Rep. Blake Moore tapped to chair health care task force
'If we are to get our fiscal house in order, we have to tackle health care spending, which has ballooned to nearly 30% of our over $6 trillion budget,' said Moore, who represents Utah's 1st Congressional District.
'This task force will be instrumental in addressing our health care cost inefficiencies to ensure we can take care of patients' needs and lower this massive budgetary line item,' the GOP representative said. Aside from the Budget Committee, he also sits on the influential House Ways and Means Committee.
Moore said he looked forward to leading the task force with Budget Committee chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas.
Arrington in his statement noted that federal spending on health care is set to rise to 40% of the overall budget within the next decade.
'Physical health is fiscal health,' he said. The Texas representative also thanked Moore for taking on the responsibility for a policy incubator that finds ways to improve health outcomes while reducing federal spending.
Dr. Michael Burgess, a retired congressman from Texas, previously chaired this task force during the 118th Congress. He led an examination into 'the budgetary effects from emerging health care issues, including cell and gene therapies,' and called for an investigation into the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation for costing the federal taxpayers instead of creating savings.
Burgess' name is reportedly being floated in the White House to run the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Reuters. If appointed, he would report to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Even as he takes on additional responsibilities, Moore took time this week to show his kids around Capitol Hill.
'Nothing like following Dad around the Capitol for spring break!' he said. 'I've been grateful to have 2 of my boys in town this week & to introduce them to colleagues and constituents.'
Moore is the father of four boys. 'Max is good-natured and dutiful; George is charming (admittedly too charming); Winston is incredibly lovable; and Franklin is the busiest toddler we've ever seen,' according to his campaign website.
On Wednesday, World Autism Day, he wrote a special message for one of his sons. 'I've been proud watching Winnie light up every room he walks into with his jokes & smile,' he said, adding, 'Those who navigate autism overcome daily challenges & inspire those around them, & my family & I are thankful to be part of this community.' He posted several pictures of his day spent with Winston and Franklin, including one of them standing with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
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CBS News
a few seconds ago
- CBS News
Texas House panel passes new redistricting map that adds more GOP seats
A Texas House panel on Saturday advanced a draft congressional map aimed at adding five new Republican districts next year over protests from Democrats that the proposal would suppress the votes of people of color. The chamber's redistricting committee approved the map on party lines, 12 to 6, after spending much of Friday hearing testimony from U.S. House Democrats from Texas and members of the public largely opposed to the plan. The map could be considered by the entire state House as early as next week. Earlier in the hearing, GOP lawmakers said that they are redrawing the state's congressional map to advantage Republican candidates, setting aside a legal justification offered by the U.S. Department of Justice and making their political motivations explicit for the first time. "Different from everyone else, I'm telling you, I'm not beating around the bush," Rep. Todd Hunter, the Corpus Christi Republican carrying the bill, said about the goal of the map. "We have five new districts, and these five new districts are based on political performance." Texas Republicans launched the redistricting effort after pressure from President Donald Trump's political operatives, who demanded state leaders redraw the map to help Republicans maintain their slim House majority ahead of a potentially difficult midterm election. The House redistricting committee released its proposed redo of the map Wednesday. It slices up districts in the Houston, Austin and the Dallas areas, yielding five additional districts that would have voted for Trump by at least 10 percentage points in 2024. In 2024, Trump won 56.2% of votes in Texas. Under the current lines, Republicans hold 66% of Texas' 38 House seats. The new map aims to push that share to 79%. "Political performance does not guarantee electoral success — that's up to the candidates," Hunter said. "But it does allow Republican candidates the opportunity to compete in these districts." Gov. Greg Abbott, in adding redistricting to the special session agenda, cited a letter from the Justice Department claiming that four Texas districts were unconstitutionally racially gerrymandered. But on Friday, state Republicans were unequivocal that their goal was not to fix racial gerrymandering — which several have testified under oath does not exist in the current map — but to give the GOP the greatest chance of controlling as many as 30 congressional districts. "These districts were drawn primarily using political performance," Hunter said, citing Republican gains made across the state since the Legislature last redistricted in 2021, especially among Latino voters. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that states can draw electoral maps on partisan grounds. But under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the map cannot diminish the voting power of people of color. At Friday's hearing, Democrats argued that the proposed map unconstitutionally packed voters of color into some districts while spreading them throughout others to reduce their ability to elect their preferred candidates. "Every citizen should have equal access to choose their representation, instead of crowding Black people to the point that all the Black people in the state only have two representatives, and all the Latinos in the state are crowded up to the extent that their voting power is diminished," U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas told state lawmakers during the hearing. Though people of color make up most of Texas and have driven almost all of the state's population growth in recent years, the new map creates 24 districts that are majority-white — two more than the current map, which is under trial for possibly violating the Voting Rights Act. Republicans rejected the idea that the proposed map would suppress voters of color, noting that it would create one new majority Hispanic district and two new majority Black districts. But all three are almost precisely 50% Black or Hispanic, which Democratic lawmakers said at the hearing is not enough to ensure they're able to elect their candidates of choice. U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth, whose seat would be partially dismantled under the new lines, noted that his district was drawn by a federal court "to ensure that communities of color, Black and brown Texans, could finally have a voice in Congress." "Now, that voice is again under threat," he said. "This is a map that was drawn behind closed doors — as we've heard here today — to dismantle representation and weaken our power in turn." It could take months, if not years, to resolve any legal challenge against the proposed map. A lawsuit against Texas' current maps, passed in 2021, finally went to trial last month, almost four years and several election cycles after they went into effect. In the meantime, Republicans in the Legislature have the votes to pass the map as it's drafted. Democrats, locked out of power in the statehouse, have few tools at their disposal to fight the map's passage. The nuclear option is to flee the state and deny Republicans a quorum to pass any legislation — an expensive and politically tenuous move that state House Democrats were still considering ahead of the full chamber vote. At Friday's hearing, the only time the public would have to comment on the House's proposed map, Democrats begged Republicans to slow or stop redistricting entirely. "This is not a Texas map. It is a Trump map," said U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, an Austin Democrat. "It was imposed by President Trump, who has a stranglehold on Congress, and the only question here is whether he also has a stranglehold on this Texas Legislature."
The Hill
29 minutes ago
- The Hill
US deadlines in Ukraine are a gift to Putin and Xi
President Trump's announcement this week of a shortened window of '10 to 12 days' for Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine reflects a continued evolution in his rhetoric. His growing frustration with Moscow and his willingness to speak plainly about Russia's escalation send a signal that many in the U.S. and Europe have been waiting to hear. But while the shift in tone signals growing frustration, it has not translated into action. Russia reads the action as a continued pause in pressure, which it has used to intensify its offensive against Ukrainian homes and hospitals. Russian forces are now making their fastest territorial gains in more than a year, and their attacks are becoming more sophisticated. Swarm tactics using Iranian-designed Shahed drones, now mass-produced and adapted inside Russia with Chinese parts, are overwhelming Ukraine's air defenses at an alarming rate. In just one day last month, Russia launched 728 drones, decoys and missiles in a single coordinated wave. Ukrainian interceptors and radar crews are doing heroic work, but they are stretched to the limit. The U.S. has tools at its disposal that remain unused. For months, a bipartisan sanctions bill, co-authored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and backed by 85 senators, a veto-proof majority, has been ready to move. The legislation would impose steep secondary tariffs on countries like China, India and Brazil that continue to buy Russian oil and gas, and would significantly raise the cost of doing business with Moscow. But in July, Senate leadership pulled the bill from consideration after President Trump suggested he would act if Russia failed to move toward peace within 50 days. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he would 'hold off' on advancing the bill, signaling that Congress would defer to Trump's timeline. House leaders followed suit. That decision was a mistake. While it is encouraging to see President Trump express increasing resolve, deferring congressional action in the hope that Putin will suddenly negotiate has only given Moscow more time and space to escalate. Every week of delay is a missed opportunity to tighten the financial pressure on Putin's war machine. And the clock is not just ticking in Ukraine. The broader contest involves China, too. Beijing's role in this war has become increasingly visible. Chinese companies are supplying entire weapons systems, not just components. Chinese-made drones and decoys are helping Russia saturate Ukrainian airspace. Chinese officials have even welcomed delegations from occupied Ukrainian territories and continue to sell heavy machinery to companies operating there. European officials report that China's foreign minister recently told the EU that Beijing does not want Russia to lose the war and fears that a Russian defeat would allow the U.S. to focus more squarely on Asia. Ukraine has responded accordingly. In early July, Kyiv arrested two Chinese nationals on espionage charges after they allegedly attempted to steal information about Ukraine's Neptune missile program. Days earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions on five Chinese firms accused of supporting the Russian war effort. These are not symbolic gestures, they are signs that Ukraine is increasingly realistic about the stakes and about China's alignment with Moscow. Support for Ukraine is not a distraction from U.S. competition with China. It is a critical part of it. Weakening Putin's military capacity weakens a key pillar of China's global strategy. And allowing Russia to continue its aggression without consequence would embolden Beijing's worst instincts from the Taiwan Strait to the South China Sea. To its credit, the Trump administration has begun voicing stronger concerns about Beijing's role. In the recently concluded round of trade talks, senior U.S. officials reportedly raised objections to China's purchase of sanctioned Russian oil and its sale of more than $15 billion worth of dual-use technology to Moscow. These are important warnings — but without follow-through, they risk being absorbed into the pattern of delay that Moscow and Beijing are already exploiting. The Graham-Blumenthal sanctions bill should move forward. It represents the most serious effort yet to impose real costs not only on Russia, but on the network of countries (especially China) helping it survive sanctions. It complements, rather than competes with, the administration's efforts to pressure Moscow. And it sends a message that the U.S. is serious about backing up its warnings with action. Countdowns can be useful. They create urgency. But urgency without follow-through is no substitute for strategy. What matters now is not how many days remain on the clock, but whether we are using each one to act. Jane Harman is a former nine-term congresswoman from California and former ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, who most recently served as chair of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy. She is the author of 'Insanity Defense: Why Our Failure to Confront Hard National Security Problems Makes Us Less Safe.'
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Freshman Dem admits ‘voters feel like Democrats have sort of been a–holes to them'
Voters think Democrats are 'a–holes,' prominent freshman Rep. Sarah McBride said, blaming that perception for her party's electoral setbacks. 'I think voters feel like Democrats have sort of been a–holes to them,' McBride (D-Del.) told Politico's 'The Conversation' in an interview set to drop Sunday. Democrats, whose party symbol is a donkey, aka a jacka–, have been deep in soul-searching about how they were trounced across the board in the November election. McBride, the first openly transgender member of Congress, argued voters want 'respect,' and Democrats don't give it. 'I do think that a voter asks two questions when they're considering who to vote for. The first question is: Does this candidate, does this party like me? And by extension, do they respect me?' the Delaware Democrat told host Dasha Burns. 3 Rep. Sarah McBride wants her party to be less off putting to voters. Bloomberg via Getty Images 3 The November election marked the first time Democrats lost the popular vote in a presidential election in 20 years. TNS 'If you can't answer that first question to a voter's satisfaction, they won't even get to the second question, which is: What does this party think? What does this candidate think? And I think we lost that first question.' Other prominent Dems have raised similar concerns their party has become too elitist and engaged in excessive culture war battles which have repelled the working class. Following President Trump's win in November, for example, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) contended many Dems came across as 'condescending' and had an attitude that working-class voters should be 'smart enough to realize they're voting against their interests.' Others have raised concerns that Democrats had been too hostile towards men, and some, such as Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), dinged the party for being too dismissive towards voters who had concerns about transgender competitors in women's sports. 'I do think that we have to basically create a tent that is united on three fundamental principles,' McBride continued. 'One is working people need more support and help. Two, democracy and freedom are good. And three, we're not going to be a‑‑holes to voters.' Much of the off-putting attitudes voters are reacting to aren't necessarily from elected Democrats, but rather from influencers and big-name commentators, she cautioned. 3 Democrats are scrambling to course correct ahead of the 2026 and 2028 elections. Getty Images 'The reality in today's environment is that your party ecosystem is defined not just by politicians or the party, but also some of the loudest voices online that in voters' minds reflect and represent that broader coalition,' the Delaware Democrat stressed. 'When we have an environment where we've got some very loud people who are shaming and calling people who disagree with them — even in rhetoric — bigots, when we have those folks saying that to a wide swath of voters, including voters we could win, and we aren't explicitly stating something to the contrary, then a voter will then just paint us all with one broad brush.' McBride also posited that Trump's rise to political power has been 'fueled by a frustration that government no longer works or delivers for people' — something she blamed on gridlock in Congress.
