Resolution to expel George Santos introduced; Comer demands docs from Biden's son, brother: updates

WASHINGTON — A Democratic congressman Thursday launched an effort to expel GOP Rep. George Santos from Congress. California Rep. Robert Garcia referred a resolution to the House Ethics Committee to kick out tghe freshman New York lawmaker who lied about his background and finances during last year's campaign.

Meanwhile, the Republican head of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee ramped up his probe of President Joe Biden’s son and brother. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., is requesting Hunter and James Biden for documents since 2009 covering communications with intelligence agencies, travel and financial records since Biden was vice president

Here's what else is happening in politics:

• Minnesota Democratic Rep. Angie Craig was assaulted in her Washington apartment building elevator on Thursday, but her chief of staff said there was no evidence the attack was politically motivated.

• Panel investigates Biden administration: The newly-established House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government is holding its first hearing Thursday to investigate the alleged weaponization of the government against Republicans.

• Trump back on Facebook: Meta Platforms Inc. mechanically restored former President Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts Thursday, more than two years after suspending him for improper content in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

• Biden hits the road: President Joe Biden headed to Florida after visiting a union training center in Wisconsin.

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Fetterman's doctors rule out stroke as cause of recent dizziness

Sen. John Fetterman's doctors have concluded that the Pennsylvania Democrat who was hospitalized late Wednesday for lightheadedness did not suffer a stroke.

Fetterman, who suffered a stroke during his 2022 Senate campaign in Pennsylvania, was taken to George Washington University Hospital after feeling dizzy toward the end of a Senate Democratic retreat Wednesday, according to his spokesperson, Joe Calvello.

On Thursday, Calvello said the results of an MRI "along with the results of all of the other tests the doctors ran, rule out a new stroke. He is being monitored with an EEG for signs of seizure - so far there are no signs of seizure, but he is still being monitored."

- Candy Woodall

Minnesota congresswoman attacked in apartment building elevator

Minnesota Democratic Rep. Angie Craig was assaulted at her apartment building in Washington Thursday morning, according to the congresswoman’s office.

The incident occurred in an elevator around 7:15 a.m.

“Rep. Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically okay,” Craig’s chief of staff, Nick Coe, said in a statement.

Coe added that “there is no evidence that the incident was politically motivated.”

- Phillip M. Bailey

‘Time for him to go‘: Democrats introduce resolution to expel George Santos

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., referred a resolution Thursday to the House Ethics Committee to expel GOP Rep. George Santos from Congress. The freshman Democrat called Santos a fraud and a liar for misrepresenting his background and finances during his campaign last year for New York's third district.

“It’s time for him to go,” Garcia said. “We have given him plenty of time to resign and he has chosen not to do so.”

The odds of expulsion are long. It would take two-thirds of the chamber to vote for such a move. Santos told USA TODAY “it’s their prerogative" to introduce a resolution, and maintained his position that he will not resign from office.

“They can do whatever they want. For people who like to talk about silencing voters, they want to silence 142,000 people who voted to send me here," he said.

- Rachel Looker and Candy Woodall

Santos probes: George Santos controversy: Here's a look at investigations of the House Republican

Donald Trump's Facebook account is officially restored

Brace yourselves for Donald Trump's first new Facebook post.

Meta Platforms Inc. mechanically restored Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts Thursday, more than two years after suspending him for improper content in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

The social media giant announced Jan. 25 that it would lift Trump's suspension, and threatened more penalties if the ex-president again violates their content policies.

– David Jackson

Why Biden keeps revisiting the Social Security, Medicare heckling episode

President Joe Biden won’t let Republicans forget about their heckling – and apparent commitment not to touch Medicare or Social Security – from his State of the Union address this week.

“It sounded like they agreed to take these cuts off the table. I sure hope so. I mean it," Biden said, speaking Thursday at the University of Tampa in Florida.

Republicans booed and jeered Biden during the State of the Union when he accused them of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare, pointing to a proposal by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to sunset all federal programs every five years. The White House believes the moment boxed Republicans – who have pushed unspecified spending cuts during debt ceiling talks – into a corner.

“I know that a lot of Republicans' dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare. Well, let me say this. If that's your dream, I'm your nightmare,” Biden said.

- Joey Garrison and Maureen Groppe

Nikki Haley schedule update: Iowa is also on her announcement itinerary

Having already announced events in South Carolina and New Hampshire, soon-to-be presidential candidate Nikki Haley has added another early contest state to her announcement tour: Iowa.

Haley, who formally announces her candidacy Wednesday in Charleston, S.C., will conduct a town hall in Urbandale, Iowa, on Feb. 20, and Marion, Iowa, on Feb. 21, according to her campaign. The 2024 GOP presidential campaign kicks off in the Hawkeye State which holds the first caucus in the nation.

The former United Nations ambassador who is challenging Donald Trump for the GOP nomination in 2024 has two halls in New Hampshire late next week.

– David Jackson

GOP Congressman calls Santos 'a joke' but wouldn't vote to expel him

Rep. Dusty Johnson, a South Dakota Republican and key ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is joining the growing number of members in his party who believe Rep. George Santos doesn’t belong in Congress.

“George Santos is a joke, and he shouldn’t be in Congress,” Johnson told USA TODAY Thursday. But Johnson was hesitant about a Democratic resolution to expel Santos.

“It’s the voters who get to decide who to hire and fire,” he said. “Before we start exercising a veto over the decision of the voters, I think we really want to proceed cautiously.”

- Candy Woodall

'Sick puppy': Mitt Romney calls George Santos 'a sick puppy' after Biden State of the Union

House unanimously condemns China’s spy balloon

A usually divided House came together Thursday to slam the Chinese government for sending a spy balloon to fly over much of the continental U.S. this month.

Five days after the military shot down the surveillance device, lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution condemning the foreign nation that called the incident “a brazen violation of (American) sovereignty.”

State Department officials said Thursday the balloon, which was shot down off the South Carolina coast, was fashioned with equipment that was "clearly for intelligence surveillance.”

“An event like this… must not happen again. And it cannot go unanswered,” Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, of Texas, who is chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during Thursday’s floor debate.

- Phillip M. Bailey

White House calls House inquiry ‘political stunt’

A White House spokesperson slammed a House hearing scheduled Thursday as a “political stunt” aimed at getting participants more attention on Fox News.

The Judiciary subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government will hear from witnesses including Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who have investigated Hunter Biden’s foreign business deals. Other witnesses include former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Fox News contributor, and former FBI agent Nicole Parker.

“These extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress are choosing to make it their top priority to go down the rabbit hole of debunked conspiracy theories about a ‘deep state’ instead of taking a deep breath and deciding to work with the President and Democrats in Congress to improve Americans’ everyday lives,” Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement.

– Bart Jansen

Hunter Biden laptop story enflames House lawmakers: 7 takeaways from Twitter hearing

Report: Election deniers lost, but election threats remain

Many Donald Trump-backed election deniers lost bids for office last year, but the threat of election subversion remains, says a new report – particularly physical threats to election workers.

“While the most feared threats to election administration and vote counting did not materialize in 2022, that doesn’t mean that the elevated risks to our elections have disappeared and we can lower our guard,” said Wendy Weiser, Vice President for Democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.

Weiser is a member of the National Task Force on Election Crises, which issued a report Thursday warning that there are still some current government officials – mostly Trump-style Republicans – who want to manipulate voting and election laws to favor their candidates.

The report urged the government to remain vigilant about election threats, especially from partisans willing to physically threaten election officials to try and get their way.

"The threat of political violence was one the most concerning aspects of the 2022 cycle and one that shows no signs of abating," the report said.

– David Jackson

Sen. Fetterman hospitalized: Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke on campaign trail, hospitalized for lightheadedness

Comer demands documents from president’s son, brother

The head of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee ratcheted up his investigation of President Joe Biden’s son and brother with a request to them for documents since 2009 covering communications with intelligence agencies, travel and financial records since Biden was vice president.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said the letters to Hunter and James Biden, and their business associate Eric Schwerin, would help the panel draft stronger ethics legislation for federal officials and their families. The request followed a six-hour hearing Wednesday about Twitter stifling news coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop, which contained information about foreign business deals.

Joe Biden dismissed the inquiry. “The public’s not going to pay attention to that,” Biden told the PBS NewsHour on Wednesday. “If the only thing they can do is make up things about my family, it’s not going to go very far.”

--Bart Jansen

Biden's GOP antagonists: Biden’s most vocal GOP antagonists emerge, World Economic Forum preview: 5 Things podcast

Hunter Biden lawyer calls Comer inquiry ‘inaccurate’ and ‘baseless’

Abbe Lowell, a lawyer representing Hunter Biden, replied to Rep. James Comer’s request for documents from the president’s son as “peddling inaccurate and baseless conclusions.”

As head of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Comer, R-Ky., had demanded Hunter Biden documents about intelligence agencies, travel and finances since 2009 to draft stronger ethics legislation. But Lowell said Hunter Biden is a private citizen and the panel lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.

“Peddling your own inaccurate and baseless conclusions under the guise of a real investigation, turns the Committee into ‘Wonderland’ and you into the Queen of Hearts shouting, ‘sentence first, verdict afterwards,’” Lowell wrote in a four-page letter to Comer.

– Bart Jansen

Hunter Biden's art dealer says his work is 'important': Why the paintings factor into GOP probes.

Pentagon: China conducted spy balloon program for years

The Chinese balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast was part of a large surveillance program that China has been conducting for “several years,” the Pentagon said Wednesday.

When similar balloons passed over U.S. territory on four occasions during the Trump and Biden administrations, the U.S. did not immediately identify them as Chinese surveillance balloons, said Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. But he said “subsequent intelligence analysis” allowed the U.S. to confirm they were part of a Chinese spying effort and learn “a lot more” about the program.

– Associated Press

Spy balloon flew over sensitive US sites: Chinese spy balloon flew over other US missile and nuclear weapons sites, lawmaker says

White House hits back at GOP after State of the Union heckling over Social Security, Medicare

During President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday, GOP lawmakers responded with vocal outrage when the president suggested Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare. But on Thursday, the White House pulled out the receipts.

In a fact sheet titled “Congressional Republicans’ Many Proposals to Cut Social Security and Medicare, and Increase Prescription Drug Prices and Health Care Premiums,” the White House called out the party and several GOP lawmakers by name for having a “different record” on the popular programs than they loudly claimed Tuesday.

The fact sheet shows the White House’s growing boldness in calling out the opposite party as the 2024 election rapidly approaches.

-Ella Lee

State of the Union takeaways: Blue-collar Joe, GOP boos and a 2024 preview

'Moms for Liberty' asks Iowa lawmakers to get 'inappropriate' books out of schools

Five Iowa moms, all members of the conservative "Moms for Liberty" group, made their case to lawmakers this week about their efforts to remove or limit inappropriate books in schools.

"This legislature needs to come together and find common ground on protecting children from obscenity," said Mandy Gilbert, a Johnston parent and secretary for the Polk County Moms for Liberty chapter.

Outside the Iowa House Government Oversight Committee room, a small group held signs that condemned book banning. Former Iowa teacher Alena Treat said she's concerned the push against inappropriate books is part of a larger effort to remove LGBTQ representation from schools.

– Katie Akin, Des Moines Register

Read the full story: 'Moms for Liberty' calls on Iowa legislature to rid schools of 'inappropriate' books'

Hunter Biden laptop story enflames House lawmakers

The House hearing Wednesday into Twitter’s brief suppression of a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop outlined the queasiness of former executives to block it and provided a bare-knuckle arena for partisan lawmakers to debate allegations against President Joe Biden.

Former Twitter executives told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee the company blocked links to the New York Post story in October 2020 because of similarities to the posting of leaks from hacked Democratic computers before the 2016 election. The executives called the 24-hour suppression a mistake and said it was difficult to judge between contentious and dangerous speech during a campaign.

Republican lawmakers argued Twitter’s decision could have thrown the election to Biden rather than former President Donald Trump, while Democrats called the hearing “silly” and a "bizarre political stunt.”

– Bart Jansen

Read the full story: Hunter Biden laptop story enflames House lawmakers: 7 takeaways from Twitter hearing

Sen. John Fetterman hospitalized for lightheadedness

Sen. John Fetterman, who had a stroke during his 2022 Senate campaign in Pennsylvania, is in the hospital, his office said late Wednesday night.

Fetterman was taken to George Washington University Hospital after feeling lightheaded toward the end of the Senate Democratic retreat Wednesday, according to a statement from his spokesperson, Joe Calvello.

"Initial tests did not show evidence of a new stroke, but doctors are running more tests and John is remaining overnight for observation," Calvello said.

-- Candy Woodall

Read the whole story here: Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke on campaign trail, hospitalized for lightheadedness

Biden schedule today

President Joe Biden will travel to Floriday as part of his post-State of the Union travel to bring his key issues to an outside-the-Beltway audience. He will focus today is on Social Security and Medicare.

Biden's event at 1:30 pm will be held in Tampa.

Biden to bring Social Security fight to Florida

President Joe Biden will continue his attacks on Republicans over Social Security and Medicare when he travels to Florida.

Biden has accused Republicans – including Florida Sen. Rick Scott – of endangering the popular retirement programs by proposing all federal legislation by renewed every five years. Scott says Biden is twisting his words.

Biden appeared to relish the dispute over the issue during his State of the Union address when Republican lawmakers interrupted his speech to challenge him.

Biden said Wednesday he hopes that means Republicans have agreed not to cut Social Security and Medicare but, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

– Maureen Groppe

More: Marjorie Taylor Greene, other Republicans spar with Biden over Social Security, Medicare

Subcommittee on weaponization of the government set to hold first hearing Thursday

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., will testify Thursday during a GOP-led hearing of the congressional subcommittee investigating the alleged weaponization of the government against Republicans.

Johnson plans to speak about the “roadblocks” he faced from government agencies during his investigation into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, that concluded in 2020 while Johnson was the chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Johnson's office told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who recently quit the Democratic Party, and former FBI special agent Nicole Parker will also testify during the hearing, according to CNN, which was first to report the developments.

– Lawrence Andrea

Biden under scrutiny: House Republicans gear up investigations of the president

Biden: Republican investigations of my family 'won’t go very far'

President Joe Biden said House Republicans’ investigations into the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, and other members of his family "won’t go very far."

"The public’s not going to pay attention to that," Biden said in an interview Wednesday on PBS NewsHour. "They want these guys to do something. If the only thing they can do is make up things about my family, it’s not going to go very far."

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee held its first hearing Wednesday investigating the Biden family as former Twitter executives faced questions about media coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop. It's the start of a string of probes into the president that Republicans have long promised.

– Joey Garrison

7 takeaways from Twitter hearing: Hunter Biden laptop story enflames House lawmakers

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrat introduces resolution to expel Santos from House: Updates