INTERVIEW — REP. MARK MEADOWS – (R-NC) – House Freedom Caucus Chairman – discussed the ongoing congressional investigation into DOJ and FBI handling of the Clinton probe and FISA, the continual slow walking of the DOJ to comply with congressional subpoenas, the possibility of impeachment of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and what’s next for Congress
- GOP plans major votes on tax cuts, balanced budget, welfare reform (Washington Examiner) — House and Senate Republicans are planning a slew of significant votes in the coming weeks on language making the individual tax cuts permanent, a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, and a bill to reform the food stamp program, even in the face of looming fall elections that usually slow down the congressional agenda. Consideration of a dozen fiscal 2019 appropriations measures will also begin in House and Senate committees this spring. Republicans in both chambers are weighing whether to bring up a bill that would make permanent the individual tax rate cuts that are included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The bill permanently slashed the corporate rate to 21 percent, but the individual tax rate reductions expire after a decade.
- Impeachment For Rod Rosenstein? Rep. Mark Meadows Says It’s Possible (Daily Caller) — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein could soon be held in contempt of Congress or even impeached if he fails to produce Russia- and Clinton-related records to Congress, a top Republican lawmaker said Saturday. “I think that if he does not turn over the documents, that there are a growing number of us on Capitol Hill who believe that someone else needs to do the job. And what happens there is, constitutionally, we have some things that we can do,” North Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Meadows said to Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro in a Saturday night interview. Meadows was responding to the Justice Department and FBI’s failure to meet Thursday’s deadline to turn over 1.2 million documents related to surveillance warrants granted against President Donald Trump’s former campaign adviser, Carter Page, the Hillary Clinton e-mail probe, and the FBI’s internal report recommending the firing of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Virginia GOP Rep. and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte subpoenaed the documents on March 22. The agencies missed the April 5 deadline to produce the records, Meadows told Pirro. Trump sounded off on the matter on Saturday. “What does the Department of Justice and FBI have to hide?” He asked in a tweet. “Slow walking — what is going on? BAD!” He continued.