Category: US Senate

Lawmakers propose draft bill to create Capitol riot commission

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Congressional leaders are discussing draft legislation for a bipartisan commission that would investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, with the latest proposal giving Democrats more sway over its membership.

According to a senior Democratic aide, a draft bill under discussion would allow each of the four top House and Senate leaders of each party to appoint two members. President Biden would also choose three additional members, including the commission’s chair.

That would give Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Biden the ability to choose a total of seven members, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would choose a total of four members. Continue reading.

Biden passes one-month mark with less than half a Cabinet

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President Biden‘s top priority thus far has been combating the coronavirus pandemic, but he’s doing so without a Senate-confirmed secretary of Health and Human Services.

The White House has been vexed by messaging on reopening schools, and it’s still without an Education secretary to steer the process.

And the administration has punted to the Justice Department on issues like Biden’s authority to cancel student loan debt and whether former President Trump should face prosecution for his role in the Jan. 6 riot, a strategy that has been complicated by the lack of a confirmed attorney general. Continue reading.

GOP not worried about voting against popular relief bill

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Republicans are dismissing the idea that they’ll be punished at the ballot box for voting against President Biden‘s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

The relief measure is expected to get few, if any, GOP votes as it moves through Congress in the coming weeks. Democrats are trying to pressure Republicans into voting for the package, touting polls that show it’s popular with the public.

Republicans counter that much of the bill is focused on Democrats’ longstanding priorities rather than coronavirus relief. And strategists note that it’s unclear whether voters will be thinking about the relief package closer to the midterm elections, which are more than a year and a half away.  Continue reading.

Oath Keeper Claims She Met with Secret Service Before Capitol Riot

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A leader of the far-right “Oath Keepers” group charged in the deadly U.S. Capitol riots said she was in Washington on Jan. 6 to provide security for legislators and meet with Secret Service agents, according to a court filing.

Jessica Watkins, 38, is one of nine associates of the anti-government group charged with conspiring to storm the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory.

Prosecutors said Watkins entered the Capitol building illegally. According to a defense petition filed on Saturday: “Ms. Watkins did not engage in any violence or force at the Capitol grounds or in the Capitol.” Continue reading.

Cruz is trying to repair his public image after his Cancún trip. He’s still feeling the heat.

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Already in hot water after a trip to Cancún amid a statewide emergency, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) seems to be trying to chill disapproval.

In what appeared to others to be a bid to rehab his image, Cruz posted photosof himself Saturday passing out packs of water bottles to Texans struggling without clean water. On Sunday, he expressed outrage about skyrocketing utility bills, calling for regulatory action. But Cruz’s tweets in the wake of his trip have further fanned the flames of criticism, putting the junior senator under fire for his response to the winter storms that devastated Texas.

In photos Cruz posted of himself with the caption #TexasStrong, he is wearing a face mask with the Texas flag on it and distributing water bottles to people, shaking a maskless woman’s hand in one picture. He appeared to be in Harris County, posting more photos the next day in close contact with first responders, serving them barbecue. Immediately after his initial posts, responses flooded in, condemning Cruz for disregarding federal guidance, which not only advises against traveling to Mexico because of the number of coronavirus cases there, but also recommends that travelers stay home for seven days once they’ve returned to reduce the spread of the virus. Continue reading.

The Lost Hours: How Confusion and Inaction at the Capitol Delayed a Troop Deployment

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As violence grew out of control on Jan. 6, the head of the Capitol Police made an urgent request for the National Guard. It took nearly two hours to be approved.

WASHINGTON — At 1:09 p.m. on Jan. 6, minutes after protesters had burst through the barricades around the U.S. Capitol and began using the steel debris to assault the officers standing guard, the chief of the Capitol Police made a desperate call for backup. It took nearly two hours for officials to approve the deployment of the National Guard.

New details about what transpired over those 115 minutes on that dark, violent day — revealed in interviews and documents — tell a story of how chaotic decision-making among political and military leaders burned precious time as the rioting at the Capitol spiraled out of control.

Communication breakdowns, inaction and confusion over who had authority to call for the National Guard delayed a deployment of hundreds of troops who might have helped quell the violence that raged for hours. Continue reading.

Democrats plan crackdown on rising drug costs

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Democrats are hoping 2021 will be the year they accomplish their long-held goal of reining in rising prescription drug costs by allowing the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies.

The proposal is largely opposed by Republicans and loathed by the pharmaceutical industry, but Democrats think they have a chance of getting it done with control of the White House and Congress.  

Price negotiations could be included later this year in a reconciliation bill, a fast-track budgetary move that only needs 51 votes to pass the Senate and can’t be filibustered. Continue reading.

Lindsay Graham’s friends worry about how he’s changed as he jockeys for the crown in a pro-Trump GOP

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In a profile of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in the Washington Post, close associates of the GOP lawmaker state that he is going “all in” to continue to support former President Donald Trump and set himself up as the leader of the Trump wing of the party and that has some of them wondering what has happened to him.

While Trump’s influence with the GOP appears to be dissipating — with a battle with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for control of the party about to take center stage according to Politico — Graham is throwing in with the ex-president, speaking with him almost daily and wrangling invites to Mar-a-Lago for weekends of golf.

“Graham’s post-presidential embrace of Trump — which puts him squarely at odds with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — is the latest twist in his on-again, off-again relationship with a man he once called a ‘kook’ and warned could destroy the party,” the Post report states. “It comes after the four-term senator said he reviewed polling in South Carolina and across the country that shows Trump’s enduring strength among Republicans, even after the Jan. 6 insurrection that resulted in five deaths.” Continue reading.

‘No ethics’ Matt Gaetz criticized for having ‘no moral high ground’

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U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, decided to weigh in on Ted Cruz abandoning his constituents for a trip to sunny Cancun while some of them literally froze to death. Gaetz came out by defending Cruz, saying no apology was necessary.

More specifically, Gaetz gaslighted the general public, by saying, “Ted Cruz should not have apologized.”

The Senator from Texas who used his two little girls as a shield for his bad behavior did not apologize. Continue reading.

Senate confirms Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador

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The Senate voted 78-20 on Tuesday to confirm Linda Thomas-Greenfield as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. 

The big picture: Thomas-Greenfield has promised to restore the U.S. role as a defender of human rights and will look to repair multilateral relationships that fractured under former President Trump. She will play a key role in the administration’s China strategy — her “highest priority,” she has said. 

  • Thomas-Greenfield faced criticism during her confirmation hearing for comments she made while speaking at a Beijing-backed Confucius Institute in 2019.  Continue reading.