Speaker Mike Johnson is being lobbied by his members to raise the threshold required to trigger the procedure to oust the speaker, according to multiple GOP sources – a move that would help ensure the Louisiana Republican can pass foreign aid bills and still keep his job without needing to rely on Democrats to bail him out.
 
It’s unclear what Johnson will do, but members believe he is considering the change to the process known as the motion to vacate the chair, which would be a significant move by Johnson.
 
In recent days, rank-and-file House Republicans have privately encouraged Johnson to insert language into the text of a rule for the foreign aid bills to alter the motion to vacate and make it harder for any single member to use.
 
Currently, any single member can force a floor vote on the motion to vacate — part of the deal Kevin McCarthy made to become speaker last year.  
 

Une jurée a fait part de ses craintes, disant avoir été reconnue par des proches, alors que le jury est censé être anonyme pour éviter les pressions.

le juge Juan Merchan a rouvert les débats en annonçant d'emblée que cette citoyenne new-yorkaise avait finalement fait part de «ses inquiétudes sur le fait d'être juste et impartiale». Cette jurée, identifiée par le code B280, a confirmé ses craintes, disant aussi avoir été reconnue par des proches, alors que le jury est censé être anonyme pour éviter les pressions. Dans la foulée, le juge a appelé tous les médias qui couvrent le procès à faire preuve de «bon sens» et éviter, par exemple, de donner des descriptions physiques des jurés. Après cet incident, le nombre de jurés est repassé de 7 à 6, sur 12 requis, sans compter les 6 suppléants.

CNN and other outlets reported Thursday morning that, according to multiple GOP sources, Johnson is being lobbied by his members to raise the threshold required to trigger the procedure to oust the speaker (...)
 Tensions were running high in the House on Thursday morning. At one point, Johnson was surrounded on the House floor by a number of far-right lawmakers in a heated discussion. Johnson was essentially pinned against the back wall of the House floor with members on all sides of him, with the speaker constantly pivoting his head as he responded to members speaking to him.
 
The group implored Johnson to give them assurances that he would not raise the threshold on the motion to vacate, and the speaker would not commit, leaving many of the lawmakers fuming and some even saying this was their red line that could propel the motion to oust him forward.  

“We notified him that any effort to change the threshold of motion to vacate would likely induce the motion to vacate,” GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, who participated in the conversation, told CNN.
 
GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden entered the 20-minute heated floor conversation as it was ongoing and dared his right-wing colleagues to move on the motion to oust Johnson, even calling Gaetz “tubby.”
 
One GOP lawmaker who participated in the conversation with Johnson, who was granted the anonymity to speak freely, said Van Orden started “threatening everyone to go ahead with a motion to vacate.”
 
The GOP lawmaker described Johnson as “very frustrated.”

Suite aux amendements de Marjorie Taylor Greene demandant que les élus votant l’aide à l’Ukraine soient incorporés dans l’armée ukrainienne, un élu démocrate propose :

Un amendement pour que le bureau de Marjorie Taylor Greene soit renommé « la salle Neville Chamberlain ».

Chamberlain était le Premier ministre du Royaume Uni de 1937 à 1940.  Son nom est devenu le symbole de la politique de l’apaisement face à Hitler.

Que Marjorie Taylor Greene soit nommée « représentante de Vladimir Poutine au Congrès »

Dans son amendement, Jared Moskowitz  note que MTG s’est opposée plusieurs fois à l’envoi d’aide vers l’Ukraine et partage fréquemment de la désinformation crée par Moscou.

Le trollage est devenue officiellement une arme politique

Some Latinos say immigrants hurt their social status, research shows
 
One-third of Latinos say they believe immigrants negatively impact their social status in the U.S., per a new study.
 
Latinos, who will represent nearly 15% of all eligible voters in the November presidential election, are increasingly supportive of the type of restrictive immigration policies that former President Trump is proposing and President Biden is considering.
 
New evidence suggests a growing number of Latinos see immigration from Latin America as hurting their well-being in the U.S. They cite fears over being wrongly deported and being targets of discrimination, according to two new studies.
 
(...)
 
A study recently published in the Public Opinion Quarterly found some Latinos blame immigrants for their "broader status devaluation" in the in the American racial hierarchy.
 
Washington College political science professor Flavio Rogerio Hickel Jr., one of the study's authors, tells Axios that Latinos wish other Americans could see the distinctions between them and recently arrived immigrants.
 
"This is primarily motivated by a resentment that they feel like they're suffering because they're lumped in with immigrant Latinos who are not highly valued in American society," Hickel says.
 
(...)
 
Another study, published in the European Political Science Review, found Latino support for former President Donald Trump is growing not in spite but because of his anti-immigrant rhetoric.
 
Support for Trump rose among Latinos in Arizona, Florida, and some New Mexico counties between 2016 and 2020, and those Latinos admitted to holding anti-immigrant views.
 
Idan Franco, one of the authors of the report and a research assistant at Northwestern University, tells Axios intra-ethnic tensions and intra-racism may be playing a part, but that the Latinos in the study see themselves as different from recent immigrants and identify with Trump's proposals.
 
(...)

Latino or Hispanic and Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial and ethnic groups nationally—increasing by 23% and 35.6%, respectively, from 2010 to 2020. At the same time, there is a growing dispersion of both groups to new destinations, which tend to lie further afield than the familiar large metro areas.

“Since the beginning of the 118th Congress, the House rule allowing a Motion to Vacate from a single member has harmed this office and our House majority,” Johnson wrote on X.
 
“Recently, many members have encouraged me to endorse a new rule to raise this threshold. While I understand the importance of that idea, any rule change requires a majority of the full House, which we do not have. We will continue to govern under the existing rules.”
 

Twelve New Yorkers have been selected to decide Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, the first for a former American president and a crucial challenge to his bid to regain the Oval Office.
 
Opening statements could begin as early as Monday, the judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Merchan, said, asking the selected jurors to return to court then.
 
Seven new jurors were added in short order Thursday afternoon, hours after two others who had already been picked were abruptly excused. One alternate juror was also picked before court adjourned for the day, and the selection of alternates was set to resume on Friday.

Mr Blanche: On the same theme, I would ask that the People provide us with the names of their three witnesses so that we can prepare...
 
Mr. Steinglass: Look, I got to be honest: that's a courtesy that we normally extend. Mr. Trump has been tweeting about the witnesses. We're not telling who the witnesses are.
 
The court: I can't fault the People for that.
 
Mr. Blanche: What if I commit tu the COurt and the People that President Trump will not tweet about any witness?
 
The Court: I don,'t think you can make tahe representation... they won't give it to you today or tomorrow..and they are not required to.

First-term state Rep. Roger Wilder, R-Denham Springs, who sponsored the child labor measure and owns Smoothie King franchises across the Deep South, said he filed the bill in part because children want to work without having to take lunch breaks. He questioned why Louisiana has the requirement while other states where he owns Smoothie King locations, such as Mississippi, don't have them, and criticized people who have questioned the bill's purpose.