Month: September 2023
Gaetz Says McCarthy Has ‘No Real Intention’ To Impeach Biden
James Carville wants Biden impeachment inquiry. Hear why
Pelosi mocks McCarthy’s ‘ever incredibly shrinking speakership’
House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's concessions to conservatives on his right flank to win his leadership position have diminished the worth of the position.
"I think it’s an ever incredibly shrinking speakership," Pelosi told CNN's Anderson Cooper, pointing to the concessions McCarthy made to become speaker. "It became that the first night when he had to make all these pledges, promises to become speaker. Really, it isn’t worth it to be speaker to abdicate that much jurisdiction over the House."
That same conservative part of the Republican House caucus that McCarthy "abdicated" power to en route to his speakership pushed the California Republican to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, which he announced on Tuesday.
The comments from Pelosi, a California Democrat who twice served as House speaker, highlight the political confines that McCarthy finds himself within. The House now has to navigate a possible presidential impeachment on top of legislating numerous must-pass bills, including a government budget with no resolution currently in sight.
"I think that is really more of a matter of politics of the Republican caucus," Pelosi said about the possible impeachment. "This is not responsible governance. But it’s the chaos on the Republican side."
The 83-year-old San Francisco Democrat, who announced last Friday that she would run for another House term, also staunchly defended Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, in their pursuit of a 2024 election win.
Harris, whose approval ratings generally lag behind the already low numbers of Biden, has taken heat from various commentators and observers for weakness — a characterization that Pelosi rejects, calling the vice president "politically astute." She also argued that vice presidents — really — don't do that much anyway.
"She’s the vice president of the United States," Pelosi said in defense of Harris. "People say to me, well, why isn’t she doing this or that? I say, because she’s the vice president. That’s the job description. You don’t do that much. You know, you’re a source of strength, inspiration, intellectual resource, and the rest."
Biden dismisses impeachment inquiry: ‘I’ve got a job to do’
Exclusive: Pelosi defends Trump impeachment approach in face of GOP inquiry into Biden
Biden makes first comments on McCarthy’s impeachment inquiry as his advisers go on the offensive
AOC lists fiancé as ‘spouse’ on disclosures despite not legally being married
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., listed her fiancé as a "spouse" on multiple disclosure forms filed with the House Ethics Committee despite the couple having not officially been married.
The "Squad" member indicated her fiancé, Riley Roberts, as her "spouse" on several disclosure forms concerning overseas travel between 2022 and 2023.
The forms, first reported by the Washington Free Beacon, were filed with the House Ethics Committee which explicitly defines a spouse as "someone to whom you are legally married."
Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Press Secretary Lauren Hitt told the Beacon that Roberts and Ocasio-Cortez are "not legally married," but that "House Ethics has commonly recognized the term spouse to extend to long-term partners."
HOUSE OVERSIGHT TO HOLD FIRST BIDEN IMPEACHMENT HEARING THIS MONTH
Roberts would be compelled to disclose his financial records were he to be Ocasio-Cortez’s legally recognized spouse.
Ocasio-Cortez announced her engagement to her longtime partner in May 2022. The pair met at a coffee shop while they were both students at Boston University.
Earlier this year, the House Office of Congressional Ethics said it found "substantial reason to believe" that Ocasio-Cortez improperly accepted gifts in the form of tickets during her appearance at the 2021 Met Gala.
A report from the Office of Congressional Ethics states that Ocasio-Cortez was accused of accepting "impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021" which may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law.
Last month, the congresswoman demanded that the Department of Justice target Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over his relationship with a Republican megadonor and others she claims he benefited from financially.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Ethics Committee for comment.
Romney uses Biden’s own words against him, calls for president to join him in retirement: ‘Time to transition’
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, used President Biden's own words against him on Wednesday while calling on him to drop his 2024 bid for re-election and join him in retirement at the end of his term.
Romney's challenge to Biden comes just hours after the first-term senator officially announced he would not be seeking a second term, citing his own advanced age as his main reason for the decision.
"President Biden, when he was running, said he was a transitional figure to the next generation. Well, time to transition," Romney said when asked by a reporter if his decision not to run for re-election because of his age should also apply to Biden, 80, and former President Donald Trump, 77.
WATCH: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE RANTS AGAINST BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY, SNAPS AT REPORTER IN TESTY MOMENT
Romney's comments were in reference to Biden calling himself a "transition candidate" during his 2020 campaign for the presidency, something he later meant he would be someone who would help pave the way for a new generation of Democratic leadership.
"I think it would be a great thing if both President Biden and former President Trump were to stand aside and let their respective party pick someone in the next generation … I think both parties would be far better served if they were going to be represented by people other than those of us from the baby boom generation," he added.
Concern over Biden's age amid his re-election has continued to grow, even from within his own party. A recent Associated Press-NORC poll found 69% of Democrats think Biden is too old to run again.
WATCH: SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN GIVES ODD, ANIMATED REACTION TO NEWS OF BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
Romney's inclusion of Trump in his concern about the age of the two presidential front-runners joins that of Trump's closest rival in the Republican primary, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said during a recent interview on CBS that the former president's age was "a legitimate concern" for voters going into 2024.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.