Letters from an American - March 22, 2024

Episode Date: March 23, 2024

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March 22, 2024 As expected, Trump's team has reorganized the Republican National Committee's donation system, arranging for maximum donations to go first to Trump's presidential campaign, then to Trump's Save America Political Action Committee, and finally to the RNC to elect down-ballot candidates. The Save America PAC pays Trump's legal bills. So far in 2024, it has spent $8.5 million on them. In essence, this new flow means Trump is using the RNC to raise money that is then diverted to him. This morning, conservative lawyer George Conway suggested that we should stop defiling the memory of the party of Lincoln by referring to the current organization as the Republican Party.

Midnight Tonight was the deadline for the continuing resolution that was funding much of the government, and the House finally passed the necessary appropriations bills this morning, just hours before the deadline, by a vote of 286 to 134. Democrats put the bill over the top, adding 185 yay votes to the 101 Republicans voting in favor of the bill. In a blow to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, 112 Republicans joined 22 Democrats to vote against the measure. As soon as the bill passed, Johnson recessed the House until April 9th. Because the deadline to prevent a government shutdown was so tight, the Senate needed to take the House measure up immediately. But Senate rules mean that such a quick turnaround needs unanimous consent, and right-wing senators refuse to give it. Instead, Republican Senators Ted Budd of North Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Rand Paul of Kentucky demanded votes on extremist amendments to try to jam Democrats into a bind before the

upcoming election. If the amendments passed, the government would shut down for the purely mechanical reason that the House can't consider any amendments until it gets back to work in April. So the Democrats would certainly vote against any amendments to keep the government open, but this would mean they were on record with unpopular votes in an election year. The demand for amendments was partisan posturing, but the delay was particularly nasty. Senator Susan Collins, a Republican of Maine, who was a key negotiator of the bill, needed to get back to Maine for her mother's funeral. In the House, the passage of the Appropriations Bill and the recess prompted

significant changes. Representative Kay Granger, a Republican of Texas, announced she is stepping down from chairing the Appropriations Committee. Another Republican representative, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, announced he will leave Congress early, stepping down on April 19th. Gallagher is chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and he has voiced frustration with the current state of his party. His absence will shave the Republican House majority to just one vote, and the timing of his departure means he will not be replaced this session. Wisconsin law leaves any vacancy after the second Tuesday in April until the general election. Representative Ken Buck, a Republican of Colorado, announced last week that he too was leaving

Congress early, complaining that this place has just evolved into bickering and nonsense. Today was his last day in the House. Before he left, he became the first Republican to sign on to the discharge petitions that would bring Ukraine aid to the floor even without House Speaker Johnson's support. Despite the frustration of their colleagues, extremist Republicans are not backing down. After the appropriations measure passed, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican of Georgia, told reporters she has filed a motion to vacate the chair to punish Johnson for permitting the bill to pass without more extremist demands. Her threat will hang over the two-week break, but it is not clear what the House will do with her motion. They might simply bottle it up in committee. Green might not

push a vote on the Speaker right now, in part because of pressure from her colleagues to cut it out. They understand that the extraordinary dysfunction of the House under Republicans' control is hurting them before the 2024 election, and another speaker fight would only add to the chaos. There's also the reality that with such a small majority, Johnson would have to rely on Democrats to save his speakership if it were challenged, and a number of them have suggested they would vote to keep him in the chair if he would agree to bring a vote on aid for

Ukraine to the floor. Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat of Maryland, told CNN that he would make common cause with anybody who will stand up for the people of Ukraine, anybody who will get desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and anybody who will work for a two-state solution. I'm up for conversations with anybody. The cost of Johnson's withholding of assistance for Ukraine is mounting. Last night, Russia launched the largest barrages of missiles and drones since its war began at Ukraine's power grid, leaving more than a million people without power and degrading Ukraine's energy sector. Delay in Western security assistance are reportedly expected to significantly constrain Ukraine's air defense umbrella, leaving Ukrainian forces unable to defend against missile attacks. Russian missiles do not suffer delays in the way aid packages to our country do. Shahed drones are not affected by indecision like some politicians are. Ukraine has been using drones to attack Russia's oil refineries. But Russia had a new problem today as a deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall claimed at least 60 lives.

concert hall claimed at least 60 lives. The Islamic State's Afghan branch, known as ISIS-K, which advocates for civilian mass casualty events to weaken governments, claimed responsibility for the attack. Letters from an American was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dedham, Massachusetts. Recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.