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Vote to oust McCarthy as speaker could happen as early as Tuesday
A vote to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as House speaker could be voted on as early as Tuesday after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced a motion to vacate.
House Republicans are expected to have a closed door meeting at 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday for the first time since Gaetz introduced his motion on Monday.
The vote will be taken up no later than Wednesday. The last time the House faced such a vote was in 1910 with Speaker Joe Cannon, R-Ill.
Gaetz, a frequent McCarthy critic, introduced the motion Monday evening on the House floor.
MATT GAETZ INTRODUCES MOTION TO VACATE AGAINST HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY
"Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2A1 of Rule 9, I rise to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of House," Gaetz said. "Declaring the office speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant. Resolved that the office of speaker of the House Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant."
There are a number of members undecided on how they would vote on the motion to vacate, but McCarthy will have to solicit help from the Democratic caucus to hold onto his reins.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told Fox News following Gaetz's move that he believes a motion to vacate at this time is "a bad idea." Additionally, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., told Fox previously he was undecided.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS LOOK TO EXPEL FLORIDA REP. MATT GAETZ
McCarthy reacted to the motion with a post on X. "Bring it on," he said, to which Gaetz responded: "Just did."
At a press gaggle follow the introduction of his motion, Gaetz said he had enough Republican votes – at least five – to either oust McCarthy, or force him to appease Democrats for their support.
If Gaetz's motion succeeds, all proceedings on the House floor will freeze and the House will then be required to conduct successive roll call votes until a new speaker is elected.
McCarthy's bid for speaker extended over five days and spanned 15 rounds in January, making it the lengthiest speaker's election since 1859.
The first vote will likely center on an attempt to table or dismiss Gaetz's move. Should the House vote against it, Gaetz's initiative will be thwarted. However, if the House fails to set aside Gaetz's motion, this will likely trigger a new vote for speaker.
HOUSE GOP MEMBERS SEEK TO EXPEL GAETZ AMID RENEWED THREAT TO VACATE HOUSE SPEAKER MCCARTHY
On Sunday, Gaetz told CNN "State of the Union" host Jake Tapper that "we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy."
"Look, the one thing everybody has in common is that nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy. He lied to Biden. He lied to House conservatives," Gaetz said. "Kevin McCarthy's goal was to make multiple contradictory promises to delay everything back up against shutdown politics and at the end of the day, blow past the spending guardrails he had agreed."
Meanwhile, some House Republicans are now trying to oust Gaetz if the ethics committee finds him guilty, which would take a two-thirds vote to expel.
The House Ethics Committee has been investigating Gaetz since 2021 on allegations, including campaign finance violations as well as claims of taking bribes and using drugs – accusations the congressman has vehemently denied. Gaetz also denies allegations leaked from a Justice Department sex trafficking probe said to have involved an underage girl.
Fox News' Daniel Wallace and Howard Kurtz contributed to this report.
New York Gov. Hochul announces 18,000 jobs for asylum seekers as city's migrant influx exceeds 125,000 people
Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced 18,000 new jobs for eligible asylum seekers and migrants as New York City faces an influx of more than 125,000 people.
Hochul said the state’s Department of Labor has identified more than 18,000 private sector job openings at 379 companies across the state who have identified roles that could be filled by individuals with legal work status since first beginning assessment and outreach on Aug. 24.
About 24% of the job openings are in accommodation and food services with 90 businesses, according to the governor office’s breakdown. Another 21% of the openings are in healthcare and social assistance with 79 businesses. Manufacturing accounts for 10% of the openings with 38 businesses, and administrative support accounts for 8% with 29 businesses.
"We have to manage the fact that there's 125,000 people right now, up until tomorrow, have not been eligible to work, and have relied on public support for housing," Hochul said at a press conference. "That is not a sustainable dynamic. It is just not sustainable in the long term. But we've dealt with it. So, I'm going to call on businesses to sign up even more."
NEW YORK GOV HOCHUL WANTS TO ‘LIMIT’ WHO CROSSES BORDER, SAYS IT’S ‘TOO OPEN RIGHT NOW’
"I am hopeful and continue to press Washington and Congress to open up those work authorizations to more people because again, the Venezuelans is a good start, but it's not going to take care of the people who come in from Mauritania, and Congo, and other parts of South America, Central America, West Africa," she said. "We have people from Iraq and Afghanistan coming, people from Russia are coming, because everyone's finding their ways to that southern border. And that's where we need to have more thoughtful controls at that as well."
Seemingly coordinating with Mayor Eric Adams’ controversial decompression strategy to lessen the burden on New York City, the identified job openings are also spread across the Capital Region, central region, Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley, Long Island, Mohawk Valley, North Country, Southern Tier, Western Region.
New York City has the most job openings for eligible asylum seekers with 9,801 positions.
THOUSANDS OF VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS GATHER UNDER TEXAS BRIDGE AS BORDER NUMBERS SKYROCKET
The state identified 2,896 openings in Hudson Valley and 1,294 openings on Long Island, despite local officials in both areas either openly opposing or fighting in court against Adams’ efforts to relocate mostly male migrants to motels for extended months-long stays.
At the press conference, Hochul praised the Biden administration for granting temporary protective status and expediting worth authorization for Venezuelans on Sept. 20. New York City estimates that will allow more than 15,000 Venezuelan individuals to attain legal work status within 30 days.
"It means that 40% of the people who came here through jungles and mountains and rivers and incredible adversity, they found their way to New York. Forty percent from the country of Venezuela because of the Biden administration's actions are now eligible to have work authorizations and TPS, Temporary Protective Status, in 30 days," Hochul said on Monday. "And those who came before July 31st are actually eligible for this. So, this is the best news we could have had in this short time frame as we've been trying to find solutions to this problem."
According to the governor’s calculation, roughly 60% of the migrants who have arrived in New York City are from somewhere other than Venezuela. Hochul has activated 250 National Guard personnel assigned to full-time case management services for asylum seekers, part of a deployment of more than 2,100 National Guard personnel to address the ongoing migrant crisis.
Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig to launch Senate campaign in Michigan: 'I'm angry about so much'
FIRST ON FOX: Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig will launch his campaign for the U.S. Senate in Michigan on Tuesday.
Craig, whose impressive law enforcement career in a handful of states spans more than 40 years, is seeking to replace retiring Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow in the Senate. He confirmed the news in an interview with Fox News Digital.
"A lot of people over the last year approached me and encouraged me and said, 'Look that's something you should really consider.' And I recognize that U.S. Senate is a big job – even though you're representing Michigan, you're also representing the country," said Craig, who's running as a Republican.
"Everything that I see going on today … it's frustrating. I'm angry about so much when it comes to open borders and seeing the level of fentanyl poisoning. I don't call it overdose. I call it poisoning because it's by design and these Mexican cartels are allowing this poison or bringing this poison into America," he said.
LONG-SHOT GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PERRY JOHNSON CONSIDERING SENATE BID IN BATTLEGROUND MICHIGAN
Craig, who has also served as the chief of police in Portland and Cincinnati, said the Biden administration's response to the border crisis, in his view, has been "lackluster" thus far.
"I just felt like this administration [is] doing nothing. I mean, the former president at least made a great effort at building a wall," he said.
Craig, like so many other candidates, raised concern over the economy, saying it's a "mess."
"We were energy independent under the former president. And now, in places like California, gas is like $7 a gallon and going up," he said. "Interest rates are high. The American dream is just that – it's a real dream now. For most young people hoping to purchase their first home, that's an impossibility. When you talk about interest rates sitting at seven and eight percent ... how does that happen?"
Craig also spoke about ways he'd like to help struggling public schools on a federal level and insisted the funding being provided by the United States to Ukraine amid its war with Russia should cease.
"When I say this, I want to make sure I'm clear. I think Putin is a war criminal. I think the invasion of Ukraine was wrong, but I think this has been an endless effort," he said. "This administration has not put a plan forth to the American public. So clearly, they want to get money, over money, over money. And frankly, I say, stop it. I'm an American first. I believe we take care of our own country. I mean, as much money as we're spending in Ukraine to protect its borders ... what are we doing to protect our own borders? What are we doing to help some of our decaying major cities?"
"Not only are we funding the war effort in Ukraine, I now hear that we're even trying to fund the rebuilding of Ukraine," he added. "I look at my own city and while I think Detroit has done a tremendous turnaround, there's still work that needs to be done. Another city I think about is Baltimore. Baltimore needs to be rebuilt. But we're focused on Ukraine, so I have a problem with that."
Craig also took jabs at those who have already entered the race, including former Michigan GOP Rep. Mike Rogers and Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., over their endless support for Ukraine.
"I know Mike Rogers, who's the other GOP candidate; he's certainly a strong advocate of sending money to Ukraine," he said. "And certainly the Democrat who's running for U.S. Senate – she's been one of the chief architects of sending over $130 billion as a congresswoman. But what about going back to improving education in Detroit?"
Craig also spoke out against President Biden's electric vehicle "mandate," saying it's "flawed" and "makes no sense."
"I'm not saying we don't build electric vehicles, [but do so] in addition to continuing to build vehicles with internal combustion engines," Craig said. "I know Biden thinks he's a car guru – he's not. The reality is, you know, when he comes to Detroit and makes his 85-second speech about supporting those union workers, he fails to mention that his EV mandate is going to cost a significant number of jobs – American manufacturing, auto manufacturing jobs."
As for ways to curb crime, Craig spoke at length about how his roles at various departments over the last four decades have prepared him for a position in the Senate to work across the aisle.
"One thing I have that's unique, let's face it, is every city I've worked in, every city, were all Democrat-run cities," he said. "I wasn't always a Republican. I mean, my transition didn't happen overnight. But while I was in Detroit, I was a Republican. When you become a police chief, nobody asks you what your party affiliation is. It doesn't matter because you're apolitical. We serve all people, you work with all people."
"Certainly as the police chief, the leader of the police department, I worked with Democrats and Republicans. I didn't agree with everything, and I was very verbal on the things that I thought we could or couldn't do, but it wasn't partisan-based. I got along very well. The mayor, a Democrat who I thought was a great mayor, we worked well together. Again, he and I didn't always agree on everything, but he believed in law and order."
Craig said he's jumping into the race because he believes Michiganders are looking for "real leadership."
"I just think Michigan is ready for real leadership, not people that are going to cater to the status quo and the lobbyists. I'm talking about both Republicans and Democrats. I'm not saying all – there's some that do a wonderful job," he added. "But I know there's some … who just do not want to see me in this race."
Craig formerly sought the GOP nomination for governor of Michigan, but fraudulent signatures on his paperwork derailed his campaign. He was considered a favorite to win the GOP nomination in last year’s gubernatorial election before he and four other candidates were kept off the ballot after fraudulent signatures were found on their nominating petitions.
Three people have been charged with forgery and other crimes related to the phony petition signatures, but no candidate was personally accused of knowingly submitting fraudulent petitions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump civil trial continues for a second day in New York City
The civil trial against former President Donald Trump, his family and his business empire will continue Tuesday with more witness testimony as New York Attorney General Letitia James seeks to make her case that the Trump Organization overvalued its assets.
Trump attended the first day of the trial Monday and is expected to return Tuesday.
The court is expected to reconvene with James' office tying testimony from its first witness, Donald Bender of accounting firm Mazars USA LLP, to its overall case. Bender's testimony focused on financial records dating back to 2011, which fell outside of the statute of limitations.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the non-jury civil trial, said the questioning was a "waste of time" unless James' office could tie it back to something within the statute of limitations--something James' office promised to do Tuesday.
Monday’s session marked an unprecedented scene in a Manhattan courtroom—featuring the former president of the United States and current 2024 Republican presidential primary frontrunner and his children defending their business empire.
Before entering the courtroom, Trump spoke to reporters, blasting the "disgrace" of a civil trial stemming from "corrupt" James’ lawsuit against him, and presided over by "corrupt" Judge Arthur Engoron.
Engoron last week ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization committed fraud while building his real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.
Engoron’s ruling came after James sued Trump, his children and the Trump Organization, alleging that the former president "inflated his net worth by billions of dollars," and said his children helped him to do so.
Trump attorney Christopher Kise, in his opening statement Monday, said Trump’s financial statements contained no false entries, and argued that prosecutors were relying on the word of a "known liar"—former Trump attorney Michael Cohen—to establish wrongdoing.
Prosecutors claimed that Trump and his associates knowingly submitted false financial statements—basing their theory on Cohen’s sworn testimony. The prosecution played a clip of Cohen stating that Trump would regularly task him and other lawyers with inflating his net worth, even if only to raise his placement on the Forbes wealth list. The video showed Cohen testifying that he witnessed this behavior on a regular basis from 2011 to 2015.
Meanwhile, Trump attorney Alina Habba also highlighted that James began investigating Trump soon after she took her post as attorney general in 2019, after promising voters during her campaign that she would "get Trump" if elected.
NEW POLL REVEALS HUGE GAP IN CONCERN OVER BIDEN'S AGE VS. TRUMP'S IN HYPOTHETICAL 2024 MATCHUP
As for the Trump Organization’s valuations, Habba argued they were not fraudulent and stressed that the state of Trump’s financial condition was, in fact, "undervalued."
Habba continued by saying that prosecutors were essentially arguing that if an individual listed their home at one price, but it sold for a lower one, they committed fraud.
Trump's defense team argued that Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida estate, would sell for "at least" $1 billion—much more than Engoron's valuation of $18 million.
Trump himself spoke to reporters outside the courtroom shortly after Habba's statement. He argued that he has been "defrauded" by Engoron's low valuation.
"We're wasting time with this trial. It's a disgrace," Trump said. "The judge already made up his mind. He's a Democrat. He's an operative."
The prosecution on Monday also called its first witness— Donald Bender, from the accounting firm, Mazars USA LLP. Bender, who spent several years preparing Trump’s tax returns, testified that he frequently interacted with Jeffrey McConney, the controller for the Trump Organization, to prepare statements of financial conditions, or balance sheets.
Bender said the information would be put into an engagement binder, and McConney or a member of his team would send an early draft of the statement and send backup schedules to cross-reference to make sure numbers were correct. Bender said he had to make sure the numbers on the statement they sent would match the numbers going into a spreadsheet.
Bender testified he didn’t take any measures to ensure the information provided was true. He only raised an issue if something glaring stood out.
The Trump Organization was responsible for meeting generally accepted accounting procedures (GAAP), he said. Bender answered "yes" when asked if there were GAAP exceptions in multiple instances between 2011-2020. He said the Trump organization made the decision for a GAAP exception each time, and that he did not perform any additional accounting procedures to see if a GAAP exception was necessary.
AG MERRICK GARLAND CLAIMS IN INTERVIEW HE'D RESIGN IF BIDEN ASKED HIM TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST TRUMP
Bender testified that Mazars would not have issued the statement of financial condition for the Trump Organization if the firm was aware that any of the information was untrue.
But after nearly two hours of Bender testifying on 2011 financial documents, Judge Engoron criticized the prosecution, noting the documents in question fell outside the statute of limitations.
The Appellate Division in Manhattan decided this summer that James could no longer sue for alleged transactions that occurred before July 13, 2014, or Feb. 6, 2016, depending on the defendant.
"Unless you can relate the 2011 docs to something that happened later, this has all been a waste of time," Engoron said.
James’ office promised the judge to explain why it is relevant during Tuesday’s session.
James, a Democrat, brought the lawsuit against Trump last year alleging he and his company misled banks and others about the value of his assets. James claimed Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, as well as his associates and businesses, committed "numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation" on their financial statements.
That appellate ruling over the summer also dismissed Ivanka Trump as a defendant.
Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Liberal city mayor proposed increasing police budget — then protesters showed up at his house
Protesters marched to Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell's home Sunday afternoon, outraged over his proposal to add $17 million to the city's police budget next year.
"What better way to spend our Sunday than marching a bunch of amazing people up to Mayor Bruce Harrell's house and delivering him a birthday present?" one speaker said, according to KING 5. Harrell's birthday is later this month.
'BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS': ACTIVISTS DECRY BAN ON PUBLIC DRUG USE PASSED BY BLUE CITY LEADERS
The protest was called "Justice for Jaahnavi" in honor of the 23-year-old college student hit and killed by a patrol car while stepping into a crosswalk in January.
Harrell's proposed budget gives the Seattle Police Department more than $391 million, a $17 million increase from the 2023 budget.
But protesters want the department's budget to be cut rather than expanded in light of Jaahnavi Kandula's death. The officer who struck Kandula was driving 74 mph in a 25 mph zone with his lights on but no sirens, according to police. Last month, body camera video emerged showing a different officer appearing to joke about the young woman's death, though the officer said his comments were taken out of context.
'THEY WERE LAUGHING': WOMAN VICIOUSLY BEATEN AT SEATTLE-AREA GAS STATION OVER CASH, CIGS AND CANDY
Harrell addressed the scandal while announcing his budget proposal last week.
"We cannot have safety without accountability and community trust," Harrell said. "Sadly, we have seen that trust fractured through recent events where officers have disrespected or dehumanized our neighbors. Those comments make me incredibly sad and incredibly disappointed."
Dozens of people gathered in a park before marching to Harrell's home, shouting slogans like "No justice, no peace" and "say her name."
Police were present during the event but did not confront the crowd, KING 5 reported.
Seattle has already surpassed 2022's homicide count with three months left in the year. Violent crime and car thefts in the Emerald City also reached a 15-year high in 2022, according to SPD data.
"With homicides up and when SPD is recovering more guns than any previous time in our history … we know we can't be complacent," Harrell said.
The proposal includes a nearly $1.8 million investment in a crime prevention pilot program that relies heavily on technology such as automatic license plate readers, surveillance cameras and gunshot detection systems.
Sunday's protest was organized by Seattle South Asians 4 Black Lives and South Asians Resisting Imperialism, according to KING 5.
Harrell is Seattle's first Asian American mayor and the second Black mayor.
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Top Ten Reasons Never to Vote For Obama
- He has next to no experience (and whatever experience he does have is that of a left-wing extremist incapable of working across the aisle).
- He is a liar and prevaricator.
- He has been a member of a church affiliated with the racist Black Liberation Theology movement for twenty years.
- He has a racist wife who has expressed, as recently as this year, a lack of pride in America.
- He denigrates the American flag and American nationalism.
- He has been closely affiliated with terrorists, supporters of terrorists, criminals and sundry left wing fanatics.
- He is categorically opposed to offshore oil drilling for the purpose of lowering gas prices.
- He will be soft on terrorism and meet with our most vicious, hate-filled and irrational enemies without any preconditions met, thus diminishing the stature and prestige of the oval office and increasing the stature and prestige of our enemies.
- He will greatly expand government and raise taxes for most Americans.
- He is particularly bad for Israel and the Jewish people.