncle started to sexually abuse her, she said. The assault continued over multiple occasions. When she told her parents about what happened, they refused to believe her and instead accused her of lying. Feeling distraught, Diaz decided to run away from home at the age of 13. Diaz ended up sleeping on the streets of the nearby city of Cali and became addicted to drugs. Eventually, she found shelter through the city’s social services, which connected her with resources for minors. That’s how she discovered her lifeline: salsa dancing. It was part of an experimental therapy project run by the local nonprofit, Mi Cuerpo Es Mi Historia, a name that translates to “My body is my story”. The project combines salsa dancing and psychotherapy to help survivors of sexual violence express their emotions and process their trauma over the course of several months. “Dancing can help to heal trauma,” said project founder Martha Isabel Cordoba Arevalo, a psychologist and avid dancer who was born and raised in Cali, known as the world capital of salsa. “When survivors do not want to speak about what happened to them, or if they are not able to, movement gives them a different way of expression.” Children attend a dance class run by Mi Cuerpo Es Mi Historia in Buenaventura, Colombia [Fanny Aparicio/Al Jazeera] Over the past decade, Mi Cuerpo Es Mi Historia has worked with approximately 700 young girls, mostly through referrals from city services. Treatment starts with performance classes, focusing on acting, singing or dancing. Then, the next step is to let participants explore topics they chose through performance techniques. By the end of the programme, organisers hope the art can be an outlet for participants to understand and cope with their experiences. Recovering from trauma, however, is never easy or straightforward. Arevalo remembers meeting Diaz, now 28, when she was only a teenager, newly referred to the programme. She observed that Diaz seemed aggressive — hurt by all that she had endured — and did not want to interact with the programme’s psychologists. “I was afraid of men,” said Diaz. “The male psychologists I spoke to, they made me scared.” But Arevalo soon discovered that Diaz had a natural talent for salsa. Week by week, the teenager seemed more relaxed. The fast pace of salsa’s tumbao beat kept Diaz’s mind — and her heels — busy, as she flicked across the dance floor, her body swaying to the sound of trumpets and timbales. “When I was dancing, I felt free and happy,” Diaz said. “It was the best treatment for me. I don’t feel like a victim any more. I am a survivor.” A growing body of research supports the claim that dance and movement can have benefits for the mind, as well as the body. A review of 41 studies published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology in 2019 found that dance movement therapy reduced anxiety and depression, “consistently” improving related conditions. Dita Federman, a dance movement therapist who has researched sexual abuse, argues this unconventional treatment method can reach some patients in ways other interventions cannot. “It can be crucial in helping some patients,” said Federman. “Dance therapy can lead to increased heart rate, using coordinated movement and balance, and what happens while dancing is that people are more likely to recall and express past memories.” The city of Cali, Colombia, is famous for its fast-paced brand of salsa dancing, and dancers often fill the streets for events like the annual Cali Fair [File: Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters] But Arevalo cautioned that addressing sexual violence is extremely complex and that no simple solution exists. “You need time and resources, and you need trained professionals in order to make deep modifications or restorations of lives,” she said. “Not everyone has that luxury.” Federman also warned that, in every type of therapy, there is a risk of re-traumatisation. Dance is no exception. “It should be done very slowly, without directly questioning [the survivors] for emotional material,” she said. “If it comes up from them, then it comes up. But it shouldn’t be forced.” And while there has been research into its efficacy, Federman said knowledge about dance movement therapy remains limited because of the difficulty in obtaining permission to study survivors of sexual violence. “There’s so much we don’t yet know,” she said. But proponents believe dance therapy could help make small steps in responding to the stark levels of gender-based violence in Colombia. One third of women in the Latin American nation have suffered physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner, according to the United Nation’s Global Database on Violence. Colombia’s six-decade-long internal conflict has also contributed to high rates of sexual violence. In September, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace — a court set up to investigate crimes committed during the conflict — announced that at least 35,178 people had suffered gender-based violence between 1957 and 2016. Right-wing paramilitary groups were responsible for the largest number of incidents, at approximately 33 percent. Women made up the vast majority of the victims, comprising 89 percent overall. “The bodies of women have been used as a target of war,” said Arevalo. To reduce the risk of re-traumatisation, Arevalo avoids using “direct” dance partners in her sessions with young survivors. Instead, the dancers learn their steps in a larger, coordinated group. And when they pair up, they often use a technique called “mirroring”, whereby dancers replicate their partner’s moves at a distance. Arevalo said there is also plenty of room for individual improvisation in salsa, which can be
Shipping giant Maersk to avoid Red Sea routes for ‘foreseeable future’
Due to ‘volatile’ situation amid Houthi attacks, ships will go around Africa, increasing journey times and shipping costs. Container shipping giant Maersk has announced it will divert all vessels around Africa instead of using the Red Sea and the Suez Canal for the “foreseeable future”. Maersk said on Friday that the decision was due to the volatile situation in the Red Sea as Yemen’s Houthis continue to attack vessels that pass through the busy waterway. “We have therefore decided that all Maersk vessels due to transit the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden will be diverted south around the Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future,” the Danish company said. The trip around Africa can add about 10 days to journey times and requires more fuel and crew time, increasing shipping costs. “The situation is constantly evolving and remains highly volatile, and all available intelligence at hand confirms that the security risk continues to be at a significantly elevated level,” Maersk added. The Houthis have said they are targeting vessels linked to Israel in the Red Sea shipping lane in solidarity with Palestinians who are facing relentless bombardment in the ongoing war on Gaza. Armed men stand on the beach near a commercial ship seized by Yemen’s Houthis off the coast of al-Salif, Yemen [File: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters] On Tuesday, Maersk said it would pause all vessels that would cross through the Red Sea following an attack on one of its ships, the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou, by Houthis, and has since begun redirecting ships. The company also rerouted four out of five southbound container vessels already passing through the Suez Canal back north for the long journey around Africa on Thursday. “While we continue to hope for a sustainable resolution in the near future and do all we can to contribute towards it, we do encourage customers to prepare for complications in the area to persist and for there to be significant disruption to the global network,” Maersk said. Since November, at least 25 commercial vessels operating in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden have been attacked. Last month, the United States launched a multinational operation to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea. However, due to continued attacks, many shipping companies are still diverting vessels around Africa. On Wednesday, a coalition of 12 countries, led by the US, issued a statement calling on the Houthis for an “immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews”, and warned of “consequences”. The waterway is the main route for about 12 percent of world trade, according to the International Chamber of Shipping. The Red Sea connects the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean and Europe to Asia. Adblock test (Why?)
Georgia House Speaker urges lawmakers to consider expanding health coverage in the state
Medicaid expansion was long politically impossible in Georgia. Now it’s just unlikely. Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns says he wants lawmakers to consider more health coverage in the state as their session begins Monday. But he’s careful not to label it Medicaid expansion, and certainly not “Obamacare.” DEMOCRATS HAUNTED BY PAST SUPPORT FOR SIGNATURE BIDEN LAW AS SENIORS FACE ‘DRAMATIC RISE’ IN MEDICARE COSTS “The speaker is committed to lowering costs and increasing access to healthcare across the state, and will be working closely with members over the coming weeks to develop sound policy to do just that,” Stephen Lawson, a spokesperson for the Newington Republican, said Thursday. After North Carolina began offering Medicaid to uninsured adults on Dec. 1, there are 10 remaining states that don’t cover people with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty line. That’s what was envisioned in President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care overhaul. Like in Georgia, there’s a thaw in Mississippi, where GOP legislative leaders say they’re open to extending coverage, even if newly reelected Republican Gov. Tate Reeves remains vocally opposed. “We’re fixing to look at every facet of Medicaid expansion, and if it makes sense, we’re going to do it,” Rep. Jason White, newly elected as Mississippi’s House speaker, said last week. But Robin Rudowitz, a KFF vice president who directs the nonprofit group’s program on Medicaid and the uninsured, said there’s little movement in other states. In Kansas for example, Republican lawmakers are spurning Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s pro-expansion campaign of events with business leaders, hospital administrators and health advocates. Kelly argued in a recent interview that she’s addressed every Republican argument opposing expansion and “there really, truly is no good reason” not to act. GEORGIA FAMILIES SUE STATE AGENCIES, ALLEGING FAILURE IN CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH CARE Like other holdouts, Georgia Republicans long resisted participating. Lawmakers in 2014 even passed a law saying the governor couldn’t expand Medicaid without their approval. In July, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp launched a limited expansion offering coverage to able-bodied adults earning up to the poverty line — $14,580 for an individual or $24,860 for a family of three. But people must document 80 monthly hours of work, study, rehabilitation or volunteering to be eligible for Georgia’s Pathways program, and enrollment has plodded, with fewer than 1,100 people signed up through October. Opposition to broader expansion in Georgia began publicly wavering in November, when state House members held a hearing on how Arkansas uses Medicaid money to buy private coverage for residents. Like traditional Medicaid, the plan requires copayments of $5 or less for most services while paying medical providers more than Arkansas’ traditional Medicaid program. Republican Arkansas State Sen. Missy Irvin told Georgia lawmakers that Arkansas cut uninsured visits to hospitals and clinics by half, calling it “the best outcome for Arkansas.” Advocates of extending health coverage feel hopeful. “In the past it has been the Republicans that have said ‘no’ to Medicaid expansion. Now we see more coming around,” said Monte Veazey, CEO of the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals. KFF projects more than 430,000 uninsured Georgia adults could gain coverage if Medicaid is broadened. Of those, 250,000 don’t qualify for subsidies to buy individual policies, leaving them ineligible for both Medicaid and subsidized marketplace policies. Others are eligible for marketplace policies, but haven’t enrolled. Nationwide, KFF estimates 3.5 million uninsured adults would become eligible if all states expanded Medicaid. WHERE DO THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE CANDIDATES STAND ON HEALTH CARE? Any expansion would come as Georgia and other states are purging millions off the Medicaid rolls who had been retained during the pandemic without proving continuing eligibility. Georgia thus far has removed almost 450,000 people. Democratic state Sen. Nan Orrock of Atlanta calls Kemp’s refusal to expand while so many are being purged a “failure of governance.” Any Georgia deal could also reduce or eliminate permitting requirements for hospitals and health services. That’s been a top priority for Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the Republican who presides over Georgia’s Senate, while the House has balked at loosening certificate of need rules. A similar deal to reduce permitting requirements helped clinch expansion votes last year in North Carolina. Georgia Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch says his more ideologically conservative chamber isn’t interested in “full-blown expansion of Medicaid.” But he suggests an Arkansas-style plan could succeed. “I believe there’s an appetite there to make some changes to our certificate of need requirements that could include better access for all Georgians to health care facilities and services,” the Dahlonega Republican said. Even then, Kemp could veto any plan. He invested years to win a legal fight with President Joe Biden’s administration over the Pathways work requirement. In a 2022 letter to Georgia’s Democratic members of Congress, Kemp called full Medicaid expansion a “failed one-size-fit-none” policy. But Kemp could face a difficult renegotiation on Pathways if Biden wins reelection. Georgia sought to extend the program past its September 2025 expiration, saying the legal fight delayed its start. Last month, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it couldn’t consider Georgia’s request because the state hadn’t met extension requirements, including a public notice and comment period. Kemp spokesperson Garrison Douglas said Thursday that the governor “has championed and continues to support” Pathways and a linked program that has subsidized private health insurance premiums. He declined to comment on the prospect of a broader expansion. Kemp wouldn’t necessarily have to sign any proposal. In Georgia, bills not signed or vetoed by the governor can automatically become law. But without vocal support, Veazey said the inertia of entrenched opposition could defeat expansion. That’s especially true because all of Georgia’s 236 legislators face 2024 elections. “We’ve got to have the leadership to come out with a plan,” Veazey said. “They have to have buy-in.”
Former AOC aide’s progressive PAC pushing for Biden to drop out of 2024 election
A political action committee (PAC) led by a former aide to democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is calling on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race. The leftist No Excuses PAC, led by Ocasio-Cortez’s former communications director Corbin Trent, published a new landing page and digital ad on their website, calling on Biden to exit the race. The PAC cites the president’s trailing poll numbers against former President Trump in key battleground states, with the page lauding Biden as having “accomplished more in three years than most two term presidents.” ‘SHAMEFUL’: AOC BLASTS BIDEN ADMIN FOR BLOCKING UN GAZA CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION “But battleground state voters say they’ll vote for Trump if you’re the Democratic nominee,” the PAC writes. “It might not make sense. But it doesn’t have to.” “The reality is that if you attempt to cling to power, your legacy will be Donald Trump’s final destruction of our democracy,” it continues. “If you step aside, however, you’ll be remembered as one of the greatest presidents in history.” “Thank you, Joe… But now it’s time to go,” the message concludes, asking for $3 donations from webpage visitors. Farther down on the page, the PAC — which previously pushed to end the filibuster — cited a New York Times/Siena College poll showing Biden trailing behind Trump in battleground states and said that if Biden “stepped aside this month and allowed a primary, many strong Democrats could show us what they’ve got.” KARINE JEAN-PIERRE RESPONDS TO AOC: BIDEN HAS ‘DONE MORE THAN ANYBODY’ TO SECURE THE BORDER “We have plenty of amazing leaders to choose from — including popular swing state governors Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, and Tony Evers; high profile national leaders like Elizabeth Warren, Gavin Newsom, Cory Booker; and Ro Khanna; and rising stars like Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona,” the page reads. “The Biden team is clinging to the long-time Democratic Party strategy of hoping their opponent will defeat himself. That is how we lost in 2016 (and in 2004, 2000, etc,…),” it continues. “The stakes are too high this time to close our eyes and hope for the best. All of the most dangerous characters from the chaotic Trump presidency have made elaborate plans for taking a wrecking ball to the federal government and our entire justice system if they retake the White House. Billionaire donors have bankrolled conservative and extremist think tanks to host them while they plan.” “There’s only one way to avoid this train wreck, and that is for Biden to step aside and allow a Democratic primary to take place. It’s not too late, in fact, there is plenty of time,” it continues. The page concludes by saying “Biden has accomplished incredible things in his presidency” and “that will be his legacy — if he steps aside.” “Otherwise, he will go down in history as the president whose selfishness allowed Trump to complete the destruction of American democracy,” it concludes. “That’s why it’s time to say, ‘Thanks Joe, but now it’s time to go.’” The new website page comes as Biden works to stave off Trump in battleground states while also having the added competition in the form of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s campaign. Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s and Ocasio-Cortez’s campaigns, as well as No Excuses PAC, for comment.
GOP Sen. Tuberville predicts there ‘will be no immigration bill’ as Congress set to reconvenes
As Congress reconvenes Monday aiming to finalize a border security deal, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., suggested that despite the ongoing negotiations, lawmakers will not come to an agreement on an immigration measure. “I keep saying that there will be NO immigration bill,” Tuberville wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter on Thursday night. “There are good immigration laws already on the books, and they refuse to enforce them….do you think they’re magically going to start enforcing them now?” “This Administration wants an open border,” he added. His comments come in response to a clip of Fox News’ Bret Baier asking Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas whether the Biden administration would accept funding for the border on the condition that the funds could only be used for detention and removal, but not for release into the country. SOME GOP SENATORS SIGNAL SUPPORT FOR HOUSE THREATS TO SHUT DOWN GOVT OVER BORDER SECURITY BATTLE “Bret, the funds are needed to provide the Department of Homeland Security with more Border Patrol agents,” Mayorkas responded. “The funds are needed to provide the Department of Homeland Security with more technology. The funds are needed to provide our department with more detention space to provide the Department of Justice with more immigration judges, so justice can be administered more swiftly.” Republicans have criticized the administration’s response to the record level of migrant crossings at the southern border, arguing that Biden’s current strategy to speed up the processing of asylum seekers and migrants won’t stop the influx of people entering the country. “We need transformational policy change to secure our border, enforce our laws, and deter even more illegal immigration,” House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X. “Secretary Mayorkas is saying the opposite— that the Biden administration wants more money to process more illegal immigrants.” “They just don’t get it,” he said. From Dec. 1 to Dec. 31, over 302,000 migrants were documented attempting to cross the U.S. southern border, marking the highest total for a single month ever recorded. It also the first instance where migrant encounters surpassed 300,000. GOP REBELS TARGET GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN FEARS IN LATEST PUSH FOR STRICTER BORDER POLICIES U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources have told Fox News that at least 70% of all illegal entrants are being released into the country. Mayorkas told Baier that statistic “would not surprise me.” “I know the data,” he said. Meanwhile, the House’s Homeland Security Committee, led by Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., on Jan. 10 will hold its first hearing on impeaching Mayorkas, the committee told Fox News Digital Thursday. Green told Fox News Digital that for “almost three years, the American people have demanded an end to the unprecedented crisis at the Southwest border, and they have also rightly called for Congress to hold accountable those responsible.” BORDER NUMBERS FOR DECEMBER BREAK MONTHLY RECORD, AS BIDEN ADMIN TALKS AMNESTY WITH MEXICO The bipartisan negotiations over border security, which began between Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla, Krysten Sinema, I-Ariz., Chris Murphy, D-Ct., and Biden administration officials before the holiday recess, are already conditioned on an agreement to pass $60 billion in assistance to Ukraine in Biden’s national security supplemental request. But as time passes with no clear timeline for an agreement in sight, some lawmakers are starting to look at another avenue for getting the border security bill they want, using the annual budget instead. The staggered deadlines to fund some government agencies are set for Jan. 19 and Feb. 2. Lawmakers are floating the idea of leveraging the pressure of those deadlines to pass border security measures. The Senate has only passed three of 12 appropriations bills for 2024 and will have just 10 days when they return to approve the first round of funding for several government agencies. Fox News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report.
DeSantis ahead of Iowa caucuses: ‘I don’t put a lot of stock’ in polls
There are now just 10 days before the 2024 Iowa Caucuses, where the first votes for a potential president will be cast. Iowa has long enjoyed the role of being first among kingmakers. Its place in the primary contest calendar ensures its interests, namely agricultural, are communicated to presidential contenders. Iowa can be a proving ground for candidates, often spending large sums of donated funds, time, effort and sweat on old-fashioned campaigning. Before one can schedule stadium-filling rallies leading up to the summer conventions, presidential hopefuls are sitting down to breakfast in diners and shaking hands at county fairs. “I think the candidates who, you know, spend all the money on TV but aren’t actually down on the ground visiting folks, they tend to under-perform and the candidates that have that organization tend to over-perform,” says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of the candidates for the GOP’s nomination. DeSantis spoke with the FOX News Rundown podcast while between campaign events in Des Moines. While Iowa historically serves this role for both major parties, only Republicans will observe the ritual this time. Democrats will hold their first nominating contest in South Carolina, a state where the party’s active voters are believed to be more supportive of embattled incumbent President Biden. IOWA GOP CHAIR PREDICTS ‘POTENTIAL FOR A RECORD TURNOUT’ IN 2024 CAUCUSES AS NEW VOTERS ‘SURGE’ DeSantis has been making a big deal of Iowa. He boasts of visiting all the state’s 99 counties. His campaign’s Iowa operation has been in motion since his announcing his candidacy in May 2023. He has secured endorsements from the state’s popular Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, and beloved social conservative activist Bob Vander Plaats. Both came at the consternation of former President Trump, who is not just seeking the GOP nomination, but has decidedly made an enemy of DeSantis, whereas once the two were seen as close allies and confidantes. However, DeSantis argues the former president’s light campaign schedule in the state will be his weakness. “He has not been willing to take questions from Iowa voters,” observes the governor. “He refused to participate in the debate that we’re doing on January 10th. He, of course, has not participated in any debate thus far.” TRUMP KEEPS MASSIVE LEAD, HALEY TIES DESANTIS FOR SECOND IN NEW 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY POLL Despite the former president’s debate stage absence, the political attacks have been numerous. From President Trump, as expected, it involves name-calling and mockery. From fellow candidate Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and former U.N. ambassador, it has come in the form of advertising. Then, there is money spent on messaging by SuperPACs. DeSantis says the focus on him by his two main competitors and their aligned activists means he is the man to beat. “I’ve had $40 million spent attacking me. That’s more than all the other Republicans have had spent against them combined. That’s more than has been spent against Donald Trump and Joe Biden combined in the 2020 in this 2024 cycle.” WATCH DESANTIS’ TOP MOMENTS ON TRUMP, BIDEN, IMMIGRATION FROM IOWA TOWN HALL: ‘LEADERS GOT TO LEAD’ DeSantis hasn’t held back either. He is not known for mincing words, though voters might have been surprised he made things a bit more personal in his attacks against Haley. He has called her a “phony” during a televised debate, and more recently, took umbrage at Haley suggesting voters in New Hampshire’s primary in late January would “correct” the way Iowans voted in their caucus weeks before. DeSantis demands to know what Haley meant by that. “What does Iowa need to be corrected for? Are you trying to say Iowans, somehow, their voice doesn’t matter and it needs to be corrected? So, it was very disrespectful.” He also does not understand what he says is Haley’s ignoring of other state contests where convention delegates are up for grabs. DESANTIS CAMPAIGN ACCUSES HALEY OF ‘INSULTING’ IOWANS BY SAYING NH WILL ‘CORRECT’ CAUCUS RESULTS “She’s not even competing in the Nevada caucus,” DeSantis notes. “She signed up for the Nevada primary, which doesn’t award any delegates. Now, it’s true the Nevada GOP is partial to Trump. And they they are trying to rig the caucus for him. But you know what? Democrats aren’t going to make it easy for us. I’m competing in the Nevada caucus, so we have delegates at stake.” Then, there is the polling. DeSantis stipulates published polls have not shown him to be giving the front-runner, the former president, a hard fight. More recently, the polls show Haley gaining on him in Iowa and surpassing him in New Hampshire. DeSantis, however, is not sold on the accuracy or lack of bias of published polls. He notes many were wrong about his re-election in 2022. That was when he stunned the political industry with a substantial victory over a Democratic nominee who himself was a former single-term governor, as a Republican, no less. His strong showing in 2022 was perhaps the only big Republican victory when even Democrats were expecting a “red wave” from coast to coast and up-and-down ballots. It has been argued that DeSantis’ re-election numbers carried Sen. Marco Rubio to re-election, as well as causing Congressional and state legislative seats to flip in historically blue areas such as Miami, as the state’s population surged with new residents who ran away from blue state COVID-19 lockdowns. “There were polls coming out that I was in the margin of error with my Democrat opponent. Some even had me down. Most of them had me winning, but by like 3 to 6 points and I won by 20 points. And, you know, we knew that we were going to win big because we were actually identifying the people that had committed to vote for us and who we knew were going to turn out. And so I just think for them to have been so off in my reelection, I just don’t put a lot of stock into what’s going on.”
House Republicans consider holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress
The House Oversight Committee next week will hold a meeting to consider a resolution to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after violating his congressional subpoenas. The House Oversight Committee and House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Hunter Biden for a closed-door deposition last month as part of the House Republican-led impeachment inquiry against President Biden. HOUSE GOP PROBING IF BIDEN WAS INVOLVED IN HUNTER’S ‘SCHEME’ TO DEFY SUBPOENA, POTENTIAL ‘IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE’ Hunter Biden offered to testify in public only, and when denied, appeared on Capitol Hill to deliver a statement to the press, defying that subpoena. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said they would take steps to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress. HUNTER BIDEN WILL NOT SIT FOR DEPOSITION BY GOP, SAYS FATHER NOT ‘FINANCIALLY’ INVOLVED IN HIS BUSINESS Comer announced his committee would hold a markup meeting to “consider a resolution and accompanying report to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying lawful subpoenas.” The markup will take place Jan. 10 at 10:00 a.m. “Our investigation has produced significant evidence suggesting President Biden knew of, participated in, and benefitted from his family cashing in on the Biden name,” Comer said Friday. “We planned to question Hunter Biden about this record of evidence, but he blatantly defied two lawful subpoenas, choosing to read a prepared statement outside of the Capitol instead of appearing for testimony as required.” JORDAN SAYS HUNTER BIDEN MADE A ‘HUGE CHANGE’ BY SAYING HIS FATHER WAS ‘NOT FINANCIALLY INVOLVED’ IN BUSINESS Comer added: “Hunter Biden’s willful refusal to comply with our subpoenas constitutes contempt of Congress and warrants referral to the appropriate United States Attorney’s Office for prosecution. We will not provide him with special treatment because of his last name.” Fox News has learned that the House Judiciary Committee will also hold a similar markup on Jan. 10 at 10:00 a.m. recommending Hunter Biden be held in contempt of Congress. Committee markups are the first step to bringing a resolution to hold an individual in contempt of Congress for a full vote on the House floor. Meanwhile, last month, Comer and Jordan expanded their investigation to probe whether President Biden was involved in his son’s “scheme” to defy his subpoena for deposition earlier this month — conduct, they say, “could constitute an impeachable offense.” Hunter, when making his public statement last month, said his “father was not financially involved in my business.” “No evidence to support that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen,” Hunter Biden said. The House impeachment inquiry against Biden was formalized by the full House last month. The inquiry is being led by Comer, Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith.
New Jersey to allow teens eligible for upcoming general election to vote in primaries
Seventeen-year-olds in New Jersey will be able to vote in primaries if they’ll be 18 by the next general election under legislation signed by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. New Jersey will join 19 other states and the District of Columbia with similar laws on the books, according to a tally by the National Conference of State Legislatures, though its new law won’t take effect until 2026. Murphy cast the bill signed Thursday as a bolster to democracy. NJ GOV PHIL MURPHY USED THOUSANDS IN TAXPAYER FUNDS TO PARTY AT TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERT, STADIUM EVENTS: REPORT “We see how the decisions we make today impact future generations. I am proud to sign legislation that expands access to the ballot box while engaging and empowering a new generation of voters,” he said in a statement. The state previously allowed 17-year-olds to register to vote if the person would be 18 at the general election, but the law considered those teens ineligible to vote until they reached their 18th birthday. NEW JERSEY GOV. PHIL MURPHY CALLS ON SEN. MENENDEZ TO RESIGN FOLLOWING INDICTMENT The legislation passed mostly along party lines, with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed, though a handful of GOP members voted for the measure.