NRCC Weekly Rundown: Driskell Skips Vote, Dems Silent on NDAA Veto, and Hillary Doesn’t Think VA Scandal ‘Widespread’

Here’s your first NRCC Weekly Rundown under the Paul Ryan speakership. Enjoy!

Gretchen Driskell Plays Hooky from the Statehouse to Hang Out with DC Democrats

Looks like Gretchen Driskell is already cozying up to Democratic Party leadership in Washington, DC and eschewing her responsibilities as a state representative.

Late last week, on the day that Michigan state lawmakers were voting on an important highway-funding bill, Driskell was spotted in DC attending meetings with the DCCC and Democratic leaders rather than back in Lansing doing what she was elected to do. Turns out that she was the only member of the state legislature to skip that crucial vote.

Voters in MI-07 are already catching a glimpse of who Driskell will prioritize: It will be her Democratic Party bosses, not those she is elected to serve.

Democrats Still Mum on Obama’s NDAA Veto, Fail to Stand Up for Military Families

Last week, we called on Democrats to stand up to President Obama’s threat to veto the latest National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which ensures that men and women of our military and their families receive the funding they have rightfully earned, including pay raises. Well, now that the president has gone ahead and vetoed the bill, many of these same Democrats have continued to do nothing: They’re refusing to speak out and join an effort to override the veto.

House Democrats’ silence on the NDAA veto is putting several important national-security measures in jeopardy, including preventing funding for vital security assistance to our allies fighting ISIS or risking a round of military base closures across the country. Additionally, by not condemning President Obama’s veto, these Democrats are failing to ensure programs such as support for victims of sexual assault or suicide prevention get the funding they need.

And it doesn’t get more hypocritical than Nebraska Democrat Brad Ashford. In a recent op-ed, Ashford fretted that Republicans are the ones endangering national security amid recent budget negotiations, but failed to mention that the president from his own party refused to sign the bill that authorizes funding for our military.

Yet another example of House Democrats putting politics first.

Do House Democrats Agree with Hillary Clinton that VA Problems Are Not ‘Widespread’?

In an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton said that the scandal at the Veterans Administration was not as “widespread” as it is being made out to be. That’s patently false: For instance, a recent report from the VA’s inspector general found that veterans were forced to wait for months for initial consultations with a doctor, as well as that thousands of patients were kept off of waitlists as part of a potential cover-up. There are thousands of veterans across the country being hurt by this gross mismanagement at the VA, and Clinton’s comments are an insult to those who served.

Which raises the question: With Clinton at the top of the ticket in 2016, do Democrats who are running this cycle—like Gwen Graham, Charlie Crist, and Eric Lynn—agree with her? Do they believe all the problems at the VA are just part of a made-up scandal, despite evidence and testimonies from real people being affected by it? If so, then what do Graham, Crist, and Lynn have to say to the thousands of veterans in their respective districts?

Other News and Notes

• Texas Congressman Will Hurd is working with Google to help San Antonio-area businesses get online, including building a website and getting listed on the popular search engine for free.
• Pennsylvania’s Ryan Costello continued to fight for the mismanagement at the VA to be remedied by calling the failure of five VA officials to show up for a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing “unacceptable.”
• An amendment sponsored by Barbara Comstock of Virginia that would require Metro to meet safety standards to ensure safer commutes to commuters was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.