Gaetz threatens to force vote for McCarthy ouster ‘every day’ if he’s not ‘in compliance’

Posted on September 12, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said he would move to take away House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s gavel "every day" if the GOP leader is not in "compliance" with key demands he listed out on the House floor Tuesday.

"No continuing resolutions — individual spending bills or bust. Votes on balanced budgets and term limits. Subpoenas for Hunter Biden and the members of the Biden family who've been grifting off of this country. And the impeachment for Joe Biden that he so richly deserves," Gaetz listed. "Do these things or face a motion to vacate the chair."

Gaetz spoke less than two hours after McCarthy, R-Calif., announced he was directing relevant committees to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call after his speech, Gaetz called the inquiry notice a "baby step."

MCCARTHY ‘DANGLING' BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY TO DELAY RECKONING OVER SPENDING, SOME CONSERVATIVES SAY

"But I have fallen for this mirage before," Gaetz continued. "I remember in January, when Kevin McCarthy ran down to the border to gaslight an impeachment of [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas], and he tried then to subjugate all the threats to his power, as impediments to a Mayorkas impeachment."

"McCarthy wasn't serious" at the time, he said.

Gaetz told reporters there was a written agreement between McCarthy and his conservative hardliner critics made in January, when he won the speakership on a 15th round vote after facing 14 rounds of opposition. He said it was that agreement that he now expected McCarthy to adhere to, or face a call for removal.

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Some of the details of McCarthy’s deal had been made public, such as a House rules change to allow just one member to call for him to be removed from leadership — known as a motion to vacate — to trigger a House-wide vote on it.

"If we who worked to craft that deal aren't willing to enforce it, then we just look like every other bulls--- artist in Washington DC, and it's a fate that I'm not willing to endure," Gaetz said.

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"So we're either going to get compliance or we're going to start having votes on motions to vacate, and we're gonna have them regularly. I don't anticipate them passing immediately. But I think that, you know, if we have to begin every single day in Congress with the prayer, the pledge, and the motion to vacate, so be it."

Lawmakers are working to hash out a deal on funding the government for the next fiscal year. If no agreement is struck or if Congress fails to at least extend the current year’s spending priorities via continuing resolution by Sept. 30, the federal government could be forced into a partial shutdown.

House Republicans accuse Hunter Biden’s attorneys of intimidating IRS whistleblowers in letter to AG Garland

Posted on September 12, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

House Republicans sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday accusing Hunter’s Biden legal team of engaging in a "brazen effort to intimidate and harass" the two Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers in the Hunter Biden tax probe.

Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Jason Smith, R-Mo., and James Comer, R-Ky., accused Biden’s attorneys of intimidating IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who recently alleged political interference in the prosecutorial decisions throughout the years-long federal probe into the president's son.

The letter accused Biden’s lawyers of having "slandered" the whistleblowers as "disgruntled" and of "urging" the Department of Justice to prosecute them.

"Federal law protects whistleblowers from retaliation, and efforts to intimidate these whistleblowers raise serious concerns about potential obstruction of the Committees’ investigation," the letter read. "Accordingly, we request information about any attempts by Hunter Biden’s legal team to encourage the Department to take action against IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler."

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The letter pointed to a New York Times article that said Biden’s legal team "have contended to the Justice Department that by disclosing details about the investigation to Congress, they broke the law and should be prosecuted."

The Republicans are giving the DOJ until 5:00 p.m. on Sept. 26 to produce any letters or communications from Biden’s lawyers to the DOJ "advocating for the investigation or prosecution of Mr. Shapley or Mr. Ziegler," as well as any documents and communications between his attorneys and the DOJ referring or relating to a criminal investigation or prosecution of Shapley or Ziegler.

Garland is scheduled to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee for a standard oversight hearing on Sept. 20.

Fox News has reached out to the DOJ and Biden’s attorneys, Abbe Lowell and Chris Clark, for comment.

The letter comes the same day that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is expected to endorse an impeachment inquiry into President Biden for his alleged involvement in his son's business dealings.

McCarthy to green light Biden impeachment this week

Posted on September 12, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Fox News Digital has confirmed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will tell House Republicans today that beginning an impeachment inquiry against President Biden is "the logical next step."

Tuesday morning's Punchbowl newsletter reported that House Republican leaders will meet behind closed doors Thursday for a scheduled update from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., on their investigations into Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. At the meeting, McCarthy is expected to say an impeachment inquiry is the "logical next step" for the Republican majority.

Sources previously told Fox News Digital that Republicans were planning to launch an impeachment inquiry into Biden this month. Three separate GOP-led committees have investigated allegations that Hunter Biden leveraged his father's official government positions to secure foreign business deals. The open question for Republican lawmakers is whether President Biden ever personally benefited from his son's deals or abused the power of his office to influence them in any way.

McCarthy said last month that an impeachment inquiry would only happen with a formal House vote.

MCCARTHY ‘DANGLING’ BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY TO DELAY RECKONING OVER SPENDING, SOME CONSERVATIVES SAY

"To open an impeachment inquiry is a serious matter, and House Republicans would not take it lightly or use it for political purposes. The American people deserve to be heard on this matter through their elected representatives," McCarthy told Breitbart News in a statement. "That’s why, if we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it would occur through a vote on the floor of the People’s House and not through a declaration by one person."

That means 218 lawmakers will need to support an impeachment inquiry against Biden, and it is not at all certain House Republicans have the votes to do it. Several GOP lawmakers including Reps. Ken Buck, R-Colo., and Don Bacon, R-Neb., have voiced skepticism about impeachment. Even some House conservatives who support impeachment have complained about the timing, with Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., telling Fox News Digital last week it appeared McCarthy was "dangling" the issue to avoid a confrontation over spending ahead of the next deadline to fund the government.

MCCARTHY SAYS BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY WOULD NEED HOUSE VOTE, IN DEPARTURE FROM PELOSI AND DEMOCRATS

The House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives have urged McCarthy to force deeper spending cuts and to attach GOP priorities to any short or long-term deal, though that’s unlikely to get Senate or White House approval. They view the last debt-limit deal as a betrayal because it did not significantly curtail government spending.

"Hiding behind impeachment to screw America with status quo massive funding … will not end well," Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, warned GOP leaders earlier this month.

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With such a narrow House majority, Republicans can only afford to lose five votes from their conference in an impeachment inquiry vote. Were the House to reject impeachment, it would be a major embarrassment for McCarthy and House Republicans, who would have nothing to show voters for their investigations in next year's general election.

At the same time, impeachment hardliners like Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., have threatened to attempt to remove McCarthy if the House does not follow through with an impeachment vote.

McCarthy's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

5 key demands House conservatives are making before taking partial government shutdown off table

Posted on September 12, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

House lawmakers return to Capitol Hill for the first time in six weeks on Tuesday, but some factions have already begun to draw battle lines for Congress’ coming fight over how to fund the government for the next fiscal year.

The chamber is expected to vote on military funding this week, its second of 12 appropriations bills. Leaders in the House and Senate have both acknowledged that a deal must be struck on a stopgap funding bill, called a continuing resolution, to give both sides more time to reach an agreement.

If no deal is reached by Sept. 30, lawmakers risk sending the government into a partial shutdown.

As Speaker Kevin McCarthy works to build consensus within his House GOP majority, here are five major demands conservatives have made that could force a standoff between McCarthy’s conference and Democrats in charge of the Senate and White House.

Allies of former President Donald Trump in Congress have called for an end to the "weaponization" of the Justice Department in exchange for their support on any spending deal, particularly in the wake of the four indictments launched against the ex-president.

MCCARTHY SAYS BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY WOULD NEED HOUSE VOTE, IN DEPARTURE FROM PELOSI AND DEMOCRATS

It was also a key part of the House Freedom Caucus’s formal position on agreeing to government funding.

The group called for measures aimed at the DOJ and FBI "to focus them on prosecuting real criminals instead of conducting political witch hunts and targeting law-abiding citizens."

Conservative Republicans are expected to put an emphasis on repealing the Biden administration’s progressive military policies on LGBTQ issues and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts as lawmakers debate the defense spending bill this week.

In an internal memo to lawmakers sent late last month, the 175-member Republican Study Committee (RSC) pointed out that a host of conservative, anti-"woke" policy items were passed in the House’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act in July. It said the bill secured "funding for the Department of Defense (DOD) while countering Biden’s woke attacks on military personnel."

MCCARTHY 'DANGLING' BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY TO DELAY RECKONING OVER SPENDING, SOME CONSERVATIVES SAY

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, suggested to reporters on Monday that the defense appropriations bill might not even survive a floor vote if key demands in that area are not met.

"If we want to try to get it across the finish line this week, I'm certainly open to having those conversations, but only if we get the policy changes that need to occur," Roy said. "Why would I fund transgender surgeries? Why would I fund the continued diversity, equity, inclusion officers that are dividing the Pentagon?"

McCarthy committed to Republicans to having the House pass appropriations bills at fiscal year 2022 spending levels, despite previously agreeing to roughly freeze spending at fiscal 2023 levels during negotiations with President Biden over raising the debt limit.

It’s already set the House on a collision course with the Senate, which is cobbling together its appropriations bills with toplines outlined by the McCarthy-Biden deal – about $120 billion dollars higher than the House GOP’s.

The demand for lower spending levels appears to be the most widely shared among House conservatives, though lawmakers have not settled on where to make those cuts.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERS WANT TO LAUNCH BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY NEXT MONTH, SOURCES SAY

Several hardliners in the GOP conference have called for any government spending deal to attach the party’s border security package, another wish-list item that’s virtually guaranteed to hit a wall of Democrat opposition.

Both the RSC memo and the Freedom Caucus’s official position have called for attaching the Secure the Border Act to an eventual continuing resolution, which lawmakers will likely need to pass to extend the current government funding priorities past Sept. 30 and avoid a shutdown.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said last week that he believes there’s a number of Republicans ready to vote against a continuing resolution that does not tackle border issues.

"We're basically done with this. It's time to do the right thing. Secure the southern border," Donalds said.

While a significant number of House Republicans still appear wary of launching impeachment proceedings against President Biden, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., among the most vocal conservatives in the chamber, has made it a requirement of her support for a spending deal.

"I’ve already decided: I will not vote to fund the government unless we have passed an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden," Greene told constituents at a town hall.

However, not all members of McCarthy’s right flank agree. Roy told reporters on Monday that impeachment and government spending are, and should be, two separate processes.

MTG on 9/11 says states ‘should consider’ secession over Biden border policies

Posted on September 11, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., declared Monday that states "should consider" seceding from the United States over President Biden’s border policies.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, on the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Greene said Americans are "drowning from Biden’s traitorous" policies on the U.S.-Mexico border.

"If the Biden admin refuses to stop the invasion of cartel led human and drug trafficking into our country, states should consider seceding from the union," she wrote.

MTG SAYS WHITE HOUSE ‘ATTACKING’ HER FOR HOLDING OUT GOVERNMENT FUNDING UNTIL IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY BEGINS

"From Texas to New York City to every town in America, we are drowning from Biden’s traitorous America last border policies," she added.

Greene has touted a "national divorce" for years, sparking backlash from her own party. In the latest instance, she suggested a split in the union based on party lines as the nation celebrated Presidents' Day.

"We need a national divorce," she wrote on Feb. 20. "We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this. From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last policies, we are done."

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, previously blasted the proposal as "evil."

"This rhetoric is destructive and wrong and — honestly — evil," Cox wrote. "We don’t need a divorce, we need marriage counseling."

"And we need elected leaders that don’t profit by tearing us apart," Cox continued. "We can disagree without hate."

"Healthy conflict was critical to our nation’s founding and survival," the governor added.

Greene fired back at Cox and doubled down on her comments in February, writing, "People agree with me and not the RINO governor of Utah."

"People saying national divorce is a bad idea because the left will never stop trying to control us literally make the case for national divorce," she later wrote. "We don’t want a civil war. We’re not surrendering. We’re tired of complaining with no change and want to protect our way of life."

Fox News’ Houston Keene contributed to this report.

GOP reps Tenney, Roy lead push to reduce Mayorkas’ salary to $1 over border crisis

Posted on September 6, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers in the House are proposing an amendment that would reduce Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary to just $1, as Republicans continue to increase pressure on the DHS chief for the ongoing migrant crisis at the southern border.

Reps. Claudia Tenney, R-NY, and Chip Roy, R-Texas, are leading the push to include an amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill that would reduce Mayorkas’ salary to $1.

The amendment would use the so-called Holman rule, which allows lawmakers to cut the salaries of federal officials. Republicans have zeroed in on Mayorkas over the ongoing crisis at the southern border, where numbers have again increased in recent months. Conservatives say the crisis has been created and fueled by the policies of the administration.

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"None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to pay Secretary Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas a salary that exceeds $1," the amendment states.

"Secretary Mayorkas should not be paid hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to continually fail to protect American taxpayers from threats crossing our borders," Tenney said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Thanks to Secretary Mayorkas’ work, or lack thereof, there have been at least 5.8 million illegal crossings of our southern border since Biden took office, turning all our communities into border communities."

‘If the President is refusing to fire him for his dereliction of duty, his salary must reflect his failures," she said.

"It’s time to end this border crisis once and for all. The American people have no obligation to keep paying a federal official who refuses to do his job and uphold his oath, and that's why we should zero out Mayorkas' salary," Roy said in a statement. "I’m glad to work with Rep. Tenney in this fight to regain operational control of the border."

Co-sponsors on the amendment include Reps. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., Russell Fry, R-S.C., Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., Bill Posey, R-Fla., Carol Miller, R-W.Va., Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., and Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo.

The move marks the latest effort by Republicans in relation to the administration's handling of the migrant crisis, which has seen record high numbers at the border, and has become an increasingly difficult political issue for the administration as migrants have also been overwhelming "sanctuary" cities like New York City and Chicago.

Republicans have blamed the administration’s policies, including its reversal of Trump-era policies including border wall construction and the Remain-in-Mexico policy. They have also blasted the expansion of releases of migrants via humanitarian parole and what they have called "catch-and-release."

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Some Republicans have called for Mayorkas’ impeachment, and the House Homeland Security Committee issued a report accusing him of an "intentional" dereliction of duty and of implementing a "radical open-borders agenda."

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Roy has been one of the fiercest critics of Mayorkas, and last month called for lawmakers to stop funding DHS altogether until steps are taken to secure the border. Meanwhile, conservatives in the chamber are calling for a sweeping border and asylum reform bill to be included in any continuing resolution that would keep the government open past Sept. 30.

The Biden administration has defended Mayorkas and has pushed back against GOP criticism, saying the agency needs more funding from Congress and for it to pass a comprehensive immigration bill that it introduced on day one to fix what it says is a "broken" system that has not been updated in decades. That legislation has been rejected by Republicans in part due to the inclusion of a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. The White House recently requested an additional $4 billion for border and immigration as part of its supplemental funding request.

A DHS spokesperson emphasized those calls for more congressional action on Wednesday in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"While the House Majority has wasted months trying to score points with baseless attacks, Secretary Mayorkas has been doing his job and working to keep Americans safe," the spokesperson said. "Instead of continuing their reckless charades and attacks on law enforcement, Congress should work with us to keep our country safe, build on the progress DHS is making, and deliver desperately needed reforms for our broken immigration system that only legislation can fix."

McCarthy ‘dangling’ Biden impeachment inquiry to delay reckoning over spending, some conservatives say

Posted on September 6, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Some House conservatives are warily eyeing Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he ramps up rhetoric about a potential impeachment inquiry of President Biden, concerned he is "dangling" the suggestion over their heads to gain more wiggle room in the ongoing talks over government spending.

"It's almost as if the Speaker is trying to dangle the prospect of proceeding with an impeachment inquiry to attempt to leverage people to vote for a clean [continuing resolution] or other spending proposals that do not comply with the agreement made when we agreed to support him for Speaker in January," Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

"An impeachment inquiry is called for against Biden because of the evidence of corrupt dealing on behalf of his son," Bishop said, adding that he believes impeachment probes should also be opened against Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

"It should never be connected with the idea of trying to coerce members to vote for a spending provision that is otherwise unwarranted."

MCCARTHY SAYS BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY WOULD NEED HOUSE VOTE, IN DEPARTURE FROM PELOSI AND DEMOCRATS

The House does not return from August recess until next week, but battle lines are already being drawn over how to fund the government in the next fiscal year. The House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives have urged McCarthy to force deeper spending cuts and to attach GOP priorities to any short or long-term deal, though that’s unlikely to get Senate or White House approval.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have acknowledged that a continuing resolution, known as a CR, is likely needed as a temporary funding patch while a deal is hashed out. Federal funding runs out on Sept. 30, and taking no action before the deadline would risk a partial government shutdown. Conservatives have warned they will not vote for a "clean" CR that simply extends priorities of the previous Democrat-controlled Congress.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERS WANT TO LAUNCH BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY NEXT MONTH, SOURCES SAY

Meanwhile, two sources told Fox News Digital in August that McCarthy has also floated the possibility of holding a floor vote sometime in September to open a Biden impeachment inquiry.

"He's using impeachment to distract from the issues that he has with the appropriations bills," one GOP lawmaker said at the time.

McCarthy has not given any public indication of when he’d hold an impeachment inquiry vote, but he told "Mornings With Maria" last month that impeachment was a "natural step forward" in the investigative process. He told Breitbart recently that a vote is a necessary step before proceeding with the inquiry.

The conservative lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital were largely supportive of a Biden impeachment inquiry, but many were still hesitant to trust McCarthy after claiming the GOP got "rolled" in the debt limit deal.

"The American people will not be fooled into believing that talking about impeachment inquiry in some way diminishes our responsibility to cut spending," Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., told Fox News Digital. Good supports impeaching Biden over the border crisis, he said. "Do I think there is the possibility, if not the probability, that it's intended to be a distraction? I would agree with it, or there is that possibility. However, it’s not fooling anyone."

SPEAKER MCCARTHY SAYS BIDEN TURNED US POLITICS INTO A 'CULTURE OF CORRUPTION' AS IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY INCHES

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, policy chief of the House Freedom Caucus, fired off a warning shot at House GOP leaders over the weekend: "To the [House GOP] – hiding behind impeachment to screw America with status quo massive funding…will not end well."

Fox News Digital reached out to McCarthy's office but did not immediately hear back.

But not all conservatives are on the same page. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a McCarthy ally, indicated she could support a spending deal that is tied to a Biden impeachment inquiry vote.

Meanwhile, Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., a member of both the Judiciary and Appropriations committees, told Fox News Digital that House Republicans can "walk and chew gum at the same time."

"I think both tracks, the spending track and the investigatory track, are on separate courses that are heating up at precisely the same time. But that is really more just happenstance of the calendar rather than anything else," Cline said of the timing.

"I'm confident that we always knew that it will be a challenge to finish our appropriations process by Oct. 1. Had we started from more conservative positions than the debt limit agreement gave us, I think we would have passed most, if not all, of the appropriations bills by now," he said. "But the investigatory track is dependent on the administration's cooperation, or lack thereof, and that's why we are just beginning to find out truly the extent to which [Biden] engaged pay-to-play operation with agents and companies affiliated with foreign adversaries."

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to McConnell’s health and a potential government shutdown

Posted on September 5, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

The Senate meets at 3 pm et today for the first time since late July.

The biggest buzz around the Senate centers on the health of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

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Some senators want McConnell to be more transparent about his health issues as there are whispers in the Senate corridors about his fitness to serve.

McConnell froze up last week during a speaking engagement in northern Kentucky. He had a similar episode in late July. And there was also an issue in the spring. The latter appeared to be a problem with the Leader’s hearing aids.

Questions about McConnell have swirled since he misses several weeks after a fall where he suffered a concussion.

Republicans also find themselves in a bind: defending McConnell but wanting to raise questions about the health and age of President Biden.

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It is unclear if McConnell will present customary opening remarks in the 3 pm et hour or offer any insight into his health.

Many Republicans are rallying around McConnell. However, it would only take five GOP members to demand a special meeting to consider McConnell’s leadership and potentially hold a secret ballot.

However, that scenario does not appear to be in the cards yet. And McConnell would likely prevail in any vote of no confidence.

Other issues before the Senate: government funding.

CONGRESS HAS NEVER BEEN IN SESSION WHILE FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS BEEN INDICTED

The government runs out of money on October 1. The House and Senate are nowhere near agreement on spending measure.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to move a series of spending measures over the next three weeks. But a temporary bill renewing all old funding appears to be the only way out of this cul-de-sac.

The House doesn’t return until next Tuesday. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is floating a one-month interim spending package. But conservatives are balking at that since it simply renews the old funding and does not cut. McCarthy could pass a bill to avert a shutdown. But he may need to do it with mostly-Democratic votes.

Back in the Senate, there is no movement in the impasse over the promotion of the nation’s top military leaders. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) refuses to budge from allowing the Senate to fast-track the mostly non-controverial promotions. Tuberville is protesting the Pentagon’s abortion policy. It would take nearly a month of the Senate working around the clock and considering nothing else to clear all the military promotions.

McCarthy says Biden impeachment inquiry would need House vote, in departure from Pelosi and Democrats

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Friday said an impeachment inquiry against President Biden will only move forward if there is a formal House vote.

McCarthy's position is a departure from how his predecessor Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., handled the first impeachment inquiry against former President Donald Trump. In 2019, Pelosi unilaterally proclaimed that the House would advance an impeachment inquiry against Trump after the controversy over his infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"This week, the president has admitted to asking the president of Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically," Pelosi said on Sept. 24, 2019. "Therefore, today, I'm announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry. I'm directing our six committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERS WANT TO LAUNCH BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY NEXT MONTH, SOURCES SAY

"The president must be held accountable," she continued. "No one is above the law."

Initially, the Trump White House refused to cooperate with the investigation, raising concerns that the whole House had not voted to launch the inquiry. It wasn't until weeks later, on Oct. 31, 2019, that the House would authorize the impeachment inquiry by a vote of 232 to 196.

A McCarthy spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sources told Fox News Digital that House Republican leaders are looking to launch an impeachment inquiry against Biden this month.

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McCarthy told GOP lawmakers in a members-only conference call on Monday night that an impeachment inquiry is "the natural progression from our investigations that have been going on," one Republican who has been granted anonymity to discuss the call said.

The lawmaker said Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., informed members on an earlier call that McCarthy suggested the House would vote on opening an impeachment inquiry next month.

"What Jim Jordan said was that McCarthy told him that it was…coming to the floor in September," the lawmaker said.

A source familiar with the discussions similarly told Fox News Digital that McCarthy told several conference members that Congress’ probes have enough momentum to push for an impeachment inquiry in the fall after lawmakers return from August recess.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS LAUNCH INVESTIGATION INTO CAUSE OF MAUI WILDFIRES

The president and his son Hunter Biden are under scrutiny by three separate House GOP-led committees over allegations of bribery and other corruption in the latter’s foreign business dealings. They are also looking into a plea deal nearly struck between Hunter Biden and the Justice Department in a years-long investigation into the First Son’s taxes – though that deal has since fallen apart.

The House of Representatives is returning from its six-week August recess on Sept. 12, at which point the impeachment inquiry will likely take a backseat to Congress’ race to strike a deal on funding the government by Sept. 30 – otherwise risking a partial government shutdown.

Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Conservatives tout new training program for Capitol Hill staff as ‘game changer’ for beating ‘the swamp’

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

FIRST ON FOX – A conservative think tank has launched a 10-month training program for Capitol Hill and government staff, and it is earning the praise of top GOP lawmakers.

The Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) is launching "Conservative Partnership Academy" and in-person training program for "congressional staff and other members of the conservative movement who are interested in gaining the skills to advance good policy" in the nation’s capital.

Jim DeMint, a former senator CPI chairman said the need for "well-trained staff on Capitol Hill to fight and win the key battles that will decide the future of our nation" is the impetus for the program aimed at equipping staff "with the skills they need to lead principled, conservative offices."

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, says the program is a "game-changer."

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"The Conservative Partnership Academy is a game-changer for staffers seeking to defend the Constitution and fight for freedom in the halls of Congress," Lee said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"Washington needs patriots with strong convictions and hard policy-making skills to achieve legislative victories for the American people," he said.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said that, "As a former Hill staffer, and now as a Member, I have seen firsthand what it takes to successfully be able to beat the swamp."

"Conservatives are fighting an uphill battle, so being armed with as many tools, resources and skills possible to defeat the Washington uni-party is crucial to win."

Roy said the program is a "great tool" to help staff "navigate the ups and downs of politics all while instilling freedom loving principles in their minds and the determination to win in their hearts."

Hugh Fike, government relations director at CPI, said that the program is not only aimed at congressional office staff, but also staff in a potential GOP presidency in 2025. DeMint, CPI CEO Wesley Denton and CPI senior advisor and former chief of staff to former President Trump, Mark Meadows, are expected to be heavily involved in the program.

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The program will feature trainings on traditional trainings on House of Representative rules and procedures, Senate rules and procedures, and also feature a variety of other issue areas and issue experts.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERS WANT TO LAUNCH BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY NEXT MONTH, SOURCES SAY

The Academy will feature three "fellowships" geared for junior staff to more senior policy and communications professionals. Applications open from Aug. 29 through Sept. 29.

"We desperately need more sharpened conservative minds working to preserve our freedoms, on Capitol Hill and beyond," Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas., told Fox News Digital.

"CPI is doing important work to train current and future staffers, and I look forward to seeing graduates of CPI Academy succeed."