Section 2 in Peril

On her second day on the bench, Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (pictured) stamped her imprimatur on the Supreme Court in hearing oral arguments over Merrill v. Milligan, the Alabama gerrymandering case that would gut what remains of the Voting Rights Act.

The “race-conscious” goal of drafters of the 14^th Amendment, Brown Jackson said, was “trying to ensure that people who had been discriminated against … were actually brought equal to everyone else in society … That’s not a race-neutral or race-blinded idea.”

Reading the oral argument tea leaves, Amy Howe in SCOTUSblog expects the court’s 6-3 conservative majority to prevail in the case, in which voters and other groups have challenged Alabama’s gerrymandering that resulted in one Black majority U.S. House district of seven districts in the state. The Black population equals one-quarter of the state.

A three-judge court, including two Trump appointees, had ruled that Alabama’s new district map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, but the Supreme Court last February put the decision on hold.

Comment on this or any other recent issue covered in The Hustings in the box below – or in the right column – or email editors@thehustings.news.

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…meanwhile…

(WED 10/5/22)

UPDATE: The House Select Committee Investigating the January 6^th Attack on the U.S. Capitol has confirmed 1 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, October 13 for its next public hearing, The Hill reports.

•••

1/6 Panel Next Week? – We’re still awaiting confirmation from the House Select Committee Investigating the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol (pictured), but Thursday, October 13 is the likely make-up date for their ninth public hearing that was delayed because of Hurricane Ian. We’ll keep you posted.

OPEC+ Cuts 2% -- The oil producing nations of OPEC+, which includes Russia, have agreed to a 2-million barrel per day cut in production at their Vienna meeting in order to boost prices, Reuters reports Wednesday. They are the deepest production cuts by OPEC+ since the 2020 COVID pandemic, despite the U.S. urging it not to proceed. In addition to reversing a drop in global oil prices from $120 per barrel three months ago to about $90 per barrel currently, the production cuts will help Russia financially in the wake of U.S. and NATO sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

AAA National Average – The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.831 Wednesday, the AAA reports.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

New Delay Attempt in Mar-a-Lagogate

Donald J. Trump’s attorneys in Mar-a-Lagogate have petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene in the document seizure case, arguing that the case’s special master should be allowed to examine approximately 100 classified documents removed from the former president’s Florida estate and private club (per The Washington Post). A three-judge panel consisting of two Trump appointees and one Obama appointee have ruled against federal Judge Aileen Cannon to allow the Justice Department to proceed with its review of the sensitive documents.

If the Supreme Court agrees to take up the case it would amount to yet another delay tactic by Trump’s attorneys as the former president reinforces the perception by his loyal followers that he is being treated unfairly by the Justice Department, though it would not block the DOJ from proceeding with its own review of the documents.

Comment on this or any other recent issue covered in The Hustings in the box below – or in the left column – or email editors@thehustings.news.

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SCOTUS to Hear Independent State Legislature Theory Case

Key Case -- The Supreme Court this fall term will consider a case involving North Carolina redistricting maps that will raise the issue of “the independent state legislature theory” according to the Brennan Center for Justice, which calls the theory a “dubious interpretation of the law.” If the North Carolina state legislature wins, the ruling would give state legislatures wide authority to gerrymander electoral maps codifying voter suppression, according to the left-leaning Brennan Center.

•••

Scroll down to read contributing pundit Ken Zino’s “Where’s the Beef? 1/6 Hearing Curtain Raiser.” While the House Select Committee Investigating the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol has postponed its likely final public hearing to next week, we want to hear from you – whether your perspective is left or right – in the Comment box below, or via email to editors@thehustings.news.

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Recess

(TUE 10/4/22)

We are joining the House of Representatives and the Senate in taking recess leading up to the midterm elections. We will return to discuss the next and likely final public hearing of the House Select Committee Investigating the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol, which is expected to be re-scheduled in October.

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(MON 10/3/22)

Quote of the ... Millennium -- President Biden says he's visiting Puerto Rico "because they haven't been taken very good care of." ... "They're trying like hell to catch up from the last hurricane. I want to see the state of affairs today and make sure we push everything we can." -- via Politico

Week One for Ketanji Brown Jackson – The U.S. Supreme Court’s new term begins Monday with President Biden’s first nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson (pictured), taking the seat of retiring justice Stephen Breyer. It’s a one-for-one seat on the left side of the bench in a court that went from 5-4 to 6-3 conservative thanks to ex-President Trump’s three nominees in his four years in the White House.

A Monmouth University poll released Friday, September 30, says 59% of Americans feel SCOTUS is out of touch with the values and beliefs of most Americans, with just 34% saying the court is in-touch. This breaks down to 83% of Democrats, 62% of independents and 32% of Republicans saying they believe the court is out of touch, following last June’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning 49 years of abortion rights after Roe v. Wade.

Over the summer, the Dobbs ruling gave Democrats new hope they would defy the traditional midterm wins for the president’s opposing party in House and Senate elections, though recent polling indicates a GOP surge to potentially retake both chambers. Republican candidates need a net gain of just five seats in the House to take control, and one seat in the Senate.

SCOTUS Tuesday hears arguments in Merrill v. Milligan in which the state of Alabama is appealing a ruling by a three-judge court that it violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act with a redistricting map that denied or abridged the right to vote based on race, per SCOTUSblog. Two of the three judges on the lower court ruling against Alabama’s redistricting map are Trump administration appointees.

•••

Speaking of the House and Senate – Both chambers of Congress are on recess until after the November 8 midterms. However, the ninth public hearing of the House Select Committee Investigating the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol, postponed the last week in September as Hurricane Ida pummeled Florida, is expected to reschedule for the second week of October.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Runoff in Brazilian Election

Brazil’s incumbent president and its ex-president face each other in an October 30 runoff election after neither managed 50% of the vote in an 11-candidate race Sunday. With 98.8% of the vote in, former President Luiz Inåcio Lula da Silva led with 48.1% to incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro’s 43.5% (per Politico).

Often compared to ex-President Donald J. Trump, Bolsonaro said as recently as September 18 that something must be “abnormal” if he didn’t win Sunday’s election in the first round, and had claimed to possess evidence of fraud, but never presented evidence to the electoral authority.

Comment on the Brazilian presidential election, and/or on any other issues or news from these pages in the box below or in the left column, or email editors@thehustings.news.

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‘Big Lie’ Testimony from Thomas

False Claims – Virginia Thomas clung to false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol, told reporters after the wife of the Supreme Court justice testified before the panel Thursday, the Associated Press reports.

Thomas answered some of the questions from investigators, who chiefly wanted to know about texts between her and alleged coup plotter attorney John Eastman in early January 2021, as she “sought to portray herself as among many Americans” who believe former President Trump’s Big Lie.

•••

Your Comments are welcome, whether you are left or right. If you consider yourself liberal, add your comments to the box in this column. If you are conservative, please go to the comment box in the right column. Or email editors@thehustings.news and tell us how you lean, politically, in the subject line.

--TL

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…meanwhile…

(FRI 9/30/22)

UPDATE: House Passes CR -- The House passed the continuing resolution extending the current fiscal year budget beyond its Friday midnight expiration, to December 16. President Biden will have signed it ASAP.

Here are the 10 House Republicans who joined all the Democrats in the House of Representatives to pass the bill, according to The Hill: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Garret Graves of Louisiana, Chris Jacobs of New York, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, Hal Rogers of Kentucky, Fred Upton of Michigan and Steve Womack of Arkansas.

•••

New Sanctions on Russia as Putin Claims Four Territories – The White House announced a new round of sanctions on Russian government and military officials and their families, per The Hill, in response to President Vladimir Putin’s forced annexation through sham referenda of four regions of Ukraine. The sanctions by the Treasury, Commerce and State departments target the governor of Russia’s Central Bank and former Putin advisor Elvira Sakhipzadovna Nabiullina, more than 100 members of Russia’s Duma, members of the country’s National Security Council, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, among others. In addition, 57 entities will be restricted from obtaining key technologies and other materials.

Meanwhile: Ukrainian military forces say they have surrounded enemy troops in Lyman, hub of the Russian military in Donetsk, one of four eastern and southeastern regions Putin claimed in a ceremony Friday, according to the Daily Beast, which calls it Putin’s most humiliating defeat by Ukraine yet. It “could be one of the most serious Russian military losses of the war so far,” according to the report.

•••

House’s Turn – The Senate Thursday passed a continuing resolution funding the federal government at current levels through December 16, and now it’s the House’s turn. Failure to do so before midnight Friday, the end of the fed’s fiscal year, would shut down key Social Service, IRS services and national parks, The Washington Post notes.

•••

Cannon v. Dearie – Federal Judge Aileen Cannon Thursday overruled Special Master Raymond Dearie’s order that Donald J. Trump’s attorneys clarify whether they believe the former president’s claims that the FBI lied in its seizure of government documents at Mar-a-Lago August 8 (WaPo again).

Upshot: Dearie’s ruling last week would have forced Trump’s lawyers to deny his claims that more than 100 documents in the seizure were not classified or face potential perjury. As the judge who appointed Dearie the special master in Mar-a-Lagogate, Cannon has the power to do that. Trump’s appointment of Dearie as lame duck after he lost the 2020 election is paying off for him, and is continuing to slow the case well past the midterms and toward a possible GOP takeover of House and Senate majority rule.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Impeach Biden?

Impeachment Talk – Bumper sticker began to appear on cars parked near Capitol Hill by January 21, 1993: “Impeach Clinton.” Yes, the bumper sticker referred to the newly inaugurated president, William Jefferson Clinton, who as it turned out would be impeached nearly six years later.

Twenty-plus years earlier, “impeach” became a household word in this country -- a word that took on extra meaning during Donald J. Trump's two impeachments -- and so it’s not surprising that the word comes up from hardcore members of the opposition party to any president in his (or her, if/when that happens) first term.

In his CNN newsletter, The Point! Thursday, Chris Cilizza writes, “Republicans are already talking about it.” This assumes, of course, that the GOP will gain the majority in the House next year, and maybe the Senate, which Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) admits could go four votes either way (and not enough to overcome filibusters).

Cilizza says Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) made a little-noted statement on NBC News’ Meet the Press last Sunday that should get much more attention.

“I believe there’s pressure on the Republicans to push that forward and have that vote,” she told Chuck Todd.

--TL

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Preserving Democracy

Electoral Count Heads for Reform – Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have endorsed the Electoral Court Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, (per The Washington Post), designed to prevent the sort of scheme that sparked the January 6 Capitol attack. The Senate is expected to easily pass the bill this week, co-sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Manchin (D-WV). It is similar to a House bill passed earlier in the week, and so Congress has ample time before the November midterm elections – and potential flip of the House – to fix the Electoral College Act of 1887.

•••

Scroll down using the far-right track bar to read pundit Ken Zino’s left-column preview of the now-delayed House Select Committee hearing on the Capitol attacks, “Where’s the Beef?”

Comment in the box in the left or right columns, or email editors@thehustings.news.

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…meanwhile…

(THU 9/29/22)

Senate Votes to Fund Fed to December 16 – The Senate passed a continuing resolution to fund the federal government past its midnight Friday fiscal year deadline and on to December 16, The Washington Post reports. The vote was 72-25. The CR includes $12.4 billion for military and diplomatic assistance to Ukraine, and $18.8 billion for domestic disaster recovery efforts.

•••

Ginni Thomas Testifies – Virginia Thomas “was seen on Thursday appearing to testify behind closed doors” before the House 1/6 panel, NPR reports. The appearance of the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas “stretched” into Thursday afternoon. She offered no comments to reporters afterward.

House Select Committee member Pete Aguilar (D-CA), declined to comment on her voluntary appearance, but said the panel will later share information Thomas provided that’s relevant to the public. The ninth and likely final public hearing by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol was postponed from Wednesday because of Hurricane Ian’s impending impact on Florida. No make-up date has been announced.

•••

CR Vote Teed Up for Friday – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has filed cloture, pushing Republicans to keep negotiating to fund the federal government through December 16, ahead of the end of the fiscal year midnight Friday, Punchbowl News reports. Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) were still trying to work to set the time for the vote on the continuing resolution.

Democratic and Republican leaders believe they will reach a deal possibly as early as Thursday, though these CRs historically have pushed up to the deadline – and you can count on senators like Ted Cruz (R-TX) to disrupt the timing as much as possible.

Let the campaigning commence: Whenever the CR is passed, Congress goes on recess as the calendar turns to October, when the Senate is in session only the second and third full weeks, after Columbus Day, and the House is out until after the November 8 midterm elections. The Supreme Court is back in session Monday, October 3.

•••

Sham Signing Ceremony – Russian President Vladimir Putin formally seizes four regions of Ukraine where sham referendums were held early this week. The signing ceremony to be held Friday at the Grand Kremlin Palace claims the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia for Putin’s Mother Russia, The Washington Post reports.

Meanwhile: The Pentagon Wednesday announced more long-range rocket artillery systems headed for Ukraine. That’s the good news – this is the artillery that has been so effective at pushing back Russian troops. The not-so-good news is that these systems are not yet built, meaning we’re expecting years of Ukraine’s fight for democracy against Russia.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

...meanwhile... (WED 9/28/22)

Senate to Pass CR – The Senate is expected to pass a continuing resolution funding the federal government beyond Friday and prevent a partial shutdown, to December 16, including $13.7 billion in additional aid to Ukraine (per NPR). Republicans have rejected White House requests for $22.4 billion in emergency COVID relief and $4.5 billion for monkeypox treatments, however. The Senate moved the CR forward with a 72-23 procedural vote Tuesday.

McConnell v. Manchin: “Manch gets Mitched” reads the Politico story heading describing how Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) had tried to attach legislation to overhaul energy project permitting to the spending stopgap bill.

Manchin had a deal with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to provide the vote needed to pass the Inflation Reduction Act in exchange for heavy Democratic support for the energy permitting legislation.

Upshot: “Energy permitting legislation” would seem a sure-thing for Republican support. But Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reportedly torpedoed his caucus’ support because Manchin traded his vote on the Inflation Reduction Act for sufficient Democratic backing on the permitting provision -- McConnell’s “spite” trumps bipartisan comity once again. Manchin may have the opportunity to attach the provision to the annual defense bill, or lame-duck government spending, Politico says.

•••

Leave Russia – Americans already in Russia are urged to leave, and any U.S. citizens planning to travel there should cancel plans, the U.S. Embassy there says, as President Vladimir Putin calls up 300,000 reservists to join the attack on Ukraine (per The Hill).

--Edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

DeSantis, Biden Pledge Cooperation

Hurricane Ian – Winds were clocked at 155 mph Wednesday morning, NPR reports, nearing Category 5 status as the storm headed from the coast of Cuba toward the Gulf Coast of Florida, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Biden pledged “close cooperation,” Politico reports. More than 2 million residents were ordered to leave home.

“That doesn’t mean you need to go all across God’s creation to evacuate,” DeSantis said. “Just get to the higher ground and get into a safe structure.”

Please direct comments on the latest news in the right or left columns, or email editors@thehustings.news.

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Where’s the Beef? 1/6 Hearing Curtain Raiser

By Ken Zino

With the republic facing another public hearing by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol Wednesday, let’s take a look at the fast-breaking developments last week of Donald J. Trump versus the United States of America. Part of the committees’ remit is “to strengthen the security and resilience of the United States and American democratic institutions against violence, domestic terrorism, and domestic violent extremism.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta in a stinging rebuke of Judge Aileen Cannon’s contrary decision, agreed with the Justice Department to let the FBI reclaim access and use 100 classified documents (and “papers physically attached to them”) taken from Trump’s residence in Florida while conducting a legal search. The Trump-appointed (just after the 2020 election) Cannon had ruled that DOJ was not to present “the seized materials to a grand jury and (use) the content of the documents to conduct witness interviews as part of a criminal investigation.”

Trump’s preposterous argument that he de-classified the documents, either verbally or non-verbally was not addressed by his attorneys (mindful of their own futures if they advised Trump otherwise since there are clear procedures for de-classification?) was rejected completely in the appellate court ruling that said the law should not give Trump special treatment no matter what he was or is. So damaging was the ruling apparently to Cannon’s future career that she cancelled her stay against the use of the documents on the very evening the Court of Appeals issued the reproach.

Then came the special master that the Cannon ruling specified … as part of her egregious opinion in favor of the legally imperiled Trump and his attorneys. Enter special master Raymond J. Dearie, semi-retired judge from the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He was proposed by Trump’s attorneys and DOJ agreed that he read and sort through 11,000 records or documents that left the White House and turned up in the long-delayed August 8 search of Mar-a-Lago, after more than a year of DOJ maneuvering to get the National Security documents returned.

Dearie, who clearly is tired of all the lies and false arguments floating about in Trump-land in effect said, “Where’s the beef?” Dearie issued an order after the appellate court ruling asking Trump’s lawyers to let him know if there were any discrepancies between the documents that were kept at Mar-a-Lago and those the FBI said it had hauled away. He was countering false allegations that the FBI planted documents. Where’s your evidence, Trump?

This whole sordid affair would be farce if it solely existed on a Broadway stage: Mari Lago Magic Wand Madness Review and the Art of the Steal. The absurd jokes and steady laughter start as the curtain rises. A president can declassify simply by thinking about it, Trump told Sean Hannity. Guffaw. And the FBI in its legal search was really looking for the deleted e-mails of Hillary Clinton. Guffaw, guffaw. If they are deleted how would Trump have possession of them? Guffaw, guffaw, guffaw. If Trump had them, he certainly would have used them during the last 18 months when he illegally removed presidential records from the White House. Right? Guffaw. Guffaw, guffaw, guffaw.

Enter stage left, the New York attorney general with fraud charges, looking to fine Trump $250 million and stop him from doing business ever again in the state. Another “witch hunt” claim is not enough. Trump counters by appearing at his own rallies as a QAnon true believer and booster. Wait, there’s a last-minute script change. It’s Trump and company who are the Satan-worshipping pedophiles in our midst sucking the blood of our children so they won’t live to defend our democracy.

Curtain for the Mari Lago Magic Wand Madness Review and Art of the Steal?

As grim as Trump’s legal prospects look, there’s also the prospect of conspiracy charges over the 1/6 mob’s effort to have Mike Pence hanged, and ongoing election interference charges in Georgia. Perhaps now, finally, the GOP establishment has had enough. Nonetheless, all the investigations and potential charges haven’t significantly changed people’s views of him, a New York Times/Siena College poll found.

I’m not looking forward to a sequel. Let’s hope the backers -- the institutions and people who support American democracy -- turn off the money and shut Trump and the Art of the Steal down. The show’s over.

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…meanwhile…

(TUE 9/27/22)

1/6 HEARING DELAYED -- The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol has delayed its ninth, and potentially last, public hearing originally scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, because of Hurricane Ian brewing off the Florida coast, NPR reports. The make-up date and time is to be announced later.

•••

Continuing Resolution Update – The White House has asked for a continuing resolution extending the fiscal year past Friday with $47 billion in short-term spending, including $13.7 billion for additional aid to Ukraine, Government Executive reports (govexec.com). The CR also would include $22.4 billion in short-term COVID needs, $4.5 billion for monkeypox vaccinations, testing and treatments, and $6.5 billion to help tribes and territories deal with natural disasters and extreme weather events.

Bipartisan support: The additional aid to Ukraine has sufficient bipartisan support in the Senate, NPR’s Morning Edition says, where 60 votes are needed for passage. That’s at least 10 Republicans as well as all the Democrats, of course. We’ll be watching to see which MAGA-leaning Republican senators support the vote.

•••

Cost of College Debt Forgiveness – President Biden’s plan to cancel student debt will cost $420 billion, of which $20 billion is the extension of a pause on student loan payments, according to the Congressional Budget Office, per The Washington Post. The number is roughly equal to the cost of the $1,400 stimulus checks mailed to Americans for pandemic relief at the beginning of the Biden administration.

Upshot: Cancelling student debt always was going to be a major issue for the midterm elections, with Republican candidates objecting to shifting the student loan payments from former students and their families to taxpayers.

•••

Jury Selection for Oath Keepers Trial – A federal trial for the far-right Oath Keepers for allegedly helping organize the January 6 Capitol insurrection begins Tuesday, NPR reports. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and his co-defendants are accused of spending months recruiting, training and conspiring to use force to prevent the transfer of power from Donald J. Trump to Joe Biden, according to Morning Edition. The alleged plot included storing guns in Washington, D.C., for a quick reaction force to rush into the city on January 6, if necessary.

•••

Fake Disinformation Accounts for War in Ukraine – Facebook and Instagram owner Meta was used for hundreds of fake social media accounts and sham news websites that attempted to advance Russia’s cause in its invasion of Ukraine, the Associated Press reports. The scheme involved more than 60 websites designed to mimic legitimate news outlets, including the United Kingdom’s Guardian and Germany’s Der Spiegel that spread Kremlin talking points about President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Meta said Tuesday.

Note: The Guardian is among news outlets aggregated by our daily coverage. We always go directly to theguardian.com, not via social media.

•••

On Italy’s Right-Turn – Italy’s new coalition government, led by far-right Brothers of Italy candidate Giorgia Meloni, who becomes the prime minister replacing technocrat Mario Draghi, “threatens to fragment the European Union when unity is more urgent than ever,” Nicholas Lokker and Jason C. Moyer write for The Wilson Center (wilsoncenter.org). While Meloni’s new coalition government has been described as Italy’s most conservative since World War II, the new prime minister has repeatedly expressed support for Ukraine to maintain its democracy in its fight against Russian aggression.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

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What's Up This Week (MON 9/26/22)

Hearing IX – Potentially the last public hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol is scheduled for this Wednesday beginning 1 p.m. Eastern time.

“It is possible that it’s the last,” committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. “But as we continue to work, we wouldn’t rule out the possibility of an additional public hearing.”

The 1/6 panel may be running out of time as the GOP probably retakes the House of Representatives in the November 8 midterms.

Meanwhile, the committee also will interview conservative activist and Supreme Court justice-spouse Virginia Thomas, who exchanged emails with John Eastman, the attorney seen as instrumental in planning alleged Trump White House attempts to reverse the election results.

“Eastman is the architect of the scheme that one federal judge has described as criminal, and we’d like to learn more about it,” Lofgren said.

Left-column preview: Be sure to read pundit Ken Zino’s Hearing IX “Curtain Raiser” in the left column.

•••

Senate and House Schedules – Both chambers are off Monday, with the Senate returning Tuesday, as Rosh Hashana concludes, through Friday. The House is in session Wednesday through Friday.

Critical CR: Both the House and Senate must pass a continuing resolution this week to avoid partial shutdown of the federal government. The fiscal year ends Friday.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

On the Right

The midterm elections are quickly approaching. If the Republican Party retakes the House of Representatives, there will be precious little time for the Justice Department to follow up on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection’s findings. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) already has made it clear a flip of his chamber means an investigation of the investigators.

In today’s left column, pundit Ken Zino lays out the current state of the cases against former President Trump.

What do you think? Comment in the box below or email editors@thehustings.news.

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