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GOP-led House panel uses Democratic votes to push foreign aid bills, setting up confrontation with conservatives

(CNN) The GOP-led House Rules Committee late Thursday night used Democratic support to advance a series of foreign aid bills, a sign that Republican leaders will need votes from across the aisle to pass the legislation. The move is likely to further inflame conservatives who are against additional aid to Ukraine and have threatened House Speaker Mike Johnson’s job over the issue. The four bills head to the House floor on Friday for their first test on the floor. A vote on final passage is expected Saturday, delaying the start of a weeklong congressional recess.

Mike Johnson May Be Speaker, but Democrats Run the House

(Daily Kos) Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has laid it all on the table: He’s staking his speakership—and his cozy relationship with Donald Trump—on aid to Ukraine, and putting his fate in the hands of Democrats. Democrats, in turn, are not going to make it easy for him. Democrats have no need to give any promises to Johnson at this point, especially when they hold the card of being able to force the vote on the Senate bill with a discharge petition.

Emergency rooms refused to treat pregnant women, leaving one to miscarry in a lobby restroom

(AP) One woman miscarried in the restroom lobby of a Texas emergency room as front desk staff refused to admit her. Another woman learned that her fetus had no heartbeat at a Florida hospital, the day after a security guard turned her away from the facility. And in North Carolina, a woman gave birth in a car after an emergency room couldn't offer an ultrasound. The baby later died. Complaints that pregnant women were turned away from U.S. emergency rooms spiked in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, federal documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal.

Trump's Trial Is Already Wreaking Havoc on His Campaign

(Daily Besat) Even before Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York began, it was clear that the lengthy and demanding proceedings would fundamentally change his 2024 campaign. But it only took a few days to show that Trump’s hush money trial will be even more damaging, more constraining, and more significant than anyone expected. Republicans are left with little more than stopgap solutions and, in some cases, a humbling realization of what’s to come—given that the embarrassing details of his alleged plot to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels are yet to emerge.

Friday TOONs

Trump's Donor Base Is Shrinking

(Political Wire) Financial Times: “In another troubling sign for Republican fundraising efforts, Trump has 270,000 fewer unique donors than he did at the same stage of his 2020 White House run. His campaign and affiliated political action committees got money from 900,000 donors from July 2023 to the end of the first quarter of 2024, down from 1.17 million four years earlier. This shrinking donor base leaves questions about how Trump will sustain the costs of his legal battles on top of what is expected to be the most expensive presidential race in US history. The bottom line is he needs to step it up now when it comes to fundraising, especially while he’s stuck in court and off the campaign trail.”

'Silent but deadly': Far-right caucus mocked over new group with unfortunate acronym

(Raw Story) Rumors are circulating on Capitol Hill that the Freedom Caucus is preparing to launch a FART war. The far-right House Republican group Thursday appeared to be plotting a defensive tactic against moderate counterparts and has assembled to assist them in this effort a Floor Action Response Team, or as Politico's Congress reporter Olivia Beavers dubbed it in acronym, a FART.

'You Can't Govern By Shooting Yourself in the Head Every Day'

(Politico) As Speaker of the House Mike Johnson fends off another conservative rebellion over his four-part foreign aid plan, he’s garnering support from former speaker — and infamous conservative pugilist — Newt Gingrich. With a conservative like Johnson in the speaker’s chair, Gingrich told me, it’s time for Republicans to shut up and fall in line. “The truth is, I would blame head-on the people who are acting like selfish idiots,” Gingrich said, name-checking Gaetz.

Louisiana lawmakers vote to remove lunch breaks for child workers, cut unemployment benefits

(NOLA.com) A Louisiana House committee voted Thursday to repeal a law requiring employers to give child workers lunch breaks and to cut unemployment benefits — part of a push by Republicans to remove constraints on employers and reduce aid for injured and unemployed workers. The House Labor and Industrial Relations panel advanced the child labor legislation, House Bill 156, along with House Bill 119, which would slash the amount of time for which people can collect unemployment aid.

Matt Gaetz attended 2017 party where minor and drugs were present, woman's sworn statement obtained by Congress claims

(ABC News) The House Ethics Committee is investigating whether or not Rep. Matt Gaetz used illicit drugs as a member of Congress, multiple sources familiar with the committee's work told ABC News. Committee investigators have inquired about whether Gaetz was under the influence of drugs at parties in Florida after becoming a member of Congress in 2017, according to the sources. According to a sworn written statement that has been obtained by the Ethics committee, a woman says that in summer of 2017, when she was 20 years old, she attended a party in Florida that Gaetz also attended, which featured alcohol and drugs including cocaine and MDMA, sources familiar with the committee's work told ABC News.