Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 1-18-19

White House And Political News
Trump Administration Calling Nearly 50,000 Back To Work, Unpaid, As Shutdown Drags On
House Rebukes Representative Steve King After Racist Remarks
A Democratic measure re- buking Republican Rep. Steve King for his com- ments about white su- premacy won easy approval Tuesday in the House.
In a twist, the nine-term Iowa congressman was among those supporting the measure of disapproval, which was adopted, 424-1.
King said he agreed with Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina, the resolution’s sponsor, that white supremacy is an evil that cannot be ignored. King’s racist comments have been widely condemned by members of both parties in recent days.
The ideology of white su- premacy “never shows up in my head,” King said in a speech from the House floor. “I do not know how it could possibly come out of my mouth.”
Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois was the sole lawmaker to oppose the measure, saying the House should take the more serious step of censuring King for his “repugnant and racist be- havior.”
Any measure short of cen- sure is “shallow,” Rush said. “Steve King has made a career of making racist statements. That is the only thing he is known for and this pattern of rabid racism must be confronted head on by the House of Representatives.”
REPRESENTATIVE STEVE KING
The vote came as Repub- licans dialed up the pressure on King, with one GOP leader suggesting Tuesday that the veteran lawmaker leave Congress.
“I’d like to see him find another line of work,” Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-high- est Republican in the House, told reporters.
Addressing what he called “a tale of two Kings,” Clyburn said the Iowa law- maker’s remarks were offen- sive because they embraced evil concepts.
Invoking the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — whose 90th birthday was Tuesday — Clyburn called on col- leagues from both parties “to join me in breaking the deaf- ening silence and letting our
resounding condemnation be heard.”
But other Democrats were pushing for a stronger pun- ishment, censure.
“As with any animal that is rabid, Steve King should be set aside and isolated,” Rush said Monday as he in- troduced a censure resolu- tion.
A third Democrat, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, intro- duced a separate censure res- olution against King.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican, we all have a responsibility to call out Rep. King’s hateful and racist comments,” Ryan said, noting that the white su- premacy comments were not the first time King has made headlines for inappropriate language.
The Trump administration on Tuesday said it has called back tens of thousands of fed- eral workers to fulfill key gov- ernment tasks, including disbursing tax refunds, over- seeing flight safety and in- specting the nation’s food and drug supply, as it seeks to blunt the impact of the longest government shutdown in U. S. history.
The nearly 50,000 fur- loughed federal employees are being brought back to work without pay — part of a group of about 800,000 federal workers who are not receiving paychecks during the shut- down, which is affecting dozens of federal agencies large and small. A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a bid by unions representing air traffic controllers and other federal workers to force the government to pay them if they are required to work.
The efforts by the Trump administration to keep the government operating during the partial shutdown came as the White House and Con- gress made no progress to- ward resolving their underlying dispute.
President Trump ex- tended an unusual lunch invi- tation to a handful of rank-and-file House Democ- rats in an attempt to woo them and create a divide within the Democratic camp over the shutdown. But the lawmakers rebuffed the outreach as Dem- ocratic leaders voiced con- cerns the meeting would prove
little more than a photo op- portunity bolstering Trump.
With Democrats in the House pushing forward with bills to reopen the govern- ment, Trump seesawing from one strategy to another to win funding for his border wall and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) largely sitting out the battle, there appeared to be no path toward opening the govern- ment as the partial shutdown ground through its 25th day.
The differing develop- ments left a discordant image of Washington. As political leaders were paralyzed over a way to end the impasse, the federal government itself was looking for ways to show flex- ibility in determining who can and cannot work.
The president struck a de- fiant tone in a call Tuesday af- ternoon with supporters, according to audio of the call obtained by The Washington Post, urging them to call De- mocrats and voice support for the border wall and pledging, “We’re going to win.”
“They’re not being paid right now because of the De- mocrats,” Trump said of the federal workforce.
“People are impressed with how well government is work- ing with the circumstances we’re under,” the president added.
But lawmakers from both parties were getting increas- ingly anxious for the shutdown to be over, even as an endgame looked as remote as ever.
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL-BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2019