ogles, andrew rep

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merri ok

pow mofo pending, ACHIEVED ~ JUDGE

the other white santos

WORK REQ ~ MEDICARE?

SEE GERRY

3RD TERM // FASCISM

===

-=-=

Oct 25, 2026 #lastweektonight

Ahead of the midterms, John Oliver devotes an entire episode to discussing the rising prominence of extremist beliefs within the Republican Party – from white nationalism to antisemitism – and what it all has to do with Vandy potato chips.

4:33

4 minutes, 33 seconds

prominent Republicans seems to be increasingly the norm. Tennessee's Andy Ogles has posted Muslims don't belong in American society. Senator Tommy Tubville

4:42

4 minutes, 42 seconds

has posted we must immediately ban all Islam immigrants. And just last month, Bo French, Republican candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner attracted a lot of attention after doing this.

4:53

4 minutes, 53 seconds

Following that big Longhorns win on Saturday, French posted a photo of this group of students saying, among other

5:00

5 minutes

things, quote, "Social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners. It's everywhere and far

10 26

The Republican Party & The Far Right: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

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RWW 5 26

• Helen Lewis @ The Atlantic: The Men Who Want Women to Be Quiet

A virulent form of misogyny has become the single most important force holding together the American right.

• Phil Williams @ News Channel 5: Andy Ogles now denies raising $25,000 from public for children's burial garden that was never built

Tennessee congressman's latest stories about GoFundMe: Money actually came from him and his family, spent on 'children with cancer.'

• Will Sommer @ The Bulwark: The Right’s Worst New Star Just Shot Someone

Meet “Chud the Builder.”

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an 5 26

After two years of investigating MAGA diehard Congressman Andy Olges (R-TN) for fraud, the Department of Justice is preparing to drop its case, and has agreed to “return or destroy” evidence seized before the FBI has a chance to review it. While the case began under former President Joe Biden, since President Donald Trump’s return to office, critics say that the DOJ has largely been reshaped as a tool of his political will, and Ogles has lobbied the administration hard for the investigation to end.

The investigation has centered around his first congressional run in 2022. According to Nashville’s Newschannel 5, it “focuses on campaign reports filed by Ogles in 2022 claiming he had personally loaned his campaign $320,000 of his own money — a claim he later admitted was false” during an investigation by the same news outlet.

Evidence has shown “that Ogles did not appear to have the financial resources to make such a loan. His personal financial disclosures filed with the U.S. House did not indicate that he even had a savings account. The Maury County Republican later filed amended campaign reports declaring that he had only loaned his campaign $20,000. He claimed that he had ‘mistakenly’ included the amount of money that he was prepared to spend if necessary. In January 2025, the House Ethics Committee announced the findings of a preliminary investigation that confirmed NewsChannel 5’s questions. In that report, Ogles’ treasurer speculated that the GOP candidate may have misrepresented the amount of money he had available to make his campaign look stronger in order to ‘buy the primary.’”

When Trump reentered the White House, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Nashville abruptly withdrew from the case, handing it off to a division in D.C. that “was decimated by cuts made by the incoming administration.” Afterwards, “Ogles repeatedly appeared to be attempting to curry favor with President Trump, introducing legislation to allow the MAGA leader to seek a third term, to allow the president to open negotiations to acquire Greenland and to impeach federal judges who had ruled against the Trump administration.”

By December the case was up in the air as it waited for a judge’s ruling, who left the bench a month later without ever delivering it. According to Newschannel 5, “She never explained the delay, and it is not clear what may have transpired behind the scenes since then.”

Then on Tuesday, Olges’ legal team filed a motion to prevent the FBI from reviewing his phone and email once and for all, declaring that, "In discussions with the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice, the Government has advised defense counsel that it will promptly return or destroy the property obtained pursuant to the respective search warrants at issue.” His team’s core argument was that because the FBI operates under the executive branch, it should not be allowed to view the personal correspondence of a sitting member of Congress.

The apparent end to the investigation comes at a critical moment for the Tennessee GOP, which is holding a special session to redraw congressional districts in a way that will “put the state under complete Republican control.” That redistricting will also likely “insulate Ogles from what had been expected to be a serious Democratic challenge.”

According to Newschannel 5, the fraud case is just one of several scandals linked to Ogles.

The outlet's investigations "revealed that Ogles fabricated or exaggerated much of his political biography, including his claims to be an economist, a nationally recognized expert in tax policy and healthcare, a trained police officer, even an expert in international sex crimes. He claimed to have an undergraduate degree in International Relations, but *NewsChannel 5 Investigates* obtained his college transcript, which showed that he had a general degree in Liberal Studies. He took only one economics course and got a ‘C’ grade. Ogles also claimed to have received a ‘graduate education’ or to have done ‘graduate work’ at both Vanderbilt and Dartmouth.” In fact, “he had enrolled in several non-credit courses offered for professionals. On his resume, the Tennessee Republican claimed to have served four years on the ‘board of directors’ for the city of Franklin — which does not have a board of directors.”

He’s also faced questions about tens of thousands of dollars spent from his campaign accounts to companies that are either unrelated to the services Ogles claims to have purchased or don’t appear to exist at all.

---

an

no lnx

New allegations against Bad Bunny are just a decoy

Super Bowl LX - Half-Time Show - New England Patriots v Seattle Seahawks - Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California, United States - February 8, 2026 Bad Bunny performs during the halftime show REUTERS/Mike Blake

:{:{John StoehrFebruary 12, 2026}:

At this point, you have probably heard enough about the effect of Bad Bunny’s Superbowl halftime show on the president and his coalition. While there are plenty of details to debate, including the ludicrous allegation that the Grammy-winner’s performance was “pure smut,” I think it’s important to keep your eyes fixed on what’s really at stake.

Rightwingers don’t mind “indecent acts,” as their protection of “the Epstein class” should attest. What they mind is a global superstar, whose originates from Puerto Rico and whose native language is Spanish, making affirmative claims about who belongs in America.

Bad Bunny’s halftime show was an extension of remarks he made two weekends ago after winning six Grammys. “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” he said. “We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”

His argument in favor of kindness and common cause, and in defense of diversity and inclusion, was later immortalized on words written on a football – “Together, we are America” – and it lay beneath a spectacle seen by 135 million, according to the Daily News.

The strength of Bad Bunny’s argument was enhanced by the impotence of its counterpart. The Turning Point USA, the hate group founded by the late Charlie Kirk, organized an alternate musical event. Emceed by Kid Rock, the show’s message was, more or less, America is for “us,” not “them.” And, according to the Daily News, just 6 million people watched it.

That’s their beef.

Donald Trump and his rightwing allies will not believe their vision of America – essentially, a racially exclusive club – is unpopular. And when I say “will not believe,” I am strictly speaking.

They will never accept that America has fallen in love with a man who was born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, who was bagging groceries a decade ago before rising to Spotify’s top global artist, who welcomes everyone and whose life embodies the American Dream.

So they smear him, accusing him of involvement in a criminal conspiracy to somehow force Americans into loving him against their will. That’s the thinking behind a new complaint by US Congressman Andy Ogles. The Tennessee Republican described the Superbowl halftime show as "pure smut" featuring "explicit displays of gay sexual acts, women gyrating provocatively, and Bad Bunny shamelessly grabbing his crotch while dry-humping the air."

Ogles continued, saying Bad Bunny "openly glorified sodomy and countless other unspeakable depravities." Ogles said "these flagrant, indecent acts" break federal law regulating television airwaves. He called for an investigation in a letter to the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees broadcast regulations.

But such allegations are decoys. Rightwingers do not care about “family values.” If they did, they would not tolerate the incarceration of babies. (The youngest person in the Dilley Detention Center in Texas is 2 months old, according to Univision.) Rightwingers do not care about higher-order things, only whether they can be used to accomplish their goals.

In this case, the goal is discrediting a global superstar who is popularizing a new and dangerous idea of belonging in America. You don’t need to pass a test. You don’t have to know the rules. You don’t even need the correct paperwork. If you’re here, you’re American.

Because “together, we are America.”

“Together, we are America” is new, as it casts immigration in the context of brotherhood, so the burden of government is finding ways of turning a fact of life into a fact of law.

It is dangerous, as it upends a decade of rightwing effort to move public understanding of immigration away from a matter of freedom and opportunity to a matter of crime and punishment. The burden is now entirely on individuals. They’re presumed guilty until proven innocent. “Together, we are America” has the potential of turning that around.

Bad Bunny’s ethic of belonging is dangerous for another reason. It comes as the logical conclusion to ten years of fear-mongering and hate speech is coming into view: families ripped apart, communities shredded, citizens murdered and concentration camps opening.

Even respectable white people, or “independent voters,” are recoiling (mostly because they are shocked to learn that an “immigration crackdown” includes them). Thanks to the horrors the country has witnessed over the last month, they are now open to alternatives, especially alternatives being advanced by the most popular performing artist on the planet.

Right now, the focus is on ICE and its crimes. That, however, is like the allegation that Bad Bunny’s show was “pure smut” – it limits politics to terms favorable to Trump. “Abolish ICE” should be part of a bigger picture so the meaning of belonging is radically redefined.

Immigrants are Americans. They might not speak the language. They might not know the rules. They might not have the right papers. But they are here. That makes them American.

The question is not if they are, but when it becomes official.

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mma

Laura Loomer pitches banning Muslims from running for office to members of Congress

Loomer also pressed representatives on her show about stripping Muslims of religious protections

Written by Reed McMaster

Published 11/07/25

Far-right influencer Laura Loomer has had an unusual amount of power over staffing and foreign policy decisions in the current Trump administration. Now, she is promoting anti-Muslim bills and pressuring congresspeople to strip Muslim people of their civil rights including the ability to hold office and religious protections.

Loomer has directly influenced the Trump administration's staffing and foreign policy decisions — now, she’s trying to do the same with Congress

• • Loomer successfully advocated for U.S. foreign policy shifts, including the cancellation of visas for children seeking medical care. She called children from Gaza, some seeking prosthetic replacements for amputated limbs, “Islamic invaders.” Marco Rubio's State Department later announced, “All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process.” The Guardian, [8/16/25]

• • :{:{Loomer reportedly met with President Donald Trump and pushed him to oust several national security officials.The next day, three members of the National Security Council were fired. Axios, [4/3/25]}:

• • Sanctions were lifted on genocide-denying Bosnian politician Milorad Dodik after a push by Loomer and other conservative influencers. Loomer posted on social media, “Milorad Dodik @MiloradDodik of the Republika Srpska is enduring ruthless political attacks from a coalition of Muslims and globalists. These attacks are occurring as Dodik stands firm as a dedicated supporter of President Trump and as a defender of Western values.” New York Times, [10/29/25; Twitter/X, 10/23/25; NPR, 1/8/22]

• • After interviewing Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), Loomer noted her plans to platform representatives that “are pushing back against Sharia law” and the “Islamification of America.” Adding, “I wanna be able to support Republicans and, you know, give them an audience and help support the campaigns of representatives that are actually fighting for America first, fighting to protect our country from an Islamic takeover.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/30/25]

• ## Loomer has a long history of anti-Muslim bigotry

• • Loomer has described herself as a “proud islamophobe” and called Muslims “savages f**king everything up for everyone.” In just one among many moments of her anti-Muslim bigotry, Loomer suggested in a lengthy Twitter tirade following a 2017 terror attack in New York City that “we should never let another Muslim into the civilized world.” Right Wing Watch, [11/1/17; The New York Times, 10/31/17; Media Matters, 8/14/24]

• • On her show, Loomer advocated for removing American citizenship from all Muslims who immigrated to the United States after 2008. She claimed, “I think that they need to denaturalize all the Muslims that came into our country under Obama and since Obama.” Loomer added, “Muslims. People who come to this country to become citizens to destroy it. Exactly. That's what they do.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/28/25]

• ## Loomer asked multiple members of Congress if they agreed with her view that Muslims should be barred from elected office

• • Loomer asked Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) if he also believed that Muslims should not be allowed to hold elected office. She asked, “The only people who have refused to take their oath of office on the Bible and the Constitution is every single Muslim who has ever served in the United States Congress. Andre Carson, Keith Ellison, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, all of them have refused to take their oath of office on the Bible and The United States Constitution. So, do you agree with me that it should be illegal for Muslims to hold political office in our country?” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/18/25]

• • Fine admitted he wasn't sure how you could “ban a religion” from office but suggested instead that only “natural born” citizens should be able to hold congressional office. ”I don't know how you can ban a religion," he stated, adding, “I think the solution to a lot of this is to consider whether you should have to be a natural born citizen in order to be elected to Congress.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/18/25]

• • When Loomer pushed Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) about potentially banning Muslims from elected office, she said, “That's personally what I think needs to happen.” She asked Ogles, “Why is the Republican party not doing enough to signal to these Muslims who are now, all of a sudden, running for positions all across our country?” She added, “What can be done to stop this? I mean, do we need to ban Muslims from running for office in our country? That's personally what I think needs to happen.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/28/25]

• • In response, Ogles noted that Republicans would run into problems with constitutional law if they attempted to ban Muslims from elected office. He stated, “I don't know that there's anything that we could do that wouldn't fly in the, kind of the face of constitutional law.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/28/25]

• • Loomer asked Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) if he supported Muslims being allowed to serve in the United States Congress, saying, “I personally don't." She questioned, “Do you think that Muslims should be allowed to serve in the United States Congress, whether that be in the House of Representatives, in the Senate? Do you think that Muslims should be allowed to hold elected office in our country? I personally don't.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/21/25]

• • Tuberville stated there's no reason to ban Muslims from elected office as long as they “assimilate.” He added, “If they do that, I don't think we have any right to say no. I really don't.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/21/25]

• ## Loomer pushed members of Congress to remove religious protections for Muslims and stop treating Islam as a religion

• • Loomer told Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) that Republicans in Congress need to recognize that Islam is “not a religion.” She claimed, “You can't coexist with Islam, and it's time for lawmakers like yourself and others to recognize the fact that Islam is not a religion, right?” Loomer continued, “We have to recognize that Islam is not practiced as a religion in the 56 Muslim countries. It is practiced as a legal code and a political system.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/23/25]

• • Loomer also asked Fine, “Do you think that it's time that we strip Muslims of their so-called religious identity and religious protection here in America?” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/18/25]

• • Fine suggested the “No Sharia Act,” his legislation which “prohibits the application of Sharia in the United States where it would violate constitutional rights,” would effectively strip Muslims of their religious identity. He claimed, “I think that's part of the purpose of the No Sharia Act, and that's what it does. It says the political ideology part of Islam is not coming to our country.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/18/25; Office of Rep. Randy Fine, 9/25/25]

• ## Loomer wanted Rep. Chip Roy's (R-TX) proposed anti-Muslim bill to create a total Muslim travel ban

• • Loomer asked Roy if his “Preserving A Sharia-Free America Act,” which would ban anyone who adheres to Sharia law from entering the country, would serve as a travel ban, accusing all Muslims of being “Sharia adherent.” She said, “Since it would be the duty of every devout practicing Muslim to be Sharia adherent, doesn't that then mean that your legislation is just a full blown Muslim travel ban? Which is, in my opinion, what we really need in this country.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/23/25; Office of Rep. Chip Roy, 10/8/25]

• • Roy suggested that his “Preserving A Sharia-Free America Act” could hypothetically ban all Muslims from entering the country if all Muslims are “Sharia adherent” like Loomer claims. He stated, “I don't think we should import people who subscribe to that. And so to the extent that that's true for every single person who's adhering to Islam, then so be it.” Rumble, *Loomer Unleashed*, [10/23/25]

//

1. ### As the NYC mayoral election approaches, right-wing media back GOP push to denaturalize and deport Zohran Mamdani

11/03/25 3:57 PM EST

2. ### Laura Loomer: It was a “very grave mistake” when President Bush said “Islam is a religion of peace. We are not at war with Islam.”

10/24/25 1:56 PM EDT

3. ### Right-wing media ramp up anti-Muslim attacks on Zohran Mamdani in the final days of the NYC mayoral election

10/23/25

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an 8 25

On Thursday, August 21, conservative Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) made a major announcement: He is running for Texas attorney general, a position presently held by far-right Ken Paxton — who is challenging incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the state's 2026 GOP U.S. Senate primary.

Roy is a prominent player in the House Freedom Caucus and is known for being a relentless budget hawk. In an article published on August 22, The Hill's Emily Brooks stresses that Bolton's announcement is a major shakeup for the Freedom Caucus and the U.S. House of Representatives' small GOP majority.

"Several other notable Freedom Caucus members are seeking higher office, too: Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Byron Donalds (Fla.), and Ralph Norman (S.C.) are running for governor; Rep. Barry Moore (Ala.) launched a Senate bid last week; and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) is interested in being appointed to the Senate if Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wins the governorship," Brooks explains. "Some members hope that the departures of those members who have often cause headaches will lead to greater GOP harmony and less chaos in Congress."

READ MORE:Trump just crossed a line no other president ever dared to

At times, Roy has butted heads with President Donald Trump over budgetary matters.

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Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisconsin) told The Hill, "The outcome of Chip leaving is a more productive Congress. He's been a contrarian, and he's been an obstructionist."

But some GOP lawmakers, according to Brooks, view Roy "as an important bridge between the Freedom Caucus and the rest of the House GOP and someone who negotiates in good faith."

Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Oklahoma) told The Hill, "My hope is that we'll have members from the Freedom Caucus step up to fill that void, because there's a need for us to continue to work together."

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AN 8 25

'Authoritarian personality cult': MAGA lawmaker slammed for vying to 'give Trump a third term' - Alternet.org

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an sn 8 25

Reeling from a federal campaign finance investigation, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles landed approval for a legal expense trust fund to pay nearly $120,500 he owes four law firms, documents show.

Ogles, a Maury County Republican who dodged a criminal investigation into his finances, sent a letter to House Committee on Ethics chairs in October 2024 requesting permission to set up the trust fund to pay legal expenses connected to the probe of reporting errors in his Federal Election Commission and financial disclosure reports, according to records obtained by the Lookout.

James Appel of GOP Compliance LLC will serve as trustee of the fund, which cannot take donations from lobbyists or foreign agents, documents show. Appel reported to ethics leaders he’s had no connection to Ogles for two years, which is a requirement to take the job.

“I understand that I will be bound by the Committee’s Legal Expense Fund Regulations, effective May 1, 2024, and that while the Trustee will oversee the Trust, I bear ultimate responsibility for the proper administration of the Trust,” Ogles said in his letter.

A spokesperson for Ogles did not return email questions Thursday.

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The committee approved the request in December 2024 for Ogles to pay $75,000 in legal fees, before he incurred $50,000 more in legal expenses this year. Chairs Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican, and Mark DeSaulnier, a California Democrat, signed the letter notifying him of the requirements for setting up such a trust, including the filing of quarterly reports.

U.S. House ethics board calls for more investigation of Tennessee 5th District congressman

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Ogles owes the money for legal representation from October 2024 through June 2025 after an Ethics Committee panel started looking into discrepancies in his campaign finance reporting. It found he likely violated federal campaign finance laws, mainly by reporting an inflated personal loan to make his bid for office look stronger in 2022.

Running in Tennessee’s redrawn 5th Congressional District, which state lawmakers gerrymandered to help Republicans to take over the Democratic stronghold of Nashville, Ogles in 2022 reported receiving a $320,000 personal loan for his campaign. Ogles initially said he raised $450,000 for the race, yet his first FEC report showed he brought in only $250,000.

Ogles amended campaign finance reports in May 2024 and acknowledged making a $20,000 loan to his campaign and saying the additional $300,000 was in a joint account he shared with his wife. Still, he and his campaign manager couldn’t confirm the source of the $20,000.

The ethics board voted 6-0 to call for a closer look at Ogles’ finances because “there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Ogles omitted or misrepresented required information in his finance disclosure statements or FEC candidate committee reports.”

Despite the congressional investigation, U.S. prosecutors dropped a fraud probe of Ogles after he filed legislation this year to allow President Donald Trump to serve three terms.

Federal election officials threaten Ogles with campaign finance audit or enforcement – again

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Before his problematic financial reporting, Ogles inflated his resume, reports show, including claiming to have a degree from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management when he obtained only a certificate for a weekend seminar.

In his second term, the former Tennessee director of Americans for Prosperity recently went after Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell for his opposition to a federal sweep of South Nashville for immigrants. Ogles also called for an investigation into Belmont University for allegedly enrolling students without permanent legal documentation of citizenship and disguising its diversity and equity program.

Based on his fundraising this year, Ogles clearly needs financial help to pay his attorneys.

He has a little more than $59,000 in his campaign account, according to FEC reports, a paltry sum for a sitting member of Congress.

If he can’t bring in any more than that to boost his re-election campaign for 2026, it’s going to be tough to find enough donors to fill up his legal defense trust fund. That is, unless Trump keeps him afloat with some of the $240 million his organizations such as the new super PAC, MAGA Inc., collected to back his agenda, which usually means keeping supporters at his beck and call.

No need to change execution protocol

Gov. Bill Lee won’t look into the execution of Byron Black to determine whether he suffered terribly in the moments before his recent death.

Asked by an Associated Press reporter who witnessed the deadly moment in which Black gasped, moved his head and said it “hurts so bad,” Lee said he sees no need for more review. He explained that the state already went through a “long process” on execution protocol after he suspended the death penalty for two years. The guidelines, which involve the use of pentobarbital to put inmates such as Black to death, were approved by the federal and state Supreme Courts, he said.

While this eliminates one of the possible causes of the reason that Mr. Black lifted his head, groaned, and cried out in pain after the execution began, it leaves many questions unanswered.

– Kelley Henry, attorney for Byron Black

“There’s been an exhaustive review of that process, and that was the process utilized, so I’m not expecting further investigation of that,” Lee said.

Black was on death row for 35 years for the 1988 murders of his girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two children. His attorneys tried to stop the execution, claiming he was mentally incompetent and arguing that the Supreme Court should review the case to decide whether he should be executed without deactivating an implanted defibrillator, that could keep him alive even as drugs were administered, violating a constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Black’s attorney, Kelley Henry, sent out a statement afterward saying the initial evaluation of his defibrillator showed it didn’t shock him during the execution.

“While this eliminates one of the possible causes of the reason that Mr. Black lifted his head, groaned, and cried out in pain after the execution began, it leaves many questions unanswered,” Henry said.

An autopsy report could take eight to 12 weeks, and Henry said more information will be sought to figure out what went wrong.

“But make no mistake, we all saw with our own eyes that the pentobarbital did not work like the state’s expert testified that it would,” Henry said. “Mr. Black suffered.”

Complaint could backfire

Tennessee’s Ethics Commission could take action against Memphis area residents after dismissing their sworn complaint against Sen. Brent Taylor for critical remarks he made against participants of a “No Kings” rally there.

Commission members and state ethics director Bill Young raised questions this week about whether the residents tried to “weaponize” the process to go after Taylor, a Shelby County Republican who blasted people who rallied against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in June, calling them “idiots” and warning the police would arrest them for an illegal protest. Taylor spoke on a Memphis radio station and then posted comments on the X, formerly Twitter, calling the protesters “purple-haired Jihadis.”

The Left’s violence masquerading as free speech is a stain on our republic, and it’s escalating at a terrifying pace. From assassination attempts on President Trump—twice in two months—to torching cars at Tesla dealerships during Tesla Takedowns. Members of “Progressive” groups… pic.twitter.com/cQcTUEjcNb

— Senator Brent Taylor (@SenBrentTaylor) June 14, 2025

Five people who filed identical complaints against him said he used his official position “to spread false, inflammatory and dangerous misinformation about a peaceful protest event,” endangering constituents and inciting harassment.

Young told the commission it didn’t have jurisdiction to cite Taylor, in part, because he didn’t benefit financially from the criticism. The executive director also told the commission it could hold a hearing to determine whether civil penalties should be levied against the complainants for filing a “frivolous” complaint, potentially leading to a $10,000 civil penalty.

Commission members agreed it’s “not unethical” for Taylor to state his opinion and that voters should decide whether he remains in office. Ultimately, they decided to defer action until their next meeting when two members who were absent this week could attend.

Taylor’s attorney, Allan Wade, said in a letter to the commissioner the complaints were “merely personal grievances about Brent Taylor’s dislike of complainants and their political views, which is not a proper subject of an ethics complaint under the Ethics Act.”

That could be true, but the ultimate question is whether the Ethics Commission is more concerned with making an example of people who, wrong or right, see it as a last resort for justice or giving politicians the freedom to bad-mouth the public.

Endorsement or not

The day after U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn announced her candidacy for governor, she sent out a list of political luminaries from which she “garners tremendous support” and topped it with a comment from Gov. Lee.

The governor, though, told reporters this week he is not endorsing in the governor’s race, which so far pits Blackburn against U.S. Rep. John Rose of Cookeville.

“I didn’t see what she put out, but I’ve been friends with Marsha for a long time,” Lee told reporters (both are from Williamson County). “She served as my congressman and representative in the General Assembly, so I’m proud that we have really good people running for governor in this state, grateful that the 51st governor will be someone who can continue to move this state forward.”

We love it when Lee takes a strong stand.

In issuing a list of supporters, though, Blackburn seems to be massaging words or, maybe, even pulling a page from Ogles’ political playbook.

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5 25 SOME talk “far rt” wapo and fox

Andy Ogles - Wikipedia

William Andrew Ogles IV (/ˈoʊɡəlz/ OH-gəlz;^[1] born June 18, 1971) is an American politician and businessman who has served as the U.S. representative for Tennessee's 5th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the mayor of Maury County, Tennessee, from 2018 to 2022.

Ogles had previously worked as a conservative activist, serving as the executive director of the Laffer Center, a conservative think tank and the Tennessee chapter of conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity.

Ogles has taken strongly conservative positions and been described by media as on the far-right of the political spectrum.^[2][3] He opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. He was one of the original 19 members of Congress to vote against Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House.

He is known for his staunch support for Donald Trump.^[4] During the attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, Ogles falsely claimed that it was stolen. He has proposed a constitutional amendment to enable Trump to serve a third presidential term, as well as filed articles of impeachment against judges who rule against the Trump administration.^[4]

Early life and education

Ogles was born on June 18, 1971. He describes himself as "a Maury County native with deep family roots in Tennessee dating back to the founding of the state."^[5] Ogles graduated from Franklin High School and later attended Western Kentucky University and Columbia State Community College from 1990 to 1993, studying allied language arts and English.^[6]

Ogles later studied at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), where he failed every course taken in the fall of 1995 and the fall of 1998; he returned to the university in 2007 and graduated with a 2.4 grade point average, with a Bachelor of Science in liberal studies.^[6][7] The Washington Post described liberal studies as "a general education degree typically for those who cannot settle on a major"; NewsChannel 5 gave a similar description.^[7][8] Ogles said in late February 2023 that his failed university courses were due to "an interfamilial matter" that led him to abandon his studies "to financially support my family during a difficult time"; and that he eventually completed his studies with online courses.^[9][10]

Disputed education details

:{:{After Ogles became a congressman in 2023, his congressional biography claimed that he received his degree from MTSU, "where he studied policy and economics."^[6][7][11] Ogles' claim was questioned by NewsChannel 5 in February 2023, which published an investigatory report detailing that in a 2009 resume and also in a background check of unspecified date, Ogles claimed to have an MTSU degree in international relations, with minors in psychology and English.^[6] NewsChannel 5 additionally reported that MTSU declined to confirm Ogles' degree, referencing a federal law allowing students like Ogles the ability to block the release of academic records.^[6]}:

Ogles later spoke to WWTN radio, calling for everyone to "lock down your transcripts ... so you're not a victim of identity theft."^[7] In other comments to WTTN made on February 21, 2023, Ogles said that he does not remember "saying I had an economics degree … because I've been quite clear that I studied political science and international relations", while maintaining that he studied political science from "the economic perspective".^[12]}:

On February 26, Ogles said that he was "mistaken" in claiming to have an MTSU degree in international relations, and claimed that he requested his college transcript the week before, and only learned then that his degree was actually in Liberal Studies.^[7][9][13] NewsChannel 5 called Ogles's statement "apparently preemptive" because Ogles "ignored our requests for comment" after the media outlet obtained his MTSU transcript from an old job application.^[7] On February 27, NewsChannel 5 published Ogles's transcript, which showed that Ogles took only one economics course at a community college, scoring a C pass, while he passed nine (and failed several other) political science courses at MTSU.^[7] By February 28, Ogles's congressional biography was edited to simply state: "Andy obtained his degree from MTSU."^[9]

Business and early political career

Ogles's involvement in politics began when he became the first director of the Tennessee chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group. He later became involved with the Laffer Center, a conservative think tank.^[14] He has also been a Club for Growth Foundation fellow.^[15]

Ogles made two unsuccessful bids for elected office, a run for the state's 4th district in 2002 and for Tennessee Senate in 2006, losing in the Republican primary both times.^[16][17]

In September 2017, Ogles announced he would challenge incumbent U.S. senator Bob Corker, who he believed was insufficiently conservative, in the following year's primary. Upon announcing his run, Ogles was financially supported by Lee Beaman, a Tennessee businessman who owns a large auto dealership chain, who planned to raise $4 million for Ogles.^[4] Two months later, Corker announced that he would retire instead of seeking the 2018 nomination. That led incumbent U.S. representative Marsha Blackburn, the eventual winner, and former representative Stephen Fincher to announce they would seek the seat, and as their campaigns were likely to be well-funded, Ogles announced shortly afterward that he would withdraw.^[18]

[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andy_Ogles_for_U.S._Senate.png)Ogles' congressional campaign logo in 2017

Disputed career claims

:{:{Ogles has repeatedly made public claims of being an "economist."}:^[19][20] After NewsChannel 5 questioned how much formal training in economics Ogles had, he said he was an economist because when "you look at the body of someone's work ... I've spent the last decade working on economic policy and tax policy."^[6][12] During that time, Ogles had worked for roughly five years as an anti-tax lobbyist with Americans for Prosperity, and then for a year as the executive director of the Laffer Center, an organisation run by economist Arthur Laffer.^[12] The executive director position seemed to involve mainly "administrative" work, reported NewsChannel 5, with Ogles not being named as an author of any economic reports uploaded on the Laffer Center's website.^[6][12]

Ogles' congressional website claims that "while working at the Laffer Center, Andy became a nationally recognized expert on tax policy and healthcare, having been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal and Investor's Business Daily".^[6] NewsChannel 5 questioned this claim, being unable to find any articles in the publications independently citing him as an expert, only finding three columns written by Ogles in these publications, all of which were written when he was a lobbyist, before he worked for the Laffer Center.^[6]}:

:{:{At a political debate, Ogles called himself "a former member of law enforcement, worked in international sex crimes, specifically child trafficking", while at a separate forum, he said: "I went into law enforcement. I worked in human trafficking."^[6][10] NewsChannel 5 reported that Ogles was a volunteer reserve deputy with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office from 2009 to 2011, with his position revoked for failing to meet minimum standards, failing to progress in field training, and failing to attend required meetings.}:^:{[6] The Williamson County Sheriff's Office said that records do not show Ogles trained or worked against international sex trafficking as a reserve deputy.^[6] In 2011, Ogles worked as a chief operating officer for Abolition International, a non-profit organisation which described its work as giving grants to "holistic ministries".^[6]}:

Ogles indicated that since his stint at Abolition International overlapped his stint as a reserve deputy, "Maybe I created some of the confusion or maybe it was someone looking to write a story".^[13] While Ogles claimed he was "heavily involved in the fight against human trafficking", NewsChannel 5 reported that Abolition International's tax records showed that Ogles worked in a part-time position that paid him $4,000 in total.^[6] Ogles' congressional website originally claimed that Ogles was "overseeing operations and investments in 12 countries" for Abolition International; but NewsChannel 5 disputed that number as too large; the website later amended its claim to overseeing operations and investments in "several countries."^[8][9][11]}:

County mayoralty

Initially considered a potential contender in the 2018 Tennessee gubernatorial election, Ogles instead saw his major first electoral success when he was elected mayor of Maury County in the August 2, 2018, general election, defeating incumbent Charlie Norman.^[21][22]

During his mayoralty, Ogles criticized Tennessee governor Bill Lee for not restricting local school boards' ability to implement mask mandates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, calling for the state legislature to pass legislation to support his position in a special session.^[23] He supported a sales tax increase that passed in 2020.^[24][25]

Ogles initially filed to run for a second term as county mayor but withdrew to enter the race for the redrawn U.S. House of Representatives seat in Tennessee's 5th congressional district.^[26] After he had announced his candidacy for Congress, a month before the Republican primary, he vetoed that year's county budget, along with the school and library budgets, over a 31-cent property tax hike (the first in six years) and what he considered the library's exposure of young children to inappropriate "woke" material. The county commission complained it had not been aware of any concerns Ogles had had over the budget, noting that he rarely attended meetings and had taken no part in the budget process. Ogles said that since he could not vote at the meetings it was not necessary for him to attend them and that he kept up by watching them online.^[27] Two weeks later the county commission overrode the veto, citing Maury's status as the fastest-growing county in the state.^[28]

U.S. House of Representatives

Election

2022

Further information: 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee § District 5

Primary

Ogles seemed to some observers to have gotten off to a strong start in the primary, announcing that he had raised nearly half a million dollars in the campaign's first month. But when his disclosure report was actually filed, a week after the deadline, it showed that he had raised only $264,400, although he did have over $500,000 in total receipts. He explained that he had not counted a $320,000 personal loan to the campaign.^[24]

Among the many candidates, two stood out as serious challengers: former state House speaker Beth Harwell, and retired U.S. Army brigadier general Kurt Winstead. Ads by the Tennessee Conservatives Political Action Committee (TCPAC) called Ogles a "D.C. insider" and lobbyist who had failed to pay his property taxes nine times while supporting the sales tax hike and a marriage tax, as well as failing to vigorously oppose Maury County's recent property tax hike. Records showed that Ogles had indeed been from a few days to almost a year late paying taxes on his Franklin home between 2005 and 2015, leading to interest charges. He filed a defamation suit against TCPAC. Ogles, in turn, was supported by super PACs that ran ads attacking Harwell and Winstead as "too liberal for Tennessee."^[24]

On August 4, Ogles won the primary.^[29][30]

General

Ogles faced Democratic nominee Heidi Campbell in the November general election. The district was previously a Democratic stronghold centered on Nashville, but had been redrawn as an area that voted for Republican Donald Trump by 12 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election.^[31] This was done by splitting heavily Democratic Nashville into three congressional districts.^[31] When the new district boundaries were announced, the Democratic incumbent decided to retire, calling the new district "unwinnable" for a Democrat.^[29] Ogles was endorsed by the House Freedom Caucus, the House Republican Conference's farthest-right bloc.^[14]

During the campaign, Ogles avoided the major local media in favor of conservative local talk radio and posted very little on social media. Early in the campaign, he made some appearances with a flamethrower, saying he would use it on President Joe Biden's work when he got to Washington.^[30] A late October appearance with Texas U.S. senator Ted Cruz in Franklin was announced in his first campaign-related Twitter post since he won the Republican primary. He declined all invitations to debate, drawing criticism from McCarthy.^[32]

Ogles was slightly outraised and outspent.^[29] He raised almost $1 million for his campaign,^[30] including what he falsely represented at the time as a $320,000 personal loan,^[33] and spent $573,000. In contrast, Campbell raised over $1 million, none of it in loans, and spent $679,000, largely on television ads.^[30]

Ogles won the general election in November with 56% of the vote to Campbell's 42%, becoming the first Republican to represent the state's 5th district since the 19th century^[29] and leaving Nashville without any Democratic representatives in Congress for the first time in modern history.^[30]

Tenure

On January 1, 2023, Ogles signed a letter by fellow representatives Scott Perry and Chip Roy expressing opposition to fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy in the upcoming house speakership election after McCarthy did not accept all their proposed House rules changes.^[34] On January 3, his first day in office, Ogles joined far-right House Republicans in voting against McCarthy on the first three ballots.^[35] This was the first time since 1923 that a speaker was not elected on the first ballot.^[36] On January 6, after days of negotiations, Ogles voted for McCarthy on the 12th ballot, joining the rest of Tennessee's Republican delegation.^[37] He explained in a statement that this was because he believed negotiations between McCarthy and the other holdouts were going well.^[38]

Shortly after being sworn in, Ogles was appointed to the House Financial Services Committee.^[39]

The first bill Ogles introduced, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2023, would repeal the previous year's Inflation Reduction Act. In his State of the Union speech, Biden mentioned the bill without mentioning Ogles's name, which Ogles took credit for in a subsequent tweet.^[40^]

Ogles is part of the Freedom Caucus.^[41]

In February 2024, during an argument with a pro-Palestinian activist questioning him about Palestinian child casualties in the Gaza war, Ogles told the activist "So, I think we should kill 'em all if that makes you feel better— everybody in Hamas. Hamas and the Palestinians have been attacking Israel for 20 years. It’s time to pay the piper... Death to Hamas!" The American Muslim Advisory Council criticized Ogles' comments, claiming that he was endorsing the "extermination of the Palestinian people." A spokeswoman for Ogles stated that Ogles "was not referring to Palestinians, he was clearly referring to the Hamas terrorist group."^[42][43][44] Ogles would further state that he supported the right of Israel "to punish Hamas on a scale of Biblical proportions, including their accomplices and the facilitators of the aforementioned atrocities. I stand by what I said: Death to Hamas."^[45][46]

In May 2024, Ogles introduced a pair of bills in the House in response to the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses. The first bill, entitled the Antisemitism Community Service Act (HR 8321), would send anyone who has committed a crime on a college campus since October 7, 2023, the date of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, to the Gaza Strip to perform six months of community service, though the text of the bill appears to apply regardless of whether the crime in question was related to a pro-Palestinian protest.^[47][48][49] The second bill, entitled the Study Abroad Act (HR 8322), would cancel travel visas for those who have been arrested "for rioting or unlawful protest" or for "establishing, participating, or promoting an encampment" on college campuses since October 7, 2023.^[47][49]

On January 23, 2025, three days into Trump's second administration, he filed a resolution which would change the 22nd Amendment to allow Trump to serve a third term, by allowing presidents who serve two non-consecutive terms to run for a third term.^[50][51]

Campaign finance issues

Ogles filed his first campaign finance report more than a week after the deadline, the only candidate in the race at that time to be late in doing so. He blamed the delay on "issues retrieving bank statements". When he did file it, the report showed that the campaign had raised $254,000 instead of the $453,000 it claimed shortly after Ogles launched it. Questions were raised about the $320,000 loan Ogles claimed to have made his campaign, a loan not reflected in any of his personal financial disclosures to the House and beyond his apparent means.^[52] In May 2024 the campaign filed 11 amendments to its reports over the past two years restating the amount loaned as $20,000. Ogles said the larger amount previously stated was a "pledge" as to how much of his own money he was prepared to put into the campaign if necessary and was mistakenly included on the reports.^[53] NewsChannel 5 reported that the FBI raided his Maury County home on August 1, 2024, as part of an investigation into his campaign finances.^[54]

Political positions

Media sources have characterized Ogles's political views as conservative^[55][56] or far-right.^[57][58]

Ogles opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.^[59] In a 2022 interview, he downplayed the need for exceptions in an abortion bill, calling them "red herrings".^[60] In June 2022, after the repeal of Roe v. Wade, Ogles said, "The next thing we have to do is go after gay marriage."^[61]

Ogles has called for the impeachment of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and for treason charges to be brought against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.^[31] He has called for the United States Department of Education to be defunded.^[62]

Ogles denies the legitimacy of the 2020 United States presidential election.^[63]

Ogles supports school choice, deregulating health care, and lower taxes. He opposes earmarks.^[15]

In July 2022, Ogles signed a pledge for an amendment to term limit representatives.^[64][65] At the time, an overwhelming 82% of voters approved of a constitutional amendment to term limit representatives.^[66]

In November 2023, Ogles voiced climate change denial during a House debate, saying "I just went trick or treating with my kids and it was like, you know, the low that evening was 29 degrees, so temperatures change, alright? Temperatures have been changing for the millennia."^[67]

In January 2025, Ogles proposed to amend the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution to allow American presidents who have two non-consecutive presidency terms to seek a third term as president. This would allow Donald Trump to seek a third term, but not presidents with consecutive presidency terms such as Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Ogles' rationale was that Trump "has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation's decay", so it was "imperative that we provide President Trump with every resource necessary […] we, as legislators and as states, must do everything in our power to support him."^[68][69][70]

After the 2025 Potomac River mid-air collision Ogles questioned if DEI in government hiring played a part in the crash.^[71][72][73]

Personal life

Ogles lives on a farm in Culleoka, Tennessee, with his wife, Monica, and their three children.^[5] When Ogles visits Washington D.C., he has been observed as staying at a townhouse operated by Steve Berger, an archconservative evangelical pastor.^[4]

His cousin Brandon Ogles is a former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives.^[74]

Ogles faced criticism when nearly $25,000 in donations received via GoFundMe to finance a child burial garden in his stillborn child's memory appeared to have gone unspent.^{[75][76][77][78}]

Electoral history...

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Latest posts from Andy Ogles

0:39

My takeaways from CECOT: President Bukele’s prudent and prayerful leadership has transformed El Salvador. It’s now the jewel of Central America—because one man had the courage to truly confront the corruption that was tearing his country apart. Like @nayibbukele I’m fighting to take my country back—from the murderers, rapists, and criminals who war against our way of life.

20+ likes

repandyogles

Instagram · 1 day ago

0:39

My takeaways from CECOT:

President Bukele’s prudent and prayerful leadership has transformed El Salvador. It’s now the jewel of Central America—because one man had the courage to truly confront the corruption that was tearing his country apart.

Like @nayibbukele, I’m fighting

600+ likes

RepOgles

X (Twitter) · 1 day ago

2:03

She just posted a 15-minute video of her and a friend stalking the Tennessee Highway Patrol as they carried out official duties—openly admitting they were trying to stall law enforcement from stopping illegal aliens. Let’s be clear: Freddie O’Connell is enabling Nashville liberals to actively obstruct ICE and law enforcement operations. This isn’t just reckless—it’s aiding and abetting.

110+ likes

repandyogles

Instagram · 2 days ago

2:03

This is Nashville State Representative Aftyn Behn.

She just posted a 15-minute video of her and a friend stalking the Tennessee Highway Patrol as they carried out official duties—openly admitting they were trying to stall law enforcement from stopping illegal aliens.

Let’s be

8.5K+ likes

RepOgles

X (Twitter) · 2 days ago

2:03

This is Nashville State Representative Aftyn Behn.

She just posted a 15-minute video of her and a friend stalking the Tennessee Highway Patrol as they carried out official duties—openly admitting they were trying to stall law enforcement from stopping illegal aliens.

Let’s be

RepOgles

X (Twitter) · 2 days ago

1:46

If Biden wasn’t lucid during his presidency, how much of it was actually legal?

The bills he signed, the executive orders, the international deals—if he didn’t knowingly give the go-ahead because he was mentally checked out, then those actions lack legitimacy.

Anything he

1.4K+ likes

RepOgles

X (Twitter) · 2 days ago

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Videos

9:27

YouTube · NewsChannel 5

New questions arise about how GOP Rep. Andy Ogles spent ...

YouTube · NewsChannel 5

Mar 24, 2025

4:36

YouTube · NewsChannel 5

Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles stalls FBI investigation ...

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Jan 8, 2025

4:17

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New filings point to widening House ethics investigation of ...

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I have been a lifelong supporter and advocate of our law enforcement, and I will continue to Back the Blue 100% while in Congress.

Andrew Ogles

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The Honorable Andrew Ogles 151 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC, 20515-4205 Phone: (202) 225-4311

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Rep. Andy Ogles - Scorecard 119

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Rep. Andy Ogles, DC: (202) 225-4311, local: (931) 777-2140, Republican| TENNESSEE District 05, Session Score: N/A, Lifetime Score: 100%

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MMA

Fox’s Maria Bartiromo whips Republican support for devastating Medicaid cuts

Republicans plan to slash Medicaid to fund Trump’s next tax giveaway to the rich

Written by Zachary Pleat

Published 05/20/25

House Republicans are working on legislation dubbed “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” to finance a permanent extension of President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax giveaway to the rich by slashing Medicaid, which will result in millions of Americans losing their health insurance. Supporters of the legislation have also singled out Medicare and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program for additional cuts. Analyses show that the vast majority of the tax cuts will go to the rich, while lower-income Americans stand to lose money due to the massive cuts to health care coverage and other benefits.

Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, an obsequious booster and right-wing media ally of Trump, has used her Mornings with Maria program to whip Republican lawmakers for support of the bill and especially to shore up its Medicaid cuts. During these frequent Fox Business appearances, Bartiromo, her guests, and even her guest host have advocated for useless work requirements and spread false claims that federal Medicaid funds are paying for coverage of undocumented immigrants or that the cuts are targeting supposedly massive “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the program. After more than a week of Bartiromo's effort to manufacture consent for these Medicaid cuts, Trump reportedly told Republicans “don't fuck around with Medicaid.”

Republican lawmakers frequented Mornings with Maria to promote Medicaid cuts for their tax legislation

• • Bartiromo urged Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) to get Republicans to “unify on Medicaid reform” by Memorial Day weekend. Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/16/25}_]

• • Bartiromo to Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO): “Where are practical areas to cut Medicaid and Medicare, but not the benefits and muscle of the programs?” Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/16/25}_]

• • Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) to Bartiromo: “We're being yelled at about taking away people's Medicaid. That's not really true.” Later, Crenshaw admitted to Bartiromo: “The person we’re taking it away from is the able-bodied adult with no children who refuses to work.” He added: “If they would just get a job, they could keep their Medicaid.” During the interview, Bartiromo complained that Democrats weren’t assisting Republicans in cutting Medicaid. Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/16/25}_]

• • Bartiromo to Rep. Earl Carter (R-GA): “Thank you for your work on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Everybody was rooting you on, you advanced the biggest Medicaid rewrite in the program’s 60-year history.” Bartiromo then invited Carter to defend Republicans from Democrats’ statements that the legislation will kick people off Medicaid. Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/15/25}_]

• • Bartiromo to Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS): “That sounds great, and I love the idea that you can identify $2 trillion in cuts,” including from Medicaid. Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/14/25}_]

• • Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) on Medicaid cuts: “I do hope that we find more reductions.” Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/12/25}_]

• • Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC) falsely claimed California’s coverage of undocumented immigrants in its state Medicaid program “is a tremendous cost to the federal taxpayer because we are subsidizing this in these states.” In fact, California was covering those costs with state funds. Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/12/25}_; The Associated Press, 5/14/25]

• • Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) touted “over $900 billion savings coming out of” Medicaid and other programs overseen by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/12/25}_]

• • Discussing the tax cut bill onMornings with Maria, Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) said states that didn’t expand Medicaid were “fiscally responsible” because “they knew what was coming.” Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/9/25}_]

• • Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) encouraged Republicans to “take the entitlements away — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps” — to reduce the national debt. Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/8/25}_]

• • Bartiromo interviewed Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) about his effort to pass work requirements for Medicaid recipients. During the interview, Ogles likened this effort to “rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse.” Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/8/25}_]

• • Bartiromo encouraged Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) to explain how Republicans will cut “Medicaid or Medicare” to “get around paying for the Trump agenda.” During the interview, Gooden said: “I think we’re all in agreement that work requirements should be increased” adding, “We all agree that able-bodied men in their 20s should be working and not getting paid to sit on the couch.” Fox Business, *Mornings with Maria*, [_{5/7/25}_]

• ## The Republican bill slashes benefits from the poor to fund tax cuts for the rich

• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Republicans’ tax bill would cut $1.1 trillion from Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and SNAP to fund tax cuts for people earning more than $500,000 annually. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, [_{5/16/25}_]

{

• • CBPP director of federal tax policy Kris Cox: House Republican bill gives $500 more per child to wealthy families but leaves the low-income families of 17 million children out of the maximum Child Tax Credit. According to the CBPP, this affects “roughly 1 in 4 children … who currently receive less than the full credit or no credit at all because their families’ incomes are too low.” Bluesky, [_{5/12/25}_, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2/5/25]

• • Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: “Two-thirds of the tax cuts offered in 2027 would go to the top 20 percent of families, and 41 percent would flow to just the top 5 percent of families.” ITEP further explained how regressive the GOP tax bill is: “While working-class families (defined here loosely as the bottom 40 percent of earners) could expect an average tax cut of $361 in 2027, the nation’s highest-income families (defined as the top 0.1 percent) would receive an average tax cut of at least $255,670 in that year.” Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, [_{5/16/25}_]

• • The New York Times: “Economists found that many Americans who make less than $51,000 a year would see their after-tax income fall as a result of the Republican proposal beginning in 2026.” The New York Times reported on an analysis of the GOP tax bill from the Penn Wharton Budget Model, which found that “computing the effects of the tax cuts as well as the plan to pay for them by slashing federal spending on other programs, including Medicaid and food stamps” results in lower-income Americans losing money from the tax cuts. Specifically, “people making between about $51,000 and $17,000 could lose about $700 on average in after-tax income beginning in 2026. … People reporting less than $17,000 in income would see a reduction closer to $1,000, on average, also increasing over time, a shortfall that underscores their reliance on federal benefits.” The New York Times, [_{5/16/25}_]

• • CBPP senior director for federal fiscal policy Brendan Duke: “The House GOP tax bill gives large tax cuts to millionaires and paltry tax cuts to the working-class--tax cuts that will be wiped away by the cuts to health care and nutrition in the same freaking bill.” Twitter/X, [_{5/14/25}_]

• • Yale’s Budget Lab: “Changes proposed by the House budget resolution would result in a decline of almost 4 percent (over $800) to income for the bottom quintile, but an increase of over 4 percent (nearly $70,000) for the top 1 percent.” The Budget Lab analysis added: “Even assuming that states make up some of the cuts, the bottom quintile would see an income loss of about 2 percent ($345 dollars).” The Budget Lab, [_{5/19/25}_]

• ## The GOP bill would kick millions off Medicaid while adding trillions to the national debt

• • Politico: The Congressional Budget Office estimated that “the Medicaid portions of the GOP megabill would lead to 10.3 million people losing coverage under the health safety net program and 7.6 million people going uninsured.” According to Politico, this was a partial estimate released by Republicans. Politico, [_{5/13/25}_]

• • KFF: Forty states and the District of Columbia could see at least 13% of their Medicaid recipients kicked off their insurance, with rates of loss as high as 32%. This is a high-end estimate of state-by-state Medicaid coverage losses from KFF. KFF, [_{5/16/25}_]

• • Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: The House GOP bill would “increase debt by $3.3 trillion, or $5.2 trillion if made permanent.”According to the CRFB, it would also “increase annual deficits to $2.9 trillion (6.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product), or $3.3 trillion (7.8 percent of GDP)”; “Increase yearly interest costs to $1.8 trillion (4.2 percent of GDP), or $1.9 trillion (4.4 percent of GDP)”; and “increase debt to 125 percent of GDP, or 129 percent of GDP if made permanent.” Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, [_{5/14/25}_]

• • Tax Foundation: The House GOP’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” will reduce federal tax revenue by $3.3-4.1 trillion in return for miniscule economic benefits spread over a decade. The Tax Foundation estimated that GDP growth would be boosted by a mere 0.6% over 10 years and only 794,000 additional jobs would be created, averaging out to less than 8,000 additional jobs per year. Tax Foundation, [_{5/13/25}_]

• ## The GOP's Medicaid work requirements would likely kick millions off Medicaid without increasing employment

• • Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: New work requirements alone could put “9.7 million to 14.4 million people at risk of losing Medicaid coverage in 2034.” CBPP explained, “Evidence shows that much of the coverage loss due to work requirements would occur among people who work or should qualify for an exemption but nevertheless would lose coverage due to red tape.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, [_{5/13/25}_]

• • KFF: As of 2023, nearly two-thirds of non-disabled and non-elderly adults on Medicaid were already working.Analysis from KFF of current population survey data showed that in 2023, “Among adults under age 65 with Medicaid who do not receive benefits from the Social Security disability programs, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and who are not also covered by Medicare (referred to hereafter as “Medicaid adults”), 92% were working full or part-time (64%), or not working due to caregiving responsibilities, illness or disability, or school attendance. The remaining 8% of Medicaid adults reported that they are retired, unable to find work, or were not working for another reason.” KFF, [_{2/4/25}_]

• • KFF: Most Medicaid enrollees who work are working full-time. KFF’s analysis showed that “among Medicaid adults who work, nearly seven in ten (69%) worked full-time and half worked full-time for the entire year (at least 50 weeks) (Appendix Table 2). Many Medicaid adults who work part-time (31% of all workers) cited that reasons for working part-time include work limits like shorter work weeks (less than 35 hours per week) (16%), slack work/business conditions (12%), or inability to find full-time work (7%) (Figure 4). Part-time workers also pointed to childcare problems (9%) and other family or personal obligations (22%).” KFF, [_{2/4/25}_]

• • Economic Policy Institute: “Work requirements effectively function like a cut to programs.” EPI explained that “while work requirements do not reliably increase employment, they do significantly increase the administrative burden and costs of applying for safety net programs. This increased administrative burden, in turn, reduces access and take-up.” EPI further explained, “In many cases, the sheer amount of additional administrative burdens levied on adults seeking benefits, and on case workers screening to ensure that work requirements are met, is a major driver in the decline in participation.” Economic Policy Institute, [_{1/24/25}_]

• • A Congressional Budget Office estimate of a 2023 GOP bill that would have instituted Medicaid work requirements stated, “The agency concludes that the amendment would have a negligible effect on employment status or hours worked by people who would be subject to the work requirements.” Congressional Budget Office, [_{4/26/23}_]

• • People’s Policy Project founder Matt Bruenig in The New York Times: “There is not an epidemic of non-working able-bodied adults living high on Medicaid, despite such claims from the Trump administration. Medicaid work requirements are a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.” After accounting for Medicaid enrollees who work, are retired, are children, or are disabled, Bruenig explained in his op-ed: “Only 6 percent of working-age enrollees are not engaged in work long term, which is just 3 percent of the entire Medicaid population.” The New York Times, [_{5/16/25}_]

• • CBPP: Arkansas’ Medicaid work requirements resulted in 25% of enrollees losing insurance. From a February CBPP report: “In Arkansas, about 1 in 4 enrollees subject to the requirements — some 18,000 people — lost coverage in only seven months in 2018 before a federal court halted the program. A large share of the enrollees who lost coverage in 2018 should have been eligible to retain coverage but did not reapply, according to data as of early March 2019, shortly before the program was halted.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, [_{2/5/25}_]

• • A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that Arkansas’ work requirements were “associated with significant losses in health insurance coverage in the policy’s initial six months but no significant change in employment.” The study continued: “Lack of awareness and confusion about the reporting requirements were common, which may explain why thousands of individuals lost coverage even though more than 95% of the target population appeared to meet the requirements or qualify for an exemption.” Vox, [_{6/19/19}_]

• • An analysis from The Commonwealth Fund found that Arkansas’s Medicaid work requirements “did not increase employment among 30-to-49-year-old Arkansans (the age group targeted by the policy) and did result in significant coverage losses while the requirements were in effect in 2018.” The Commonwealth Fund, [_{9/15/20}_]

• • CBPP: New Hampshire’s Medicaid work requirements were halted in just two months, after they risked disenrolling two-thirds of people subject to the requirements. CBPP noted that this occurred even “with the express intention of avoiding Arkansas’ failures by allowing more flexibility in reporting requirements and pursuing broader, more robust outreach efforts.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, [_{2/5/25}_]

• • CBPP: Georgia’s attempt to apply work requirements to new Medicaid enrollees resulted in just a fraction of the eligible population getting coverage and wasted two-thirds of its spending on administrative costs. CBPP explained that “18 months after the program began, only about 6,500 people were covered, far below the 240,000 uninsured people estimated to be potentially eligible. Meanwhile, the program cost about $13,360 per enrollee through the end of the first year, with only about one-third of the spending on health care and the rest on systems modifications to implement work reporting, additional staff, and other administrative expenses. That’s far more than the roughly $2,490 per enrollee the program was initially estimated to cost in the first year.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, [_{2/5/25}_]

//

Fox News chyron: Medicaid “reforms” or cuts? Answer: both

05/12/25 8:28 PM EDT

2. ### Murdoch media push Medicaid cuts by targeting the program's expansion population

05/07/25 1:00 PM EDT

3. ### Fox host Brian Kilmeade: Current Medicaid levels are “unaffordable, unsustainable”

05/05/2

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pro pub

For a project explicitly designed to influence Congress, Steve Berger’s operation has left a scant paper trail. The archconservative evangelical pastor, who started a D.C. nonprofit a few years ago to shape national policy, does not file lobbying reports. His group does not show up in campaign finance records.

There is a simple way to glimpse his effort’s expanding reach in Washington, however: Pay attention to who is walking out the front door of his Capitol Hill townhouse. New evidence suggests Berger may be running what amounts to a group house for conservative lawmakers, with multiple members of Congress living with him at his organization’s headquarters.

The six-bedroom, $3.7 million home is owned by a multimillion-dollar Republican donor.

Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican who is among President Donald Trump’s most aggressive allies in Congress, has been at the house on multiple days over the past two weeks, according to people who live in the area. Video reviewed by ProPublica showed Ogles leaving the townhouse with bags on Feb. 27. As he left, he locked up the front door and pocketed the keys to the house.

As ProPublica reported last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson is living in the townhouse. And Dan Bishop, a former congressman from North Carolina now nominated for a powerful post in Trump’s White House, appears to have lived there until recently as well.

Berger has said his goal is to “disciple” members of Congress so what “they learn is then translated into policy.” He has claimed to have personally spurred legislation, saying a senator privately credited him with inspiring a bill.

Berger, Bishop and Ogles did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Johnson previously said the speaker pays fair-market rent for the part of the townhouse he occupies but didn’t answer questions about the specific rate. He said Johnson has not spoken to the pastor about “any matter of public policy.”

Ogles is in only his third year in Congress, but he’s drawn attention for his bombastic displays of fealty to Trump. He recently introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution so that Trump could serve a third term as president. He’s filed articles of impeachment against multiple judges who’ve ruled against the new administration. (Last week, Elon Musk posted a video of Ogles touting his impeachment efforts, set to the beat from the rap song “Shook Ones, Pt. II.”)

Ogles’ short tenure is also notable for the pace of scandal that’s followed it. He has faced allegations that he inflated his resume, claiming alternatively to have been an economist, a member of law enforcement and an expert on international sex trafficking, NewsChannel 5 in Nashville reported. (Ogles has acknowledged at least one mistake on his resume but said that “my body of work speaks for itself.”)

Last year, the FBI seized his phone during an investigation and obtained a search warrant to review records associated with his personal email address. Federal investigators were seeking evidence related to potential campaign finance violations, according to a court filing. The scope of the FBI investigation remains unclear.

Perhaps no one is more responsible for Ogles’ rise in politics than Lee Beaman, the Tennessee businessman who owns the Capitol Hill townhouse. When Ogles announced a short-lived Senate bid in 2017, Beaman said he planned to raise $4 million to support the run. Beaman, whose wealth derives from a large car dealership chain, then served as campaign treasurer in Ogles’ successful 2022 run for the House.

Rep. Andy Ogles appeared on stage at Steve Berger’s 60th-birthday party last year. Credit:via Facebook

Beaman and Berger have publicly advocated together for numerous specific policy changes, in areas including foreign affairs, fuel efficiency standards and removing barriers to firing federal employees. After the 2020 election, they both signed a letter declaring that Trump was the rightful winner and calling for Congress to overturn the results. (Beaman did not respond to requests for comment. ProPublica could not determine whether he and the pastor have discussed policy issues with Ogles during his time in Congress.)

In sermons, Berger has devoted long stretches to attacking the separation of church and state, as well as COVID-19 vaccines. The pastor used violent language to describe his disdain for “LGBTQ+ Pride” parades and “drag queen story hour” during an interview for a podcast in 2022, according to unpublished footage obtained by ProPublica.

“If I was left to myself, I’d take a baseball bat and beat the hell out of every single one of them. And not feel bad about it,” Berger said. “I have to go, ‘You know what? That’s probably not the will of God, is it?’ And obviously it’s not.”

Beyond his ownership of the townhouse, Beaman’s role in the pastor’s influence project is unclear. After Beaman purchased the house in 2021, a lawyer sought to change it from a single-family dwelling to a “boarding house/rooming house,” according to Washington, D.C., property records. Around that time, Berger’s nonprofit group, Ambassador Services International, registered the home as its address.

Members of Congress are allowed to live anywhere, as long as they pay fair-market rent, experts said. Discounts on rent are generally seen as improper gifts and prohibited by House ethics rules.

Beaman has said he got to know Ogles when Ogles was the Tennessee director of Americans for Prosperity, part of the Koch brothers’ political network. Beaman and Ogles joined forces to fight a mass transit project in Nashville and reportedly worked together on a successful effort to repeal the estate tax in their home state. After leaving the Koch network, Ogles served four years as the mayor of a Middle Tennessee county with a population of roughly 100,000. He held that role until 2022, when he was elected to Congress.

Ogles’ 2022 campaign was the subject of a blistering House ethics report released this year. The nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics concluded that there is “substantial reason to believe” that Ogles’ campaign had accepted illegally large donations and then falsely reported that the funds had come from Ogles himself. Ogles has said he is “confident that any reporting problem was at worst an honest mistake.” (Beaman was not named in the report and has not been accused of wrongdoing.)

The report said that Ogles refused to cooperate with the investigation. It recommended that the House Ethics Committee issue a subpoena to the congressman.

Do you have any information we should know about Steve Berger, Rep. Andy Ogles or Speaker Mike Johnson? Justin Elliott can be reached by email at justin@propublica.org and by Signal or WhatsApp at 774-826-6240. Josh Kaplan can be reached by email at joshua.kaplan@propublica.org and by Signal or WhatsApp at 734-834-9383.

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an 2 25

Congressional Republicans on Monday continued to attack federal judges who rule against the Trump administration, with Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee introducing articles of impeachment against U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington, D.C.

Bates, an appointee of former Republican President George W. Bush, recently demanded the restoration of information purged from federal websites to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order on gender—a decision that lead counsel Zach Shelley called "an important victory for doctors, patients, and the public health of the whole country."

The judge's move enraged far-right Republicans like Ogles, a member of the House Freedom Caucus who on Monday called Bates a "RADICAL LGBTQ ACTIVIST" and described his directive to restore resources on gender-affirming care "appalling."

"At no point in American history has the judiciary considered the surgical or chemical castration of healthy children to be a compelling or even legitimate health concern and it shouldn't start now," Ogles added in the social media post announcing the impeachment effort. "We must protect our children from predators like Judge Bates."

Billionaire Elon Musk, head of President Donald Trump's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), shared Ogles' post on his social media platform X and said that it is "time to impeach judges who violate the law."

Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net)

Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net)bsky.app

*Elon wants to impeach judges for stopping him. This rep. called the judge a predator. They're spinning up the stochastic terror machine to threaten the judge into submission.

While there are no apparent legal violations on Bates' part, this isn't the first time Musk has backed ousting judges who impede Trump's agenda. Earlier this month, the richest person on Earth expressed support after Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) announced that he was drafting articles of impeachment against Judge John McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, one of the federal judges who blocked the Trump administration's funding freeze.

A third judge is also under attack by Musk and GOP members of Congress. As Courthouse News Servicereported last week:

In Republicans' crosshairs is Southern District of New York Judge Paul Engelmayer, who this month issued an order keeping Musk's team out of the federal payments system. But it's unclear whether this move, aimed at ousting a judge with a lifetime appointment, has the political momentum it needs to clear the high hurdle of impeachment.Regardless, the articles of impeachment against Engelmayer, filed Tuesday by Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden but published online Wednesday, represent the most extreme congressional action yet targeting the federal judiciary.

Although Republicans have majorities in both chambers of Congress, their margins aren't large enough to oust any of the judges without Democratic support, which they are highly unlikely to get.

Reutersnoted Monday that "the attacks against judges for their rulings and calls for impeachment have been sharply criticized by bar groups and law professors, including John Collins of George Washington University," who said that the effort is "completely inappropriate" and "smacks of intimidation."

There are mounting fears that in addition to attacking individual judges, elected Republicans including Trump will simply refuse to comply with court orders. As Common Dreamsreported earlier this month, the Revolving Door Project is tracking the Trump administration's refusal to comply with orders from the federal judiciary.

NOW READ:We've reached the moment of maximum peril for our nation and our freedoms

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AN 2 25

Far-right House Republicans are pushing to impeach federal judges, alleging “high crimes and misdemeanors” in response to rulings that opposed actions by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). One congressman denounced a judge as a “predator” and a “radical anti-LGBTQ activist,” while another argued that blocking DOGE reflected bias against Trump voters. A third asserted that Congress has the “authority to impeach judges to defend the will of the people.”

Courthouse News reporter Benjamin S. Weiss notes that three federal judges have been targeted for impeachment by multiple members of Congress.

Senior U.S. District Judge John Bates

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) made unsubstantiated accusations against Senior Judge John Bates, a Bush appointee serving on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Bates was also appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to serve on the FISA Court and to serve as the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.

READ MORE: ‘Axis of Evil’: U.S. Slammed for Voting with Russia, North Korea Against Ukraine at UN

“I just formally introduced articles of impeachment against RADICAL LGBTQ ACTIVIST U.S. District Judge John Bates. His attempt to block President Trump’s order to remove webpages containing resources for ‘gender-affirming care’ from government sites is appalling,” Congressman Ogles declared.

“At no point in American history has the judiciary considered the surgical or chemical castration of healthy children to be a compelling or even legitimate health concern and it shouldn’t start now,” he alleged, wrongly framing the judge’s actions. “We must protect our children from predators like Judge Bates.”

According to an extensive report in The Washington Post, however, Judge Bates had “ordered the nation’s premier health agencies to restore online access to several websites that monitor HIV, health risks for youths and assisted reproductive technologies, which were abruptly taken offline to ensure they complied with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on gender.”

Judge Bates wrote in his opinion: “By removing long relied upon medical resources without explanation, it is likely that … each agency failed to ‘examine the relevant data and articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action.’”

The Post adds that Bates found “that the health agencies probably violated federal law in taking down the scientific data. He ordered the agencies to restore access to the websites.”

In a video posted to social media (below), however, Rep. Ogles insisted the webpages Bates ordered restored were about “transgender surgeries.” In a press release attacking Judge Bates, Ogles went even further in wrongly characterizing the judge’s actions.

“The continued socialization of this grave moral evil necessitates immediate Congressional action against those promoting it. America’s founders gave Congress the authority to impeach judges to defend the will of the people,” Congressman Ogles falsely claimed. The founders did not give Congress authority to impeach judges to defend the will of the people. “My articles will do just that. It is unacceptable for rogue judges to implicate taxpayers in woke LGBTQ propaganda and the irreversible destruction of children’s bodies.”

U.S. District Chief Judge John “Jack” McConnell Jr.

U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) has “threatened to file articles of impeachment” against U.S. District Chief Judge John “Jack” McConnell Jr. who, Fox News reports, “filed a motion ordering the Trump administration to comply with a previous restraining order. The order temporarily blocked the administration’s efforts to pause federal grants and loans.”

READ MORE: Trump Mass Firings May Be ‘Contrary’ to Law, Watchdog Rules

According to Fox News, “McConnell has since come under fire from Trump supporters and conservatives who have accused him of being a liberal activist after a 2021 video of him saying courts must ‘stand and enforce the rule of law, that is, against arbitrary and capricious actions by what could be a tyrant or could be whatnot’ resurfaced online.”

WPRI reports that Musk wrote on X: “Impeach this activist posing as a judge! Such a person does great discredit to the American justice system,” and later, “Impeach this pseudo-jurist!!”

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer

Last week, U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) filed articles of impeachment alleging U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer “engaged in judicial misconduct when he halted President Donald J. Trump’s Executive order establishing and implementing the President’s Department of Government Efficiency on purely political grounds, demonstrating clear bias and prejudice against the President and the 74,000,000 Americans who voted for him.”

Congressman Van Orden also charged the judge with “improper handling” of that case.

Reporting on the articles of impeachment, Bloomberg Law noted that U.S. Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) is also filing to impeach Judge Engelmayer.

In a press release, Congressman Crane says Judge Engelmayer “responded to an overtly political emergency request by 19 Democratic attorneys general aiming to prevent Trump administration officials from accessing a payment system within the Treasury Department.”

Bloomberg reported that the “acts against Engelmayer come after Musk called for judicial impeachments, in response to judges issuing court orders that blocked many Trump administration actions.”

During Musk’s Oval Office press conference, President Trump, Axios reported, had said, “Maybe we have to look at the judges because I think that’s a very serious violation.”

But it was Vice President JD Vance who perhaps made the most waves when he wrongly claimed that federal judges “aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”

Watch Congressman Ogles’ video below or at this link.

===

RWW

01/30/2025

by

Kyle Mantyla

• Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Following deadly plane crash, Trump blames Democrats, DEI without evidence

Expectations were low ahead of the president's comments on the Flight 5342 crash. With his ugly and partisan rhetoric, Trump failed to clear a low bar.

• David Edwards @ Raw Story: 'Did DEI play a role?' House GOP lawmaker suggests diversity to blame for D.C. plane crash

Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee suggested Thursday that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts could be to blame for a mid-air collision near Reagan Washington National Airport that was suspected of killing more than 60 people Wednesday night.

• Angry White Men: Oklahoma State Rep. Gabe Woolley Appears On Show Hosted By Holocaust Denier Stew Peters (Again)

Oklahoma state Rep. Gabe Woolley unveiled a bill to change how child abuse cases are handled — and pave the way for Oklahoma Department of Human Services workers to be charged with kidnapping. To promote the bill, Rep. Woolley appeared on the show of Nazi sympathizer and Holocaust denier Stew Peters.

• Mikael Thalen @ The Daily Dot: Kash Patel’s close ties to prominent conspiracy theorists called out at confirmation hearing

Patel attempted to distance himself from numerous conspiratorial figures.

• Emell Derra Adolphus @ The Daily Beast: Right-Wing Priest Booted From Church After Imitating Musk’s Salute

A right-wing priest was booted from his church after trying to imitate the controversial “salute” Elon Musk performed at an inaugural rally for President Donald Trump last week.

• Hunter Walker @ Talking Points Memo: Why Former Followers Of Her Guru Fear Tulsi Gabbard As Director Of National Intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard’s ties to Chris Butler, a controversial spiritual leader with extreme views and a history of allegedly mistreating his flock, have made headlines throughout her political career. And, after Donald Trump nominated her to serve as his director of national intelligence, one of the top Cabinet posts leading the national security apparatus, some fear her guru could be set to wield a dangerous level of influence.

===

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an 1 25

On Thursday morning, January 30, cable news was dominated by coverage of a crash between a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people. The crash occurred near Washington, DC, and recovery teams have been searching the Potomac River for possible survivors. But according to the New York, officials are saying they believe that no one survived the collision.

Far-right Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tennessee) discussed the tragedy that morning during an appearance on Fox Business. And Ogles implied that DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) might somehow be to blame.

Ogles told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo, "Human error—was it some sort of equipment failure? Did DEI play a role in this type of thing?"

READ MORE:'Live with that shame': Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by Trump gets 17-year state prison sentence

Ogles' comment is drawing a lot of criticism on X, formerly Twitter.

Jeanne Massey of FairVote Minnesota attacked Ogles' DEI remark as, "reprehensibly racist and dangerous scapegoating."

Democratic activist Ron Smith tweeted, "Well, that didn't take long before they blame DEI."

X user Conrad Stein wrote, "Absolutely shameful from Ogles. But these people have no shame, so I guess it's no surprise."

READ MORE:Republicans float plan to slash benefits for working class to pay for Trump tax cuts

Attorney Paul Feinstein sarcastically posted, "Well at least he isn't jumping to conclusions without facts."

Xuser Monique Larue tweeted, "What would they blame if there was no DEI?"

X user Tony VanDongen humorously wrote, "Yes. It was a BLACK hawk helicopter."

READ MORE: 'Grievance and animus': CEO explains how 'status anxiety' motivates Trump’s base

===

RWW

01/24/2025

by

Kyle Mantyla

• Will Saletan @ The Bulwark: How Republicans Learned to Excuse Political Violence

They used to oppose pardoning the thugs of January 6th. Now they say it’s fine.

• Ross Rosenfeld @ The New Republic: The Sick Message That Trump Is Sending to MAGA America

It’s OK for cops to murder innocent people, for husbands to abuse their wives, and for everyone to target trans people.

• Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Trump finds another group of politically allied criminals to pardon

For Trump, presidential pardons are effectively party favors to be handed out to people he likes, agrees with or sees as political allies.

• Clair Heddes @ NOTUS: Trump’s White House Press Secretary Reveals Her Failed Campaign Spent $200K in Illicit Contributions

On Thursday, Karoline Leavitt’s failed congressional campaign amended every FEC filing it had ever made to reveal that she failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in excessive contributions that she never paid back, in violation of the law.

• Griffin Eckstein @ Salon: Republican introduces measure to allow Trump a third term — but not Obama

Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles carefully crafted the proposal to exclude past presidents.

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Campaign finance questions have followed far-right Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tennessee) throughout his term in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he has been a frequent promotor of far-right social conservatism. Now, according to the Tennessee Lookout's Adam Friedman, the MAGA congressman has "acknowledged a previously undisclosed six-figure loan almost 10 months after news reports revealed its existence."

"On his 2023 U.S. House financial disclosure form, filed on September13," Friedman explains, "Ogles listed for the first time a loan worth between $500,001 to $1 million from FirstBank in September of 2022. The one-term congressman failed to disclose this on previous forms, a fact noted by Nashville NewsChannel 5 in November 2023, when it first reported on the loan."

The Tennessee Lookout reporter adds, "The missing loan was part of a complaint by the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, which alleged that Ogles had nearly $1 million in financial discrepancies between his House disclosure form and campaign finance reports. Campaign finance discrepancies have plagued Ogles since he launched his bid for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District in April 2022."

READ MORE:'Like the KKK whisperer': Vance blasted over doubling down on 'Laura Loomer’s racist statement'

According to Friedman, Ogles has been "plagued" by "campaign finance discrepancies…. since he launched his bid for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District in April 2022."

"Ogles told the public in a news release during the start of the campaign that he raised $450,000, but in reality, Ogles raised around $250,000 and claimed to loan his campaign $320,000," Friedman notes. "His claim of an early cash haul and his promise to use personal funds helped him secure support from conservatives on his way to winning a crowded 2022 Republican primary."

Friedman adds, "In May 2024, he amended campaign finance reports for the prior two years, stating that he had only loaned $20,000 to his campaign."

Before being elected to Congress, Ogles, now 53, served as mayor of Maury County, Tennessee. And he has championed far-right social conservatism in both positions.

READ MORE:Ex-Secret Service agent explains why 'threat profile' is especially high with Trump

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Ogles declared, "The next thing we have to do is go after gay marriage."

READ MORE:'The real villain': How the Supreme Court is quietly working to keep Trump out of jail

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an 11 23

despite not even reporting a personal savings account in his financial disclosure forms, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tennessee) was able to loan his 2022 campaign $320,000.}:

Tennessee's Newschannel 5 reported that Ogles has also not disclosed assets of more than $1,000. His legally required personal financial disclosure form only shows an investment property with no income generated, and three retirement accounts between the congressman and his wife. That lack of disclosure has led the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) — an ethics watchdog group — to call for further inquiries into Ogles' finances.

"It definitely raises big questions as to where that money came from," CLC spokeswoman Danielle Caputo said. "How was he able to loan it because currently his financial disclosure reports are not showing that sort of wealth that he could easily lend that money."

According to Newschannel 5, this isn't the first issue Ogles has had with financial transparency. While Ogles kicked off his campaign with an announcement that he had raised nearly half a million dollars in his bid to represent Tennessee's 5th Congressional District, a campaign fundraising report showed that he actually only raised roughly half that amount. The outlet made comparisons between Ogles and embattled Rep. George Santos (R-New York), who has been indicted for campaign finance fraud and could be expelled from Congress as soon as this week.

The outlet also reported that in 2022, he missed several campaign finance filing deadlines, with one filing even being a week late. Ogles attributed the delay to difficulties obtaining bank records. That claim prompted skepticism from a local conservative radio host.

"You're kidding me! That's not a credible statement," conservative influencer Michael Patrick Leahy said at the time. "Issues retrieving bank statements? I mean, this is 2022."

Newschannel 5 additionally pointed out that Ogles still has not answered questions as to how the $25,000 raised via a crowdfunding campaign was spent. After Ogles and his wife announced the stillborn death of their child, he posted a campaign on GoFundMe for a child burial garden. However, the garden was never built, and at least one donor has asked for their money to be returned.

READ MORE: Ethics Committee report on George Santos released: 'Overwhelming evidence' of misconduct

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cv condensation

non cred certif seminar vs degree

barely passed frosh econ 101?

ogles

https://www.alternet.org/andy-ogles-2659478289/

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this may be extension of thoughts and prayers now is not the time in our grief over mass shootings we cannot be rational in our decision (to increase gun control regulations)

how sleazy is the left that they would use the lives of children and grief of parents to score political points

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https://www.alternet.org/send/house-republicans-shooting/

no lnx vid twt an 3 23

Watch: Here’s how 5 House Republicans are responding to the TN school shooting that left 6 dead

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: U.S. Rep.-elect Andy Ogles (R-TN) casts his vote in the House Chamber during the fourth day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 06, 2023 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives is meeting to vote for the next Speaker after House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) failed to earn more than 218 votes on several ballots; the first time in 100 years that the Speaker was not elected on the first ballot. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

David Badashand

The New Civil Rights Movement

March 29, 2023

There are 535 seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and another six non-voting seats for delegates. After Monday’s horrific mass shooting at a private Christian elementary school, where three nine-year olds and three adults were shot to death, very few Members appeared on-camera to talk with reporters about the tragedy.

The Democrats who did advocated for various gun control measures, including reinstating the federal assault weapons ban signed into law in 1994 by President Bill Clinton that Republican lawmakers and President George W. Bush refused to renew in 2004, after which mass shootings and gun violence skyrocketed.

President Joe Biden this week repeatedly called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, a call he has made over and over again.

In addition to calling for an assault weapons ban, House and Senate Democrats responded to the mass shooting at Covenant Presbyterian Elementary in Nashville by calling for tighter gun control measures including implementing red flag laws.

READ MORE: ‘Troubling Questions’: Experts Slam Ginni Thomas’ Group That Waged Cultural War Against the Left via Web of Dark Money Orgs

The parents of the Nashville shooter have said their child had an emotional disorder and should not have had any firearms. Three were used in the assault and another four were found at the shooter’s home.Tennessee has no red flag law so police were not legally allowed to take the guns away.

After last year’s school mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two adults were shot to death, some states took action. Tennessee, where the Nashville school shooting became the nation’s 130th this year, did little.

“We’re not looking at gun restriction laws in my administration right now,”Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, said after the tragedy. “Criminals don’t follow laws, criminals break laws. Whether they are a gun law, a drug law, criminals break laws.”

“We can’t control what they do.”

But in a sense, Governor Lee did control what they do.

READ MORE: Tennessee Governor Slammed After ‘Praying’ for Nashville School Community Without Mentioning Mass Shooting

In 2021 ago he signed into law a permit-less open-carry law: no permit required, no training required, no background check required.

A Tennessee Republican U.S. Congressman, Tim Burchett this week repeatedly decreed there’s nothing that can be done.

:{:{}:

Echoing almost word-for-word Governor Lee’s remarks from three years ago, in now-viral video, Rep. Burchett infamously on Monday declared, “We’re not gonna fix it. Criminals are going to be criminals.”

He did, however, invoke religion, calling for a Christian revival, and declaring that was the answer to fixing mass shootings and gun violence.}:

:{:{On Tuesday Rep. Burchett was back in front of the cameras, furthering his call to do nothing.}:

“I don’t know what law we could pass,” he said. “Evil people are going to do evil things.”}:

:{:{}:

U.S. Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) appeared on CNN this week and responded to the Nashville slaughter by defending his threat to President Biden to try to take his AR-15 away.

In a rare example of excellent journalism, CNN’s Phil Mattingly pressed Buck after the far-right Republican tried to change the topic.

“If Joe Biden is interested in reaching a resolution on the issue let him deal with the Southern border,” Buck defiantly declared, literally blaming President Biden’s border policies for gun violence.

He also tried to link the Nashville mass shooting to a mental health problem and then tried to link that to drug laws and a lack of funding for states for mental health services.

Rep. Buck last year voted against two mental health bills, and since 2019 has voted against the vast majority of 40 or so health care bills.}:

“What’s the burden on you?” Matttingly asked Buck.

READ MORE: New WSJ Poll Is Devastating for DeSantis and His ‘Anti-Woke’ Policies

Unyieldingly, Buck replied, “My burden is to follow the Constitution, and the Second Amendment protects – there are more than two million AR-15s.”

:{:{Republican U.S. Congressman Andy Ogles,}: who represents Nashville, Tennessee and came under fire again this week for his 2021 Christmas card showing him and his family, including young children, holding assault weapons, was asked about banning AR-15s.

Rep. Ogles’ response was to answer the question with another question: “Why not talk about the real issue facing this country?” which he declared, like Rep. Buck and others, ismental health. He then walked away.}:

:{:{U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) took a different tact on the GOP’s do-nothing policy while supporting the GOP’s walk-away response.}:

He equated assault weapons with politics and emotions.

“If you’re gonna talk about the AR-15 you’re talking politics now,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju.“Let’s not get into politics. let’s not get into emotion, because emotion feels good, but emotion doesn’t solve problems.”}:

He then just walked away.

But perhaps the greatest example of the Republican response to gun violence and mass shootings came from House Republican’s leader, Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

On Tuesday, McCarthy stood in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall to pose for photos with some tourists.

:{:{CNN’s Manu Raju asked the Speaker about the “incredibly serious situation” in Nashville, suggesting it required a response from the Speaker of the House.}:

McCarthy’s response?

He refused to provide one, then walked away.}:

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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A Koch brother-aligned group has made it clear it will oppose Donald Trump's third attempt to run for president in 2024 because it believes it is time to move after his attempt to steal the 2020 election, but that hasn't stopped it from giving a platform to two other MAGA-inspired election deniers.

According to a report from the Guardian's Adam Gabbatt, last weekend Americans for Prosperity Action, which was founded by conservative billionaires Charles Koch and his late brother David Koch, held a confab in California after stating it was time for the Republican Party to "turn the page" on the Trump years.

However, as Gabbatt wrote, two of the speakers were unabashed proponents of the stolen election conspiracy theory which is at the center of Trump's third run based on his belief the 2020 election was rife with fraud.

According to the report, "In Eric Schmitt, a Missouri senator, and Andrew Ogles, a congressman from Tennessee, AFP Action had invited two newly elected men who tried vigorously to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and seem to have little interest in turning the page on history."

"Schmitt, who has invoked the 'great replacement' conspiracy theory, has already backed Trump for 2024, while Ogles, a culture warrior whose campaign pitch was that the US needs to 'go back to honoring God and country', giddily accepted Trump’s endorsement last year," the report continued with Gabbatt adding, "If, in inviting two politicians who appear to embody the essence of Trumpism, AFP Action exposed a separation between what it says and what does, then it should come as no surprise."

In 2021 AFP Action was critical of conservative lawmakers who embraced the stole election myth, issuing a statement that said, in part, “Lawmakers’ actions leading up to and during last week’s insurrection will weigh heavy in our evaluation of future support."

As the report notes, while disavowing Trump over his election denialism, AFP Action had no problem throwing cash at Republicans in the 2020 midterms to the tune of $63.4 million with 86.7% of that spending going "to candidates who had been endorsed by Trump."

This despite a statement from AFP Action that claimed, “The Republican Party is nominating bad candidates who are advocating for things that go against core American principles," before adding, "So the best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter. The American people have shown that they’re ready to move on, and so AFP will help them do that.”

The Guardian report added, "But in inviting Schmitt and Ogles – their attendance was first reported by the Washington Post – AFP Action sent a mixed message. Both candidates have tied themselves to a former president that Koch’s network says it is ready to ditch."

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