Latest news with #AugustRecess
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate even more afraid of Trump-Epstein fallout than Mike Johnson's House is: ‘We've got enough to do'
The House of Representatives broke for August recess a day earlier than expected on Wednesday after Speaker Mike Johnson shut the doors to block moves from Democrats seeking to disclose government files on sex-trafficking financier Jeffrey Epstein. Johnson had a very specific reason to dismiss the House early — a bipartisan discharge petition, which would allow them to force a vote on the release. 'I think it is to sort of try to let the air out of the balloon on the Epstein issue,' Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who teamed up with California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna on the effort, told The Independent. But if Johnson and House GOP leadership feared the end result of that discharge petition, the Senate does not want to deal with it at all. 'I hope we don't waste our time on that,' said Sen. John Cornyn. 'We've got enough to do,' the Texas Republican told The Independent Wednesday. Cornyn is not entirely wrong. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump said that he wanted the Senate to cancel its August recess to confirm his nominees. The Senate also needs to begin to tee-up the spending bills to avoid a government shutdown in September. The Senate typically sees the House as childish and full of petty grievances. But there's another reason Cornyn, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, specifically would not want to be in the Trump-Epstein blast radius: he faces a potentially bruising primary challenge against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a hardline — albeit scandal-ridden — MAGA candidate. Any harsh questioning or a vote for the files would likely imperil Cornyn's reelection bid. But he's not the only Republican senator dodging the issue. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, noted that the Judiciary Committee brings the U.S. attorney general to testify annually. 'Now that, maybe that's not going to happen before September, so we're going to have these Epstein files,' he told The Independent. Grassley said he didn't know the next steps the courts would take, but the disclosures might lead to questions from the committee. On Wednesday, judges in Florida and New York rejected Department of Justice requests at the urging of Trump to unseal grand jury transcripts tied to Epstein, who was found dead by hanging in his New York City jail cell in 2019, in what has been ruled a suicide. This came after Trump had requested AG Pam Bondi unseal them after a Wall Street Journal report that he allegedly sent a bawdy hand-drawn message to Epstein for his 50th birthday party, a report Trump has denied and over which he filed a $10 billon lawsuit against the WSJ, parent company News Corp and founder Rupert Murdoch. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), another member of the Judiciary Committee, expressed some openness to having convicted Epstein accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell — who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for grooming girls and young women to be trafficked by her on-and-off boyfriend — testify before Congress. 'Whatever the bottom line is, I'm in favor of releasing it. So I think that, you know, DOJ ought to release everything that they possibly can, and I'm all for having Maxwell testify,' Hawley said. Hawley, a Yale-educated lawyer and archconservative, also suggested a joint committee made up of House members and senators. One of the few senators who has kept an eye on Epstein is Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). In 2017, Kaine grilled Alex Acosta, Trump's then-nominee to be labor secretary, about the time he was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and gave Epstein a lenient plea deal in 2008. Under the 2008 non-prosecution agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. That allowed him to avert a possible life sentence, instead serving 13 months in a work-release program. 'Why was the sweetheart deal cut? I never understood that, and I never understood why President Trump nominated the guy who cut the sweetheart deal to be his cabinet secretary,' Kaine told The Independent. Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton's running mate against Trump in 2016, also expressed openness to Hawley's idea of a joint committee. 'I think a white House can shorten circuit, all that by just doing what they've said they're going to do, and releasing the files,' he said. Unsurprisingly, Republican Trump antagonist Sen. Thom Tillis of North carolina, who announced he would not seek re-election and told The Independent last week that the administration should 'release the damn files' said he wanted to see more. 'There was much made about it,' he told The Independent. 'So one of two things are true, not so much should be made of it. Or there things that we should probably know, as long as it doesn't harm the privacy of victims, people that are not actually involved in the investigation.' For now, the Senate will not have to worry about that, given the House is out. But it will be a looming question when the House returns.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
All work and no play: House heads out while Senate eyes skipping summer break
WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives has fled Washington for their annual August recess, but the Senate may be stuck sweltering at work. Both houses of Congress typically take a month off each summer, with many returning to their districts and visiting with constituents. This year, House members were sent home a day early, amid tensions over the Trump administration's refusal to release records from sex offender and former Trump friend Jeffrey Epstein's case. Meanwhile, senators have at least one more week before they go on break. But as legislative business hits a series of delays and major deadlines loom, President Donald Trump is pushing the upper chamber to stay in town. Either way, both chambers have a tall order waiting for them in September if they want to keep the government doors open. House heads home Following the Justice Department's announcement that they had found no evidence of an Epstein list of sex work clients or proof of other conspiracy theories such as the claim that the disgraced financier did not really commit suicide in 2019, Trump has been at odds with some of his high-profile supporters. Democrats and some Republican lawmakers have called for the release of documents related to Epstein's case. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, is spearheading bipartisan legislation to force the Justice Department's hand on the matter. Pressure to address the scandal prompted House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, to cut members loose a day early. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, called it a 'chicken move.' 'And so irresponsible,' she told USA TODAY. 'We have a lot of work to do to take care of people.' 'Because they are afraid to buck Donald Trump, they cancel half of the session week and go home for six weeks?' she added. 'I don't (know) what the hell they ran for Congress for, but I ran for Congress to make people's lives better.' Now, lawmakers are heading home, where voters could press their representatives on the issue. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who said he'll be spending a good portion of his recess visiting and campaigning with colleagues in other areas, said he wouldn't be surprised if questions on Epstein come up. 'Constituents ask all of kinds of questions,' he said. 'But when I was back home a week or so ago, and we were at the pizza place in Urbana, Ohio, people were coming up to me just excited. 'President Trump's doing great. Thanks for the big, beautiful bill' ... It was all positive.' Senators could stick around Senators are set to wrap up their schedule in Washington on Aug. 1. But some would rather forego the break. 'I'm for staying and doing what we need to do,' Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, told USA TODAY. 'They pay us to work. They don't pay us to go home and sit for a month.' Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass a series of appropriations bills or a temporary funding extension in order to avoid a government shutdown. That major task, along with a backlog of nominations by Trump for the Senate to confirm, has the president calling for the chamber to keep working and Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, considering it. 'We're thinking about it,' Thune told Axios on Monday. The decision would be a tough sell to many senators, on both sides of the aisle, who have a fondness for their time back home. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, said that along with meeting voters, he will be spending the weeks away with his children in Georgia. Asked about the possibility of recess being canceled, Warnock said, 'That's above my pay grade.' Working hard or hardly working Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Nebraska, said she is doing what she usually does during recess, which is travel by car across the state, with her husband at the wheel, visiting communities and constituents. House members, who have since left the city, say they won't be slacking over August. Members of Congress will return to their district offices, often holding events, meeting with constituents and discussing legislative business from afar. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, said when asked if he had any fun recess plans, 'Uh, no. Working.' Tennessee's Republican Rep. Tim Burchett offered a similar response. 'I'll do more work when I'm home than I do up here,' he said, adding jokingly, 'These two-hour work weeks up here wear me out.' This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: House leaves for summer recess, Senate could stick around
The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Senate even more afraid of Trump-Epstein fallout than Mike Johnson's House is: ‘We've got enough to do'
The House of Representatives broke for August recess a day earlier than expected on Wednesday after Speaker Mike Johnson shut the doors to block moves from Democrats seeking to disclose government files on sex-trafficking financier Jeffrey Epstein. Johnson had a very specific reason to dismiss the House early — a bipartisan discharge petition, which would allow them to force a vote on the release. 'I think it is to sort of try to let the air out of the balloon on the Epstein issue,' Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who teamed up with California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna on the effort, told The Independent. But if Johnson and House GOP leadership feared the end result of that discharge petition, the Senate does not want to deal with it at all. 'I hope we don't waste our time on that,' said Sen. John Cornyn. 'We've got enough to do,' the Texas Republican told The Independent Wednesday. Cornyn is not entirely wrong. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump said that he wanted the Senate to cancel its August recess to confirm his nominees. The Senate also needs to begin to tee-up the spending bills to avoid a government shutdown in September. The Senate typically sees the House as childish and full of petty grievances. But there's another reason Cornyn, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, specifically would not want to be in the Trump-Epstein blast radius: he faces a potentially bruising primary challenge against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a hardline — albeit scandal-ridden — MAGA candidate. Any harsh questioning or a vote for the files would likely imperil Cornyn's reelection bid. But he's not the only Republican senator dodging the issue. Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, noted that the Judiciary Committee brings the U.S. attorney general to testify annually. 'Now that, maybe that's not going to happen before September, so we're going to have these Epstein files,' he told The Independent. Grassley said he didn't know the next steps the courts would take, but the disclosures might lead to questions from the committee. On Wednesday, judges in Florida and New York rejected Department of Justice requests at the urging of Trump to unseal grand jury transcripts tied to Epstein, who was found dead by hanging in his New York City jail cell in 2019, in what has been ruled a suicide. This came after Trump had requested AG Pam Bondi unseal them after a Wall Street Journal report that he allegedly sent a bawdy hand-drawn message to Epstein for his 50th birthday party, a report Trump has denied and over which he filed a $10 billon lawsuit against the WSJ, parent company News Corp and founder Rupert Murdoch. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), another member of the Judiciary Committee, expressed some openness to having convicted Epstein accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell — who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for grooming girls and young women to be trafficked by her on-and-off boyfriend — testify before Congress. 'Whatever the bottom line is, I'm in favor of releasing it. So I think that, you know, DOJ ought to release everything that they possibly can, and I'm all for having Maxwell testify,' Hawley said. Hawley, a Yale-educated lawyer and archconservative, also suggested a joint committee made up of House members and senators. One of the few senators who has kept an eye on Epstein is Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). In 2017, Kaine grilled Alex Acosta, Trump's then-nominee to be labor secretary, about the time he was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and gave Epstein a lenient plea deal in 2008. Under the 2008 non-prosecution agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. That allowed him to avert a possible life sentence, instead serving 13 months in a work-release program. 'Why was the sweetheart deal cut? I never understood that, and I never understood why President Trump nominated the guy who cut the sweetheart deal to be his cabinet secretary,' Kaine told The Independent. Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton's running mate against Trump in 2016, also expressed openness to Hawley's idea of a joint committee. 'I think a white House can shorten circuit, all that by just doing what they've said they're going to do, and releasing the files,' he said. Unsurprisingly, Republican Trump antagonist Sen. Thom Tillis of North carolina, who announced he would not seek re-election and told The Independent last week that the administration should 'release the damn files' said he wanted to see more. 'There was much made about it,' he told The Independent. 'So one of two things are true, not so much should be made of it. Or there things that we should probably know, as long as it doesn't harm the privacy of victims, people that are not actually involved in the investigation.' For now, the Senate will not have to worry about that, given the House is out. But it will be a looming question when the House returns.
Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
House clashes over Epstein files ahead of month-long break
Senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram provides details on House lawmakers' priorities ahead of the August recess.
Fox News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
GOP senator advocates for opportunity to 'see' Trump's agenda through
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., explains why she is one of the senators who agreed to work through Congress' August recess on 'The Ingraham Angle.'
