Politics

Donald Trump in his debate against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris repeated unfounded rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio eat people's pets.Source Link

Controversial tech magnate Elon Musk stepped up his political giving in August, giving his largest-known political donation ever to boost House Republicans’ efforts to preserve their vulnerable majority.
The National Republican Congressional Committee reported receiving $289,100 from Musk in August, according to its report filed with the Federal Election Commission Friday. The money came through a joint fundraising committee linked to Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), the filing indicated, and most of it was earmarked for the NRCC’s convention and headquarters accounts, as is typical for donations of that amount.
Musk — the richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of over $250 billion — has given to both Democrats and Republicans in the past, but not in such significant amounts.
Musk has amped up his political involvement in recent months. He has forged a relationship with former President Donald Trump, whom he is assisting by bankrolling America PAC, a pro-Trump outside group. The organization, which has undergone a leadership shuffle in recent months, is expected to play a major role in helping to turn out voters for the former president and recently began spending in competitive House races across the country as well.
It is likely that Musk has given more to America PAC than the NRCC. The super PAC, which can accept unlimited amounts from individual donors, is due to disclose its financial activity for the third quarter of this year on Oct. 15, which will give a clearer picture of how much Musk has given to the group.
And in another indication of his stepped-up political involvement, Musk has hired a political gatekeeper, longtime Republican operative Chris Young. Young’s hiring was first reported by The New York Times.
How much money Musk ends up investing in the election remains an open question. In July, the Wall Street Journal reported that he planned to donate around $45 million a month to help Trump. Musk, however, later denied the report.
Despite the influx of cash from Musk, the NRCC raised just $9.7 million in August, compared to $22.2 million raised by its Democratic counterpart.
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Former President Donald Trump's majority stake in the Truth Social owner was worth $1.5 billion by Friday's close.Source Link

Trump was grazed with a bullet at a presidential campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, in July when shooter Thomas Crooks opened fire at the stage.Source Link

Congressional leaders are closing in on a deal to avoid a potential government shutdown on Oct. 1, even as Speaker Mike Johnson holds off on publicly blessing the plan.
The forthcoming bill, known as a continuing resolution, is expected to fund the government until mid-December and will not include Republicans’ proposal to require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Though talks are continuing, negotiators are hoping to have text finalized this weekend and plan to hold a House vote early next week — a timeline first reported by POLITICO.
“We’re still finalizing some details. … We want to keep it very narrow. And so, hopefully, in the next few days we get it worked out. It's not there yet, but we're getting there,” Majority Leadersc Steve Scalise (R-La.) told reporters on Friday.
On partisan funding bills, Johnson can only lose a few of his own members and get legislation through the House. But the expected spending deal will likely have buy-in from Democrats, meaning it could clear the chamber even if dozens of Republicans oppose it.
Still, the deal isn’t finalized just yet.
Negotiators are looking at two potential end dates for the bill, which both parties are actively helping draft: Dec. 13 or Dec. 20. It’s also expected to include some assistance for a recent spate of natural disasters, though the exact number is still being haggled over.
Another point of contention is whether extra Secret Service funding will be included. Senate appropriators are in talks with the agency about what resources it needs, but using the stopgap bill to give the agency new funding sparked some pushback among Republicans on both sides of the Capitol. Lawmakers are also looking at giving the agency more spending flexibility.
“We're going to try and keep everything clean. So it's going to be as minimal as possible,” Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said. “We just want to get something that keeps the government functioning and doesn't cause anybody any problems and lets the election play out.”
Even as spending negotiators are increasingly telegraphing that the House will embrace a stopgap bill in December, Johnson hasn’t yet publicly embraced that plan. Meanwhile, Trump has demanded that Republicans shut down the government without their immigrant voting bill.
“We'll release the bill text as soon as we get all the final decisions made, but we haven’t made those decisions yet,” Johnson said on Friday.
Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
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House lawmakers from mostly coastal states are preparing for a battle over the SALT deduction. The fight will start to take shape next year.Source Link

The House on Friday passed legislation to strengthen security for presidential nominees in the wake of two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump.
The House voted 405-0 on the bill, which requires the director of the Secret Service to apply the same standards when determining the number of agents who protect the president, vice president and major-party presidential and vice presidential candidates.
The legislation, from Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), was rolled out in the immediate aftermath of the July 13 shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
But House GOP leadership decided to bring it to the floor this week after Sunday’s apparent second assassination attempt in Florida revived security concerns.
After the vote, Lawler and Torres, in a statement, thanked their House colleagues for supporting the bill and urged the Senate and President Joe Biden to get the legislation "through the finish line." "The two recent attempts on former President Trump’s life showed the world that unfortunately, the Secret Service has serious gaps in protection, and more must be done to ensure no one can take advantage of those vulnerabilities," the lawmakers said.
The Secret Service told a bipartisan House task force investigating the July 13 attempt that Biden had ordered an increase in security for Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in the wake of the Pennsylvania attack. Biden, according to lawmakers on the committee, ordered a level of Secret Service protection that would be “commensurate” with the level the president receives. That level of protection was in place on Sunday in Florida, the Secret Service told the committee.
But the House bill would change the level of security for presidential nominees going forward — not just for Harris and Trump.
The Secret Service has been at the heart of Congress’ investigations into the attacks against Trump, as lawmakers probe the agency’s security planning. The task force that is currently investigating the July 13 attack is expected to be formally expanded by the House to include Sunday’s incident in Florida.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are debating whether or not to include more Secret Service funding in a government spending bill they need to pass by month’s end in order to avoid a shutdown. Senators tasked with overseeing the agency’s funding have been in talks with the Secret Service about its resource needs in the wake of the July 13 shooting.
But there’s skepticism among Republicans in both chambers that more money is what the agency needs amid multiple ongoing investigations about the two apparent assassination attempts.
Instead of giving the agency more money on the short-term government funding bill, Congress could give the agency more spending flexibility, according to appropriators, then tackle the issue of further funding at the end of the year.
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Kentucky Sheriff Shawn M. Stines was charged with murder after shooting Judge Kevin Mullins in his courthouse chambers following an argument Thursday.Source Link