Democrats announce that they will rescue Johnson if he faces ouster vote

“At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction,” the Democratic leaders said in a joint statement. “If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.”

The statement was issued by Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader; Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the No. 2 Democrat; and Representative Pete Aguilar of California, the chair of the Democratic caucus.

Jeffries had indicated earlier that Democrats were likely to come to Johnson’s aid if he put the foreign aid package on the floor and allowed a bipartisan coalition to support it despite opposition from many on the far right. When Republicans took steps to push Kevin McCarthy from the speakership last year, Democrats joined in the vote to remove him, resulting in McCarthy’s ouster.

Greene filed her motion to remove Johnson in March after he pushed through a bipartisan $1.2 trillion spending agreement that enraged the far right, but she said she would wait to force a vote, hoping that the speaker would change his ways. She had not said when she planned to act, and other conservatives have said in recent days that they did not expect her to do so imminently and that House Republicans would be better off if they toned down their internal strife.

But after the statement from Democrats, Greene suggested she might move ahead.

“If the Democrats want to elect him Speaker (and some Republicans want to support the Democrats’ chosen Speaker), I’ll give them the chance to do it,” Greene wrote on social media. “I’m a big believer in recorded votes because putting Congress on record allows every American to see the truth and provides transparency to our votes.”

“Americans deserve to see the Uniparty on full display,” she said. “I’m about to give them their coming out party!”

Greene scheduled a news conference Wednesday morning to discuss what she called Jeffries’ “endorsement of Mike Johnson for speaker.”

New York Times

Former president Donald Trump told Time magazine in an interview published Tuesday that if elected in November, he would deploy the US military to detain and deport migrants, hedged on the possibility of political violence after the 2024 election, and said he would permit states to decide whether to prosecute those who violate abortion bans.

Trump has rarely given lengthy interviews with mainstream news outlets, particularly since leaving the White House. His conversations with Time — a sit-down at the former president’s residence in Palm Beach, Fla., and a follow-up phone call — offer a revealing glimpse of how he would wield presidential power, challenge democratic norms, and reshape the country if he wins back the White House in November.

At one point, Trump told Time that he would be willing to deploy the military as part of an extreme deportation operation he has said he plans to conduct if elected, and that he would be willing to bypass a law that prohibits using US troops against civilians.

“Well, these aren’t civilians,” Trump said. “These are people that aren’t legally in our country. This is an invasion of our country.”

Trump also brushed aside questions about political violence in November by suggesting his victory was inevitable. But when pressed about what might happen should he again lose the election, he did not dismiss the possibility outright.

“I think we’re going to win,” he said. “And if we don’t win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election.”

New York Times

Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a Democrat, this past Thursday signed a law ensuring that every foster child in Maryland receives new luggage when they enter foster care or move between homes. The law was passed after advocates testified this year that children without luggage had to stuff their belongings into trash bags.

Erica LeMon, director of advocacy for children’s rights at Maryland Legal Aid, said she’s seen how “demeaning” it’s been for children to use trash bags when traveling between homes. This law, she said, will give foster kids the respect they — and every child — deserves.

“We are showing them that we think that they are important, their things are important, their lives are important,” said LeMon, who testified about the bill before the Maryland House Judiciary Committee this year. “And this is such a small way to show it. But it’s a small way that gives you a large impact.”

The new Maryland law, which passed unanimously, requires the state’s Department of Human Services to maintain a supply of new luggage and develop procedures for how it is distributed. Similar laws giving luggage to foster youths were passed last year in Oregon and Texas.

“As governor, there are few things more important than protecting our children and ensuring their success. Prioritizing appropriate luggage for their belongings is an essential part of responding to the needs of our children in foster care,” Moore wrote in a statement. “These children in many cases have been through so much, and it is our duty to ensure they’re treated with the dignity they deserve.”

Washington Post

The Biden administration Tuesday adopted stricter energy-efficiency standards for residential water heaters, the most consequential move in a flurry of changes designed to reduce the energy used by many common appliances, including stoves, dishwashers and lightbulbs.

The Department of Energy said the new standards, taken together, will save American households and businesses nearly $1 trillion over 30 years, and save the average family $100 a year or more through lower utility bills. The changes will also cut greenhouse gas emissions, the agency said, by an amount equivalent to taking 18 million gas-burning cars off the road over that time.

However, the changes have come under attack by Republican lawmakers who claim the new rules will make appliances costlier in the short term.

The new standards are part of President Biden’s “radical environmentalist agenda” and would “deny American consumers the choices they deserve,” Representative Debbie Lesko of Arizona, who proposed the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act, told the House Energy and Commerce Committee in December.

Consumer Reports, a nonprofit that does independent product testing, has found that more energy-efficient washers and dryers perform no worse on average than their less efficient counterparts.

Still, the political pushback has gained some traction. In January, the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit sided with a group of 11 states, ordering the Biden administration to revisit its efforts to rework dishwasher and washing-machine efficiency standards.

As one of the largest users of energy in American homes, more efficient residential water heaters are expected to bring the largest savings ever from a single DOE rule standard. The new rules would shift most new electric water heaters to heat-pump technology, which typically uses less than half the amount of electricity that many older models use. The new rules also require gas-burning water heaters to meet more stringent standards.

Over 30 years of shipments, the new standards are expected to save Americans $124 billion on energy bills and reduce as much planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions as 43 million homes would generate in a year. Replacing traditional water heaters with electric heat-pump water heaters would save households approximately $1,800 on their utility bills, on average, over the life of the appliance, the DOE said.

To encourage people to replace older machines, the Inflation Reduction Act, a climate law passed by Congress in 2022, includes $4.5 billion in rebates for households to buy new appliances.

New York Times