BY MOSHE HILL OPINION COLUMNS JANUARY 15 2025
As the clock ticks down to President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration, the Republican-led Congress has been busy filing and passing as much legislation as they can. Knowing that they have, at best, a year before midterm election season will cloud every vote, the legislative agenda is looking to accomplish as much as they can in the short window. With a few days left before Trump comes in to start signing their bills, Republicans are making the most of what they can.
One of the first significant bills to pass, though still pending final Senate approval, is the H.R. 23: Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act. This cleverly titled bill imposes sanctions on the ICC (international Criminal Court) when they target American allies. A similar bill passed the House last year after the ICC began targeting (and eventually issuing arrest warrants for) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That bill never passed the Senate, however, because Chuck “Shomer Yishmael” Schumer never brought it up for a vote.
The current bill is very straightforward. It declares that sanctions will be placed on the individual or entity that prosecutes, arrests or detains a U.S. citizen or a citizen of an ally of the United States that is not a signatory to the ICC. This means that if Netanyahu traveled to Canada and Justin Trudeau arrested him, the United States would sanction Canada and Trudeau. The bill passed 243-140 with 45 Democrats joining Republicans and 140 Democrats voting against the bill.
The H.R. 29: Laken Riley Act has also garnered attention, signaling early moves on immigration policy. This bill, which has passed both the House and is awaiting Senate approval, aims to tighten immigration enforcement by mandating the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants accused or convicted of theft, burglary, or shoplifting. This aligns with Trump’s campaign promises to strengthen border control and law enforcement.
The Laken Riley Act was named after a Georgia nursing student, Laken Riley, who was murdered by an illegal alien. The House Republicans all voted in favor of the Act, with 48 Democrats joining them. 159 House Democrats voted in favor of keeping illegal criminals in the country. In the Senate, the Act looks poised to clear the 60 votes needed to pass after Democratic Senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania said that if Democrats can’t get 7 votes in the Senate to pass the Laken Riley Act, then “that’s the reason why we lost.” Fetterman continued, “If you’re here illegally and you’re committing crimes, I don’t know why anybody thinks that it’s controversial, that they all need to go.”
Republicans are certainly more adept at getting through the procedural hurdles than they have been in the past. They got Speaker Mike Johnson re-elected after a single vote, a far cry from the debacles of the past. They even got the House Rules package passed without much complaining. These are good signs that the House is getting their act together ahead of Trump coming into office.
The last time Republicans held both Legislative Chambers and the Presidency was in Trump’s first term in 2017 and 2018. Unfortunately, they did not accomplish much in those two years. The most meaningful piece of legislation was the Trump tax cuts. They couldn’t pass healthcare reform, infrastructure, or any of the other major agenda items that Trump wanted to get done.
Part of that was Trump’s willingness to work with Democrats (odd as that might sound). At the time, Trump would regularly have Minority Leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to the White House to work out these deals, but they seemed more interested in performing for the cameras than working with the President. It was a successful gambit, as not only did Trump’s agenda not get passed, but the Democrats regained the Majority in the House, leading to two successful impeachment efforts by Pelosi.
When Biden came into office, House and Senate Democrats did not bother trying to work with Republicans, and rammed through a bunch of legislation that led to a skyrocketing inflation rate, devastating wars, and an open border. Republicans should be learning from this audacity, and push through an agenda that will actually help Americans. That may break the cycle of midterm losses that we’ve been accustomed to.
So far, the House is doing well, but it’s still early going. There will absolutely be frustrating times ahead, but that comes with the territory of winning. Republican voters should remember that before they get too infuriated that things aren’t happening as quickly as they demand.
