<div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/523a0f2decad0428023f7032-1024-768/assad-fox-news-interview.jpeg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="attached image" width="480" style="color: #000000; font-size: 15px;" />Twitter/@Presidency_Sy</div></div>
Fox News interviewed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday, the second such interview Assad has granted to American media in the past month. 

The interview, conducted by contributor <keyword id="261555" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Dennis-Kucinich">Dennis Kucinich</keyword> and Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent Greg Palkot, will air Wednesday night during a two-hour edition of "Special Report with Bret Baier." 
Fox News Executive Vice President Michael Clemente, who traveled to the region when he was a producer for Peter Jennings at ABC, also was present in the control room during the interview.
Clemente said that Kucinich advised him he believed he could secure the interview on Sept. 7. Because of an opportunity for "unique news value" and on the condition Fox News journalists would be present, Clemente told Kucinich to pursue the interview.
Clemente said that there were no restrictions on what types of questions could be asked during the interview. He added that Kucinich was "not there in the capacity of a journalist nor was he representing FOX News in that role."
Obviously, a lot has changed in the <keyword id="6354913" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Syria">Syria</keyword> situation over the last 10 days. On Sept. 7, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/syria-obama-tv-interviews-fox-news-cnn-nbc-pbs-abc-2013-9" target="_blank">President Barack Obama was preparing his own media push</a> to try to convince the American people - and Congress - to approve military strikes in Syria. On Sept. 9, Assad <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bashar-al-assad-charlie-rose-interview-chemical-weapons-obama-2013-9" target="_blank">gave an interview to PBS' Charlie Rose</a>.
A week later, Russia and the U.S. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-russia-syria-chemical-weapons-deal-key-points-assad-2013-9" target="_blank">brokered a deal that calls for Syria to surrender</a> its chemical weapons. 
"Given the change in circumstances between first learning of the possibility of an interview and the actual event, we believe our crew performed admirably," Clemente said. 
The Syrian Presidency's Twitter account tweeted out a photo of the interview:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23President&amp;src=hash">#President</a> al-Assad gives an <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23interview&amp;src=hash">#interview</a> to American <keyword id="709658" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Fox-News-Channel">Fox News channel</keyword>, to be broadcasted on 01:00 am - Damascus. <a href="http://t.co/gVHjyIpPMA">pic.twitter.com/gVHjyIpPMA</a>
- Syrian Presidency (@Presidency_Sy) <a href="https://twitter.com/Presidency_Sy/statuses/380299174819807234">September 18, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>

Fox News Gets An Interview With Bashar Al-Assad

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Republicans who opposed DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' impeachment have warned about what's to come.</li><li>They fear that impeachment now will become a completely political tool.</li></ul>Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is only the second Cabinet secretary to be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/house-republicans-impeach-mayorkas-150-years-vote-2-2024">impeached in American history</a>. Some Republicans are worried that the case against him is so weak that Tuesday night's vote is destined to become a harbinger of what's to come."Creating a new, lower standard for impeachment, one without any clear limiting principle, wouldn't secure the border or hold Mr. Biden accountable. It would only pry open the Pandora's box of perpetual impeachment," Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, perhaps the most surprising of the three Republicans to vote against the impeached, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/impeaching-mayorkas-was-a-mistake-this-precedent-will-be-used-against-gop-d0bf4956">wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.</a>The three Republicans who voted to oppose Mayorkas' impeachment have each warned about establishing a new precedent for the action some lawmakers place only below authorizing a war."Well, the Constitution hasn't changed since last week, so my vote is not going to change," Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of California, one of the trio,<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mayorkas-tom-mcclintock-immigration-impeachment-vote-constitution-gop-2024-2"> said before the second vote.</a> "These are the same reasons I vigorously opposed the sham impeachments of Donald Trump."House Speaker Mike Johnson has strongly rejected concerns that the Homeland Security secretary did not commit impeachable offenses."For nearly a year, the House Homeland Security Committee has taken a careful and methodical approach to this investigation and the results are clear: from his first day in office, Secretary Mayorkas has willfully and consistently refused to comply with federal immigration laws, fueling the worst border catastrophe in American history," Johnson said in a statement after the vote.It is worth noting that dissenters are not happy with how House then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi handled President Donald Trump's two impeachments. In the same column that he warned his party, Gallagher referred to Pelosi's actions as "us[ing] impeachment as a weapon" against Trump. Still, the vote to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol riot <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/13/trumps-second-impeachment-is-most-bipartisan-one-history/">was the most bipartisan</a> presidential impeachment vote in history.Presidential impeachments have always been political. As The New York Times <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/30/us/politics/impeachment-presidents.html">pointed out</a> during Trump's first impeachment, one out of every four presidents have had articles of impeachment written up against them. Historically, there's been a key difference. Most of these articles go nowhere. Party leadership can't stop any lawmaker from writing articles of impeachment, but they can make sure that they gather little more than dust. By George W. Bush's final year in office, then-Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat, filed 35 different articles against Bush into the record.But congressional leadership's power is waning. Republicans were able to stall Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, for <a target="_blank" href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4307918-house-shelves-greenes-resolution-to-impeach-mayorkas/">only so long</a> before they were forced to reconcile their long investigation into Mayorkas' actions with Greene's persistent push to impeach him.<h2>The future of impeachment might be seen in other congressional powers.</h2>In the Senate, judicial confirmations, which less than a generation ago enjoyed largely bipartisan support, would make Machiavelli blush. A more relevant example would be censure. Censures mean nothing but used to be thought of that summoning a House lawmaker for a public rebuke by the Speaker of the House in front of their colleagues was a punishment only reserved for particularly egregious acts. There have now been three censures in the last year. As my colleague Bryan Metzger<a target="_blank" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=bryan+metzger+house+republicans+censure+votes&amp;sca_esv=0573b43c5c641ce9&amp;rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS1010US1010&amp;ei=z-TMZdmsCu38ptQPk6a2wAs&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiZ0OjymquEAxVtvokEHROTDbgQ4dUDCBE&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=bryan+metzger+house+republicans+censure+votes&amp;gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiLWJyeWFuIG1ldHpnZXIgaG91c2UgcmVwdWJsaWNhbnMgY2Vuc3VyZSB2b3RlczIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABSIcPUEhYzQ5wAXgAkAEAmAF1oAHFCaoBAzYuNrgBA8gBAPgBAcICCxAAGIAEGKIEGLADwgIEECEYFcICBxAhGAoYoAHiAwQYASBBiAYBkAYB&amp;sclient=gws-wiz-serp"> previously wrote</a>, this marked the most censure votes since 1870. Part of this is clearly due to House Republicans making it easier for any member to introduce a censure resolution, but it also comes in an era where this exact type of punishment is perfect fodder to feed to a political base. Even the targets can turn their colleagues' ire into an advantage. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/republican-censure-adam-schiff-senate-campaign-luna-russia-2023-6">raised millions</a> over the period that included his House Republican-led censure.The trio of Republicans are joined by constitutional scholars, including some who have been sympathetic to past GOP views, who say Republicans' charges that Mayorkas run counter to how the framers of the constitution conceived of the power."[B]eing a bad person is not impeachable—or many cabinets would be largely empty," George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/homeland-security-chief-alejandro-mayorkas-failures-are-not-impeachable">wrote in The Daily Beast last month</a>. "Moreover, being bad at your job is not an impeachable offense. Even really bad. Even Mayorkas' level of bad."It may be up to the scholars to wage those arguments going forward. Two of the three Republican no votes, Gallagher and Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, will retire after this Congress. Gallagher announced his decision just days after bucking his party on the first vote to impeach Mayorkas.

Even some Republicans are nervous about how Mayorkas' impeachment could backfire      

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Robert F. Kennedy Jr pledged to gut funding for federal health agencies if he's elected president.</li><li>The long-shot Democratic presidential hopeful told NBC News that he would not make his anti-vaccine stance the focal point of his campaign.</li></ul>Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted anti-vaccine activist who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, told NBC News that he would gut funding for federal health agencies that monitor and recommend schedules for childhood vaccines.Kennedy <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/rfk-jr-anti-vaccine-push-white-house-rcna89470">told NBC News' Brandy Zadrozny</a> that he believes agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the advisory panels that recommend policies are "sock puppets" for the pharmaceutical and other industries they are tasked with regulating.The son of US Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy also said that if he became president, he would order the Justice Department to investigate the editors and publishers of medical journals for "lying to the public."Needless to say, there would be obvious First Amendment concerns to such an investigation.Kennedy also pledged to stock the agencies with people he views as "good guys" but declined to name any possible appointees.Kennedy launched his long-shot bid for the Democratic Party's nomination in April. Kennedy gained acclaim as an environmental lawyer before he pivoted to becoming one of the world's foremost skeptics and questioners of vaccines.His own family members have publicly called him out for <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/05/08/robert-kennedy-jr-measles-vaccines-226798/">the "heartbreaking consequences</a>" of his advocacy.In an interview with NBC, Kennedy said that he would not be "leading with" vaccines as a presidential candidate. His own campaign manager, former US Rep. Dennis Kucinich, claimed that Kennedy is not "anti-vaccine.""Let me address that, because first of all, I'm not anti-vax," Kucinich told NBC. "And if Mr. Kennedy was anti-vaccine, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing. But he is not. He is for vaccine safety."Zadrozny, who specializes in reporting on misinformation and extremism online, noted that an RFK Jr. Facebook group was discussing how to best explain Kennedy's anti-vaccine stance in a way that did not alienate voters. Kennedy told NBC — and has touted for years — of a conspiracy that aspires to defend vaccines and silence people such as himself, even as the studies he points to are corrected or retracted. He also faced criticism, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/25/entertainment/cheryl-hines-robert-f-kennedy-jr-anne-frank-cec/index.html">including from actress Cheryl Hines</a>, his wife, for claiming that pandemic restrictions were more onerous than what the Nazis imposed. Kennedy, in a recently unearthed video, also claimed that the first HIV/AIDS cases were related to <a href="https://twitter.com/TVietor08/status/1671162787786297352?s=20">a "gay lifestyle" and the use of "poppers"</a>Kennedy's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

RFK Jr. pledges to gut agencies that regulate vaccines and order the DOJ to investigate medical journals if he becomes president

<ul class="summary-list"><li>RFK Jr. might be running for President as a Democrat, but he has some fans among GOP lawmakers.</li><li>Sen. Ron Johnson told Insider he hopes Kennedy "gains traction and wins the nomination."</li></ul>When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched his campaign to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee in April, at least one Republican senator <a href="https://youtu.be/92IVScWABUI?t=3555" target="_blank" rel="noopener">took the time</a> to watch the entirety of Kennedy's nearly two-hour-long speech: Ron Johnson of Wisconsin."I hope he gains traction and wins the nomination," Johnson said of Kennedy, later quipping that he didn't "want to harm his chances by saying good things about him."It's not all that difficult to see why Johnson, despite his roots as a Tea Party-style Republican, would find the Democratic presidential candidate attractive, even if he's not formally endorsing the man he calls "Bobby."Both Johnson and Kennedy have questioned the science surrounding vaccines and got to know one another during the COVID-19 pandemic as fellow travelers in the "medical freedom" movement, largely defined by skepticism of the COVID vaccine and opposition to pandemic-era health mandates."He's displayed extraordinary political courage," said Johnson, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2023/06/robert-f-kennedy-jr-presidential-campaign-misinformation-maga-support/674490/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recounting Kennedy's own narrative</a> about how he took up anti-vaccine advocacy. "I got to respect people who do that."Johnson's liking for Kennedy goes beyond just COVID and vaccines — he's on a similar wavelength with other aspects of Kennedy's conspiratorial worldview as well.While the Republican senator stopped short of fully embracing the idea that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by intelligence agencies, he said that JFK and the Unspeakable — a book recommended to him by Kennedy that makes that very case — is "a pretty compelling and well-researched book." Kennedy has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaaICrk-bCY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">long argued</a> that his <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/3993563-robert-kennedy-jr-sees-overwhelming-evidence-cia-involved-in-jfk-assassination/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">uncle was murdered by the CIA</a> — and has also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/05/26/who-killed-bobby-kennedy-his-son-rfk-jr-doesnt-believe-it-was-sirhan-sirhan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed doubts</a> about who really killed his own father, former New York Sen. and US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.And Johnson suggested that the continued refusal by <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/biden-releases-jfk-assassination-records-rcna61286" target="_blank" rel="noopener">both Biden and Trump to declassify all of the records pertaining to Kennedy's assassination</a> merited further suspicion. "That tells you something, doesn't it?"<h2>A curiosity and an opportunity</h2>Kennedy, <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2024/president/us/24_democratic_presidential_nomination-8171.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">currently polling</a> at an average of 14% in recent national polls, is unlikely to pose a serious challenge to President Joe Biden's renomination.Many of Kennedy's political positions — even beyond his skepticism of vaccines — are out of step with Democratic primary voters, including his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/us/politics/robert-f-kennedy-jr-twitter-2024.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opposition to US support for Ukraine</a>, and his espoused <a href="https://www.washingtonblade.com/2023/06/19/rfk-jr-claims-chemicals-in-the-water-are-turning-boys-transgender/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">views on transgender people</a> and the <a href="https://www.advocate.com/politics/robert-f-kennedy-jr-poppers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">origins of AIDS</a>.But his unorthodox campaign has drawn interest and support from prominent, powerful figures, including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and venture capitalist David Sacks. It's also a reminder of the fact that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/07/president-biden-post-abc-poll/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">many Democratic voters say they'd like to see a nominee other than Biden</a>, even if it's not Kennedy.Meanwhile, right-wing media and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannon-has-spent-years-promoting-rfk-jr-and-his-crackpot-anti-vaccine-theories" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conservative influencers</a> have been all too eager boost Kennedy's candidacy, giving him greater exposure to a predominantly Republican audience.That's certainly the case with some Republicans on Capitol Hill, who see Kennedy's candidacy as both a curiosity and an opportunity to score points against the other side."'Kennedy Democrats' are finding out the hard way they no longer belong in the Democrat Party," Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana <a href="https://twitter.com/RepJimBanks/status/1672628915582402567?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently tweeted</a>. "Not my grandpa's Democrats!""Powerful," wrote Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas as he <a href="https://twitter.com/RepJimBanks/status/1672628915582402567?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retweeted a video</a> of Kennedy from the southern border, commending him as "one of the very few Dems willing to go to the border."<h2>The 'backdrop of a committee hearing room'</h2>House Republicans have invited Kennedy to testify next Thursday before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, a panel that's served as a key organ for GOP grievances against the FBI, Big Tech, and the so-called "Deep State." Among the lawmakers who will have the opportunity to question Kennedy is Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, an idiosyncratic libertarian who's long been critical of the science around vaccines."I'd be interested in talking to him about vaccines," said Massie, who says he's followed Kennedy's "pretty active" advocacy around the issue on Twitter. <div type="image" title="Rep. Jim Jordan, who says he texts with Kennedy’s campaign manager, has invited the Democratic presidential candidate to testify before a House subcommittee next week." height="1333" width="1778" msid="101736967" hostid="261" sizebytes="81758"></div>Asked why the Democratic presidential candidate had been invited, subcommittee chair Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio pointed to Kennedy's membership in the <a href="https://counterhate.com/research/the-disinformation-dozen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">so-called "Disinformation Dozen,"</a> a group of 12 online influencers identified by the nonprofit group Center for Countering Digital Hate as the source of the vast majority of anti-vaccine content on social media platforms in 2021. The White House later <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/16/tech/misinformation-covid-facebook-twitter-white-house/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited that report to pressure social media platforms</a> to ban the accounts, and both Kennedy and his organization, Children's Health Defense, have been removed from Twitter and Instagram in recent years, though his personal account has since been reinstated on both platforms.Jordan also drew a link between the actions that social media companies have taken against Kennedy to former President Donald Trump's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/06/09/us/trump-indictment-document-annotated.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent 37-count federal indictment</a> for mishandling classified documents, obstructing justice, and making false statements."The Biden administration is trying to censor their Democrat opponent, and indict their Republican opponent," said Jordan. "Pretty scary stuff."While Jordan offered little observation on Kennedy's campaign beyond pointing out his "unbelievable" polling, he said that he's texting buddies with Dennis Kucinich, the former Ohio congressman who's now managing Kennedy's campaign."He's a great guy, he's truly a friend," Jordan said of Kucinich. "You know, he's lefty. He's liberal, I'm conservative. But he's an old-school liberal who believes in the First Amendment."Rep. Dan Goldman of New York, one of the more prominent Democrats on the subcommittee, characterized Kennedy's scheduled testimony as a mere political ploy to elevate Biden's primary opponent, giving him the "backdrop of a committee hearing room" to aid his campaign."What is clear from all of their investigations is they are solely focused on politically harming President Biden," said Goldman. "This is yet another cog in that."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has some fans on Capitol Hill — they just happen to be Republicans

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rep. Marcy Kaptur, 76, is the longest-serving woman in the history of the House of Representatives.</li><li>She faces a tough re-election against a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/maga-gop-house-campaign-struggles-after-questions-about-military-record-2022-10">controversial GOP opponent</a> amid <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gerontocracy-united-states-government-red-white-gray-2022-9">broader calls for new leaders</a>.</li></ul>TOLEDO, Ohio — Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur is facing what looks to be the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marcy-kaptur-jr-majewski-ohio-9th-district-congressional-election-2022">toughest general election of her nearly 40-year long political career</a>, though she balks at the notion that she's never faced a tough race."Let me just say: through my whole career, there have been so many massive speed bumps, okay?" the 76-year-old lawmaker told Insider during an interview in a staffer's black Jeep following a press conference. Kaptur referenced a strong challenge she faced in 2010 from a Tea Party-affiliated candidate who <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/10/why-is-this-gop-house-candidate-dressed-as-a-nazi/64319/">had a history of participating in Nazi re-enactments</a>, as well as a <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/politics/2012/03/kucinich-kaptur_wins_democrati.html">primary</a> against fellow Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich following redistricting in 2012."So it hasn't been, like, a smooth ride. It's been like this," she said, waving her hands up and down while making engine noises, appearing to simulate a plane experiencing turbulence. "That's what my career has been like."Nonetheless, Kaptur has held on long enough to become the <a href="https://kaptur.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-kaptur-becomes-longest-serving-woman-us-house-history">longest-serving woman in the history of the House of Representatives</a> in 2018. If she's re-elected, she'll surpass the 40-year record set by former Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland to become the longest-serving woman in congressional history.It's a milestone that inspires a mixture of admiration and exhaustion among her detractors, including her Republican opponent JR Majewski, a right-wing Republican <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/maga-gop-house-campaign-struggles-after-questions-about-military-record-2022-10">who's courted controversy by promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory and misrepresented his military service</a>. <div type="image" title="JR Majewski, Kaptur’s Republican opponent, at a Trump rally in Youngstown, OH on September 17, 2022." height="1333" width="1777" msid="95285867" hostid="261" sizebytes="90896"></div>"At the end of the day, Marcy Kaptur has spent 40 years in office, and she deserves recognition for that," Majewski told attendees of a meet-and-greet event in a Toledo cafe last week. "But that doesn't mean we're not going to retire her on November 8th."And Kaptur is seeking re-election as the topic of age and tenure in politics is increasingly on the minds of voters. Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-term-limits-age-gerontocracy-old-lawmakers">recently explored </a>America's gerontocracy in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gerontocracy-united-states-government-red-white-gray-2022-9">"Red, White, and Gray"</a> project, finding, among <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gerontocracy-red-white-and-gray-key-findings-insider-2022-9">other things</a>, that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gerontocracy-united-states-congress-red-white-and-gray-data-charts-2022-9">nearly one in four members of Congress are in their 70s and 80s</a> and that the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-biden-age-poll-term-limits-medical-checks-poll-2022-9">vast majority of Americans view the increasingly advanced age of politicians as a problem</a>.<h2>'People here have a lot to lose'</h2>Following redistricting this year, Ohio's 9th district shifted from a relatively safe Democratic district that hugged Lake Erie — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marcy-kaptur-jr-majewski-ohio-9th-district-congressional-election-2022">known colloquially as the "snake by the lake"</a> — to a Republican-leaning area that encompasses Toledo and some surrounding rural regions.But after Majewski was caught exaggerating his military service, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/maga-gop-house-campaign-struggles-after-questions-about-military-record-2022-10">national Republicans withdrew significant investments they had planned on his behalf</a>. Nonetheless, he still could win. And the 42-year-old candidate has sought to use his opponent's lengthy tenure to his advantage.<div type="image" title="An anti-Kaptur yard sign near Bono, OH on October 26, 2022." height="1498" width="1997" msid="95285871" hostid="261" sizebytes="712466"></div>"Toledo is one of the, I would say most underrepresented, underserved, and under-realized cities in the United States," said Majewski, listing off problems including crime, economic decline, and a consistently falling population. "When you consider all of that legacy, there's one constant, at least for the 40 years I've been around: it's Marcy Kaptur."But when asked about the stakes of the race by Insider, Kaptur flipped that critique on its head, pointing to the benefits yielded by her lengthy tenure even as she agreed that the district was "underrepresented.""Our goal is to win and hold on to the seniority we have," she said. "Our seniority really matters from the Great Lakes, because we are very underrepresented regionally, with any committee, within any chair, with any — they mix up Ohio with Iowa, because we each have three vowels in our name."Kaptur spoke with Insider following a press conference with local officials touting new federal investments in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, an ongoing environmental improvement project in the region, as the result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.<div type="image" title="Kaptur at a press conference taunting federal investments in the Great Lakes region in Toledo, OH on October 26, 2022." height="1500" width="2000" msid="95285875" hostid="261" sizebytes="470378"></div>Owing to her seniority, Kaptur sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, where she chairs the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. That gives her much more control than the average member — especially a freshman lawmaker, as Majewski would be — over how the federal government doles out money. "It's a lot for a community to give up," she said. "People here have a lot to lose."Even Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan, who has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-ryan-jd-vance-joe-biden-ohio-generational-change-leadership-2022-9">otherwise been vocal about the need for generational change in his party</a>, told Insider it's important for Kaptur to remain in office."She's brought back hundreds of millions of dollars to Toledo," the 10-term congressman said after a town hall event in the city last week. "It would be foolish for a community like this to not have her there."<h2>'People have invested in me, so I can invest in them'</h2>At the same time, the seniority system — in which everything from offices to committee chairmanships are decided by the length of one's tenure — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-term-limits-age-gerontocracy-old-lawmakers">is a major reason why Congress is skewing older than ever</a>; lawmakers are incentivized to stay for years, even decades, as their power grows with each term.Some lawmakers want to change that system. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who ousted the fourth highest-ranking Democrat in the House in 2018, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-term-limits-age-gerontocracy-old-lawmakers">told Insider in September</a> that it's "important for us to figure out perhaps a better way of determining who should lead a committee, beyond who's been here longest."Asked about calls for generational change more broadly, Kaptur said that "the public will decide that," suggesting that there's room for everyone from young upstarts to more experienced, even elderly, lawmakers. "I think you need a blend of that in the Congress," she said."I think I have my faculties, and I have my health, so those are blessings," she said. "And I know a whole lot, and that's been hard-earned, and I put it to work on behalf of my people and the country.""I feel that people have invested in me, so I can invest in them," she added.<div type="image" title="A billboard for Kaptur's campaign near Port Clinton, OH on October 26, 2022." height="1500" width="2000" msid="95285879" hostid="261" sizebytes="335168"></div>Kaptur was also quick to point out that there are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gerontocracy-united-states-congress-red-white-and-gray-data-charts-2022-9">more than a few lawmakers who are much older than her</a>, including the 89-year-old Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chuck-grassley-reelection-campaign-most-seniority-in-the-entire-senate-2022-9">also touting his seniority</a> as he seeks his eighth six-year term in the Senate."Grassley — he's 89!" she exclaimed. "I'm not even close."Kaptur is perhaps best known for sponsoring the bill to create the World War II Memorial that now sits in the center of the National Mall in Washington, DC, But she also pointed out that a number of local projects — including a bridge near downtown Toledo, a federal courthouse in the city, and a military installation in the Western part of the county — may not have come to fruition without her efforts over the course of decades."I sometimes just go by and I go, well, that might not be there. You know, you think what it was before, versus what it is now," she said. "I'm just very gratified that I've had the opportunity to actuate some of what was in my mind when I first started out."

America's longest-serving congresswoman argues her district needs to 'hold on to the seniority we have' amid broader calls for generational change in politics

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c6eebd2342cca08ea6938c3-2400/rtx1nekp.jpg" border="0" alt="chris wallace" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk" />REUTERS/Aaron JosefczykFox News host Chris Wallace, former host Megyn Kelly, and host Bret Baier.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Fox News has booked Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.</li><li>Fox News host Chris Wallace will be filling in for host Bret Baier for the interview on Monday.</li><li>The network's bookings may signal its willingness to buck the traditional perception of a conservative-leaning news network, and may provide a valuable opportunity for Democratic candidates to televise their message. </li></ul>Fox News continues to prevail over other major cable news networks in ratings, and they may have found another ingredient to their success: interviews with Democratic candidates in the 2020 US presidential election.Coming on the heels of its interview with Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Fox News has booked Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York - Gillibrand's first interview with the network after she declared her candidacy.Fox News host Chris Wallace will be filling in for host Bret Baier for the interview on Monday.Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont may have grabbed the spotlight from his Democratic competitors following news of his record-breaking first-day donations, but both Gillibrand and Klobuchar are still considered to be formidable contenders in the election.Fox News' "Special Report" with host Bret Baier attracted 2.5 million total viewers during its roughly 17-minute interview with Klobuchar on February 12. Meanwhile, CNN's one-hour townhall featuring Klobuchar and host Don Lemon drew in 1.1 million total viewers on Monday night.The CNN event in New Hampshire <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/media/430670-cnn-klobuchar-town-hall-finishes-third-in-cable-news-race-behind-fox-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">placed third</a> amongst cable news networks that night, with Fox News leading with 2.5 million viewers, followed by MSNBC's 2.46 million viewers.Fox News' interview with Klobuchar also led the key 25-54 age demographic with 388,000 total viewers, compared to CNN's townhall with 294,000 total viewers.CNN has faced some <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/cnn-wants-to-avoid-the-mistakes-of-2016-but-it-doesnt-yet-know-how" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticism</a> over its coverage of the 2020 election, particularly after its town hall featuring Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO and a possible independent candidate.Democrats and other journalists questioned whether it was prudent for the network to dedicate valuable air-time and a large platform for Schultz, who has yet to officially declare his candidacy. The network also faced <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-slams-cnn-hiring-sarah-isgur-ex-trump-administration-spokesperson-2019-2">backlash</a> over its recent decision to hire Sarah Isgur, a former Republican political adviser and Justice Department spokesperson, to oversee its 2020 campaign coverage.Fox News' bookings may signal its willingness to buck the traditional perception that it is a conservative-leaning news network, and could provide a valuable opportunity for Democratic candidates to televise their message. The network's numerous opinionated hosts continue to face scrutiny over their glowing appraisal of President Donald Trump and his allies. But some Democrats, including 2020 candidates, say they recognize the value of seeking a wider audience."One of the reasons I came on this show is that I believe that candidates for office, whether a Democrat or Republican, have to go not just where it's comfortable, but where it's uncomfortable," Klobuchar said to Baier in her Fox News interview. "And I love you, but, you know, Fox may not always be comfortable for Democrats."Former Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, a former Fox News contributor, agreed it was sensible for Democrats to appear on the network."Democrats need to understand that Fox News is not a monolith, that there's diversity within its audience, and that the viewers are listening and weighing things carefully," Kucinich said in a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/paloma/the-trailer/2019/02/07/the-trailer-2020-democrats-embrace-the-green-new-deal-litmus-test/5c5af92b1b326b66eb098634/?utm_term=.165c649dd7eb">Washington Post</a> report published earlier in February. "How can you change someone's thinking if you refuse to talk to them?" <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/president-declare-national-emergency-what-happens-2019-2">What happens when the president declares a national emergency</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/d4Y6TWKb-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

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