Politics Random, Random

[ti-amie]

Senate averts shutdown, but vote leaves Democrats bitterly divided
“I knew when I made this decision, I’d get a lot of criticism from a lot of quarters,” Schumer said.

Updated
March 14, 2025 at 6:33 p.m. EDT 48 minutes ago

“I knew when I made this decision, I’d get a lot of criticism from a lot of quarters,” Schumer said in an interview. “Let’s face it, the House was in a much easier position. They could vote no on the [funding bill] without shutting down the government. The Senate, we can’t do that.”

Schumer, who has led the Senate Democratic caucus for eight years, defended his decision to vote for the GOP funding bill as the best way to fight Trump’s sweeping plan for downsizing the government, saying a shutdown would be “DOGE on steroids.” He said the same activists who are “vexed” now would be pleading with Senate Democrats to reopen the government a few weeks into the shutdown, once it became clear Trump and Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service were taking advantage of the closure to make even deeper cuts.

“There’s no off-ramp,” he said of a shutdown in a GOP-controlled Washington.

But Schumer’s explanation has done nothing to stem a fierce tide of criticism from House Democrats — including talk of a primary challenge — and pushback from within his own chamber that has weakened one of the Democratic Party’s few visible leaders.

In a stunning rebuke, Schumer’s former leadership counterpart, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), publicly urged Senate Democrats to vote against their leader on Friday.

“Democratic senators should listen to the women,” Pelosi said in a statement, referring to the opposition of Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patty Murray (D-Washington) and House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut) to the bill. “This damaging legislation only makes matters worse.”

A Jeffries spokeswoman declined to comment on the private conversations but noted that his office was consistent in relaying to the Senate that Johnson would be able to pass the funding bill without relying on Democratic votes after Trump successfully twisted enough arms to help House Republicans pass their budget plan on a party-line basis in late February.

Dozens of House Democrats slammed Schumer in a letter on Friday. “If Republicans in Congress want to pass this bill, they should do so with their own votes,” Rep. Derek Tran (D-California) and 65 other House Democrats wrote in the letter. “However, since they cannot, Republicans must work with Democrats to pass a clean” funding bill.

So far, Schumer’s own senators are declining to criticize him, even as they forcefully argue for a different strategy.

“I remain convinced this was the moment for us to have a fight and to make it clear that we’re going to stand up to President Trump,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) told reporters. “But there are differences of opinion in my caucus, and I respect those who have reached a different conclusion.”

In remarks to reporters Thursday night, Schumer said he faced a “Hobson’s choice”: an apparent decision that’s really no choice at all. “The bottom line is, you have to make these decisions based on what is best for not only your party but your country,” Schumer said. “I believe that my members understand that I came to that conclusion and respect it.”

‘Guts and Courage’
In a further twist of the knife for Schumer on Friday, Trump praised him for backing the funding measure.

“Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing — Took ‘guts’ and courage!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The trolling message only further angered House Democrats, who are incensed at Schumer for fracturing Democrats in Congress as they try to use this moment of leverage to fight back against Trump, according to more than a dozen lawmakers and aides, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail private discussions from their retreat in Leesburg, Virginia.

Just one House Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (Maine), voted for the Republican funding bill when it passed the House on Tuesday. Jeffries told colleagues moments after Schumer announced his decision Thursday evening that they should be proud of voting against the bill in a split between him and Schumer, according to multiple people who attended a House Democratic dinner in Virginia.

“When Donald Trump wakes up in the morning and says, ‘You’re doing the right thing, Senate Democrats,’ we don’t feel that is the right place to be,” Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-California) told reporters Friday morning.

Some House Democrats continued to call and text senators Friday to try to persuade enough of them to vote against the bill.

“Anyone who votes for this bill on the Senate side is going to be complicit in transferring a whole bunch of power from Congress to the executive branch, and authorizing Trump and Musk to not even spend what we just appropriated in this bill,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California) told reporters Friday morning.

When asked by CNN about some of her colleagues who have encouraged her to challenge Schumer in a primary, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) declined to answer, saying she was focused on marshaling support against the funding measure.

Democrats have criticized the Republican funding bill for including $13 billion in cuts to nondefense spending, including cuts to international peacekeeping, mental health and substance abuse treatment and workforce training. It would also trigger an immediate $1.1 billion cut to D.C.’s budget because Republicans left out language typically included in such bills, although the Senate is set to vote Friday on legislation that would nullify the cut if the funding bill passes the House and Trump signs it.

In the Senate, some Democrats said they worried about what this not-so-strategic retreat could mean for the next time they have a moment of leverage.

“Lots of us have worried that once you give in the first time, it’s hard to fight back the second time — but hopefully we will,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), who voted against the Republican bill.

Still, Hickenlooper declined to criticize Schumer. “He knew how he was going to get attacked and he still made the decision,” Hickenlooper said. “He deserves our respect.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... utdown-cr/

[ti-amie]

Correct me, please. Weren't the majority of people that DID NOT show up to vote the younger generation?

And this is why we're in this situation. Younger people want a "perfect" candidate not one who knows how to play politics. If they understood politics they would've voted for Kamala/Walz. Instead they got side tracked and now don't like how the hand they dealt has to be played.

[Suliso]

Anyone heard anything about Joe Biden since he left the White House? Is he in that bad a shape that an interview is out of the question?

[skatingfan]

Anyone heard anything about Joe Biden since he left the White House? Is he in that bad a shape that an interview is out of the question?

I would say that normally a former President, particularly in the first few months of a new administration, stays out of the spotlight, but interestingly this story just dropped this morning.

The Bidens want back in
With the Democratic Party struggling to find a new direction, former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden have offered to jump in and help with fundraising and rebuilding.

March 21, 2025, 5:00 AM EDT
By Peter Nicholas, Carol E. Lee and Megan Shannon
WASHINGTON — Former President Joe Biden has told some Democratic leaders he’ll raise funds, campaign and do anything else necessary for Democrats to recover lost ground as the Trump administration rolls back programs the party helped design, according to people close to him.

Biden privately met last month with the new Democratic National Committee chairman, Ken Martin, and offered to help as the party struggles to regain its viability amid polling that shows its popularity has been sinking, the people said.

So far, Biden's overture seems to have fallen flat. Democrats find themselves adrift, casting about for a compelling messenger.

Whoever that is, it's not Biden, many party activists and donors contend. He's tethered to the 2024 defeat and, at 82, is a symbol more of the party's past than its future, they argue.

“Who’s going to want Joe Biden back in the game?” said a major Biden supporter, speaking on condition of anonymity to talk candidly about him.

A spokesperson for the DNC didn’t provide a comment or make Martin available for an interview.

A new NBC News poll shows that the Democratic Party’s popularity has dropped to a record low. Only 27% of registered voters said they held positive views of the party — the lowest figure in the network’s polling dating to 1990.

Former first lady Jill Biden is also prepared to campaign and raise money for fellow Democrats as she and her husband settle into life back home in Delaware, a person close to her said.

“She recognizes that serving in the capacities that she served is an honor and it comes with responsibilities to the party. And she’s prepared to help in any way she can,” the person said.

Both Bidens are carving out post-presidential lives aside from the partisan political work they've volunteered to take on.

Each plans to write a book. As Biden develops a theme for his memoir, he has been consulting former senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior White House advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti.

He has been splitting his time between Delaware and Washington for meetings in office space supplied by the federal government. As was his habit as a U.S. senator, he often commutes via Amtrak.

The onetime first couple were shocked when President Donald Trump abruptly announced this week that he was ending Secret Service protection for their two adult children, Hunter and Ashley, the person close to Jill Biden said. They'd gotten no warning, another person familiar with the matter said. Their first question was whether their two children would be safe.

The Bidens have been out of office for only two months. After Trump’s first term ended in 2021, then-President Biden extended protection for Trump’s adult children for six months.

Though Biden is willing to help, Democrats aren’t unanimous in wanting them to. Some party activists believe Biden is an admired figure who remains a draw inside a grateful party.

Jane Kleeb, a vice chair of the DNC, said in an interview: “If you were to call any state party chair and ask them if they wanted Joe Biden to be a keynote speaker for their annual dinner, the answer would be yes. He is beloved by the party and beloved by the voters.”

Others argue that reminding voters of a 2024 campaign that went sour isn’t the best strategy for a party that is grasping for a message and searching for new, younger leaders. A CNN poll this month asked Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents which leader best reflects the party’s core values. Only 1% chose Biden.

What’s more, the wounds of 2024 are still fresh, with many Democrats aggrieved over Biden’s decision to run again and remain in the race until just a few months before the election, leaving Vice President Kamala Harris little time to organize a campaign of her own.

Alan Kessler, a longtime Democratic fundraiser from Philadelphia, said in an interview: “There are plenty of people in the Democratic Party who were obviously very frustrated with how things played out last year, but there are plenty of people who still love Joe Biden."

At the “appropriate time,” Biden can be an asset to the party by campaigning in selected areas, such as his hometown, Scranton, Pennsylvania, but now isn’t it, Kessler added.

“It’s time to move on with new leadership,” he said.

Biden has no pangs of regret, a person familiar with his private conversations said. He remains defiant and believes Trump’s victory shows the party did itself no favors by pushing him to drop out of the race, the source said.

One person in particular seems eager to see Biden return to the political stage: Trump. The new president has used his massive following to ensure that Americans don’t soon forget the old one.

Trump has publicly mentioned Biden, Biden family members or the Biden administration an average of seven times a day since the start of his second term, according to an NBC News review of his remarks, interviews and social media posts.

Overall, Trump has invoked his predecessor in some form more than 400 times since the inauguration on Jan. 20. In most instances — more than 325 — Trump has mentioned Biden alone. In about 75 cases, Trump has mentioned Biden family members or the Biden administration.

The context in which Trump brings up his predecessor often involves immigration, inflation, elections or foreign wars, as well as issues involving the Justice Department.

Speaking at the Justice Department last week, Trump questioned Biden’s use of an autopen to sign documents, calling it “disrespectful to the office” and "maybe not even valid."

The Justice Department blessed the use of an autopen in a memo in 2005, and the Constitution carries no requirement that the president sign documents by his own hand.

Vice President JD Vance also uses Biden as a foil. At a tech summit this week, Vance took time in his speech to take a swipe at Biden’s mental acuity — an issue that dogged the former president throughout the campaign.

“In defense of Joe Biden, he was asleep most of the time. I don’t think he totally realized what he was doing,” Vance said.

Asked why Trump speaks about Biden so frequently, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “We still very much are fixing so many of the problems created or started by the Biden administration. It’s important to remind the American people and media why these problems exist."

A defense that Trump supporters use in rationalizing his attacks on perceived political foes is that he’s a “counterpuncher.” But here, Biden has already left the ring. He hasn’t thrown any public punches since Trump escorted him to the helicopter on Inauguration Day for his departure from the U.S. Capitol grounds.

Indeed, Biden’s first speaking event since he left office came last week with no fanfare whatsoever. He appeared in New York City for a conference of the National High School Model United Nations in Manhattan. Six months after having spoken before the actual U.N. for his last time as president, Biden gave a speech to its high school facsimile in a hotel ballroom. He also took questions and posed for pictures with students.

“He asked me about my future, and I told him how much he inspired me to go into the field of politics,” said Suzy Radzinski, 18, a senior at Brighton High School in Utah, who met Biden on the photo line.

A Facebook video from the event showed a group of excited students waving to Biden. “I met you on your book tour!” one shouted to him as he stood onstage in a suit and tie. “All right!” said Biden, prompting appreciative laugher.

Inside Biden’s close-knit circle, advisers have concluded that it’s not wise for him to respond publicly to every insult or accusation Trump throws his way. Doing so would personalize the issue, turning it into a contest between Trump and Biden, as opposed to keeping the focus on whether Trump is being truthful or not.

Biden’s approach for now is to let surrogates respond to Trump’s broadsides. Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic strategist, said that’s the right posture.

“It makes no sense for Joe Biden to respond to Donald Trump,” she said in an interview. “The American people are not looking backward; they’re looking forward.”

Rather than take the attacks personally, Jill Biden has found a new role for herself: soothing those who are unnerved by the tumult in Washington, the person close to her said.

“She is finding herself comforting people. More and more, as she’s out and about, people come up to her who are looking for reassurance," the person said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-bi ... rcna196956

[ponchi101]

The Dems have an approval rating of 27%.
The party that actually cares about people has an approval rating of 27%.
If this is not a call for some Billionaire to fund a third party, I don't know what is.

[ponchi101]

Anyone heard anything about Joe Biden since he left the White House? Is he in that bad a shape that an interview is out of the question?

What could he say that would be of interest. Or even more, of relevance?

[dryrunguy]

The big news in my immediate work circle today was the announcement the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will lay off 10,000 employees. Also, Secretary Kennedy announced HHS will form a new agency, the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) and consolidate 28 HHS operating divisions and offices (I thought there were 27, but I guess AHA makes 28?) into 15 subcomponents of HHS. Apparently Kennedy posted a video about this on YouTube, but I refuse to give it a view.

Previous administrations have tried to do this sort of thing before--without much luck and usually with a significant amount of pushback from Congress, the Senate, and the public. But perhaps not this time since you fall into one of two potential categories these days: 1) loyal ally/pawn, or 2) already resoundingly defeated.

About the layoffs, though... I'm not sure who these people will be, but in his statement, Secretary Kennedy specifically mentioned the redundancy and siloed nature of people who work in communications, IT, procurement/contracts, and human resources. For example, you can probably understand why the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have their own communications, IT, contracts, and HR shops rather than relying on these services at the HHS level. But so do many smaller, less visible agencies within HHS. I think that's where he'll go with these layoffs. He'll also probably go after, for example, similar groups of professional staff in the NIH Institutes, Offices, and Centers (there are more than 20 of them) and similar subsets of CMS, CDC, and FDA.

I don't think that will get to the magic 10,000 number, though, especially since so many of the folks in these field in HHS are already long gone. So it will be interesting to see who's left and who comprises the rest of the 10,000.

A PERSONAL THOUGHT: In honesty, I cannot say this is entirely bad move if you want to reduce the size of an agency like HHS and have it all look good on paper. In reality, though, they're going to miss those communications folks when they have to write a news release themselves. Or when an HHS website has a massive security breach that can't be blamed entirely on a contractor. Or when they want to expedite a fast-track hire in the lower levels of HHS. But it looks good on paper, for sure.

As for procurements/contracts, we're seeing some REALLY bizarre communications about where this Administration wants to go with federal contracting. The news today falls in line with what we are hearing--agency-specific contracts operations may be on their way out in favor of large contracting vehicles like the General Services Administration vehicle, Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts, and similar contracting mechanisms.

What we are NOT hearing anything about in our industry is the future of small business contracting in the new Administration. It is safe to say small minority-owned business and woman-owned business contracting is heading out the door. But what about veteran-owned and other small businesses? All of that is very, very unclear.

[Suliso]

I wonder if US government is the only one who looks closely who owns their contractors and how big they are. I've not heard of such a thing in Europe, but I could be just ignorant on that. I kind of doubt that's the cheapest and most efficient way of doing it.

[ponchi101]

The big news in my immediate work circle today was the announcement the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will lay off 10,000 employees. Also, Secretary Kennedy announced HHS will form a new agency, the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) ...

Straight out of the Chavez playbook. Rename everything, but leave it the same. But less efficient.

[ti-amie]

Video at the link

[dryrunguy]

Did anyone happen to catch the news last night about how HHS Secretary Kennedy wants to give states the option to prohibit food stamp recipients from using their food stamps to buy soda?

I am not totally opposed to the idea. But there's a problem.

Food stamps are provided to people through states and jurisdictions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture--not HHS. Secretary Kennedy may have meant to refer to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program funded by HHS's Administration for Children and Families. TANF money can be used for food, bills, rent, etc., and you can receive it for up to 5 years.

But anyway, he said food stamps. Which was... comically cute.

::

(Sidebar: I was in a grocery store in Chambersburg the other day. I saw a couple in the checkout lane a few lanes down. Both were very... large. The woman was driving a portable scooter. The man was in charge of the cart. The cart was full of soda. Nothing but soda. Literally, absolutely nothing but soda. It made me very, very sad.)

[ti-amie]

[dryrunguy]

We Pennsylvanians can be a little fickle.

[ponchi101]

Did anyone happen to catch the news last night about how HHS Secretary Kennedy wants to give states the option to prohibit food stamp recipients from using their food stamps to buy soda?

I am not totally opposed to the idea. But there's a problem.

Food stamps are provided to people through states and jurisdictions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture--not HHS. Secretary Kennedy may have meant to refer to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program funded by HHS's Administration for Children and Families. TANF money can be used for food, bills, rent, etc., and you can receive it for up to 5 years.

But anyway, he said food stamps. Which was... comically cute.

::

(Sidebar: I was in a grocery store in Chambersburg the other day. I saw a couple in the checkout lane a few lanes down. Both were very... large. The woman was driving a portable scooter. The man was in charge of the cart. The cart was full of soda. Nothing but soda. Literally, absolutely nothing but soda. It made me very, very sad.)

Typical GOP.
The government has no right to tell you what you do with your life.
But the government has the right to tell you what to buy.

[Owendonovan]

Sen. Corey Booker (D-NJ) has been barking about the president on the senate floor for over 24 hours. If Schumer had a clue, he'd have every Senate Democrat lined up to keep this going for days or weeks. But I don't think Schumer has that kind of clue.