Late-night House fracas continues to roil Congress
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sought to calm the waters after an intensely personal war of words reverberated across Capitol Hill on Friday.
Johnson expressed frustration in the aftermath of the public spectacle, which broke out among members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee late Thursday night.
"It's not a good look for Congress. We need people on both sides of the aisle to just...take the emotion out of it," he told reporters just hours after the chaotic episode. "We can have vigorous debate. That's what this institution is built upon. But you know, we have to treat one another with dignity and respect."
Quick recap:During a hearing on a GOP-led effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), no stranger to controversy since taking office in 2021, took a dig at the physical appearance of Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), mocking her fake eyelashes. Crockett later fired back, musing about an anonymous committee person's "bleach blond bad built butch body." Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) were also involved in the spat.
Crockett accused Greene of racism Friday, saying she has never heard the Republican firebrand comment on the looks of her white colleagues, even those she has sparred with.
"She doesn't do that, right? But she decided to do it to me. So absolutely [she's a racist]," Crockett said. "She probably will raise money, because the racists are going to be so happy to give it to her."
A side tussle has also developed between two-high profile Democrats after Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.), who has run crosswise with the left flank of his party over his unwavering support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, compared the hearing to the "Jerry Springer Show."
Ocasio-Cortez, who jumped in to defend Crockett at the panel hearing, took to the social media platform X to hit back at the freshman senator.
"I understand you likely would not have stood up for your colleague and seem to be confused about racism and misogyny being a 'both sides' issue. but I stand up to bullies, instead of becoming one," she wrote.
The vote to hold Garland in contempt ultimately passed along party lines.
Welcome to Evening Report! We are Liz Crisp and Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming this weekend. Not on the list? Subscribe here.
CATCH UP QUICK
CNN has obtained a disturbing video of hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs brutally assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura in 2016. The release comes after Ventura filed a lawsuit last year against Combs alleging years of “abuse, violence and sex trafficking,” during their relationship. Combs quickly settled out of court.
The world's No. 1 golfer Scott Scheffler returned to the PGA Championship Friday, just hours after he was arrested outside of a Louisville, Ky., golf club in what he called a "misunderstanding."
Hunter Biden’s attorneys have asked the judge overseeing his tax case in California to delay the trial, which is set for June, until September or later.
The man who violently attacked former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) husband with a hammer in 2022 has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Durbin calls for Alito recusal from Jan. 6 cases over upside-down flag that flew at his home
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has sought to distance himself from reports that an upside-down flag was flown near his Virginia home following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
But Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) wants the conservative justice to recuse himself from all cases related to the 2020 election and the insurrection.
"Flying an upside-down American flag — a symbol of the so-called ‘Stop the Steal’ movement — clearly creates the appearance of bias,” Durbin said.
The New York Times reported the inverted flag was flown outside Alito's home on Jan. 17, 2021. The outlet received photos of the flag.
The Justice said in a statement that he had “no involvement whatsoever in flying the flag” and that his wife, Martha-Ann, hung it because of a dispute with neighbors.
The court will soon take up two Jan. 6-related cases, including whether former President Trump should be immune from prosecution for his alleged role in the attack. Durbin said Alito should step back during those cases and not take part in the rulings.
The upside-down flag has long been known as an SOS signal, but it has been used increasingly in the political universe in recent years, especially on the night after Trump’s loss to President Biden in 2020, and it gained steam among his supporters as a symbol to “stop the steal.”
The Supreme Court’s ethics code says justices should not make political statements and should maintain impartiality on issues that could come before the court.
According to the U.S. Flag Code, the American flag should not be flown upside down “except as a signal of dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.”
ELECTION WATCH
Debate commission co-chair blames Dunn, Klain for Biden campaign decision
A top leader of the Commission on Presidential Debates is airing his frustrations over the nonpartisan group being sidelined from this year's showdowns between President Biden and former President Trump.
Frank Fahrenkopf, a co-chair of the commission who served as chair of the Republican National Committee at the time the two major parties agreed to create a bipartisan commission on debates in the late 1980s, blamed Anita Dunn, a Biden administration adviser, and Ron Klain, the former White House chief of staff, for the shift.
“I know where all this is coming [from] — this is Anita Dunn,” Fahrenkopf said in an interview with Politico, while also blaming Klain. “This is her plan. I know. She’s fought — she was against the commission for years and years and years.”
Klain has represented Democratic presidential nominees coordinating with the commission since 2000.
Biden campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, notified the commission Wednesday that it would work directly with news organizations to coordinate debates.
“As Donald Trump has said he will debate ‘anytime, anywhere,’ we hope both campaigns can quickly accept broadcast media debate invitations on the parameters above,” she said in the letter. “Americans need a debate on the issues – not a tedious debate about debates.”
Trump responded that he would accept the terms that the Biden campaign proposed.
The debates are set to be held June 27 and September 10. CNN will host the first one, and ABC will host the second. (The Hill)
TUNE IN: NewsNation's "The Hill Sunday with Chris Stirewalt" will have a discussion on the presidential debates with Mark McKinnon, former media adviser to President George W. Bush (R) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and co-creator and executive producer of "The Circus;" and Democratic strategist Lynda Tran, who worked in President Biden and President Obama's administrations.
Biden marks 70 years since Brown v. Board of Education: ‘A prayer was answered’
While commemorating the 70th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court ruling that ended segregation in public schools, President Biden called on Americans to push for greater equality.
“Seventy years ago, when the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, a prayer was answered in the long struggle for freedom,” Biden said during an event Friday marking the anniversary at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. "Once upon a time wasn't that long ago, and [with] all the progress we've made, we still have more to do. There are still groups are trying to erase it."
He reflected on his meeting Thursday with members of the Little Rock Nine where they discussed what they endured in 1957.
“The Brown decision proves a simple idea: We learn better when we learn together,” Biden said. "We have a whole group of people out there, trying to rewrite history, trying to erase history." (The Hill)
Be sure to check back for more coverage from The Hill's race & politics reporter, Cheyanne M. Daniels, on this topic.
Israel recovers the bodies of three hostages as aid to Gaza begins to move over U.S.-built pier
The Israeli military has recovered the bodies of three Israelis who were taken hostage by Hamas in the deadly Oct. 7 attack on civilians.
The deceased were identified as 22-year-old German Israeli Shani Louk, 28-year-old Amit Buskila and 56-year-old Itzhak Gelerenter, The Associated Press reported Friday.
“It’s just horrible news and our hearts go out to the families," White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters Friday. Kirby did not have an update on the five American hostages who remain unaccounted for.
The news comes as U.S. humanitarian aid has made its way to a pier anchored off the coast of Gaza for distribution.
Kirby said the United Nations has taken possession of the first pallets of aid and that it will be distributed right away to people in Rafah, which has become a home to many displaced Gazans.
He also reiterated the White House position that Israel has “a right and responsibility to go after Hamas, including in Rafah.” But he urged the Israelis not to be “indiscriminate and reckless” in their attacks.
The U.S. has paused a shipment of large bombs to Israel over concerns of mass casualties in Rafah.
Some in Houston facing no power for weeks after storms cause widespread damage, killing at least 4
Power outages could last weeks in parts of Houston after thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds ripped through the city Thursday.
The Associated Press reports that the severe storms knocked out electricity to nearly 1 million homes and businesses, blew out windows on downtown high rises and flipped vehicles, among other damage.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top elected official, told The AP that crews were still trying to determine the extent of the damage and the number of casualties. At least four people were killed, according to local reports.
“We are going to have to talk about this disaster in weeks, not days,” Hidalgo said.
The power outages come as the region braces for temperatures to climb to the 90s this weekend.
OP-EDS IN THE HILL
"Voters want to tax outrageous CEO pay. Are lawmakers listening?," writes Sarah Anderson of the the Global Economy Project.
"Has the administration overstepped with the new airline ticket fee disclosures?" writes Sheldon H. Jacobson, computer science professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
⏲️ COUNTDOWN
40 days until the first presidential debate.
59 days until the Republican National Convention.
94 days until the Democratic National Convention.
171 days until the 2024 general election.
🗓 COMING NEXT
Sunday: President Biden will deliver a commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black university in Georgia.
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