Congress
Nancy Mace and Cory Mills are still squabbling over censure vote
A failed effort to punish Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar for comments about Charlie Kirk led to more squabbling Monday among two Republicans.
Rep. Nancy Mace attacked Rep. Cory Mills for voting against the measure with a series of social media posts, calling attention to previous reports alleging that the Florida lawmaker has exaggerated his war record.
Mace, who is running for governor of South Carolina, has been feuding with Mills since he became one of four Republicans to join all Democrats to kill her censure measure, which fell just one vote short of passing on Wednesday.
She suggested in her social media posts that Mills should be removed from his position on the House Armed Services Committee for lying about his Army service.
“Cory Mills never spent over 20 years in the Iraq War or Middle East fighting terrorists,” Mace wrote. “This guy definitely has a screw loose and shouldn’t be on Foreign Affairs or the House Armed Services Committee.”
Mills said he voted against censoring Omar on First Amendment grounds. “At the end of the day, I’m a constitutionalist,” Mills wrote on X after blocking Mace’s censure vote.
The vote ended the effort to strip Omar of her committee assignments over her criticism of the late conservative political activist. The Minnesota lawmaker strenuously denied directly making the comments cited by Mace, and House Democrats rallied behind her.
Neither Mace nor Mills responded Monday to requests for comment.
Mills responded on social media with a handful of posts defending his military service and past statements, even posting a lettersigned by a fellow service member from his time in Iraq to respond to attacks that have been leveled previously against the Florida lawmaker.
“On multiple occasions Team-21 was attacked by insurgents with improvised explosive devices (IEDs and EFPs),” the letter reads. “Cory was present for two of these attacks.”
The letter goes on to defend Mills’ statements that he had been “blown up” on two missions in Iraq, incidents that Mace has specifically questioned.
“I understand that there may be a question as to what “blown up” means to the military contractors that served in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the letter states. It refers (in contractor speak) to being in a motorcade struck by improvised explosive devices. It does not necessarily mean that you are physically “blown up” or even seriously wounded.”
Mace dismissed his responses in follow-up posts.
“This post doesn’t say or prove anything,” Mace replied on X. “This is what he does. Blows hot air hoping no one will notice. And you’re not allowed to question all of his many lies.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi wants answers from the Justice Department about internal communications regarding a possible pardon for Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
In a letter sent Wednesday to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Illinois Democrat pointed to a recent POLITICO story where Maxwell’s attorney, David Oscar Markus, said there was “a good chance and for good reason that [Maxwell] would get a pardon” from President Donald Trump.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for her role in the sex trafficking scheme. The Supreme Court recently denied a bid to review her case, leaving presidential clemency the only obvious reprieve that could be available to her. Trump has not ruled out granting her clemency.
As Blue Light News reported earlier this month, Markus said in an extensive interview he had reached out to Blanche last year to set up a meeting for his client to answer questions about the Epstein case. They met in Tallahassee for a two-day meeting in July, and Maxwell was moved to a minimum security prison camp in Texas shortly afterward. Blanche and Markus have both maintained that she was transferred because she was unsafe at her former facility.
“It is unacceptable that DOJ would be engaging at all with such an outrageous request,” Krishnamoorthi wrote to Blanche, who has known Markus for years.
Krishnamoorthi asked Blanche to promise he would not engage with the convicted sex offender around a pardon and requested to view communications with Maxwell or Markus related to a pardon.
DOJ did not immediately return a request for comment.
Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) has died at the age of 80, according to Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), who disclosed his death at a committee hearing on Wednesday.
First elected to the state Assembly in Georgia in 1974, Scott’s career in politics spanned decades. The 12-term lawmaker became the first Black chair of the House’s powerful Agriculture Committee when he was tapped to lead the panel in 2020.
Scott faced criticism for seeking reelection in 2024 even as declining health imperiled his ability to negotiate a $1.5 trillion farm bill. Scott was also seeking reelection to his Atlanta-area district later this year.
Senate Democrats want to use a marathon voting session this week to hammer Republicans on cost-of-living issues.
As part of the amendment free-for-all known as “vote-a-rama,” Democrats can force a vote on any proposal they want before the Senate votes on the GOP’s budget blueprint for an immigration enforcement bill. They are vowing to try to show a “contrast” that hits at the heart of their midterms message.
“Republicans want to shell out billions of dollars to Donald Trump’s private army without any common sense restraints or reforms. Democrats want to put money in people’s pockets by lowering their costs,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Wednesday.
“We’re going to keep at it, and keep at it, and keep at it,” Schumer added.
The Senate could move as soon as Wednesday to kick off the hourslong voting marathon. Republicans have to adopt the budget resolution before they can take up a subsequent bill they expect will provide roughly $70 billion for immigration enforcement.
Republicans decided to go it alone on funding for ICE, Border Patrol and other agencies after they were unable to get a deal with Democrats to impose new restrictions on the funding in the wake of federal agents fatally shooting two people in Minneapolis in January.
Few, if any, of the Democratic amendments are likely to be adopted. But they could provide fuel for campaign season attacks as Republicans unite to keep their party-line funding plan intact.
Schumer declined to offer specifics on his caucus’ amendments, but he said they will relate to reducing costs on issues like housing, health care, food costs and child care. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the No. 3 Senate Democrat, indicated that Democrats will force amendment votes related to local law enforcement funding, lapsed Obamacare subsidies and housing costs.
“Those are the choices we are going to present to them over these next few days,” she added.
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