collins, doug Rep

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:{:{OGE?!} ethics : musk fair election BS}:

TRUMP LIAR

TEA PARTY

xian

warnock loeffler beat senate 2020

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PUZZLE HOW HE GETS AWAY W FUCKING OVER VETS

AN 3 26

President Donald Trump’s new proposal for addressing widespread veteran homelessness involves forcibly institutionalizing hundreds or even thousands of them — and this is raising concerns about civil liberties.

“Our new partnership with the Justice Department reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring that every veteran receives timely, appropriate care,” explained Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Doug Collins in a public statement. The VA says that they will initiate legal guardianships for veterans who are either homeless or “at risk of homelessness,” thereby empowering the federal government to involuntarily commit them to care facilities.

"Critics say the policy shift raises significant civil liberties concerns, noting that in earlier generations, people with severe mental illness were routinely stripped of their legal rights and confined to state hospitals,” reported The New York Times.

Representative Mark Takano, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said that “the Trump-Vance administration is pursuing policies that would push hundreds, if not thousands, of veterans into institutions and court-ordered guardianships.”

Takano added, “Guardianship should always be a last resort, after all less restrictive options have been exhausted, to ensure veterans’ rights are respected.”

By contrast, Michael Figlioli, the director of the National Veterans Service for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said “that some of our nation’s most vulnerable veterans must be approached through a public health and social services framework” and argued that if the program is carried out thoughtfully, guardianships could offer more “structured support” for vulnerable veterans. At the same time, he said that there would need to be due diligence taken to account for “veterans’ privacy, potential implementation gaps and the need for sufficient resources.”

As the Times reported, “There are about 33,000 homeless veterans in the United States, about 14,000 of whom live on the streets. Veterans make up around 5 percent of the unsheltered homeless population.”

Prior to this policy change, Trump has often disappointed veterans. He reneged earlier in March on a promise to establish a National Center for Warrior Independence, and his sweeping cuts to the federal workforce led to 62,000 veterans losing their jobs.

“The Trump Administration has radically slashed the federal civilian workforce, sidestepping Congress and causing disruptions, slowdowns, and fragility in a range of critical public services that people and communities depend on,” wrote the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities earlier in March. “Veterans have been affected by these cuts both as members of the federal workforce and as recipients of federal health care and other benefits available to them based on their service.”

Trump has also been accused of showing disrespect toward veterans, such as earlier in March when he ignored protocol and left his hat on while greeting the remains of six soldiers killed in his Iran war.

“This fool has ABSOLUTELY no sense of dignity or appreciation for the moment,” Michael Steele, Republican National Committee chair from 2009 to 2011, wrote on X. “It is called the Dignified Transfer for a reason. Take your damn hat off!!”

Douglas Heye, a former communications director for the Republican National Committee, said that there is a partisan double standard.

“I know what Republicans would have said if Obama had done this — I would have written the statement,” Heye posted on X. “Shameful.”

A number of administration sources, including Trump’s former chief of staff and retired Marine Corps. General John F. Kelly, have said that Trump privately referred to soldiers as “suckers” and “losers” because he could not understand them fighting for things other than self-interest.

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2026

Douglas Allen Collins (born August 16, 1966) is an American politician serving as the 12th United States secretary of veterans affairs since February 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the U.S. representative for Georgia's 9th congressional district from 2013 to 2021 and in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013, representing the 27th district, which includes portions of Hall County, Lumpkin County, and White County. Collins has served as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve since 2002,^[1] and was promoted to colonel in 2023.^[2]

On January 29, 2020, Collins announced he would run in the November 2020 special election for Georgia's Class III U.S. Senate seat. He finished in third place in the state's nonpartisan blanket primary, behind Democrat Raphael Warnock and incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler, failing to make it to the top-two runoff election. Collins had opted out of a House re-election bid to run for the Senate and was succeeded there by Andrew Clyde. In April 2021, Collins stated he would not be running in Georgia's 2022 gubernatorial election or concurrent Senate election.^[3] After leaving office, he served as a legal counsel for Trump before he nominated him to the Cabinet.^[4]

On November 14, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Collins as the United States secretary of veterans affairs. Collins was confirmed by the United States Senate to the office on February 4, 2025, by a vote of 77–23, and took office the next day.

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ballotp 2 26

Doug Collins is the U.S. secretary of veterans affairs in President Donald Trump's (R) second presidential cabinet. The Senate voted 77-23 to confirm Collins on February 4, 2025, and he was sworn in the next day.^[1][2]

Collins (Republican Party) was a member of the U.S. House, representing Georgia's 9th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2013. He left office on January 3, 2021.

Collins was born in Gainesville, Georgia. He received a bachelor's degree in political science and criminal justice from North Georgia College in 1988, a master of divinity degree from New Orleans Theological Seminary in 1996, and a law degree from John Marshall Law School in 2008.^[2][3] Before attending law school, Collins was a pastor and worked in safety product sales.^[2][4] After September 11, 2001, Collins became an Air Force Reserve chaplain, having previously served two years as a chaplain in the Navy Reserve.^[5][4] Collins was deployed to Iraq from 2008 to 2009.^[2]

Collins first assumed elected office in 2007, representing District 27 in the Georgia House of Representatives. He was re-elected twice. In 2012, Collins was elected to Georgia's 9th Congressional District and served four terms. Collins was the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2020.^[6] Trump appointed Collins as an advisor to his impeachment defense team in January 2020. ^[7]

In 2020, Collins ran in the special general election for U.S. Senate in Georgia, receiving 20% of the vote to Raphael Warnock's (D) 32.9% and Kelly Loeffler's (R) 25.9%.

On November 14, 2024, Trump announced that he had selected Collins as his nominee for secretary of veterans affairs in his second presidential term. Collins said, "Our heroes deserve the best care and support. We'll fight tirelessly to streamline and cut regulations in the VA, root out corruption, and ensure every veteran receives the benefits they've earned. Together, we'll make the VA work for those who fought for us."^[8]

Biography

Collins was born in Gainesville, Georgia. He received a bachelor's degree from North Georgia College in 1988, a master of divinity degree from New Orleans Theological Seminary in 1996, and a law degree from John Marshall Law School in 2008.^[3] Before attending law school, Collins was a pastor and worked in sales.^[4] After September 11, 2001, Collins became an Air Force Reserve chaplain.^[5]

Collins first assumed elected office in 2007, representing District 27 in the Georgia House of Representatives. He was re-elected twice. In 2012, Collins ran to represent Georgia's 9th Congressional District in the U.S. House, and was re-elected in 2014, 2016, and 2018. Collins ran in the 2020 special general election for U.S. Senate in Georgia, receiving 20% of the vote to Raphael Warnock's (D) 32.9% and Kelly Loeffler's (R) 25.9%.

Nomination for secretary of veterans affairs

Donald Trump's Cabinet (second term)	Donald Trump's Cabinet (second term)	Donald Trump's Cabinet (second term)
Candidate: Doug Collins	Candidate: Doug Collins	Candidate: Doug Collins
Position: Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Position: Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Position: Secretary of Veterans Affairs
	Announced:	November 12, 2024
	Hearing:	January 21, 2025
	Committee:	Veterans' Affairs
	Reported:	Favorable (18-1)
	Confirmed:	February 4, 2025
	Vote:	77-23

Trump announced on November 14, 2024, that he had selected Collins as his nominee for secretary of Veterans Affairs in his second presidential term. In a statement, Trump said, "We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need."^[9]

The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing for Collins on January 21, 2025.^[10] The Senate voted 77-23 to confirm Collins on February 4, 2025, with all 53 Republicans, 22 Democrats, and both Independents who caucus with Democrats voting in favor. Twenty-three Democrats voted against his confirmation.^[11] Click here to read more about the confirmation process.

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AN 2 26

President Donald Trump’s sweeping government cuts have cost 62,000 veterans their jobs, according to a budget-oriented think tank — and worse is yet to come.

“The Trump Administration has radically slashed the federal civilian workforce, sidestepping Congress and causing disruptions, slowdowns, and fragility in a range of critical public services that people and communities depend on,” wrote the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Friday. “Veterans have been affected by these cuts both as members of the federal workforce and as recipients of federal health care and other benefits available to them based on their service.”

The federal government has been a large employer of veterans for many decades, with veterans accounting for roughly 30 percent of all federal employees in recent years. The number of veterans working in the federal government fell by nearly 10 percent between September 2024 and December 2025, resulting in the lowest number of veterans in the federal workforce in over 15 years, according to data no longer available online from the Office of Personnel Management.

“Veterans have felt the impact of the Administration’s chaotic and sweeping personnel policies across the federal government, including at the IRS, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Department of Education,” the think tank writes. “But it’s at the VA — the federal agency dedicated to running programs and services that benefit veterans and their families, including providing care through nearly 1,400 health care facilities — where the harm to veterans may be most acute.” Trump has eliminated nearly 28,000 VA employees, or roughly 6 percent of the agency’s staff, including more than 2,700 nurses, more than 1,000 medical officers, more than 1,000 psychologists and social workers and more than 1,800 people tasked with evaluating veterans’ claims for benefits.

“Congress needs to continue to crack down on the Administration’s abuse and weaponization of personnel policy and address its unilateral cuts in federal capacity,” the think tank concluded. “Otherwise, the delivery of services and programs that Congress chooses to fund will continue to deteriorate, and everyone, including veterans, will continue to feel the worsening impact.”

The Trump administration has only walked back its past cuts to veterans services when facing intense pressure. On Thursday Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins ended a controversial VA policy that lowered veterans’ disability ratings and subsequent monthly compensation.

“DAV is extremely disappointed and alarmed by VA’s decision to issue an interim final rule today that could potentially reduce disability compensation for millions of disabled veterans,” Coleman Nee, national commander of Disabled American Veterans, said prior to Trump’s reversal.

In addition to rolling back veterans benefits, Trump is also accused of politicizing the military. The Atlantic's Missy Ryan, who has covered 10 defense secretaries, recently wrote that she has never seen anything like Trump Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s political actions, such as trying to penalize veterans such as Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) for their political speech.

"Expanding the military’s ability to control veterans’ speech would be a major and historic reversal of basic freedoms," Ryan wrote. "Retired service members turned public officials have a long history of criticizing Pentagon leaders in ways those leaders might find objectionable."

She added, "If the government prevails, the silencing of longtime service members would be like barring retired doctors from opining on health policy. When debating matters of war and peace, he said, it serves the public to hear from the very people who have served on the front lines — and lived through the consequences."

Gen. Stanley McChrystal (Ret.) recently told The New York Times something similar, arguing that“once lost, the legitimacy of a military that reflects and represents all Americans will be difficult to recover." Meanwhile MS NOW's Steve Benen wrote that Trump's partisan speeches to the military erode “a foundational, bedrock principle of the United States. Partisan, ideological and electoral considerations must be utterly irrelevant to what the military is and how it functions. It is nevertheless a principle for which Trump appears to have no use, creating an untenable dynamic."

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gmail

*in partnership with The Guardian.

In May 2024, a flashy ad went viral on social media warning that “across the country, there are real cases of fraud and abuses of the [election] system that have eroded our trust”. The ad pledged that “whistleblowers” who shared evidence of election fraud “will be rewarded with payment from our $5m fund”.

This reward was courtesy of a just-announced group, the Fair Election Fund, which has deep connections to Elon Musk’s political network, according to materials obtained by Documented.

The Fair Election Fund pledged that “the bulk of the group’s budget will be devoted to paying whistleblowers” for sharing their stories, and that it would launch “aggressive paid and earned media campaigns” that would “highlight these cases”.

It was followed by another ad that ran in swing states during the Olympics and told viewers “you could be eligible for compensation” for sharing evidence of election fraud.

Despite the group’s high-profile, deep-pocketed backers and lucrative bounty offers, it never revealed any evidence of voter or election fraud. Instead, the group took a series of unrelated detours into tangential areas like third-party ballot access, and its effort to uncover fraud reaffirmed what numerous studies, court rulings and bipartisan investigations have concluded: voter fraud is extremely rare.

Pledge your support

The lack of evidence has not stopped Republicans in Congress and state legislatures from continuing to push restrictive voting laws aimed at addressing this phantom threat. Meanwhile, Musk is claiming that “fraud” justifies his efforts to slash government operations, but similarly has not revealed much evidence.

The Fair Election Fund has now gone radio silent. Sitemap data shows that the website has not been updated since October, and the X/Twitter account for the group has not posted since November. The group’s spokesperson, former representative Doug Collins, became Trump’s veterans affairs secretary, and is now also leading the office of government ethics.

Close ties to world’s richest man

The Fair Election Fund is a fictitious name for another 501(c)(4) non-profit, Documented can reveal, and operates within a network run by Musk’s top political advisers. The group received funding from the same dark-money vehicle Musk has used to channel his political spending, and also routed funds to another Musk-backed non-profit.

The group is housed within a non-profit now called Interstate Priorities, formerly known as the For Which It Stands Fund. Formed on 3 January 2023, the non-profit raised $8,226,000 from a single donation in 2023.

The group is led by Victoria “Tori” Sachs, a Republican operative who was also executive director of And to the Republic, a group also formed in January 2023 that supported Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid, including by funding DeSantis’s private jets and hosting quasi-campaign events.

The naming of the two Sachs-led groups – And to the Republic and the For Which It Stands Fund – and the timing of their creation in January 2023 suggests that the group that now houses the Fair Election Fund was originally intended to support DeSantis’s run, which Musk initially supported.

Sachs’s involvement continued through 2024, with her name appearing on records that accompanied the Fair Election Fund’s broadcast purchases.

Since 2022, Musk has been secretly channeling his political spending through a dark-money non-profit called Building America’s Future. That group is run by Generra Peck and Phil Cox, two Republican operatives who were involved in DeSantis’s failed presidential bid and now advise Musk. Building America’s Future reportedly backed the Fair Election Fund in 2024. It also provided half of And to the Republic’s overall fundraising in 2023.

The Fair Election Fund has other ties to the Musk advisers who lead Building America’s Future. Cox’s digital marketing firm IMGE LLC, which provides services to several groups in the Musk-backed, Building America Future-tied universe, manages the Fair Election Fund’s Facebook page, and an IMGE employee appears to be responsible for articles on the Fair Election Fund’s website.

The Fair Election Fund/Interstate Priorities also acted as a conduit to support other Musk-backed groups. The group’s 2023 tax return shows that it made a $1,550,000 grant to Citizens for Sanity, which Musk funded in 2022 through Building America’s Future, and which aired racist and transphobic ads that election cycle. That grant made up almost the entirety of Citizens for Sanity’s funding in 2023.

Pledge your support

In the 2024 election cycle, Musk publicly disclosed at least $277m in political contributions to Super Pacs that worked to elect President Trump and other Republicans. It is not known how much he may have given to other politically active groups that disguise their donors.

A detour into third-party ballot access

The Fair Election Fund’s goal of exposing election fraud seemingly turned up nothing of significance.

Out of its $5m fund, the group announced $75,000 in “bounty” payments, releasing $50,000 in July 2024 and $25,000 in September 2024. The Fair Election Fund promised that it would “highlight” the election fraud stories it gathered through these payments via “aggressive paid and earned media campaigns”, but it never did so, which suggests that none of the evidence generated was consequential or credible.

Instead, the group took a detour in July 2024: it launched a $175,000 ad “blitz” targeting North Carolina state board of election (NCSBE) members who delayed placing third-party presidential candidates Cornel West and Robert F Kennedy Jr on the ballot. At the time, Republicans and their allies believed that West and Kennedy would act as spoilers to help Trump, by siphoning left-leaning votes away from the Democratic presidential nominee.

Ironically, the NCSBE had delayed a decision on West’s and Kennedy’s ballot eligibility based on evidence that petitions were obtained through fraudulent means – concerns that would seem to align with the Fair Election Fund’s stated mission of exposing election fraud.

The Fair Election Fund ads declared that the Democratic members of the NCSBE were “blocking your voting rights”, and offered a reward for evidence of the members’ “shady backroom deal”. The group also projected images on the side of the NCSBE’s building, and drove mobile billboards around the agency’s headquarters.

The Fair Election Fund also ran digital ads in North Carolina featuring Black voters, some of which asserted that “African American voices are not being heard”, while others declared “Support Equality, Support Inclusion, Support [Cornel West’s] Justice for All Party”. The group pushed similar efforts in states such as Michigan.

Democratic lawyer Marc Elias, who sought to keep West off of ballots in North Carolina and elsewhere, was a frequent target of the group. In October 2024, the group announced that it would be running a six-figure ad buy to “troll” Elias. The ads included mobile billboards around the Elias Law Group office as well as a full-page ad in the Washington Post, which declared: “We beat Marc Elias and his racist voter suppression lawsuits … He tried to disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters who support Cornel West, but the Fair Election Fund stopped him.”

The Fair Election Fund then veered into a series of efforts to chase other trending rightwing conspiracy theories.

For example, over the summer, the Fair Election Fund seized on to a far-fetched conspiracy theory about the online fundraising platform ActBlue, claiming to have found “60,000 potential discrepancies” in ActBlue-facilitated contributions to the Biden-Harris campaign, based on an investigation conducted “from late July to early August”. The group claimed to have “spent $250,000 on these initial findings” – a jaw-dropping sum to spend on a brief review of campaign finance records.

The group then announced a $50,000 ad buy in several swing states soliciting evidence from people who claim to have been “defrauded by ActBlue”. No evidence from this “investigation” has been made public.

In fall 2024, as conspiracy theories about noncitizen voting gained momentum, the Fair Election Fund announced that it would be launching a “six-figure investigation into noncitizen voting in seven key swing states”. The results of this “six-figure investigation” were never made public.

You’re on the free list for*The Shakedown

===

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/trumpworld-is-going-full-qanon-with-the-election-less-than-2-weeks-away-report/

Whenever President Donald Trump is asked about QAnon extremists, he will say a few nice things about them while insisting that he knows very little about the movement. But journalist Will Sommer, in an article published by the Daily Beast on October 22, reports that Trump's allies are trying to use the QAnon conspiracy theory to get him reelected.

To say that QAnon's beliefs are absurd would be an understatement. According to the QAnon conspiracy theory, the U.S. government has been infiltrated by an international cabal of child sex traffickers, pedophiles, Satanists and cannibals — and Trump was put in the White House to combat them. An anonymous figure named Q, according to the theory, is giving them updates on Trump's battle. QAnon also believe that R&B superstar Beyoncé is really an Italian woman named Ann Marie Lastrassi and is working with billionaire George Soros as part of the conspiracy.

But as ridiculous as QAnon's beliefs are, Trump's allies are willing to promote the cult if it will help his reelection campaign. One of those allies, Sommer notes, is former Breitbart News Chairman Steve Bannon, who has been using QAnon-like rhetoric and claiming that at least some of their beliefs are true. Bannon said of QAnon, "How are they not at least — at least an aspect of their argument — at least appears, directionally to be correct?"

Sommer explains, "With less than two weeks before Election Day and Trump lagging in the polls, some of the president's most prominent allies are going all in on QAnon, while Trump and other top supporters refuse to denounce the conspiracy theory. It is, at its most innocent, a crass political calculation designed to keep a relatively modest, though loud and influential, chunk of the party's base engaged. At its worst, critics warn, it's a green light of acceptance to dangerous conspiracy theorists and a normalization of their beliefs."

The Beast reporter goes on to say that Trump has "refused to disavow QAnon, which the FBI considers a potential source of domestic terrorism." And in Georgia, Sommer notes, "Two Republican candidates are competing for their own QAnon endorsements. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) touted the backing of Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and outspoken QAnon supporter who's set to win a House seat in Congress in November. Loeffler's challenger, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), meanwhile, rushed out his endorsement from former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, a hero to QAnon believers who recently took the QAnon oath with members of his family."

Flynn, CNN's Marshall Cohen reported on July 7, posted a video using QAnon rhetoric. In the video, Flynn declared, "Where we go one, we go all" — which is a QAnon slogan. [also lemmings]

Another QAnon slogan is, "The storm is here." And Sommer notes that Bannon has been using "storm" references when promoting conspiracy theories involving former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden.

Bannon recently declared, "It's gonna be a storm. The storm clouds are around the Biden camp. The storm clouds are around the Biden camp — a gathering storm."

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/02/gop-attack-ad-goes-after-republican-doug-collins-for-being-friends-with-black-democrats/

tammy D reminds him she left body parts in Gulf war

Rep. Doug Collins abruptly apologizes for saying Democrats ‘love’ terrorists — after refusing to back down on Fox New

Chris Wallace smirks at Republican Doug Collins after he says Schiff must be first witness: ‘You’re pretty wound up’

Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) on Sunday called for House Intelligence…

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https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/georgias-gop-governor-to-defy-trump-pick-for-us-senate-seat-after-tense-white-house-meeting/

in an attempt to win back women who’ve abandoned the GOP in recent years, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp plans to appoint financial executive Kelly Loeffler to a US Senate seat next week, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

The move contradicts the wishes of President Trump and others in the GOP, who pushed for the appointment of Trump loyalist U.S. Rep. Doug Collins. The appointment is intended to fill the seat of Republican Johnny Isakson, who is stepping down due to health issues....

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doug-collins-omar-offered-an-oops-not-a-real-apology

starnes show

https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/gops-doug-collins-hints-on-fox-friends-that-republicans-will-try-to-hamstring-trump-impeachment-inquiry/

no lnx

GOP’s Doug Collins hints on Fox & Friends that Republicans will try to hamstring Trump impeachment inquiry

Written by Travis Gettys / Raw Story September 25, 2019

The ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee insisted there was no formal impeachment inquiry, signaling a possible effort to thwart one by GOP lawmakers.

Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) appeared Wednesday morning on “Fox & Friends” to attack his Democratic colleagues as they embark on a constitutional process to hold President Donald Trump accountable for his alleged wrongdoing.

“It’s going to be known by chaos Congress, run by a speaker who is not a leader, she’s a follower of AOC she’s follower of her committee,” Collins said. “What’s happening here is nothing but the perpetration fiction of the voters of America. They cannot stand the fact that he’s leading, that he’s actually doing stuff for our country and they can’t defeat that.”

Collins hinted that Republicans would attempt a procedural maneuver to block a vote on an inquiry in the Judiciary Committee, where impeachment begins, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced one would be launched.

“They have to come up with fiction that they’re in an impeachment inquiry,” he said. “If I see one more reporter say that we’ve started an impeachment inquiry, I just want to scream, because we’ve not started anything. In fact, she even told her caucus yesterday, we were told, really nothing has changed but we are going to keep pushing the narrative. That’s not leadership, that’s advocating.”

Co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Collins to explain why the impeachment inquiry was “fiction.”

“There is no impeachment inquiry,” Collins said. “If she wants to do it she needs to bring it to the floor. If she is not going to bring it to the floor, quit telling the American public you are doing something.”

On Fox & Friends, Rep. Doug Collins falsely claims that “there is no impeachment inquiry” happening right now. pic.twitter.com/RyghmsU5bW

— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) September 25, 2019

no lnx 919

REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER SEEKS TO MUZZLE STUDENTS CRITICAL OF ISRAEL

Josh Ruebner

9 August 2019

Misleadingly-named Anti-Semitism Awareness Act introduced in US House of Representatives just before summer recess.

REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER SEEKS TO MUZZLE STUDENTS CRITICAL OF ISRAEL

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/josh-ruebner/republican-lawmaker-seeks-muzzle-students-critical-israel

The misleadingly-named Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2019 has been introduced to the US House of Representatives shortly before its summer recess.

Republican lawmaker Doug Collins, who proposed the bill, is portraying it as “an effective tool for investigating whether prohibited discriminatory actions have become a barrier to learning” in universities.

As the legislation notes, however, the Department of Education already is empowered to investigate incidents of anti-Semitism as a form of discrimination.

A careful reading of its text suggests that its real intent is to muzzle students and teachers who oppose Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians.

The bill had earlier this year been introduced in the US Senate by Tim Scott, another Republican lawmaker.

It embraces the working definition of anti-Semitism approved in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), a body bringing together 33 governments.

That definition is accompanied by several “examples” of anti-Semitism. They include claims that Israel’s foundation was a “racist endeavor” and “applying double standards” to Israel by requiring from it “behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”

These examples affect political speech clearly protected by the First Amendment of the US constitution.

For example, students could run afoul of these examples by advocating for a one-state solution in Palestine, by hosting a speaker addressing Israel’s separate-and-unequal policies which discriminate between Jews and non-Jews, and running campus campaigns to boycott Israeli products or divest university funds from corporations profiting from Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people.

If the new bill were to become law, then the US Department of Education would be required to “take into consideration” these types of examples when assessing if an incident reported on US campuses was “motivated by anti-Semitic intent.”

A university which does not take action against students or teachers accused of anti-Semitism – based on their advocacy for Palestinian rights – could potentially lose federal funding.

New power to stifle activism

With passage of this bill, the US Congress would provide the Trump administration with powerful new statutory authority to further police and crack down on campus speech for Palestinian rights, a process well underway already.

When Donald Trump was running for president ahead of the 2016 election, his campaign team pledged to stifle campus activism for Palestinian rights. Jason Greenblatt and David Friedman, who at the time served as the co-chairs of Trump’s Israel Advisory Committee committed the future Trump administration to “ask the Justice Department to investigate coordinated attempts on college campuses to intimidate students who support Israel.”

Greenblatt now serves as Trump’s special representative for international negotiations, while Friedman is the US ambassador to Israel.

The Trump administration has delivered on its threat. Last year The Intercept published an exposé on the FBI’s use of the Canary Mission – a shadowy pro-Israel group – to question college students advocating for Palestinian rights.

The Trump administration also has attempted to crack down on Palestine activism on campus by nominating Kenneth Marcus as the assistant secretary for civil rights for the Department of Education.

Previously, Marcus was president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

In that capacity, he filed or otherwise supported complaints against Palestinian rights campaigners by alleging that their activities violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. That provision bans discrimination based on race and national origin in all bodies receiving federal funding.

Last year, Marcus wrote a letter to the Zionist Organization of America announcing that the Office of Civil Rights was now using the controversial IHRA definition and examples of anti-Semitism to guide its investigations. He had not given any prior notice of that decision to the public.

The organization Palestine Legal argued at the time that Marcus was “sending a clear signal that attacking free speech for Palestinian rights is at the top of his agenda.”

The so-called Anti-Semitism Awareness Act is a dangerous attempt by Congress to retroactively provide Marcus with the legal authority to justify his use of this controversial definition to further muzzle campus criticism of Israel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Collins_(politician)

Douglas A. "Doug" Collins (born August 16, 1966) is an American politician and a United States Representative fromGeorgia's 9th congressional district since 2013. Previously he was a state representative in the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the 27th district which includes portions of Hall, Lumpkin and White counties. Collins also serves as a Chaplain (Major) in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life, education, and early career:

Born in Gainesville, Georgia, Collins is a graduate of North Hall High School.^[2] He attended North Georgia College & State University, where he received a B.A. in Political science and Criminal law, in 1988. He attended the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, receiving his Master of Divinity in 1996. Collins also earned his Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School, in 2007.^[3]

Collins worked as an intern for Georgia Congressman Ed Jenkins, before working as a salesman, selling hazardous material safety products to Georgia's state, and local governments.^[4] From 1994 to 2005, Collins was a senior pastor at Chicopee Baptist Church, while co-owning a scrapbooking retail store with his wife, Lisa.^[5][6] Collins worked as a lawyer, and has been a managing partner at the Collins and Csider law firm since 2010.^[7]

Military service:{

In the late 1980s, Collins served two years in the United States Navy, as a Navy-Chaplain. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Collins joined the United States Air Force Reserve Command where he presently serves as a Chaplain (Major).^[8] Enlisted in the 94th Airlift Wing at the Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia; Collins was deployed to Balad Air Base for five months in 2008, during the Iraq War.^[9]

Georgia House of Representatives:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Elections:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Collins served three terms in the Georgia House of Representatives, representing Georgia's 27th district from 2007 to 2013. After Republican incumbent state representative Stacey Reece decided he would run for the Georgia State Senate, Collins announced he would run for the vacated seat. He won both the primary and general elections unopposed.^[10] He was unopposed for reelection in 2008 and 2010.^[11][12]

Tenure:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

In 2011, Collins sponsored a plan proposed by Governor Deal to reform Georgia's Hope Scholarship program.^[13] The bill allowed for a 10% cut in scholarships, and raised the level of the SAT and GPA test scores, required to obtain a scholarship; saving the state $300 million.^[14] Collins argued that the program would be insolvent without the cut, saying that "If you look at it at the end of the day, Georgia still leads the way in providing hope—educational hope—for those wanting to go on to post-secondary education."^[15] In 2012, he supported amending Georgia's Constitution to establish a statewide commission authorizing and expanding charter schools.^[16][17]

Collins supports the death penalty, voting in favor of allowing juries to use the death penalty, even when there isn't a unanimous verdict, if the defendant has committed at least one “statutory aggravating circumstance.^[18] He is against physician assisted suicide, voting in favor of making it a felony for anyone who "knowingly and willingly" assists someone in a suicide.^[19] Collins voted for the failed Pre-Abortion Ultrasound Requirement, requiring doctors to give women who are undergoing an abortion the option of a free ultrasound, or to listen to the fetal heartbeat.^[20] He also voted in favor of Georgia's law to prohibit Abortions past the 20th week, being one of the most restrictive early abortion bans in the country.^[21]

In 2012 Collins signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any Global Warming legislation that would raise taxes.^[22]

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In the 2011–2012 legislative session, Collins was one of three administrative floor leaders for Georgia Governor Nathan Deal.^[23] Collins served on the committees for:^[6]

House Appropriations (Secretary)
Judiciary Non-Civil
Public Safety & Homeland Security
Health & Human Services
Defense and Veterans Affairs

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2012 election:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2012

In 2012, Collins ran for Congress in the redrawn 9th congressional district. (The district's incumbent, Tom Graves, opted to run in the newly created 14th district, where his home was located.) Collins faced local media personality Martha Zoller and retired principal Roger Fitzpatrick in the Republican primary. The 9th is the most Republican district in the Eastern Time Zone, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+27. It was understood that whoever won the Republican primary would be the district's next representative in Congress.

Collins finished first in the primary with 42 percent of the total, but just 700 votes ahead of Zoller. Because neither had a majority, a runoff was held on August 21, 2012, and Collins defeated Zoller in that contest 55 percent to 45 percent.^[24][25] In the general election, he defeated Democrat Jody Cooley 76 percent to 24 percent.^[26][27]

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Defense of Military Chaplains:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

Mr. Collins has written letters in defense of military chaplains including Joseph Lawhorn^[28] and Wes Modder,^[29] both of which have faced opposition for expressing their Christian beliefs.

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Collins married his wife, Lisa, in 1988. She is a fifth grade teacher at Mount Vernon Elementary School in Gainesville, Georgia; where the couple resides with their three children, Jordan, Copelan and Cameron. One of which has spinal bifidia ^[30] Collins is a practicing Baptist, and attends Lakewood Baptist Church.^[31]

House passes bills to rein in activist influence on regulations

By JOHN SICILIANO

The House passed two Republican-backed bills to roll back excessive regulations and prevent environmentalists from influencing regulations through so-called "sue-and-settle" tactics.

Business groups welcomed passage of the first bill the "Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2015," by a vote of 244 to 173, which takes aim at the use of class-action lawsuits to get federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency to agree to their terms in settlement agreements and defense decrees.

The House also passed, 245 to 174, the SCRUB Act, which would set up a special bipartisan commission to hunt down burdensome rules for repeal and put a damper on federal overreach.

The White House said earlier this week that President Obama would veto both bills.

"Today we are one step closer to reforming our broken regulatory system after passage of this common-sense legislation," said William Kovacs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's senior vice president for regulatory affairs and the environment, in response to passage of the sue-and-settle bill.

"The abusive 'sue and settle' practice has gone on long enough, with the public denied the right to weigh in on major policy decisions brought before courts under private agreements between agencies and advocacy groups," Kovacs added. "Regulations that arise from this secretive process cost businesses many millions of dollars and can stunt economic growth."

The House appears more emboldened than ever to chase down what the GOP sees as regulatory overreach by the president. The House is also expected to take up a resolution of disapproval next week nullifying the EPA's Waters of the United States rule, which has become a prime target by the leadership for repeal.

The water rules make ranchers and farmers subject to enforcement actions by designating ditches waterways, which lawmakers and federal judges have questioned in recent months.

Jim Tozzi, former head of the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under President Ronald Reagan, says more is needed to rein in regulations by establishing a regulatory cap.

Also from the Washington Examiner

"Basically we are beginning to convince advocates for less regulation that if they continue to place procedural constraints on regulators that although such actions will decrease the rate of growth in the regulatory state it will continue to increase but at a slower rate," Tozzi said in an email. "The fix is a regulatory budget, which is the key to kingdom. A regulatory budget puts a cap on the total costs that regulators can impose on the public."

Tozzi was involved with groups who advised lawmakers on the SCRUB Act. He is the head of the regulatory watchdog group Center for Regulatory Effectivenes.

"Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2015,"

H.R. 712: Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2016

Introduced:

Feb 4, 2015

Status:

Passed House on Jan 7, 2016

This bill passed in the House on January 7, 2016 and goes to the Senate next for consideration.

Sponsor:

Doug Collins

Representative for Georgia's 9th congressional district

Republican

Text:

Bill Text

Read Text »

Last Updated: Jan 11, 2016

Length: 26 pages

Prognosis:

8% chance of being enacted (details)

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About the bill

Full Title

To impose certain limitations on consent decrees and settlement agreements by agencies that require the agencies to take regulatory action in accordance with the terms thereof, and for other purposes.

The bill’s title was written by its sponsor.

Read CRS Summary >

History

FEB 4, 2015

Introduced

This is the first step in the legislative process.

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MAR 24, 2015

Reported by Committee

A committee has issued a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee.

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JAN 6, 2016

Rules Change — Agreed To

This activity took place on a related bill, H.Res. 580.

JAN 7, 2016

Passed House

The bill was passed in a vote in the House. It goes to the Senate next.

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