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Quotes of the week
The administration has paired economic discipline at home with a peace through strength approach abroad, restoring deterrence and putting American interests first.
– U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, marking the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.
Trump is more focused on acquiring Greenland than on lowering costs for you and your family.
– U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, in a post on X.
This week’s news
— Wisconsin’s Democratic House members say fears of retaliation from the president and his MAGA base are keeping Republicans from joining in on the effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
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U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan of the town of Vermont, and Gwen Moore, of Milwaukee, are among the 97 Democratic House members who have signed on to articles of impeachment against Noem.
The articles accuse Noem of obstruction of Congress, violation of the public trust and self-dealing, and principally cite her stewardship of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in cities like Chicago and Minneapolis.
“Even the Trump administration knows she’s not great,” Pocan said at a Tuesday press conference in Madison. “She is not up to the job, and this is an area where we’ve got to follow the law, and I don’t see them following the law.”
Pocan said there were “good Republicans” who were keeping silent because of fear of retaliation from Trump supporters.
NBC News in December counted 22 officials over the span of about a month who received threats after Trump mentioned in social media posts.
“I understand the fear that they have, and the MAGA base is not the most rational base. I get the concern,” Pocan said, noting he’d received more death threats in the last six months than at any point previous.
He said he’s hopeful that more House Republicans will join in on the Noem impeachment after the filing period for state primaries close, when GOP members don’t have to worry about being primaried by a Trump-anointed challenger.
Moore on WisPolitics’ “Capitol Chats” podcast also said Republicans were motivated not to offend Trump, noting how he’d lashed out against former political allies like former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert.
She said she was waiting for Republicans to “show us where their red line is” on Noem and, by extension, Trump.
“Perhaps that would be a proxy for the president being impeached – which we know we can’t galvanize the support for that,” Moore said. “But very clearly, she is running a rogue organization.”
She cited in particular the handling of the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Renee Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross last month, noting that DHS officials had absolved the officer of blame and claimed that Good was a domestic terrorist instead of investigating the shooting.
“With regard to the central question here, when are Republicans going to get on board… to set some legal and judicial boundaries, we’re waiting on that day,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, signaled his support for Noem and dismissed the Democrats’ impeachment effort in an emailed statement to WisPolitics.
“This ridiculous impeachment stunt only proves that Democrats want to return to their failed open-border policies, which endanger Americans’ lives and make our communities less safe,” Wied said.
— U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor, criticized Dem candidate and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez’s proposals on immigration and said he would work with federal immigration officials as governor.
Rodriguez has proposed banning “civil immigration enforcement actions” in and around courthouses, hospitals, daycares, schools, domestic violence shelters, and places of worship. Two exceptions, she said, would be a judicial warrant and imminent threat to public safety.
“Under the law, the federal law enforcement they have the duty to remove people who are here illegally in the United States, and they need to be able to do their job,” Tiffany told WISN’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “It’s no different than your county sheriff doing his job. Federal law enforcement is charged with moving people or removing people who are here that are illegal immigrants, and for the life of me, I don’t understand where the lieutenant governor is coming from.”
When asked what ICE’s presence would look like in Wisconsin if Tiffany was governor, he said, “It would be similar to what we saw in just this past week where they were people interdicted here in Wisconsin that are here illegally, and they were removed from the state of Wisconsin because they had committed crimes either in their home country or here in the state of Wisconsin.”
— A group of Dem state lawmakers who represent parts of the 3rd CD are calling for U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden to ensure Wisconsin doesn’t lose access to millions in additional hospital assessment dollars approved in the state budget.
The eight lawmakers sent a joint letter to Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, after the Legislative Fiscal Bureau in a recent revenue projection noted preliminary guidance from the Trump administration has created uncertainty over the increase Wisconsin made to its hospital assessment in the 2025-27 budget.
The move was designed to draw more matching dollars from the federal government that would then be sent back to hospitals in payments that would exceed their higher assessments. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid is currently writing federal rules addressing such moves, and if Wisconsin’s change is disallowed, it would mean $792 million less in GPR for the biennium.
The lawmakers said hospitals were counting on the funding to stay open and will need it to serve patients with one-third of Wisconsin hospitals operating at a deficit, pointing to $1.6 billion in lost Medicaid reimbursement dollars.
“At a time when our medical institutions are facing unprecedented financial challenges, we must do everything we can to ensure their ability to continue to operate,” the lawmakers wrote. “Our state budget was counting on it, and our constituents’ lives literally depend on it. We implore you to do everything in your power to reverse these catastrophic decisions.”
Evers and GOP lawmakers reached a deal to increase the hospital assessment before President Donald Trump signed a reconciliation bill in order to ensure the boost wouldn’t be blocked by a provision in the federal bill. At the time, Van Orden said he, fellow congressional and state Republicans ensured “access to health care” in the state budget.
In response to the Dem lawmakers’ letter, Van Orden spokesperson Grace Kim told WisPolitics the congressman “has been working day and night with the administration to ensure Wisconsin receives the hospital funding.”
She also touted the more than $203 million Wisconsin received from the Rural Health Transformation Program created in the reconciliation bill.
“Congressman Van Orden remains committed to delivering results and ensuring Wisconsin families have high quality, readily available, and actually affordable healthcare,” Kim said.
Posts of the week
ICYMI
WEAU: Sen. Baldwin held press conference about mental health funding
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about Pete Buttigieg’s town hall in Van Orden’s district
Wisconsin Public Radio: Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson talking to Democrats about partial ACA fix
Politico: Sean Duffy takes off
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bill aims to restore federal funding for Wisconsin abuse shelters, hotlines
TMJ4: Congressman Fitzgerald proposes eliminating capital gains tax on home sales to boost housing market
