Tag: Nancy Pelosi

With a jab at Trump, Pelosi unveils new ‘Obamacare’ bill

WASHINGTON, DC — Flicking a dismissive jab at President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a plan Wednesday to expand “Obamacare,” even as Trump’s administration is about to file arguments in a Supreme Court case to strike it down.

Pelosi announced an upcoming floor vote on her measure, setting up a debate that will juxtapose the Democrats’ top policy issue, Trump’s unrelenting efforts to dismantle Obama’s legacy, and the untamed coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, the Trump administration is expected to file papers with the Supreme Court arguing that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. Pelosi wants her bill on the House floor Monday. Continue reading.

Pelosi orders removal of Confederate portraits in Capitol

The Hill logoSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday ordered the removal of four portraits in the Capitol of previous House Speakers who served in the Confederacy.

The move marks Pelosi’s latest effort to take down Confederate imagery in the Capitol, following her push last week calling for the removal of 11 Confederate statues displayed in the Capitol complex.

“We didn’t know about this until we were taking inventory of the statues and the curator told us that there were four paintings of Speakers in the Capitol of the United States, four Speakers who had served in the Confederacy,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. Continue reading.

Pelosi asks House committees to require masks, setting up clash with GOP holdouts

Washington Post logoMasks have become the norm inside the House of Representatives, where some politicians now embrace the novel coronavirus precaution with colorful odes to their home districts. But there are holdouts: A small group of Republican representatives who have consistently declined to wear face coverings in Congress.

Now, as nine states hit record highs for infections, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is tightening the rules. Late Tuesday, she asked committee chairs to require masks at all hearings — and authorized the sergeant at arms to bar anyone who refuses to cover their face, according to a senior aide familiar with the request.

“This requirement will be enforced by the Sergeant at Arms and non-compliant Members will be denied entry,” the senior aide said in an email to The Washington Post. “Ultimately, Chairs will have the option of not recognizing Members in committee proceedings that fail to comply with the mask requirement.” Continue reading.

Republicans start bracing for shutdown fight in run-up to election

The Hill logoSenate Republicans are growing concerned that rising tensions between President Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could lead to a shutdown fight just weeks before the election and threaten their slim majority in the chamber. 

There is widespread anxiety among GOP senators that Trump’s penchant for picking fights is a political liability as his response to nationwide protests against police brutality appears to be the cause of his declining approval ratings.

Republicans are now worried that he’s likely to pick a fight with Pelosi in September over government funding for the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. Continue reading.

Pelosi, holding a Bible, urges Trump to help the country heal

The Hill logoA reserved Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday called on President Trump to tone down his combative approach to the national protests for racial justice that have followed the death of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis last week.

Clutching a Bible in the Capitol, Pelosi urged Trump to reach across the divides of race, party, region and religion to help the country heal instead.

“We would hope that the president of the United States would follow the lead of so many other presidents before him to be a healer-in-chief, and not a fanner of the flame,” she said. Continue reading.

McConnell brushes off Pelosi as she finalizes relief package

Republican senators say the speaker’s rush to complete a coronavirus bill doesn’t put pressure on them to act.

Hopes are fading on Capitol Hill for a deal on the next round of coronavirus relief before an approaching Memorial Day recess, raising the prospect that Congress won’t clinch a new spending agreement until June or beyond.

While the Democratic-controlled House is aiming to pass a multitrillion-dollar package as soon as this week without GOP or White House input, the Senate Republican majority has no timeline for delivering its own bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the party is still “assessing what we’ve done already,” referring to the nearly $3 trillion in aid delivered by Congress thus far.

“I’m in constant communication with the White House and if we decide to go forward we’ll go forward together,” McConnell told reporters on Monday. “We have not yet felt the urgency of acting immediately. That time could develop, but I don’t think it has yet.” Continue reading.

Pelosi, McConnell decline White House offer of rapid COVID-19 tests

The Hill logoIn a rare bipartisan joint statement, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) turned down the White House’s offer of rapid COVID-19 testing kits as the Senate returns to the Capitol this week amid concerns about the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

“Congress is grateful for the Administration’s generous offer to deploy rapid COVID-19 testing capabilities to Capitol Hill, but we respectfully decline the offer at this time,” the congressional leaders said. “Our country’s testing capacities are continuing to scale up nationwide and Congress wants to keep directing resources to the front-line facilities where they can do the most good the most quickly.”

The Senate will reconvene Monday at 5 p.m. on a confirmation vote for Robert Feitel to become inspector general of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Continue reading.

Pelosi floats almost $1T for states in next relief package

The Hill logoSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that Democrats will push for including almost $1 trillion in the next coronavirus relief package to help states and local governments hit hard by the pandemic.

That figure, Pelosi said, would likely be the single largest line-item of the Democrats’ next emergency package, known as CARES 2, which is also expected to include hundreds of billions of dollars more to help workers, businesses and families weather the crisis.

“We’re not going to be able to cover all of it, but to the extent that we can keep the states and localities sustainable, that’s our goal,” Pelosi told reporters in the basement of the near-deserted Capitol. Continue reading.

Pelosi fills out Democratic roster on coronavirus oversight panel

The Hill logoSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday filled out the Democratic roster on a special committee overseeing coronavirus relief spending, naming six new members to the newly created panel, including some of President Trump‘s harshest congressional critics.

The announcement is a clear signal that Democratic leaders intend to conduct aggressive oversight of the Trump administration’s coronavirus spending — a process occurring in the midst of an election year — as trillions of dollars go out the door.

The panel, created by a party-line vote last week, will be led by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the Democratic whip. In a letter to Democrats Wednesday, Pelosi named six additional members: Reps. Maxine Waters(Calif.), Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.), Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.), Bill Foster (Ill.), Jamie Raskin (Md.) and Andy Kim (N.J.). Continue reading.

‘It’s very sad’: Nancy Pelosi blasts Trump’s mix of arrogance and scientific ignorance

AlterNet logoSpeaking on MSNBC this morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed President Trump’s advocacy for unproven coronavirus treatments, specifically drugs like Hydroxychloroquine, adding that not only is Trump pushing for these drugs, he’s also pushing for the agencies in charge of approving medical treatments to approve “what the administration wants rather than what science demands.”

“But nonetheless … let’s just go forward,” Pelosi said. “Let’s say that what we’re doing legislatively that we will provide the resources for our health services and the rest to meet the needs of the American people, for our scientists to quickly, as soon as possible, find a vaccine, hopefully a cure even sooner than that, and that we will make sure there is integrity in how it is developed and integrity in how it’s distributed. That doesn’t exist right now according to what we’re seeing from the White House.”

Host Andrea Mitchell then mentioned how a high profile vaccine researcher was allegedly removed from his government post for questioning the wisdom of Trump’s push for unproven treatments. Continue reading.