WASHINGTON: House Republicans’ unbroken opposition to impeachment is their most unapologetic embrace of President Donald Trump yet, binding them to a president whose loyalty from his party’s core conservative voters is matched only by his opponents’ loathing for him.
Just three months ago, initial revelations of a phone call in which Trump tried squeezing Ukraine’s new president to announce an investigation into Democrats gave a handful of Republicans pause. By Wednesday, the Democratic-led House neared a vote to impeach Trump over expected unanimous GOP opposition, a moment spotlighting his hold on congressional Republicans and raising questions about the vote’s political impact.
“Trump is strong as a tank with Republicans,” said Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a member of the House GOP leadership. He said that along with what he called Democrats’ weak evidence against Trump and unfair impeachment process, “The combination of the three make this one of the easier votes we’ll cast.”
In the short-term, it was moderate Democrats from swing districts who seemed most at risk. Nearly all were expected to back impeachment, which could cost some their careers in next November’s congressional elections. The most vulnerable include several of the 31 Democrats representing districts Trump won in 2016, many of whom are freshmen.
“Today may be the only consequential vote they ever cast, because they won’t be back,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., one of Trump’s staunchest defenders.
But Trump’s Republican critics and Democrats said the House GOP’s solid backing inextricably bound Republican lawmakers to Trump and would ultimately inflict a damaging blow.
“You can play to the base and excite the base and turn an election here and there, but that’s not a long-term strategy. Demographics will take care of that” as anti-Trump younger, diverse voters join the electorate, said former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, who declined to seek reelection last year after clashing with Trump for years. “There will be a time when we Republicans wake up from this and say, ‘We did this for this man?’”
“I don’t think the Republican Party nationally really exists anymore. It is now the Trump party,” said Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oregon “When he goes at some point, it will be interesting to see how they define themselves, what they stand for.”
In Trump’s past pivotal fights — including his failed effort to repeal former President Barack Obama’s health care law — congressional Republicans strongly rallied behind him, but there were small but significant numbers of defectors.
A handful of Republican lawmakers had expressed concern when word of Trump’s pressuring Ukraine first emerged in September. While stopping short of abandoning him, several initially took a middle-ground position, saying they wanted to learn more about what happened.
Wednesday’s expected unanimous GOP vote was coming after party leaders held numerous impeachment briefings for lawmakers. Those sessions were aimed at making sure they were “getting information to people,” said No. 2 House GOP leader Steve Scalize of Louisiana.
Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., said early on that he wanted to learn more about what happened with Ukraine. After saying he was open to impeachment — and announcing his retirement the next day — he said Wednesday he was opposing impeachment after “agonizing over it” and deciding there was insufficient evidence to justify Trump’s removal.
Rooney said that Wednesday’s vote further aligns his party to Trump.
“And that’s not necessarily the Republican Party that I’ve been part of and been a funder for, for many years,” he said. “This is a different era that we’re in for Republicans, and I don’t know where it’s going to go.”
With the impeachment vote coming just 11 months before the next presidential and congressional elections, Republicans said they believed it was Democrats who would be hurt.
“Pelosi has made this the party of impeachment,” Scalize said of Democrats led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. ”Clearly this has been a personal vendetta they’ve been carrying out to please their most radical base.”
“What we’re defining ourselves as is defenders of the Constitution,” said Rep. Lynn Cheney, R-Wyoming, another member of House GOP leadership. Asked if it was risky for the GOP to unanimously align itself with Trump, she said, “There is absolutely zero peril for the Republican Party to align itself with the Constitution.’’
One freshman Democrat from a closely divided district is Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, who is supporting impeachment.
“It’s about the presidency and I think it’s about upholding rule of law,” she said when asked how the GOP’s solid support for Trump would affect that party’s reputation. “So their conscience and their oaths are their own to consider.”
Peter Wehner, a Republican who served in the White House under GOP Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, said the Republican vote against impeaching Trump would only strengthen the “absolute headlock” he has on his party.
“For some period of time, the brand is going to be the Trump brand, which is divisive, misogynistic and unethical,” Wehner said. “The trouble for Republicans is that brand, the searing impression it’s going to leave, is going to be most vivid for the rising generation of voters.”
GOP embraces Trump as never before with anti-impeachment
https://arab.news/4r3km
GOP embraces Trump as never before with anti-impeachment

- Moderate Democrats from swing districts seemed most at risk in the short term, with several of the 31 Democrats representing districts Trump won in 2016 most vulnerable
- But Trump’s Republican critics and Democrats said the House GOP’s solid backing inextricably bound Republican lawmakers to Trump and would ultimately inflict a damaging blow
Hegseth directs 20 percent cut to top military leadership positions

- In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership”
WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday directed the active duty military to shed 20 percent of its four-star general officers as the Trump administration keep pushing the services to streamline their top leadership positions.
Hegseth also told the National Guard to shed 20 percent of its top positions.
In a memo dated Monday, Hegseth said the cuts will remove “redundant force structure to optimize and streamline leadership.”
On top of the cuts to the top-tier four-star generals, Hegseth has also directed the military to shed an additional 10 percent of its general and flag officers across the force, which could include any one-star or above or equivalent Navy rank.
UN chief says strike on Port Sudan a ‘worrying development’

- Army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “targeted Osman Digna Air Base, a goods warehouse and some civilian facilities in the city of Port Sudan with suicide drones”
UNITED NATIONS, United States: UN chief Antonio Guterres is “concerned” by reports that Sudanese paramilitaries for the first time struck Port Sudan, the seat of the army-aligned government during the country’s two-year war, a spokesman said Monday.
“The attack on port Sudan is a worrying development threatening the protection of civilians and humanitarian operations in an area so far spared from experiencing the devastating conflict seen in many other parts of the country,” Farhan Haq told reporters.
He said that Sunday’s attacks “appear to be the latest in a series of retaliatory military operations” conducted by paramilitaries and the army to target airports in each other’s areas of control.
Army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “targeted Osman Digna Air Base, a goods warehouse and some civilian facilities in the city of Port Sudan with suicide drones.”
He reported no casualties and “limited damage.”
AFP images showed smoke above the airport area, about 400 miles (650 kilometers) from the nearest known RSF positions on capital Khartoum’s outskirts.
The RSF, battling the regular army since April 2023, have increasingly used drones since losing territory including much of Khartoum in March.
The paramilitaries led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo are battling the regular army, headed by Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, in a devastating war that has killed tens of thousands and uprooted 13 million.
In the conflict’s early days, the government relocated from Khartoum to Port Sudan, which until Sunday had been spared the violence.
UN agencies have also moved their operations to Port Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sought refuge.
Haq said the attacks “have not had a direct impact on the humanitarian operations or activities in Port Sudan,” but said that UN aid flights to and from the city had been temporarily put on hold.
“None of our offices, premises or warehouses have been impacted, and we continue to carry out our regular operations,” he added.
US Army pausing helicopter flights near Washington airport after close calls

- Two commercial planes had to abort landings last week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon
- Pause comes after 67 people died in January when a passenger jet collided in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter at Reagan airport
WASHINGTON: The Army is pausing helicopter flights near a Washington airport after two commercial planes had to abort landings last week because of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was flying to the Pentagon.
The commander of the 12th Aviation Battalion directed the unit to pause helicopter flight operations around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following Thursday’s close calls, two Army officials confirmed to The Associated Press.
The pause comes after 67 people died in January when a passenger jet collided in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter at Reagan airport.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not publicly announced. The unit is continuing to fly in the greater Washington, D.C., region.
The unit had begun a return to flight within the last week, with plans to gradually increase the number of flights over the next four weeks, according to an Army document viewed by the AP.
Thursday’s close call involved a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a Republic Airways Embraer E170, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
They were instructed by air traffic control to “perform go-arounds” because of a “priority air transport” helicopter, according to an emailed statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The priority air transport helicopters of the 12th battalion provide transport service to top Pentagon officials. It was a Black Hawk priority air transport known as PAT25 that collided with the passenger jet in midair in January.
That crash was the worst US midair disaster in more than two decades. In March, the FAA announced that helicopters would be prohibited from flying in the same airspace as planes near Reagan airport.
The NTSB and FAA are both investigating the latest close call with an Army helicopter.
The Army said after the latest incident that the UH-60 Blackhawk was following published FAA flight routes and air traffic control from Reagan airport when it was “directed by Pentagon Air Traffic Control to conduct a ‘go-around,’ overflying the Pentagon helipad in accordance with approved flight procedures.”
But helicopter traffic remains a concern around that busy airport. The FAA said that three flights that had been cleared for landing Sunday at Reagan were ordered to go around because a police helicopter was on an urgent mission in the area. All three flights landed safely on their second approaches.
The NTSB said after the January crash that there had been an alarming number of close calls near Reagan in recent years, and the FAA should have acted sooner.
Malta brings six crew members off ship in drone strike row

VALLETTA: Pro-Palestinian activists aboard a boat damaged in an alleged Israeli drone strike have allowed a Maltese surveyor to inspect the vessel and six crew members have agreed to disembark, Malta’s premier told parliament Monday.
Prime Minister Robert Abela has said that Malta could tow the stricken Conscience to port for repairs once a maritime expert has been allowed to board the ship and study the results of Friday’s alleged attack.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition had hoped to pick up supporters, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, in Malta then sail on to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinian victims of Israel’s blockade of the territory and renewed military assault against the Hamas militant group.
But, on Friday, a fire broke out on board the vessel after what the group says was a double drone strike, which the activists argue was most likely launched by Israel to halt or delay their mission.
Neither Israel nor Malta, whose vessels intervened to help douse the fire, have confirmed the attack.
But Abela promised that the Conscience will be allowed to continue on its mission once any necessary repairs are concluded. The Flotilla Coalition has welcomed the offer.
“Six people on this ship made a request to come ashore to our country and then immediately leave to their countries,” Abela told parliament Monday.
Previously, the international activists had resisted calls for them to abandon ship, fearing being forced to drop their mission.
“This request was accepted immediately and those people are in the process of being transported to Malta by the Armed Forces of Malta, and they will catch a plane back to their country later today,” the premier said.
Initially, Flotilla Coalition volunteers had said the surveyor would only be allowed on board if the ship was towed into Maltese territorial waters, but Abela said that was not acceptable, as Malta wanted to know more about the condition of the vessel before taking charge of its safety.
Malta also refused a request that three individuals currently not on board be taken out to the Conscience with the inspector.
“The ship’s captain now has accepted that the surveyor is allowed on board while the ship sits outside Malta’s territorial waters, and I’m informed that the surveyor is in process of arriving at the ship,” Abela said.
During an online press conference on Sunday, before Monday’s departure of six crew members, the flotilla group said there were 18 people on board, 12 crew members and six “human rights observers.”
The activists explained the Conscience has no flag because the government of the Pacific nation of Palau had announced that they were withdrawing their registration on Friday, the day of the alleged strike.
Otherwise, they insisted they had made every effort to comply with international maritime law when embarking on the mission to take aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
According to the Flotilla Coalition, the Conscience was attacked in international waters, causing a fire that disabled the vessel and minor injuries to crew members.
Online flight tracking service ADS-B Exchange showed that an Israeli C-130 military cargo plane had been in the area immediately before the incident and had made several low altitude sweeps over the area.
Israel is known for conducting covert operations beyond its borders, including several during the Gaza war that it only acknowledged later.
The activists said the strike appeared to target the boat’s generator.
Thunberg told reporters that the incident should not distract from the focus of the boat’s mission to Gaza.
“What we are doing here is to try our very best to use all the means that we have to do our part, to keep trying to break the inhumane and illegal siege on Gaza and to open up humanitarian corridors,” she said.
Tourist boats capsize in sudden storm in China

BEIJING: Four boats capsized in a sudden storm at a tourist spot in southwestern China, killing 10 people, state media said Monday.
More than 80 people fell into a river when strong winds hit the scenic area in Guizhou province late Sunday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV said. The boats capsized after a sudden rain and hail storm on the upper reaches of the Wu River, a tributary of the Yangtze, China’s longest river. In one video shared by state media, a man could be seen performing CPR on another person, while one of the vessels drifted upside down.
Initial reports said two tourist boats had capsized, but state media said on Monday that four boats were involved. The other two boats had no passengers, and the seven crew members were able to save themselves, CCTV said.
Guizhou’s mountains and rivers are a major tourism draw, and many Chinese were traveling during a five-day national holiday that ended Monday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to find the missing and care for the injured, the official Xinhua News Agency said on Sunday.