Tag: U.S. Congress

As Grassley Tests Positive, Virus Threatens to Stall Work in Congress

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Two of the oldest members of Congress, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Representative Don Young of Alaska, now have the virus, underscoring the risks on Capitol Hill.

WASHINGTON — The oldest Republican in the Senate tested positive for it. The oldest member of the House was hospitalized with it. And several more lawmakers have announced they have either been diagnosed with the coronavirus or are quarantining after exposure to it, in what is threatening to become a mini-outbreak on Capitol Hill that has already disrupted the business of Congress.

Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, 87, on Tuesday became the latest lawmaker to be affected, announcing that he had tested positive. His absence helped to temporarily derail the confirmation of President Trump’s nominee for the Federal Reserve Board and shattered Mr. Grassley’s pride and joy, the longest consecutive voting streak in Senate history.

His diagnosis came the day after Representative Don Young of Alaska, also 87, disclosed that he had been hospitalized over the weekend after what he described as a particularly brutal bout with Covid-19. The twin announcements from two men whose gender and age put them at peak vulnerability to being killed by the virus underscored the risks that lawmakers are operating under as Congress continues to meet. Continue reading.

Uncertainty, Trump loom over packed year-end agenda

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Uncertainty is hanging over the congressional year-end agenda as Washington waits to see who will win the White House and Senate majority and tries to gauge President Trump’s willingness to cut big deals if he loses. 

Doubt about who will hold power, and the appetite for year-end barn clearing, is colliding with a lengthy to-do list that includes a fight over Confederate-named bases and hopes of getting a fifth coronavirus relief deal. 

Lawmakers also need to pass a government funding bill by Dec. 11 to avoid an end-of-Congress shutdown just before the holidays and with only weeks to juggle the competing items.  Continue reading.

U.S. economy faces severe strains after election with Washington potentially paralyzed

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Political gridlock looms over possibly turbulent period for economy amid spike in coronavirus cases, expiration of federal benefits

America’s economy faces severe new strains in the two months between Tuesday’s election and January, a period when Washington could be consumed by political paralysis and gridlock.

This window is typically used by successful presidential candidates to plan for the outset of their administration, but several large economic sectors are bracing to be hit by both an increase in coronavirus cases and the arrival of winter weather.

These factors could exacerbate extreme slowdowns in the travel, restaurant and hospitality industries and further depress an oil industry already roiled by low prices. Continue reading.

4 First Steps for Congress To Address White Supremacist Terrorism

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Introduction and summary

From the Ku Klux Klan’s campaign of terror against African Americans following the Civil War to the anti-government bombing in Oklahoma City, terrorism and political violence have been a part of American history for generations. Since 2001, America has focused intently on countering a different form of terrorism—specifically, a form of terrorism practiced most prominently by al-Qaida and later the Islamic State (IS) group. After the September 11 attacks, there was a consensus that this form of terrorism presented the clearest threat to the U.S. homeland—and the U.S. government was willing to take unprecedented measures to counter the threat. Some actions, such as the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, were proportionate and successful; others deeply undermined U.S. values while increasing anti-American sentiment.1 The country continues to live with these shameful legacies such as the ongoing operation of the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Today, however, America faces a different threat environment. The increasingly polarized state of American politics, combined with the proliferation of social media networks, has allowed previously isolated hate groups to connect and coordinate. As a result, a new consensus is growing among counterterrorism watchers that the most significant terrorist threat to the United States is now the threat from violent white supremacists. Most recently, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that white supremacist violence is the most lethal overall threat facing the United States.2 Early this past summer, a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) corroborated these findings: Continue reading.

EXCLUSIVE: Intelligence chief briefed lawmakers of foreign influence threats to Congress

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The nation’s top intelligence official briefed lawmakers last month that foreign influence campaigns targeting Congress were more expansive than previously known, but a lack of specifics has left some with questions, multiple sources tell The Hill.

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe led intelligence officials in separately briefing the House and Senate Intelligence panels behind closed doors on the threats, informing lawmakers that the burgeoning foreign influence threat is being perpetrated by the usual suspects: China, Russia and Iran, though he indicated that Beijing was the primary aggressor.

Ratcliffe gave ballpark estimates of how many lawmakers have been targeted, suggesting it is from the dozens to roughly 50. But in the briefings, he declined to identify which members of Congress were the targets and he did not indicate if one party was being more heavily targeted than the other. Continue reading.

Capitol physician expands testing, but remains selective

Congress still has no formal testing program

Lawmakers and staff on Capitol Hill have expanded access to on-site COVID-19 testing through the Office of the Attending Physician, according to new guidance released Friday. The details on availability of the testing, though, do not appear to be widely known and underscore that there is no uniform testing regime for the legislative branch. 

“The testing is available in medically indicated cases of Members who have symptoms suggestive of coronavirus or who are concerned they may have been exposed to a known positive Covid 19 patient,” the guidance reads. “The testing is available throughout the day. Other staff members who have been in contact with a known positive case here at the Capitol are also offered testing.”

This is the first time that staffers have had access to tests if they were potentially exposed to the virus over the course of their work duties. Continue reading.

‘The hits just keep coming’: Congress stumbles from crisis to crisis

Lawmakers had faced a shutdown, impeachment and pandemic. Now, they’re in a Supreme Court fight with epic ramifications.

Ancient Egypt had only 10 plagues. The 116th Congress says, “Hold my staff.” 

The House and Senate have spent the past two years staring down some of the most consequential political events of recent decades: the longest-ever government shutdown; a presidential impeachment; a deadly global pandemic; a deepening economic recession that has led to Depression-era levels of unemployment; a long-overdue national reckoning over race and police brutality; and growing tension with China and Iran and even Saudi Arabia.

But there’s more. This includes natural calamities, from fire tornadoes to wildfires to murder hornets; the death of civil rights icon John Lewis and other influential figures in politics; QAnon extremists marching toward the halls of Congress; and a polarizing president who is known for creating his own conflicts. Continue reading.

Shutdown politics set to collide with coronavirus aid

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The odds are rising that any deal on a fifth coronavirus relief package will be tied to legislation to prevent a government shutdown.

After weeks of stalemated talks, the timeline for the two fights have all but merged: The House is set to leave until after the election by Oct. 2, giving lawmakers only a matter of weeks to get a deal on another coronavirus bill. And government agencies cannot run when the next fiscal year begins on Oct. 1 without new funding from Congress. 

Tying the two together would set up a high-stakes election-year battle, combining the threat of a shutdown with help for roughly 30 million Americans out of work since the spread of the coronavirus that has rattled the economy and killed more than 180,000 people in the United States.  Continue reading.

Trump announces executive actions after stimulus talks break down

Last-ditch negotiations over a new coronavirus relief package failed to yield a deal.

President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he would move forward with multiple executive actions designed to provide relief to millions of financially struggling Americans after talks between his aides and Democratic leaders on a new pandemic relief package broke down this week.

Trump laid out four actions that he said would cut taxes for workers through the end of the year, extend unemployment benefits but at a reduced rate, renew a moratorium on evictions during the pandemic, and defer student loan payments and interest until the end of the year.

But Trump’s moves — one executive order and three presidential memorandum to federal agencies — don’t go as far as some White House officials had suggested they would in recent days. And the failure by the White House and Democratic congressional leaders fails to resolve questions over government support for schools and businesses that hope to reopen to this fall or provide immunity from lawsuits sought by Republicans on Capitol Hill. Continue reading.

GOP hunts for ‘Plan B’ as coronavirus talks hit wall

The Hill logoRepublicans are hunting for a backup plan on coronavirus relief as bipartisan negotiations tasked with finding a deal appear to be making no measurable progress.

The discussions come as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows have met every day this week with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer(D-N.Y.) but are, in their own words, “nowhere close to deal” and “very far apart.” 

With the clock ticking — the House was supposed to start a five-week break on Friday and the Senate on Aug. 7 — Senate Republicans and the White House are floating myriad alternative ideas as they try to figure out how to break the logjam. Continue reading.