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Some Republicans call on Biden to resign the presidency too after ending his 2024 campaign

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Some Republicans call on Biden to resign the presidency too after ending his 2024 campaign

WASHINGTON — Some Republicans reacted immediately to President Joe Biden’s announcement that he won’t seek re-election in November by demanding that he resign the presidency as well.

“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement shortly after Biden revealed his decision.

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the conference chair and fourth-ranking House Republican, added: “If Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is unable and unfit to serve as President of the United States. He must immediately resign.”

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It was a widespread response within the Republican Party, with multiple others reacting similarly, including Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas:

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Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., the chair of the Senate GOP campaign arm, said he is “formally calling on President Biden to resign from office … out of concern for our country’s national security.”

“If Joe Biden is no longer capable of running for re-election, he is no longer capable of serving as President. Being President is the hardest job in the world, and I no longer have confidence that Joe Biden can effectively execute his duties as Commander-in-Chief,” Daines said in a statement.

Biden said in his Sunday statement that he will “stand down” from the presidential race and “focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” While many Democrats called on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race, none have pushed for him to quit the presidency early. The skeptical Democrats have not taken issue with Biden’s ability to do the job, but rather with his declining communication skills and ability to wage a vigorous campaign leading into November after his poor debate performance.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., proposed that Biden be forcibly removed from office through the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which governs succession if a president cannot fulfill his duties.

“If Joe Biden is unfit to run for re-election, he is unfit to carry out his term,” Mullin said on X. “25th Amendment.”

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Far-right Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said: “How is he strong enough to continue serving as Commander in Chief of the strongest nation in the world? Joe Biden ought to step down.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused Democrats of contradicting the will of voters who chose Biden as their nominee in a statement, adding, “We cannot afford four more years of failure.”

But McConnell, 82, a longtime friend of Biden’s who is himself stepping down at the end of this term, did not join GOP calls for the president to resign before his term ends.

Some Republicans, including Johnson, slammed the Democratic Party for Biden’s decision to withdraw and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to be the standard-bearer this fall.

“Having invalidated the votes of more than 14 million Americans who selected Joe Biden to be the Democrat nominee for president, the self-proclaimed ‘party of democracy’ has proven exactly the opposite,” Johnson said in his statement, seeking to undercut a major Democratic attack line against Donald Trump this campaign season — that the former president has worked to undermine U.S. democracy.

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“The party’s prospects are no better now with Vice President Kamala Harris,” Johnson added.

Other Trump allies responded by saying Trump has been running against not just Biden, but an entire party and system.

“Presidents Trump has never just been running against Joe Biden. He’s been running against the destruction of America brought by Democrats and their policies,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said on X, adding that Democrats waged “a coup” against Biden.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential contender and Trump supporter, said: “We’re not running against a candidate. We’re running against a system.”

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.

“On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election ‌administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

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“It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a ​Thursday statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”

The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.

It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.

Reuters contributed reporting

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

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Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

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The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”

“It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.

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Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

This is a developing story.

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

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