Connect with us

Politics

Waltz touts work with Frontline Patriots PAC to recruit GOP veterans to Congress: ‘fresh perspective’

Source image: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/waltz-touts-work-patriot-pac-successfully-recruit-gop-veterans-congress-fresh-perspective

FIRST ON FOX: Florida Republican Rep. Michael Waltz highlighted the number of Republican military veterans heading to Congress and the work with his Frontline Patriots Political Action Committee (PAC) to get them elected.

Waltz hopped on the phone for an interview with Fox News Digital, when he talked about working with his PAC to get GOP veterans looking to serve in Congress into office.

Congress is seeing a massive class of military veterans going to Washington, with nearly 100 veterans going to the Capitol.

REP. WALTZ, SPECIAL FORCES SERGEANT BLAST MILITARY’S VAX MANDATE, WOKE POLICIES: ‘NEED TO RIGHT THE SHIP’

Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., and his Frontline Patriots PAC helped to get Republican veteran candidates elected to Congress.

Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., and his Frontline Patriots PAC helped to get Republican veteran candidates elected to Congress.
(Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Several GOP veteran candidates backed by the Frontline Patriots PAC secured election wins to Congress during the 2022 midterms, including incoming Reps. Brandon Williams, of New York, John James, of Michigan, and Zach Nunn, of Iowa.

The Florida Republican said he thinks there are “three drivers” behind the surge in former military service members running for office.

One driver was the GOP’s defiant gains in the 2020 election, when each seat won “was a minority, a woman, or a veteran.” Waltz said the second driver came from his goal to replicate the winning strategy House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, of New York, used with women GOP candidates and implementing that with GOP veteran candidates.

“Elise Stefanik has enjoyed a lot of success in recruiting and supporting Republican women to run. She started that effort in 2020,” Waltz said. “I wanted to mirror her and make 2022 the year of the Republican veteran.”

“And three, after Afghanistan, we started seeing veterans come out of the woodwork and say, never again are we going to have that kind of debacle on our watch, that kind of moral stain on our national conscience and on many of theirs,” Waltz continued.

Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida said the woke direction of the U.S. military played a part in driving GOP veteran candidates to run for office.

Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida said the woke direction of the U.S. military played a part in driving GOP veteran candidates to run for office.
(Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“And with us facing invasions in Europe, unprecedented threats from China, our border out of control, we just had a record amount of veterans reaching out,” he added.

Waltz said the robust number of veterans seeking office was “good news” but they needed to “get more organized,” so he formed the Patriot PAC to support these veterans in getting elected.

The Florida Republican said the PAC has “great success” in supporting the veteran candidates, noting that even though they “didn’t get as many” elected as they wanted, they helped get “50%” of the candidates elected.

“I mean 50% is pretty darn strong. And we flipped, by our count, seven seats, so that’s your majority right there,” Waltz said.

Florida Republican Rep. Michael Waltz and Army Special Forces Sergeant Lonny Posey discussed the military's COVID-19 vaccine mandate and other policies in a video interview with Fox News Digital.

Florida Republican Rep. Michael Waltz and Army Special Forces Sergeant Lonny Posey discussed the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and other policies in a video interview with Fox News Digital.
(Fox News Digital)

Waltz noted that the military going woke “absolutely” drove Republican veteran candidates to get into their races, saying they wanted to continue serving but did not like the military’s over-prioritization, “almost obsession with climate and gender, race and all of the things” they have focused on.

Waltz noted that the veterans running, many of which are around his age, were taught that “none of those things matter in the foxhole” when fighting with one’s brothers and sisters in arms.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“And I think all of us would agree that the enemy’s bullet could care less about the color of your skin,” Waltz said. “They just care if you’re wearing an American flag on your arm or not.”

The congressman said the newly-elected veterans will bring a “fresh perspective” and intangible skills to the congressional table, and that, while they may not agree on every issue, their “ethos” of “teamwork,” “self-sacrifice,” “leadership and discipline” is what Americans want to see in their elected officials.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/waltz-touts-work-patriot-pac-successfully-recruit-gop-veterans-congress-fresh-perspective

Politics

Biden vetoes bill cancelling his $400 billion student loan handout, vows he’s ‘not going to back down’

President Biden on Wednesday vetoed the bill that would have scrapped his $400 billion student loan handout and vowed he wasn’t “going to back down” when it came to forgiving the college debt of millions across the country.

“Folks, Republican in Congress led an effort to pass a bill blocking my administration’s plan to provide up to $10,000 in student debt relief and up to $20,000 for borrowers that received a Pell Grant. Nearly 90% of those relief dollars go to people making less than $75,000 a year,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter

“I’m not going to back down on my efforts to help tens of millions of working and middle class families. That’s why I’m going to veto this bill,” he said. 

AOC SAYS SUPREME COURT ‘CORRUPTION’ WILL KILL BIDEN STUDENT LOAN HANDOUT

Amid his railing against Republicans, Biden made no mention of the two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., who joined all Republicans in voting to advance the bill last week. Independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema also voted in favor with the final tally coming to 52-46.

Biden also made no mention of Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., who joined Republicans in voting for the bill in the House of Representatives. The final House vote tally was 218-203.

The president went on to say that some of the members who voted for the bill had “personally received loans to keep their small business afloat during the pandemic,” and supported “huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.” 

CHRIS CHRISTIE RIPS ‘JUVENILE,’ ‘BABY’ TRUMP AFTER FORMER PRESIDENT TARGETS HIM WITH FAT JOKES: ‘LIKE A CHILD’

President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden speaks ahead of vetoing a bill scrapping his $400 billion student loan handout on June 7, 2023 in the Oval Office. (White House)

“But when it comes to hardworking Americans trying to get ahead, dealing with student debt relief, that’s where they drew the line. I think it’s wrong,” he said.

“Let me make something really clear, I’m never going to apologize for helping working and middle class Americans as they recover from this pandemic. Never,” he added before signing his veto of the bill.

Biden’s veto of the bill marks his fifth veto since taking office.

Under the program announced last year, Biden said he would cancel up to $10,000 in student loans for people making less than $125,000, and up to $20,000 for students who received Pell Grants. That program was expected to cost the government more than $400 billion in lost debt repayment, but the program was put on hold after a court blocked it.

BIDEN JOINS AOC IN LINKING CANADIAN WILDFIRES TO ‘CLIMATE CRISIS’

US Capitol Washington DC

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

The resolution approved by the House and Senate was written under the Congressional Review Act, which lets Congress reject an executive branch policy as long as both the House and Senate pass a resolution disapproving of that policy.

Given the mostly partisan nature of the votes in the House and Senate, it’s unlikely Congress will be able to find the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to override Biden’s veto.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News’ Peter Kasperowicz contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Politics

Michigan man pleads guilty to assisting Whitmer kidnapping scheme

A man accused of aiding a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor pleaded guilty Wednesday, the ninth conviction in state and federal courts since agents broke up an astonishing scheme by anti-government rebels in 2020.

Shawn Fix said he provided material support for an act of terrorism, namely the strategy to snatch Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home in Antrim County. Prosecutors agreed to drop a weapon charge.

Fix trained with a militia, the Wolverine Watchmen, for “politically motivated violence,” prosecutors have said, and hosted a five-hour meeting at his Belleville home where there was much discussion about kidnapping Whitmer.

MICHIGAN MAN CHARGED WITH AIDING WHITMER KIDNAPPING PLOT TO CHANGE PLEA

Fix, 40, acknowledged helping plot leader Adam Fox pinpoint the location of Whitmer’s home, key information that was used for a 2020 ride to find the property in northern Michigan.

“Guilty,” Fix told the judge.

Shawn Fix

Shawn Fix has pleaded guilty to his role in the planned kidnapping of Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (AP Photo/John Flesher)

He appeared in an Antrim County court, one of five people charged in that leg of the investigation. A co-defendant pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in March, leaving three other men to face trial in August.

Fix, who faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, agreed to testify if called by prosecutors.

The main kidnapping conspiracy case was handled in federal court, where four men, including ringleaders Fox and Barry Croft Jr., were convicted. Two others were acquitted.

WISCONSIN MAN CHARGED IN WHITMER KIDNAPPING PLOT TO CHANGE PLEA

Separately, three men were convicted at trial in Jackson County, the site of militia training, and are serving long prison terms.

Whitmer, a Democrat, was targeted as part of a broad effort by anti-government extremists to trigger a civil war around the time of the 2020 presidential election, investigators said. Her COVID-19 policies, which shut down schools and restricted the economy, were deeply scorned by foes.

But informants and undercover FBI agents were inside the group for months, leading to arrests in October 2020. Whitmer was not physically harmed.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

After the plot was thwarted, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had given “comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.” Last August, after 19 months out of office, Trump called the kidnapping plan a “fake deal.”

Continue Reading

Politics

Utah Rep. Chris Stewart to step down from Congress in September

U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, on Wednesday officially submitted his letter of resignation from Congress. 

In a letter to Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox, Stewart said he would be stepping down as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives effective Sept. 15. 

Utah Rep. Chris Stewart addresses supporters at an election night party

FILE: Utah Rep. Chris Stewart talks to supporters during an Utah Republican election night party on June 28, 2022, in South Jordan, Utah.  (Photo/George Frey, File)

“It has been one of the great honors of my life to serve the good people of Utah in Congress,” Stewart said.

Stewart, a six-term lawmaker, announced his plans to leave Congress last month due to his wife’s illness. 

His resignation would leave open a Republican seat on the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees — and reduce an already narrow GOP majority to just four seats.

FBI WILLING TO ALLOW ALL HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO VIEW BIDEN DOC ALLEGING CRIMINAL SCHEME: SOURCE

Utah law states that the governor must call for a special election in the event of a House vacancy. Once Stewart makes his resignation official, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox will have seven days to set the time for a primary and special election. 

The law requires those dates to be the same as municipal primary and general elections scheduled for this year, unless the state legislature appropriates funds to hold a separate election.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Though Stewart’s departure will mean one less Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, it is not expected to affect House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ability to steer a tight Republican majority. 

The district is reliably Republican and Stewart defeated a Democratic challenger by more than 30 percentage points in 2022.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report. 

Continue Reading

Trending