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GOP Senator Says Gaetz Investigation Report Can Be Subpoenaed After Johnson Tries to Block

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A Republican Senator is pushing back after House Speaker Mike Johnson announced his opposition to the Ethics Committee releasing the report on its years-long investigation into Matt Gaetz, who resigned abruptly from Congress Wednesday in what appears to be an attempt to block the report’s publication. Gaetz’s resignation came almost immediately after President-elect Donald Trump announced he would nominate the Florida Republican to become Attorney General, the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

Friday afternoon, Speaker Johnson repeatedly stressed his opposition to the release of the report, claiming releasing it to the public “doesn’t follow our rules and traditions,” and doing so “would open a pandora’s box.”

Johnson also told reporters, “I’m going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report because that is not the way we do things in the House, and I think that would be a terrible precedent to set.”

READ MORE: Backlash as Trump Skips FBI Background Checks — One Nominee Called ‘Likely Russian Asset’

U.S. Senator Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, Friday afternoon made clear the Senate has a constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees, and is required to examine all evidence it can during the confirmation process. Rounds, who also has served as governor of The Mount Rushmore State, told CNN’s Manu Raju that if necessary they will subpoena the House Ethics Committee’s report on Gaetz.

“I think Senator [John] Cornyn, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, has indicated that very strongly that he believes that there may very well be a way to compel the release of that [report] through a subpoena. That committee and they do this all the time and it becomes very sensitive. We do have a process in place which includes the ability to get that type of information in many cases,” Rounds said. “And what we want to do is make good decisions based upon all the relevant facts and information that we can get.”

“We should be able to get a hold of it,” Rounds added, referring to the report.

Rounds said that after the Senate has done its due diligence on a candidate, “we decide whether or not we think that the benefit of the doubt goes to the president or if there should be a change in perhaps more advice than consent, which occasionally does happen.”

The House Ethics Committee had been investigating Gaetz for years over numerous allegations, including that he “may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.”

In June, the Committee announced it had encountered “difficulty in obtaining relevant information from Representative Gaetz and others,” but had already spoken with more than a dozen witnesses, issued 25 subpoenas, and reviewed thousands of pages of documents in this matter.”

“Based on its review to date, the Committee has determined that certain of the allegations merit continued review. During the course of its investigation, the Committee has also identified additional allegations that merit review.”

It is widely believed the Committee also investigated allegations Gaetz may have engaged in sex trafficking of a minor and sex with a minor.

Gaetz had been under investigation by the U.S. Dept. of Justice but no charges were ever brought.

Democrats and others are also expressing anger over Speaker Johnson’s efforts to, as some have suggested, engage in a coverup.

“Unacceptable,” decried U.S Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA). “Matt Gaetz is under investigation for serious wrongdoing, including sex trafficking. Speaker Johnson joins the ranks of those willing to give him cover. The American people deserve to see this report.”

Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison asked, “What about transparency? Let’s hear the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about the results of the the Matt Gaetz ethics investigation. If he’s innocent, then fine. But let’s see it.”

RELATED: ‘There Were Witnesses’: Attorney for Minor Urges Release of Gaetz Ethics Report

The New York Times’ Michael Barbaro wrote, “House Speaker says it would be a ‘terrible precedent’ for the government to release a tax-payer funded report into the ethics of a future Attorney General.”

Podcaster Tommy Victor added, “Publicly demanding a cover up of a Republican-led ethics investigation into the Attorney General nominee doesn’t suggest much confidence that it will exonerate Gaetz.”

CNN’s Jim Sciutto compared Speaker Johnson’s remarks on blocking the release of the report with those he made in 2023 when he released thousands of hours of footage from the January 6, 2021 insurrection:

“Look we want the American people to draw their own conclusions. I don’t think partisan elected officials in Washington should present a narrative and expect that it should be seen as the ultimate truth on it when we know that they hid certain elements… We want transparency. We should demand it. The American people do. We trust – House Republicans trust the American people to draw their own conclusions.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Hegseth Vetting Questioned Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegation

 

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‘If It Is the Last Thing I Do’: Musk Vows to Unseat Lawmakers Voting for Budget Bill

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June 30, 2025

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Billionaire Elon Musk is threatening to target members of Congress for defeat if they support President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” after campaigning on promises to cut government spending. Although Musk did not specifically name a party, no Democrat is expected to back the budget measure.

“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!” Musk wrote late Monday afternoon, as the Senate began voting on the legislation. “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”

Musk’s threat comes after his numerous attacks on the bill—which is critical to Trump’s agenda—based largely on its massive increases to the federal debt.

READ MORE: ‘Stunning Incoherence’: Fox Host Mocked for Spinning Trump’s Work Visa Flip-Flop

“It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!!” Musk declared one hour earlier. “Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people.”

New York magazine’s Intelligencer reported on Monday that Musk is “not done” fighting Trump.

“How can you call yourself the Freedom Caucus if you vote for a DEBT SLAVERY bill with the biggest debt ceiling increase in history?” Musk also wrote, lashing out at the far-right caucus, and mentioning two Members by name: U.S. Reps. Andy Harris of Maryland, the group’s chairman, and Chip Roy of Texas.

On Saturday, Musk had warned, “The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country! Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”

“Polls show that this bill is political suicide for the Republican Party,” he also warned.

New York magazine noted that “Trump, presumably, isn’t thrilled about Musk’s last-minute attempt to sink his signature legislative package. But so far he’s refrained from hitting back.”

READ MORE: Despite Bill’s $1T Cut Trump Official Insists ‘We’re Not Taking Away Anybody’s Medicaid’

 

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‘Stunning Incoherence’: Fox Host Mocked for Spinning Trump’s Work Visa Flip-Flop

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June 30, 2025

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Fox News host Maria Bartiromo is facing criticism for calling President Donald Trump’s latest reversal on undocumented immigrant workers “big news,” after the President floated creating “temporary passes.”

Earlier this month, Trump announced ICE would back off from detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants working on farms and in hotels, only to announce just days later an apparent reversal to that policy, by declaring he would enact “the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”

Bartiromo, in a White House interview on Sunday (video below), told Trump that he had “said, let’s ease up on, you know, taking in people that are working hardworking, like, in farms and hotels,” while ignoring his statement from days later.

“I don’t back away,” Trump insisted. “What I do, I cherish our farmers, and when we go into a farm and we take away people that have been working there for 15 and 20 years who who are good, who possibly came in incorrectly, and what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna do something for farmers where we can let the farmers sort of be in charge.”

READ MORE: Despite Bill’s $1T Cut Trump Official Insists ‘We’re Not Taking Away Anybody’s Medicaid’

“The farmer knows, he’s not gonna hire a murderer, but, you know, when you go into a farmer and he’s had somebody working with him for nine years doing this kind of work, which is hard work to do, and a lot of people aren’t gonna do it, and you end up destroying a farmer because you took all the people away,” Trump explained. “It’s a problem.”

Trump announced the White House is “gonna work it so that,” there is “some kind of a temporary pass, where people pay taxes, with a farmer can have a little control as opposed to you walk in and take everybody away.”

On social media, Bartiromo trumpeted: “Big news on the border from my interview @realDonaldTrump is working on a ‘temporary pass’ for workers on farms and in hotels where they pay taxes but it’s up to the farmer for a temporary pass even if they came into the country ‘incorrectly.'”

What Trump described sounds similar to the existing H-2A temporary visa program for agricultural workers.

“The H-2A program allows U.S. employers or U.S. agents who meet specific regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

READ MORE: American Pride Plunges to New Low, Again, Again Under Trump

Critics mocked the Fox News host.

“So a work permit?” snarked U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ).

“They just invented the work visa,” mocked retired intelligence officer Travis Akers.

“But wait,” urged former Fox News contributor Julie Roginsky, “we were told Americans would be doing these jobs and that everyone who came into this country illegally would be deported. What could have possibly changed?”

“Donald Trump has no idea what his immigration policy is,” noted Democratic strategist Max Burns.

“Stunning incoherence on his signature policy issue,” observed Gregg Nunziata, executive director of the Society for the Rule of Law.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Democratic Reps Say FEMA Cuts Are Leading to Hurricane Katrina-Level Disaster

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Despite Bill’s $1T Cut Trump Official Insists ‘We’re Not Taking Away Anybody’s Medicaid’

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June 30, 2025

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The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) finds that the Senate Republicans’ budget bill will slash $1 trillion from Medicaid, but according to Kevin Hassett, the White House Director of the National Economic Council, no one’s Medicaid is being taken away.

The CBO projects the current Republican Senate budget bill will cut $930 billion from Medicaid, but an amendment from Florida GOP Senator Rick Scott would make additional cuts of $313 billion, for a total of $1.24 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, according to The Hill.

But according to the White House’s Kevin Hassett, “we’re not taking away anybody’s Medicaid.”

After Fox News host Bill Hemmer told Hassett on Monday that the White House is “getting hammered on these Medicaid cuts,” Hassett, chuckling, said: “The bottom line is that we’re just, we’re not taking away anybody’s Medicaid. We’re definitely not taking away anybody’s Medicare.”

READ MORE: American Pride Plunges to New Low, Again, Again Under Trump

Hassett insisted that Republicans are merely “going after waste, fraud, and abuse,” and claimed “there’s a heck of a lot of it out there.”

Some experts put the waste, fraud, and abuse numbers—which can include improper payments and errors—at about five percent of Medicaid spending.

Hassett appears to disagree.

“A lot of budget savings have been found by people really in the House, in the Senate—not just conservatives—moderates agree that there’s a lot of money that can be saved. And the bottom line is that we’re, in the end going to balance this budget, and we’ve got to balance this budget by getting rid of waste, fraud, and abuse, and we’re going to do it.”

The Congressional Budget Office, according to KFF, has also estimated that by 2034 there will be an additional 16 million more uninsured people if the bill is signed into law.

READ MORE: Democratic Reps Say FEMA Cuts Are Leading to Hurricane Katrina-Level Disaster

“The scale of the proposed reductions in Medicaid is unprecedented in the history of the program, which has tended to expand coverage over time since its creation in 1965,” The New York Times reports.

Calling the cuts “savings,” the Times reports the bill in part “would establish a new, strict national work requirement for some people on the program, who would need to demonstrate they had worked at least 80 hours the month before they sign up, or qualified for an exemption.”

More cuts to Medicaid in the bill could be coming. The Times also reports that U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Sunday “told reporters that he would propose an amendment that would cut Medicaid even further.”

Watch the video below or at this link.


READ MORE: Ketanji Brown Jackson Compares SCOTUS Planned Parenthood Ruling to Jim Crow in Dissent

 

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