Hi Friends,

I started this newsletter in 2006 to combat misinformation about a congressional election in my district. Since then, the newsletter has grown in scope and circulation, but the premise has not changed: Elections matter and facts matter. We know that now more than ever.

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I'll be back next Sunday with the regular newsletter. The House stripped Marjorie Taylor Greene of all committee assignments. The Republicans did the same to Steve King (albeit after 16 years) for far less, but instead of disciplining Greene, Republicans gave her a standing ovation at their caucus meeting, leaving Democrats with no choice but to act. In the final vote, 199 Republicans sided with Greene. Greene is not an outlier in the Republican Party--the 11 Republicans who sided with integrity are the outliers.

Some House Republicans threatened to remove Democrats if Republicans re-take the majority, but as Halie Soifer and several Jewish members of Congress explain, there is no equivalency between Greene and any Democrat.

The Senate passed the full $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. Every Republican voted no. For an encore, Senate Republicans will vote to acquit Trump, whose impeachment trial starts next week.

COVID relief passed only because Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock won their Georgia Senate runoffs and because Biden and Harris won in November. Greene would still have her committees under a GOP House majority.

I don't know who is worse--the Republicans who really believe this stuff or the Republicans who know better but are afraid to stand up to Trumpism and QAnon. Sadly, nearly the entire Republican Party falls into one of those categories.

I do know this: Elections matter and our work must continue.

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Thanks,

Steve