China has flown 68 warplanes and deployed 10 navy vessels around Taiwan in a day’s span – just weeks after the US announced its first-ever transfer of military equipment to the island. 

The move is the latest in military demonstrations between China, Taiwan and the US. 

The 68 plane total came a day after Taipei said 35 Chinese warplanes were detected around the self-ruled island, with some then flying to join China’s Shandong aircraft carrier for naval drills in the Western Pacific. 

Communist China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and relations have soured since Taiwan’s independence. When Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016, Beijing ratcheted up military and political pressure on the island. 

The US has been a long backer of Taiwan, including Nancy Pelosi making a visit to the island in 2022. Last month, President Joe Biden‘s administration announced an $80million transfer of military hardware to Taiwan. 

The State Department informed Congress of the $80 million package, which is small compared with recent sales to Taiwan but marks the first assistance to Taipei under the Foreign Military Financing program, which generally involves grants or loans to sovereign countries.

The State Department did not formally announce the aid or give details, but a person familiar with the notice said the assistance would involve support to improve awareness at sea. 

Taiwan’s defense ministry said beginning at around 6 a.m. local time, Chinese warplanes, including J-10 fighters, had flown into the southwestern corner of the island’s air defense identification zone, or ADIZ.

‘This year, the Chinese Communist Party has aggressively expanded its armaments and continued to build various types of fighter jets and drones,’ Taiwanese Major General Huang Wen-Chi said in a statement. 

Some of the Chinese aircraft crossed the Bashi Channel to carry out drills with the Chinese aircraft carrier the Shandong in the Pacific, the ministry added.

Japan’s defense ministry also said Wednesday its navy had detected six ships – including frigates, destroyers, one fast combat support ship and the Shandong – sailing through waters some 400 miles south of Miyakojima island, east of Taiwan. 

Japan sent a destroyer to monitor the Chinese ships and confirmed that jet fighters and helicopters aboard the Shandong conducted landing training, the ministry added. 

China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Taiwan’s forces monitored the situation, including sending up its own air force planes and activating air defense systems, the ministry added, using the normal phrasing for its response to such Chinese incursions.

A Chinese naval formation led by the Shandong entered the western Pacific for training, Taiwan’s defense ministry said on Monday. 

Separately, more than 20 Chinese warships, including Type 055 destroyers, sailed through the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait into the Pacific on Wednesday, a senior official familiar with security planning in the region told Reuters. 

The Chinese naval maneuver, along with the training exercises by the carrier group, were an ‘obvious challenge’ to the recent military activities by the United States and its allies in the region, the person said.

‘They want to show that they got the total control of the west of the first island chain,’ the person said, referring to the area which runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China’s coastal seas.

A US and a Canadian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, the U.S. Navy said, marking the second such joint mission since June and coinciding with the leaders of both countries attending the G20 summit in India.

The two countries’ navies also conducted a series of exercises in the South China Sea this week, according to the US Navy.

China has been increasing its military operations around Taiwan over the past few years in response to what it calls ‘collusion’ between Taiwan independence forces and the US.

For five decades, the United States has officially recognized only Beijing although Congress, under the Taiwan Relations Act, requires the supply of weapons to the self-governing democracy for its defense. 

The State Department insisted that the first-ever aid under the program did not imply any recognition of Taiwan sovereignty.

‘Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act and our longstanding One China policy, which has not changed, the United States makes available to Taiwan defense articles and services necessary to enable it to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,’ a State Department spokesperson said.

‘The United States has an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, which is critical to regional and global security and prosperity.’

Taiwan’s defense ministry expressed gratitude. ‘The aid will help in regional peace and stability,’ it said in a short statement.

China’s defense ministry, asked about the aid at a regular briefing, warned that US military aid to Taiwan would harm the island.

‘US military aid and sales to Taiwan only nourish the US military-industrial complex while harming the security and well-being of Taiwan compatriots,’ spokesperson Wu Qian told a briefing.

‘In this regard, the People’s Liberation Army will, as always, take all necessary measures to resolutely counter it,’ he added, referring to the Chinese military by its official name.

Kevin McCarthy greeted Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen in his home state of California in April amid rising threats from China warning the two leaders against bilateral talks.

The House Speaker led a bipartisan group of lawmakers to meet with Tsai and her delegation as they wrap up a highly controversial and closely-watched tour through Central and North America.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited in August of 2022, becoming the first speaker to do so since 1997. 

Nancy Pelosi, 83, confirms she is running AGAIN: Former Democrat speaker reveals she wants two more years in Congress – and to help San Francisco’s recovery

• ‘Now more than ever our City needs us to advance San Francisco values and further our recovery,’ Pelosi wrote on X
• The former House speaker stepped down from her leadership position last year 
• San Francisco is experiencing a major crime wave including smash-and-grab robberies and carjackings 

By Kelly Laco, Executive Editor Of Politics For Dailymail.Com

Published: 12:13 EDT, 8 September 2023 | Updated: 13:47 EDT, 8 September 2023

Nancy Pelosi stopped by the cobbles at Coronation Street today as part of the G7 Speaker’s Conference. 

Mrs Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, toured the exterior set and the Rovers Return at the ITV studios in Trafford, Greater Manchester, ITV reports. 

She also met Mollie Gallagher, who played Nina Lucas, and David Neilson, who played Roy Cropper.  

The G7 Speaker’s Conference is being hosted by House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who accompanied Mrs Pelosi on the tour. 

Sir Lindsay, a fan of the programme, arranged the visit. 

He said: ‘Walking round Weatherfield, I never thought I would be here. Speakers coming from overseas with me. This is a delight for them.’ 

Richard Ferrand, President of the French National Assembly was also present, along with President of the Italiam Chamber of Deputies, Roberto Fico, and representatives from Germany, Canada, Japan and the European Union. 

ITV Chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette and Coronation Street Executive Producer Iain MacLeod greeted them following their arrival in Weatherfield. 

The Speaker of the House of Commons has said people should ‘stand together’ to call out hate as he joined other G7 speakers on the set of Coronation Street to discuss hate crime.  

The speakers have discussed issues surrounding security in parliament during the weekend’s summit, which has been held in Sir Lindsay’s home constituency of Chorley, in Lancashire.

On Sunday, delegates were invited to the set of Coronation Street to join writers, producers and cast members involved in an ongoing storyline about hate crime – which has seen the goth character Nina Lucas and her boyfriend Seb Franklin being set upon by a gang in an attack that left Seb with fatal injuries.

The storyline was based on the murder of Sophie Lancaster in Lancashire in 2007, and saw actress Mollie Gallagher, who plays Nina, win a National Television Award for serial drama performance for her role in the storyline.

Those attending the conference took part in a panel discussion about the power of television to influence democracy, along with Ms Gallagher and David Neilson, who plays Roy Cropper, before touring the set.

Sir Lindsay said programmes like Coronation Street can influence people’s lives across the world.

Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: ‘So when we send out that message from this street, we know that others will learn from it and that’s why today has been so important and that’s why that storyline is so, so important.

‘There is no way that hate should not be called out, we’ve got to stand firm, we’ve got to stand together and we’ve got to make sure that storylines like this do not happen.’

Sir Lindsay added: ‘People’s intolerance and lack of respect is not acceptable.

‘What we’ve got to show is, we’re not all the same, we should be different, we should be able to accept other people’s looks, views.

‘And that’s what worries me, hate is not what I want to see in this country.’

Sir Lindsay said it was an ‘absolute privilege’ to visit the Coronation Street set to have a discussion about ‘real storylines that affect people’ and introduce his fellow speakers to ‘the longest soap opera in history’.

He added: ‘And, hopefully, we’ll have a better country when we continue to call out hate.’

Iain MacLeod, producer of Coronation Street, said it was an ‘incredible honour’ to host the G7 speakers.

He said: ‘It’s a massive, massive honour to have such esteemed personages in our studios discussing our show, discussing the role our show, and others like it, play in society and democracy.’

He added: ‘I think what our show does in terms of democracy is set the terrain, I think it encourages empathy.

‘It encourages people to look at people that aren’t like them and put themselves in their shoes.

And I think, hopefully, that encourages a more empathetic and a kinder dialogue, politically speaking.’

Sir Lindsay was joined by Ms Pelosi, president of the National Assembly of France Richard Ferrand, and president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico.

The group drove down the famous cobbles in a cavalcade of cars before being met by Ms Gallagher, Mr Neilson, Mr MacLeod, Sir Peter Bazalgette, chairman of ITV, and writer Ian Kershaw.

After the panel discussion the delegates were given a tour down the cobbles, stopping to look at a memorial bench for the victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack and posing for photographs outside the Rovers Return Inn.

Nancy Pelosi‘s office is pushing back on the ‘utter nonsense’ report that the Speaker will abandon her House leadership role to be U.S. Ambassador to Italy if Republicans take a majority after the 2022 midterms.

‘The Speaker has no interest in this position and has not discussed it with anyone in the White House,’ Pelosi’s spokesman Drew Hammill told DailyMail.com

A Monday report claims that Pelosi, 82, has no interest in returning to a minority leader role in Congress.

According to Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, sources claim President Joe Biden is holding onto the U.S. ambassador to Italy assignment for Pelosi.

‘This is the second time Maria Bartiromo has proceeded with reporting anonymous rumors about the Speaker’s future that have no merit,’ Hammill accused.

‘And the second time she has failed to ask us for comment before airing or publishing this utter nonsense.’

But an email obtained by DailyMail.com shows Bartiromo did reach out to Pelosi’s Press Secretary Joy Lee Monday evening to request comment on the topic. 

The White House refused to comment on the report, telling DailyMail.com: ‘We don’t engage in hypotheticals.’

It’s not unusual for presidents to reserve cushy ambassadorship roles for those who helped propel them to the White House.

Villa Taverna, the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Rome, Italy, is a grand mansion.

The seven acres of grounds include a pool, tennis court and private gardens, while the estate boasts a three-story wine cellar.

Pelosi was pictured during the summer recess vacationing in Italy. 

She visited the Pope during her trip as well as lounged on the beach at opera star Andrea Bocelli’s luxury Alpemare Beach Club in Tuscany along with her husband Paul Pelosi, who at the time was still awaiting trial for his DUI charge.

The desirable ambassador post in Italy could finally be filled by Pelosi if Democrats lose their majority in the House in the 2022 midterm elections, which remains the likely outcome.

Pelosi has served as a representative for California since 1987 when she won a special election – and has held various leadership roles in her caucus since then before ascending to Speaker. 

An ambassador role requires Senate confirmation, and there is no sign of how the upper chamber would react to the nomination – especially if it were to come right after losing her Speakership role.

Biden has already had 101 of his ambassadorship posts confirmed by the Senate.

He remains, however, slow to name his picks for ambassador to several countries, including Italy.

Of the 197 ambassador positions, there are still 27 percent without a Senate-confirmed official.

Speculation earlier this year pointed to the post going to a Pelosi ally and former Wall Street executive who wanted the ambassador role.

That has shifted, however, with the increasing likelihood that the red wave shows true and Republicans retake a majority in the House.

An Office of the Inspector General 2010 report estimated the combined value of the residence and the embassy compound in Rome is anywhere from ‘$500 million to $1 billion.’

Villa Taverna is a whopping 31,750 square feet and has seven bedrooms, each with a private loggia – or balcony.

It is situated in one of Rome’s most central, exclusive and desired neighborhoods.

Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday insisted that despite a 30-some vote challenge from the conservative right to his leadership, he would win the speakership come January with a razor-thin majority in the House. 

Asked if he would be speaker of the House come January, McCarthy said: ‘Yes.’ 

He noted that former Speaker Paul Ryan lost 43 votes in the the caucus’ November leadership vote but turned around and won the speakership in January. ‘Nancy Pelosi lost 32 votes and no one was even running against her,’ he added. 

‘We have our work cut out for us, we’ve got a small majority. We’ve got to listen to everybody in our conference,’ McCarthy added. ‘We’ll find a way to make it happen.’

The GOP leader added that he respects ‘each and every’ member of his caucus ‘equally,’ despite their uproar over his leadership. 

Rep. Bob Good, who is against McCarthy’s leadership, told reporters after the vote that 36 Republicans voted against McCarthy, 31 voting for Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and five voted for others who were not in the running. Other sources in the room said the final count in the closed-door meeting was McCarthy Biggs 188-31. 

GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, Fla., a vocal opponent to McCarthy’s leadership, had a different prediction for the speakership: ‘To believe that Kevin is going to be speaker, you have to believe that he’s going to move votes in the next six weeks that he couldn’t move the last six years.’ 

McCarthy promised that under his leadership, ‘The House is going to change.’ 

‘No longer is all the power going to rest the way Nancy had it. No more proxy voting. Bills will actually go through committees. They will be debated before they actually come to the floor,’ he added. 

The GOP leader answered ‘no’ when asked if he wanted Democrats to support his bid for speaker. ‘We’re the majority as Republicans, we’ll get their as Republicans.’ 

He claimed he did not know anything about a report that his allies had called conservative Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar asking him to switch parties in exchange for favorable committee assignments to widen the GOP majority in the House. 

So far Republicans are only leading by 1 House seat, meaning if McCarthy loses every Democratic vote he cannot afford to lose any Republican votes. The GOP is expected to pick up a bigger lead as the lagging 12 outstanding races are called. 

McCarthy found an unlikely ally in Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who spoke to reporters after McCarthy and said she would help whip the House Freedom Caucus behind his bid.   

‘I’ll be talking with all of my colleagues and explaining my reasons for supporting him,’ she said. McCarthy has promised her spots on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees – two powerful panels if Republicans carry through on their threat to investigate President Joe Biden and his administration. 

Rep. Andy Biggs challenged McCarthy in a show of force from the conservative wing of the party, which wants a strong voice on committees and political decisions in the coming two years of GOP power.

He acknowledged ahead of the contest that will be tough to beat the California Republican. 

‘It’s going to be tough,’ Biggs, a Republican from Arizona, told Newsmax. ‘Kevin has raised a lot of money and done a lot of things, but this is not just about Kevin. I think it’s about institutional direction and trajectory, and that’s where we’re going to see if we have enough people who agree that we need to change the trajectory of this place and open it up.’

In other leadership races, Steve Scalise was elected to the GOP’s Number Two spot in leadership. In the race to replace Scalise, R-La., as whip, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., the current National Republican Congressional Campaign (NRCC) chair, beat out Republican Study Committee chair Rep. Jim Banks and Rep. Drew Ferguson.

Tasked with helping Republicans across the board win to get to a majority, Emmer was able to overcome his party’s lackluster showing in the midterm elections to cinch the role.  

McCarthy is now tasked with wrangling dozens of votes back in his favor before the speaker’s race at the start of the new Congress in January.  All Democrats are expected to vote against him for speaker, meaning he can only afford to lose one less than however many the Republicans end up holding the majority by. 

’31 votes against. Big opposition. Kevin McCarthy does not have the votes to be Speaker of the House,’ Rep. Matt Gaetz taunted on Twitter. 

Earlier he said there were at least five members of the GOP caucus who would ‘rather be waterboarded by Liz Cheney’ than vote Kevin McCarthy for speaker. 

In the race for House GOP Conference chair, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., was able to fend off a challenge from Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., 144-74 and hold on to her seat. 

Republicans were shaken when a red wave failed to appear in last week’s election, a move that endangered the leadership of McCarthy and Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.

Democrats retained their control of the Senate. Republicans, however, are one seat away from winning the 218 seats necessary for the majority in the House.

McCarthy worked to shore up his support among House Republicans ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s meeting, particularly among the right flank, which is where Biggs had his strength.

If he prevails as speaker, he will need conservatives in his pocket in order to move any legislation through the House. Republicans are expected to have a narrow majority when they are in power and McCarthy will need every GOP vote. 

Any faction of dissent would have substantial influence to block legislation or otherwise defy the Republican leadership. The right wing appears to be ready to exert their influence – much as liberals did to Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she had a narrow majority.

Conservative Freedom Caucus lawmakers are demanding concessions from McCarthy in return for their support. 

They have have a long list of asks – from prime positions on House committees to guarantees they can have a role in shaping legislation. 

On Monday, McCarthy met with House GOP lawmakers for two hours in the Capitol to make his pitch. 

‘The one thing you got to think about is it´s going to be a tight majority so everyone is going to have to work together,’ he said afterward.  

‘We’ll be successful as a team and we´ll be defeated as an individual if we don’t all work together,’ he said. 

Some in the House GOP Conference have made it clear McCarthy does not have their support. 

‘There are definitely at least five people, actually a lot more than that, who would rather be waterboarded by Liz Cheney than vote for Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House. And I am one of them,’ Gaetz said on Charlie Kirk show.

Nancy Pelosi announced the end of her historic tenure as Speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday, in a dramatic speech punctuated by a standing ovation from her colleagues. 

The longest-serving Democratic Speaker and first woman to hold the gavel was elected to Congress from California in 1987 through a special election and has since been one of the most effective liberal politicians in US history.

She’s met numerous world leaders, managed to keep control of an at-times fractured caucus, oftentimes as the only woman at the table of power, and maintained control of the Democratic agenda through parts of the George W. Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.

Through it she’s inspired both accolades and scorn from people on both sides of the aisle.

In her final stretch in leadership Pelosi saw herself become the top boogeyman for Republicans, with millions of dollars being spent on ads across the country – far from where she’s actually on the ballot –  to ‘fire’ her.

The surge in hostility has been blamed for the recent break-in of her San Francisco home by a man who said he wanted to ‘break her kneecaps.’ Pelosi was not home, but the intruder assaulted her husband with a hammer. He’s still recovering from the October attack, Pelosi said as recently as Sunday. 

She made recent headlines for defying the Biden administration’s advice and forging ahead with a visit to Taiwan, aggravating China and temporarily inspiring fears of an armed conflict or invasion of the island.

Her second of two stretches with the Speaker’s gavel saw her become an arch-rival of Donald Trump’s. Their animosity toward one another was palpable through images and videos of their interactions, not to mention frequent verbal crossfire.

It reached a climax when Pelosi stood behind Trump after his State of the Union address and tore its pages in half. 

She also presided over both of his impeachments. 

The veteran legislator was 46 at the time of her election in the late 1980s, and a mother of five children with businessman Paul Pelosi.

During her speech in the chamber on Thursday afternoon, Pelosi marveled about her journey from homemaker to House Speaker. And yet, politics has been in her blood from the start. 

Pelosi was born in Maryland as the youngest child of then-Congressman Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., who was later elected mayor of Baltimore.

She once shared a photo of herself as a 17-year-old Trinity College student alongside then-Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy on Instagram, writing: ‘My friend who took this picture said, “Save this! He may be President one day.”‘

Another memorable social media moment for the California Democrat came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she was criticized for sharing a lighthearted video of ice cream stashed in her freezer during lockdowns.

‘I don’t know what I would’ve done if ice cream were not invented,’ she told late night host James Corden in a video interview.

She wrote on Twitter after the fact, ‘We all have found our ways to keep our spirits up during these trying times. Mine just happens to fill up my freezer.’

Critics panned the video as tone-deaf in its privilege at a time when millions were suffering the health and economic impacts of the pandemic. Many highlighted the fact that she was buying expensive artisanal ice cream as well.

It’s a sign of how polarizing a figure she has become over the years – inspiring thousands of political donors to throw in cash both for and against her.

But before securing her top spot, Pelosi was a young coastal Democrat who was vehemently opposed to China’s growing influence.

She won the 1987 special election to replace Rep. Phillip Burton, who died while in office. Burton’s wife Sala personally supported Pelosi as his successor.

People close to Pelosi pointed to the Tiananmen Square Massacre in China as what drove her into public service, according to the Washington Post.

In 1991, when still a relative newcomer, Pelosi garnered international attention when she and two other US lawmakers held a message that read ‘To those who died for democracy in China’ in Mandarin and English while standing in Tiananmen Square.

She bucked the party line in 2002 when, as House Whip, Pelosi led Democratic opposition to the party’s own Iraq War resolution – though it ultimately passed.

Her leading of vocal opposition to the Bush administration’s conflicts inspired an anti-war electoral wave that saw Democrats regain the House majority in 2007 after more than a decade.

Pelosi, who became the Democratic caucus leader in 2003, became the first female Speaker in 2007.

The historic occasion was noted by Bush during his 2007 State of the Union address, inspiring an iconic handshake between the two political rivals.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has thrown her weight behind efforts to ban TikTok from federal employees’ phones by including the provision in an omnibus spending bill she hopes to pass by the end of next week.

It is the latest in a growing move to limit the reach of the Chinese-owned video sharing app, amid fears the country’s communist rulers could access data. 

Pelosi’s spokesperson told Reuters that she supports including the TikTok provision in legislation to fund the government that the House of Representatives is due to take up next week.

If passed, the  $1.7 trillion spending bill will funds the government until the end of Sept. 30, 2023.

F.B.I. Director Christopher Wray recently told lawmakers the app could be used to take control of phones.

But the app’s owners, ByteDance, say the fears are unfounded.

Even so, the Senate on Wednesday voted to ban the video app from government-owned devices, supporting a bill sponsored by Republican Senator Josh Hawley to protect federal employees.

Seven states have banned the app — or are in the process of banning the app — from employees phones.

And several federal agencies, including the White House and the Pentagon, have barred it from government-owned devices.  

Some lawmakers want to go even further. This week members of Congress introduced legislation that would ban TikTok from the U.S. entirely. 

The Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act) would ban all operations by any social media company in or under the influence of China and Russia.

It has the backing of Republicans as well as Democrats, in a sign of how the app has triggered alarm across party lines that Chinese spies can access American smartphones.  

Sen. Marco Rubi (R-Florida), who introduced the bill in Senate, said Chinese law meant the app’s owner, ByteDance, was required to hand data to the Chinese Communist Party. 

‘The federal government has yet to take a single meaningful action to protect American users from the threat of TikTok,’ he said. 

‘This isn’t about creative videos — this is about an app that is collecting data on tens of millions of American children and adults every day. We know it’s used to manipulate feeds and influence elections. We know it answers to the People’s Republic of China.’

The Beijing-based owners of the app are already locked in dispute with the federal government over how it uses and stores user data, amid concerns that it could be deployed in influence operations. 

Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, who co-sponsored the bill in the House, said: ‘TikTok is digital fentanyl that’s addicting Americans, collecting troves of their data, and censoring their news.’

While Republicans have often been loudest to warn of the digital threat from China, the bill is co-sponsored by Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois.

‘At a time when the Chinese Communist Party and our other adversaries abroad are seeking any advantage they can find against the United States through espionage and mass surveillance, it is imperative that we do not allow hostile powers to potentially control social media networks that could be easily weaponized against us,’ he said. 

‘The bipartisan ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act is a strong step in protecting our nation from the nefarious digital surveillance and influence operations of totalitarian regimes.’ 

Their move follows months of heightened scrutiny of the app. 

FBI Director Wray told Congress last month that the Chinese government could use it to ‘control data collection of millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which can be used for influence operations.’

He has also warned that it could be used to hijack other software on the phone, potentially allowing it to collect and send more data. 

Such is the level of concern that six states have barred employees from downloading the app.

On Friday, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte said the state was joining New Hampshire, Wyoming, Georgia, North Dakota, Idaho and Iowa in taking action.

‘Use of TikTok poses a significant risk to the security of our state and Montanans’ sensitive data,’ he tweeted. 

‘Effective immediately, I have prohibited the use of TikTok on state devices, while connected to the state network, and to conduct state business.’

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 89, slammed Republicans in a Thursday statement insisting that her absence from Capitol Hill was not the reason for a slowdown in judicial appointments.

Her age and frailty have been the subject of Washington rumor and calls for her to step down have accelerated during her two-month absence as she recovers from shingles.

But anyone looking for clues to when she might return will not find them in her press release.

‘While the Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced eight strong nominees during my absence, I’m disappointed that Republicans on the committee are blocking a few from moving forward,’ she said.

‘I’m confident that when I return to the Senate, we will be able to move the remaining qualified nominees out of committee quickly and to the Senate floor for a vote.’

Feinstein sits on the powerful judicial committee, and some Democrats have worried aloud that her absence will stall the Biden administration’s effort to install liberal judges.

Not so, according to her office, which said the work went on.

‘The Senate has confirmed 21 district and circuit court nominees during Senator Feinstein’s absence, including seven this week,’ it said.

Anyone wanting clues will have to try harder. One pointer was spotted in Sen. Chuck Schumer’s notes this week. 

The Senate Democrats’ held a news conference on Tuesday where he did not address Feinstein’s absence, but a shot of Schumer’s notes showed he had an update from the senator. 

‘I spoke with Sen. Feinstein yesterday. We are both hopeful she can return next week,’ the document read. 

A Schumer spokesperson said: ‘It was in his notes, and he would have said if someone asked.’ 

The senator has been absent for nearly two months since she was hospitalized in early March. Her absence on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee has held up President Biden’s judicial nominations as Republicans refuse to give the nominees a majority vote to get confirmed.

Feinstein’s office would not confirm a timeline for her return. 

‘Senator Feinstein continues to make progress in her recovery, however, we don’t have a timeline yet for her return to Washington which is dependent on her medical team saying it is safe to travel,’ the spokesperson said. 

On Tuesday the Senate Judiciary Committee held a high-profile hearing where Democrats eviscerated the Supreme Court’s lax ethics rules and some Republicans agreed the high court needed to do more to offer transparency and confidence on conflicts of interest and free perks.

Chair Dick Durbin had urged Chief Justice John Roberts to testify or appoint another member of the court to do so. But without Feinstein he could not subpoena the justice, who refused to comply. 

Meanwhile New York progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Monday that it was time for 89-year-old Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein to retire, amid a lengthy absence from Congress due to ill health which has disrupted Democrats’ efforts to confirm liberal judges.

AOC is the latest member of Feinstein’s own party to call for her to go, and she shrugged off complaints that such messages were sexist.

‘I think criticisms of that stance as ‘anti-feminist’ are a farce,’ she wrote on the new social media platform Bluesky.

Democrats including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand have dismissed such calls as sexist because they say men of the same age would not face the same demands. 

But there is no getting away from it – Republicans have refused to help Democrats replace Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee while she is away. 

‘Her refusal to either retire or show up is causing great harm to the judiciary – precisely where repro rights are getting stripped,’ wrote AOC, as she made the case that Feinstein was hurting women’s rights. 

‘That failure means now in this precious window Dems can only pass GOP- approved nominees.’

It follows similar comments she made in April, after weeks of speculation about Feinstein’s frailty.

‘I think what we’re seeing is really concerning, and I think whenever a member’s health and ability to serve us brought into the spotlight, it’s very unfortunate, it’s very sad,’ she told CNN.

‘But I do think that what is happening right now, and the impact that the continued ability to serve is having on our ability to fill the courts, the impact that this is having on people’s access to abortion care, I think this is something that is — it is unfortunately something that I think it is appropriate to consider.’

It follows a ruling in Texas that threatened access to mifepristone, a common abortion pill, handed down by a conservative judge appointed under Donald Trump.

Even before shingles, the Senate’s oldest member was prone to concerning bouts of forgetfulness – with staff having to remind her about where she stood on bills and once forgetting that she had already announced her retirement in 2024. 

California Reps. Katie Porter, Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee are already locked in a race for her seat. 

In the meantime, allies in her own party have helped fend off calls that she should go.

‘Senator Feinstein has been a champion for California for 20 years,’ former House Speaker and fellow octogenarian Pelosi told CBS News. ‘She deserves that respect to get well and be back on duty.’

Men would not face the same calls, she added. 

‘It’s interesting to me. I don’t know what political agendas are at work that are going after Senator Feinstein in that way. I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way,’ she added.

But her absence comes at a critical time with Democrats’ holding the slimmest of Senate majorities. 

The Senate is due to hold a hearing Thursday on raising the debt ceiling, after the House passed a Republican bill last month that would increase the borrowing limit but only if it came with big spending cuts.

Any bill needs 60 votes to get through the Senate, and Feinstein’s absence reduces Democrats’ leverage by one vote. 

AOC says Dianne Feinstein, 89, should ‘retire’ and says her stance is not ‘anti-feminist’ – as Californian’s absence holds up federal judges and could impact debt limit standoff

• AOC calls again for 89-year-old Dianne Feinstein to quit the Senate
• ‘I think criticisms of that stance as “anti-feminist” are a farce,’ she wrote
• And she set out how Feinstein’s absence was actually harming women 

By Rob Crilly, Senior U.S. Political Reporter For Dailymail.Com

Published: 17:20 EDT, 2 May 2023 | Updated: 18:31 EDT, 2 May 2023