Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she got “a lot” of pushback from the White House over supporting a discharge petition aiming to force the administration to release all of the documents related to late, disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Oh, I got a lot of pushback. I got phone call after…
House Democrats—with unexpected help from a handful of Republicans—blocked a GOP effort Wednesday to censure Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey and to boot her from the Homeland Security Committee. The push came after GOP Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana introduced a privileged resolution Tuesday, forcing a quick vote. Higgins argued that it’s a “significant conflict of interest” for McIver to serve on a committee overseeing Immigration and Customs Enforcement while she faces federal charges related to an altercation with immigration officers. Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey With Republicans holding a razor-thin majority in the House, the measure had a real shot at passing—a move that would’ve further squeezed McIver ahead of her November trial on charges that carry sentences of up to eight years. But in a surprise twist, the House voted 215-207 to table the resolution, with five Republicans breaking ranks and two voting “present.” McIver, who pleaded not guilty in June, has called the prosecution political retribution aimed at silencing dissent against President Donald Trump’s draconian immigration policies. The charges stem from a tense May 9 visit to the 1,000-bed Delaney Hall detention facility, where McIver and colleagues clashed with federal officers as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested for trespassing. (The trespassing charge was later dropped, and Baraka is now suing interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba—a Trump appointee who was later found to be serving illegally—for “malicious prosecution.”) McIver maintains that she was the one who was assaulted during the incident, and in a statement Tuesday night, she accused Higgins of using the censure to score political points. Supporters of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka rally outside the courthouse before his court appearance. “We were all elected to do the people’s work. I take that responsibility seriously—Clay Higgins clearly does not. Instead of making life any better for the people he represents, he’s seeking to punish me for doing what he and his caucus are too cowardly to do: conduct real oversight, stand up to this administration, and do our jobs,” McIver said in a statement. “If House Republicans think they can make me run scared, they’re wrong.” And on Wednesday, she doubled down. “It’s pathetic. At the end of the day, it’s not going to stop me from doing my job,” she said. “I’m going to continue to provide oversight.” Other Democrats are punching back, too. Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York, who also serves as Congressional Black Caucus chair, introduced her own privileged resolution to censure GOP Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, who faces a string of controversies—including allegedly threatening to release intimate photos of a former partner. Unlike the GOP’s unsuccessful resolution against McIver, Clarke’s effort does not call for Mills’ removal. Republican leaders dismissed the move as a stunt. “The motion against McIver is something that a lot of the members here feel passionately about,” Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters, arguing that McIver’s pending trial “seems to be a bit of a conflict for her to continue to serve on that committee.” But Democrats counter that this is part of a larger pattern. Republicans have repeatedly targeted Democrats who challenge Trump or his allies. In March, GOP Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington pushed a resolution to censure Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas for protesting during Trump’s speech to Congress—and it passed. Sen. Alex Padilla of California is pushed out of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference on June 12. For perspective, the House has censured just 28 members in its history—nearly a third of which happened in the last four years. What was once a rarely used punishment has become a partisan weapon, forcing lawmakers to stand in the well of the House as their condemnation is read aloud. Stripping lawmakers of committee assignments is even newer territory. When Democrats were in power in 2021, they removed GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona for promoting violent rhetoric—setting a precedent that the GOP is now eager to use in return. McIver’s case is shaping up as a stress test for how far Trump’s allies will go to punish critics—and how far Democrats are willing to push back. Meanwhile, most Republicans are laser-focused on punishing dissent while ignoring other major issues. Just this week, Trump waved away questions about the release of the Epstein files, while House leaders teed up floor time to censure a Democrat whose trial hasn’t even begun. Federal officers have also been harassing lawmakers, like Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California, who was shoved out of a Homeland Security press conference. For Democrats, the message is clear: If you defy Trump, you risk becoming a political example.
PoliticusUSA is real independent news that speaks out for democracy. You can join us by becoming a subscriber. Subscribe now Donald Trump has one philosophy as president, and that is the president has unlimited power that allows the Executive Branch to do whatever it wants. Trump and his administration don’t acknowledge the limits of power, and their motto is act first, get sued later. This reckless philosophy continues to lead to illegal actions. Because what Trump and his administration are doing in many cases is illegal, it would be foolish for any company, organization, or academic institution to either bribe Trump or pay his extortion demands. Harvard University stood up to Trump and took him to court over the administration’s freeze of $200 billion in funds to the university, and today, Harvard won. Video clip of Mary McCord and Mark Elias on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House: McCord said, “They won here and it appears they won pretty big. Just like the law firms who challenged the blacklisting. They won and they won big. And it just shows there is real power to standing up against unconstitutional actions and actions that violate congressional statutes. That’s what we should be doing, and that’s what lots of people are doing and lots of people who are doing it are winning. Mark Elias, I would say all of the people that are doing it are winning.” Are Those Paying Off Trump Victims Or Collaborators? Read more
A Kentucky Republican and a California Democrat have joined forces, but the task is getting taller.
Lisbon’s mayor says the capital is in mourning, adding it was a “tragic moment for the city”.
Harrison Stetler Prime Minister François Bayrou is gambling his political survival on a confidence vote, in a probably doomed attempt to force France’s hung parliament to accept an austerity budget. The post The French Center Plays Brinkmanship With Fiscal Crisis appeared first on The Nation.
Starting teaching today a course on the financial system. Here are some graphs of the current situation, through August. Addendum:
ASIA: The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: • NIKKEI 225 decreased 371.60 points or -0.88% to 41,938.89 • Shanghai decreased 44.577 points or -1.16% to 3,813.557 • Hang Seng decreased 153.12 points or -0.60% to 25,343.43 • ASX 200 decreased 161.80 points or -1.82% to 8,738.80 • SENSEX increased 409.83 points or 0.51% to 80,567.71 • Nifty50 increased 135.45 points or 0.55% to 24,715.05 The major Asian currency markets had a mixed day today: • AUDUSD increased 0.00299 or 0.46% to 0.65485 • NZDUSD increased 0.00173 or 0.30% to 0.58784 • USDJPY decreased 0.601 or -0.40% to 147.974 • USDCNY increased 0.00158 or 0.02% to 7.13986 The above data was collected around 12:15 EST. Precious Metals: • Gold increased 30.23 USD/t oz. or 0.86% to 3,565.01 • Silver increased 0.303 USD/t. oz. or 0.74% to 41.213 The above data was collected around 12:18 EST. EUROPE/EMEA: The major Europe stock markets had a green day today: • CAC 40 increased 65.46 points or 0.86% to 7,719.71 • FTSE 100 increased 61.30 points or 0.67% to 9,177.99 • DAX 30 increased 107.47 points or 0.46% to 23,594.80 The major Europe currency markets had a mixed day today: • EURUSD increased 0.0043 or 0.37% to 1.16757 • GBPUSD increased 0.00703 or 0.53% to 1.34515 • USDCHF decreased 0.00207 or -0.26% to 0.80324 The above data was collected around 13:01 EST. US/AMERICAS: US Market Closings: Dow declined by 24.58 points (-0.05%) to 45,271.23 S&P 500 advanced by 32.72 points (+0.51%) to 6,448.26 NASDAQ advanced by 218.10 points (+1.03%) to 21,497.73 Russell 2000 declined by 3.11 points (-0.13%) to 2,349.10 Canada Market Closings: TSX Composite advanced by 136.86 points (+0.48%) to 28,752.48 TSX 60 advanced by 7.90 points (+0.47%) to 1,704.79 Brazil Market Closing: Bovespa declined by 553.18 points (-0.39%) to 139,781.98 ENERGY: The oil markets had a mixed day today: • Crude Oil decreased 1.598 USD/BBL or -2.44% to 63.992 • Brent decreased 1.469 USD/BBL or -2.12% to 67.671 • Natural gas increased 0.0356 USD/MMBtu or 1.18% to 3.0446 • Gasoline decreased 0.0261 USD/GAL or -1.28% to 2.0164 • Heating oil decreased 0.0144 USD/GAL or -0.61% to 2.3600 The above data was collected around 13:03 EST. • Top commodity gainers: Natural Gas (1.18%), Orange Juice (1.93%), Palladium (2.06%) and Platinum (2.33%) • Top commodity losers: Canola (-1.85%), Crude Oil (-2.44%), Brent (-2.12%) and Oat (-1.80%) The above data was collected around 13:11 EST. BONDS: Japan 1.6370% (+3.06bp), US 2’s 3.61% (-0.033%), US 10’s 4.2080% (-5.5bps); US 30’s 4.89 (-0.067%), Bunds 2.7370% (-5.29bp), France 3.5410% (-4.44bp), Italy 3.640% (-7.07bp), Turkey 32.815% (+259.5bp), Greece 3.469% (-5.2bp), Portugal 3.178% (-6.3bp); Spain 3.345% (-5.8bp) and UK Gilts 4.7490% (-6.03bp) The above data was collected around 13:15 EST.
Leer en Español Global economy to lose steam this year: The FocusEconomics World GDP Consensus Forecast—based on 3,500 individual projections for GDP growth across 198 countries—shows that the global economy is on track for its slowest growth since the Covid-19 slump of 2020 this year, dragged down by softer expansions in major players like Brazil, Canada, China, Mexico, Russia and the U.S. But the picture isn’t bleak everywhere—Africa and the Middle East are set to accelerate, powered by rising OPEC+ oil output quotas that are giving regional GDP a welcome boost. Forecasts display U-shaped trend: As the graph below shows, our World GDP Consensus Forecast was slashed in the wake of Donald Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs, but has since recovered somewhat. Economic activity in many parts of the world has proved more resilient than expected, higher tariffs in the U.S. are taking a while to filter through to prices, and the global AI boom is girding tech exports and investment. G20 countries see divergent trend: The below graph shows the evolution of our 2025 GDP growth forecasts for select G20 countries over the last six months. Argentina has seen the largest upgrade, as the government’s aggressive reform agenda has borne fruit. China’s forecasts have also been upgraded—superficially surprising, given the country has been subjected to hefty new U.S. tariffs. Chinese economic activity has been boosted by record government bond issuance, strong global electronics demand, rapid electric-vehicle-sector growth, export frontloading and rerouting to avoid U.S. tariffs, and an expanded trade-in scheme that boosted household spending. At the other end of the spectrum are the economies of South Korea and Mexico, both of which are likely to suffer fallout from a more protectionist U.S. Insight from our panelists: On the outlook for the global economy, EIU analysts said: US trade protectionism is being met mostly with restraint in terms of retaliation, but deep policy uncertainty is moving the global economy into a worse equilibrium. The risk of policy missteps will be high in this environment of rapid change. Although we forecast that global short-term interest rates will continue to fall, the unpredictable application of US tariffs will make it difficult for central banks to decipher inflation trends. Under the second Trump administration, the US is working to rebalance its economic and security relations. The manner in which the agenda is being pursued, however, will strain traditional alliances and drive geopolitical and economic realignment. Conflict risk and geopolitical brinkmanship will be key features of the global landscape, contributing to high risk premia and sustaining the risk of commodity price shocks. On U.S. trade policy, ING’s Carsten Brzeski said: “Trump is demanding that trading partners show him the money in the form of investment pledges or face astronomically high tariffs. […] It’s unclear whether investment aspects of trade talks will move beyond headline figures and vague commitments. Unlike tariffs, which are straightforward to enforce, investment pledges and purchase commitments are harder to monitor, especially since entities like the EU lack the authority to guarantee them, leaving delivery to corporations. Japan and South Korea’s promises are mainly in the form of loans. This raises questions about how the U.S. might respond if countries fall short. And even with a deal – and I’m looking at you, Switzerland – the tariff issue persists. For Trump, tariffs are a versatile tool, used well beyond trade balance concerns. We can only guess at the long-term implications of such economic power play. Disrupted supply chains, strained diplomatic ties, economic selfishness, and less efficient global trade are just a few things to come to mind.” Our latest analysis: Israel’s economy clocked a surprise contraction in Q2. Japan’s exports worsened again in July. The post Get the latest global GDP growth forecasts via our daily tracker appeared first on FocusEconomics.
Lisbon’s mayor says the capital is in mourning, adding it was a “tragic moment for the city”.
