#Sen. John Cornyn
Text
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday reintroduced universal gun background checks legislation that is overwhelmingly popular with the American public — but not with a majority of U.S. Senators.
Federal law requires criminal background checks for firearm sales only at licensed dealers. Private sales between individuals, including at gun shows or online, aren’t subject to background checks.
Polls over the years have consistently shown that around 90% of Americans support requiring a criminal background check for all firearm sales. But it’s extremely likely that no Republican Senators will support Murphy’s bill.
“This is one of those wild issues in which 90% of the American public have made up their mind and we still can’t move the proposal through the Senate,” Murphy told HuffPost. “This is the holy grail of gun policy: It’s wildly popular, and it makes a big difference.”
Federal law prohibits certain people from buying guns, including those who have been convicted of violent crimes or who are subject to restraining orders. But without a background check, there’s nothing to stop them from buying a gun. According to one estimate from 2017, nearly a quarter of new gun owners bought their weapons without a background check.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of the Senate Republican leadership team, told HuffPost that he would “obviously” oppose a universal background checks bill and so would any Senators who favor protecting Second Amendment rights. Not all Democrats will support Murphy’s bill, either; Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Jon Tester (Mont.) refused to co-sponsor last year’s version, and Manchin told HuffPost this week that his position hasn’t changed.
With Republicans in control of the House for at least the next two years, universal background checks will remain a non-starter.
But Congress has not been totally paralyzed on gun violence, which in recent years eclipsed car wrecks as the leading cause of death of children in the U.S. Last year, Murphy partnered with Republicans on a law that, among other things, expanded background checks for gun buyers between 18 and 21 years old. The FBI told HuffPost this week that the expanded checks had denied dozens of gun sales so far.
The 2022 law also modified the legal definition of who counts as “engaged in the business” of selling guns and therefore must register with the federal government as a firearms dealer. The new text stresses that someone’s a dealer if “the intent underlying the sale or disposition of firearms is predominantly one of obtaining pecuniary gain,” meaning profit.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), one of Murphy’s main Republican partners on last year’s bill, said that language change “basically did” what Murphy’s now trying to do with his universal background checks bill.
“If they’re in the business of selling firearms, they’re gonna be charged with a crime,” if they don’t do background checks, Cornyn said.
Federal law already required anyone in the business of selling guns for profit to apply for a license. It’s not clear what practical effect the new wording will have. The Congressional Research Service said the change “could make some, but not all, intrastate, private firearm transfers” subject to background checks.
The gun control group Giffords, which celebrated the new law, called the revision to the gun dealer language just a minor change: “The loophole that allows unlicensed sellers to sell guns without conducting background checks would remain open,” Giffords said on its website.
#us politics#news#huffington post#2023#us senate#118th congress#sen. chris murphy#universal background checks#gun violence#gun rights#gun control#2nd amendment#Sen. John Barrasso#sen. joe manchin#sen. kyrsten sinema#sen. jon tester#sen. john cornyn#Congressional Research Service#Giffords
52 notes
·
View notes
Text
Said, out LOUD. With no shame. This is where the GQP is?
The only question: where will you be come Election Day?
🗳
#sen. john cornyn#gqp#racism#roe v wade#misogyny#plessy v ferguson#brown v board of education#barack obama
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN)
VOTE THESE PIECES OF SHIT OUT OF CONGRESS.
#Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)#Bill Cassidy (R-LA)#Susan Collins (R-ME)#John Cornyn (R-TX)#Joni Ernst (R-IA)#Chuck Grassley (R-IA)#John Thune (R-SD)#Thom Tillis (R-NC)#Roger Wicker (R-MS)#and Todd Young (R-IN)
44 notes
·
View notes
Text
A bipartisan bill would give the secretary of the treasury unilateral power to classify any charity as a terrorist-supporting organization, automatically stripping away its nonprofit status. The bill, H.R. 6408, already passed the House of Representatives in November, and a companion bill, S. 4136, was introduced to the Senate by Sens. John Cornyn (R–Texas) and Angus King (I–Maine) last week.
In theory, the bill is a measure to fight terrorism financing. At least, that's what sponsor Rep. David Kustoff (R–Tenn.) claimed. "I urge the swift passage of this legislation that will significantly diminish the ability of Hamas and other terrorist groups to finance their operations and carry out future attacks," he said in a November statement.
Financing terrorism is already very illegal. Anyone who gives money, goods, or services to a U.S.-designated terrorist organization can be charged with a felony under the Antiterrorism Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. And those terrorist organizations are already banned from claiming tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. Nine charities have been shut down since 2001 under the law.
The new bill would allow the feds to shut down a charity without an official terrorism designation. It creates a new label called "terrorist-supporting organization" that the secretary of the treasury could slap onto nonprofits, removing their tax exempt status within 90 days. Only the secretary of the treasury could cancel that designation.
#yemen#jerusalem#tel aviv#current events#palestine#free palestine#gaza#free gaza#news on gaza#palestine news#news update#war news#war on gaza#students for justice in palestine#fascism#pro palestine#us senate
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
I’ve said many times that Moscow Mitch would be replace by one of his two henchmen, Thune or Cornyn. They’re both old school Republicans, oligarch puppets, but they aren’t deranged MAGA cultists. A small distinction as one group will impoverish using the system while the other will extra-legally slaughter us in the streets.
#republican assholes#John Thune#Moscow Bitch#Bitch McConnell#republican values#maga morons#resist#never Trump
32 notes
·
View notes
Text
another name on the "list" of those that got to go before the next election
39 notes
·
View notes
Text
Cowardly dogs selling out democracy to neo-Nazi billionaires.
#ted cruz#john cornyn#republican hypocrisy#republican assholes#abortion#reproductive rights#Kate cox#Ken Paxton#Republican war on women#Tex-ass is a fascist state#greg abbott#Republicans murder women
35 notes
·
View notes
Text
GOP 2nd Amendment Enemies
These are the GOP traitors who just voted to steal your ability to defend yourselves and steal you gun rights. VOTE THEM OUT:
The 15 Republicans were:
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind.
Sen. Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
These "people" are enemies of the American people and YOUR family. If your state still honors election results (unlike my state Georgia) VOTE THESE TRAITORS OUT!
376 notes
·
View notes
Photo
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), joined by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaking during a press conference on May 03, 2023 in Washington, DC..
Can I get a 4-way with these three. And we all know who's going to bottom. One senior senator from South Carolina. But Ted can catch one in the cheeks too.
#Ted Cruz#John Cornyn#Lindsey Graham#american actor#handsome daddy#suited daddy#suit & tie#us senator#politician#american politician#celebrities#PILF
25 notes
·
View notes
Text
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy often spent the last two years avoiding much discussion about the January 6, 2021, attack.
Now, he’s effectively put the issue back in the spotlight and on the investigative agenda – a gambit that has divided House and Senate Republicans and reopened ugly wounds inside the GOP.
Republicans in the House are beginning to plot multiple probes into the 2021 Capitol attack, including looking into the Democratic-led select committee’s actions from the last Congress, the security failures from that day and potentially even the treatment of January 6 defendants, multiple sources familiar with the work tell CNN. The move comes as McCarthy green-lit the release of January 6 security footage to Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sought to whitewash the severity of the attack and caused a major uproar among Senate Republicans on Tuesday.
“I think they need to watch a little less cable TV,” Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a member of Senate GOP leadership, said of his Republican counterparts in the House.
While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called it a “mistake” for Fox News to use the footage to downplay January 6, McCarthy defended the move and joined many in his conference to shift the focus onto the select committee after they had blamed Trump for the attack.
GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, an ally of McCarthy’s, will now lead a new GOP probe into January 6, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. As chairman of the House Administration’s subcommittee on oversight, the Georgia Republican is expected to focus on the select committee and what he’s called security failures leading up to the attack.
“I’m spending some time over there getting my hands wrapped around what we have. We’re going to be looking at what happened in the Capitol. What happened leading up to it? How did we have such a security failure,” Loudermilk told CNN in an exclusive interview. “The January 6 committee, they didn’t take that approach. That should have been something that they looked it. I think they looked more on the political side of it.”
Republicans on the Committee on House Administration launched a portal last week for citizens to submit information about the Capitol attack and about the work of the January 6 select committee. And this week, Republicans on the administration panel are holding a multi-day retreat where Loudermilk told CNN he gave them “a rundown” of what he has been able to accomplish so far and what questions he needs answered.
Loudermilk has already begun poring over the more than 2 million documents of the January 6 select committee’s work, which is under the administration panel’s purview, telling CNN that his efforts are just “in the infancy stage.” He said he plans to staff up, hold hearings and could even issue subpoenas if needed.
“My intention is to take us where the facts lead to get to the truth,” he said.
While top Republicans had hoped when they took over the House to steer clear of re-litigating January 6, McCarthy had to reverse course when the election left his conference with a slimmer-than-expected majority. In his bid to win the Speaker’s gavel, McCarthy made a number of promises to his right flank, which has been pressuring leadership to revisit the topic of January 6 under a GOP-led House.
But some House Republicans are skeptical of the need for additional congressional investigations into the Capitol attack – a preview of the potential internal divisions to come.
“I don’t know if there’s anything legitimate that could come out at this point,” Rep. David Valadao, a California Republican who represents a swing district and voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection, told CNN. “I just think both sides are going to play to their base and run with it.”
JANUARY 6 SELECT COMMITTEE BRACES FOR GOP PROBE
January 6 select committee staff have been prepared for Republican-led investigations into their work and the Capitol attack, with some even getting liability insurance, a source familiar with the select committee told CNN.
“Staff knew when taking the job that the GOP might try to claim the investigation was de-legitimate and investigate them if they gained power,” the source said.
Lawmakers who served on the select committee told CNN they are concerned about the GOP trying to undermine their findings, even though it’s a scenario they have been bracing for.
“It’s something that we’ve thought through over the past two years. I knew that there could be political consequences. … We’ll see what happens – and we’ll be prepared,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, a California Democrat who served on the select committee, told CNN. “There is no limit to what (McCarthy) will do in order to fulfill those promises to the most extreme within his caucus.”
House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, a Republican from Wisconsin, told CNN, “Unlike the January 6th Committee, the Committee on House Administration will focus on reviewing the security failures from that day, evaluating what reforms are needed and ensuring our officers have improved resources and training.”
But former House Administration Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who served on the select committee, said House Republicans “can try to spin January 6, but they will hit a wall – because once you look at the video that the January 6 Select Committee showed (after security clearance from the Capitol Police), you can clearly see a mob viciously attacking police officers after being spun up by lies told by the ex-president.”
As it wrapped up late last year before Republicans took over the House, the select committee referred Trump to the Justice Department on criminal charges, although the attorney general had already appointed a special counsel to take on two investigations related to Trump, including the January 6 investigation.
In a letter last year to Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the chair of the select committee, McCarthy telegraphed steps Republicans would take once in the majority by calling on the panel to preserve all of its records and stated that House Republicans would hold hearings to address security failures leading up to January 6. Members of the far-right have called for investigating how the select committee spent its money and presented its evidence, among other topics, even after House Republicans produced their own report last year that focused on January 6 security lapses.
On top of the warning from McCarthy, the select committee was required by House rules to turn over all of its records to the Committee on House Administration.
Loudermilk told CNN in addition to leading his own investigation, he will also be giving other committees access to the January 6 select committee’s documents that could be pertinent to their work. And some members said they’ve been given access to the security footage: GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who serves on the Oversight Committee and was a critical ally to McCarthy in the Speaker’s race, said she has already scheduled time to review it.
No stranger to the select committee’s work, Loudermilk emerged as a figure in the January 6 committee’s investigation for a tour he gave to a group of constituents the day before the attack. US Capitol Police have concluded after reviewing security footage that “there is no evidence” the Georgia congressman led a reconnaissance tour with Trump supporters trying to learn more about the Capitol complex.
The Oversight Committee is expected to look into the treatment of January 6 defendants and the jail facilities where they have been detained, according to multiple sources. Far-right Republicans have long claimed that the rioters have been treated too harshly – a claim that judges have flatly rejected – and complained about the jail conditions. However, the small subset of January 6 defendants who are currently in jail are there only because a federal judge ruled that they are either too dangerous to release or pose a flight risk.
Greene told CNN she is leading a group of Republicans to the DC jails and plans to send a letter announcing the trip this week.
“I want to dig in a lot deeper,” she told CNN.
According to statistics released by the Department of Justice, more than 999 people are facing federal or local charges related to the January 6 attack, 326 of whom have been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers or employees. According to the department, 140 officers were assaulted at the Capitol that day.
‘IT’S BULLSHIT’; CARLSON’S JANUARY 6 PORTRAYAL FUELS GOP DIVIDE
The backlash over the decision to give Carlson exclusive access to the footage is just the latest example of the divide between McCarthy and McConnell, who have often split over political tactics, Trump’s role in the party and January 6.
“I think it’s bullshit,” Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said of how the footage was depicted by Carlson.
“I thought it was an insurrection at that time,” GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said. “I still think it was an insurrection today.”
Senate GOP Whip John Thune added: “I think it was an attack on the Capitol. … There were a lot of people in the Capitol at the time that were scared for their lives.”
Even Loudermilk had mixed feelings about Carlson’s portrayal of the security footage.
“I’ve seen videos of some terrible acts of violence. I mean it will turn your stomach,” he said of the violence that day. “But the majority of the crowd here was not here doing that. And so I think the truth is going to be somewhere between the violent videos and the supposedly peaceful actions there.”
Others in the party are openly questioning McCarthy’s decision-making.
“Oh, I think so,” Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said when asked if McCarthy made a mistake in giving the footage to Carlson.
“Any attempt to normalize what was a violent attack on the United States Capitol only makes it more intriguing for people to do such a thing in the future,” he said, comparing Carlson to Alex Jones’ lies about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
McCarthy told reporters Tuesday night that he had no regrets about releasing the footage to Carlson, vowing to give all media outlets access eventually and claiming that he had released it in the name of “transparency.”
Some Republicans agreed.
“It was the right decision for the public to have them,” said Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, the chairman of the hardline House Freedom Caucus.
Yet even as McCarthy’s decision has earned him praise in conservative circles, the move could also pose some risks for the GOP. The “Make America Great Again” wing of the party quickly seized on the footage aired by Carlson to defend the rioters and minimize the attack – something that gave Republican leaders heartburn in the immediate aftermath of January 6.
“If they walked up and walked in the open doors and walked around, and they were just walking around taking videos, I mean, they basically were like typical tourists, right?” Greene told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m not calling them tourists. But that’s similar to a tourist that comes to the Capitol.”
Pressed by reporters on the rioters who did commit vandalism or violent acts, Greene responded, “They’ve been charged.”
#us politics#news#cnn#2023#republicans#conservatives#gop#gop platform#gop policy#us house of representatives#capitol riot#capitol riot investigation#rep. kevin mccarthy#Sen. John Cornyn#sen. mitch mcconnell#Rep. Barry Loudermilk#Committee on House Administration#Rep. David Valadao#cnn politics#rep. marjorie taylor greene#Rep. Scott Perry#Sen. Mitt Romney#sen. john thune#Sen. Thom Tillis
5 notes
·
View notes
Note
Ummmm. Sooooo, the Texas GOP has made talks of seceding from the Union. That's a thing
Good lord. I take a week away from news and THIS emerges? Fucking hell.
That second link outlines the key Texas GOP's platform:
On Texas seceding from the U.S.: "We urge the Texas Legislature to pass bill in its next session requiring a referendum in the 2023 general election for the people of Texas to determine whether or not the State of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation."
On the 2020 election: "We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States."
On gender identity: "The official position of the Texas schools shall be that there are only two genders: biological male and biological female. We oppose transgender normalizing curriculum and pronoun use."
On voting rights: "We urge that the Voting Rights Act of 1965, codified and updated in 1973, be repealed and not reauthorized."
On abortion: "We urge lawmakers to enact legislation to abolish abortion by immediately securing the right to life and equal protection of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilization."
On the United Nations: "The United Nations is a detriment to the sovereignty of the United States and other countries; because of this we support ... Our withdrawal from the current United Nations."
On the new bipartisan gun proposal: "We reject the so called 'bipartisan gun agreement.'" (U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is a chief negotiator for the gun package, which emerged just weeks after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school.)
I can't even comprehend the levels of bullshit and fucked up ness here. These assholes say they oppose PRONOUN USE like that makes any GD sense.
219 notes
·
View notes
Text
Top Republicans evaded questions about a Texas Supreme Court ruling barring a woman with a life-threatening pregnancy from getting an abortion, the latest high-profile case arising as a result of severely restrictive abortion laws around the country.
“I’m a federal official so I really don’t have a comment,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who once served as a judge on the Texas Supreme Court, said when asked about the ruling on Tuesday.
Asked if he believed the ruling was fair to the woman, 31-year-old Kate Cox, Cornyn said: “It’s state law, it’s really not my role.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is up for reelection next year, also declined to answer questions about the matter, instructing reporters to call his office instead. A request for comment to Cruz’s office was not returned.
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
Senate Republicans blocked aid for Israel and Ukraine from advancing in a key vote on Wednesday in protest over a dispute about border security policy, a clash that threatens to derail passage of the foreign aid.
The tally for the procedural vote was 49 to 51, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed proceed. At the end of the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer switched his vote to “no” – a procedural move that will allow him to bring up the measure again in the future.
Republicans have insisted that the foreign aid must be paired with major border security policy changes. There have been talks to try to find consensus, but no bipartisan deal has been reached over the contentious issue.
The stalemate comes amid Israel’s war against Hamas and Ukraine’s war against Russian aggression. The White House issued a dire warning earlier this week that funding for Ukraine is running out and failure to secure an agreement to approve further aid will present critical national security risks.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said ahead of the vote that Republicans would block the bill when it came up for consideration because they believe it does not adequately address border security.
“Senate Republicans are going to deny cloture on a bill that doesn’t address America’s top national security priorities in a serious way. As we’ve said for weeks, legislation that does not include policy changes to secure our borders will not pass the Senate,” he said on the Senate floor.
Schumer has accused Republicans of “hostage taking” as the path to passing aid to Ukraine and Israel remains unclear.
Schumer warned on Tuesday that “without more aid from Congress, Ukraine may fall, democracy in Europe will be imperiled and those who think Vladimir Putin will stop merely at Ukraine willfully ignored the clear and unmistakable warnings of history.”
Republican senators are warning that they are on track to leave for the holidays without passing the supplemental, a stark message to their Democratic colleagues who they say aren’t serious enough about border security.
“It’s becoming more and more apparent that we are not going to be able to pass a supplemental, which I think is terrible,” Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, told CNN.
“If I was a betting person, right now I would say I don’t know how you land this before the holidays unless we’re here right at the very end. But, we’ll see,” Senate GOP Whip John Thune said. “Maybe all of a sudden, there will be a convergence of views about the need to get this done.”
President Joe Biden urgently called on Congress to pass aid for Ukraine in an impassioned speech on Wednesday.
“Make no mistake: today’s vote is going to be long remembered. And history is going to judge harshly those who turned their back on freedom’s cause. We can’t let Putin win,” Biden said.
Senate Democrats have released legislative text for a $110 billion security assistance package that includes funding for Israel and Ukraine and humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, among other priorities. The bill includes border security provisions, but a bipartisan deal hasn’t been struck over the issue.
In November, the GOP-controlled House passed a bill to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel. Democrats, however, took issue with the bill over the fact that it would enact funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service and that it did not include aid to Ukraine.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has also stressed the importance of border security. “Any national security package has to begin with the security of our own border,” he said at a news conference Tuesday.
5 notes
·
View notes
Text
35 notes
·
View notes
Link
19 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
bagwispas
Bagwhispers
foggycuriosities
DBD Centric Multimuse
b1gwings
everything’s gonna be o-a-kay
faysandshit
The Abbey
