WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

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1/ House Republicans failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after four Republicans joined Democrats in voting against what would have been the second-ever impeachment of a Cabinet official. Although the vote failed 214-216, Republicans immediately moved to bring back the resolution up for another vote, but it’s unclear when or if that will happen. (New York Times / NPR / Bloomberg / Washington Post / CNN / Associated Press)

2/ House Republicans failed to pass a standalone bill to send $17.6 billion in aid to Israel after Speaker Mike Johnson called the bipartisan Senate package that combined Israel and Ukraine with stricter border security and asylum laws “dead-on-arrival” in the chamber. The vote failed 250 to 180, with 166 Democrats and 14 Republicans opposing the measure. The bill required the support of two-thirds of the House to pass. (NBC News / Washington Post / Axios / CNN / CBS News)

3/ Senate Republicans blocked the $118 billion bipartisan border package that Republicans had demanded but then rejected after pressure from Trump, who is making the border a campaign issue. The bill failed to advance 49-50, falling short of the 60-vote threshold and essentially guarantees Congress won’t pass any broad immigration or border legislation before the presidential election. Republicans had initially demanded strict border policy changes in exchange for Ukraine aid, but abandoned that trade-off when House Republican leadership called the bill “dead on arrival.” After the failed vote, Chuck Schumer released a narrower, $95.3 billion version of the same package that would fund Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but without the border-security provisions or funding. “Why have Republicans backed off on border when they know it’s the right thing to do?” Schumer said. “Two words: Donald Trump.” (Associated Press / Politico / NPR / Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / CNN /