GOP Rep. Nancy Mace to force a full House vote to impeach Secret Service Director Cheatle
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(WASHINGTON) — South Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace moved to force a full House vote to impeach United States Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Mace filed the impeachment resolution as privileged on the House floor late Monday at 8:26 p.m. ET.
Director Cheatle “has been derelict in her duty to well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office to which she holds,” Mace said on the floor.
Mace also highlighted Cheatle’s testimony from Monday morning’s Oversight Committee hearing, saying the director “acknowledged on July 22, 2024, that the events of July 13, 2024, were the most significant operation failure of the Secret Service in decades.”
This move by the congresswoman forces the House to take up the measure within two legislative days.
Former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump accepts his party’s nomination on the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18, 2024. — Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
(MILWAUKEE) — Former President Donald Trump toggled between somber messages of harmony and his favorite red meat rhetoric in a lengthy and charged speech accepting the GOP presidential nomination.
Trump, just days removed from surviving an assassination attempt at a Saturday rally, had forecasted a unifying, and largely delivered at the beginning, reliving details of the shooting that had some audience members in tears. As the speech went on, however, the former president switched back to the GOP’s regularly scheduled programming, veering into unscripted tangents on everything from immigration to foreign policy, occasionally swiping at Democrats by name.
“The first half was perhaps one of the best speeches I have heard in a long time, really driven by emotion and brought a lot of people in. The second half was a rally speech that so many people love,” one GOP strategist said. “It was really two separate speeches in one.”
Trump appeared subdued at the start of the speech Thursday, pushing the country to turn the page on divisions that have ravaged the nation’s politics.
“The discord and division in our society must be healed, we must heal it quickly. As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart,” he told an emotional crowd.
He then recounted the details of the shooting, when a shooter grazed his right ear, injured two others and killed one rallygoer at his Pennsylvania rally. Trump said it would be the only time he would discuss the specifics of the assassination attempt because “it’s actually too painful to tell.”
“I’m not supposed to be here tonight,” he told an emotional crowd. “I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God.”
Trump also announced that $6.3 million had been raised to help the families of those killed and wounded in attack.
“Despite such a heinous attack, we unite this evening more determined than ever,” Trump declared.
The opening had less of the trappings of a classic, raucous Trump rally, though that was to be expected, given the subject matter.
Quickly, however, the speech reverted back to more typical rhetoric.
Despite his team advertising beforehand that he wouldn’t mention President Joe Biden by name, Trump shouted him out, dubbing him one of the worst presidents in American history.
“If you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States, think of it, the 10 worst, added them up, they will not have done the damage that Biden has done. Only going to use the term once, Biden. I’m not going to use the name anymore, just one time. The damage that he’s done to this country is unthinkable,” Trump said to a crowd that was visibly getting more amped up.
He went on to mention “crazy Nancy Pelosi” and downplayed the current administration’s ability to tackle the nation’s problems — though he said they were capable to fixing elections, reviving unfounded conspiracies about election fraud.
“We’re dealing with very tough, very fierce people, they’re fierce people. And we don’t have fierce people, we have people that are a lot less than fierce, except when it comes to cheating on elections and a couple of other things, then they’re fierce,” he said, mentioning another topic that was not thought to be on the agenda for Thursday night.
The rest of the speech ping-ponged between the two trends.
Trump adlibbed extensively on immigration, repeating warnings that the country was facing an “invasion” at the Southern border and vowing to “drill, baby, drill” for oil and natural gas on his first day in office.
Toward the end of the remarks, he again sprinkled in messages of unity.
“So, tonight, whether you’ve supported me in the past or not, I hope you will support me in the future, because I will bring back the American Dream,” he said. “Love, it’s about love.”
Taken together, the speech left the impression less of a candidate fundamentally changed by Saturday’s tragic events as much as one recognizing its historicity, while still eager to energize his most fervent supporters.
“He’s playing the greatest hits from 2016 — Trump has not changed, he has not moderated, he has gotten worse,” one Biden adviser said. “And he is making no appeal to moderates.”
Republicans, meanwhile, praised the speech, saying it marked a blend that could be featured in future stump speeches.
“I thought it was a good blend,” said Marc Lotter, an official on Trump’s 2020 campaign. “I think it’s one of the reasons why people like him, because he’s not just reading off the teleprompter, the perfectly prepared, well- crafted, poll-tested talking points. He’s adding that context, that commentary.”
Other Republicans swatted away Democratic criticism that the speech was more of the same old, same old from Trump.
“He united the party and country,” said another former Trump campaign official. “Same old led to one of the largest economic expansion in generations. Same old led to zero wars. Same old rebuilt the military.”
Still, some Republicans were seeking more of an emphasis on unity — and that dishing out red meat offered Democrats a chance to swing back at him and go on offense right as they’re convulsing over Biden’s place atop the 2024 ticket.
“Tone was what I expected, typically for these speeches he’s much more on teleprompter, some of his riffs were too long,” one former senior Trump administration official said. “Overall, it doesn’t change anything, but they missed an opportunity to put this out of reach.”
(WASHINGTON) — A bill aimed at expanding the child tax credit for millions of families and implementing business tax breaks failed to progress through the Senate during a key test vote Thursday afternoon.
The legislation failed to go forward by a vote of 48-44. It would have needed 60 to advance.
For the most part, Democrats voted in favor of the legislation and most Republicans voted against it. But it wasn’t a clean party line vote.
Sens. Joe Manchin and Bernie Sanders, both independents who caucus with Democrats, voted against the legislation. Republican Sens. Rick Scott, Josh Hawley and Markwayne Mullin voted for it.
Majority Leader Chuck Schume changed his vote from a yes to a no so that he could call the vote up at a later time.
In remarks before the vote, Schumer, who led the charge in forcing a vote on the doomed-to-fail legislation Thursday, dared Republicans to challenge the popular provisions geared at putting more money in the pockets of low- and middle-income families.
“The Senate has a chance to move forward on the tax relief for American Families and Workers Act. Democrats are ready to vote yes, to advance bipartisan legislation today. The question is will Senate Republicans join us to give Americans a tax break? Or will they stand in the way the tax bill that passed the House with an overwhelming vote…?” Schumer said.
Senate Republicans opposed its funding mechanism and alleged that Democrats brought up the bill for consideration for purely political purposes.
The bill had bipartisan support and passed the House overwhelmingly 357-70.
“Today as the Senate prepares to leave town for the August state work period, the Democratic leader has decided to squeeze out one more vote that isn’t ready for primetime,” Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor before the vote. “Today’s vote doesn’t seem to be intended to produce a legislative outcome.”
Schumer largely conceded that the vote was about putting Republicans on the record. It’s a move Democrats have utilized a number of times in the last few months, forcing Republicans to take votes on a number of provisions on things such as immigration and abortion leading up to the November election.
“This should be bipartisan. It passed in a bipartisan vote in the House, and I hope Republicans here in the Senate will join us,” Schumer said. “But I have also always been clear that Democrats will not shy away from moving forward on important issues when necessary to give the American people a chance to see where their elected representatives stand.”
Thursday’s vote came as vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance has been facing intense scrutiny for comments he has made about people without children in America, and after Vance suggested during a Sunday interview with Fox News that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris opposed the child tax credit.
“I think a lot of parents and a lot of non-parents look at our public policy over the last four years and ask, ‘How did we get to this place? How did we get to a place where Kamala Harris is calling for an end to the child tax credit?” Vance said on Fox.
Schumer called the assertion that Democrats oppose the credit “plain old nonsense” when announcing that the Senate would vote on the House-backed bill this week.
Vance, Trump’s running mate, did not vote on the bill. He has not been on Capitol Hill since Trump picked him as his running mate. Vance visited the southern border in Arizona on Thursday morning.
Republicans said they had a number of reasons for rejecting this proposal.
Many say they opposed the way the bill is funded. But rejecting this bill also allows debate about tax policy to continue into 2025, when Republicans hope they may have regained control of the Senate or the White House.
“It needs to go back in the oven and come out with our tax reform next year,” Sen. Thom Tillis said.
ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Constitutional Convention of the UNITE HERE hospitality union in New York on June 21, 2024. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris thanked President Joe Biden for his leadership following the news Sunday that he will not continue his bid for reelection.
Her statement comes amid a growing chorus of endorsements for her candidacy in the 2024 presidential race.
“On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as president of the United States and for his decades of service to our country,” she said in a statement released Sunday.
“His remarkable legacy of accomplishment is unmatched in modern American history, surpassing the legacy of many presidents who have served two terms in office,” she said.
Biden endorsed Harris in his statement on his exit, offering his “full support and endorsement” for her to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
At a July 11 press conference, Biden also hinted at his belief in Harris’ ability to lead, saying at the time: “I wouldn’t have picked her unless I thought she was qualified to be president.”
Former President Bill Clinton and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also endorsed Harris.
“We are honored to join the president in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her,” the two said in a statement on X.
In the House, Harris has received endorsements so far from: Rep. Jamal Bowman, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Ami Bera, Rep. Eric Swallwell, Rep. Joaquin Castro, Rep. Salud Carbajal, Rep. Dan Kildee and Rep. Haley Stevens.
In the Senate, Harris has received endorsements so far from: Sen. Mazie Hirono, Sen. Tim Kaine, Sen. Mark Warner, Sen. Tina Smith, Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Ed Markey.
In her statement Sunday, Harris continued, “It is a profound honor to serve as his vice president, and I am deeply grateful to the president, [first lady] Dr. [Jill] Biden, and the entire Biden family. I first came to know President Biden through his son Beau. We were friends from our days working together as attorneys gneral of our home states. As we worked together, Beau would tell me stories about his dad. The kind of father — and the kind of man — he was. And the qualities Beau revered in his father are the same qualities, the same values, I have seen every single day in Joe’s leadership as president: His honesty and integrity. His big heart and commitment to his faith and his family. And his love of our country and the American people.”
