NATION IN BRIEF
House Republicans bring doomed Alejandro Mayorkas impeachment effort to Senate
House Republicans on
Tuesday delivered articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate, but the Democratic-led upper chamber planned to promptly reject what they deride as a politically motivated stunt.
A group of 11 GOP lawmakers marched across the Capitol to officially bring to the Senate the impeachment articles, which accuse Mayorkas of failing to enforce immigration laws at the southern border.
Democrats say they expect the Senate to avoid a full-blown trial of Mayorkas after the first impeachment of a cabinet secretary in 150 years.
Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer said he would swear in senators as jurors on Wednesday afternoon for what is likely to be a perfunctory impeachment trial. Some moderate Senate Republicans have also derided the impeachment, suggesting it is only a matter of time before the effort dies.
Legal analysts from across the political spectrum say there is scant evidence that anything Mayorkas did could be considered “high crimes and misdemeanors” required for an impeachment.
Democrats accuse Republicans of targeting Mayorkas as a publicity stunt to draw attention to their complaints about President Joe Biden’s handling of the border.
Mayorkas was impeached by the House by a single vote in February after the GOP fell short on an initial tally and had to return the next day to try again.
Motion to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson gets cosponsor over Ukraine aid
House Speaker Mike Johnson slipped into deeper political peril Tuesday as a second GOP lawmaker backed an effort to oust him over his support for aid to embattled Ukraine.
Rep. Thomas Massie, an archconservative from Kentucky, said he would cosponsor a measure introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor
Greene, R-georgia, that could end Johnson’s tumultuous speakership after just a few months.
“He should pre-announce his resignation ... so we can pick a new Speaker,” Massie tweeted.
“It’s time for a new Speaker,” Greene chimed in.
Johnson wasted little time hitting back at the growing right-wing rebellion against his leadership, calling it “absurd” and vowing he would not step down.
“It is not helpful to the cause. It is not helpful to the country. It is not helpful to the House Republicans,” Johnson said.
Antisemitism in the US hits all-time high, ADL says
The Anti-defamation League recorded more incidents of nationwide antisemitism in
2023 than ever before — and only California reported more incidents than New York.
The ADL, which has been documenting hate crimes against Jews since 1979, said it tracked 8,873 cases of antisemitism last year. That marks a 140% spike from 2022, and equates to one antisemitic incident every hour.
“Antisemitism is nothing short of a national emergency, a five-alarm fire that is still raging across the country and in our local communities and campuses,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a press release. “Jewish Americans are being targeted for who they are at school, at work, on the street, in Jewish institutions and even at home.”
More than 5,200 of the ADL’S documented antisemitic acts occurred after Hamas terrorists attacked Israeli citizens and foreigners on Oct. 7 to start the ongoing war in Gaza.
“That’s more in just one quarter than any other year on record,” the ADL said on social media.
Israeli officials said nearly 1,200 people were killed in that assault, which included a music festival massacre in which nearly 400 people were murdered or kidnapped.
The ADL’S Center on Extremism said it recorded 1,009 antisemitic bomb threats in 45 states and Washington, D.C., in 2023. More than
900 of those scares targeted synagogues and Jewish schools.
Florida state trooper hurt in crash with ex-congressman Madison Cawthorn, witness says
A Florida state trooper was injured Monday in a car crash on I-75 allegedly involving former U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a Republican who represented North Carolina for one term.
A 2021 Mercedes rear-ended the Florida Highway Patrol Dodge Charger in a construction zone in Collier County, FHP said in a statement. The trooper “sustained minor injuries and was transported to an area hospital,” according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The agency didn’t identify Cawthorn as the driver, but a passerby posted video on X Monday afternoon of the crash, showing what appeared to be the controversial, right-wing firebrand in his wheelchair on the side of the highway, near the crashed Mercedes.
The details shared by the woman matched details from FHP, which said the crash happened at about 4:30 p.m. in a construction zone on the highway.
The poster wrote that the driver of the Mercedes had been driving aggressively and “tailgating her relentlessly” just minutes before rear-ending the state trooper. She noted that while she did not witness the crash, she saw the officer getting out of his vehicle holding his neck.
“I spoke to the cop to see if he was OK as he was quite stunned & kept reaching for his neck,” the poster wrote.
The driver of the Mercedes was identified by FHP as a 28-year-old male from Cape Coral, Florida, matching Cawthorn’s age and place of residence. The man wore a uniquely patterned and colorful shirt that Cawthorn has previously worn, according to postings shared by the former congressman on his social media accounts.
Source: Tribune News Service