Author: PolitCens

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday granted full pardons to former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former adviser Roger Stone, sweeping away the most important convictions made under the long-running Russia election probe.Trump also issued a full pardon for Charles Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.It was the second wave of pardons Trump has issued in two days. The announcement came just after Trump arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, for the holiday season, with Jared Kushner on the Air Force One flight with him.In total, Trump issued on Wednesday full pardons to 26 individuals and commuted part or all of the sentences of an additional three people.Facing the end of his term on Jan. 20, Trump has now granted full pardons to four major figures from U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign.Besides Manafort and Stone, Trump has pardoned former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former adviser George Papadopoulos.The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has been trying to prosecute Manafort in New York for mortgage fraud and other alleged crimes, said it would continue to pursue an appeal for its case, which was dismissed on double jeopardy grounds.”This action underscores the urgent need to hold Mr. Manafort accountable for his crimes against the People of New York as alleged in our indictment, and we will continue to pursue our appellate remedies,” said Danny Frost, spokesperson for the office.The Manafort pardon spared the long-time Republican operative from serving the bulk of his 7 1/2-year prison term.Manafort, 70, was among the first in Trump’s inner circle to face charges brought by Mueller as part of his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.In a statement relayed by his lawyer, Manafort expressed his appreciation to Trump.”Mr. President, my family & I humbly thank you for the Presidential Pardon you bestowed on me. Words cannot fully convey how grateful we are,” he said.Stone was convicted in November 2019 by a Washington jury of lying under oath to lawmakers also investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.Trump commuted his sentence in July, a day before Stone was due to begin serving a term of three years and four months. Stone, in a statement, thanked Trump for “completely erasing the criminal conviction to which I was subjected in a Soviet-style show trial on politically-motivated charges.”Charles Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty in 2004 to 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering and making unlawful campaign donations.In an unusual twist, the man who prosecuted Charles Kushner was Chris Christie, now the former governor of New Jersey, who also has served as an adviser to Trump.Christie was quoted by CNN as saying Charles Kushner’s case was “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” he prosecuted. During the case, Charles Kushner admitted to smearing his brother-in-law, who had cooperated with prosecutors, by hiring a prostitute to have sex with him in a motel room, then sending a secretly recorded video of the encounter to the man’s wife, Charles Kushner’s own sister.
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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden introduced Connecticut education commissioner Miguel Cardona as his education secretary nominee on Wednesday, touting him as a strong advocate of public schools who can lead the agency through struggles to educate students safely during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
 
“We can do it if we give school districts, communities and states the clear guidance and resources that aren’t already in their tight budgets,” Biden said Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware.  
 
Biden said educating students safely “requires someone who understands the need to prevent the pandemic from further exacerbating the inequities in our education system.”
 
The 45-year-old Cardona, who would be the first Latino to serve as education secretary if confirmed by the Senate, was appointed as Connecticut’s education chief just months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March.
 
Cardona embraced remote learning by quickly delivering more than 100,000 laptops to students across the state, but has since increasingly pushed for schools to reopen, saying continued remote learning was harmful to students.
 
Biden’s choice of Cardona delivers on his commitment to nominate someone with  public education experience who contrasts sharply with current Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
 
Unlike DeVos, a school choice proponent whom Biden maintains is an opponent of public schools, Cardona is a product of them, beginning in kindergarten when he was unable to speak English.
 
The grandson of immigrants, Cardona was raised in a housing project in Meriden, Connecticut, and was educated in the city’s public schools before returning to work as an elementary school teacher in the district in 1998. He eventually worked his way up to assistant superintendent of the district.
 
Speaking to reporters, sometimes in Spanish, Cardona said his bicultural upbringing gives him keen insight into how to resolve the nation’s education inequalities.
 
“I, being bilingual and bicultural, am as American as apple pie and rice and beans,” Cardona said.
 
“I know how challenging this year has been for students, for educators and for parents. I’ve lived those challenges alongside millions of American families,” Cardona added. “It’s taken some of our most painful longstanding disparities and wrenched them open even wider.”
 
Cardona said his first priority will be to expand in-person learning nationwide. Biden has vowed to have most U.S. schools reopened within his first 100 days in office.  
 
Biden said his administration will develop new federal guidelines on school opening decisions and launch a “large-scale” effort to identify and share the best methods to teach students during a pandemic.
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U.S. President Donald Trump vetoed a $740 billion bill setting policy for the Department of Defense on Wednesday, despite its strong support in Congress, raising the possibility that the measure will fail to become law for the first time in 60 years.Trump said he vetoed the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, because it “fails to include critical national security measures, includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military’s history, and contradicts efforts by my administration to put America first in our national security and foreign policy actions.””It is a ‘gift’ to China and Russia,” he said in a message to the House of Representatives.Although his previous eight vetoes were all upheld thanks to support from Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress, advisers said this one looked likely to be overridden, just weeks before he leaves office on January 20.Both the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-majority House of Representatives passed the 2021 NDAA with margins larger than the two-thirds majorities needed to override a veto.That means that Trump would have to persuade dozens of his fellow Republicans to throw out nearly a year’s work on the 4,500-page bill and start over.FILE – Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 7, 2020.Top advisers had urged Trump not to carry out his veto threat, citing the slim chance of stopping the bill. Many of Trump’s staunchest Republican supporters, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, said they would vote to override.”It’s simple, what this bill does,” Inhofe said when the measure passed the Senate. “It makes our country more secure, and it supports our troops who defend it.”Advisers said Trump had little to gain from a veto and it could hurt his party’s ability to hang on to two U.S. Senate seats from Georgia in a January 5 runoff vote.The Senate backed the bill 84 to 13, with the “no” votes coming from some of the most conservative Republicans and most liberal Democrats. The House backed the NDAA 335 to 78, with some “no” votes also coming from liberal Democrats less likely to back a Trump veto.The NDAA determines everything from how many ships are bought to how much service members are paid to how to address geopolitical threats. The measure Trump vetoed was a compromise, combining separate measures already passed in the House and Senate.Lawmakers take pride in the bill having become law every year since 1961, saying it reflects their support for the military.Trump’s veto, if upheld, would delay a 3% raise for active-duty service members.
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President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday not to sign a massive year-end bill passed by lawmakers that includes a $900 billion coronavirus aid package and $1.4 trillion in annual government funding. Trump said in a video that was tweeted out Tuesday night that the bill didn’t deliver enough aid to Americans. The bill provides for a $600 payment to most Americans. The president said he is asking Congress to “increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple. I am also asking Congress to get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill.” Both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the measure with overwhelming support late Monday, with lawmakers having only a few hours to look over the more than 5,000-page bill. They were facing a midnight deadline to keep the U.S. government funded.  FILE – Dusk falls as Congressional leaders hash out a massive, year-end catchall bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 21, 2020.Trump had been expected to sign the bill in the coming days.   The legislation comes after weeks of negotiations during which Democratic and Republican leaders clashed over how much government assistance to provide for coronavirus relief and whether the focus should be on items such as jobless benefits or keeping open the economy.     It also comes during a surge in COVID-19 infections, with the United States recording more than 18 million confirmed cases as of Tuesday night — adding about 200,000 cases per day — and with the country’s death toll standing at more than 322,000 people, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.  Details of bill   One of the main components of the bill is $600 direct payments to most people, with the amount phasing out for those with incomes above $75,000 per year. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said millions of Americans could begin seeing stimulus payments as soon as next week. A previous round of $1,200 stimulus payments was included in a much larger coronavirus relief bill in March.     The new bill also includes $284 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, an initiative meant to help businesses keep workers employed during a period in which the economic pressure of the pandemic may have forced added layoffs.     There is also $300 per week in unemployment benefits for 11 weeks, as well as $82 billion for local schools and universities, $25 billion in rental assistance, $15 billion for theaters and $10 billion for child care. There is also $4 billion to help other countries with vaccination efforts for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.     FILE – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, walks to his office from the Senate Floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 18, 2020.”The American people can rest assured that more help is on the way, immediately,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. Democrats had pushed for a much larger relief package, with the House passing a $3 trillion package in May and a $2 trillion version in October.  But Republicans opposed that level of spending and pushed for a more focused relief effort. Biden: More to comeWith President-elect Joe Biden set to take office in a month, Democrats are saying the new relief bill is just a first step of what is to come. “I applaud this relief package, but our work is far from over,” Biden tweeted early Tuesday.  “Starting in the new year, Congress will need to immediately get to work on support for our COVID-19 plan.” FILE – Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2020.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said anyone who considers the new aid as sufficient “hasn’t heard the desperation in the voices of their constituents, has not looked into the eyes of the small business owner on the brink of ruin.” McConnell, in comments to the Associated Press, signaled a wait-and-see approach from the Republicans. “My view about what comes next is let’s take a look at it,” he said. “Happy to evaluate that based upon the needs that we confront in February and March.” Any new round of spending will be highly dependent on two January 5 runoff elections for Senate seats representing the state of Georgia that will either keep Republicans in control of the chamber or give Democrats the advantage of holding both houses of Congress and the White House. The total $1.4 trillion spending package funds the U.S. government through September.     It includes an extension of tax breaks for numerous businesses for at least the next year, $45 billion for transportation needs including railroad operator Amtrak, and $13 billion for a major expansion in food stamps.  
 
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President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned 15 people, including Republican allies, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.Trump also commuted the sentences of five people. While it is not unusual for presidents to grant clemency on their way out the door, Trump has made clear that he has no qualms about intervening in the cases of friends and allies whom he believes have been treated unfairly. Despite speculation, though, not on the list were members of Trump’s own family, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and the president himself.U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., speaks to reporters as he leaves the courthouse after a pretrial hearing in his insider-trading case, in New York, Sept. 12, 2019.The pardons included former Republican Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York. Trump commuted the sentence of former Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas.Collins, the first member of Congress to endorse Trump to be president, was sentenced to two years and two months in federal prison after admitting he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 in stock market losses when he learned that a drug trial by a small pharmaceutical company had failed.Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing campaign funds and spending the money on everything from outings with friends to his daughter’s birthday party.FILE – In this Oct. 25, 2018, file photo, George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser who triggered the Russia investigation, arrives for his first appearance before congressional investigators, on Capitol Hill in Washington.Trump also announced pardons for allies ensnared in the Russia investigation. One was for George Papadopoulos, his 2016 campaign adviser whose conversation unwittingly helped trigger the Russia investigation that shadowed Trump’s presidency for nearly two years. He also pardoned Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer who was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.Van der Zwaan and Papadopoulos are the third and fourth Russia investigation defendants granted clemency. By pardoning them, Trump once again took aim at Mueller’s probe and pushed a broader effort to undo the results of the investigation that yielded criminal charges against a half-dozen associates.Last month, Trump pardoned former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and months earlier commuted the sentence of another associate, Roger Stone, days before he was to report to prison.In the group announced Tuesday night were four former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more a dozen Iraqi civilians dead and caused an international uproar over the use of private security guards in a war zone.Supporters of Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, the former contractors at Blackwater Worldwide, had lobbied for pardons, arguing that the men had been excessively punished in an investigation and prosecution they said was tainted by problems and withheld exculpatory evidence. All four were serving lengthy prison sentences.Last November, Trump pardoned a former U.S. Army commando who was set to stand trial next year in the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker and a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder for ordering his men to fire upon three Afghans.”Paul Slough and his colleagues didn’t deserve to spend one minute in prison,” said Brian Heberlig, a lawyer for one of the four pardoned Blackwater defendants. “I am overwhelmed with emotion at this fantastic news.”FILE – In this June 11, 2014 file photo, former Blackwater guard Nicholas Slatten leaves federal court in Washington, after the start of his first-degree murder trial.The Blackwater case has taken a complicated path since the killings at Baghdad’s Nisoor Square in September 2007, when the men, former veterans working as contractors for the State Department, opened fire at the crowded traffic circle.Prosecutors asserted the heavily armed Blackwater convoy launched an unprovoked attack using sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers. Defense lawyers argued their clients returned fire after being ambushed by Iraqi insurgents.They were convicted in 2014 after a monthslong trial in Washington’s federal court, and each man defiantly asserted his innocence at a sentencing hearing the following year.“I feel utterly betrayed by the same government I served honorably,” Slough told the court in a hearing packed by nearly 100 friends and relatives of the guards.Slough and two others, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, were sentenced to 30 years in prison, though after a federal appeals court ordered them to be re-sentenced, they were each given substantially shorter punishments. A fourth, Nicholas Slatten, whom prosecutors blamed for igniting the firefight, was sentenced to life in prison.A federal appeals court later cut Slatten’s first-degree murder conviction, but the Justice Department tried him again and secured another life sentence last year.The trial was held years after a first indictment against the men was dismissed when a judge ruled that the Justice Department had withheld evidence from a grand jury and violated the guards’ constitutional rights. The dismissal outraged many Iraqis, who said it showed Americans considered themselves above the law.
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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Miguel Cardona, currently Connecticut’s commissioner of education, to be secretary of education, according to news reports.Cardona took his current post just months before the coronavirus pandemic hit, becoming the first Latino to hold the job.Cardona reportedly embraced remote learning, but has recently been pushing for schools to reopen, saying continued remote learning was harmful.“Our position has always been when you can get students into the classroom, that’s the best option,” Cardona told state lawmakers in October, according to the Associated Press. “There is no replacement for that experience in the classroom with a teacher.”Cardona, 45, attended public schools in Meriden, Connecticut, and later became a fourth-grade teacher. By the age of 28, he was the youngest principal in the state. He later would become assistant superintendent of the city’s schools.Biden also announced appointments to his White House staff, including Bruce Reed who will serve as deputy chief of staff. Reed was Biden’s chief of staff while Biden was vice president. 
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President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday expressed empathy with struggling families and applauded Congress for passing the coronavirus relief bill as the nation deals with a COVID-19 surge that’s casting a shadow over the Christmas holiday. He called out to frontline workers, scientists, researchers, clinical trial participants and those with deployed family members during the holiday season. “Our hearts are always with you — keep the faith,” he said in a year-end address from Wilmington, Delaware. Noting the ways that the pandemic has altered his own holiday celebrations, which typically include up to two dozen relatives, Biden said, “not this year.” “This season of reflection carries a much deeper meaning than it usually does,” Biden said, encouraging Americans to continue to take precautions to try to stem the spread of the virus, which has now killed more than 320,000 people in the United States. “Jill and I send our prayers, as I’m sure all of you do, to all that are facing this dark winter,” he said, referring to his wife. The day before, Biden got vaccinated on live television as part of an effort to reassure people that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe.  Biden Receives COVID-19 VaccinationThe president-elect is inoculated on live television as US case count surpasses 18 million”I look forward to the second shot, and I have absolute confidence in the vaccine,” Biden said. “But we’re in short supply.” On the $900 billion coronavirus aid bill passed by Congress on Monday, Biden called the bill a “down payment” on a broader relief bill he plans to introduce when he takes office in January. “Like all compromises, this is far from perfect,” Biden said. “Congress did their job this week, and I can and I must ask them to do it again next year.” Staff appointmentsOn Tuesday, Biden’s team also announced a new round of White House staff appointments, led by longtime aide Bruce Reed as deputy chief of staff. Reed served as Biden’s chief of staff during his first term as vice president and has long been a close member of Biden’s inner circle of advisers. But throughout the weeks of speculation over Biden’s Cabinet selections, progressives have expressed concerns about what they see as Reed’s moderate political views and fiscal conservatism. Progressives notched a win in the latest round of staff announcements, however, with the appointment of Gautam Raghavan as deputy director of the office of presidential personnel. Raghavan served as chief of staff to Representative Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and in his new position he’ll help evaluate applicants for thousands of federal jobs and appointments throughout the administration. Biden has also appointed Anne Filipic as director of management and administration, Ryan Montoya as director of scheduling and advance, Vinay Reddy as director of speechwriting and Elizabeth Wilkins as a senior adviser to the chief of staff. All are alumni of the Obama-Biden administration, and Montoya and Reddy worked on Biden’s campaign as well. 
 
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The U.S. Congress has passed a massive year-end bill that includes both a $900 billion coronavirus aid package as well as $1.4 trillion in annual government funding.Both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the measure with overwhelming support late Monday, with lawmakers having only a few hours to look over the more than 5,000-page bill.  They were facing a midnight deadline to keep the U.S. government funded.President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill in the coming days.The legislation comes after weeks of negotiations during which Democratic and Republican leaders clashed over how much government assistance to provide for coronavirus relief and whether the focus should be on items such as jobless benefits or keeping open the economy.Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters on an agreement of a COVID-19 aid package with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Capitol Hill Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2020.“There will be another major rescue package for the American people,” McConnell said in a statement Sunday. “As our citizens continue battling the coronavirus this holiday season, they will not be fighting alone.”House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the relief bill is just a first step.“It is not the end of the story, it is not the end of the job,” Schumer told reporters. “Anyone who thinks this bill is enough does not know what’s going on in America.”President-elect Joe Biden praised the bipartisan spirit that produced the measure, which he called “just the beginning.”Work on the bill was stalled by disagreements between Democrats and Republicans about key issues for both sides. It does not include the legal liability protections for businesses that Republicans sought, nor did it have extra aid for state and local governments that Democrats wanted.The total $1.4 trillion spending package funds the U.S. government through September.It includes an extension of tax breaks for numerous businesses for at least the next year, $45 billion for transportation needs including Amtrak, and $13 billion for a major expansion in food stamps.  
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Outgoing Attorney General William Barr said he saw “no reason” to appoint a special counsel on potential election fraud or the tax investigation into the son of President-elect Joe Biden.  Barr said Monday in his final press conference that the investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial dealings was “being handled responsibly and professionally.”  “I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave,” he said.  Barr also told The Associated Press in a previous interview that he had seen no evidence of widespread voting fraud, despite President Donald Trump’s claims to the contrary. Trump has continued to push baseless claims even after the Electoral College formalized Biden’s victory.  Trump has been weighing whether to push the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel, which would make it harder for Biden to shut down either investigation. But it’s not clear how he would do it without buy-in from Justice officials. 
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Outgoing Attorney General William Barr said he saw “no reason” to appoint a special counsel on potential election fraud or the tax investigation into the son of President-elect Joe Biden.  Barr said Monday in his final press conference that the investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial dealings was “being handled responsibly and professionally.”  “I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave,” he said.  Barr also told The Associated Press in a previous interview that he had seen no evidence of widespread voting fraud, despite President Donald Trump’s claims to the contrary. Trump has continued to push baseless claims even after the Electoral College formalized Biden’s victory.  Trump has been weighing whether to push the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel, which would make it harder for Biden to shut down either investigation. But it’s not clear how he would do it without buy-in from Justice officials. 
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Undeterred by dismissals and admonitions from judges, President Donald Trump’s campaign continued with its unprecedented efforts to overturn the results of the November 3 election Sunday, saying it had filed a new petition with the Supreme Court.The petition seeks to reverse a trio of Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases having to do with mail-in ballots and asks the court to reject voters’ will and allow the Pennsylvania General Assembly to pick its own slate of electors.While the prospect of the highest court in the land throwing out the results of a democratic election based on unfounded charges of voter fraud is extraordinarily unlikely, it wouldn’t change the outcome. President-elect Joe Biden would still be the winner even without Pennsylvania because of his wide margin of victory in the Electoral College.”The petition seeks all appropriate remedies, including vacating the appointment of electors committed to Joseph Biden and allowing the Pennsylvania General Assembly to select their replacements,” Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said in a statement.He is asking the court to move swiftly so it can rule before Congress meets January 6 to tally the vote of the Electoral College, which decisively confirmed Biden’s win with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. But the justices are not scheduled to meet again, even privately, until January 8, two days after Congress counts votes.Pennsylvania last month certified Biden as the winner of the state’s 20 Electoral College votes after three weeks of vote counting and a string of failed legal challenges.Trump’s campaign and his allies have now filed roughly 50 lawsuits alleging widespread voting fraud. Almost all have been dismissed or dropped because there is no evidence to support their allegations.Trump has lost before judges of both political parties, including some he appointed. And some of his strongest rebukes have come from conservative Republicans. The Supreme Court has also refused to take up two cases — decisions that Trump has scorned.The new case is at least the fourth involving Pennsylvania that Trump’s campaign or Republican allies have taken to the Supreme Court in a bid to overturn Biden’s victory in the state or at least reverse court decisions involving mail-in balloting. Many more cases were filed in state and federal courts. Roughly 10,000 mail-in ballots that arrived after polls closed but before a state court-ordered deadline remain in limbo, awaiting the highest court’s decision on whether they should be counted. 
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As the U.S. state of Georgia begins early voting in a pair of runoff elections that will determine party control of the U.S. Senate, many Republicans are debating whether to vote in a system they believe to be fraudulent.“I think the presidential election was rigged,” Georgia resident Kyle Huneycutt, a Republican voter, told VOA, referring to the November 3 election that saw Joe Biden, a Democrat, defeat Republican President Donald Trump. “And I have very little confidence in Georgia’s capacity to conduct a fair and accurate election in January, either.”A POLITICO/Morning Consult survey from last month showed that even though there is a lack of evidence of widespread cheating, 70% of Republicans do not believe the November 3 presidential election was free and fair.Over the past six weeks, some notable Trump supporters – including Sidney Powell, a former member of the president’s legal team, and high-profile Georgia attorney Lin Wood – have encouraged Georgia Republicans to boycott the January 5 elections that will pit Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler against Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and the Reverend Raphael Warnock.“Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election?” Wood asked attendees at a recent rally in an Atlanta suburb.“I don’t trust the election will be fair,” Huneycutt said, “but if we don’t vote, it guarantees we lose the Senate. And that’s unacceptable.”People cast their ballots in the U.S. Senate runoff elections on the first day of early voting in Atlanta, Georgia, Dec. 14, 2020.To vote or not to voteWith President-elect Biden to be sworn in on January 20 and with Democrats retaining control of the House of Representatives, many see the U.S. Senate as Republicans’ last chance to protect what they consider to be the accomplishments of Trump’s administration and to block the legislative agenda of the incoming one.“I’m voting Republican on January 5 because losing the White House, House and Senate to the Democrats scares the bejesus out of me!” explained Alberto Perez, who lives in Blairsville, in rural, northern Georgia.When asked if he believed voter fraud took place during the November election, Perez said he was unsure.“I honestly don’t know what to think,” he said, adding he had many unanswered questions. “I understand evidence is needed to prove your case, but I also know that lack of evidence doesn’t necessarily mean lack of fraud – it might also just mean a lack of evidence for now.”Trump and his campaign warned of voter fraud in the months leading up to the election as the coronavirus pandemic prompted many states – including Georgia – to expand opportunities for mail-in voting.In the weeks since the election, Trump has attacked the outcome, insisting he is, in fact, the winner.Members of Georgia’s Electoral College are sworn in before casting their votes at the state Capitol, Dec. 14, 2020, in Atlanta.According to Marc Elias, a lawyer leading Democrats’ fight against these challenges, the president and his allies have brought 60 cases alleging voter fraud before various courts in key swing states, six of them in Georgia. To date, 59 of those cases have been defeated in court while the one Republican victory affected only a small number of ballots in Pennsylvania — nowhere near the number needed to overturn Biden’s 80,000-vote lead.Among the most targeted subjects of Trump’s ire have been two leading Georgia officials, Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Trump has repeatedly said the two haven’t done enough to uncover fraud in the November election and is now demanding an audit of signatures on mail-in ballots even after two recounts (including one hand tally) both declared Biden the winner.This prompted some experts to speculate that accusations of fraud could cause Republican voters to sit out the Senate runoff elections, succumbing to a feeling that a rigged system means their votes don’t matter.“What I’m hearing and reading is that some Republicans are expressing they won’t be voting,” said Charles S. Bullock, professor of political science at the University of Georgia, “not because they’re rejecting senators Perdue or Loeffler, but because what the president has said has made them dubious of the integrity of the political system.”An alternate slate of electors nominated by the Republican Party of Georgia cast their own electoral votes for President Donald Trump Vice President Mike Pence at the Georgia State Capitol, Dec. 14, 2020.A tight electionOn social media platforms Twitter and Parler, hashtags such as #StoptheSteal show what appear to be Republican voters suggesting they will not cast a ballot in the upcoming runoffs because of a distrust in the election system or a distaste in voting for two senators they feel aren’t adequately fighting for their embattled president. It is unclear how this translates to votes, however. But Perez doesn’t believe the infighting – real or perceived – will affect the election.“Trump followers are more clear-eyed than we’re given credit for,” he said, when asked about a December 5 rally Trump held in Georgia to rail against the election results and also to support senators Perdue and Loeffler. “Yes, he came here and was critical of Kemp’s disappearing act and Raffensperger’s refusal to match signatures, but he also encouraged everyone there to vote early for our senators.”Georgia Sen. David Perdue speaks during a runoff campaign rally with Vice President Mike Pence, Dec. 10, 2020, in Augusta, Georgia.Perez believes it was important for the senators to be seen on stage with Trump, who remains extremely popular among Republican voters. But some experts wonder if the rift in the GOP – for example, Trump recently called Kemp “a fool” on Twitter for not pushing harder for signature verification – could be enough to turn the election in the Democrats’ favor.“You like to have a party together in advance of an election, but there’s a lot of public bickering taking place among Republicans,” Bullock said. “It’s impossible to say how big of an effect that will have on who votes and who doesn’t, but in races as tight as these look to be, that could make all the difference.”As the election nears, the GOP senators hold a slight lead over their Democratic challengers, according to a poll this week by Emerson College. Huneycutt believes that’s because voters share the same motivation he has for voting on January 5.“This election isn’t about Perdue and Loeffler – it’s about the ‘R’ beside their name,” he said, referring to their membership in the Republican Party. “It’s about keeping control of the Senate … My vote might not matter if there’s fraud, but my job as a citizen is still to vote.” 
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Top congressional lawmakers struck a late-night agreement on the last major obstacle to a COVID-19 economic relief package costing nearly $1 trillion, clearing the way for votes as early as Sunday.A Democratic aide said in an email that an agreement had been reached late Saturday and that compromise language was being finalized to seal a deal to be unveiled on Sunday.The breakthrough involved a fight over Federal Reserve emergency powers that was defused by an odd couple: the Senate’s top Democrat and a senior conservative Republican.“We’re getting very close, very close,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said earlier Saturday as he spent much of the day going back and forth with GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Toomey had been pressing a provision to close down Fed lending facilities that Democrats and the White House said was too broadly worded and would have tied the hands of the incoming Biden administration.The COVID-19 legislation has been held up after months of disfunction, posturing and bad faith, but talks turned serious in December as lawmakers on both sides finally faced the deadline of acting before exiting Washington for Christmas.The bill, lawmakers and aides say, would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefits and $600 direct stimulus payments to most Americans, along with a fresh round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and funding for schools, health care providers, and renters facing eviction.Schumer said he hoped both the House and Senate would vote on the measure Sunday. That would take more cooperation than the Senate can usually muster, but a government shutdown deadline loomed at midnight Sunday and all sides were eager to leave for Christmas.Fed emergency programsToomey defended his controversial provision in a floor speech, saying the emergency powers were designed to stabilize capital markets at the height of the COVID panic this spring and were expiring at the end of the month anyway. The language he had sought would block the Biden administration from restarting them.Toomey has a stubborn streak and Democrats held firm as well, but both sides saw the need for a compromise to clear the way for the $900 billion-plus COVID-19 relief measure, which was being attached to a $1.4 trillion government-wide spending bill and a host of other bills that compiled much of Capitol Hill’s remaining legislative output of the Trump era.At issue were Fed emergency programs, launched amid the pandemic this spring, that provided loans to small and mid-size businesses and bought state and local government bonds. Those bond purchases made it easier for those governments to borrow, at a time when their finances were under pressure from job losses and health costs stemming from the pandemic.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said last month that those programs, along with two that purchased corporate bonds, would close at the end of the year, prompting an initial objection by the Fed. Under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law passed after the Great Recession, the Fed can only set up emergency programs with the support of the treasury secretary.Democrats in Congress also said that Toomey was trying to limit the Fed’s ability to boost the economy, just as Biden prepared to take office.“This is about existing authorities that the Fed has had for a very long time, to be able to use in an emergency,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. “It’s about a lending authority for helping small businesses, state government, local government in the middle of a crisis.”Toomey disputed that charge, saying his proposal “is emphatically not a broad overhaul of the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending authority.”Pandemic surgingThe massive package would wrap much of Capitol Hill’s unfinished 2020 business into a take-it-or-leave-it measure that promised to be a foot thick or more. House lawmakers would probably have only a few hours to study it before voting as early as Sunday night.A Senate vote would follow, possibly on Monday. One more short-term funding bill would be needed to avoid the looming deadline — or a partial shutdown of non-essential agencies would start on Monday.The $900 billion package was being finished as the pandemic delivered its most fearsome surge yet, killing more than 3,000 victims per day and straining the health care system. While vaccines were on the way, most people wouldn’t get them for months. Jobless claims were on the rise.The emerging agreement would deliver more than $300 billion in aid to businesses as well as the extra $300-per-week for the jobless and renewal of state benefits that would otherwise expire right after Christmas. It included $600 direct payments to individuals; vaccine distribution funds; and money for renters, schools, the Postal Service and people needing food aid.It would be the first significant legislative response to the pandemic since the landmark CARES Act passed virtually unanimously in March, delivering $1.8 trillion in aid, more generous $600 per week bonus jobless benefits and $1,200 direct payments to individuals.The governmentwide appropriations bill would fund agencies through next September. That measure was likely to provide a last $1.4 billion installment for President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall as a condition of winning his signature.
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The Pentagon is proposing to end an arrangement in which a single military officer leads two of the nation’s main cybersecurity organizations, a move that a leading Democrat said Saturday makes him “profoundly concerned” amid a large-scale hacking campaign on U.S. government computer systems.Representative Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a letter to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller that he objected to the way the Pentagon was going about splitting off U.S. Cyber Command from the National Security Agency.Both organizations currently are headed by Army General Paul Nakasone, an arrangement known as “dual-hatting.””Any action to sever the dual-hat relationship could have grave impacts on our national security, especially during a time that the country is wrestling with what may be the most damaging cyberattack in our country’s history,” Smith wrote.Major breachSmith was referring to revelations that elite hackers gained access to U.S. government computer systems over a monthslong period before being detected. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that Russia was “pretty clearly” behind the hack, which is ongoing. On Saturday, President Donald Trump suggested without evidence that China — not Russia — might be behind the hack and tried to minimize its impact.A U.S. official confirmed Saturday that the Pentagon has a plan for separating the National Security Agency and Cyber Command. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal matter not publicly announced.In his letter to Miller, Smith said the Pentagon has not met conditions set by the 2017 defense bill for severing the NSA from Cyber Command. Those conditions include certification by the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that ending the “dual-hat” arrangement will not hurt national security.Smith sent a similar letter to General Mark A. Milley, the Joint Chiefs chairman.A spokesman for Milley, Colonel Dave Butler, said Milley had “not officially reviewed or endorsed the proposal” for splitting the two organizations.The notion of splitting NSA from Cyber Command goes back to the Obama administration, which proposed to elevate the status of Cyber Command by making it a unified military command, taking it from under the purview of U.S. Strategic Command. The move reflected growing concern about cyber security.Trump gave OKThat move was approved by President Donald Trump in 2017, and it was foreseen that at some point Cyber Command would split away from the NSA, although such a move had strong opponents in Congress.It’s not clear whom the Trump administration might install as head of the NSA if it were split from Cyber Command before President-elect Joe Biden takes office January 20.Smith questioned the legality and timing of the Pentagon’s proposal to split the organizations.”I am deeply concerned about measures to terminate the dual-hat structure and request that you immediately consult with the House Armed Services Committee regarding any potential efforts to take such action,” Smith wrote in his letter to Milley, which Smith made public on Saturday.”Further, given that no assessment has been completed and no certification has been issued, I remind you that any action to terminate the dual-hat relationship with NSA and Cyber Command is not only inadvisable, but is contrary to law.”
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Negotiators were down to a handful of issues as they sought to finalize an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package Saturday, still optimistic the overdue talks would soon produce an agreement. The Senate convened a Saturday session, while House members stood by for a vote that will come no earlier than Sunday.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said a provision by Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would curb emergency Federal Reserve powers was the biggest hurdle to sealing a deal.”That has to be resolved. And then everything will fall into place,” she said. “It’s a very significant difference.”Democrats said Toomey’s stand on the Fed would deprive President-elect Joe Biden of crucial tools to manage the economy.Sunday deadlineA new deadline of midnight Sunday for a government shutdown served as a backstop for the tortuous negotiations, which were being conducted in secret largely among the top four leaders in Congress.”We need to conclude our talks, draft legislation and land this plane,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.A spokesman for Pelosi said she told Democratic colleagues on a Saturday conference call that “we’re right within reach.”FILE – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California speaks during her weekly briefing, Dec. 4, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington.Final pushThe massive package would wrap much of Capitol Hill’s unfinished 2020 business into a take-it-or-leave-it measure that promised to be a foot thick or more. House lawmakers will probably have only a few hours to study it before voting as early as Sunday afternoon. A Senate vote would follow, probably on Monday. One more short-term funding bill probably would be needed to avoid the looming deadline.An agreement in principle Saturday would be a precursor to more hours of translating compromises into detailed legislation. Lawmakers are eager to exit Washington and close out a tumultuous year.House lawmakers were told they wouldn’t have to report to work Saturday but that a Sunday session was likely. The Senate scheduled votes on nominations Saturday.The $900 billion package comes as the pandemic is delivering its most fearsome surge yet, killing more than 3,000 people a day and straining the health care system. While vaccines are on the way, most people won’t get them for months. Jobless claims are rising.The emerging agreement would deliver more than $300 billion in aid to businesses and provide the jobless a $300-per-week bonus federal unemployment benefit and renewal of state benefits that would otherwise expire right after Christmas. It includes $600 direct payments to individuals, vaccine distribution funds and money for renters, schools, the Postal Service and people needing food aid.FILE – Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is pictured at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 3, 2020.Effort to bar Fed lendingToomey’s provision, a feature of GOP bills that failed to advance this fall, would close down more than $400 billion in potential Fed lending powers established under legislation in March. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is shutting down the programs at the end of December, but Toomey’s language goes further, by barring the Fed from restarting the lending next year.”As we navigate through an unprecedented economic crisis, it is in the interests of the American people to maintain the Fed’s ability to respond quickly and forcefully,” said Brian Deese, an economic adviser to Biden. “Undermining that authority could mean less lending to Main Street businesses, higher unemployment and greater economic pain across the nation.”The Fed programs provided loans to small and midsized businesses and bought state and local government bonds, making it easier for those governments to borrow, at a time when their finances are under pressure from the pandemic.The Fed would need the support of the Treasury Department to restart the programs, which Biden’s Treasury secretary nominee, Janet Yellen, a former Fed chair, probably would provide. The Treasury could also provide funds to backstop those programs without congressional approval and could ease the lending requirements. That could encourage more lending under the programs, which have seen only limited use so far.CARES ActThe developing package is the first significant legislative response to the pandemic since the landmark CARES Act passed virtually unanimously in March, delivering $1.8 trillion in aid, more generous $600-per-week bonus jobless benefits and $1,200 direct payments to individuals.The new relief aid would be added to a $1.4 trillion governmentwide appropriations bill that would fund agencies through next September. That measure is likely to provide a last $1.4 billion installment for Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall as a condition of winning his signature.
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Congress passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night, averting a partial government shutdown and buying yet more time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package.The virus aid talks remained on track, both sides said, but closing out final disagreements was proving difficult. Weekend sessions were on tap, and House leaders hoped for a vote on Sunday on the massive package, which wraps much of Capitol Hill’s unfinished 2020 business into a take-it-or-leave-it behemoth.The House passed the temporary funding bill by a 320-60 vote. The Senate approved it by voice vote almost immediately afterward, and President Donald Trump signed it late Friday.U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, walks to his office from the Senate Floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 18, 2020.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said both sides remain intent on closing the deal, even as Democrats launched a concerted campaign to block an effort by Republicans to rein in emergency Federal Reserve lending powers. The Democrats said the GOP proposal would deprive President-elect Joe Biden of crucial tools to manage the economy.Negotiations continued into Friday night, but an agreement wasn’t likely before Saturday, lawmakers and aides said. House lawmakers were told they wouldn’t have to report to work on Saturday but that a Sunday session was likely. The Senate will be voting on nominations.FILE – Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asks questions during a hearing in Washington, Dec. 16, 2020.The $900 billion package comes as the pandemic is delivering its most fearsome surge yet, killing more than 3,000 victims per day and straining the nation’s health care system. While vaccines are on the way, most people won’t get them for months. Jobless claims are on the rise.The emerging agreement would deliver more than $300 billion in aid to businesses and provide the jobless a $300-per-week bonus federal unemployment benefit and renewal of state benefits that would otherwise expire right after Christmas. It also includes $600 direct payments to individuals, vaccine distribution funds, and money for renters, schools, the Postal Service and people needing food aid.Democrats on Friday came out swinging at a key obstacle: a provision by conservative Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania that would close down more than $400 billion in potential Federal Reserve lending powers established under a relief bill in March. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is shutting down the programs at the end of December, but Toomey’s language goes further, by barring the Fed from restarting the lending next year, and Democrats say the provision would tie Biden’s hands and put the economy at risk.FILE – Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., speaks via video conference during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2020.”As we navigate through an unprecedented economic crisis, it is in the interests of the American people to maintain the Fed’s ability to respond quickly and forcefully,” said Biden economic adviser Brian Deese. “Undermining that authority could mean less lending to Main Street businesses, higher unemployment and greater economic pain across the nation.”The Fed programs at issue provided loans to small- and mid-sized businesses and bought state and local government bonds, making it easier for those governments to borrow, at a time when their finances are under pressure from the pandemic.FILE – Janet Yellen, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to be treasury secretary, speaks in Wilmington, Delaware, Dec. 1, 2020.The Fed would need the support of the Treasury Department to restart the programs, which Biden’s Treasury secretary nominee, Janet Yellen, a former Fed chair, would likely provide. Treasury could also provide funds to backstop those programs without congressional approval and could ease the lending requirements. That could encourage more lending under the programs, which have seen only limited use so far.Friday opened on an optimistic note after the talks appeared stalled for much of Thursday.The pending bill is the first significant legislative response to the pandemic since the landmark CARES Act passed virtually unanimously in March, delivering $1.8 trillion in aid, more generous $600 per week bonus jobless benefits and $1,200 direct payments to individuals.FILE – U.S. Senator John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 8, 2020.The COVID-19 package would be added to a $1.4 trillion governmentwide appropriations bill that would fund federal agencies through next September. That measure is likely to provide a last $1.4 billion installment for Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall as a condition of winning his signature.For Republicans, the most important COVID-19 aid provision was a long-sought second round of “paycheck protection” payments to especially hard-hit businesses and renewal of soon-to-expire state jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.Democrats have been denied fiscal relief for states and local governments, a top priority, and they won a supplemental COVID-19 unemployment benefit that was only half the size of what the CARES Act delivered. Democrats also won $25 billion to help struggling renters with their payments and $45 billion for airlines and transit systems, but some critics on the left said Democratic negotiators were getting outmaneuvered.
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Congress swiftly passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night to avert a partial government shutdown, trying to buy time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said early in the day he was “even more optimistic now than I was last night,” but Democrats launched a concerted campaign to block an effort by Republicans to rein in emergency Federal Reserve lending powers. They said the GOP proposal would deprive President-elect Joe Biden of crucial tools to manage the economy.U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, walks to his office from the Senate Floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 18, 2020.Funding for the government was to lapse at midnight, and a partial, low-impact shutdown would have ensued if Congress had failed to pass the stopgap spending bill. All essential federal workers would have remained on the job, and most government offices are closed on the weekend anyway.FILE – Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asks questions during a hearing in Washington, Dec. 16, 2020.The two-day stopgap bill could have been stopped by a single senator voicing an objection, but the most likely Republican to do so, Josh Hawley of Missouri, announced he would not block the measure after receiving assurances that direct payments for individuals were included in the broader measure.Democrats came out swinging at a key obstacle: a provision by conservative Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would close down more than $400 billion in potential Federal Reserve lending powers established under a relief bill in March. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is shutting down the programs at the end of December, but Toomey’s language goes further, by barring the Fed from restarting the lending next year, and Democrats say the provision would tie Biden’s hands and put the economy at risk.FILE – Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., speaks via video conference during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2020.”As we navigate through an unprecedented economic crisis, it is in the interests of the American people to maintain the Fed’s ability to respond quickly and forcefully,” said Biden economic adviser Brian Deese. “Undermining that authority could mean less lending to Main Street businesses, higher unemployment and greater economic pain across the nation.”The key Fed programs at issue provided loans to small and midsized businesses and bought state and local government bonds, making it easier for those governments to borrow, at a time when their finances are under pressure from the pandemic.FILE – Janet Yellen, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to be treasury secretary, speaks in Wilmington, Delaware, Dec. 1, 2020.The Fed would need the support of the Treasury Department to restart the programs, which Biden’s Treasury secretary nominee, Janet Yellen, a former Fed chair, would likely provide. Treasury could also provide funds to backstop those programs without congressional approval and could ease the lending requirements. That could encourage more lending under the programs, which have seen only limited use so far.The battle obscured progress on other elements of the hoped-for agreement. After being bogged down for much of Thursday, negotiators turned more optimistic, though the complexity of finalizing the remaining issues and drafting agreements in precise legislative form was proving daunting.The central elements appeared in place: more than $300 billion in aid to businesses; a $300-per-week bonus federal jobless benefit and renewal of soon-to-expire state benefits; $600 direct payments to individuals; vaccine distribution funds; and money for renters, schools, the Postal Service and people needing food aid.Lawmakers were told to expect to be in session and voting this weekend.The delays weren’t unusual for legislation of this size and importance, but lawmakers are eager to leave Washington for the holidays and are getting antsy.The pending bill is the first significant legislative response to the pandemic since the landmark CARES Act passed virtually unanimously in March, delivering $1.8 trillion in aid, more generous $600-per-week bonus jobless benefits and $1,200 direct payments to individuals.Change in focusThe CARES legislation passed at a moment of great uncertainty and unprecedented shutdowns aimed at stopping the coronavirus, but after that, many Republicans focused more on loosening social and economic restrictions as the key to recovery instead of more taxpayer-funded aid.Now, Republicans are motivated chiefly to extend business subsidies and some jobless benefits and provide money for schools and vaccines. Democrats have focused on bigger economic stimulus measures and more help for those struggling economically during the pandemic. The urgency was underscored Thursday by the weekly unemployment numbers, which revealed that 885,000 people applied for jobless benefits last week, the highest weekly total since September.The emerging package falls well short of the $2 trillion-plus Democrats were demanding this fall before the election, but Biden is eager for an aid package to prop up the economy and help the jobless and poor. While he says more economic stimulus will be needed early next year, some Republicans say the current package may be the last.FILE – U.S. Senator John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Dec. 8, 2020.”If we address the critical needs right now, and things improve next year as the vaccine gets out there and the economy starts to pick up again, you know, there may be less of a need,” said Senator John Thune of South Dakota.Most economists, however, strongly support additional economic stimulus as necessary to keep businesses and households afloat through what is widely expected to be a tough winter. Many forecast the economy could shrink in the first three months of 2021 without more help. Standard & Poor’s said in a report Tuesday that the economy would be 1.5 percentage points smaller in 2021 without more aid.The details were still being worked out, but the measure includes a second round of “paycheck protection” payments to especially hard-hit businesses, $25 billion to help struggling renters with their payments, $45 billion for airlines and transit systems, a temporary 15% or so increase in food stamp benefits, additional farm subsidies, and a $10 billion bailout for the Postal Service.The emerging package would combine the $900 billion in COVID-19 relief with a $1.4 trillion governmentwide funding bill. Then there are numerous unrelated add-ons.A key breakthrough occurred earlier this week when Democrats agreed to drop their much-sought $160 billion state and local government aid package in exchange for McConnell’s abandoning a key priority of his own — a liability shield for businesses and other institutions such as universities fearing COVID-19 lawsuits.  
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