The Full Belmonte, 11/4/2023
Democrats rage at Speaker Johnson over pairing Israel aid with IRS cuts
BY MYCHAEL SCHNELL AND MIKE LILLIS
© Greg Nash
Jewish Democrats are raging at Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) over legislation providing aid to Israel, accusing the newly installed leader of choosing a partisan tack that will only delay emergency assistance to America’s closest Middle Eastern ally.
All but 12 House Democrats voted against Johnson’s $14.3 billion aid proposal Thursday night, with most citing the Speaker’s decision to include cuts in equal amounts to IRS funding.
Read the full story here at The Hill
Christophe Ena/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
“Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, appeared to reject the Biden administration’s calls to pause the fighting in Gaza. He said any cease-fire would depend on Hamas’s freeing of Israeli hostages.” [New York Times]
“An Israeli airstrike hit near a Gaza City hospital on Friday. A hospital official said the strike killed 13 people; Israel said it killed ‘a number of Hamas terrorist operatives.’” [New York Times]
“The leader of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah stopped short of calling for a wider war with Israel.” [New York Times]
“More than 130 people died and hundreds more were injured after a strong earthquake shook western Nepal late Friday. Officials said the death toll was likely to rise.” [New York Times]
“An appeals court temporarily lifted the gag order on Donald Trump in his federal election case.” [New York Times]
“President Biden mourned the victims of last week’s mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, and urged ‘reasonable, responsible measures to protect our children, our families, our communities.’” [New York Times]
Long a bipartisan effort, a program to fight global HIV is stuck in Washington gridlock
USA TODAY
“Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr was visiting a rural village in Tanzania about a decade ago when a farmer thanked her for saving his family.
The farmer had received medication for HIV/AIDS, which devastated impoverished areas in Africa and other countries.
Far from the Manhattan office where she directs a Columbia University program founded to address the AIDS epidemic, El-Sadr heard how the farmer's family and his fellow villagers had survived and could live normally.
El-Sadr’s visit to one of Columbia's ICAP sites came as part of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, a federally funded program that provides prevention, treatment and education for people around the world. At the time of her visit, PEPFAR had been around for about 10 years. It was launched by former Republican President George W. Bush in 2003, the same year El-Sadr founded ICAP, which has gone on to fight other public health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two decades later – and with continuous bipartisan support – PEPFAR has been credited with saving 25 million lives, although HIV and AIDS are far from being eliminated. In 2022, the world saw more than 1.3 million new HIV cases and 630,000 AIDS deaths. About 39 million people are estimated to be living with HIV today.
‘The work is not done,’ El-Sadr told USA TODAY. ‘That applies to the United States and applies to the countries that PEPFAR is supporting.’
One major element has changed for this global health program: its steady, bipartisan support. A subset of House Republicans have begun peddling a theory that PEPFAR supports access to abortion.
Experts and federal officials refute this, saying abortion services are not provided under the program. In the meantime, PEPFAR, a model of a forward-thinking U.S. approach to global public health and foreign diplomacy lingers in the balance. Some fear that a failed reauthorization will send a message that the U.S. is willfully stepping away from its international role as a leader in prevention, wilfully curtailing its efforts even if it means allowing HIV to spread globally….” Read more at USA Today
EMILY’s List places Speaker Johnson ‘On Notice’
BY TARA SUTER
EMILY’s List added new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to a list of Republicans it is targeting for their views on abortion ahead of the 2024 election.
‘MAGA Mike Johnson and his supporters have made their plan to ban abortion crystal clear. Every single one of the Republicans EMILYs List has already put ‘On Notice’ voted to install Johnson as speaker, endorsing his radical agenda and showing their true priorities,’ said EMILY’s List Interim President Jessica Mackler in a Friday release obtained by Punchbowl News.
Read the full story here at The Hill
Ukraine fears being left in cold as Congress battles over Israel
BY BRAD DRESS
With the world’s attention shifting to the Israel-Hamas war, Ukraine fears it is being left behind as it continues a costly struggle against Russian forces and anxiously waits on Congress to pass another aid package before the winter sets in.
Ukraine was already concerned before the Gaza war broke out, after Congress failed to include funding for Kyiv in a temporary government spending bill because a faction of House Republicans fiercely resisted it.
Read the full story here at The Hill
Pentagon halts travel to Israel, discourages congressional visits
BY NICK ROBERTSON
The Pentagon will no longer allow its senior military leaders to travel to Israel and will discourage members of Congress from making trips amid the country’s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, according to a memo released Friday.
The memo, confirmed to The Hill by a Defense Department official, was dated to go into effect Tuesday. The restrictions do not apply to President Biden, members of Biden’s Cabinet, Joint Chiefs of Staff C.Q. Brown, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Christopher Grady or the service secretaries or chiefs.
Read the full story here at The Hill
Mark Meadows sued by book publisher over false election claims
BY REBECCA BEITSCH
The publisher of Mark Meadows’s book is suing the former White House chief of staff, arguing in court filings Friday morning that he violated an agreement with All Seasons Press by including false statements about former President Trump’s claims surrounding the 2020 election.
“Meadows, the former White House Chief of Staff under President Donald J. Trump, promised and represented that ‘all statements contained in the Work are true and based on reasonable research for accuracy’ and that he ‘has not made any misrepresentations to the Publisher about the Work,’” the publishing company writes in its suit, filed in court in Sarasota County, Fla.
Read the full story here at The Hill
Appeals court pauses Trump gag order in federal election interference case
BY REBECCA BEITSCH
An appeals court Friday ordered an administrative stay of a gag order barring former President Trump from targeting witnesses and the prosecutors in his federal election interference case, temporarily pausing its implementation ahead of further legal battles.
The order from the D.C. Circuit court of appeals also expedites the case.
Read the full story here at The Hill
Judge rules jury will be kept anonymous in Trump, E. Jean Carroll defamation case
BY NICK ROBERTSON
The jury in writer E. Jean Carroll’s original defamation case against former President Trump will be kept anonymous, a New York judge federal judge ruled Friday.
Judge Lewis Kaplan cited Trump’s “repeated public statements” about Carroll and in his numerous other court cases as part of the reasoning for his decision. Trump is currently facing a pair of narrow gag orders limiting his speech in two separate legal trials.
Read the full story here at The Hill
New York judge expands gag order to Trump’s attorneys in fraud case
BY REBECCA BEITSCH
The New York judge overseeing former President Trump’s financial fraud trial on Friday extended a gag order issued in the case to Trump’s attorneys, barring them from making comments about his communications with his staff and saying the comments have spurred threats.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already prohibited Trump from making public comments about his court staff after the former president attacked one of his clerks on social media after posting a picture of her with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and falsely calling her Schumer’s “girlfriend.”
Read the full story here at The Hill
GAME OF THE WEEKEND
Christopher Bell, in the white car, and William Byron, in the red, will compete for the NASCAR championship.James Gilbert/Getty Images
“NASCAR Cup Series Championship: NASCAR’s playoff rules are convoluted, but here’s all you need to know: In this race, the last of the season, four drivers will compete for the championship. Whoever finishes first among them wins. There will be 32 other cars in the race — a mostly empty racetrack would be boring — which means that drivers who have no shot at winning could still change the outcome. As one racing expert explained to The Athletic, ‘It would be like Patrick Mahomes getting tackled in the Super Bowl by a Houston Texans player who didn’t even make the playoffs.’ 3 p.m. Eastern tomorrow on NBC.” [New York Times]
THE WEEK IN CULTURE
LeVar BurtonAriel Fisher for The New York Times
“LeVar Burton helped a generation discover books with “Reading Rainbow.” Now he’s engaging young audiences again with “Sound Detectives,” a comic mystery podcast that teaches the art of listening.” [New York Times]
“Heidi Klum drew a star-studded crowd to her annual Halloween gala in New York City. See photos of the costumes.” [New York Times]
“Having grown up with Chandler on “Friends” makes it harder to say goodbye to Matthew Perry, our TV critic James Poniewozik writes.” [New York Times]
“Irish Repertory Theater’s survey of Brian Friel’s work prompted a reporter to seek out the town that inspired Ballybeg, the mythical setting of many of Friel’s plays.” [New York Times]
”In a solo show at Gagosian Beverly Hills, paintings by Ewa Juszkiewicz depict well-dressed women whose faces are concealed by textiles and wild hairdos.” [New York Times]
”How did bronze statues from an ancient Roman shrine end up in museums around the world? They were looted by local farmers, a village admits.” [New York Times]
“A foundation working on a museum to mark the Pulse nightclub shooting said the cost of building it had become prohibitive.” [New York Times]
“DoorDash customers who don’t tip delivery drivers may have to wait longer for their food orders, CBS News reports.” [New York Times]
“A legal battle between Robert De Niro and his former executive assistantwent to trial this week.” [New York Times]
“Now in its 10th year, “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” has become a showcase for magicians. It’s the rare competition show where kindness rules.” [New York Times]
“Mint, one of the first budgeting apps, is shutting down.” [New York Times]