NEW: Senate Rs defense hawks said supplying Ukraine w/ all the "lethal military aid" it needs to repel Russian invaders won't draw the US any deeper into the conflict than it already is b/c Putin has already personally declared war on America. by @WARojas businessinsider.com/biden-putin-ze…
"He said 'We're at war with the United States' when we put the sanctions on," Sen. Jim Risch, a Republican of Idaho, told reporters at the US Capitol. "We're certainly not at war with Russia. He thinks we are."
GOP Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio brushed aside concerns that giving Zelenskyy what he wants, including fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles to defend against Russian airstrikes, would make the US more of an active participant. Because, he said, it's already happening.
"This notion that providing additional lethal weaponry — which we've already been providing — is escalatory, I just don't buy it," Portman said at the Capitol.
Portman added: "Stinger missiles are taking down Russian airplanes with Russian pilots in them already. What we're talking about is just giving Ukrainians the ability to defend themselves."

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More from @dsamuelsohn

Mar 15
NEW: Trump's message that removing CRT from schools is a "matter of national survival" puts "a target on the back of every educator" who teaches history & systemic inequalities, says the head of the African American Policy Forum's #truthbetold campaign. businessinsider.com/trump-critical…
Political consultant Jeff Roe said doesn't believe the comments encourage violence. "Republicans feel like the country is going to shit right now and that American pride is waning," he said. "Part of American exceptionalism is being taken away - it's being purposely taken away."
The cultural fight that's most meaningful in Republican politics is the question of who will keep President Joe Biden and the progressive left from "taking away the things that we hold most dear," Roe said, adding that Trump is using CRT as a way to get to that point.
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Mar 11
NEW: All the "productive conversations" Senate Rs say they've had w/ "impressive" & "well-qualified" Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson have yielded plenty of photo ops but no commitments to support her historic SCOTUS nomination. by @WARojas @thisisinsider businessinsider.com/ketanji-brown-…
Jackson has met privately with over a dozen Republican lawmakers since Biden named her as his pick to replace retiring Associate Justice Stephen Breyer. The exhaustive interview process has included lengthy visits w/ members of the Senate Judiciary Committee + D & R leaders.
Sticking points Rs have cited about Jackson include her efforts to reduce mandatory minimum guidelines during her time at the US Sentencing Commission, arguments she made on behalf of Gitmo detainees as a public defender, and her views on the US Constitution.
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Mar 11
NEW: At least 18 members of Congress stand to personally profit off Russia's war on Ukraine, according to a @thisisinsider analysis of federal financial records. by @leonardkl businessinsider.com/congress-war-p…
The lawmakers or their spouses hold stock in Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin, which manufacture the weapons Western allies are sending Ukraine to fight Russian invaders.
The stock holdings by members of Congress come as the US is preparing to send billions of dollars in defense aid to Ukraine. Both companies' stock — especially that of Lockheed Martin — have risen since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Read 18 tweets
Mar 1
NEW: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said parents should be the "primary decision-makers" for their children's education & health care. But that doesn't include all parents – or all types of healthcare, his latest actions indicate. by @ngaudiano @thisisinsider businessinsider.com/abbott-texas-r…
The Republican governor, who faces a primary election Tuesday in his bid for a third term, wants state authorities to investigate parents for child abuse if their transgender children are receiving gender-affirming medical care.
Abbott's February directive came a month after he unveiled a "Parental Bill of Rights," which he said would amend the state Constitution to "restore parents as the primary decision-makers over their child's education and healthcare."
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Feb 28
NEW: The Trumpian 2022 reelection plan Sen. Rick Scott had hoped would electrify colleagues has instead reenergized Democrats, sparking nationwide campaign ads, fundraising appeals, & fresh lines of attack against GOP lawmakers. @thisisinsider businessinsider.com/rick-scott-res…
The 11-point strategy, which Scott developed on his own and unveiled February 22, takes conservative-fueled culture wars and MAGA priorities to another level — prompting fellow Republicans to characterize it as "polarizing" and "silly."
In addition to imposing new taxes on low- and middle-income earners currently exempt from federal collections, Scott declares war on national mask mandates, local school boards, and race relations in general.
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Feb 10
NEW: A battle over stock trading in Congress is consuming the '22 midterms. It's providing fodder for press releases, fundraising, & opposition research. It has inspired powerful attack ads & even spawned Trumpian nicknames. by @leonardkl @thisisinsider businessinsider.com/stock-ban-cong…
Both D &R campaigns are salivating at the thought of bludgeoning opponents for violating stock trading laws or failing to support reforms. "They smell blood in the water here, which in some ways is good," said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette of the Project on Government Oversight.
The signs that the issue is taking off not just on Capitol Hill but in candidates' home turfs are increasingly widespread. Here are a few:
Read 8 tweets

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