Congress split on spending bill

The other debate

As much of the media is consumed with reactions to the presidential debate — who won? what does the polling say now? will there be a second debate? a third? what does Taylor Swift’s post-debate endorsement of Kamala Harris mean? — there is another debate that’s embroiling the House as a partial government shutdown breathes down its neck.

The long and the short of it is this: the federal government’s new budget year begins on October 1, and to avoid a partial government shutdown (“non-essential” workers would be put on leave), Congress must figure out a way to continue funding operations before then. House Speaker Mike Johnson was set to hold a vote Wednesday on a stopgap spending bill that would keep funding the government until March, but pulled the plug at the last minute after realizing he didn’t have enough votes to pass it.

Democrats are opposed to the bill because it contains a measure — the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the SAVE Act — to require people voting to provide proof of citizenship. Enough hardline Republicans are opposed to the stopgap because they think the spending is excessive, and/or they don’t believe in kicking-the-can-down-the-road spending that has become the trend; they want the government to be funded for twelve months at a time, as has been the norm until relatively recently.   

Earlier this week, Johnson assured reporters Republican representatives are “in the consensus-building business here in Congress…having thoughtful conversations, family conversations within the Republican conference, and I believe we’ll get there.” Then Donald Trump threw his two cents into the mix, writing (shouting?) on his Truth Social:

If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET. THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO ‘STUFF’ VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN — CLOSE IT DOWN!!

Mainstream media outlets, such as Reuters, are fond of noting non-citizen voting “is already illegal in federal elections” and claiming it happens “only rarely,”  as if to say the SAVE Act is not necessary. Democratic opposition to the bill, however, reveals a different story, as House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his caucus “will never yield to MAGA extremism,” while also advocating for “a bipartisan path forward.”

-Teresa Mull

On our radar

MANCHIN ON THE HILL West Virginia senator Joe Manchin endorsed former Maryland governor Larry Hogan for the state’s open Senate seat against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. “Forget about being a Democrat or Republican. Larry Hogan is just the right person with the right attitude for the job,” Manchin said at an event in Hagerstown. 

YOU WIN SOME, YOU NEWSOM California governor Gavin Newsom handed organized thieves in California a loss on Thursday by signing a law elevating penalties for “smash-and-grab” robberies. The stricter sentences would apply to criminals who cause $50,000 or more in property damage while committing felonies, including retail theft. 

VANDAL NABBED A twenty-year-old from Baltimore County, Maryland was arrested in connection to damage to federal property that took place during protests outside of Union Station in Washington, DC this summer. Isabella Giordano is accused of spray painting “Gaza” on Columbus Fountain. Police say they have leads on other suspects who defaced property, totaling $12,000 in damages. 

Post-debate polling

Despite the efforts of a swath of celebrities, polls look pretty unchanged in the aftermath of this week’s debate, political analysts tell The Spectator.

Vice President Kamala Harris certainly benefited from a lack of real-time fact checking and from raising almost $50 million from her performance, but the battle for the White House remains static. Democrats, like pollster Celinda Lake, are even sounding the alarm about a potential “Trump surge” given the former president’s history of outperforming polls. Election forecaster Nate Silver wrote earlier today that “Kamala Harris leads by 2.1 points in our national polling average, but Donald Trump has a 61 percent chance to win the Electoral College.”

Republicans are now slightly favored to retake control of the Senate following analysts downgrading the odds of Montana senator Jon Tester to win re-election. Even in deep-blue Maryland, former Republican former governor Larry Hogan continues to poll evenly with his Democratic opponent, Angela Alsobrooks, in independent polls of the race. Democratic efforts to topple Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida look doomed to fail, despite tens of millions of dollars of investments.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee’s spokesman, Phil Letsou, touted the organization’s “class of political outsiders who continue to raise their profiles and make inroads on Democrat career politicians, despite facing millions of dollars in slanderous attack ads from Chuck Schumer and his far-left donors.” Republicans only need to flip one seat to gain control.

The quest for control of the House of Representatives remains a “dogfight,” the president of the Congressional Leadership Fund told The Spectator. But Dan Conston still sees that “Republicans are in a strong position to hold the House.” Most election observers see Republicans as being at least slightly favored to retain control. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to flip the chamber. 

“The political environment remains a few ticks better than 2020, polls show voters trust Republicans over Democrats on the issues that matter most to them, and we have impressive incumbents and promising candidates in our toughest races,” Conston added.

–Matthew Foldi

Trump gets Loomered

He only hires the best people… alarm bells were ringing this week when Laura Loomer was spotted boarding Trump Force One ahead of the former president’s debate with Kamala Harris.

Loomer also joined Trump at the 9/11 commemorations in NYC, marking a tragedy she has previously described as an inside job. The conspiracy theorist’s other highlights include chaining herself outside Twitter’s New York headquarters to protest her ban from the platform, jumping the fence into Nancy Pelosi’s property to “protest” immigration and getting banned from Uber Eats for Islamophobia. She has also previously run for Congress as a Republican in Palm Beach.

After popping up in Trump’s inner circle, Loomer tweeted that were Kamala to win the election, “the White House will smell like cury & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center,” a remark that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene — yes, really – described as  “appalling and extremely racist.”

“Remember when you destroyed your family so you could have sex with a Zangief cosplayer?” Loomer replied. “Tell me again how you and the Arby’s in your pants are representatives of the GOP?”

Classy!

–Cockburn