Denver’s economic challenges continue to mount as the Democrat-controlled ‘sanctuary city’ struggles with increasing numbers of illegal immigrants. Within a little over a year, the city council has seen costs for feeding its illegal population surge. In December 2023, the city allocated $100,000 for a contract to provide food for its illegal aliens. By January of 2024, the food costs had increased to $475,000. Last month, the city had to pay an additional $450,000 in food costs, with another $500,000 expected to come due in June.
In total, the city has spent around $1.4 million in taxpayer dollars on the feeding of its illegal alien population. With almost 40,000 migrants arriving in the past year in response to Denver’s sanctuary city status, the city’s budgetary stress is reaching crisis levels.
The increased contract costs come as Denver is wrestling with a nearly $60 million budget deficit — exacerbated by the financial demands of offering food, shelter, and additional services to arriving migrants. Mayor Mike Johnston stated that to retain the existing services for illegal immigrants, taxpayers could face costs upwards of $100 million over the forthcoming year.
Denver has obtained some aid from the state and federal government, including a $3.5 million reimbursement from Colorado’s state government and a $1.6 million federal advance from the Biden government’s Department of Homeland Security. An additional $12.2 million in potential federal reimbursements is currently under review.
Democrat-controlled ‘sanctuary cities’ across the country have come under increasing fiscal strain from growing illegal immigrant populations. While many have turned to the Biden government for federal aid, New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, has pushed to end the Big Apple’s status as a ‘sanctuary city.’
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Denver’s economic challenges continue to mount as the Democrat-controlled ‘sanctuary city’ struggles with increasing numbers of illegal immigrants. Within a little over a year, the city council has seen costs for feeding its illegal population surge. In December 2023, the city allocated $100,000 for a contract to provide food for its illegal aliens. By January of 2024, the food costs had increased to $475,000. Last month, the city had to pay an additional $450,000 in food costs, with another $500,000 expected to come due in June.
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The United States economy may be seeing the start of a collapse in the commercial real estate sector — raising concerns about the potential impact on banks and city budgets. Elevated interest rates, slow corporate growth, and post-pandemic ‘work-from-home’ trends have drastically reduced the office and retail space market.
In San Francisco, a 20-story office tower that was purchased for $146 million ten years ago was recently on the market for merely $80 million, almost a 45 percent reduction in value. Similarly, in Chicago, a 200,000-square-foot-office building sold for close to $90 million in 2004, was bought last month for just $20 million, a staggering 78 percent drop in cost. In Washington, D.C., a 12-story retail and office building just blocks from the White House sold for $36 million, a significant decline in value since its $100 million sale in 2018.
Hammering City Budgets.
This depreciation in commercial property values is severely affecting municipal budgets that rely heavily on the taxes attached to these commercial real estate properties. Financial shortfalls are becoming a reality for many cities as lower assessments of property values shrink tax income. Aaron Peskin, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, notes a potential $1 billion shortfall in San Francisco’s $14 billion budget over the next few years, mainly due to decreased commercial real estate tax revenue.
Renewed Banking Crisis Risk.
Additionally, there are mounting concerns that a crisis in commercial real estate could cause cross-contamination in the U.S. banking sector — especially among small and regional banks. Since the middle of last year, small and mid-sized regionals have increased holdings in commercial real estate despite the market cooling. If holdings in commercial real estate increasingly become toxic assets, U.S. regulators could face a renewed banking crisis similar to the one experienced last year when several regional banks — including Silicon Valley Bank — experienced banking runs before ultimately being seized by the Biden government as they collapsed.
The United States economy may be seeing the start of a collapse in the commercial real estate sector — raising concerns about the potential impact on banks and city budgets. Elevated interest rates, slow corporate growth, and post-pandemic ‘work-from-home’ trends have drastically reduced the office and retail space market.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced details of the first six majorbudget bills on Sunday to prevent a partial government shutdown, which House conservatives are calling “pathetic.” Federal funding for several government agencies is set to lapse on March 8.
The 1,050-page appropriations package combines six bills drafted by the House and Senate — including funding for the military, veterans affairs, agriculture, commerce, energy and water, transportation, and housing. Initial funding was due to expire on March 1, but leaders agreed on Wednesday to extend these deadlines by a week.
The funding agreement falls well short of what many conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill expected. The legislation does not prohibit the Department of Justice (DOJ) from using taxpayer funds to prosecute a presidential candidate — a top priority for many Congressional Republicans. Additionally, it allows for continued funding of China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and other labs controlled by governments hostile to the United States. The appropriations package doesn’t prohibit taxpayer funding of mail-order chemical abortion drugs, nor does it defund President Joe Biden’s DEI executive orders or federal funding for the promotion of Critical Race Theory.
“It’s pathetic,” a senior House Republican aide told The National Pulse, adding: “Weak, low energy, apologetic failure.”
“The truth is that the FBI cut is largely a result of killing one big earmark for Alabama now that Senator Shelby is gone; plus, there is nothing meaningful on border security at all,” the aide said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, declared the appropriations package a victory for conservatives, noting House Republicans were able to secure a handful of the policy priorities in the negotiations.
“House Republicans secured key conservative policy victories, rejected left-wing proposals, and imposed sharp cuts to agencies and programs critical to President Biden’s agenda,” Johnson said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
He continued: “This legislation forbids the Department of Justice from targeting parents exercising their right to free speech before school boards, while it blocks the Biden Administration from stripping Second Amendment rights from veterans.”
The appropriations package contains modest cuts to FBI and ATF funding — seven percent and six percent, respectively. It also includes a 10 percent cut to funding for the Environment Protection Agency. Additionally, the funding agreement nearly zeroed out the FBI’s construction budget. The package also addresses — to a degree — partisan lawfare by Biden’s DOJ. It bars the DOJ from investigating parents who exercise their free speech rights at local school board meetings and bars the investigation of churches for their religious beliefs.
Democrat leaders on Capitol Hill praised the package, cheering its continued full funding for programs including special food assistance for women, infants, and children, rent assistance, and infrastructure employee pay. House leaders have indicated they expect to take the legislation to the floor for a vote this coming weekend, just ahead of the March 8 funding deadline.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced details of the first six major budget bills on Sunday to prevent a partial government shutdown, which House conservatives are calling “pathetic.” Federal funding for several government agencies is set to lapse on March 8.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) is facing a new effort to recall him from the Governor’s mansion. On Monday, citizen activists led by the group Rescue California delivered recall papers to the Governor’s office. After serving the recall notice, Rescue California and its allies will need to gather at least 1.38 million signatures to force the recall vote. The group hopes to garner 1.6 million signatures since the California Secretary of State will likely invalidate some.
The latest recall effort comes on the heels of a 2021 attempt to remove Newsom as governor. Newsom survived the recall, handily defeating conservative talk-radio host Larry Elder. The September 14, 2021, ballot featured two questions: whether to recall Newsom and who should replace him as governor if recalled. Nearly 62 percent of voters voted against the recall effort.
Rescue California and other recall proponents argue the effort is justified because Newsom has become too focused on his national political ambitions and media surrogacy for President Joe Biden’s re-election effort. They contend Newsom has ignored California’s budget crisis, opting for the national spotlight instead. The state’s non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has projected that California’s budget deficit has ballooned to $73 billion — double what the Governor has claimed.
Newsom has become a fixture on national television networks as the 2024 presidential election heats up. Many Democrats and Republicans consider the California Governor a possible presidentialreplacement should Biden be unable to run.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) is facing a new effort to recall him from the Governor's mansion. On Monday, citizen activists led by the group Rescue California delivered recall papers to the Governor's office. After serving the recall notice, Rescue California and its allies will need to gather at least 1.38 million signatures to force the recall vote. The group hopes to garner 1.6 million signatures since the California Secretary of State will likely invalidate some.
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Provisions buried in the Ukraine supplemental funding bill would make it nearly impossible for a future president to pursue a peaceful resolution to the conflict without facing impeachment from Congress. U.S. Senator J.D. Vance is raising the alarm regarding the legislative text and its implications for a future Trump presidency should Trump pursue peace between Ukraine and Russia.
In a memo to colleagues, Vance warns of a buried impeachment trigger using the same obscure budget laws Democrats cited during President Trump’s 2019 impeachment. Contained in the supplemental funding bill, Vance notes, are appropriations totaling $1.6 billion for foreign military financing and $13.7 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative — both budgeted into 2025. This would extend the funding into the first term of a possible second Trump administration. Should a future President Trump move to pause these funds to allow for a peace process to move forward, it could trigger a similar impeachment scenario Trump faced in 2019.
In 2019, the Republican President was accused by Congressional Democrats of ‘abuse of power’ and ‘obstruction of Congress’ for withholding aid that had been earmarked to be sent to Ukraine. Democrats argued former President Trump contravened the opinions of “career experts” — and the Impoundment Control Act — to pressure Ukraine’s political leadership to divulge information regarding their dealings with Joe Biden when he served as vice president. While the Democrats were successful in impeaching Trump in the House, the Senate declined to convict Trump.
Should former President Trump retake the White House and, as promised, pursue an end to the conflict in Eastern Europe, the cost of peace may very well be another attempt by Congressional Democrats to impeach him. “The supplemental represents an attempt by the foreign policy blob/deep state to stop President Trump from pursuing his desired policy, and if he does so anyways, to provide grounds to impeach him and undermine his administration,” Vance argues in his memo to colleagues, adding: “All Republicans should oppose its passage.”
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Provisions buried in the Ukraine supplemental funding bill would make it nearly impossible for a future president to pursue a peaceful resolution to the conflict without facing impeachment from Congress. U.S. Senator J.D. Vance is raising the alarm regarding the legislative text and its implications for a future Trump presidency should Trump pursue peace between Ukraine and Russia.
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Leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are admitting the far-left political organization is broke and running significant deficits — throwing the group’s future into question. DSA’s National Political Committee members acknowledged the group had seen a “decline in revenue, membership, and overall excitement” in an announcement to the organization’s Bread & Roses Caucus. Layoffs are being floated to solve the group’s fiscal situation.
$2 Million In The Hole.
Budget documents show the DSA is on track to incur $7 million in expenses for 2024, while the group only anticipates total revenue at $5 million. The organization’s Treasurer believes the group can buy itself another year to bring its books in order if it narrows its 2024 deficit to between $821,000 and $921,000. This still leaves a roughly $1.2 million gap that needs to be closed.
Layoffs Seen As The Only Way Out.
Taking a page from the corporate America playbook, the DSA is suggesting the organization adopts voluntary buy-outs for employees — beginning with non-union director-level staff but moving to unionized staff. Additionally, they say they believe the group should delay hiring a new executive director following the departure of Maria Svart.
Addressing concerns that laying off unionized staff runs counter to the DSA’s pro-union political stances, the leaders argue “the situation is more complicated for ‘movement staff’ — that is, staff for democratic membership organizations like unions, grassroots NGOs, and parties.” They contend that organizations governed by “members” have greater legitimacy in enacting layoffs over a business run by a singular CEO.
The DSA Is “Treading Water.”
The current political moment, the DSA leaders argue, should favor the far-left group. However, renewed labor strikes, the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and President Joe Biden’s cratering support among voters haven’t translated to success for the DSA. Instead, the DSA leaders argue the group has “been treading water” and claim “[w]orking people are inspired to transform the world, but they are doing it elsewhere.”
While left-leaning political populism might be in decline, populism continues to surge on the American political right — with some caveats. Even some unions allied with Democrats are waking up to the change, with the Teamsters Union having recently sat down with former President Trump to discuss a shared vision.
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Leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are admitting the far-left political organization is broke and running significant deficits — throwing the group's future into question. DSA's National Political Committee members acknowledged the group had seen a "decline in revenue, membership, and overall excitement" in an announcement to the organization's Bread & Roses Caucus. Layoffs are being floated to solve the group's fiscal situation.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has unveiled the Republican plan to keep the government funded while Congress continues its efforts to pass the 12 appropriations bills that comprise federal budget for next year. The plan, which some have dubbed a “laddered” continuing resolution (CR), is a bit unusual.
Instead of a uniform extension of government funding for all federal agencies, the legislation will provide staggered funding for departments and agencies. Some parts of the government – including veterans programs, transportation, housing, agriculture and energy – will be funded through January 19th, 2024. Agencies and departments dealing with national security and defense, such as the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, will receive funding through February 2nd, 2024. The purpose of extended funding for some parts of the government longer than others is to preserve a sense of urgency and maintain pressure on the Senate to take up the House passed appropriations bills.
In the past when the House adopted clean CRs that extended government funding until Christmas, the Senate has delayed taking up individual appropriations bills and instead took up – at the last minute – a massive omnibus bill cobbled together by Senate appropriators. The deadline created by the CR allowed the Senate to leverage the funding crisis and jam the House, forcing the lower legislative body to adopt the massive funding bill without knowing what exactly was in it. The laddered CR, in theory, should prevent the Senate from being able to jam the House with an omnibus and instead force the upper legislative body to continue negotiations with the House over the individual appropriations bills.
If Johnson can leverage the laddered CR and actually force the Senate to pass federal funding through the normal legislative process – via single subject appropriations legislation – it would be a monumental victory for conservatives. The last time Congress passed all 12 appropriations bills under any semblance of regular order was over 25 years ago. Even then, the 1997 budget required 6 of the 12 appropriations bills to be considered together as a ‘minibus’.
“This two-step continuing resolution is a necessary bill to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories,” Johnson said in a statement. “The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess.”
Johnson added: “Separating out the CR from the supplemental funding debates places our conference in the best position to fight for fiscal responsibility, oversight over Ukraine aid, and meaningful policy changes at our Southern border.”
Not all House Republicans are on board with the laddered CR. “It’s a 100% clean. And I 100% oppose,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) posted on X, formerly Twitter. In another post Roy said, “My opposition to the clean CR just announced by the Speaker to the @HouseGOP cannot be overstated. Funding Pelosi level spending & policies for 75 days — for future ‘promises.'”
White House press secretary Kaine Jean-Pierre also panned the laddered CR, calling it “a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns — full stop.”
Despite grumbling from some in the Senate, the White House, House Democrats, and Rep. Chip Roy, House Republicans overall appear open to Johnson’s laddered CR. The full House of Representatives could take up the funding measure as soon as Tuesday. Meanwhile, late Monday, Johnson’s government received the backing of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) – signaling that moderate Republicans in the Senate may dropping their support for Democrat efforts to rush an omnibus spending package.
Funding for the federal government runs out on Friday.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has unveiled the Republican plan to keep the government funded while Congress continues its efforts to pass the 12 appropriations bills that comprise federal budget for next year. The plan, which some have dubbed a "laddered" continuing resolution (CR), is a bit unusual.
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With few legislative days left before the end of the year, Democrat and Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate are considering combining their nine remaining appropriations bills into a single, easier-to-pass $1 trillion omnibus. The move could end up jamming the Republican controlled House, right in the middle of the holiday season, with the very sort of massive spending bill they have tried to avoid. Last week, the Senate combined three of their appropriations bills into a ‘minibus’, and sent the budget measure to the House by a 82-15 vote.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) – vice-chair of the Senate Appropriations committee – said while she prefers sticking with the Senate’s original plan to pass four minibus appropriations bills, time constraints may leave no choice but passing an omnibus.
“That has been discussed,” Collins said regarding the possible Senate omnibus. “I think it would be better to keep proceeding with minibuses but we could have gone on to one last week and we didn’t.”
Both Republican and Democrat leaders in the Senate have been careful to downplay idea of single, massive spending bill as an omnibus. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) likened the possible legislation to the minibus the Senate just passed: “Instead of a minibus, it’s a maxi-bus. I’m in favor of it. I think it’s the right thing to do.” Collins said that if Senate leadership does combine the nine spending bills “… at least they’re bills that have gone through committee [and] will be subject to amendment.”
In the House, Republican SpeakerMike Johnson (R-LA) has floated the idea of of moving a ‘laddered’ continuing resolution (CR). The stop gap measure would extend government funding under the four less controversial spending bills until December, while the remaining eight spending bills would be extended into early next year. The ‘ladder’ CR concept, originating with the House Freedom Caucus, is intended to protect House Republicans from getting stuck with a Senate omnibus by forcing the two legislative bodies to negotiate on all twelve appropriations bills.
The government is currently set to shutdown on November 17th. It is likely the House will take up a short-term stop-gap funding bill next week regardless of what the Senate decides to do.
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With few legislative days left before the end of the year, Democrat and Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate are considering combining their nine remaining appropriations bills into a single, easier-to-pass $1 trillion omnibus. The move could end up jamming the Republican controlled House, right in the middle of the holiday season, with the very sort of massive spending bill they have tried to avoid. Last week, the Senate combined three of their appropriations bills into a 'minibus', and sent the budget measure to the House by a 82-15 vote.
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Late last night, House Republicans were able to advance three of 12 appropriations bills that would fund the government for the next fiscal year – making it four total spending bills that have now been advanced to the Senate. The sudden advancement of the appropriations bills adds a new wrinkle to the fight over the federal budget on Capitol Hill with just over 24 hours left before a potential government shutdown.
The bills passed included funding for State Department and Foreign Operations, Defense, and Homeland Security and would fund roughly 70 percent of the government. The appropriations bill funding the Veterans Administration and Veteran Healthcare was passed prior to last night. The Agriculture appropriations bill failed to secure a majority of votes and will be further amended before it is reconsidered.
In the Senate, Democrats and establishment Republicans led by Mitch McConnell are preparing to vote through a Continuing Resolution (CR) that would fund the government at current spending levels – including $6.4 billion for Ukraine. The Senate will vote on final passage of the CR tomorrow morning, even though the legislation has been declared dead-on-arrival in the House because of the bloated Ukraine spending. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) is whipping Republicans to strip out the Ukraine funding, with Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Dr. Roger Marshall (R-KS) joining him. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is rumored to be pushing his own clean CR proposal that does not include Ukraine funding.
In all likelihood the government will, for a time, shutdown.
Senate Democrats led by Chuck Schumer are unlikely to take up the House passed appropriations bills. The death of Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), along with Sens Tina Smith (D-MN) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) – both sidelined with COVID – leaves Republicans effectively in control of the upper-legislative body with 49 members to the Democrats 47. Despite this temporary advantage Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has not indicated that he will seek to advance the House budget bills either.
As House Republicans continue to work on the remaining appropriations legislation, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) attempted to advance a 30-day Continuing Resolution that would temporarily fund the government at pre-COVID levels, including the border security bill. The new House leadership-backed CR passed a critical procedural hurdle but was ultimately defeated this afternoon by a block of conservative members including Reps. Gaetz, Buck, Boebert, Crane, Gosar, Mills, Rosendale, and Ogles. The pre-COVID spending levels was one of the key demands made by a faction of members in the House Freedom Caucus that had opposed a separate CR last week.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden continues to refuse to meet with House Republicans, even as they work to move the remaining appropriations bills.
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Late last night, House Republicans were able to advance three of 12 appropriations bills that would fund the government for the next fiscal year – making it four total spending bills that have now been advanced to the Senate. The sudden advancement of the appropriations bills adds a new wrinkle to the fight over the federal budget on Capitol Hill with just over 24 hours left before a potential government shutdown.
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Congressional Republicans are still stuck negotiating with themselves despite the appearance that a deal had been struck between the conservative and moderate wings of the House Conference to avert a government shutdown late Sunday night. It was announced at the time that the Freedom Caucus and Main Street Caucus had reached an agreement on a 30-day Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government while Congress continued work on passing the 12 major appropriations bills to fund the government for the next fiscal year.
Despite receiving backing from some of Washington D.C.’s biggest center-right institutions, the deal was already on the ropes by Monday morning. As of the last count, 18 Republican House members have announced they will not support the agreement, leaving House Speaker McCarthy without the votes to pass the CR. The deal is not expected to receive any Democrat backing.
Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX), a prominent leader in the Freedom Caucus who had previously promised to use ‘every tool’ to stop a short-term CR was one of the deal’s chief architects along with Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD). The conservative Heritage Action quickly backed the deal, stating, “The proposal cuts spending and seeks to end a worsening, self-inflicted border crisis.” The more libertarian FreedomWorks also backed the deal, telling Congressional Republicans: “We support the negotiated spending cuts and urge all members of the House to get behind the CR.”
Despite the pressure from both within the Freedom Caucus and from outside political groups, a handful of House conservatives still oppose the measure. On Sunday, former President Donald Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker that House conservatives shouldn’t back a CR unless they think they’re getting a fair deal – even if it interrupts the House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
Among the members who’ve announced they will not support the CR: Reps. Dan Bishop (R-NC), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Bob Good (R-VA), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Andy Ogles (R-TN) all appear to oppose any deal that doesn’t include significant spending cuts – with some wanting to return sending to pre-COVID levels.
Others, aligned with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) object because the deal’s eight percent spending cut would only last for 30 days; it fails to defund Jack Smith’s prosecutions of former President Donald Trump; and there is no mechanism to force Biden to actually secure the border. These members appear to include Reps. Corey Mills (R-FL), Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), and Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
In the case of Rep. Ken Buck, it is speculated that he will simply oppose any measure pushed by the Speaker – including opposing the Biden impeachment inquiry – because he was snubbed as chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust. The chairmanship was given instead to the Big Tech-friendly Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
Without the passage of a Continuing Resolution, the federal government is set to run out of money on Oct.1.
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Congressional Republicans are still stuck negotiating with themselves despite the appearance that a deal had been struck between the conservative and moderate wings of the House Conference to avert a government shutdown late Sunday night. It was announced at the time that the Freedom Caucus and Main Street Caucus had reached an agreement on a 30-day Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government while Congress continued work on passing the 12 major appropriations bills to fund the government for the next fiscal year.
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Editor’s Notes
Behind-the-scenes political intrigue exclusively for Pulse+ subscribers.
GUEST EDITOR’S NOTE FROM WILL UPTON: At this morning’s House Republican Conference meeting, Speaker Kevin McCarthy told members an anecdote about downhill skiing
GUEST EDITOR’S NOTE FROM WILL UPTON: At this morning’s House Republican Conference meeting, Speaker Kevin McCarthy told members an anecdote about downhill skiing show more
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