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‘Manufactured MAGA Madness’: House Dems Slam GOP for ‘Running Out of Town’ to Trigger an ‘Economic Meltdown’

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House Democrats are blasting their GOP colleagues for exiting Washington, D.C. just days before the U.S. is expected to run out of cash and, for the first time in history, be unable to pay its debts – unless Congress passes legislation to raise the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has repeatedly warned that June 1 is the likely deadline, as Republicans reportedly don’t believe her. Experts agree the results of a default would be globally catastrophic.

Among the likely outcomes would be potentially massive increases in interest rates, social security recipients not getting paid, businesses with government contracts not getting paid, layoffs and spiking unemployment, potential bank runs, a recession, lack of confidence in the U.S. dollar, destabilizing world financial markets, and increased international reliance on America’s enemies including China, further destabilizing the U.S.

Three weeks ago the Biden administration published a report showing that “defaulting on our government’s debt could reverse the historic economic gains that have been achieved since the president took office: an unemployment rate near a 50-year low, the creation of 12.6 million jobs, and robust consumer spending that has consistently powered a solid, reliable growth engine, supported by paychecks from the strong job market and healthy household balance sheets.”

House Democrats are insisting this is actually the goal of the GOP, and warning them to not do so.

READ MORE: DeSantis Says He Will Turn ‘Woke Military’ Away From ‘Gender Ideology’ and Reach ‘Settlement’ in Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Democrats are urging Republicans to stay in Washington until the job is done, but the Republican-majority House, under Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership, is, as one Democrat put it, “running out of town.”

“We’re here. We continue to work,” House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told Politico’s Nicholas Wu. “We want to get a resolution of this manufactured default crisis. And unfortunately, Republicans have chosen to get out of town.”

On the House floor, Leader Jeffries continued to pound Republicans.

“This is a default crisis that is manufactured MAGA madness,” Jeffries declared, rightly noting that the debt ceiling crisis is an entirely made-up construct that doesn’t even exist in most other countries. “It is repugnant, reckless and reprehensible. It’s unacceptable. It’s unconscionable and it’s un-American. And that’s why House Democrats have remained on the House floor fighting hard for every-day Americans. That’s why we are here. And we will continue to fight for working families, continue to fight for middle class folks, continue to fight for all those who aspire to be part of the middle class, continue to fight for young people, continue to fight for older Americans, continue to fight for veterans, continue to fight for military families, continue to fight for people in urban America and rural America and suburban America and small town America and the heartland of America, continue to fight for the people in Appalachia, continue to fight for the poor, the sick and the afflicted, continue to fight for the least, the lost, and the left behind. House Democrats will continue to fight for every-day Americans to avoid the default and we will not rest until victory is won.”

Leader Jeffries also noted that Democrats “helped make sure we avoided default three times, notwithstanding the fact that in our country’s 247 year history 25% of the nation’s debt was racked up under the four years of the Trump administration.”

READ MORE: Dem ‘Apologizes’ to ‘Grand Appliance Party’ for Protecting Kids From Gun Violence Rather Than Protecting Gas Stoves

“How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility with that shameful record, notwithstanding the fact that you’ve racked up unprecedented amounts of debt to subsidize the rich, the richest amongst us, and big corporations. We never threatened to default.”

He accused Republicans of making “a political calculation that you will be successful in 2024 if you crash the economy.”

“That’s wrong. That’s cruel. That’s un-American, because you’ll be hurting veterans, hurting children, hurting seniors, hurting young people, hurting every-day Americans. And that’s why Democrats are here today in Washington fighting hard against this unreasonable manufactured default crisis.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) demanded Republicans “stop holding our nation’s economy hostage.”

Outraged, Congresswoman Dingell yelled, “It’s dangerous. It’s unconscionable. – knowing the devastating impact that it is going to have on the American working families.”

She noted that Republicans will be posting messages of support this Memorial Day weekend on social media, “while advocating for a plan that will abandon all those veterans and their families at a moment they need their country most.”

Addressing Republicans, she shouted, “I’m staying. I’m missing my goddaughter’s wedding because I have a job to do. Where are you?”

Freshman U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) said if just five House Republicans joined Democrats, the American people can avoid default and devastation. All 213 House Democrats have agreed to vote for a debt ceiling discharge petition to avoid default. With 218 votes it would pass.

Republicans dared to cut the mic of U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) as soon as she went over her time. She continued to speak anyway, even as the gavel pounded away.

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a former constitutional law professor, noted the 14th Amendment mandates the U.S. must pay its debts. “The validity of the public debt shall not be questioned,” he said, quoting our founding documents. Rep. Raskin also slammed Rep. Matt Gaetz, accusing the Florida Republican of calling the American people hostages in the debt ceiling negotiations.

 

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House Majority Flip Could Trigger Sweeping Probes Into Trump Inner Circle: Democrat

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If Democrats win control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November, multiple investigations into senior Trump administration officials would begin, a Democratic lawmaker said.

“Stephen Miller should lawyer up,” said U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), responding to video of his remarks earlier Thursday.

Congressman Ryan had been speaking with Pablo Manríquez, the editor of Migrant Insider on Substack, who said to the New York Democrat that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller “seems to be operating sort of as a shadow president at this point.”

“Can you think of any legal liability he could face on the back end of this presidency?” Manríquez asked.

READ MORE: Trump on 2026 Midterms: ‘We Shouldn’t Even Have an Election’

“Well,” Ryan responded, “there’s gonna be legal, and I think criminal liability for multiple members of this administration, certainly including Stephen Miller.”

“They continue to just violate the law, violate the Constitution, violate our moral standing and values as Americans,” he alleged.

Ryan said that Democrats across multiple House committees “are already readying investigations … to be ready on day one, when we retake the majority, when the voice of the people are brought back here to the House.”

Democrats currently appear likely to get that chance.

According to Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report on Thursday, “House ratings show Dems as modest favorites for control, as Republicans would need to win two thirds of Toss Ups (67%) to keep the majority.”

Wasserman also noted that eighteen House races had moved in the Democrats’ direction.

READ MORE: ‘Chaos and Crisis’: Trump Sparks Alarm After Ramping Up Insurrection Act Threat

 

 

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Trump on 2026 Midterms: ‘We Shouldn’t Even Have an Election’

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President Donald Trump, rejecting criticism from within his own party, the economic challenges facing the American people, and polling on Greenland, suggested that his second-term accomplishments were so extensive that they should render the 2026 midterm elections unnecessary.

In an interview with Reuters, President Trump “expressed frustration” that Republicans may lose control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate in the November midterm elections.

Calling it “some deep psychological thing,” Trump told Reuters that “when you win the presidency, you don’t win the midterms.”

He then “boasted” of his accomplishments, telling the reporter, “when you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”

READ MORE: ‘Chaos and Crisis’: Trump Sparks Alarm After Ramping Up Insurrection Act Threat

Trump, Reuters reported, “repeatedly dismissed concerns by the public, business leaders and even his fellow Republicans on issues ranging from the future of Greenland and the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, to the state of the economy.”

He deemed “fake” a Reuters/Ipsos poll that found little support — just 17 percent — for him seizing control of Greenland.

He repeatedly declared, “I don’t care” when confronted with news that some Senate Republicans oppose the Department of Justice’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and “when reminded of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s concerns that White House interference in the Fed could harm the economy.”

Trump also dismissed the concerns of the American people over high prices they are facing, instead incorrectly declaring the economy the strongest “in history.” He told Reuters that he simply needed to do a better job promoting his achievements.

He appeared to suggest that “he follows his own compass” rather than put much stock in public opinion.

“A lot of times, you can’t convince a voter,” he said. “You have to just do what’s right. And then a lot of the things I did were not really politically popular. They turned out to be when it worked out so well.”

On actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Reuters reported that Trump “said he would continue sending armed agents into cities, claiming that his efforts had taken ‘thousands of murderers out of our country.”

Reuters noted that there is “no evidence to support that assertion.”

READ MORE: ‘Organized Gangs of Wine Moms’ Are Impeding Federal Agents Says Fox Columnist

 

Image via Reuters 

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‘Chaos and Crisis’: Trump Sparks Alarm After Ramping Up Insurrection Act Threat

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President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric about unleashing domestic military force on American streets, threatening on Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to protests in Minneapolis — a move that could allow the deployment of active-duty troops, often described as a last resort.

After a federal agent shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis on Wednesday night — intensifying already high tensions in the Gopher State — Trump sent a warning to Minnesota elected officials.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.”

Just one week earlier, he had told The New York Times that he had not yet invoked the Insurrection Act because, “I haven’t really felt the need to do it.”

READ MORE: ‘Organized Gangs of Wine Moms’ Are Impeding Federal Agents Says Fox Columnist

CNN’s Alayna Treene noted, “In my conversations with Trump officials, they have so far been hesitant to go there — not only because of the legal complications, but perhaps more so, because of the political ones.”

But there appears to be at least some anecdotal support for him doing so among the far-right reaches of his party. Minutes after Trump issued his threat, Congressman Chip Roy’s office reposted video of the Texas Republican  from earlier this week telling Fox News, “Of course, the president should use the Insurrection Act from 1807 to say, you know what, we can go out and stop this so we can enforce the law to protect the people of the United States under the Constitution.”

Wednesday night, in response to news of the shooting, journalist Wajahat Ali wrote, “This is the chaos and crisis that Stephen Miller and Trump want so they can invoke the Insurrection Act.”

CNN’s Aaron Blake summed up recent events, noting that “All at once, Trump is” threatening to take over Greenland, possibly by military force, threatening to strike Iran after having already conducted a military excursion in Venezuela, and now, threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act.

Journalist Michael A. Cohen remarked, “Send thousands of lawless ICE agents to Minnesota … create chaos and disorder by terrorizing immigrant communities … then invoke the Insurrection Act because of the chaos the federal government has created. It’s like the poor man’s version of the Reichstag fire.”

READ MORE: Trump Blasted Federal Prosecutors as ‘Weak’ for Not Targeting His Adversaries: Report

 

Image via Reuters

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