Sen. Brown tells reporters that he’s “incredulous” that the testimony this week hasn’t changed more minds, but “I’ve watched my spineless colleagues walk around with fear in their eyes for four years so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised”
Key: members were floored as they learned that roughly just 11,000 Coronavirus tests TOTAL have been conducted compared to the fact that in South Korea, 10,000 tests are conducted A DAY.
Kinzinger also said “If the conference decided or if Kevin decides they want to punish Liz Cheney and I for getting to the bottom and telling the truth, I think that probably says more about them than it does for us.”
Mitt Romney defends Fauci after Trump's comments today. “Dr. Fauci is an esteemed professional with extraordinary expertise and capability, and I have full confidence in his leadership and capacity.”
Sen. Susan Collins with a strong rebuke of Trump’s actions last night. “ It was painful to watch peaceful protestors be subjected to tear gas in order for the President to go across the street to a church I believe he’s attended only once.”
Call with Pence and Democratic senators did not go well, according to one Democratic source: “It got to the point that Senator Angus King just said to Pence.. 'I have never been so mad about a phone call in my life.'"
It’s official: Pelosi announces that members will return later this week to vote Saturday on chairwoman Maloney’s bill to stop changes at the Post Office.
New: Rep. Zoe Lofgren has released a nearly 2,000 page report documenting the social media posts of GOP colleagues leading up to Jan. 6th who voted to overturn the results of the election. The report includes a breakdown of members by state.
Asked repeatedly if he had concerns about moving ahead with SCOTUS nom in an election year, Gardner says repeatedly tells reporters we should call his press secretary.
I asked Susan Collins what it would be like to work with Johnson on spending issues and she said she doesn't know him, but was going to Google him this morning
Haven’t hugged my dad in a year, and he picked me up from work today. Just can’t stop smiling. Get those vaccines! Get to hug your sweet parents and friends :)
"In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate. The comments attributed to me without my permission in the GOP campaign ad were taken out of context..." Fauci said in statement.
Multiple members tell reporters that Pelosi received a note during the steering meeting informing her of the attack in Iraq. Her message to her members in the room? Pray.
"He can have his rant today," but he is going to hear from the American people tomorrow, Rep. Jackie Speier tells CNN's
@jaketapper
on Trump's letter to Pelosi.
The Capitol Attending Physician sends this: "The Delta variant virus has been detected in Washington, DC and in the Capitol buildings. It represents a dire health risk to unvaccinated individuals. It is now endangering many regions of the US where vaccination rates are low. "
Sen. Brian Schatz tells me after call with administration that "new plan sounds like the old plan, which is to declare victory and engage in magical thinking to try to survive another 24-hour news cycle. But they have not actually assessed how many tests they need every day."
Fauci says "the consequences could be really serious" if states skip federal guidelines steps to reopen. Fauci also says it is not just about reopening at the right time, but also having the capability to respond when some infections return.
So many pens that Pelosi will sign to officially transmit the articles of impeachment and sign resolution appointing House managers. Why so many? They will be given away to members like House managers as a symbol of today.
GOP intel member Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) tells Haley Byrd on her way to vote that she disagrees with President Trump’s tweet attacking former ambassador Yovanovitch.
“I disagree with the tweet. I think Ambassador Yovanovitch is a public servant..”
Some personal news to share. I'm going to be covering Congress as a correspondent for CNN. So excited to keep working on the hill. It's my favorite place and in light of the events last week, I feel more ready than ever to keep doing this work.
Pelosi spokesman releases a statement on the Afghanistan trip, says they had hoped to still go last night, but the threats after details leaked were too great. They will now postpone the trip.
Graham says that if Obama had made the same decision as Trump over Syria, Republicans would have a strong response.
"If Obama had done this we would be going nuts right now," Graham said.
This weekend, we added a new member to our family. I’ve been talking about getting a dog since I moved to D.C. and my husband did a solid job of talking me out of it for 8 years, but now Hudson is here and we are loving family walks at 3 a.m. :)
Oversight Chair Maloney calls for DeJoy to testify August 24th for “urgent” hearing on USPS changes. “Your testimony is particularly urgent given the troubling influx of reports of widespread delays at postal facilities across the country”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer releases statement on the fact that his motion to recognize Biden as the President-elect was rejected today by Republicans in their meeting about the inauguration.
New: Schumer also asking McConnell to bring back Senate to deal with USPS.
“I call on Leader McConnell to bring the Senate back into session to quickly act on the House’s legislation that will undo the extensive damage Mr. DeJoy has done at the Postal Service”
After Biden told our
@kaitlancollins
last night that he didn’t see 17 Republicans voting to convict Trump in an impeachment trial, Psaki said, “I can promise you that we will leave the vote counting to leaders in the Senate from now on.”
Sen. Ben Sasse says: “what I’ve read in their filings, when Trump campaign lawyers have stood before courts under oath, they have repeatedly refused to actually allege grand fraud — because there are legal consequences for lying to judges.”
Started the day in the 140s on impeachment numbers yesterday. Now, the official CNN tally has 197 calling for impeachment. What a difference a day makes.
Happy birthday to our chief Capitol Hill correspondent
@mkraju
who is going to be on Capitol Hill today covering his second impeachment trial in a little more than a year! Happy birthday!
Wyoming becomes the first state in the country without a daily, printed newspaper.
Corners of WY lack fast internet and coastal media tends to miss stories happening in rural states like this one. This is a blow to WY and storytellers everywhere.
We’ve come to rely on the daily edition of our favorite newspaper, something that was first published long before our nation had even been born. But in one entire U.S. state, this tradition is about to come to an end.
@MajorCBS
has the story:
Biden mocks Republicans who voted against Infrastructure bill and still tout it as if they did.
He jokes "if any of you don't want that money in your districts, just let me know."
@PeteButtigieg
smiling pretty big.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from ND who was one of Trump's first supporters, but voted to uphold the electoral results, said he's heard an earful from constituents who say he betrayed Trump.
“There are a lot of Republican who would like my head. I haven’t been loyal enough."
Sen. Tim Scott and Sen. Jim Inhofe both say they will not object to the electoral college certification tomorrow.
Inhofe said “To challenge a state’s certification, given how specific the Constitution is, would be a violation of my oath of office”
Just spoke to Sen.John Cornyn who said he will talk today with Sen.Chris Murphy on potential gun reform. The two men have met numerous times over the last year trying to find a way forward on background checks.The talks collapsed months ago, but he admitted they had new urgency.
Thom Tillis says MTG and co are biggest threat to GOP winning majorities. "She is dragging our brand down."
“I think she’s uninformed, she’s a total waste of time, and I’m embarrassed to have actually lived geographically in her district at one time before she was there."
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says of the Jan. 6th attack of the Capitol. "The mob was fed lies." He goes on to say they were "provoked" by the President and others.
Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 Trillion Dollars to bailout poorly run, high crime, Democrat States, money that is in no way related to COVID-19. We made a very generous offer of $1.6 Trillion Dollars and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith. I am rejecting their...
If you weren't watching
@CNN
a few minutes ago, you missed
@kristin__wilson
, our beloved colleague, talking about fallen Capitol Police Officer "Billy" Evans. She is our heart here and just gave a beautiful tribute.
It's been 9 days since McCarthy was ousted.
GOP conference has gathered every day this week
Members joke Jesus couldn't get the 217 votes to be their speaker
The amount of shrug emojis I've gotten from sources when asking what happens next? Too many to count.
Pelosi when asked if she would support an investigation into what happened in the lead up to coronavirus: "I am a big supporter of after-action review," she says referring to her role on the 9/11 commission, but she says it should be bipartisan and not about pointing fingers.
At every turn in my career, I think about or sometimes just ask
@DanaBashCNN
what she would do. She is a light to so many of us because she has been DOING the WORK with grace and kindness and showing us the way. So well deserved!
Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado, tells
@kaitlancollins
that he would not support a Republican for speaker, ever. He is backing Jeffries.
He says there are no concessions a Republican could put on the table that would change his mind.
Here we go with Mitt Romney, but so fast! Question will be, is he a Flake? I hope not. Would much prefer that Mitt focus on Border Security and so many other things where he can be helpful. I won big, and he didn’t. He should be happy for all Republicans. Be a TEAM player & WIN!
Multiple dem aides tell me that plans are underway to potentially bring the House back over the next two weeks. Talks ongoing. Members looking at dealing with the post office. Stay tuned.
Notwithstanding the scheduled state work period, the Senate will be in session next week. I am glad talks are ongoing between the Administration and Speaker Pelosi. I hope Congress can pass bipartisan legislation to continue combating the coronavirus and keep our economy strong.
Wanted to take a second to congratulate a colleague and a mentor
@PoppyHarlowCNN
who has been an advocate for me and other young women as we have come up in this biz. She's now blazing another trail for us!
We moved a lot when I was a kid, which meant spending Thanksgivings just my mom, dad and I. My dad worked in the retail so he'd leave us around 4 p.m. right after we ate. I know it's hard for us to be missing our loved ones, but little thanksgivings can be lovely too. I promise.
Romney says he backs raising the age to buy a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21. He said he hopes it would be included in any gun deal.
“You have to be 21 to buy a handgun so saying you also have to be 21 to buy an assault rifle seems to make sense,” Romney said.
Sen. McConnell is fired up on the floor “step up” he tells Democrats after Dems vote against advancing the stimulus proposal. Dems argue more work needs to be done to ensure the proposal does more to prop up workers...
Saying goodbye to Montana never gets easier, but bottling up this feeling of watching the sun rise over the continental divide until next time.
#glacierpark
#loganpass
Tillis announces he is changing his vote and will vote "no" on resolution of disapproval. He put out an op-ed weeks ago announcing that he couldn't support Trump on this...He was one of the first to announce he was voting with Dems so this is a big switch minutes before the vote.
I hope everyone that works on the hill did that thing where we cook one giant meal on Sunday and eat it every night this week because we are in for a very long haul.
I made wild rice soup, which is my go to “I can’t count on Congress, but I can count on this MN delicacy” meal.
Hope you are all watching
@AlisynCamerota
reflect on her time on
@NewDay
. I am so thankful to her and her work on the show. She's been there anchoring the show on the biggest news days and mornings of my life and her poise, calm and kindness have always shown through.
GOP Senate aide tells me after Trump meeting: “It feels very much like nobody briefed the President before this meeting, which ended up being a grab-bag of Democrat priorities, instead of an effort to bring people together on proposals that actually have momentum."
@betsy_klein
I have been covering the helium shortage coming to Party City since 2013. This remains my best lede ever: "CONGRESS LOOKS TO BE rising above its partisan differences when it comes to the noble cause of saving the country's helium supply"
@rebekahmetzler
House approves resolution allowing Judiciary Committee to go to court and enforce its subpoena for former WH counsel Don McGahn’s testimony and for grand jury information from Mueller report. The vote empowers House chairmen to go to court in the future without full House vote
Sen. Joe Manchin says he can’t control rumor mill, but says report he is switching parties is “bull****”” per
@mkraju
Another source close to Manchin also told me that this report is false.
My husband and I have officially reached the point in our week, year, scattered brains when we opened the fridge and saw someone had put shampoo on the top shelf. We don't know who did it when the groceries were unloaded, but we accept it could have been either of us.
Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a moderate from Virginia, told me a few moments ago that the President left Democrats no choice but to move forward with impeachment. Asked if she feared losing her seat, she said if that happened, she did not have any regrets about supporting the articles.
Warning from Republican whip John Thune this morning to Republicans negotiators in bipartisan group: “It’s hard for me to see a scenario where even 10 Republicans would vote for something that gets very far beyond where Shelley’s discussions were with the White House."
On ABC this morning, Judiciary Chairman Nadler announces “we will be issuing document requests to over 60 different people ... including Don Jr and Allen Weisselberg” as part of the committee’s investigation into obstruction
Sen. Chris Coons says he thinks the bipartisan “good feeling” of what senators could accomplish together after passing a significant gun safety bill for the first time in decades, “has been wiped away by this decision by the Supreme Court.” w/
@alizaslav
A senior Dem aide familiar with caucus deliberations says “members were outraged with Bank’s statement on Monday. night and his border trip that included R member photos with someone who was a participant in the insurrection," source said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office announces 4 witnesses will testify during the first Select Committee hearing later this month, all of them law enforcement.