President Donald Trump speaks to Republican lawmakers about the upcoming elections, and Gov. Ron DeSantis throws his support behind a push to ban congressional stock trading.
President Donald Trump traveled the less than two miles from the White House to the newly re-branded Trump-Kennedy Center Tuesday to address House Republicans, days into the start of an election year that will see the party aim to keep its currently ultra-thin majority in the lower chamber this November.
In a wide-ranging speech over nearly 90 minutes, the president touted what he views as some of his biggest wins in office as he approaches the one-year mark of his second term back in the White House. He touched on his far-reaching tariff agenda, his crime and immigration crackdowns in American cities and his fresh capture of the deposed Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro – although he offered limited new details on his plans ahead for the Latin American country as questions loom about his pledge for the U.S. to “run” it in the interim.
With months to go until voters across the country fill out ballots once again, Trump commended House Republicans for what they accomplished with a small margin in the lower chamber last year.
“This was not a big majority, but it’s a unified majority, and it’s people that know what it takes to make America great again,” he declared.
And he stressed the importance of the GOP keeping control of the House in the midterms, warning members that Democrats would try to impeach him if they take the majority.
“They’ll find a reason to impeach me,” Trump said. “I’ll get impeached.”
Trump was previously impeached twice but acquitted in both cases.
November’s contest will mark the first of nationwide election since Trump returned to office in January with his Republican party in control of both chambers of Congress. Trump will be looking to avoid the fate often afforded to presidents in the first midterm election since their inauguration — voters offering support to the opposite party. The 2018 midterm election during Trump’s first term in office, which has become known as the “blue wave,” is one of the most notable examples.
The president also used his remarks Tuesday to urge Republican lawmakers to mandate a national voter ID law. States currently have different rules around identification required to vote.
In the opening of his remarks, Trump mourned the death of California Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa announced just before his speech and mentioned Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Baird, who the president said Tuesday is recovering from a car crash.
DeSantis shows support for bill aimed at banning congressional trading
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he stopped trading stocks when he was in Congress. And he’s now backing a bill that would outlaw anyone in Congress from trading stocks while they are serving.
It’s a bill that DeSantis says will hold people in Congress accountable and keep voters in the know.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is pushing the bill to stop members of Congress from trading stocks, arguing that they are benefiting from insider information.
Luna said that on average, Congress members who trade stocks are getting a 600% return.
DeSantis backed her bill during a stop in Clearwater on Tuesday and said he wants Florida to require federal candidates in the state to also say on their candidate forms if they plan to trade stocks if they get elected.
“There’s been a lot of things that have led to this, but I think ultimately you know you do have an institution that just doesn’t do what the founding fathers envisioned,” he said. “It’s really distorted government, particularly on the spending side, particularly with having a big administrative state.”
Luna said it is a bill that has been needed for a long time, and she believes those in office recognize what shift it will have in decision making.
She is trying to make sure this gets a vote in Congress and has gotten support from members on both sides of the aisle.
During Tuesday’s event, the governor also spoke about the importance of term limits for members of Congress.
Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff
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