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Republican efforts to advance new policies to support families have proceeded unevenly and haltingly despite pressure to act in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Republicans have proposed a range of federal and state measures to help mothers with unexpected pregnancies, such as added funding for agencies that support new and expecting families, reforming the foster care system, extending Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers, and expanding paid family leave through voluntary buy-ins.

So far, though, the talk has only fitfully translated into broad Republican support or policy.

CONSERVATIVE HOUSE REPUBLICANS ROLL OUT POST-DOBBS 'FAMILY POLICY AGENDA'

"There's definitely been a lot more conversation about the importance of paid medical and family leave since Dobbs, however, we haven't seen that translate into action," said Sharita Gruberg, vice president of economic justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families.

While Republicans have proposed family policies for years, the June Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that determined there is no constitutional right to an abortion has placed renewed pressure on Republicans to take action to address the needs of women facing unplanned pregnancies as some states adopt restrictive abortion laws.

Members of the Republican Party have been divided on how to handle providing support to families, with some staunchly opposed to expanding social programs and others who are more open to creating avenues for aid. They also face an uphill battle to pass legislation without a majority, requiring support across the aisle.

Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) reintroduced legislation in early September that would allow new parents to use a portion of their Social Security benefits for paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. It drew endorsements from several influential organizations that oppose abortion but little support among their GOP colleagues.

"As we welcome more precious children into the world, the pro-life movement stands ready to ensure their mothers have the comprehensive support they need to provide for themselves and their families, said Marilyn Musgrave, vice president of government affairs for SBA Pro-Life America, in a statement.

The Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative members of the House GOP caucus, this week put forward a "Family Policy Agenda" that it plans to prioritize if the GOP wins back the majority after the midterm elections. It calls for reforming the foster care system, supporting crisis pregnancy centers, revising the adoption tax credit, and expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage.

"I was hoping that there would be even more Republican senators with their own visions of what a post-Dobbs governing agenda should look like, but I think in time, that will come, said Patrick Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Those conversations have been happening, but I think there is a new urgency around them, and so that's nice to see.

Adrienne Schweer, a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said she has seen renewed interest at the state and national levels since Dobbs in discussing paid family and medical leave.

"I haven't seen the legislation drop in lots of places, but I have definitely been fielding more interests from state lawmakers and from federal lawmakers in the last couple months," said Schweer. "There's definitely been an increased interest looking for new ideas and exploring the potential for bipartisan ideas, which there wasn't a lot of space for over the last couple of years, especially at the federal level."

Several states with restrictive abortion laws, including Louisiana, Kentucky, and South Carolina, have altered Medicaid, a public health insurance for people with low income, to extend postpartum coverage for new mothers from 60 days to 12 months.

Meanwhile, other states have taken different approaches. Indiana earmarked roughly $74 million for governmental and nonprofit programs aimed at increasing maternal and infant health, including $45 million toward agencies that support "healthy pregnancies, babies, families and foster and adoptive families" and $10 million for the Nurse Family Partnership, which has trained nurses visiting first-time mothers to assist beginning during pregnancy through the child's, or children's, second birthday. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) announced a website providing resources on pregnancy, new parents, financial assistance, and adoption after the Dobbs decision.

"In South Dakota, we value life. But being pro-life doesnt just mean caring about the unborn. It also means getting moms the help they need to be successful," Noem said in a statement at the time.

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Brown said he has been encouraged by the proposals put forward and the "tangible" progress several states have made to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers.

"You can see how the conversation has opened up from some of the really hard ideological lines that used to be drawn not so long ago, Brown said. That gives me some encouragement that these conversations will continue to evolve and we can really make progress on ... being pro-life not just solely in protecting unborn life in the womb, although that is essential, but protecting it and in strengthening families and making sure kids are growing up in safe and healthy and happy environments afterwards.

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Republicans struggle with cohesive message on family policies post-Dobbs - Washington Examiner

Deb Haalands job will get harder if Republicans clinch either chamber of Congress in November.

Democratic control of both the House and Senate has so far protected the Interior secretary and the rest of President Joe Bidens Cabinet from investigations, hearings and time-consuming document requests. Thats likely to change next year.

I would assume all of our Cabinet members will be in front of the committees a lot more than they used to be, said Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican who serves on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and oversees rulemaking issues from the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Forecasters say chances are high for Republicans to win back the House. Taking the Senate is proving more difficult for the GOP, but its a strong possibility. And Haaland is one of the partys top targets.

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, promised significant oversight of Haaland if he takes the committee gavel next year from West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin, who has also not been a fan of Haalands work on fossil fuels.

New Mexico Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell, a freshman in a tough reelection fight, may become one of the Houses most dogged investigators of Haalands Interior Department. She recently took over the top GOP slot on the Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Environment and serves on the Natural Resources Committee (E&E Daily, Sept. 13).

Since the Biden administration has begun, the secretary of the Interior has only appeared before committee one time for questioning, Herrell said with displeasure during a meeting of the panel this month.

In truth, Cabinet secretary appearances are always relatively rare. During his two-year tenure as the Trump administrations first Interior secretary, Ryan Zinke only appeared twice before the House Natural Resources Committee.

Pointedly, though, Herrell said another top Biden administration official, Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning, hasnt appeared at all before the panel.

The GOP theme is clear: Democrats have been lax in summoning Interior officials.

Haalands appointment in 2021 as the first Native American Interior secretary was heralded by many progressives and environmentalists. She was an outspoken champion of aggressive climate policies during her term representing New Mexico in the House and has made the elevation of Native issues a top priority at Interior.

But Republicans are eager to grill Haaland on another topic that hasnt been her central focus: oil and gas leasing on public lands.

GOP questions for Haaland write themselves in many ways, Lankford said.

Lankford said he wants more oversight on leases and Interiors permitting process, explaining that oversight should be diligent. For whatever reason, [Democrats] have chosen to not be diligent in oversight.

Interior spokesperson Melissa Schwartz declined to comment for this story.

From the minority, the GOP has telegraphed where its likely to focus its oversight efforts on the department.

House Republicans attempted to use a procedural tactic this month to prod the administration to fork over Interior ethics documents and records of oil and gas leasing policies. Democrats were able to block them for now (E&E Daily, Sept. 16).

Rep. Bruce Westerman, the House Natural Resources ranking member, who has accused Interior of slow-walking document production requests on Haalands watch, plans to press Interior on the operations of its ethics office, the allocation of funds under the Great American Outdoors Act, onshore and offshore leasing, and the Biden administrations goal of conserving 30 percent of Americas lands and waters by 2030, said his spokeswoman Rebekah Hoshiko.

So far this Congress, the GOP oversight team on the Natural Resources Committee has requested 191 documents from DOI and received only 32 substantive responses, Hoshiko said.

In the few responses we have received, DOI has taken a long time to transmit anything, she added.

Hoshiko pointed to a July 20, 2021, request for ethics documents related to Daniel Cordalis, the deputy solicitor for water. Interior provided a partial response on Dec. 29.

DOI took 155 days to produce documents that should have been readily available, Hoshiko said.

Agencies often ignore or drag their heels on oversight requests from the minority party in Congress, and Haalands Interior Department appears no different.

In March 2021, Westerman had asked for documents about permitting decisions and a staff briefing about monuments from Interior, according to a report prepared for Haaland by her staff.

Rather than release the documents, Interior responded to the request with a narrative response, said the report released under the Freedom of Information Act. Haalands staff noted in that document that Westerman was not committee chair.

As for Westermans request for a staff briefing on monuments, the report said, the department was preparing a written response instead.

Its difficult for the minority to get people from the administration in, said Sen. Jim Risch, an Idaho Republican who serves on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

You get really good government when you have a mixture of Rs and Ds holding the House and the Senate and the White House, Risch said.

If Republicans win either or both chambers of Congress in November, Risch added, agencies are going to have to answer a lot more questions and a lot harder questions.

Haaland has been on the other side of intense oversight hearings before. As a first-term congresswoman on the Natural Resources Committee in 2019, she grilled then-Trump Interior Solicitor Daniel Jorjani over a document production that she said was blatantly incomplete.

Haaland wondered whether Interiors response to the committee was simply incompetence, do you think, on the part of the department, or do you think they are purposefully withholding information from us?

Adversarial hearings also test the Cabinet secretarys grasp of management and departmental details. While underlings provide backup and can be turned to for some specific answers, the congressional grillings put the spotlight on department leaders whose strengths may be elsewhere.

Like a lot of ex-elected officials tasked with running a Cabinet agency, [Haaland] is a big-picture visionary and leaves the details and sense of urgency to others, Jorjani told E&E News in a recent interview.

An illustration occurred at a June 16, 2021, hearing convened by the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Interior and related agencies. Haaland appeared to discuss her departments budget request.

The senators questions were never antagonistic but they did get detailed, and on at least 10 issues including invasive species, Alaskan lands, national parks and firefighting, Haaland asked her then-budget chief Rachael Taylor to fill in with specifics.

Taylor deftly handled the questions, a review of the hearing transcript shows. She is now Haalands chief of staff.

Haalands appearances before Congress have been confused at best, said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, an oil and gas trade group. Haaland hasnt been able to give in-depth answers on policy, Sgamma added.

The Interior secretary will be forced to up her game if Republicans win either chamber of Congress, Sgamma said.

I think she should be able to speak to the issues in a better way, she said. The agency has an obligation to balance energy with a lot of other things. I think its time to hold her feet to the fire on that.

Obama administration officials who had also been shielded by Democrats controlling both the House and Senate faced regular interrogations after Republicans won control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections.

GOP lawmakers issued subpoenas to compel documents and testimony from the Interior Department related to the administrations drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico. House Republicans also subpoenaed then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell for documents relating to a spill at the Gold King mine in Colorado.

Bidens Democratic allies in Congress expect political grandstanding to guide much of the GOP oversight if Republicans hold gavels next year.

Based on my previous experience, if Republicans did win the majority, I think there would be oversight everywhere of the Biden administration, said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), chair of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Investigations. And unfortunately, I think a lot of this oversight would not be rooted in fact.

The Interior Department appears to be bracing itself for the possibility of intensified oversight. The department tapped Covington & Burling associate Perrin Cooke as oversight counsel in August (Greenwire, Aug. 30).

Beyond document requests and hearings, empowered GOP lawmakers could try to use the majority to impeach Biden and some of his top officials.

While Haaland and Interior would certainly face increased scrutiny if Republicans won either chamber, some lawmakers and Interior Department veterans think shell escape the brunt of the GOPs ire.

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who serves on the House subcommittee that oversees Interiors spending, doesnt think Haaland will be as much of a political lightning rod as some other Biden administration officials, he said. But he does expect Republicans to demand more answers on topics like oil and gas leasing and public lands management.

I dont have any problem with her performance personally, Simpson said. I have a problem with the Biden agenda in general.

Reporter Jeremy Dillon contributed.

Read more:
Frustrated Republicans want to keep Haaland busy next year - E&E News

President Biden has defined MAGA Republicans as semi-fascists who do not respect the Constitution do not believe in the rule of law refuse to accept the results of a free election fan the flames of political violence (and) threaten the very foundations of our republic.

So, now I know who are the MAGA Republicans. They are:

Antifa and BLM, which took to violence, defied the law and attacked police.

Georgia election denier Stacie Abrams, who has yet to concede her 2016 gubernatorial election.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who said, We have to kill and confront that movement, speaking about extremist Republicans.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who said the Supreme Court took away a constitutional right and compared the courts abortion ruling to slavery.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, who warned Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch that they would pay a price if they voted to roll back abortion rights.

Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who voted to recommend commutation of a convicted murderers sentence.

Rep. Charlie Christ, D-Fla., who called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis DeSatan.

Nevada official Robert Telles, a Democrat, who was arrested for the politically motivated killing of journalist Jeff German.

James Hodgkinson, the Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign worker who shot Republican legislators playing softball.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who called for threats and harassment of President Trumps supporters.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who told Georgia Democrats, When they go low, we kick them.

Democrats who pay for ads supporting far-right Republicans.

To paraphrase Pogo, Biden has defined the enemy, and they is us.

Tom Cerra

Latrobe

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Letter to the editor: Republicans are the threat? - TribLIVE

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In counties along the Texas-Mexico border, Republicans are looking to make inroads with voters by pushing the issue of border security.

Some voters are taking notice and switching their political allegiance, swayed by the GOPs attentive ear to their concerns about migrants straining local resources and creating public safety hazards for residents.

The deadline to register to vote in the 2022 primary election is Oct. 11. Check if youre registered to vote here. If not, youll need to fill out and submit an application, which you can request here or download here.

Early voting runs from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4. Voters can cast ballots at any polling location in the county where they are registered to vote during early voting. Election day is Nov. 8.

This option is fairly limited in Texas. Youre allowed to vote by mail only if: You will be 65 or older by Election Day, you will not be in your county for the entire span of voting, including early voting, you cite a sickness or disability that prevents you from voting in person without needing personal assistance or without the likelihood of injuring your health, youre expected to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day or you are confined in jail but otherwise eligible (i.e., not convicted of a felony).

Not always. Youll want to check for open polling locations with your local elections office before you head out to vote. Additionally, you can confirm with your county elections office whether election day voting is restricted to locations in your designated precinct or if you can cast a ballot at any polling place.

County election offices are supposed to post on their websites information on polling locations for Election Day and during the early-voting period by Oct. 18. The secretary of states website will also have information on polling locations closer to the start of voting. However, polling locations may change, so be sure to check your countys election website before going to vote.

Youll need one of seven types of valid photo ID to vote in Texas: A state drivers license, a Texas election identification certificate, a Texas personal identification card, a Texas license to carry a handgun, a U.S. military ID card with a personal photo, a U.S. citizenship certificate with a personal photo or a U.S. passport. Voters can still cast votes without those IDs if they sign a form swearing that they have a reasonable impediment from obtaining a proper photo ID or use a provisional ballot. Find more details here.

But in these historically Democratic areas, others say Republican overtures wont get far. These residents say they intend to stick with Democrats because the partys immigration policies are more aligned with their vision for a humane approach to the migrant crisis at the border. They also often cited health care, education and gun safety measures as sources for their unchanged party affiliation.

The conflicting viewpoints show a political realignment in border areas that politicians and pundits are watching closely.

See the rest here:
Watch: Republicans gain ground all along the Texas-Mexico border by emphasizing border security - The Texas Tribune

The city of Milwaukee, often called Wisconsins economic engine and for certain the states most populous city, continues to draw suspicion from Republicans who raised questions about voting practices there in 2020, when Donald Trump falsely claimed voter fraud deprived him of victory in the presidential election. In November, voters across the state go to the polls to cast ballots in key races, including for governor and U.S. Senate. Recently, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Republican Party of Wisconsin filed an open records lawsuit against the city, including the mayors office and election commission.

The lawsuit seeks communications between city employees about a privately funded get-out-the-vote effort. On Sept. 12, Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced support for the privately funded campaign Milwaukee Votes 2022, which aims to boost voter turnout through door-to-door canvassing. While the city wouldnt directly lead the effort, it would assist by adding a website widget to some milwaukee.gov pages.

Johnson stressed that the effort is non-partisan. Im not asking anybody to cast their ballots for one party or another or one candidate or another, he said during a Sept.12 press conference. What Im asking is for people to participate in our process and to make sure that their voice is heard at the ballot box. Republican groups, however, cast shade on the effort as a potentially illegal and inappropriate ploy to help Democrats win in November.

On Sept. 28 Empower Wisconsin, a conservative advocacy group, tweeted a quote from Wisconsin GOP executive director Mark Jefferson. The Republican Party of Wisconsin is deeply concerned that cities like Milwaukee are working with Democrat operatives and partisan third party groups to get out the vote in a manner designed to tip the scales for Democrats.

The open records lawsuit also spreads doubt about election integrity in Milwaukee. It states that on Sept. 15 an assistant to Johnson acknowledged the request for records regarding Milwaukee Votes 2022, but didnt provide an estimate as to when the records could be provided. The office stated that 19 requests had been made about the campaign, and that at least some of the records would be ready for release by between Set. 23 and Sept. 26.

The Republican groups moved to sue for the records. Among other things the lawsuit states, As a result of foregoing, and significant concerns as to whether the city of Milwaukee is or will be administering the upcoming Nov. 8 2022 election in accordance with Wisconsin law, Plaintiffs submitted separate open records requests to Defendants related to Milwaukee Votes 2022 and Milwaukee Votes.

Raising alarms about election integrity has become common

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Original post:
Republicans sue Milwaukee over effort to get out the vote - Wisconsin Examiner