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Jennifer Harper

Jennifer Harper

jharper@washingtontimes.com

Jennifer Harper wrote the daily Inside the Beltway column for The Washington Times.

Articles by Jennifer Harper

Second Amendment fans protest at the New Hampshire Statehouse in Concord. A firearms ban in the building prompted a GOP uprising. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: New Hampshire Republicans refuse to be a ‘soft target’ for terrorists

On Jan. 2, the Democratic-controlled House in the state of New Hampshire voted to ban all firearms and "deadly weapons" from the premises of their 200-year-old statehouse in a move now known as "Rule 63." State lawmakers now must surrender their weapons to security personnel - or risk ejection and even arrest. Eight Republicans who say they have received death threats are vowing to disobey the rule, and have denounced it as unconstitutional and illegitimate in an open letter published by The Concord Monitor.

January 8, 2019
Impeachment? Maybe not. The allure of impeaching President Trump seems to be fading among certain Democrats. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Impeachment loses its allure for Democrats

Slowly but surely, Democratic leadership is beginning to realize that impeachment talk may not play well in Peoria — or anywhere else. For Democrats, the dreams of impeaching President Trump rely on maintaining the scalding emotions of the 2016 election when hatred and fury were the reactions of choice.

January 7, 2019
"Call me a radical," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, on "60 Minutes." She's frequently referred to as "AOC." (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: The many meanings of AOC, also known as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

A reminder: "AOC" is the preferred designation for now-Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat and the subject of choice among many news organizations. Delighted journalists have banded about the term "AOC" in their coverage since last summer, and no wonder. @AOC is Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's Twitter handle, and the hashtag #AOC has dominated national Twitter trends on many occasions, most recently as #AOCDancing, after a vintage video surfaced of the lawmaker — then a Boston University student — dancing with abandon on a rooftop.

January 6, 2019
A GoFundMe outreach to pay for "Trump's wall" is accruing donations at the rate of about $1 million a day. (Brian Kolfage)

GoFundMe effort for Donald Trump’s wall hits $19M in 19 days

While the debate over illegal immigration continues, President Trump's devoted fans have been contributing to an intense crowdfunding effort to help finance the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. "The Trump Wall" GoFundMe outreach is approaching $19 million in donations, accrued in 18 days, and donated by 312,000 people.

January 4, 2019
A new analysis by the Pew Research Center finds that 88 percent of the 116th Congress are Christian. Of the 253 Republican members, just two do not identify as Christian, both representatives are Jewish. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Congress is 88 percent Christian

A new Pew Research Center analysis reveals that 88 percent of the members of the 116th Congress are Christian. This finding prompted the pollster to declare that "Christians are overrepresented in Congress." But let us examine the numbers. Of that 88 percent, 55 percent of the lawmakers are Protestant, 30 percent Catholic, 13 percent Baptist, 8 percent Methodist, and 5 percent each say they are Episcopalian, Presbyterian or Lutheran.

January 3, 2019
Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the University of Utah Thursday Dec. 13, 2018, in Salt Lake City. Biden says he initially refused to run with then-presidential candidate Barack Obama a decade ago, but his family ultimately convinced him he had to support an African-American candidate with a real chance of winning. Biden was greeted with a standing ovation when he spoke amid speculation about whether he'll launch his own campaign for president. He did not directly address the possibility of another run in the speech that marks his final public event for 2018. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Joe Biden seeks to drop the title of ‘former’ vice president

As a potential presidential hopeful, Joe Biden currently leads most opinion polls as the candidate of choice for Democrats. But he doesn't want to be known as a "former" anything according to a New York Times analysis of Mr. Biden's nascent campaign strategy.

January 3, 2019
Then-U.S. Senate hopeful Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign stop in American Fork, Utah, during the summer of 2018. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Mitt Romney damages his political brand with Trump attack

In an era when voters are weary of negative politics and Capitol Hill gridlock, it is perhaps unwise for an incoming Republican lawmaker to attack President Trump immediately. But that is what soon-to-be-Sen. Mitt Romney did with a damning Washington Post op-ed, which vilified Mr. Trump, the same man who had endorsed Mr. Romney in 2012. Elite observers quickly read the tea leaves and declared that Mr. Romney now intends to emerge as the leading GOP foil to the president, and potentially challenge him in the 2020 presidential election.

January 2, 2019
Christmas past: A photo taken Dec. 14, 2008, shows the vacation home where President Obama stayed during his holiday in Hawaii. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: Memories of Christmas past: The $35 million Obama travel bill

It is a complex Christmas Eve in the nation's capital, what with a partial government shut-down, media melodrama, partisan strife and a change of plans for President Trump, who canceled his holiday trip to Florida amid all the big doings. White House business calls however, and as we wait on the outcome, let's examine a Christmas vacation from a previous era, courtesy of our own Dave Boyer, the meticulous White House reporter for The Washington Times. He wrote this account on December 22, 2016.

December 23, 2018
President Trump steps out among his fans at a rally. The press, however, suggests that the loyalty of Trump voters could be wavering. (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway: News media claims Trump voters ‘angry’ at president

It has happened before, and it will happen again. The news media continues to craft coverage that suggests that the iron-clad support of Trump voters for their president is eroding. Ironically, the stories are arriving just as President Trump's fans are contributing to a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for the southern border wall. Citizen donations for "We the People Will Fund the Wall" hit $9 million in four days and continue to roll in. There are 200 similar efforts on GoFundMe.

December 20, 2018
A new GoFundMe site dedicated to raising money to build the border wall topped $1 million in three days, with a goal of raising $1 billion. (GoFundMe via Brian Kolfage)

Inside the Beltway: GoFundMe outreach for Trump wall races past $16 million

On Tuesday, Inside the Beltway reported the existence of some 200 GoFundMe sites dedicated to raising money for the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. One has now hit the jackpot. Some friendly news organizations have now lit up with the story of "The Trump Wall," a GoFundMe site created on Sunday which charged past $1 million in donations by Wednesday, part of a goal of raising $1 billion to fund the barrier.

December 19, 2018