Eric Burlison

The House of Representatives passed a Trump-backed government funding bill on Tuesday.

House Republicans are preparing to vote on a bill to avert a possible government shutdown.

A paper by Montana Tech Professor Michael Masters and co-authors from Harvard suggests 'cryptoterrestrials' piloting craft once known as UFOs might have hidden bases on earth to eliminate travel hazards.

President Donald Trump's budget plan is making its way through Capitol Hill.

House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-S.C., waged "war on waste" during first hearing.

The House GOP’s budget resolution is hanging in the balance as a handful of hardliners withhold support for the measure, setting the stage for a high-stakes committee vote on Thursday. At least six Republicans on the House Budget Committee remained undecided Wednesday afternoon on whether they will support the budget resolution when the panel considers [...]

House GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke with reporters after the first hearing of her DOGE subcommittee under the House Committee on Oversight.

Donald Trump's first full week in office was an abject disaster.The just-inaugurated president tried to implement a freeze on all congressionally appropriated federal funding. The blatantly unlawful effort would have led to massive human suffering had the administration not backed down amid a massive pressure campaign by Democratic lawmakers and a lawsuit filed by 23 Democratic attorneys general. He blamed the DEI bogeyman, aka diversity, equity, and inclusion, for the tragic Wednesday plane crash in Washington, D.C., before any investigation had taken place into what could have caused the disaster—and before all 67 victims had even been identified. He announced 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada that will spike grocery prices and effectively lead to tax increases for all Americans. And he started implementing his purge of the federal workforce, which could have damaging impacts on Americans, all in an effort to get revenge on the people he thinks wronged him.But instead of standing up to Trump, Republican lawmakers gave mealymouthed statements trying to defend his lawless and cruel behavior. Basically, nothing has changed since 2016. In what also feels like a bad case of deja vu, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan reported that Republicans are back to expressing private frustration with Trump, while publicly supporting his every whim.Republican lawmakers, including those most supportive of the president, are beside themselves with anxiety. When you speak to them—off the record, between friendly acquaintances—and ask how it’s going, they shift, look off, shrug: You know how it’s going.A GOP senator who supports the president had a blanched look. “He doesn’t do anything to make it easy,” he shrugged.What is the meaning of the averted eyes and anxious faces? It means Trump 2.0 isn’t better. It means for all the talk of the new professionalism in the Trump operation, they have to get used to the chaos again and ride it, tempting the gods of order and steadiness. After one week they concluded the first administration wasn’t a nervous breakdown and the second isn’t a recovery; instead, again they’re on a ship with a captain in an extended manic phase who never settles into soothing depression.Here’s a rundown of the chaos Republicans have been defending all week:Republicans on Trump blaming DEI for the plane crashWhile Democrats were quick to lambast Trump for his vile statement that diversity somehow caused the plane crash, GOP lawmakers were not.Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri went on Fox News to back up Trump’s baseless claim.The Federal Aviation Administration “is riddled with DEI problems and hiring problems and it’s inevitable that something is going to happen,” Burlison told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo.xREP. ERIC BURLISON: The FAA is riddled with DEI problemsBARTIROMO: Do you have any evidence though that any of those hires were DEI hires?BURLISON: Not until we get into the investigation[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 31, 2025 at 6:46 AM Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, agreed with Fox News host Will Cain, who said that, “DEI is a policy that exacerbates human error. We need to cut out every policy that allows for anything where we maximize the potential for human error.”“Yeah. President Trump is going to keep America safe,” Britt said in response to Cain’s assertion.xWILL CAIN: DEI is a policy that exacerbates human error. We need to cut every policy that allows for anything where we maximize the potential for human error.SEN. KATIE BRITT: Yeah. President Trump is going to keep America safe.[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 30, 2025 at 1:53 PM Instead of criticizing Trump for blaming DEI for the crash, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, gave Trump deference.“Well, he knows more about it than I do,” Hawley told reporters. “I'm sure he's been briefed on it now, multiple times, we haven't been briefed yet at all, so we need to be briefed on everything that we know so far.”Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina opted to play dumb.“I don’t know what happened last night,” Graham told HuffPost. “I don’t know if there’s any DEI component to it or not. I’ve heard nothing about that.Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas didn’t criticize Trump, but he did tell HuffPost that people should “wait to see the results of that investigation” before blaming DEI.“Obviously one or more people made a devastating and catastrophic mistake, but we should wait to examine the evidence and understand exactly what went on,” Cruz said.Republicans on Trump’s federal funding freezeAfter Trump’s Office of Management and Budget sent out a memo ordering the funding freeze, Republicans were quick to defend it, even though unilaterally halting funding that Congress already approved and signed into law strips lawmakers of their constitutional power of the purse.“I fully support it,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. “This is the appropriate thing for a new administration to do.”"I think that’s normal practice at the beginning of an administration until they have an opportunity to view how the money is being spent,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said.Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee that crafts the spending bills Trump tried to freeze, told CNN’s Manu Raju that he “doesn’t have a problem” with Trump’s actions.“I think that’s probably what you ought to do when you’re coming in as a new administration,” Cole said.Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia defended the freeze, which could have impacted childhood cancer research, grants for low-income families to afford preschool, and free school lunches for needy children. A heartless McCormick said poor kids should work to earn those lunches.“When you talk about school lunches, hey, I worked my way through high school,” McMormick said during an interview on CNN. “I don’t know about you, but I worked since before I was even 13 years old. I was picking berries in a field before they had child labor laws that precluded that. I was a paper boy, and when I was in high school I worked my entire way through. You’re telling me that kids who stay at home instead of going to work at Burger King or McDonalds during the summer, should stay at home and get their free lunch?” xBROWN: Would you support getting rid of school lunch for vulnerable kids and getting rid of childhood cancer research?REP. MCCORMICK: Philanthropy is where you get most of your money for childhood cancer research. When you talk about school lunches, hey, I worked my way through high school.[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 28, 2025 at 8:18 AMThen there were the shameless flip-floppers. “President Trump campaigned on getting our spending under control. I support that objective, and as a former CEO, I know that sometimes you need to press pause to make sure spending lines up with your strategic plan,” freshman Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania wrote in a post on X, initially defending the freeze. “I am hearing from constituents about the spending pause and am closely monitoring what it means for PA. I understand this pause will not affect direct benefits to Pennsylvanians. If there are problems, I want to get them fixed, fast.”But after the Trump administration folded, he acted as if he was worried all along and was glad that the pause was pulled. “I’m grateful to all the Pennsylvanians who reached out about the Administration’s spending pause over the last 24 hours. The pause has been rescinded. Your input made a difference- thank you,” McCormick wrote.Republicans on Trump firing inspectors generalIn a Friday night massacre, Trump fired 17 inspectors general who are tasked with running investigations into waste, fraud, and abuse in federal agencies, violating a law that says presidents must give a written notice to Congress 30 days in advance of the firings that gives a “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for their dismissal.Instead of criticizing the lawless behavior, Republicans defended it.“Well listen, under the Constitution, Article 2 of the Constitution gives the president the executive authority, and the executive authority is over every officer, every employee of the executive authority,” Ted Cruz said in an interview on CNBC. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas also defended Trump."Ultimately, these inspectors general serve at the pleasure of the president. He wants new people in there. He wants new people focused on getting out waste and fraud and abuse and reforming these agencies. He has a right to get in there who he wants,” Cotton said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.”Graham admitted that Trump probably broke the law when he fired the inspectors general, but said he doesn’t care."He won the election. What do you expect him to do, just leave everybody in place in Washington before he got elected?" Graham said in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.” "This makes perfect sense to me. ... These watchdog folks did a pretty lousy job. He wants some new eyes on Washington."xBROWN: Would you support getting rid of school lunch for vulnerable kids and getting rid of childhood cancer research?REP. MCCORMICK: Philanthropy is where you get most of your money for childhood cancer research. When you talk about school lunches, hey, I worked my way through high school.[image or embed]— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 28, 2025 at 8:18 AMAccording to Graham, Trump can disregard laws because he won an election. Something tells me he would never say the same thing about a Democratic president. Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do.

Trump’s war on the federal workforce will disproportionately affect workers of color.

Following the tragic crash of an American Airlines jet with an Army helicopter in an accident that killed 67 people, President Donald Trump and other Republicans have raised criticisms of incompetence and negligence that could implicate pilots and other transportation officials. At the same time, questions have been raised about the role of Trump-initiated policies and the effect they may have on airline safety.Neither Trump nor any of the other figures leveling these charges have specifically named a single person involved in the accident or policy related to the accident, but instead have made incendiary comments—usually attacking diversity as part of the administration’s anti-civil rights posturing.In the earliest hours on Thursday as news of the crash was breaking, Trump jumped to his social media account to speculate about the actions of the Army pilot.“It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”Trump was not in possession of an FAA analysis of the crash and the investigation had not even begun in earnest at the time of his posting. While Trump is not an expert in aviation issues, he did operate a failed airline, Trump Shuttle, at one time.Trump also issued a memorandum on Thursday directing Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to review hiring standards implemented by the Biden administration. In the memo, Trump complained, “the Biden Administration egregiously rejected merit-based hiring, requiring all executive departments and agencies to implement dangerous ‘diversity equity and inclusion’ tactics, and specifically recruiting individuals with ‘severe intellectual’ disabilities in the FAA.”In reality, the FAA created a program to recruit people with targeted disabilities in 2019, when Trump was in office.Alina Habba, who serves as counselor to the president in the White House, appeared on Fox News on Friday to discuss Trump’s attacks on hiring standards. She continued the administration’s rhetoric, casting aspersions on those hired before Trump was sworn in.xAlina Habba: "We cannot have sloppy, lazy and inappropriate hires, because American people are going to suffer and die."— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-01-31T14:53:37.322Z“Intelligent people need to be put in these spaces. We cannot have sloppy, lazy, and inappropriate hires, because American people are going to suffer and die,” she said.Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison similarly told Fox Business that “the FAA is riddled with DEI problems.”The comments echo Trump’s bluster in his press conference after the crash, in which he attacked the Biden and Obama administrations, diversity programs, and even dwarfism. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg remarked that Trump’s rhetoric was “despicable” and noted that Trump was grinding a political axe “as families grieve.”The Trump administration, with a large assist from multibillionaire Elon Musk, is mounting a full-scale assault on the federal government. Trump is attempting to cut oversight in key areas while pushing for staffing cuts that inevitably will lead to mismanagement, chaos—and more deadly incidents like the plane crash in question.Campaign Action

'Major cuts to eliminate this waste'

The ATF is coming under fire for allegedly quietly changing the job title of its DEI officer to "senior executive" as President Donald Trump shutters DEI offices.

'The sermon given is not reflective of the faith community'

President-elect Donald Trump speaks to reporters at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Jan. 7. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Although the House of Representatives rejected the 1,547-page interim spending bill, lawmakers reached an agreement Friday to avoid a government shutdown before the holidays.

More than 30 House Republicans voted against the government funding bill to avert a shutdown on Friday night. The legislation cleared the lower chamber with a 366-34-1 vote, surpassing the two-thirds requirement needed as the Republican House leadership brought it up under the suspension of the rules process. Every member of the Democratic caucus, outside [...]

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) notched a major win Friday by averting a government shutdown, but it has not taken him out of the woods in his fight to retain the speaker's gavel on Jan. 3.Why it matters: Johnson will likely be able to bank just one GOP defection and still win. Many in the right-wing Freedom Caucus aren't committing to vote for him yet."Everybody's got different issues," Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said of his fellow undecideds – including opinions on what Johnson "should be doing to rally support for various issues."Some, he said, wish the notoriously congenial speaker was "more forceful like Nancy Pelosi."State of play: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said this week he will vote for an alternative candidate – burning the single vote Johnson will likely have to spare in his incoming 219-215 majority.Plenty more said they are undecided, including Norman and Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Troy Nehls (R-Texas) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.).Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) floated making Elon Musk speaker, including in a survey sent out by email from her congressional office.Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), asked after the Friday spending vote whether he will support Johnson on Jan. 3, told Axios: "No comment."What they're saying: Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), another undecided, told Axios on Friday that "it's possible" Johnson will have trouble securing the support he needs."I've heard of many frustrations of people outside the Freedom Caucus" as well as inside, Crane added.After Friday's vote, Norman told Axios: "We can't let this happen again. We've got to force the issue."Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.), who told Axios on Wednesday he was supporting Johnson, declared after the vote Friday he was "now undecided."Between the lines: Johnson, like Kevin McCarthy before him, has faced frequent uprisings from his most right-leaning members for working across the aisle on issues like Ukraine aid and government funding.The right has also pressed GOP leadership to be more willing to shut the government down or even allow the U.S. to default on its debts in order to secure concessions from Democrats on spending and social policy.Both McCarthy and Johnson have opted to cut deals with Democrats than allow those scenarios to play out.Massie and Greene tried to oust Johnson from the speakership in May, but just 10 Republicans voted for the motion to remove him while 163 Democrats crossed the aisle to rescue him.Yes, but: For the moment, Johnson retains by far the biggest asset of any GOP speaker candidate – the support of President-elect Trump.Johnson was unanimously renominated for speaker by the House Republican conference last month after Trump endorsed him in the room.Burchett, asked about Johnson's reelection chances on Friday, said Trump "will play a role in that" and that Johnson "did what he asked" on the spending fight.Zoom in: Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), who has been one of Johnson's harshest critics at times, said the speaker handled the funding fight "the best way that he possibly could." "I just don't know who'd be next, and I don't want the chaos. We all want stability," Miller said of the speaker vote.Another House Republican who has been critical of Johnson at times told Axios they "haven't heard much about" any organized effort to defeat him.The bottom line: Johnson will likely have a whip operation on his hands for the two weeks leading up to the vote."It's such a slim majority that he'd be foolish to not want to touch base with everybody just to make sure," said Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.).

Speaker Mike Johnson may face a leadership challenge in the new year after angering conservatives in the House.Republicans are running up against the Dec. 20 deadline to pass a stopgap appropriations bill to fund the federal government, or else a partial shutdown could be triggered. Despite operating with a Republican majority since the 2022 election, the party has been unable to pass the legislation in a timely fashion.Congressional leaders are negotiating over the size of disaster and farm relief, which is needed to respond to recent hurricanes and other natural disasters, as well as continuing trade issues triggered by Donald Trump’s trade war with China started when he was last president.But the disorganized process of agreeing to the bill’s contents is provoking derogatory comments from the most conservative House members. South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of the right-wing Freedom Caucus told Politico that his fellow conservatives are “frustrated with the outcome.” A tentative deal on the new spending prompted Republican Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri to describe it as “garbage” and a “total dumpster fire.”Texas Rep. Chip Roy was even more blunt, calling the agreement “negotiated crap” and complaining “we’re forced to eat this crap sandwich” because of the hurried process and the looming deadline.Johnson will need the votes of at least some of the members put off by the process when the new Congress is seated in January and leadership elections are held. Despite the party’s success in the 2024 elections, the maximum number of seats they are projected to hold is 222 of the 435 seats in total.In January of this year the party had an extremely contentious race for the speakership, with then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy surviving 15 rounds of voting before eventually prevailing. That turned out to be the least of McCarthy’s worries, because by October he had been ousted in a vote sparked by conservative Republicans.In spite of Republican political success, the party’s time in charge of Congress has been marked by turmoil. The majority has had to rely on votes from Democrats to keep basic government functions operational, which has in turn angered the most conservative factions of the Republican caucus.Johnson emerged from the McCarthy mess as leader, but he was clearly not the first choice but rather someone the party settled on. Now he will need to rely on that lukewarm support and fresh feelings of resentment to keep him in the presidential line of succession.Your support fuels everything we do. It ensures that we can keep providing the bold, unapologetic coverage you rely on. Please contribute $5 or $10 today to keep independent journalism alive and help us reach our year-end goal.

Congressional leaders have struck a bipartisan deal to keep the government funded beyond a looming Dec. 20 shutdown deadline. Legislation rolled out by leadership on Tuesday would kick the Friday funding deadline to March 14 to buy more time for the next Congress and incoming president — the first Republican trifecta since 2017 — to [...]

House and Senate leaders have agreed on a short-term government funding bill to avert a Friday partial shutdown and kick the fiscal year 2025 funding fight into next year.

Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison called the speaker's funding plan presented at the conference meeting a "total dumpster fire."

House Republicans are fuming at Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) handling of an end-of-year measure to extend government funding until March, saying it is more like a sprawling omnibus — which they abhor — than a simple temporary funding measure. The continuing resolution (CR), which will keep government funding at current levels through March 14, is also [...]

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., plans to introduce a measure to abolish the ATF which then-Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., previously introduced in 2023.

Abortion opponents vow to keep fighting as court battles are expected to overturn Missouri restrictions.

Abortion opponents vow to keep fighting as court battles are expected to overturn Missouri restrictions.

A recording of Steve Bannon is played during a Jan. 6 Committee hearing in June 2022.