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‘It is never acceptable to berate police officers’: Tim Scott hits back at Nancy Mace over airport security incident

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Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) chided Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-S.C.) on Tuesday for her confrontation with airport security, after the House member claimed she was treated unfairly by agents at the Charleston International Airport.

In a Tuesday evening Facebook post, Scott said Mace had invoked his name “for reasons that are unclear” and that his experiences at the airport had been positive “without exception.” He also thanked airport police for taking extra security precautions due to death threats lobbed against him.

“It is never acceptable to berate police officers, airport staff, and TSA agents who are simply doing their jobs, nor is it becoming of a Member of Congress to use such vulgar language when dealing with constituents,” Scott wrote.

The statement comes after an altercation last week, in which Mace “began loudly cursing and making derogatory comments” toward airport security, according to an incident report filed by a police officer. The confrontation apparently occurred when Mace attempted to use a restricted entrance following a mix-up about the vehicle she arrived in.

According to the report, Mace — who is running for governor in South Carolina — also said the security “would never treat Tim Scott like this” and berated TSA agents.

Mace has repeatedly criticized the security officials involved and defended her actions since Wired first reported the incident, accusing an American Airlines gate agent and several officers of conspiring to lie on the report and vowing legal action against them.

“All federally elected officials including Senators Scott and Graham use the same Crew Member Access Point at airports,” she wrote in one post. “That’s the federal security protocol. Maybe check your facts next time.”

Mace has posted on social media about the incident more than a dozen times, calling on Charleston International Airport CEO Elliott Summey and others to resign.

Scott also wrote that he does not use profanity “in public or private” and that members of Congress work for law enforcement, not vice versa.

“For those who want to invoke my name, please have the courtesy to note my actions and how I treat police officers, TSA agents, and fellow travelers with the respect they deserve,” Scott wrote in the post.

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Congress

The future of SAVE America

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As a potential Homeland Security funding deal comes together, Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday the Senate could temporarily drop its consideration of a contentious GOP elections bill, the SAVE America Act, then return to it after DHS funding is passed.

Thune’s comments come as Republicans are trying to reach an agreement with Democrats on ending a five-week shutdown of the sprawling department. Thune has threatened to cancel a planned two-week recess if the shutdown doesn’t end this week.

“Assuming we can move on … government funding, we can pick this thing up when we come back” from Easter, Thune said.

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These House GOP election proposals could end up in a reconciliation bill

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The chair of the House committee overseeing elections is circulating a list of proposals to include in a budget reconciliation bill as Senate Republicans and the White House move to rev up the party-line process to pass pieces of a contentious GOP voting bill in the coming months.

The list from House Administration Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) is a peek at what sort of provisions Republicans could try to pass under reconciliation, which is strictly reserved for legislation with a direct fiscal impact. The party-line effort is likely to rule out big portions of the SAVE America Act, the bill President Donald Trump has called his “No. 1 priority” for the year.

Steil’s proposals would mandate or financially incentivize states to implement voter ID laws, require proof of citizenship for voter registration, share voter data with federal agencies for verification and conduct post-election audits, among other items, according to a document obtained by POLITICO being circulated with GOP leaders and several Republican offices. It’s an effort to try to secure major pieces of Trump’s election-related demands.

In some cases, states would lose funding under the 2002 Help America Vote Act, a law passed in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election that provides federal money to help administer elections, if they fail to comply.

It’s not clear if parts of Steil’s proposals would in fact pass muster under the party-line reconciliation process. The Senate parliamentarian’s guidance typically determines what is and isn’t included.

Three people granted anonymity to discuss the brewing deal Senate Republicans and Trump discussed Monday evening, to pass Homeland Security funding now and SAVE America Act provisions later, say the most likely outcome for a new reconciliation bill is adding money for ballot security measures and potentially incentivizing more states to enact voter ID requirements. Steil’s list includes some of those pieces.

Under Steil’s proposal, states using noncompliant IDs would be ineligible to receive HAVA funding — consistent with Steil’s bill, the Make Elections Great Again Act, which overlaps with the SAVE America Act but also has no current path to passage in the Senate.

His effort to mandate proof-of-citizenship requirements would appropriate funds to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to amend the national voter registration form to require “Documentary Proof of Citizenship” such as a passport or military ID. States would have to forfeit HAVA funds if they fail to share data with federal agencies to verify voter registration data, a move officials in several states have refused to make.

Besides the Senate parliamentarian, any effort to pass elections provisions on party lines will face other obstacles. The decision to pursue a new reconciliation bill in lieu of trying to pass the SAVE America Act in full is already generating major pushback from conservative hard-liners.

The House Freedom Caucus took a shot at Senate Republicans Tuesday, arguing the brewing DHS deal means Senate Republicans are opting for “failure theater” and “gaslighting” instead of fighting to pass the bill Trump has endorsed. Even GOP senators and senior aides are privately cautioning the fresh reconciliation push could fall apart, stranding the elections overhaul and other GOP priorities.

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King Charles to make first US state visit, address Congress next month

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England’s King Charles III will make his first state visit to Washington next month.

As part of his visit, the king will address Congress in a joint meeting the week of April 27, according to two people familiar with the matter granted anonymity to discuss plans ahead of a formal announcement.

The visit was first reported by Punchbowl News.

It will be the first time a British royal has addressed Congress since 1991, when Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became the first British monarch to speak before a packed House chamber.

President Donald Trump visited London in September, and House Speaker Mike Johnson visited in January as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Johnson addressed Parliament during his visit, becoming the first House speaker to do so.

Charles’ visit comes as Trump continues to pressure Prime Minister Keir Starmer for assistance in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.

Starmer has distanced himself from the war, previously stating, “This is not our war, and we are not getting dragged into this war.”

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