Trump refused to take the threat of the coronavirus seriously, now he won’t take responsibility as his administration has been totally unprepared for this crisis.
Ted Cruz tries to interrupt to be recognized. Durbin says it’s not his time. Cruz persists. Patrick Leahy jumps in: “I know the junior senator from Texas likes to get on television. But most of us have been here a long time, trying to follow the rules.”
The Pope publishes this op-ed in the New York Times, less than 24 hours after the 5-4 Supreme Court decision rejecting Covid restrictions on religious gatherings.
BREAKING: The House of Representatives votes 232-197 to impeach President Trump for incitement of insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
He's the first president in history to be impeached twice.
I’m gonna keep saying this because it’s so poorly understood: Since 1981 the deficit has grown under every Republican president and shrunk under every Democratic president.
It's incredible that people ever thought Republicans had an ideological commitment to lower deficits as opposed to an opportunistic opposition to fiscalstimulus that would get reversed as soon as the party took the White House.
Yikes. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL): “I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger.” She labels the president “Cadet Bone Spurs.”
.
@AOC
tells
@jaketapper
that "not a single member of Congress that I'm aware of campaigned on socialism or defunding the police in this general election."
She says Dems' problem is a weak party operation that needs to become "stronger and more resilient to Republican attacks."
NEWS: A Twitter account claiming to belong to a national “antifa” organization and pushing violent rhetoric related to ongoing protests has been linked to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, according to a Twitter spokesperson.
Sen. Bob Corker characterizes Trump's farm aid proposal: "You have a terrible policy that sends farmers to the poorhouse, and then you put them on welfare, and we borrow the money from other countries."
"It's hard to believe there isn't an outright revolt right now in Congress."
Mitch McConnell breaks with RNC on Jan. 6: "We all were here. We saw what happened. It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election, from one administration to the next. That's what it was."
Buried in the new Morning Consult/Politico poll is an eye-popping statistic: Voters by a 2-to-1 margin prefer a $3 trillion infrastructure bill that includes tax hikes on $400K+ and corporations over one that excludes those tax hikes.
Biden goes off on GOP Congress at a fundraiser tonight: "I've been a senator since '72. I've served with real racists. I've served with Strom Thurmond. I've served with all these guys that have set terrible records on race. But guess what? These guys are worse. These guys do not…
.
@lisamurkowski
says she’ll vote YES to break a filibuster on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
She’s currently the only Republican senator who is supporting this bill.
The way to understand Mitch McConnell’s actions on blocking Garland in ‘16, to reversing that standard for Barrett in ‘20, to suggesting he’d block Biden in ‘23/‘24:
He is betting that Democrats won’t do anything to retaliate when they have power. So far that bet is paying off.
Trump is losing to Biden by...
20,539 votes in Wisconsin
47,215 votes in Pennsylvania
12,567 votes in Georgia
14,746 votes in Arizona
36,274 votes in Nevada
These are not margins that get undone in recounts.
GOSAR: "If I must join Alexander Hamilton, the first person attempted to be censured by this House, so be it. It is done."
CICILLINE: "Mr. Gosar, you are no Alexander Hamilton."
BREAKING: CONGRESS VOTES TO SEND $1.9 TRILLION COVID RELIEF BILL TO BIDEN'S DESK
—$1,400 stimulus checks
—$300-a-week jobless benefits
—$3,000-$3,600 cash for kids
—$34B for ACA subsidies
—100% COBRA subsidies
—$350B state/local aid
—$14B vaccine distribution
—$25B rental aid
MANCHIN: I won't support a bill unless it's paid for, limits inflation, boosts the economy & helps Americans
WHITE HOUSE: Cool thx, the bill does all those things
👀 Ketanji Brown Jackson has a two-part footnote on Clarence Thomas.
She says he "responds to a dissent I did not write... demonstrates an obsession with race consciousness that far outstrips my or UNC’s... ignites too many more straw men to list, or fully extinguish, here."
Remember, Nancy Pelosi had an identically small House majority over the last two years and this stuff didn’t happen. This is not a “both sides” phenomenon; the two parties are not mirror images of each other.
Bernie Sanders calls on Joe Manchin to explain what he means by an “entitlement society.” He asks if the West Virginia senator views Medicare vision/dental/hearing, child tax credit, universal pre-K, housing, 2y community college, climate action or other policies as entitlements.
VICE: “The United States Postal Service is removing mail sorting machines from facilities around the country without any official explanation or reason given… In many cases, these are the same machines that would be tasked with sorting ballots.”
1. AOC calls for abolishing the electoral college.
2. Trump campaign torches the idea as “crazy” in an e-mail to supporters.
3. AOC digs up an old Trump tweet bashing the electoral college.
Democrats are introducing a bill today to allow Americans aged 50-64 the option to buy into Medicare. Led by Debbie Stabenow, Sherrod Brown and Tammy Baldwin.
Rick Santorum is on CNN saying Chris Wallace put Trump in a box with the question about condemning white supremacists, saying he knows the president doesn't like to "say something bad about people who support him."
NEW:
@JoeBiden
calls for setting aside deficit concerns to invest trillions of dollars in the ailing US economy.
@BernieSanders
, likely incoming Senate Budget chair: “The president-elect is exactly right that this is not the time for austerity politics.”
Nancy Pelosi responds to Mitch McConnell: "It is so pathetic that Senator McConnell kept the Senate shut down so that the Senate could not receive the Article of Impeachment and has used that as his excuse for not voting to convict Donald Trump."
Joe Biden handily won Americans who make under $100,000.
Donald Trump handily won Americans who make $100,000 or more.
Any analysis that reduces the power of Trump to economic anxiety misses the forest for the trees.
David Brooks is one of many columnists who is never going to admit that Trumpism was about cultural and social resentment, not about economic anxiety or “a sense of place” or the Forgotten Towns or any of the other bullshit rationalizations.
At $28 billion so far, the farm rescue is more than twice as expensive as the 2009 bailout of Detroit’s Big Three automakers, which cost taxpayers $12 billion via
@BW
NEW: Biden escalates fight over Social Security and Medicare, frustrating Republicans
GOP leaders want Biden to stop saying they’re trying to cut benefits
But Biden is persisting; White House says he won’t stop calling out plans from Scott, Johnson, RSC
The lopsided vote to keep Liz Cheney in leadership—despite her vote for impeachment—tells us something about how House Republicans actually feel about Trump.
The difference:
Impeachment vote was public.
Cheney vote was secret ballot.
Whether you believe Kavanaugh or his accusers, the theory that these allegations are cooked up by partisans who’d do it to any conservative Supreme Court pick ignores the fact that Neil Gorsuch was confirmed last year with no sexual misconduct claims—and several Democratic votes.
How bad has it gotten?
*Children* are now informing Congress that “thoughts and prayers” aren’t enough. “You need to take some action,” says a student who survived the Florida shooting.
Here’s the map as it stands. Four battleground states plus Alaska have yet to be called but it won’t change the result.
Donald Trump has been defeated. 🚨
News: Senate Democrats just unveiled their first bill of the new Congress—the "For The People Act"—to restore Voting Rights Act, bolster voter protections and election infrastructure, toughen campaign finance rules and disclosures, and impose new executive branch ethics rules.
The president has the coronavirus.
The vice presidential debate is in five days.
The next presidential debate is in 13 days.
The election is in 32 days.
Some context on price tags:
The $725.8 billion defense spending bill is for 1 year.
The $3.5 trillion Build Back Better plan is over 10 years.
Apples to apples, Biden's economic and social policy bill is less than half of what Congress wants to spend on the Pentagon.
News: Republican
@SenRobPortman
will cosponsor the Respect For Marriage Act, the House-passed bill to codify legal same-sex marriage, his office tells me.
He made the decision last night after evaluating it.
Take a moment to appreciate the last week in guns:
NRA spent ~9 years saying without evidence Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were coming for your guns; then Donald Trump says on live TV take the guns without due process, and the NRA says he didn’t mean it.
A remarkable statistic:
"In the last 10 years, 76% of terrorist attacks have come from the right wing in our country."
—Elizabeth Neumann, a former assistant secretary in Trump's DHS, on
@MSNBC
just now
If this bill passes, Trump-GOP will have:
•Repealed the ACA individual mandate
•Cut taxes by $1.5 trillion
•Opened up ANWR to oil drilling
•Put Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court
•Confirmed a dozen appellate judges
•Killed a lot of regulations
This is not a trivial agenda.
SEAN HANNITY: "Please take Covid seriously. I can't say it enough. Enough people have died. We don't need any more death. Research like crazy. Talk to your doctor... I believe in science. I believe in the science of vaccination."
Also interesting that Twitter and Facebook decided to get aggressive at enforcing their policies on Donald Trump the very same day Democrats won full control of Washington.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), who switched parties with the hope of keeping his seat, now trails his Democratic opponent Amy Kennedy by a margin of 49% to 44% in a new Monmouth poll.
After fiercely criticizing the Biden administration for abandoning Afghan partners, all 50 Republican senators vote to curtail aid to Afghan evacuees who are granted parole to quickly enter the United States.
In Iowa,
@BetoORourke
says the president’s rhetoric on migrants and calls to ban Muslims sound more like the Third Reich than the USA.
Asked about the comparison after the rally, he emphatically stood by it.
Watch the exchange here 👇
If this deal passes, Biden will have inked wins on:
Drug pricing
Climate/ACA $$
Higher taxes on corporations
$1.9T Covid rescue plan
$1.2T infrastructure law
New gun law
Chips/China bill
KBJ on SCOTUS
73+ lower court judges
VAWA re-up
Postal reform
This is not a trivial agenda.
Dick Durbin is on the floor torching the modern filibuster, saying it has "become the death grip of democracy."
"Senators can literally phone in a filibuster... Today's filibuster has turned the world's greatest deliberative body into one of the world's most ineffectual bodies."
Chuck Schumer: "You may win this vote... But you will never, ever, get your credibility back. And the next time the American people give Democrats a majority in this chamber, you will have forfeited your right to tell us how to run that majority."
Newly-minted Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) walked on the House floor and sat on the Republican side of the aisle until he was told he’s doing it wrong.
He says he didn’t realize there’s an R side and a D side. “I saw a seat open and I went and sat down.”
DC resident here. It’s quite pleasant tonight! I went for a walk around sunset and the weather was beautiful, the outdoor restaurants and bars were buzzing and the streets looked calm. Didn’t spot any riots or police.
DC is completely dead tonight. People stayed in and were scared to go out because of fear of riots.
Police are everywhere and have riot gear.
#BLM
is the strongest terrorist threat in our county.
SENATE PASSES THE COVID RELIEF BILL
It includes:
—$1,400 stimulus checks
—$300-a-week jobless benefits
—Child allowance up to $3,600
—$350 billion state/local aid
—$34 billion for ACA subsidies
—$14 billion vaccine distribution
—100% COBRA subsidies
.
@JeffFlake
tells me he’ll vote NO on the Thomas Farr nomination, holding to his threat to oppose all judges until the Mueller protection bill is brought up for a vote.
Eric Holder on
@billmaher
's show responds to
@POTUS
saying the former AG "totally protected" Obama:
"The difference between me and Jeff Sessions is that I had a president I did not have to protect."
NEW:
@EWarren
rolls out a new plan to impose a 7% tax on corporate profits above $100 million, “no loopholes or exemptions.”
It would raise $1 trillion in revenue over a decade, per two UC Berkeley economists.
ABC/Ipsos national poll says Biden’s approval is 72% on responding to the coronavirus (highest since he took office), 60% on the economic recovery and 75% on distribution of the vaccine.
Elizabeth Warren responds to Republicans who say unity is incompatible with impeachment:
“How about if we're unified against insurrection? How about if we're unified for accountability? Unity starts with accountability,” she tells
@abbydphillip
.
.
@MittRomney
: "I happen to be a deficit hawk. I don't like borrowing money. I don't like spending money we don't have. But the time to borrow money—maybe the only time to borrow money—is when there's a crisis. And this is a crisis. We want to help people at this particular time."
NEWS: 62-37, Senate votes to defeat a filibuster and advance the Respect For Marriage Act to codify federal protections for same-sex marriage.
This puts it on a glide path to passage.
Helluva line from Arizona GOP Senate candidate Martha McSally tonight: “We cannot go back to where we were before Obamacare, where people were one diagnosis away from going bankrupt.”
She voted for the AHCA, which repealed Obamacare.
.
@AOC
urges Democrats not to give "an inch" in exchange for re-opening the government or the president will keep using shutdowns to get concessions.
She tells me furloughed employees are saying to her: "Please do not legitimize taking our paychecks hostage as a political tool."
Sen. Steve Daines: “Twenty years ago in Montana, meth was homemade. It was homegrown. And you had purity levels less than 30%. Today the meth that is getting into Montana is Mexican cartel.”
Impact of the Georgia runoffs will be felt here. If Democrats didn’t capture both those seats, Mitch McConnell would get to decide whether Biden’s SCOTUS nominee is allowed a vote. Instead it’s Chuck Schumer who makes that call.
Watching Trump today, he said: “We are up to 448 federal judges. We got that because we focus on it.”
Massively wrong. Trump has gotten 193 federal judges confirmed.
(Just FYI: 448 is the number of pages in the Mueller report.)
The jarring spike in uninsured claims during a deadly pandemic is about to force a reckoning about the U.S. system of making health coverage dependent on one's employer. It's a unique concept in the developed world.
.
@AC360
asks if Dems could've done more to win GOP votes like Collins & Murkowski on Covid.
@SenSchumer
responds: "No. We made a big mistake in 2009 and '10. Susan Collins was part of that mistake. We cut back on the stimulus dramatically and we stayed in recession for 5 years."
New: Incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calls for Donald Trump to be thrown out of office immediately, either by the 25th Amendment or impeachment.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has told the White House he opposes release of the GOP memo because it contains inaccurate information and paints a false narrative, per
@cstrohm
@HouseInSession
.