House back on the job with hearings on myriad topics

NEWS AND OPINION:

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise offers a “Committee Cliff Notes” advisory each week to highlight what Republican lawmakers are addressing on Capitol Hill at the moment.

This week, he points to 19 hearings, meetings and markups on the GOP schedule — and here are just a few examples of those events:

On Tuesday, for example, the Committee on Rules will discuss S.J. Res. 38 — “Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Federal Highway Administration relating to ‘Waiver of Buy America Requirements for Electric Vehicle Chargers.’”

The Committee on Homeland Security will hold a full-panel hearing on Wednesday titled “Havoc in the Heartland: How Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas’ Failed Leadership Has Impacted the States.”

The Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets will feature a hearing called “Examining the DOL Fiduciary Rule: Implications for Retirement Savings and Access,” also on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement hosts a hearing called “The Impact of Illegal Immigration on Social Services.”

And last but not least, the Committee on Small Business will hold a full-panel hearing called “Crime on the Rise: How Lawlessness Is Impacting Main Street America.”

REPUBLICAN REALITY CHECK

Sharp-eyed Republicans have also taken notice of a CBS News poll that serves as a reality check on the situation at the southern U.S. border.

The survey released Sunday revealed that 45% of U.S. adults agree that the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border is “a crisis,” while 30% deem it “very serious” and 18% say it’s “somewhat serious.”

Only 7% of the respondents said the border situation is “not much of a problem.”

The CBS News poll of 2,157 U.S. adults was conducted Jan. 3-5.

Will Reinert, press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee, has taken note of these findings and their implications.

“Extreme House Democrats have twisted themselves into so many knots trying to ignore the border crisis they should receive a Boy Scout merit badge,” Mr. Reinert said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“Unfortunately for Washington Democrats, their policy acrobatics don’t align with the views of Americans who think their policies are radical and unserious,” he said.

INVASION ON THE WAY

Meanwhile, a Rasmussen Reports survey also has some damning numbers to share.

“As Congress and President Joe Biden work to negotiate border security legislation, voters overwhelmingly view the situation at America’s southern border as an invasion,” said the survey analysis, which was released Monday.

It found that 65% of likely U.S. voters believe it is accurate to describe the situation with migrants at the border with Mexico as an “invasion” of the United States; 31% disagree.

The survey of 1,044 likely voters was conducted Jan. 2-4 by Rasmussen Reports and the National Pulse.

THE GLOVES COME OFF

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley released a new campaign spot Monday titled “Grit and Grace,” which informs viewers that her method of running the country would be shaped by “grit and grace.”

The Ron DeSantis for President campaign, meanwhile, has released what it deems its official closing TV ad before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses.

The campaign is veering into hardball territory here when it comes to Mrs. Haley.

The new outreach is now “exposing Haley’s recent insult to Iowans that they need to be ‘corrected’ by the people of New Hampshire,” the DeSantis campaign said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“Haley’s insult to Iowans paints a stark contrast with Ron DeSantis, who shares Iowa values of faith, family, and freedom, has the support of key Iowa conservatives like Kim Reynolds and Bob Vanderplaats, and has visited all 99 counties in the Hawkeye State,” the campaign said.

The 30-second spot also features Mr. DeSantis’ closing message in the Hawkeye State: “Donald Trump is running for his issues. Nikki Haley’s running for her donors’ issues. I’m running for your issues,” the candidate himself says in the new spot.

INEVITABLE TRUMP HEADLINES

Former President Donald Trump is always a convenient source of subject matter for the news media, no matter what circumstances he encounters.

He’ll be in an appeals court hearing centered on presidential immunity in the nation’s capital Tuesday — and here are some headlines from the past 24 hours:

“Trump toggles between the courtroom and the campaign in the final week before 2024 voting begins” (CNN); “Stefanik? Noem? Haley?! The Trump V.P. chatter has begun” (The New York Times); “Trump is unfit for office but shouldn’t be barred from the ballot” (Los Angeles Times); “Biden goes after Trump in second straight speech for pushing ‘second lost cause’” (The Hill); “Trump promises to reduce inflation, his plans may reignite it” (The Washington Post); Trump suggests that, if re-elected, he would have Biden indicted” (NBC News); and “Congress has the power to grant Trump amnesty so he is eligible for primary ballots” (National Public Radio).

POLL DU JOUR

• 35% of U.S. adults “strongly disapprove” of the way Congress is handling its job; 40% of men and 31% of women agree.

• 23% overall “somewhat disapprove” of the way Congress is handling its job; 21% of men and 24% of women agree.

• 16% overall neither approve or disapprove; 15% of men and 17% of women agree.

• 14% overall “somewhat approve” of Congress; 15% of men and 13% of women agree.

• 4% overall “strongly approve” of Congress; 5% of men and 3% of women agree.

• 8% overall are not sure about the issue; 4% of men and 13% of women agree.

SOURCE: An Economist YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted from Dec. 31 to Jan. 2.

• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com.