12:30 Report

The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Democrats rally behind expelled Tennessee lawmakers

by Elizabeth Crisp - 04/07/23 12:30 PM ET

AP Photo/George Walker IV
Former Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, and former Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, raise their hands outside the House chamber after Jones and Pearson were expelled from the legislature Thursday, April 6, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.

To view past editions of The Hill’s 12:30 Report, click here: https://bit.ly/41ZMHnw

To receive The Hill’s 12:30 Report in your inbox, please sign up here: https://bit.ly/3qmIoS9

–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

TALK OF THE MORNING

Democrats rally behind expelled Tennessee lawmakers:

President Biden, former President Obama, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) the Congressional Black Caucus and other officials have all expressed anger over the GOP-controlled Tennessee House’s removal of two Democrats who participated in a protest against gun violence.

“What happened in Tennessee is the latest example of a broader erosion of civility and democratic norms. Silencing those who disagree with us is a sign of weakness, not strength, and it won’t lead to progress,” Obama tweeted.

Biden called the act “shocking” and “undemocratic.”

Jeffries deemed the vote “baseless.”

“Our democracy is under attack,” he tweeted. “These right-wing extremists can never be trusted.”

And the Black Caucus frankly called the move “racist.”

“The GOP-led House chose to silence dissent from not only the Black representatives in the chamber, but the voices of their constituents as well,” the caucus said in a statement. “This move is not only racist and anti-democratic, it is morally-bankrupt and out of step with the overwhelming majority of Americans who believe that we need common sense gun control reforms to save lives.”

Background: State Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson all faced expulsion votes Thursday evening after they joined with gun safety advocates in the House chamber last week following a shooting at a Nashville school that left six people dead, including three 9-year-olds.

Jones and Pearson, who are Black, were expelled by the majority white body, while Johnson, who is white, survived with just one vote to spare.

The House leadership deemed the rare expulsion effort as a matter of decorum. The three approached the lectern with a bullhorn, after they were not recognized to speak on gun safety legislation or recognize the protestors and their mics were cut off.

In a “CNN This Morning” interview, Jones said he has “no regrets.”

Meanwhile, Tennessee state Rep. Jeremy Faison, who chairs the House GOP Caucus, engaged in a heated exchange with CNN’s Sara Sidner after claiming the Democratic lawmakers were “getting the people incited and worked up into a frenzy.”

“It’s not possible for us to move forward with the way they were behaving in committee and on the House floor,” he said. “There’s got to be some peace.”

NOT JUST TENNESSEE:

GOP-run state legislatures across the south are moving to roll back autonomy of Democratic cities and waging other culture wars against Democratic rivals. (The Hill)

It’s Friday, April 7, and it’s Good Friday! 🐰 I’m Elizabeth Crisp, filling in for Cate, with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up.

Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here. Send me your tips, add me to your media lists and share your funny animal videos ecrisp@digital-staging.thehill.com and follow me on Twitter @elizabethcrisp.

In Congress

Clarence Thomas responds to bombshell report:

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has responded to a bombshell report out from ProPublica on his receiving luxury trips from a GOP mega-donor. In his statement, released through the court on Friday just before noon, Thomas said that Texas businessman Harlan Crow and his wife are among the Thomas and his wife’s “dearest friends.”

“As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them,” he said.

Thomas said he was advised early in his tenure that “personal hospitality from close friends” didn’t need to be reported. He acknowledged the guidelines are now being changed. “It is, of course, my intent to follow this [new] guidance in the future,” he said.

Thomas is facing backlash from outraged Democratic lawmakers, following the report on lavish vacations he’s accepted for decades courtesy of Crow.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says his committee “will act” following the report.

“This behavior is simply inconsistent with the ethical standards the American people expect of any public servant, let alone a Justice on the Supreme Court,” he said.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has called for Thomas’s impeachment.

📄 In the White House

White House blames Trump for Afghanistan withdrawal issues but denies ‘chaos’

The White House is aggressively denying the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 was chaotic, while again blaming the Trump administration for a “lack of planning.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby fielded reporters’ questions for more than an hour this week just minutes after the Biden administration issued a 12-page document outlining the withdrawal.

“For all this talk of chaos, I just didn’t see it – not from my perch,” Kirby, who was the Pentagon press secretary during the withdrawal, said during the fiery briefing. “At one point during the evacuation, there was an aircraft taking off full of people, Americans and Afghans alike, every 48 minutes and not one single mission was missed. I just won’t buy the whole argument of chaos. It was tough in the first few hours, as you would expect it to be.”

Kirby also faced pushback from reporters on Thursday who questioned why the administration was releasing the highly anticipated report on such short notice ahead of a holiday weekend. Watch the replay here; questions start at around the 1:02 mark.

You can find the full report here.

FROM THE GOP:

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) responded with a statement calling Kirby’s comments “disgraceful and insulting.”

“Biden made the decision to withdraw and even picked the exact date; he is responsible for the massive failures in planning and execution,” he said.

Meanwhile, Biden is at Camp David for the Easter holiday and set to return Monday.

Don’t forget: Trump wanted to host Taliban leaders at Camp David in late 2019 as they worked to broker an Afghanistan deal, though that meeting never happened after major backlash.
Worth noting: Biden did not board Marine One on the South Lawn, as is normal and provides opportunities for reporters ask questions. Instead, he took a motorcade to Fort McNair for his flight out.

BREAKING NEWS ON THE BIDEN ECONOMY:

The U.S. economy added 236,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent, as labor markets stayed robust despite nine interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve meant to curb sky-high inflation. (The Hill)

🏃 2024

Trumped up? Critics question charges against former president

Former President Trump faces nearly three dozen charges in New York, but people on all sides are considering that it’s possibly the weakest of several legal issues that Trump’s currently facing.

“Even some Democrats and Trump critics acknowledge that the case being prosecuted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) appears shaky in places,” The Hill’s Niall Stanage reports.

Stanage notes that the “clearest example” of a stronger case against Trump is the probe into election interference in Georgia led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) over a call that Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to “find” enough votes in the 2020 race for him to win the state.

Trump also is under investigation by Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and a trove of classified documents taken to Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago residence when he left the White House in 2021.

Trump has sought to link all the investigations into proof of a political “witch hunt” against him as he makes his third run for the White House.

Read more from Stanage’s report here.

ALSO IN TRUMP WORLD:

Who is Boris Epshteyn? The Hill explores one of Trump’s most loyal allies.

🇮🇱 In other news

2 Israeli women killed in West Bank attack amid latest conflict:

Tensions continue to escalate in the Middle East amid days of violence over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, al-Aqsa — long a source of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Two Israeli sisters were killed in a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank on Friday, following a series of Israeli strikes on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Their mother was reportedly taken to a hospital near Jerusalem in critical condition.

OF NOTE: The AP points out: “The unrest comes at a delicate time for Jerusalem’s Old City, which on Friday was teeming with pilgrims from around the world. The Christian faithful retraced the route Jesus is said to have taken for Good Friday, Jews celebrated the weeklong Passover holiday and Muslims prayed and fasted for Ramadan.”

🐥 Notable tweets

Crenshaw delivers Houston facts after Connecticut governor’s ‘butt ugly’ dis:

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) blasted Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) for calling Houston “butt ugly” after attending the NCAA Final Four there recently.

“Houston is more important to the global economy than the entire state of Connecticut,” Crenshaw tweeted. “Just sayin. Facts.”

Kenyatta: ‘If only …’:

Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D), one of the youngest members and one of just a few LGBTQ members, presented a challenge for his GOP colleagues on Twitter about priorities.

“If only Republicans politicians had the same energy for ending gun violence, funding schools, and eradicating poverty that they have for: banning books, attacking drag queens, busting unions, bullying trans kids, and expelling legislators who speak for their constituents,” Kenyatta tweeted.

⏱ On tap

The House and Senate are on Spring Break until April 17. President Biden is spending the weekend at Camp David with nothing on his public schedule today, and Vice President Harris is in D.C. with no public events scheduled.