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1 President Biden Confirms 14 American Deaths In Israel As War Continues
President Joe Biden addressed the nation yesterday afternoon and strongly stated that the U.S. stands with Israel in their war with Hamas. Biden also confirmed during his remarks that 14 Americans died in the attack, and the State Department later confirmed that at least 20 Americans were among the hostages taken into Gaza after the initial raid on Saturday. Just hours after the president made his remarks, the first plane loaded with U.S. ammunition landed in Israel, with the Israeli Defense Force issuing a statement saying they “are grateful for the American backing and assistance to the IDF in particular.” Officials are discussing whether to have another carrier join the USS Gerald R. Ford, which is now in the region after being deployed on Sunday or if the USS Dwight Eisenhower will just relieve the Ford. Israel is preparing for a ground offensive in the war, with the count of reservists called up for battle up to 360,000. As Israel Defense Forces have found more bodies, the number of people killed in the attacks is now at 1,200 Israelis.
2 House Republicans Will Hold An Internal Speaker Vote Behind Closed Doors At 9 a.m.
Reps. Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise made their cases to become the new Speaker of the House during a closed meeting of the Republican members. The group also met yesterday to discuss possible rules changes to the process of electing a speaker to prevent repeating the painful 15 rounds of voting it took to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy in January. A vote is scheduled for 9 a.m. today, again behind closed doors, and most representatives have little faith that a new speaker will be selected today. When asked what he thought the odds of someone winning a vote today were, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky told reporters after last night’s meeting: “I put it at 2%.” Several Republicans have said publicly that they support returning McCarthy to the role of speaker, but McCarthy told “Fox News” radio yesterday that he had asked them “not to nominate me.” While Republicans hold a thin majority in the House, the Democratic members are putting up their own candidate for speaker, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who was nominated by unanimous consent. The war in Israel has put extra pressure on Republicans to quickly work out their differences and elect a new speaker, as the House is basically powerless until a candidate wins the gavel, limiting any aid or support the House could offer.
3 George Santos Charged With New Fraud Charges In Superseding Indictment
New York Rep. George Santos saw his troubles grow deeper yesterday after a superseding indictment charged him with over 20 federal crimes that include conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and credit card fraud. The last two charges are related to accusations that Santos used individuals’ personal credit card info to make unauthorized charges to support his political campaign. According to court documents, Santos allegedly ran up $15,800 in charges on the credit card of someone who had previously donated to his campaign. He’s next due in court on October 27th.