They want to gut Social Security and Medicare.
The new Republican House majority features election deniers, conspiracy theorists, and MAGA extremists. Whatever Republican wins the speaker race will be completely beholden to extreme MAGA Republicans and you can count on House Republicans to remind Americans every day just how extreme their party is. Meet your new majority.
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is expected to have a front and center role in the Republican caucus. She is a conspiracy theorist who is a MAGA extremist.
Associated Press: “Marjorie Taylor Greene took her seat directly behind Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy, a proximity to power for the firebrand congresswoman that did not go unnoticed, as he unveiled the House GOP’s midterm election agenda in Pennsylvania.”
CNN: “McCarthy says he’d put Greene and Gosar back on committees if Republicans win House”
Greene is far from the only dangerous Republican House member who will now have more power. Already, House Republicans are discussing their priorities — including politically motivated investigations and threats of government shutdowns.
New York Times: “In a closed-door meeting of Republicans on Monday, right-wing lawmakers including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia extracted a promise that their leaders would investigate Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Justice Department for their treatment of defendants jailed in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.”
CNN: “Added Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from a Nebraska swing district: ‘I perceive that there’s a small group that is trying to put us in gridlock.’”
Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan is expected to become the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Jordan has been accused of covering up sexual abuse at Ohio State.
CNN: “Six former wrestlers say Rep. Jim Jordan knew about abusive OSU doctor”
The Washington Post: “Jim Jordan accused of ‘begging’ former Ohio State wrestler not to support reports of sexual abuse”
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is beholden to the extreme far-right wing of the Republican Party and has already shown he is unable to control them.
Axios: “Once in office, it will be hard for McCarthy to control his far-right freshmen — just as he’s faced difficulty wrangling Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), who see themselves as ‘untouchable.’”
Vanity Fair: “Kevin McCarthy Sounds a Whole Lot Like the the Far-Right Wing of the GOP on Ukraine”
Rolling Stone: “The Republican Party is now totally in thrall of extremists and conspiracy theorists, including former President Donald Trump, who made professing a belief that the 2020 election was stolen is a requirement for anyone looking to have good standing in the MAGA-fied GOP. The party-wide embrace of un-reality has birthed a slate of midterm candidates rife with QAnon adherents, election deniers, and other far-right conservatives hell-bent on destroying democracy — and with it the rights of millions of Americans.”
But McCarthy and the Republican caucus have dangerous ideas of their own. They want to gut Social Security and Medicare and McCarthy did not rule out threatening the financial stability of the economy to do so.
Washington Post: “House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that if Republicans win control of the House the GOP will use raising the debt limit as leverage to force spending cuts — which could include cuts to Medicare and Social Security — and limit additional funding to Ukraine.”
NBC News: “The Republican Study Committee, a large group of House conservatives, proposed a budget in June that would incrementally raise the retirement age to collect Social Security… and lower benefits over the long term by using a new formula.”
Republicans have also said they will try to pass a bill to ban abortion nationwide. Just last year, 123 House Republicans signed onto a draconian, near-total abortion ban bill with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Vanity Fair: “Republicans Double Down on Obliterating Abortion Rights in ‘Commitment to America’ Agenda”
CNN: “McCarthy told CNN he backs legislation to codify a 15-week [national] ban on abortion, saying: ‘I’d support that.’”
NPR Pittsburgh: “Kelly’s ‘Heartbeat Protection Act’ would essentially ban abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy — a time by which a pregnancy may not even have been detected. The bill would not penalize the person seeking the abortion, but anyone performing it could face fines and up to five years in prison. Abortions deemed necessary to protect the physical health or life of the parent would still be legal, but the bill provides no exception for pregnancies arising from rape or incest.”
They also plan to try to repeal key pieces of Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, which wouldraise prescription drug prices for Americans on Medicare.
Axios: “Some key House Republicans are calling for the repeal of Democrats’ newly-passed drug pricing measure if the GOP flips control of one or both chambers of Congress next year.”
Rep. Carter: “With the prescription drug pricing, that’s something I’m very interested in as a pharmacist. And I’ve been asking my colleagues ‘how are we going to undo that when we get into the majority?’”
Originally published by the Democratic National Committee, 11.17.2022, to the public domain.
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