Category: fox-news/us/military

Johnson to meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago amid speakership threat

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will meet former President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Friday as the embattled House leader faces a threat to his speakership from Trump loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

Johnson and Trump have already been at odds on the House passing an additional $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, which Johnson has for months declined to allow the House to vote on legislation already passed by the Democratic-led Senate. 

Trump has previously stated that he would end the war within 24 hours should he be reelected, while he has also touted converting the cost of weapons transfers to Ukraine into a loan.

Trump also encouraged GOP lawmakers to successfully "kill" reauthorizing FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a measure Johnson backed. The speaker is set to try again to push the measure through the House.

JOHNSON BUCKS GOP PRIVACY HAWKS IN CLOSED LAWMAKER MEETING ON SPY TOOL RENEWAL

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Greene authored a resolution to force the House to take a vote of no confidence in the speaker. Greene railed at Johnson for negotiating spending bills with Democrats and forgoing the GOP’s internal rule, requiring 72 hours before voting on legislation.

She is also a staunch opponent of providing more aid to Ukraine. Greene and Johnson met on Wednesday, with Greene saying she is still frustrated with the speaker’s handling of several hot-button issues.

UK'S CAMERON MEETS TRUMP AHEAD OF PUSH FOR MORE US UKRAINE FUNDING

Nevertheless, Trump is expected to back the leadership of Johnson, who defended the former president in two impeachment trials.

In fact, Friday’s meeting has been billed as a "major announcement on election integrity," and to tout legislation that would prevent noncitizens from voting, although no further details have been provided.

The joint appearance will also give Johnson an opportunity to publicly showcase his close ties to Trump.

"It’s about Trump embracing Johnson," former Speaker Newt Gingrich said of Friday’s joint appearance, per the New York Times. "This is Trump saying, ‘He is the speaker, I am his friend, we are together.’ That’s a pretty important thing for him. He just has to endure."

The high-profile joint appearance comes days after Trump met with former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron at Mar-a-Lago.

Freedom Caucus chair probes military’s effort to ‘rewrite our nation’s history’ with Naming Commission

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FIRST ON FOX: House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va., is going after the group tasked with scrubbing references to the Confederacy from the U.S. military, accusing the Pentagon of trying to "rewrite" history.

In letters to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., sent on Wednesday, Good took issue with the recent removal of the Reconciliation Monument, a Confederate memorial, from Arlington National Cemetery.

"We write regarding the recent implementation of the Naming Commission’s recommendation to remove Arlington National Cemetery’s ‘Reconciliation Monument.’ We are concerned about this removal and the broader efforts by the commission to rewrite our nation’s history," Good wrote.

GOP LAWMAKERS DEMAND PENTAGON STOP REMOVAL OF CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL IN ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

He said in the letter to Austin, "Efforts to remove statues and memorials like this encourage an endless cycle of renaming institutions, buildings, and cities across the country under the destructive ruse of political wokeness."

"Historical sites are healthy environments to observe varied perspectives of historical events, engage diverse viewpoints, and inspire robust conversation as we remember our nation’s history," Good added.

US MILITARY CARRIES OUT AIRSTRIKES ON FACILITIES IN SYRIA OPERATED BY IRANIAN-BACKED FORCES

Good asked Comer’s Oversight Committee to hold a hearing on the Naming Commission and request that the panel hand over any relevant documents. 

In his letter to Austin, Good asked him to compile all relevant documents and correspondence with the Naming Commission, including memos to private entities and the White House.

The Reconciliation Monument was slated for removal by the Pentagon’s Naming Commission, a panel tasked with renaming and removing military installations named after the Confederacy in the wake of the summer 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. 

WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA DRIVER AND NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER IS ‘HONORED’ TO TAKE PART IN HOLIDAY MISSION

The memorial was unveiled in 1914 by then-President Wilson after being commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Congress had authorized the reinterment of Confederate remains to Arlington National Cemetery just 14 years prior.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin had asked for it to be moved to the Virginia Military Institute, according to reports from late last year.

Its removal was challenged in court, but a judge ultimately cleared the way for it to be taken down in late December.

Republicans blast GOP Sen Tuberville over objection to military promotions

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A handful of Senate Republicans railed against Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Wednesday night after the former football coach rejected dozens of military nominations in protest over the Pentagon's abortion policy.

The group of GOP senators brought the promotions – a small batch of some 350 nominees still in limbo – to the floor for unanimous consent. 

But Tuberville objected to each one – despite a recent effort to force a vote to approve the Marine Corps' No. 2 leader after the service's top officer was hospitalized after a reported heart attack – due to the Department of Defense's controversial abortion policy that pays for some service members' abortion procedure expenses. 

"This is about the rule of law," Tuberville said on the floor. "That's what we're about in here. It's about the integrity of our military. It's about keeping politics out of military. I did not put it in the military, Joe Biden and Secretary Austin put politics in the military, and it's about the right to life."

TUBERVILLE NOT BUDGING ON MILITARY HOLDS OVER ABORTION POLICY AS DEMS EYE RULES CHANGE

Sens. Todd Young, R-Ind., Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, took turns on the floor urging Tuberville to rescind his opposition before selecting nominees one by one to be confirmed.

Graham, who said he disagreed with the Pentagon's policy, fired back at the Alabama senator and held up a photo of Maj. Gen. Laura Lenderman, a service member awaiting promotion to lieutenant general and deputy commander of Pacific Air Forces. 

"If you think they've done something illegal, go to court, that's how you handle these things," Graham said Thursday. "You just denied this lady a promotion. You did that."

"Don't hold hostage the men and women who have to follow civilian control," he said. "Let's don't ruin the lives of all these people who have been serving our nation for decades."

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Graham added he wants the "best people in command positions yesterday."

"So having frustration with the White House abortion policy and Pentagon I understand," he continued. "These officers had nothing to do with it. If we normalize this and every senator follows the lead of Sen. Tuberville, you'll ruin the military."

Romney agreed with Graham on taking the abortion policy – which senators argue violates the Hyde Amendment – to court, adding he would file a legal action to reverse the policy.

He also inquired if Tuberville would back the idea of the DOD withdrawing payments and instead relying on a private charity to finance the abortions.

TUBERVILLE FORCES SCHUMER'S HAND IN MILITARY NOMINEE VOTES: 'HE BLINKED'

"That was the type of negotiation I've been looking for the last nine months," Tuberville responded. "Nobody – zero – has come to me with any alternatives to bypass to get this done."

Ernst, Sullivan and Young all emphasized that service members should not be held responsible for Pentagon policies and argued the holds are affecting military readiness. Tuberville has consistently disagreed that readiness is plummeting. 

"There are readiness issues, and that's the whole point. We have a really dangerous world right now," said Young, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

TUBERVILLE SAYS HOUSE GOP MUST 'NOT WASTE TIME' WITH BIDEN IMPEACHMENT

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., threw his support Wednesday behind a Democrat-led proposal to change the chamber rules to funnel most military promotions through without a vote. Nine Republicans would have to vote with Democrats to make up the 60 votes needed to get the initiative across the finish line. 

Alexander Vindman, Trump impeachment witness, retires from military

Posted on by Marisa Schultz
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a key impeachment witness against President Trump, retired from the Army Wednesday, with his lawyer citing "a campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation" that limited his military career.