An Unproductive Year, A Republican Field Trip, and no more Trump? (Dec. 29 - Jan. 5)
Welcome back to Politics Explained! We hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season and happy new year! If you’re new here, we write short and concise weekly blogs that sum up the most pressing events on Capitol Hill and in US politics. For the first blog of 2024, we’ll quickly be reviewing last year’s congress, looking into the House Republican’s field trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, and Trump’s tricky ballot situation in both Maine and Colorado. Let’s get started.
Last year, the House had one of its most unproductive years and passed the lowest amount of bills in a decade. Only 27 bills were passed while 724 votes were held. To put this into perspective, in 2022, 248 bills were passed with 549 votes being held. This lack of productivity can be traced to the deep divisions within the House and the slim majority of Republicans. As we look ahead, a government shutdown looms over Congress while divisions within the House remain. Stick with us to stay in the loop in these crucial upcoming weeks.
This past Wednesday, over 60 House Republicans took a trip down to the U.S.-Mexico border. In doing so, they’re aiming to apply pressure on President Biden and the Democrats to agree to new policies on immigration. The reason for this is the difference in priorities between the President and House Republicans. Biden continues to push for aid to Ukraine, while Republicans want to secure our own lands first. House leader Mike Johnson said, “If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, it better begin by defending America’s national security — it begins right here on our southern border.” America is currently in an immigration crisis, as record numbers of migrants are crossing the border into the country. Although this issue on immigration has been something that divided Democrats and Republicans, it’s now gotten to the point where Democratic mayors and governors are also pleading for help. Mayor of Denver and Democrat Mike Johnston says, “It’s both a humanitarian and fiscal crisis,” as more than 36,000 migrants have arrived in his city in the past months. New York City has sued bus companies that brought 30,000 migrants from Texas, and it’s reported that in December, more than 10,000 migrants were intercepted at the border on some days. Looking ahead, it’s now much more likely for new policies on immigration to be passed. As help is needed in other parts of the world where war rages on, help is also needed in dealing with immigration, a conflict that’s kept legislation from being passed.
In at least 34 states, challenges to former President Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy have been filed. Both Colorado and Maine have decided that Trump cannot be on the ballot for the next Presidential election. The challenges are based on a clause* of a constitutional amendment that disqualifies government officials who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding office. Trump and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election (where he lost to Joe Biden) is what is being argued over. Now, this doesn’t mean that Trump is for sure off of the ballots, because he can just appeal these decisions, and that is exactly what he’s done. Trump has appealed the decisions made by Colorado’s Supreme Court and Maine’s secretary of state, and we’re stuck waiting for future developments on Trump’s ability to appear on states’ ballots. Stick around to stay in the loop!
*Definition of the Week: a particular and separate article, stipulation, or proviso in a treaty, bill, or contract.
