The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 4:

• Karoun Demirjian of The New York Times writes: “The Senate passed a long-awaited foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel early Tuesday morning, delivering a bipartisan endorsement of the legislation after months of negotiations, dire battlefield warnings and political mudslinging. But the measure faced a buzz saw of opposition in the House, where Republican resistance threatened to kill it. The 70-to-29 vote reflected a critical mass of support in Congress for the $95 billion emergency aid legislation and for continuing to arm Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. The measure would provide an additional $60.1 billion for Kyiv—which would bring the total U.S. investment in the war effort to more than $170 billion—as well as $14.1 billion for Israel’s war against Hamas and almost $10 billion for humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Palestinians in Gaza.” But will Speaker of the House Mike Johnson hold a vote on the bill in the Republican-controlled House? Demirkian explains: “Mr. Johnson controls the floor and right-wing lawmakers have shown a willingness to block legislation they oppose from even coming up for a vote. Still, if proponents can muster enough support from Democrats and mainstream and national security-minded Republicans willing to buck [Donald] Trump and the far right, they could steer around the opposition through a maneuver known as a discharge petition. That allows lawmakers to force legislation to the floor if they can gather the signatures of a majority of the House—218 members—calling for the action.” You can read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/us/politics/senate-ukraine-aid.html
• Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) referred to his colleague Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) as a “prick” for delaying a vote on a controversial foreign aid bill.
• During a campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called on all NATO members to pay 2% of their annual gross domestic product in joint defense. Currently, 20 of the 31 alliance members meet the threshold they’ve pledged to contribute. Trump said: “one of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘well sir, if we don’t pay and we are attacked by Russia will you protect us?’ I said, ‘you didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?...no, I would not protect you.’” In response, Democrats have claimed that Trump is a threat to European allies, claiming if elected he will have the United States leave NATO. However, as Annie Linskey, Aaron Zitner, and Alex Leary of The Wall Street Journal note, “last year, Congress included an amendment offered by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Marco Rubio (R-FL), in the annual defense-policy bill that requires the advice and consent of the Senate or an act of Congress before any president could ‘suspend, terminate, or withdraw’ U.S. membership in NATO. The language sets a high threshold—two-thirds of all senators—to approve a withdrawal and bars any funding from being used to support such a move by any government official. It became law when Biden signed the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act in late December.” You can read the Wall Street Journal article here: https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/nato-leader-blasts-trumps-suggestion-he-would-encourage-russian-invasion-of-u-s-allies-3eb96a10?mod=hp_lead_pos9
• In a video posted to social media, Senator Elizabeth Warren blamed corporate greed for “shrinkflation”—explicitly calling out Doritos for reducing the number of chips in their bags without reducing prices. But as Dominic Pino of National Review notes, there is no grand Doritos conspiracy: “Chip bags are measured by weight, not by volume. Nitrogen is essentially weightless, so putting more nitrogen in the bag does not allow chip companies to reduce the amount of chips. When companies reduce the amount of chips, they do so straightforwardly, by changing the weight listed on the bags.” You can read more here: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-president-complains-about-chip-bags/
• On Tuesday night, the House of Representatives is expected to hold a vote to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for willfully refusing to secure the U.S. Southern border.