Monday, November 24, 2014

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Humbled and honored


I was honored today to have been appointed as the next Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. You can read Speaker of the House John Boehner’s announcement here, my statement here, and Chairman Rogers’ statement here.   

Friday, November 14, 2014

President Obama, His Royal Highness


One would think President Obama would interpret his latest Election Day shellacking as a resounding vote of no confidence in his agenda by the American people. But bizarrely, the president reportedly feels “liberated” by his party’s loss of control of the Senate. Even before the new Congress is seated, he plans to dramatically change the immigration system by signing executive orders, apparently unconcerned that such brazen moves would severely damage efforts at bipartisan cooperation on immigration and many other issues.

Although Obama previously admitted he does not have the authority to undertake these actions, he now argues that he is tired of waiting for Congress to act. If there is a clause in the Constitution that allows the president to usurp Congressional authority when he feels impatient, I haven’t seen it. Please take a look at the Constitution and tell me if you find it.  

The President is also reportedly planning a slew of dramatic executive actions to fight global warming. If his goal is to suppress economic growth and job creation, he’s on the right path.     

Turning to foreign policy, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has been busy lately, dispatching Russian troops and new weapons systems into Ukraine, threatening the Baltics, announcing plans to send Russian bombers to the Gulf of Mexico, and possibly sending a submarine into Swedish territorial waters. Although Obama did not have much of a response to these provocations, his week was not free of accomplishments – he concluded a global warming agreement with China.

So we have that going for us.

Separately, the Nunes Digest is updated here