Veterans Day ad highlights Republican discord in Georgia’s US Senate race
Today’s newsletter highlights:
- State officials want to take over red snapper fishing season.
- Tyler Harper bemoans federal cuts to meat inspection program.
- Austin Scott pushes back on government funding bill.
GOP discord
So much for the calls for Republican unity in the race to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
There’s a long history of Veterans Day–themed attacks in American politics, usually drawing contrasts between a candidate who served in uniform and one who didn’t. But that’s not what happened on Tuesday.
In a new 38-second digital ad that opens with a tribute to the military, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins pivots to an attack on GOP rival Derek Dooley.
The spot includes Dooley’s acknowledgement that he rarely voted over the last two decades during his career as a football coach before President Donald Trump inspired him to get involved in 2020.
“I was immersed in my job as a coach,” Dooley said in the clip, which was part of a broader radio interview.
The narrator fires back: “Tell that to the men and women risking their lives who still make time to vote.”
Dooley responded Tuesday that he “proudly got off the sidelines” to back Donald Trump in 2024 and panned Collins for using the federal holiday “to score political points.” His spokesman called the ad “despicable.”
“It’s an insult to the men and women who served our country in uniform and represents everything the American people can’t stand about career politicians who are more interested in their next political promotion than representing the people of our state,” Connor Whitney said.
Things to know
Good morning! It’s Day 43 of the federal government shutdown. The impasse could end today if the U.S. House of Representatives approves a funding bill and President Donald Trump signs it into law. But the bill would only keep the government open until Jan. 30.
Here are three other things to know for today:
- Political columnist Patricia Murphy writes about the implications of U.S. Rep. Mike Collins’ Senate campaign creating a fake video of U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and posting it online.
- Marci Collier Overstreet won the race for Atlanta City Council president by dominating Southwest Atlanta votes, the AJC’s Riley Bunch reports.
- Fewer international students are enrolling in Georgia’s public universities, a possible sign that some of President Donald Trump’s policies are turning foreign students away from the U.S., the AJC’s Jason Armesto reports.
Fish tally
Georgia’s red snapper season lasted just two days this year because the federal government said there weren’t enough fish for anglers to catch. Now, Georgia and three other South Atlantic states are out to prove them wrong.
Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina all filed exempted fishing permit applications this week outlining plans to manage their recreational fishing seasons.
Georgia’s permit calls for a 62-day season that would impose a limit of one red snapper per person of any length. Extending the season could be a boon to the state’s tourism industry, as red snappers are among the most popular fish for deep sea anglers.
Anglers have long complained that the federal government’s fish surveys rely on flawed data that unnecessarily shorten the red snapper fishing season. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said federal regulations “threaten the economies of our coastal communities” in a letter to the Trump administration earlier this year.
Georgia plans to conduct its own surveys — if it can afford them.
A bill pending in the state Legislature would establish a $10 reef fishing permit to pay for these surveys. While it hasn’t passed yet, the latest state budget included $349,000 for the Department of Natural Resources to begin the data collection.
“The exempted fishing permit process is the first step off the roller coaster of non-sensical angling regulations,” said Russell Kent, the Georgia government relations advisory chair for the Coastal Conservation Association.
Budget cuts
Georgia lawmakers have been asking state agency heads to detail the impact of President Donald Trump’s federal funding cuts on their budgets. But Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper says it’s former President Joe Biden who has had the biggest impact on his spending.
Harper said the agency received just over $1 million in cuts during the Biden administration that have carried over into Trump’s term. The bulk of those cuts — $630,000 — have been in the state’s meat inspection program.
Georgia’s meat inspectors are certified by the federal government to inspect facilities seeking to sell products across state lines. In the last eight months, Harper said the state has declined 22 licenses for meat processing facilities “due to understaffing.”
“These are losses for jobs, rural economic development and our state tax base,” he said. “Those are things we don’t like to talk about but due to our staffing levels are unable to cover.”
Harper said the department has had a 33% increase in licensed entities and only a 12% increase in staffing. “Those numbers don’t necessarily equate,” he added.
Building expenses
Georgia pays the state’s public colleges and universities $8.28 per square foot to maintain buildings across their campuses. But the University System of Georgia actually spends $16.37 per square foot for its maintenance.
Chancellor Sonny Perdue blamed that gap on an outdated funding formula that hasn’t been updated since the 1980s. The formula applies across the board, despite the age and circumstances of the building.
Perdue asked lawmakers to change that formula during a public hearing last week, one of many new spending requests lawmakers will have to consider next year. But changing it won’t be easy. State Rep. Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta, called the formula “the third rail of higher education financing.”
Plus, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has warned state agencies not to expect spending increases as Georgia deals with the fallout from federal budget cuts.
Still, Perdue found a receptive audience in the House.
“What it cost to heat a building or paint a building or keep up a building is different,” said Martin, who chairs the House Higher Education Committee. “We need to acknowledge it and budget accordingly.”
Listen up
Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast AJC senior reporter Tamar Hallerman joins the show to talk about President Donald Trump’s latest pardons. Then you’ll hear former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan’s interview from our candidate forum about why he is running for governor as a Democrat.
You can listen and subscribe to Politically Georgia for free an Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.
A slight snag
The U.S. House is expected to vote today on legislation to reopen the federal government after the longest shutdown in history. And the bill seemed on a glide path to approval with Republicans voicing strong support.
But a provision tucked inside the bill to let some U.S. senators sue the government is generating some opposition in the House, including from Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Austin Scott.
The Biden administration subpoenaed the phone records of eight Republican U.S. senators during its investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. The funding bill would let these senators sue the government for as much as $500,000. It would also limit the way the government could defend against these claims.
The issue came up during the House Rules Committee meeting on Tuesday. Scott, who lives in Tifton, said he supports removing the provision from the bill. But he worried that doing so as an amendment would prolong the government shutdown because it would require another vote in the Senate.
“I’ve struggled with what the right course of action here is, because what they did is wrong,” Scott said.
The Rules Committee met late into the night and needs to sign off on the bill for the floor vote to happen as scheduled this afternoon. Among the other amendments is a proposal from Democrats to add to the package a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Today in Washington
- President Donald Trump will host a dinner at the White House for Wall Street executives.
- The House returns to take a vote on the government funding bill.
- The Senate is done for the week.
Shoutouts
Today’s birthdays:
- State Rep. Billy Mitchell, D-Stone Mountain.
- State Rep. Kimberly New, R-Villa Rica.
Want a birthday shoutout in the Politically Georgia newsletter? There’s a form for that. Click here to submit the shoutouts. It’s not just birthdays. We’re also interested in new jobs, engagements, birth announcements, etc.
Before you go
The U.S. Supreme Court extended an order blocking full payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But Congress appears poised to end the shutdown today and resolve the crisis.
That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.
About the Authors
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
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