FIRST ON FOX: A group of dozens of House Republicans are reiterating a demand that the State Department extend an invitation to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to an upcoming global summit in California.

In a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 25 Republicans led by Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, argued Taiwan deserved a seat at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit in San Francisco. They stated that Taiwan is a full APEC member in good standing and ‘deserves fair and equal treatment on par with other APEC member states.’

‘APEC’s mission to create greater prosperity for the people within the Asia-Pacific region through a balanced and inclusive forum also allows the United States to address business concerns, promote high standards in trade and commerce, and facilitate economic growth,’ the GOP lawmakers wrote. ‘Taiwan has made significant strides with economic, cultural, and technological contributions in not just the Asia-Pacific region but also around the world.’

‘Withholding an invitation to President Tsai Ing-wen for the APEC leaders’ summit shortly after making major economic and trade commitments would undo years of bilateral progress with Taiwan and portray our government as hypocritical to the rest of the world,’ they said.

The Republicans added that, while Taiwan has been a member of APEC since 1991, the nation has never received an invitation to the organization’s annual summits as a result of vigorous objections from the Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In recent years, tensions between China and Taiwan have increased as the Chinese government has continued to assert that the island nation is part of its territory. Since being elected president in 2016, Ing-wen has vowed to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty while China has conducted a number of aggressive military actions, such as fighter jet flybys, near Taiwan’s borders.

‘Denying the inclusion of Taiwanese leadership in APEC will only further embolden the CCP and be remembered as an immense failure of the Biden administration’s mission to uphold peace and stability in the region,’ Gooden and the other Republicans continued in their letter Tuesday to Blinken.

‘We encourage you to set a new precedent for APEC’s members by using our platform as the 2023 host nation to invite Taiwan to fully participate in the November summit,’ the letter concluded. ‘We also urge you to acknowledge the expressed wishes of the Honorable Tsai Ing-Wen and the Taiwanese public for her inclusion in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.’

The letter comes months after Gooden and 20 other Republicans sent a similar letter to Blinken, calling on Taiwan’s inclusion in the San Francisco summit. They repeated the demand Tuesday, arguing the State Department’s response was inadequate.

And Gooden penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal days later on April 21, saying President Biden could make a ‘powerful statement’ by inviting Ing-wen to the conference.

In June, meanwhile, the State Department’s APEC envoy Matt Murray visited Taiwan to discuss issues related to APEC and the ‘robust U.S.-Taiwan economic relationship’ with senior Taiwanese officials, according to the American Institute in Taiwan which effectively serves as the U.S. embassy in Taiwan.

‘The United States is excited to serve as APEC host in 2023 with the theme of ‘Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All,’’ the American Institute in Taiwan said in a statement. 

‘Murray discussed a number of APEC issues, including upcoming high-level meetings to be held in Seattle in August on disaster preparedness, food security, health and the economy, energy, women and the economy, and small and medium enterprises,’ it continued.

The annual APEC summit is slated to take place in mid-November. Government leaders from Asian nations excluding Taiwan are expected to join private sector executives, thought leaders and other stakeholders at the event.

The co-signers on Gooden’s letter were GOP Reps. Michael McCaul of Texas, Gus Bilirakis of Florida, Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Bill Johnson of Ohio, Jake Ellzey of Texas, Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, Russell Fry of South Carolina, John Rose of Tennessee, Burgess Owens of Utah, Michael Guest of Mississippi, Keith Self of Texas, George Santos of New York, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Chris Smith of New Jersey, Brian Babin of Texas Jake LaTurner of Kansas, Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, Cory Mills of Florida, Dan Newhouse of Washington, John Duarte of California, Earl Carter of Georgia, and Larry Bucshon of Indiana.

The State Department did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Who cares what they’re wearing
On Main Street or Saville Row?
It’s what you wear from ear to ear.
And not from head to toe that matters.

— You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile from the musical ‘Annie’

Apparently you can wear anything you now want in the U.S. Senate.

Smile or no smile – but with a caveat.

If you are a legislative aide, a parliamentarian, a clerk, or work for the sergeant-at-arms, you must still suit up to enter the Senate chamber.

But senators may dress however they’d like.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., quietly instructed the Senate sergeant-at-arms office to quit enforcing a Senate dress code rule — which isn’t really a rule.

Remember, this is the Senate. The Senate has 44 standing rules. But often those rules pale compared to various Senate precedents, customs and folkways.

It’s not written down anywhere, but the Senate purportedly has a custom which requires men to wear a coat and tie in the chamber. The tradition is less specific when it comes to women. But appropriate business attire is de rigueur for them.

And no one has said this specifically, but Schumer’s instruction to dress down the dress code can be linked to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn. The freshman Democrat favors hoodies and baggy basketball shorts rather than a Jack Victor suit. Fetterman sometimes appears in the rear of the chamber, voting from a doorway in his casual getup rather than making his way all the way into the well of the Senate chamber. Fetterman is routinely spotted around the Senate in gym attire.

Fetterman is allowed to wear his hoodie around the Capitol.

And believe it or not, this is not the first time a lawmaker in a hoodie made headlines.

Go back to March 2012 with former Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill.

Rush — the only politician to defeat President Obama (in a primary for a House seat) — came to the House floor to protest the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. Martin’s death drew national attention. George Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, but was later acquitted. Zimmerman said he spotted Martin wearing a ‘dark hoodie, like a gray hoodie.’ It was argued that the hoodie made Martin look suspicious.

Rush wanted to highlight how he believed Zimmerman racially profiled Martin because of his attire. Rush came to the House floor wearing a lavender shirt and a charcoal, pinstripe suit. He donned a lilac tie. But underneath, Rush wore a hoodie.

‘Racial profiling has to stop,’ said Rush on the floor, removing his suit jacket to reveal the hoodie, sliding sunglasses over his eyes.

‘Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum,’ said Rush.

Former Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., presided over the session. Harper banged the gavel 29 times until a House chamber security aide escorted the Illinois Democrat off the floor.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) asked why Rush, who is Black, was removed from the chamber but other lawmakers who showed up to vote in other attire weren’t.

‘Whenever the rules are not enforced, you create the opportunity for somebody to believe they have been singled out,’ said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., at the time.

Yet no one said a word when then-House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who is White, spoke in the House chamber in the spirng of 2018 wearing a Washington Capitals jacket. Such a garment does not technically comport with the House’s dress ‘code.’ A 1981 precedent noted that lawmakers could not wear overcoats — such as a jacket — on the House floor. Hoyer outfitted himself in the Capitals jacket to salute the team for winning the Stanley Cup.

One member of the CBC recalled the Rush incident a few years prior and wondered to yours truly if the House treated Hoyer differently because he was White or because he was the Minority Whip.

The bottom line is that sartorial decisions have always been an issue on Capitol Hill. 

Former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, periodically reminded members from the dais about his expectations that they wear proper attire on the floor. Yet the House ‘rule’ on proper attire was based on a similar utterance from the chair by late House Speaker Tip O’Neill, D-Mass., in the 1970s. The House rulebook is rife with precedent about the Congressional wardrobe. The presiding officer did not recognize a Member to speak because they weren’t wearing a jacket in 2012. Another presiding officer chastised a Member for not wearing a jacket in 2001. 

There was a call to arms for female reporters when former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., ran the show. Chamber security personnel prohibited female reporters from entering the Speaker’s Lobby because their arms weren’t covered. Ryan then eased the policy, granting women a right to bare arms.

The House has banned hats in the chamber since 1837. That’s a concrete House rule: Rule XVII, Clause 5. Hence, the invention of the Democratic and Republican cloakrooms off the House floor for members to hang their hats and ‘cloaks.’ Then again, no one really wears a ‘cloak’ any more except Dracula. It’s unclear if the House has a place for Drac to store his teeth.

Late Rep. Bella Abzug, D-N.Y., always wore a hat in the 1970s to distinguish herself from staff. There weren’t many female lawmakers at the time. Most women who worked on Capitol Hill then served as secretaries. Abzug could wear the hat anyplace but on the House floor.

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., always wears a signature cowboy hat around Capitol Hill and in committee hearings. But Wilson is barred from wearing a hat on the House floor.

Late Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo., said her outfit in 1973 enraged fellow lawmakers — mostly men.

‘The day I wore a pantsuit onto the floor, you’d have thought I asked for a land base in China,’ said Schroeder.

As for the changes in the Senate dress code, some lawmakers don’t give a stitch.

‘I haven’t thought one moment about it,’ said Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.

When specifically asked by a reporter about ‘Fetterman’s dress code,’ Hickenlooper offered this rejoinder. 

‘I’ve spent less time thinking about that,’ replied the Colorado Democrat about his colleagues vestments.

However, Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., isn’t as buttoned up.

‘Speaking of new lows,’ said Cramer, pivoting to the fashion conversation after discussing a potential government shutdown. ‘The idea of turning the United States Senate into a sports bar is very unappealing to me.’ 

That said, maybe converting the Senate into a sports bar could be an improvement.

Imagine the Senate opening at dawn on Saturdays for people to watch the Premier League. Or, people could cluster into the Ohio Clock Corridor to watch Deion Sanders coach Colorado later that same afternoon.

But Cramer has some serious grievances about the changes.

‘It used to be that people looked at Members of Congress and at least looked up to them a little bit,’ said Cramer. ‘Now all they have to do is look down.’

As we wrote, the dress ‘code’ now only applies to those who work in the Senate chamber who aren’t senators. Believe it or not, imposing a dress code for lawmakers to enter the chamber to vote could be unconstitutional.

Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution allows the House and Senate to make their own rules for operations. But Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution includes something called the ‘Speech or Debate Clause.’ That provision bars anyone from inhibiting lawmakers from performing their Congressional duties. Period. 

No matter what they’re wearing.

Perhaps the Broadway production of ‘Annie’ and never being ‘fully dressed without a smile’ isn’t the best musical to refer to in these circumstances. 

Maybe dial up some Cole Porter, instead. 

In the Senate these days, ‘Anything Goes.’

Texas Rep. Michael Cloud re-introduced a bill Tuesday that would prohibit the president and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from declaring public health emergencies to enforce gun control measures. 

If enacted, the Protecting the Right To Keep and Bear Arms Act would also prevent government officials from restricting the production, sale or transfer of firearms and ammunition during major disasters or emergencies, ‘thereby preventing them from illicitly using public health authority.’

‘For a long time, radical left politicians have been open about their willingness to use executive authority and rob Americans of their Second Amendment rights,’ Cloud said in a statement.

The bill comes as some Democrat politicians have declared public health emergencies due to gun violence. 

Last week, Democrat New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham tried to enact an immediate 30-day prohibition on carrying firearms in public areas or on state-owned properties in Albuquerque, calling gun violence a public health crisis.

‘That is unacceptable, and it is Congress’ duty to prevent it,’ Cloud said. ‘The Biden administration, Gov. Grisham, and others have exercised extraordinary executive power to push their liberal agenda and expand the power of the government. My bill would push back against any infringement on the Second Amendment and prevent the federal government from gaming the system to implement sweeping gun control regulations.’

A judge blocked Lujan Grisham’s 30-day gun ban on open and concealed weapons, leading the governor to amend the rule to restrict firearms at public parks or playgrounds, ‘where we know we have high risk of kids and families,’ she said, ABC reported.

A GOP resolution introduced in the House last week would condemn Lujan Grisham in response to her emergency order. Republicans, some Democrats and Second Amendment advocates have heavily criticized Lujan Grisham, arguing the order infringes on Americans’ constitutional rights.

‘This instance of New Mexico’s tyrant governor using a ‘public health emergency’ to unilaterally suspend the Second Amendment is just the latest example of public officials illegally using ’emergency powers’ to infringe on constitutional rights,’ Aidan Johnston, director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America, said in a statement.

He added, ‘We saw countless similar examples during the COVID pandemic, and lawmakers must act with a sense of urgency to ensure that President Biden and his anti-gun administration do not attempt something similar to these examples on a national level.’

Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., also support Cloud’s bill and criticized Grisham’s move to ban open firearms. 

In May, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra labeled gun violence a ‘public health crisis’ following a mass shooting at an Atlanta medical office building. Earlier, California officials had written a letter urging Becerra to formally recognize it as a public health emergency.

Hunter Biden is expected to plead not guilty to federal gun charges, his lawyers said Tuesday in a letter to the judge presiding over the case. The attorneys also requested his initial court appearance take place ‘by video.’ 

Biden was charged by Special Counsel David Weiss with making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer; and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. 

‘We write on behalf of our client, Robert Hunter Biden, in response to the Court’s Order issued on September 18, 2023, related to Mr. Biden’s initial appearance,’ Biden attorney Abbe Lowell wrote in a letter to U.S. Magistrate Judge from the District of Delaware Christopher Burke. ‘We respectfully request that the Court hold Mr. Biden’s initial appearance in this matter by video conference.’ 

‘Mr. Biden also will enter a plea of not guilty, and there is no reason why he cannot utter those two words by video conference,’ Lowell continued. ‘In short, Mr. Biden is satisfied that his constitutional rights will be met by conducting his initial appearance by video conference.’ 

Lowell added that Biden ‘is not seeking any special treatment in making this request.’ 

‘He has attended and will attend any proceedings in which his physical appearance is required,’ he said. 

Lowell said that since his first court appearance in July, when his initial plea deal collapsed and he was forced to plead ‘not guilty’ to two misdemeanor tax charges, Biden ‘has scrupulously complied with his conditions since returning home to California (D.E. 15), and it is his expectation that those conditions will remain in place until the Court orders otherwise.’ 

Lowell also added that Biden is seeking a video appearance ‘to minimize an unnecessary burden on government resources and the disruption to the courthouse and downtown areas when a person protected by the Secret Service flies across the country and then must be transported to and from a downtown location. 

The federal gun charges are the first charges Weiss has brought against the first son since being granted special counsel status. 

‘Hunter Biden possessing an unloaded gun for 11 day [sic] was not a threat to public safety, but a prosecutor, with all the power imaginable, bending to political pressure presents a grave threat to our system of justice,’ Lowell continued. ‘We believe these charges are barred by the agreement the prosecutors made with Mr. Biden, the recent rulings by several federal courts that this statute is unconstitutional, and the facts that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court.’ 

Fox News first reported in 2021 that police had responded to an incident in 2018, when a gun owned by Hunter Biden was thrown into a trash can outside a market in Delaware.

A source with knowledge of the Oct. 23, 2018, police report told Fox News that it indicated that Hallie Biden, who is the widow of President Biden’s late son, Beau, and who was in a relationship with Hunter at the time, threw a gun owned by Hunter in a dumpster behind a market near a school.

A firearm transaction report reviewed by Fox News indicated that Hunter Biden purchased a gun earlier that month.

On the firearm transaction report, Hunter Biden answered in the negative when asked if he was ‘an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance.’

Hunter Biden was discharged from the Navy in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine.

A Washington mayor said she’s being harassed after audio from her 911 call to report a group of ‘far right-wing’ petition signature gatherers at Walmart surfaced online.

‘There’s some far right-wing petitioners at Walmart, and they don’t — they’re not leaving,’ Yakima Mayor Janice Deccio can be heard saying in a 911 call from Sept. 3. ‘Walmart has asked them repeatedly to do so, and the police have not taken them off the premises.’

Activists were gathering signatures on six Washington ballot initiatives relating to taxes, parental rights and police pursuits over the Labor Day weekend. The initiatives are funded by a group called Let’s Go Washington, which did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

A recording of Deccio’s 911 call was first shared on YouTube by conservative commentator Glen Morgan last week.

In the call, the dispatcher and a supervisor can be heard telling Deccio that the petitioners have a right to gather signatures on private property under state law and that Walmart would need to obtain a court order to stop them.

LISTEN: MAYOR CALLS 911 TO REPORT ‘FAR RIGHT’ SIGNATURE GATHERERS:

‘Gathering signatures for ballot measure petitions is a constitutionally guaranteed practice in the State of Washington,’ according to the Washington Secretary of State’s Office, which acknowledges that the law does not clearly spell out to what extent businesses or other private property owners can exclude petitioners.

Deccio is expected to address the issue at Tuesday night’s Yakima City Council meeting and provided Fox News with a copy of her statement. In it, she says a constituent told her ‘an extreme right-wing group was petitioning at Walmart and creating problems for shoppers.’

‘I don’t care, nor even know what they were petitioning about, just that he told me they were harassing shoppers and that the manager had called the police numerous times during the week after she had asked the petitioners to move from the entrance of the store,’ Deccio wrote.

Walmart declined to answer questions about the incident or its policies on signature gathering efforts. A spokesperson for the Yakima Police Department confirmed the 911 call and told Fox News after publication that officers will not remove signature gatherers from business property without a court order.

‘Complaints about other criminal activity are investigated and addressed accordingly,’ the spokesperson wrote. ‘Whether or not signature gatherers have a right of access on private property is determined by a balancing test of three factors: the nature and use of the property; the impact of the decision upon the effectiveness of the initiative or referendum; and the scope of the invitation that the owner of the property has extended. Decisions are made based on the facts of each individual situation.’

‘I admit I was unaware of all the nuances of the law at that time, though, and, in hindsight, I could have waited to hear from the chief,’ Deccio wrote in her statement. ‘No one told the group they couldn’t petition, and it was certainly not my intention to stop them.’

Since the initial incident, Deccio said ‘numerous credible local people’ have told her the petitioners’ behavior was aggressive, even threatening.

Deccio said she has received hundreds of harassing texts, emails and voicemails since the 911 call was released without redacting her phone number.

‘I was just wondering how a beautiful face could be such a liberal c— to like, stop democracy,’ a man can be heard saying in one voicemail Deccio shared with Fox News.

Deccio said people are also harassing her husband, ‘who is a disabled veteran with PTSD,’ and flooding her fellow counselors with emails, the bulk of which are coming from outside Yakima, a city with less than 100,000 residents.

Yakima County lies in central Washington and has not voted for a Democrat president in at least four decades.

The initiatives sponsored by Let’s Go Washington include:

I-2113, which would roll back some restrictions on when police officers can engage in vehicular pursuitsI-2117, to prohibit state agencies from imposing any type of carbon tax-credit tradingI-2124, which would allow employees to opt out of the state’s long-term care insurance programI-2109, to repeal the state’s capital gains taxI-2111, which would prohibit state and local jurisdictions from imposing income taxesI-2081, which would allow parents of public school students to review instructional materials and student records upon request

Deccio became a city council member last year and was nominated to serve as mayor by her fellow councilors, according to the Yakima Herald-Republic. The mayor and council positions are nonpartisan.

Ramiro Vargas contributed to the accompanying video.

Democrat Virginia Rep. Jennifer Wexton announced that she would not be seeking re-election after being diagnosed with ‘Parkinson’s on steroids.’

Wexton, 54, issued a press release on Monday announcing that her doctors had changed her diagnosis from Parkinson’s disease to Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy.

The Democrat congresswoman said that she ‘knew that the road ahead would have its challenges’ after sharing her initial diagnosis in April and that she’s been navigating ‘those challenges through consistent treatments and therapies.’

‘But I wasn’t making the progress to manage my symptoms that I had hoped, and I noticed the women in my Parkinson’s support group weren’t having the same experience that I was,’ Wexton said.

‘I sought out additional medical opinions and testing, and my doctors modified my diagnosis to Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsey — a kind of ‘Parkinson’s on steroids,” she continued.

Wexton said that she has ‘always believed that honesty is the most important value in public service’ and that ‘the new diagnosis is a tough one.’

The Virginia congresswoman said there is ‘no ‘getting better’ with PSP’ and that she plans to ‘continue treatment options’ to keep her symptoms in check, but added the treatments ‘don’t work as well’ with her new diagnosis as they did for her Parkinson’s diagnosis.

‘I’m heartbroken to have to give up something I have loved after so many years of serving my community,’ Wexton said. ‘But taking into consideration the prognosis for my health over the coming years, I have made the decision not to seek reelection once my term is complete and instead spend my valued time with Andrew, our boys, and my friends and loved ones.’

Wexton said that her retirement ‘was clearly not the way’ she anticipated it when she decided to run for Congress and that she ‘will forever cherish the people from our communities and all around the country’ she has gotten to know as well as the challenges they have faced and the way she has made a difference in her community.

‘While my time in Congress will soon come to a close, I’m just as confident and committed as ever to keep up the work that got me into this fight in the first place for my remaining time in office — to help build the future we want for our children. I am truly humbled by the trust Virginians have placed in me, and I look forward to continuing to serve the people of our district.’

Wexton first took office in 2019 after defeating then-incumbent GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia for her House seat. She defended that seat in 2022 against Republican candidate Hung Cao by 53% of the vote.

The Democratic congresswoman said that her initial Parkinson’s diagnosis primarily affected her speech.

‘If there’s one thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on, it’s that Parkinson’s disease sucks,’ the representative said at the time.

‘You may notice I speak more quickly now. It also has affected how I walk and keep my balance,’ she said.

‘I’m doing well,’ Wexton said. ‘I’ve got a positive attitude, and I’ve got the strong support of so many family, friends and loved ones.’

Wexton’s retirement opens up a purple district that Republicans and Democrats alike will be looking to hold.

Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed reporting.