Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is inspiring a crossover voting movement among Republicans similar to those seen in past presidential primaries but with a twist.
Janice Foster, currently a registered Republican in Lexington, Kentucky, told The Epoch Times she is registering Democrat to vote in the primaries not because she sees RFK Jr. as an easier candidate for her party to beat in general elections, but because she sees him as a better candidate for America than President Joe Biden.
“I’d rather Kennedy than Biden,” said Mrs. Foster, “I’d rather sacrifice my vote for a Republican than not do my part to make sure he doesn’t get back into office.”...
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said on July 17 that she is open to designating communist China as a currency manipulator.
When asked by The Epoch Times during a press gaggle shortly before taking the stage at Christians United for Israel’s annual summit in Arlington, Virginia, why the only condition of China’s normal trade status is based on the fentanyl crisis in the United States and not the other issues, Ms. Haley said that threatening China to strip it of its normal trade relations status over perpetuating the fentanyl crisis should be more than enough for China to stop doing so and that the top goal is to prevent its facilitation of fentanyl, which is a leading cause of death among Americans....
The Biden administration has agreed to settle lawsuits related to former President Donald Trump’s construction of the border wall and will fund environmental protection measures to compensate for the alleged harm to nature caused by such construction activities.
A coalition of 18 states, led by California, had sued the Trump administration in 2019 and 2020, alleging that the government was illegally diverting taxpayer funds that were authorized for other purposes to build a wall at the U.S. border in four states—Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Two nonprofit organizations, the Sierra Club and Southern Borders Communities Coalition, had also filed complaints. The lawsuits followed a national emergency declaration by Mr. Trump in 2019 at the U.S.–Mexico border that was used as justification to divert billions of dollars to build the wall....
A senior Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) executive was unable to tell a congressional oversight subcommittee when a briefing requested four months ago will be scheduled on how the government processes placement of unaccompanied minors who cross into the U.S. at the Southern border.
“On March 2, 2023, the [House Judiciary] Committee requested a general briefing on the Unaccompanied Children (UAC) placement process or a demonstration of the UAC portal. It has been over four months, and we have not yet received the briefing on the UAC or the demonstration of the portal,” Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) told HHS Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Melanie Egorin....
President Joe Biden’s proposed income-based student loan repayment plan could cost $475 billion over a period of 10 years and end up encouraging “more loan borrowing” among college students, according to the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Biden’s “Saving on A Valuable Education” (SAVE) scheme aims to reduce the income-based monthly payments on student loans by half, remove monthly payments for individuals earning minimum wage, and forgive all outstanding debt on student loans once the borrower pays for 10 years, provided the loan amount is $12,000 or less.
According to an estimate by the Department of Education, the SAVE plan will cost $138 billion over a decade....
Republicans on the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government are moving ahead with plans to hear testimony from Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, after House Democrats and their supporters raised accusations Mr. Kennedy had made anti-Semitic remarks.
At a July 11 campaign event, Mr. Kennedy described research indicating that the genetic structure of SARS‑CoV‑2 had differing impacts on individuals of different races and ethnicities, including a lesser impact on ethnic Chinese and Ashkenazi Jews. Mr. Kennedy also discussed how bioweapons could potentially be designed with the intent to harm certain ethnic groups over others. The New York Post published an article based on Mr. Kennedy’s remarks, with the headline “RFK Jr. says COVID may have been ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Jews.”...
A top House Republican indicated that Meta Platforms and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg could face a contempt of Congress citation if he doesn’t cooperate with an investigation into allegations that Meta colluded with the federal government to censor speech.
During an appearance on Fox News on Monday, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was asked by host Laura Ingraham about reports suggesting he is “strongly considering holding Zuckerberg in contempt of Congress” over censoring “protected speech” due to government agencies’ requests. “Are you going to really move forward on this?” she asked.
“If he doesn’t give us the information, we will” bring contempt charges against Mr. Zuckerberg, said Mr. Jordan in response to the question. “We know Facebook was censoring Americans because a Federal Court told us so two weeks ago, laid out 86 pages of facts with the Facebook and federal agencies pressuring them and other Big Tech companies.”...
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who will oversee Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial, issued a sweeping gag order scolding lawyers on both sides for “inflammatory” public comments ahead of the historic September proceedings.
“The court finds that individuals involved in the trial of impeachment will likely continue to make public prejudicial and inflammatory statements unless this order is issued,” Mr. Patrick wrote in the gag order issued on Monday (pdf).
Mr. Patrick, who leads the Senate and will preside over the impeachment, issued the order just ahead of a high-profile news conference with Mr. Paxton’s lead attorney Tony Buzbee, which was scheduled for Tuesday but has now been canceled....
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is scheduled to hold a hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida, on July 18 to determine how to handle classified evidence in the criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his retention of government materials. Legal experts have said the complexities surrounding the use of highly classified documents as evidence are likely to delay Trump’s trial.
Schedule
1 p.m. ET—Monitor for arrivals
2 p.m. ET—Start of hearing (No cameras in court room)
...
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said on Monday that the department will continue to extend support for student loan holders and look for ways to provide more relief for existing borrowers, two weeks after the Supreme Court struck down a government attempt to forgive millions of such loans.
“The goal is to be able to pay what you can afford. Right now people are falling into default because the college loan payments are too high for the salaries,” Mr. Cardona said.
“Clearly, we’re not done fighting for the borrowers. We’re not done fighting for accessible higher education and that’s something we’re going to be committed to.”...
The House Democrat leadership, Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), and Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) hold a weekly press conference at 10:45 a.m. ET on July 18.
...
The House Foreign Affairs Committee Human Rights Subcommittee holds a hearing on “The Dire State of Religious Freedom Around the World” at 10:30 a.m. ET on July 18.
Witnesses
Panel I:
Rabbi Abraham Cooper
Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
Eric Patterson, Ph.D.
President of the Religious Freedom Institute
Reverend Susan Hayward
Associate Director at Harvard Divinity School’s Religion and Public Life Program
Panel II:
The Honorable Rashad Hussain
Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom with the U.S. Department of State
...
Former President Donald Trump said that he received a letter on July 17 informing him that he is a target of the special counsel investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.
Mr. Trump said the Sunday letter from special counsel Jack Smith gave him four days to report to a grand jury. In a message posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, the former president suggested that the short deadline may mean he would be arrested and indicted.
Mr. Trump called the letter “HORRIFYING NEWS for our country” and framed it with the backdrop of the two other indictments he is facing amid a heated presidential reelection campaign in which he dominated the GOP field....
The House Republican leadership, including Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) hold a weekly press conference at 10:00 a.m. ET on July 18.
...
The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Indo-Pacific Subcommittee holds a hearing on “Achieving Peace Through Strength in the Indo-Pacific” at 10 a.m. ET on July 18.
Witnesses:
The Honorable Daniel J. Kritenbrink
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State
Mr. Michael Ronning
Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator, Asia Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development
...
A former FBI supervisory special agent has allegedly confirmed key portions of an IRS whistleblower’s testimony that President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, received preferential treatment during an investigation into felony tax crimes, according to the House Oversight Committee.
“Today, a former FBI supervisory special agent assigned to the FBI’s Wilmington office and the Biden criminal investigation confirmed key portions of the IRS whistleblower’s testimony,” committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a July 17 statement.
Mr. Comer did not reveal the identity of the former FBI agent.
He further claimed that the night before the interview of Hunter Biden, “both Secret Service headquarters and the Biden transition team were tipped off about the planned interview.”...
The House Armed Services Committee meets on July 18 to receive testimony on the barriers that prevent the Department of Defense from adopting and deploying artificial intelligence (AI) effectively and safely, the Department’s role in AI adoption, and the risks to the Department from adversarial AI.
The hearing starts at 9 a.m. ET.
Witnesses
Alexandr Wang
Chief Executive Officer
Scale AI
Klon Kitchen
Nonresident Senior Fellow
American Enterprise Institute
Haniyeh Mahmoudian
Global AI Ethicist
DataRobot
...
Former Vice President Mike Pence addressed a pro-Israel group on the eve of a controversial U.S. visit from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, pledging his continued support for the U.S. alliance with the Jewish state.
“I will always be a defender of our most cherished ally, and if I have anything to say about it, if the world knows nothing else, the world will know this: America stands with Israel,” Mr. Pence told enthusiastic attendees at the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Summit in Arlington, Virginia, on July 17.
CUFI is an advocacy group that fights anti-Semitism and promotes U.S. support for Israel....
A congressional committee has formally requested the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) to provide information regarding its partnership with a Chinese state-controlled university, citing grave research security concerns.
In a letter to UC Berkeley’s president and chancellor on July 13, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) said the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (TBSI) gives Beijing access to research that might be leveraged for China’s military purposes.
TBSI was established in 2014 as a joint institute between UC Berkeley, Tsinghua University in China, and the Shenzhen government. Its research efforts mainly focus on information technology and data science....
