Montana’s House GOP pushes forward transgender public bathroom bill
A bill advancing in Montana’s House of Representatives would require transgender people to use public bathrooms that align with their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity. The measure passed 58-42 with unanimous Republican support and Democrat opposition.
If approved, the bill would apply to public facilities, including schools, jails and prisons, mandating separate restrooms and changing rooms for males and females. The bill defines sex based on a person’s X and Y chromosomes and their ability to produce eggs or sperm.
Republican sponsor Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe argues that the bill protects women’s privacy in spaces meant to be safe. She says women should not be forced to compromise due to “cultural trends.”
However, opponents of the measure, including two Democratic lawmakers, have strongly criticized the bill. Zooey Zephyr, a transgender representative, called the bill dangerous for trans women. Zephyr pointed to a legal addition allowing individuals to sue if they encounter someone of the opposite sex in a restroom or changing room.
Last month, Zephyr faced a bill that would have prevented her from using the women’s restroom at the Montana Capitol. She said, “Trans people walk through the state of Montana afraid enough already.”
Critics also raised concerns about the potential cost of implementing the bill. They also question how local governments would verify a person’s reproductive makeup.
Before heading to the Republican-controlled Senate, the bill must pass one more vote in the House.
In recent years, similar bills targeting transgender bathroom access have been passed in at least 11 other states. They include Utah, Florida, Alabama and Ohio.
Capitol Hill staffers ask Congress for 32-hour work week
Members of the Congressional Progressive Staff Association are asking their bosses for a 32-hour work week. They contend it would increase retention on Capitol Hill and set an example for work load at a national level.
“The intensive nature of these roles often causes staffers to seek new positions earlier than they would in a more predictable and sustainable work environment,” the letter stated. “Hiring new staff members can disrupt the flow of work, alter the office culture, and deprive the team and the member of important institutional knowledge an experienced staffer takes with them.”
The request was shot down immediately by Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y.
“Why not be bold and ask for a 0-hour workweek? I wonder how blue-collar Americans would feel about white-collar workers demanding a 32-hour workweek,” Torres wrote on X.
Why not be bold and ask for a 0-hour workweek?
I wonder how blue-collar Americans would feel about white-collar workers demanding a 32-hour workweek. pic.twitter.com/2Je1Zf6FHC
There are many members who believe Congress doesn’t work enough already. The legislative branch is typically only in session three to four days a week.
“Let’s get back to work. These two hour work weeks we’re having up here are ridiculous. I’m tired of them saying we don’t have enough time,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said. “Let’s get to work. America works, Congress doesn’t.”
If the staffers don’t have the support of moderate Democrats or Republicans, this will not happen. But they could gain the support of progressives like Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who introduced a bill last year to shorten the standard work week under federal law to 32 hours.
“It’s vital that health, well-being, and basic human dignity are valued over employers’ bottom lines,” Jayapal stated at the time. “Establishing a 32-hour work week would go a long way toward finally righting that balance.”
US House bill OKs Trump talks with Denmark over Greenland purchase
President-elect Donald Trump’s allies in Congress are working to deliver on his vow to make Greenland part of the United States. Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced a bill on Monday, Jan. 13, to allow Trump to enter into talks with Denmark over purchasing the arctic island on his first day in office.
The bill, titled the “Make Greenland Great Again Act,” would allow Trump to enter into negotiations with the Danish government, just after noon on Inauguration Day.
The bill would give Congress the ability to block any agreement within 60 days, but it would need a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to do so.
Danish officials have repeatedly said the island is not for sale, but are reportedly open to more dialogue with the United States on an increased military presence in the region, which is vital to European and North American national security.
Some residents of the autonomous Danish island also say that it is not for sale, and told The New York Times that they do not want to become Americans, citing fears they will lose benefits such as “free education, free health care and free medicine.”
Democratic leaders in Congress have also dismissed Trump’s desires to acquire Greenland, and the bill would almost certainly need bipartisan support to pass.
Additionally, Trump would not be the first president to try to buy Greenland. In the 1860s, President Andrew Johnson considered buying the island, and decades later President Harry Truman secretly offered Denmark $100 million in gold to swap the island for parts of Alaska.
Republicans will increase debt limit in reconciliation bill to avoid Democrats
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Congress will increase the debt limit in a budget reconciliation bill House Republicans hope to pass next month. The clock is ticking. If Congress doesn’t increase the debt limit, the nation will default on its bills, causing widespread economic consequences.
The debt limit is the maximum amount of money the federal government is authorized to borrow to pay its bills. The nation hit the ceiling on Jan. 1. However, the Treasury Department can avoid a loan default for a number of months by moving money around from nonessential accounts.
Budget reconciliation packages amend spending that has already been approved by Congress. Lawmakers cannot increase the baseline number, they can only adjust what it’s being used for.
Reconciliation bills require only a simple majority for approval in both chambers, so Republicans have the numbers to do it without any input from Democrats. That’s exactly what Speaker Johnson says they plan to do.
“If it runs through regular order and regular process … then you have to have both parties negotiating, and we feel like we’re in a better stead to do it ourselves,” Johnson said.
Johnson explained the Republican Party’s philosophy regarding spending and the debt ceiling. He said raising the borrowing limit will not be an excuse to spend more than the government’s revenue, which is currently happening.
“Our intention and our mission is to reduce the size and scope of government, to reduce spending in a meaningful way so that we can restore fiscal sanity and get our country back on the right track,” Johnson said.
“So raising the debt limit is a necessary step so that we don’t give the appearance that we’re going to default in some way on the nation’s debt, that’s important to the bond markets and the stability of the dollar and all the rest,” he continued.
There are a number of measures Republicans hope to include in the reconciliation package but everything has to be related to the budget. The Senate parliamentarian can remove items from the bill if they determine it is not budget-related.
Republicans want to expand oil drilling in the Arctic, repeal electric vehicle subsidies and rescind tailpipe emissions rules. In addition, some Republicans want to restore state and local tax deductions, which they repealed in the 2017 tax bill.
“The thing that’s interesting about the whole state and local tax deduction issue is that the Republicans burn the house down and now want to pretend that they’re firefighters. Are you kidding me?” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said. “The state and local tax deduction was obliterated as part of the GOP tax scam in 2017.”
President-elect Donald Trump is meeting with Senate Republicans the night of Wednesday, Jan. 8, to discuss the budget reconciliation package. It’s a top priority and House Republicans hope to pass it out of their chamber by February.
House passes Laken Riley Act, a bill to increase immigrant detention
The House passed the Laken Riley Act on a bipartisan basis on Tuesday, Jan. 7, after 48 Democrats voted yea, bucking party leadership. The bill would require immigrants to be held in detention if they are charged, arrested or convicted of a burglary, theft or shoplifting offense.
Even if the criminal case is adjudicated, the individual would remain in custody while their immigration case proceeds.
“Right now ICE is unable to detain and deport these illegal criminals who commit these minor level crimes. But the Laken Riley Act will fix this,” Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., said.
Laken Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered by an immigrant in the country illegally. She was attacked while going for a run.
Collins sponsored the bill and represents the town where Riley lived.
“This legislation could have prevented her death. Her murderer was in our country illegally, was a known criminal, he had abused a child in New York City, was flown to Athens, Georgia, a sanctuary city, and all of this on the taxpayers dime,” Collins said. “Every part of our system failed Laken that day.”
Democratic leadership opposed the Laken Riley Act, and told their members to vote against it.
They objected to the bill applying to immigrants who are protected from deportation, like DACA recipients, and that it only requires an arrest for detainment, not a conviction.
Democrats accused Republicans of using Riley’s death for political gain.
“This bill does nothing to fix the immigration system or to prevent future tragedies like this,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said. “It is simply an attempt to score cheap political points off of a tragic death. And in the process it unfairly sweeps up many more innocent lives with no due process.”
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it needs 60 votes for approval. All 53 Republicans and multiple Democrats announced they’ll vote yes, though it is not yet clear if that will be enough for it to pass.
New House rules will prevent Democrats from ousting Speaker Johnson
House Republicans are making it nearly impossible for Democrats to oust the speaker of the House during the 119th Congress. The 36-page rules package that will govern the chamber’s operations for the next two years makes clear that any motion to remove the speaker needs to come from a Republican.
The new rules specifically state that a privileged motion to vacate must be offered by a member of the majority party who is joined by eight co-sponsors, also in the majority party.
Previously, any single member could trigger this action. That’s what former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., did to then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in 2023, which caused the House to shut down for three weeks as Republicans worked to elect their new leader.
Democrats aren’t happy about the new rule and say it will shield Johnson from accountability to the entire chamber.
“This makes it clear that they have no intention of working together to find common ground. Instead of electing a Speaker of the House, they have decided to elect a Speaker of the Republican Conference—held hostage by their most extreme members,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said in a statement.
McGovern is the top Democrat on the rules committee and added, “This election was close, and Republicans lost seats. The American people want us to work together.”
This will disincentivize Democrats from saving Johnson if a group of nine or more Republicans file to remove him. In May, Democrats helped him stay in power after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., tried to remove him.
Just before Christmas, Democrats said they would not help him again after he backtracked on a previously agreed spending bill and brought forward a proposal from President-elect Donald Trump, which ultimately failed. The rules package cannot be approved until the speaker is elected.
Congress was the least productive it’s been in 50 years
The 118th Congress was the least productive this century and passed fewer bills into law than any other Congress in at least 50 years. According to data from the Congressional archives, the House and Senate passed 209 bills into law over the last two years; the average since the year 2000 is 372.
There are many reasons for the gridlock, but it can be summed up like this — Republicans controlled the House with a seven-seat majority, Democrats controlled the Senate with a two-seat majority, and compromise was scarce.
Each chamber contributed to the pace.
For instance, House Republicans approved bills they knew the Senate wouldn’t approve or signed by President Joe Biden.
“Why waste the time bringing it? And we said it’s not a waste of time because, number one, it shows the American people how to fix these problems,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters. “But it also lays out that road map so if we do get the House, Senate and White House in January, which we now have this mandate from the American people, that we will have already started to process to show the country how we can get it done.”
Senate Democrats were criticized for a lax schedule. In 2024, the chamber only worked five days a week 13 times.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good record on the infrastructure bill on the other measures to deal with COVID, I think there’s a solid record of accomplishment,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Straight Arrow News. “And the American people measure the results of a Congress not by the amount of time they spend sitting at their desks or walking around the halls, but what the results are.”
Here’s what Congress did and didn’t do:
Achievements:
They stopped the Washington, D.C. City Council’s attempts to overhaul its criminal code.
They extended the debt ceiling until January 2025.
They gave veterans with disabilities a cost of living adjustment.
They reauthorized the FBI’s foreign surveillance program.
They reauthorized the Federal Aviation Administration.
Failures:
They did not properly fund the government. They passed temporary measures to prevent a shutdown but did not pass any formal appropriations bills.
They did not approve an overhaul of the nation’s immigration law despite a record number of illegal crossings at the southern border.
They did not pass the Kids Online Safety Act, meant to add protections for minors on social media.
The 119th Congress begins Friday, Jan. 3, and lawmakers have their work cut out. The debt ceiling expires on Jan. 1, so the Treasury Department will need immediate approval to borrow money. Or, it could default on loans, and government funding will expire on March 14.
Musk or Trump? Media divided over who killed the gov’t spending bill
The initial government spending package aimed at preventing a government shutdown failed late Wednesday, Dec. 18. The 1,500-page bill was scrapped as lawmakers began to reassess their options.
The collapse of the spending bill prompted a mix of explanations from news outlets.
Left-leaning media outlets
Left-leaning outlets largely pointed to Elon Musk as the driving force behind its failure.
MSNBC: “‘Unelected President Musk’: Elon posts 70 times trashing GOP bill, Trump caves.”
Daily Beast: “Democrats Troll ‘Vice President’ Trump as Musk Calls the Shots.”
NBC News: “Elon Musk leads charge to kill spending bill meant to avert government shutdown.”
Right-leaning media outlets
Meanwhile, right-leaning outlets suggested both Musk and President-elect Donald Trump played significant roles in a broader revolt within the Republican Party.
The New York Post: “Bloated federal funding bill is scrapped after Trump-boosted revolt, Rep. Scalise confirms.”
Fox News: “House GOP leaders scramble for Plan B after Trump, Musk lead conservative fury against spending bill.”
Washington Examiner: “Scalise confirms spending deal is ‘dead’ after mass GOP revolt.”
Musk made his opposition clear, posting more than 100 times on X by the end of Wednesday. The bill had been under pressure as lawmakers raced against a 72-hour deadline to bring it to a vote.
That effort came to an abrupt halt after Vice President-elect JD Vance met behind closed doors with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for roughly an hour.
Musk wasn’t the only one publicly opposing the spending package. Trump and Vance released a joint statement urging Republicans to reject the bill.
Trump also posted his opposition on Truth Social. Both Musk and Trump both posted online that any Republican who voted for the package should be voted out of office when their term is up.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who will partner with Musk in leading Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), also opposed the bill. Ramaswamy said he read the entire 1,500 pages overnight on Tuesday, Dec. 17, before criticizing it on Wednesday morning.
Prominent House Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas and Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., joined the growing list of GOP lawmakers who opposed the bill.
They argued it was too bloated during a time when Republicans had vowed to prioritize reducing government waste, particularly under Trump’s second term.
Musk’s involvement in DOGE has given him a powerful voice in the political sphere, a voice the Republican Party, including Trump, have embraced.
As the shadow Pres-Elect, Elon Musk is now calling the shots for House Rs on government funding while Trump hides in Mar-a-Lago behind his handlers.
It increasingly seems like we’re in for 4 years of an unelected oligarch running the country by pulling on his puppet’s strings. https://t.co/bVaMuxUPW0
However, some Democrats have criticized Musk’s influence. New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman posted on X, calling Musk the “shadow president-elect” for the Republican Party. Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders accused Republicans of being more beholden to Musk than to the American people.
Johnson defended the bill when he introduced it. He told Fox News, that reducing government waste would have to wait until the new Congress in January 2025.
He called the situation an “impossible position” and argued that passing the bill was necessary to prevent a shutdown. However, by late Wednesday, Johnson was back at the drawing board.
Johnson’s initial support for the bill sparked questions within his own party about whether he was the right leader for the House.
Trump weighed in on this as well, stating that as long as Johnson “acts decisively and tough” and “eliminates traps set by Democrats,” he would “easily remain Speaker.”
House Republicans block release of Matt Gaetz ethics report
Republicans block efforts by their Democratic colleagues to release the House Ethics Committee’s report on its investigation into former Congressman Matt Gaetz. And the manhunt continues for the gunman in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.
House Republicans block release of Matt Gaetz ethics report
The House Ethics Committee’s report on its investigation into former Congressman Matt Gaetz will not be made public — at least for now. Thursday, Dec. 5, House Republicans blocked two separate Democratic resolutions to release the report, voting to refer the matter back to the committee.
Lawmakers voted along almost entirely party lines to table an effort from Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) to force the report’s immediate release, saying the former Florida congressman is no longer under the House’s jurisdiction because he resigned.
Gaetz left Congress last month after President-elect Donald Trump announced he was nominating the Republican lawmaker to become the nation’s next attorney general. That all happened just days before the ethics report was supposed to be released.
Gaetz later withdrew from consideration for the job after it became clear he would not get the Senate support needed to win confirmation, amid allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor and illicit drug use. He’s also denied those allegations.
Another effort by Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee was also blocked.
Casten blasted the House’s decision in a statement after the vote, saying, “Today, the majority of the House of Representatives took the easy way out. They could have ensured a vote on whether or not former members should be held accountable when they face serious and credible allegations of sexual misconduct — including having sex with minors. Instead, the House voted to sweep these allegations under the rug and set an unfortunate precedent that, if you are ever facing scrutiny, resigning from Congress can make your problems go away.”
Casten added he will continue to try to get the report released.
Tonight the House of Representatives voted to sweep credible allegations of sexual misconduct under the rug.
I retain options to pursue the release of the Gaetz Report.
Congressman Michael Guest (R-MS), the committee chairman, said there no longer is the same urgency to release the report because Gaetz has left Congress and stepped aside as Trump’s choice to head the Justice Department.
Elon Musk spent more than $250 million getting Trump re-elected
Billionaire Elon Musk spent almost a quarter of a billion dollars in supporting Donald Trump’s reelection, according to Federal Election Commission filings released late Thursday, Dec. 5. While that accounts for just a fraction of Musk’s wealth as the richest man in the world, it’s a massive amount to come from just one single donor.
Musk donated most of that money to his America PAC, making three donations of $25 million each in the final weeks of the race. Over the course of the campaign, he gave America PAC a total of $239 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
Musk also spent more than $40 million on checks to voters in swing states who signed a petition in support of the Constitution.
According to the filings, Musk also put $20 million into a PAC named after the late liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That PAC was behind political ads claiming Trump does not support a federal abortion ban and he and Ginsburg had that in common.
New images released as manhunt continues in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing
Police have released new information about the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as the manhunt continues for the gunman. Investigators released new images Thursday of a hooded man who they say is “a person of interest” wanted for questioning in the slaying of the health insurance executive.
Police sources confirmed to multiple news outlets the images were taken from a surveillance camera inside a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Officials said the man used a fake New Jersey ID to check into the hostel.
The sources said the suspect is believed to have traveled from Atlanta to New York City on a Greyhound bus the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, then later checked in to the hostel. Greyhound is reportedly cooperating with the investigation.
The gunman shot Thompson multiple times at point-blank range as he was walking into a New York City Hilton hotel. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities said the shooting was “premeditated” and a “brazen, targeted attack.”
According to multiple reports, the bullet casings located at the scene had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them. The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered.
Police are still searching for a motive in the deadly shooting.
Aftershocks rock California after magnitude 7 earthquake
Dozens of aftershocks have been reported in California after a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake rattled a large part of the west coast Thursday. The epicenter of the earthquake was around 50 miles southwest of the northern port city Eureka in the Pacific Ocean.
A tsunami warning briefly went into effect from Oregon down to central California, but that has since been canceled. Evacuation orders have also been lifted.
California’s governor signed a state of emergency and said damage assessments are underway. So far, only minor damage and no injuries have been reported.
NASA delays next two manned moon missions
We’ve waited decades to see an astronaut walk on the moon again, and now, we’ll have to wait a little longer.
NASA announced Thursday it is delaying its next two Artemis moon missions to address an issue with the Orion crew capsule that will be housing the astronauts and its heat shield. The agency said the Artemis II mission that will fly a crew around the moon has been pushed from September of this year to no earlier than April of 2026.
The Artemis III mission, which will see the first moon landing in more than 50 years, set for 2026 will now happen no earlier than mid-2027.
Taylor Swift’s recording-breaking Eras tour ends this weekend
The tour kicked off in March of last year with Swift putting on the 3.5-hour concert more than 150 times in front of sold-out crowds across five continents.
Democrats win final House race of 2024 election, Republican margin narrows
Four weeks after Election Day, the make-up of the House of Representatives is now known. The last race has finally been called.
Democrat Adam Gray has defeated incumbent Republican Rep. John Duarte in California’s 13th Congressional District. Officials have counted all ballots.
Gray’s victory puts the current election tally in the House at 220 Republican wins to 215 Democratic victories. However, three seats will soon be open after President-elect Donald Trump nominated three Republican House members to his cabinet, dropping the majority to a very slim 217-215 margin in favor of the GOP.
Within days after the election, Trump nominated Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be attorney general. Gaetz resigned from the House and later removed his name from consideration. There’ll now be a special election in northwest Florida. It’s set for April 1, 2025.
Another Republican, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, is slated to become the Trump administration’s national security adviser and leave Congress on Jan. 20. A special election in the Daytona Beach area of Florida is also set for April 1.
In northern New York, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik is Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She hasn’t announced when she is leaving Congress.
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul is required, by law, to set the date for a special election within 10 days of Stefanik’s resignation, and that election has to happen within 70 to 80 days.
The departure of the Republicans and uncertainty of who wins the special elections leave the GOP with almost no wiggle room to push their agenda forward in Congress in early 2025.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has supposedly urged President-elect Trump not to tap any more House Republicans for cabinet jobs.