GOP Lawmakers Demand Ouster of Education Secretary over Reported Role in Targeting Parents

More than 40 House Republicans are calling for the ouster of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona after a report of his apparent role in a national schools group’s calling some concerned parents “domestic terrorists,” while 24 GOP senators are asking the nation’s top education official for answers.

The push comes after Fox News reported earlier this week on emails indicating that Cardona solicited a highly publicized letter to President Joe Biden from the National School Boards Association asking that officials apply the Patriot Act and other counterterror tools to dissenting parents.

An NSBA email said the letter to Biden was a “request from the secretary.” Cardona denied having anything to do with the group’s letter.

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Illinois GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger Won’t Seek Reelection

Adam Kinzinger

Illinois GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger announced Friday that he will not be seeking reelection next year.

The congressman will leave Capitol Hill after 12 years in office and a final term that was dominated by his vocal criticism of former President Donald Trump.

In a video announcing the end of his House career, Kinzinger spoke about his first race, in which he unseated the Democratic incumbent in 2010. He was told then by supporters to “be my own man and to never do what they tell you to do,” he recalled.

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Pelosi’s Office Silent Regarding Potential Vote on COVID Origin Bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office would not say whether the House planned to take up a bipartisan bill that would declassify any information regarding the origin of COVID-19.

The bill, titled the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2021, passed the Senate through unanimous consent in May. It would require the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify within 90 days “any and all information relating to the potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the coronavirus disease.”

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House Republicans Launch ‘Freedom from Big Tech Caucus’

Ken Buck and Lance Gooden

Republican Reps. Ken Buck and Lance Gooden announced Friday the launch of the Freedom from Big Tech Caucus, a group of House Republicans working towards reining in major tech companies.

The caucus will focus on addressing anticompetitive and monopolistic practices by major tech companies, political censorship, and Big Tech’s relationship with China, Buck and Gooden announced in a statement. The caucus will also include Reps. Madison Cawthorn, Burgess Owens, and Paul Gosar, according to the announcement.

“Big Tech has abused its market power for decades, and Congress must act to hold these companies accountable and preserve the free market, promote competition and innovation, protect the freedom of speech, and foster a thriving digital economy,” Buck said in the statement.

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More Than Two Dozen House Republicans Demand Special Counsel Appointed to Investigate Election Irregularities

A group of 27 Republican congressmen urged President Donald Trump to order a Justice Department-appointed special counsel investigation of “legitimate questions” about election irregularities.

The Republican congressmen asked Trump to direct Attorney General William Barr to appoint the special counsel, according to a letter obtained by Politico that was sent to the White House on Wednesday. Reps. Lance Gooden, Paul Gosar, Louie Gohmert, Scott Perry and Jody Hice were among the 27 congressmen who signed onto the letter.

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House Passes Eight Police Reform Bills, Republicans Feel Unheard

House Democrats passed eight different policing reform bills during its Friday session, leaving Republicans lawmakers feeling ignored and unheard by the majority. 

The policing bills spanned from banning no-knock search warrants and the use of neck restraints by law enforcement to requiring that officers report any wrongdoings by their colleagues or be subject to discipline.

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Analysis: The Republicans’ Path to a House Majority in 2020

The House of Representatives is in play and Republicans have a real shot at recapturing control of the lower chamber after their dismal performance in 2018.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) deserves credit for her success passing legislation and articles of impeachment, but that it more a testament to her mastery of the whip count than her overwhelming numbers. House Democrats are holding, if not a slim majority, a fragile one.

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