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‘Bizarre’: GOP Obsessed With Me Instead of Governing, Says Transgender Congresswoman

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U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) is calling out House Republicans for their “weird” and “bizarre” fixation on culture war issues—and particularly their obsession with her. As the first openly transgender member of Congress and the highest-ranking transgender elected official in the U.S., McBride is urging Republican lawmakers to focus on governing instead of their divisive rhetoric and tactics.

Congresswoman McBride has been attacked by House Republicans since before she was sworn in to office in January, particularly by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). But now some behavior has become so disruptive it is affecting the ability of Congress to do the people’s work.

On Tuesday, a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee chairman, U.S. Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) abruptly ended his own committee’s hearing after being chastised for addressing Congresswoman McBride as “Mr. McBride.” McBride responded by saying, “Thank you, Madam Chair.”

READ MORE: ‘Entire World Ripping Us Off’: Trump Quotes FDR in Angry Tariff War Meltdown

When U.S. Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA) challenged Self for misgendering McBride, the chairman repeated his remarks, leading Keating to angrily criticize him.

“Mr. Chairman, you are out of order,” Congressman Keating declared, as USA Today reported. “Mr. Chairman, have you no decency? I mean, I’ve come to know you a little bit. But this is not decent.”

Chairman Self, reposting a MAGA influencer post, defended his actions by declaring, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.” That “policy” comes from a Trump executive order, which applies to the executive branch but is not law. It is also, as Doctors for America noted, “medically inaccurate and fueled by transphobia.”

In support of Chairman Self, U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) posted on social media, “Tim ‘Sarah’ McBride is a biological man and always will be.” That post received tremendous outrage.

Thursday morning at a press conference, Rep. McBride slammed House Republicans, while urging them to fulfill the responsibilities they were elected to perform.

“We will not take a lecture on decorum from a party that incited an insurrection,” McBride declared.

NOTUS reports that statement came “after a group of female lawmakers was asked about Republican criticism of Democratic antics during Donald Trump’s recent joint address and the episode on Tuesday involving McBride’s pronouns.”

“I appear to live rent free in the minds of some of my Republican colleagues,” McBride continued.

READ MORE: ‘Not Above the Law’: Fist-Pounding Democrat Explodes Asking ‘Where’s Elon Musk?’

“I wish that they would spend even a fraction of the time that they spend thinking about me thinking about how to lower the costs for American families,” she added. “I wish they would spend a fraction of the time that they spend thinking about me, figuring out how to make government actually work better rather than making it work worse in order to prove that government can’t work.”

“They are obsessed with culture war issues,” McBridge charged. “The Republican party is obsessed with culture war issues. It is weird and it is bizarre, and the American people deserve serious legislators, serious elected officials who are focused on bringing people together to deliver real results for the American people, not to play games and not to engage in school yard taunts.”

NOTUS also reported that “Republicans have repeatedly misgendered McBride since the start of her term. During her maiden floor speech, Republican Rep. Mary Miller — who was presiding over the chamber at the time — introduced McBride as the “gentleman from Delaware.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

READ MORE: Egg Prices Have ‘Soared’ — Trump Insists They Have ‘Come Down a Lot’

 

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‘He Sued to Block Kids From Getting SNAP’: Trump Torched for Biblical Defense of Children

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President Donald Trump came under fire on Thursday after using the Bible to call for protecting children during an event with First Lady Melania Trump.

The event, an executive order signing, was “aimed at expanding opportunities for education, career development, housing, and other resources for young people transitioning from foster care to adulthood,” according to the White House.

“The Bible tells us that one of the measures of any society is how it cares for vulnerable children and orphans,” President Trump told the assembled audience in the East Room of the White House.

“So important, it is so big in the Bible, so, as we make America great again, we are going to protect American children in foster care.”

READ MORE: ‘Concepts of a Plan’: White House and GOP Under Fire for Health Care Cost Crisis

Critics were quick to chastise the president, whose administration has been fighting all the way to the Supreme Court to block funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“You literally fought in court to strip families of food assistance,” declared California Governor Gavin Newsom.

“Your ICE agents pepper sprayed a baby last week,” charged House Homeland Security Committee Democrats.

“He sued to block kids from getting SNAP benefits just days ago,” wrote The Lincoln Project.

The Friendly Atheist’s Hemant Mehta posted a headline that read: “USAID cuts may lead to more than 14 million deaths globally, including 4.5 million children under 5 by 2030, researchers say.”

READ MORE: Trump Stumbles Over ‘God Bless America’ Lyrics at Veterans Day Ceremony

 

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‘Concepts of a Plan’: White House and GOP Under Fire for Health Care Cost Crisis

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It took congressional Democrats more than a year of work — plus several years of prior policy development — to create the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Now, Republicans are scrambling to fix it after passing President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which stripped away the subsidies that helped make buying insurance on the exchanges affordable.

And they have just weeks to make it happen, before the new premiums go into effect on January 1.

The House is back in session after Speaker Mike Johnson kept Republicans in their home districts for almost two months during the federal government shutdown. Now, Republicans and the Trump White House are starting to decide what, if anything, they will do to keep premiums — already published — from doubling or even tripling in certain cases.

“President Donald Trump’s Domestic Policy Council and senior health officials have been meeting privately for preliminary conversations on how to address the expiration of health insurance tax credits, according to a White House official and another person familiar with the talks,” Politico reported on Thursday. “Conversations about a White House alternative to Affordable Care Act subsidies, which will expire at year’s end, are in the ‘early ideation phase,’ said a third person familiar with the talks.”

READ MORE: Congressman Conway? Top Trump Critic Reportedly Eyeing House Bid

Capitol Hill is in a similar state.

Noting that “the clock is ticking,” NBC News reported that “Republicans, under pressure from Democrats after the government shutdown revived the health care clash, have not coalesced around legislation or even an abstract idea, and are only now starting serious discussions about putting proposals together.”

“As the party scrambles to craft an alternative, multiple Republicans are vying for Trump’s endorsement of ideas that could alleviate skyrocketing costs that are just around the corner,” NBC added.

Democrats want a three-year extension of Obamacare subsidies and tax credits, Speaker Johnson has said that is a nonstarter.

Some Republicans are starting to speak out.

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U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), a former Democrat, “warned, ‘not only is it morally bankrupt, it’s political suicide’ for Republicans to let the subsidies expire without an alternative in place.”

U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) prefers a vehicle like health care saving accounts that he claimed will lower costs by driving up competition. President Trump appeared to favor that approach, when he attacked health insurance companies in a social media post earlier this week.

Some are warning that bypassing the Obamacare exchanges could damage or destroy them.

“A tweet is not a health care plan,” Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, told NBC. “If people could use these Trump health care dollars to buy insurance not regulated by the ACA, it would likely cause the ACA to collapse and upend protections for pre-existing conditions.”

Meanwhile, critics are blasting Republicans on Capitol Hill as well as the Trump administration for waiting so long before starting to try to create a plan.

Responding to the NBC News report, journalist Justin Baragona observed, “we’re still on ‘concepts of a plan’ here.”

“They’ve had 10+ years to work on this and have nothing,” wrote Laura Belin, a reporter for a progressive website. “Time to stop taking their supposed health care policy work seriously.”

The White House is in ‘early ideation’ phase on ACA subsidies,” wrote The Bulwark’s Jonathan Cohn. “An issue already hitting millions of insurance buyers And that Democrats (not to mention analysts, journalists etc) have been saying needs attention for more than a year.”

Michigan Democratic State Senate Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, wrote: “After Republicans refused to extend ACA subsidies, 4 Michigan insurers are dropping out of the ACA marketplace altogether. That’s 200,000 Michiganders who just lost their plans. Others are just going to cancel their plans. Which means more uncompensated care. Which means *everyone’s* healthcare costs will be higher.”

READ MORE: Trump Stumbles Over ‘God Bless America’ Lyrics at Veterans Day Ceremony

 

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Congressman Conway? Top Trump Critic Reportedly Eyeing House Bid

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George Conway, the prominent attorney, Trump critic, and ex-husband of former Trump White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, may be considering a run for Congress.

According to a report at CNN and a post by New York Times congressional correspondent Annie Karni, Conway is eyeing a run for retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler’s New York district.

CNN reported that Conway, 62, is “actively considering running for Congress from New York City, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.”

Karni reported, “the Conway pitch being — what the House will need next year is an aggressive lawyer with an investigative background just going after Trump.”

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Conway is a former Republican who became an independent in 2018. He has a law degree from Yale, and successfully argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, obtaining a unanimous ruling. He is a co-founder of The Lincoln Project and currently co-hosts a podcast at The Bulwark.

Should Democrats retake the majority in the House of Representatives, it’s likely there will be numerous investigations into President Donald Trump and his administration — not to mention possible efforts to impeach the unpopular and controversial Commander in Chief.

Conway would have good company in a primary.

“Jack Schlossberg, former President John F. Kennedy’s grandson, entered the race this week,” CNN noted.

The Daily Beast adds that “much of the buzz around Conway stems from his personal life. While he and his 58-year-old ex-wife, Kellyanne, tried to make their marriage work amid his dramatic political realignment, the couple frequently made headlines. As Kellyanne served as senior counselor to Trump from 2017 to 2020, her husband routinely sounded off on her boss and advisers—including Stephen Miller, whom Kellyanne referred to as one of her ‘best friends’ in the current administration earlier this month.”

READ MORE: White House Eyes Major Blitz as GOP Voters Blame Trump for Failing Economy

 

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