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Endangered GOP senators are driving force for virus deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — A small but singularly influential group is a driving force for an agreement on a stalled coronavirus relief bill: Endangered Senate GOP incumbents who need to win this fall if Republicans are going to retain control of the majority.

Confronted with a poisonous political environment, vulnerable Senate Republicans are rushing to endorse generous jobless benefits, child care grants, and more than $100 billion to help schools reopen. Several of them are refusing to allow the Senate to adjourn until Washington delivers a deal to their desperate constituents.

Sen. Martha McSally, who has fallen behind in polls in Arizona, is breaking with conservatives to endorse a temporary extension of a $600 per week supplemental benefits. Republicans up for reelection such as John Cornyn of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are demanding results before returning home to campaign. And Sen. Susan Collins is in overdrive, backing help for cash-starved states and local governments — and Maine’s shipbuilding industry.

The opinions of senators up for reelection are of more consequence to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell than those held by conservatives like Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who are broadcasting their opposition to the emerging legislation as costly and ineffective. As other Republicans gripe that they’re going to have to swallow a deal brokered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the vulnerable Republicans are craving just such a bipartisan result.

“Maybe eight Republicans who are up in tough states have a bigger interest in getting this COVID-19 bill done,” said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. “I think that’s accurate.”

Republican strategists, grappling with a political environment for their party that has worsened over the summer, said it’s imperative for GOP lawmakers to be able to head back to their states and districts with a deal in hand to show voters they are taking the pandemic and the economic fallout seriously.

“GOP Senate candidates need a deal, a good deal ... so they can get home and campaign on helping small businesses get up and moving again,” said Scott Reed, the chief political strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Republican operative Corry Bliss said it was crucial for incumbents facing tough re-election fights to “have wins” to highlight through the fall.

“This is the most important issue facing the country right now,” Bliss said. “There’s no better message for Congress to deliver heading into the election than a big bipartisan victory to help families and small businesses get through this difficult time.”

Republicans control the Senate by a 53-47 margin, meaning Democrats must gain at least three seats to capture Senate control. But Republicans are defending 25 of the 38 seats in play, and are on the defensive even in traditionally red states due to Trump’s deteriorating standings in polls.

Meanwhile, in blue and purple states like Iowa, Colorado, and Maine, GOP incumbents are lining up to break with party orthodoxy on issues like child care, unemployment benefits, and aid to cash-starved state and local governments.

In Colorado, Sen. Cory Gardner recently pushed for more virus relief after an appearance with Ivanka Trump at a child care facility in the Denver suburbs. “It needs to get done now,” he told reporters.

His opponent, Democrat John Hickenlooper, has been hammering Gardner over the GOP’s decision to “pause” the coronavirus negotiations for most of the summer. On Tuesday, his campaign held a virtual press conference to press for more relief. “We’ve seen Sen. Gardner stay silent while Mitch McConnell and President Trump refuse to help millions of Americans,” Hickenlooper said.

In South Carolina, Graham’s opponent has called out what he has characterized as the Republican’s flippant attitude toward real-world concerns over lost wages and unemployment. Jaime Harrison has said Graham is “leading the charge” to cut additional unemployment relief, referring to Graham’s April comment that Congress would extend the current benefits past July “over our dead bodies.”

Graham is now offering a jobless benefit proposal that is more generous than other GOP proposals.

Cornyn helped start a bandwagon of senators who are demanding the Senate stay at work in Washington until a coronavirus bill is passed. Voters expect a deal — including renewed unemployment benefits that have helped millions of people avert a descent into poverty — and returning home to campaign without one in hand could be a political disaster. With progress coming slowly in the talks, GOP leaders said the Senate will be extending its session into next week and possibly longer.

Back home, Cornyn is facing the first serious reelection challenge of his 18 years in the Senate as Trump’s sagging approval and Texas’ rapidly changing suburbs has the GOP nervous about their grip on America’s biggest red state. His opponent, Democrat M.J. Hegar, is attacking Cornyn for opposing the $600 per week benefit as too generous in a majority of cases since it pays most people more to not work than to work. He said in June that the benefit would not be reinstated.

At a closed-door GOP lunch last month, conservative Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., urged a freer-spending approach to the legislation that could help endangered colleagues keep their seats — and allow everyone else to hold onto their gavels.

It’s difficult to overstate the stakes. Republicans are in their sixth year holding the Senate, and that majority could be the only obstacle to all-Democratic control of Washington next year if Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, defeats Trump in November.

Democrats controlling the chamber could rubber-stamp Biden’s Cabinet and judicial picks, if he wins, including likely Supreme Court vacancies. Even a narrow Democratic majority could reverse the GOP’s 2017 tax cuts — and that’s before the party considers eliminating the legislative filibuster that has been the defining characteristic of the chamber for decades.

“This is the most important thing we need to be doing,” Cornyn said Tuesday of the coronavirus response measure.

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Associated Press writers Paul J. Weber in Austin, Texas, Nicholas Riccardi in Denver and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

Kansas Republicans choose Rep. Marshall over firebrand Kobach for Senate seat

Rep. Roger Marshall defeated controversial former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach Tuesday evening to win the Republican nomination for a Senate seat being vacated by longtime Sen. Pat Roberts, R-KS.
The win in the GOP primary means that Republican voters in the Sunflower State heeded their party’s advice by choosing the more moderate Marshall over the conservative firebrand Kobach. Republican leadership was concerned that a Kobach win would could ultimately flip the generally safe Senate seat to the Democrats in November’s general election.
"Kansas Republicans knew what was at stake in this primary, and tonight's results prove voters will reject any Democrat efforts to buy this seat,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said in a statement. “I'm more confident than ever Kansas will remain part of the Republican Senate Majority.”
Besides besting Kobach, Marshall prevailed in a crowded GOP primary field with the backing of major farm, business and anti-abortion groups but without an endorsement from President Trump.
Many Republicans’ fears about Kobach fueled ad campaigns that cost at least $15 million, with most of the spending by political action committees. Kobach is nationally known for advocating restrictive immigration policies and alienated independent and moderate GOP voters in losing the Kansas governor’s race in 2018.
The race for retiring Roberts’ seat had national implications even though the GOP hasn’t lost a Senate contest in Kansas since 1932.
Roberts declared his support for Marshall after the congressman had picked up endorsements from the U.S Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Farm Bureau, the National Right to Life Committee and Kansans for Life, the state’s most influential anti-abortion group. Marshall also had the backing of 97-year-old political icon Bob Dole, the former U.S. Senate majority leader and 1996 GOP presidential nominee.
Even with Marshall as the nominee, the GOP faces a potentially competitive Senate race. The Democratic nominee, state Sen. Barbara Bollier has raised more than $8 million for her campaign, a big sum in a low-cost media state like Kansas, with donations flooding in from outside the state. Bollier is a retired Kansas City-area anethesiologist and former moderate Republican who garnered national headlines by switching parties at the end of 2018.
The NRSC’s Young has already painted Bollier as the “hand-picked” candidate of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“Roger Marshall is a principled conservative who has, and will, deliver for Kansas families, and I look forward to him defeating Chuck Schumer's hand-picked candidate, Barbara Bollier, this November,” Young said.
For her part, Bollier said she doesn't care which candidate she's going up against and slammed the Republicans on their moves to do away with thee Affordable Care Act during the coronavirus pandemic.
"It doesn't matter who our opponent in #KSSen is, we know that they’ll be a hyper-partisan working to take healthcare coverage from thousands of Kansans in the middle of a pandemic. That’s for sure," Bollier tweeted.
Republicans are trying to keep their 53-47 Senate majority with competitive races in other states, including Arizona, Colorado and Maine.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tucker reacts to leaked George Floyd footage: 'Why haven't we seen the rest of the video until right now?'

The American people should have been allowed to see police body camera footage of the moments before Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pinned George Floyd's neck under Chauvin's knee much sooner than this week, Tucker Carlson argued Tuesday.
Footage from the cameras of former rookie officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng was obtained by the Daily Mail and published Monday. The video shows about 18 minutes from Kueng's body camera and 10 minutes from Lane's.
The footage shows four Minneapolis police officers struggling with Floyd this past May 25 before one of them, Derek Chauvin, ultimately pins Floyd to the ground in a scene that sparked protests worldwide.
POLICE BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE OF GEORGE FLOYD ARREST LEAKED, PUBLISHED DESPITE DISTRIBUTION BAN
"The catechism has been written and it's in stone. 'George Floyd is a martyr, period' ... " the "Tucker Carlson Tonight" host said. "But in America, that's not good enough. It's not a real answer. In free societies, citizens have a right to know why things are changing so quickly.
"What exactly is the basis of this cultural revolution that we're all living through?" Carlson asked. "Once again, it may be some time before we can answer those questions with certainty. Maybe we never will. We'll probably debate them for decades. But more facts are always the first step toward establishing what the truth is ...
"Floyd's death has been used to justify a nationwide convulsion of violence, destruction, looting, in some cases killing ..." Carlson went on. "In addition to unprecedented levels of political upheaval, the wholesale reordering of our most basic institutions, Floyd's death changed everything. It was a pivot point in American history. No matter what your side you're on, that's very clear at this point. So with all of that in mind ... it's striking how little we really know months later about how exactly George Floyd died."
Carlson then played clips of the body camera footage. Prior to its publication by the Daily Mail, the video was only available for viewing at the Hennepin County Courthouse, by appointment only.
"You can decide for yourself what you think of that video. And we hope you will. That's the whole point of having a news network, to bring you the facts and allow you to decide what they amount to. We hope that takes place in this case," Carlson said. "So the question is, why haven't we seen the rest of the video until right now? The video seems relevant, particularly considering all that happened next."
Fox News' Sam Dorman and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Cruz slams Dems after contentious hearing on Antifa: 'They want to encourage these radical leftists'

Democrats are "facilitating" riots and violence in major American cities and encouraging "radical leftists" who are threatening Americans, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Tuesday on "Hannity."

"What's happening, unfortunately, is not free speech," Cruz said, "and those who are peaceably protesting are seeing their protests hijacked by violent anarchists, by Marxists who are engaged in acts of terror.
"At the end of the day, none of this is complicated," he added. "Don't assault your fellow citizens. Don't firebomb a police car. Don't loot and destroy small businesses. Don't murder police officers."
Cruz, who chaired a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing concerning Antifa Tuesday, slammed Democrats for not condemning the far-left group.
"Seven Democrats spoke and ... questioned the witnesses. Not a single one dared to ... criticize Antifa in any way, because they're making a cynical decision that they want to encourage these radical leftists who are assaulting and threatening American citizens," Cruz said. "It's really unfortunate."
The hearing was marked by antagonism between Cruz and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, who left before the hearing was adjourned.
Cruz told host Sean Hannity that the Democratic Party has "really unleashed the crazies."
"Most of the party is really held captive to the extreme angry voices, whether it's Antifa, whether ... it is AOC or Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren," Cruz said. "And you see them denying reality. You'll also see them using rhetoric, I mean, calling federal police officers 'storm troopers' like Nancy Pelosi did, or 'Gestapo,' as Clyburn did ... Cops are not Nazis, and it is grotesque. It is offensive."
Fox News' Marisa Schultz contributed t othis report.

Democrat Run Cities Cartoons

Cruz, ahead of Antifa hearing, describes riots in US cities as ‘organized terror attacks’

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is aiming to highlight the role Antifa and like-minded groups are playing in riots across the country, convening a Senate hearing Tuesday on the issue while alleging that radical left-wing groups are engaging in "organized terror attacks" designed to tear down government institutions.
“Across the country, we’re seeing horrific violence, we’re seeing our country torn apart. Violent anarchists and Marxists are exploiting protests to transform them into riots and direct assaults on the lives and safety of their fellow Americans,” Cruz told Fox News in an interview.
On Tuesday, Cruz will chair a hearing of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution to investigate groups such as Antifa, which, while active for years, have recently escalated their presence in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody. The hearing is called "The Right of the People Peaceably to Assemble: Protecting Speech by Stopping Anarchist Violence.”
Speakers will include Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, journalist Andy Ngo and law professor Jonathan Turley. It comes after two months of protests and violent riots hit downtown Portland, where rioters have attacked the Hatfield Courthouse and clashed with federal law enforcement protecting it.
As part of his opening statement, Cruz will play a video to the committee that shows peaceful protests led by civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., and contrasts them with the violence committed by Antifa and similar groups.
"These violent riots are not spontaneous, nor are they mere coincidences. Instead, the evidence suggests they are organized terror attacks designed to instill fear and tear down the fundamental institutions of government. This hearing is designed to understand who is driving the violence, who is driving the assaults, who is driving the murders, and what their objective is,” Cruz said.
Law enforcement in Portland were blinded by lasers, assaulted and doxed online. But local and state officials backed the protesters and accused the Trump administration of having escalated the situation with their presence, as well as "kidnapping" protesters. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and DHS came to an agreement late last month on a phased withdrawal for law enforcement, conditional on the courthouse being protected.
But Portland is one of a number of cities that have been hit by unrest amid broader protests, some of them peaceful, since the death of George Floyd in May. Cruz asserts that the violence is not a natural offshoot of peaceful protests against police brutality -- and he wants to get to the bottom of who is responsible.
"The hearing will assess who is driving the violence, who is driving the assaults, who is driving the fires, who is driving the explosions, who is driving the murders, why are they doing so, how are they doing so and what do they hope to achieve through violent acts of terror?" he told Fox News.
As well as Antifa, Cruz also wants the hearing to look at Black Lives Matter. He makes a distinction between the statement “black lives matter,” which he calls “unquestionably true,” and the organization Black Lives Matter -- which has called for people to “disrupt” the "Western-prescribed nuclear family structure" and defund police departments.
“The actual organization denominated Black Lives Matter was created by avowed Marxists pursuing a radical agenda including defunding police departments across the country and that agenda, if implemented, would have the consequence of a great many more Black lives being lost,” Cruz said.
The hearing comes after Cruz last month introduced the RECLAIM Act which would hold state and local officials liable for private property damage caused by rioters if those officials had given a stand-down order to police or had allowed rioters to establish an “autonomous zone” as happened recently in Seattle
Cruz says he hopes there is common ground with the Democratic minority in the Senate: “All of us should be able to come together and say ‘don't assault other Americans, don't burn their homes or businesses to the ground, don’t murder police officers.’”
However, he notes that a number of Democrats, both locally and nationally, have criticized the actions of law enforcement in places like Portland. Oregon’s Democratic congressional delegation demanded investigations into federal activity while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called officers “stormtroopers” -- a remark that outraged Cruz and others.
“When Nancy Pelosi calls federal law enforcement officers stormtroopers and that is a term that hearkens back to Nazi Germany, when she wrongfully alleges that they are kidnapping Americans, that is a grotesque lie, and a slander and it endangers the lives of law enforcement,” he said.
“It reflects the very unfortunate political determination that a lot of Democrats have made -- that given the choice between standing with innocent Americans or violent terrorists seeking to hurt their fellow citizens, to date too many of them have stood with terrorists,” he said.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw says Obama just wants to spread radical agenda

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, took to Twitter late Monday to try and dispel the lingering belief that Barack Obama, the former president, represents the moderate side of the Democrat Party.
Crenshaw pointed to a list of endorsements that Obama tweeted out earlier in the day and pointed to how Obama is  “meddling” in races all across Texas.  The Lone Star State is a target for Democrats in 2020.
Crenshaw, a rising star in the Republican Party, said that Obama’s only goal is to help his party “spread the most radical agenda in a century.”
“He’s no moderate,” Crenshaw wrote. “Neither are his candidates.”
Republicans have been trying to tie Joe Biden to the left-wing of the Democrat Party. Their theory is the Biden will be elected as a moderate, but, once in office, will relent his power to the extremes of the party.
Obama stayed largely out of public eye during the Democrat Primaries but has recently been more vocal about his opinion on the direction of the country.
“We may no longer have to guess the number of jellybeans in a jar in order to cast a ballot, but even as we sit here, there are those in power, who are doing their darndest to discourage people from voting by closing polling locations and targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision -- even undermining the postal service in the run-up to an election that's going to be dependent on mail-in ballots so people don't get sick,” he said.
His criticism was seen as a direct shot at President Trump.
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News last week his theory on why the state may now be up for grabs. He said that middle-class and suburban women are moving away from Trump, pointing to Georgia and Texas specifically as locations with high concentrations of that demographic.
"If you look at what is happening nationally, there are two broad demographic trends going on nationally, blue-collar workers, union members are moving right, and that is moving midwestern states more Republican, states like Ohio and Michigan and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, every one of which went for Donald Trump in 2016 -- at the same time we are seeing suburban voters, in particular suburban women who are moving left," said Cruz.