Duelling rallies in El Paso
President Donald Trump held his first rally of the year on Monday in El Paso. Trump made the case for his border wall in front of a crowd of cheering supporters by claiming the city had a high crime rate before a fence was built there in 2008 and 2009 separating the town from Mexico. According to data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, the overall crime rate was already low relative to the national average before the fence was erected and continued to decline no more than the national crime trend after the 2008-2009 construction period.
Simultaneously with and across from Trump’s rally, former Texas-16 congressman — which also serves El Paso — and unsuccessful 2018 Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke held his own gathering to oppose the immigration policies of the Trump administration. O’Rourke decried the divisiveness of Trump’s immigration actions and rhetoric, and promoted the idea that America’s immigration heritage is where the country draws its strength.
O’Rourke has been mulling a presidential run and recently told Oprah Winfrey in an interview that a decision is forthcoming by the end of February. It has been speculated that O’Rourke’s presidential ambitions explain the rather unusual decision for a former lawmaker to hold a duelling rally with a sitting president.
The Green New Deal is here
The first full outlining of Democrat’s ambitious man-made climate change agenda was released last week on Feb. 7 by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-M.A.). Several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have already voiced support and endorsed the proposal including Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-C.A.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-M.A.). In a bid to put pressure on more moderate Senate Democrats against their liberal Democratic colleagues in the Senate and the House of Representatives, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y.) said Tuesday that the Senate Republicans will schedule a vote on the resolution soon. Meanwhile, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-C.A.) has been unclear about whether the proposal would get a vote in the House.
Texas’ Election Chief apologizes over incorrect election fraud suggestions
On Feb. 14, Republican Texas Secretary of State David Whitley apologized in a letter to state lawmakers after records released by his office claiming to show possible citizenship “irregularities” were found to have numerous problems. It has been three weeks since the issues first came to light and Whitley refused to acknowledge the mistakes. The list of 95,000 voters had been handed over to state prosecutors for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Government shutdown avoided
On Feb. 13, Democratic and Republican negotiators reached a provisional deal on homeland security appropriations including funding for President Trump’s border wall. Congressional lawmakers are trying to avert another federal government shutdown Friday night. Trump had requested $5.7 billion for the wall, but the deal only approves $1.375 billion. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y.) said Thursday that President Trump intends to sign this spending bill while also declaring a national emergency in order to fund the gap.