Author: PolitCens

It’s a hurry up and wait moment on Capitol Hill as congressional negotiators on a must-pass, almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package struggled through a handful of remaining snags. The holdups mean a weekend session now appears virtually certain, and a top lawmaker warned that a government shutdown this weekend can’t be ruled out.All sides appeared hopeful that the wrangling wouldn’t derail the legislation, even as the chances for announcing a deal Thursday slipped away. After being bogged down for much of the day, negotiators reported behind-the-scenes progress Thursday night.The central elements of a hard-fought compromise 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.But a temporary funding bill runs out Friday at midnight and the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, Sen. John Thune, said if there isn’t a deal by then, some Republicans might block a temporary funding bill — causing a low-impact partial weekend shutdown — as a means to keep the pressure on.Lawmakers were told to expect to be in session and voting this weekend.“We must not slide into treating these talks like routine negotiations to be conducted at Congress’ routine pace,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. “The Senate is not going anywhere until we have COVID relief out the door.”Getting antsyThe hang-ups involved an effort by GOP conservatives to curb emergency lending programs by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, a Democratic demand to eliminate local government matching requirements for COVID-related disaster grants, and myriad smaller disagreements over non-pandemic add-ons, lawmakers and aides said.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 and more generous $600 per week bonus jobless benefits and $1,200 direct payments to individuals.The CARES legislation passed at a moment of great uncertainty and unprecedented shutdowns in a failed attempt to stymie 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 President-elect Joe Biden is eager for an aid package to prop up the economy and help the jobless and hungry. While Biden says more economic stimulus will be needed early next year, some Republicans say the current package may be the last.“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,” Thune said.’Ash and trash’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.Some Democrats also mourned the exclusion of a $500 million aid package to help states run their elections. The money was seen as urgent this summer to help states more safely administer their elections in the middle of the pandemic. But with the election over, momentum for the money has gone away.The emerging package was serving as a magnet for adding on other items, and the two sides continued to swap offers. It was apparent that another temporary spending bill would be needed to prevent a government shutdown. That was likely to pass easily, though possibly not until the last minute.The emerging package would combine the $900 billion in COVID-19 relief with a $1.4 trillion government-wide funding bill. Then there are numerous unrelated add-ons that are catching a ride, known as “ash and trash” in appropriations panel shorthand.One leading candidate is an almost 400-page water resources bill that targets $10 billion for 46 Army Corps of Engineers flood control, environmental and coastal protection projects. Another potential addition would extend a batch of soon-to-expire tax breaks, including one for craft brewers, wineries and distillers.The end-of-session rush also promises relief for victims of shockingly steep surprise medical bills, a phenomenon that often occurs when providers drop out of insurance company networks.“It’s been very thoroughly vetted,” said retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., of the surprise medical billing measure. That measure, combined with an assortment of other health policy provisions, generates savings for federal funding for community health centers.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 abandoning a key priority of his own — a liability shield for businesses and other institutions like universities fearing COVID-19 lawsuits.The addition of the $600 direct payments came after recent endorsements from both President Donald Trump and progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, along with ambitious GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. The idea isn’t very popular in other corners since it’s extremely costly and would give money to millions of people who may not need it, but it has enormous political appeal and proved difficult to stop.
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U.S. lawmakers are nearing agreement on an almost $750 billion aid deal addressing the economic impact of the coronavirus.“We made major headway toward hammering out a targeted pandemic relief package that would be able to pass both chambers with bipartisan majorities,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor Wednesday.The aid package is based on a $908 billion proposal unveiled by a bipartisan group of senators Monday and will likely set aside the two major points of contention between the parties: business liability protections and state and local aid.FILE – A restaurant closed for indoor dining to curb the spread of COVID-19 is seen in New York City, Dec. 15, 2020.McConnell has suggested that to pass more funding for coronavirus relief, lawmakers set aside what he said are those two key points of disagreement — Republicans’ request for liability protections for businesses to reopen without fear of lawsuits related to the pandemic, and Democrats’ request for more state and local funding, in part to address shortfalls in payments to front-line emergency workers.  “We all know the new administration is going to be asking for another package. We can live to fight another day on what we disagree on. But we ought to agree to go forward on what we can agree on,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday.  Congressional Democrats previously rejected the proposal, saying it would leave behind emergency workers and slow down the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not mention state and local aid in the list of Democratic priorities Wednesday.FILE – Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2020.“We Democrats would have liked to go considerably further. But this won’t be the last time Congress speaks on COVID relief,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, referencing the disease caused by the coronavirus.After an encouraging meeting late Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Schumer and McConnell are set to meet again Wednesday afternoon.Without a deal, several key programs are set to expire at the end of month, including unemployment aid that reaches 12 million out-of-work Americans and a rental eviction moratorium that is keeping an estimated 40 million Americans sheltered during the cold winter months.  Funding for the U.S. government also is set to run out on Friday when a short-term extension expires.  Only a few days remain in Congress’s scheduled sessions, but leaders in both parties say they are focused on reaching a deal and could work right up until the Christmas holiday next week.  FILE – A volunteer loads food into cars outside Catholic Community Services of Utah, Nov. 20, 2020, in Ogden, Utah. As coronavirus concerns continue, the need for assistance has increased.President-elect Joe Biden has said that even if lawmakers reach agreement on aid this month, a subsequent round almost certainly will need to be negotiated when the new Congress is sworn in early next year.  The White House said Tuesday President Donald Trump would wait to see the specifics of the deal before signing off on it.  Many Americans received up to $1,200 in payments earlier this year to address the impact of business closures meant to control the spread of the pandemic. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed approval for another round of smaller stimulus checks.  A deal on a second round of aid has proven elusive for lawmakers since the $3 trillion CARES Act, the largest aid package in U.S. history, passed in late March with bipartisan agreement.
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U.S. Attorney General William Barr abruptly resigned this week, capping a controversial tenure during which he was applauded by Republicans for restoring the rule of law and excoriated by critics for acting more like President Donald Trump’s personal attorney than the nation’s top law enforcement officer.   Trump announced Barr’s resignation Monday on Twitter, writing that the 70-year-old attorney general will be stepping down on December 23, a little less than two years after the president tapped him to replace his first, ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions.   Controversy over Barr’s 22 months at the helm of the Justice Department, the second time he has held the position, continued to dog him this week as his Republican supporters and Democratic critics on Capitol Hill reacted to the news of his resignation.    FILE – Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 8. 2020.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised him for his commitment to the rule of law, writing in a statement that Barr “stood for the simple but apparently the controversial proposition that the federal government should actually enforce the laws on the books.”   “Now, for a second-time attorney general, Barr will leave the Department and the rule of law in this country stronger than he found them,” McConnell wrote. Barr had previously served as attorney general in the administration of the late President George H. W. Bush in the early 1990s.But Democrats, some of whom have previously called for Barr’s impeachment over his alleged disregard for the law, accused him of politicizing the Justice Department and doing the president’s bidding.   FILE – Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., appears before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, June 10, 2020.”Whomever Joe Biden chooses as the new Attorney General will have a tremendous amount of work to do to repair the integrity of the Department of Justice,” Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said in a statement.President-elect Biden is expected to announce his attorney general pick, the last of his “Big Four” appointments,  in the coming days.  When Trump tapped Barr as his second attorney general in December 2019, few foresaw his controversial tenure. Unlike Sessions, Barr was not a politician. As a highly regarded lawyer and veteran of the department, he was widely expected to shield the law enforcement agency from political interference and Trump’s attacks.  Paul Rosenzweig, a former Justice Department official now with the R Street Institute, a libertarian and conservative think tank, said he shared that initial view of Barr.    “I thought that he would restore integrity to the Department of Justice and like many other lawyers I’m bitterly disappointed,” Rosenzweig said in an interview. “I don’t know whether I misjudged him, or he changed.”Russia investigationBarr’s term took a controversial turn almost from the start as he emerged as one of Trump’s fiercest defenders against what he has called a “bogus” FBI investigation of suspected ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.FILE – Former special counsel Robert Mueller checks pages in the report as he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on his report on Russian election interference, on Capitol Hill, July 24, 2019.Weeks into his tenure, after Russia investigation special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report to Barr in March 2019, the attorney general quickly sent Congress a brief summary that critics said distorted its contents and concluded that Trump did not obstruct justice. This allowed the president to claim vindication. Barr later released a slightly redacted version of the full report and vigorously denied he had misled lawmakers.   The controversy did not stop there. In the months that followed, Barr was denounced for suggesting that the Trump campaign had been spied upon and tapping a prosecutor to probe the Russian investigation. He drew further criticism for interfering in the prosecution of two Trump associates indicted by Mueller — Roger Stone and Michael Flynn — and in June ordering federal agents to disperse protesters outside the White House so Trump could walk across the street for a photo-op.   Rosenzweig said Barr’s efforts on behalf of Trump undermined the Justice Department’s post-Watergate tradition of independence and demoralized the agency rank and file. In February 2020, after Barr overruled prosecutors’ recommendation of a lengthy sentence for Stone, more than 1,000 former DOJ officials called for his resignation.’The people’s Justice Department’To restore trust in the Justice Department, what is needed is a return to “the playbook of the past half-century,” former deputy attorney general Donald Ayer, a Republican, wrote in an FILE – President-elect Joe Biden speaks after the Electoral College formally confirmed his election win, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware, Dec. 14, 2020.Biden has said he plans to do just that. In a December 2 interview with CNN, Biden said the Justice Department under his watch will be independent.    “I’m not going to be telling them what they have to do and don’t have to do,” Biden said. “I’m not going to be saying, ‘go prosecute A, B or C’, I’m not going to be telling them. That’s not the role, it’s not my Justice Department, it’s the people’s Justice Department.”His attorney general will “have the independent capacity to decide who gets prosecuted who doesn’t,” Biden said.   Leading contenders for the top Justice Department job reportedly include outgoing Democratic Senator and longtime Biden friend Doug Jones.Rosenzweig said the future attorney general has their work cut out for them. “He’s got to restore the culture, review what has happened before, change procedures, and institute rules that make it harder, for example for political interference,” Rosenzweig said. “It’s not an easy task.”   Support for BarrFILE – FBI Director Christopher Wray listens during a virtual news conference at the Department of Justice, Oct. 28, 2020.Barr’s defenders say the attorney general has stood up for the department’s independence. In February, Barr said in an interview with ABC News he was “not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody … whether it’s Congress, a newspaper editorial board, or the president.” In May, when Trump and Republicans attacked FBI director Christopher Wray over the Russia investigation, Barr expressed confidence in Wray.   “He stood up for Chris Wray and said that he thought that Chris Wray was doing a good job,” said John Malcolm, a former federal prosecutor now the vice president of Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation. “I think that Bill Barr was an independent voice.”    In the lead-up to the November 3 election, Barr kept the Justice Department out of campaign politics, preventing an investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes from becoming public and resisting pressure from Trump to release a report on special prosecutor John Durham’s findings, Malcolm said. Then on December 1, Barr, contradicting Trump, said in an interview with the Associated Press that he had found no evidence of widespread fraud in the election.
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is quarantining after an encounter with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, the State Department said Wednesday. Pompeo tested negative. The top U.S. diplomat “is being closely monitored by the department’s medical team,” a spokesperson said. The agency said that “for reasons of privacy,” it would not identify the infected person who came in contact with Pompeo. “The secretary has been tested and is negative,” the spokesperson said, but in accordance with the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “he will be in quarantine.” It was not known how Pompeo encountered someone infected with the virus. On Tuesday, he hosted an indoor State Department holiday party, although The Washington Post reported that only a few dozen of the 900 invited guests — family members of diplomats posted abroad — attended amid health warnings that it could become a superspreader event. Pompeo canceled his planned speech at the gathering. Last week, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey called for Pompeo to cancel the party to avoid “reckless health risk” to department employees and event staff. Even as the first coronavirus vaccinations have started in the United States, the number of new infections continues to surge by tens of thousands a day. More than 16.7 million infections and 304,000 deaths have been recorded in the U.S., more than in any other country, according to Johns Hopkins University. 
 
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After weeks of silence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, following Monday’s formal vote by the Electoral College that cemented Biden’s victory in the November 3 election. Yet there is still no sign President Donald Trump is willing to accept defeat. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports.
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President-elect Joe Biden is expected to pick former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to be secretary of energy in his administration, two people familiar with the decision said Tuesday. Granholm, 61, was Michigan’s first female governor, serving two terms in the battleground state from 2003 to 2011. She worked with Biden, who was vice president under former President Barack Obama, on the 2009 bailout of automobile manufacturers General Motors and Chrysler. A spokesman for Biden’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Granholm did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. While governor, Granholm supported efforts to build advanced battery plants for electric cars in Michigan, despite concerns from some in the auto industry about moving away from gasoline-powered engines. She also pushed through a modest energy standard that required a portion of the state’s energy to be generated by renewable sources. More recently, she has taught at the University of California, Berkeley on subjects including state budgets, clean energy jobs and diversifying the economy. In 2015, she launched the American Jobs Project to focus on promoting state policies to create middle-class jobs in batteries and other forms of advanced energy technology. If confirmed by the Senate, Granholm is expected to play a role in the department’s support of advanced batteries, energy efficiency and electricity generation from renewable and nuclear power as Biden makes curbing climate change one of the pillars of his administration. She would also likely deal with energy ministers in Russia, Saudi Arabia and other oil and gas-producing countries. Granholm would be the second female U.S. energy secretary after Hazel O’Leary served under former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. President Donald Trump’s two energy secretaries spent much of their time on oil and gas politics. Rick Perry, his first, was a former governor of Texas. Trump’s second, Dan Brouillette, was a former lobbyist for Ford Motor Co. and a state energy regulator in Louisiana. Most of the department’s budget goes to modernizing the country’s stockpile of nuclear warheads and to cleaning up nuclear sites. Biden picked Granholm over Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, his former adviser when he was in the Senate, and who served in the Obama administration as deputy secretary of energy. Granholm also beat out Arun Majumdar, the first director of the department’s agency that promotes and funds research and development of advanced energy technologies, and Ernest Moniz, who was energy secretary during the Obama administration. 
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President-elect Joe Biden’s Presidential Inaugural Committee announced measures Tuesday to protect public health during an inauguration that will take place in the midst of a coronavirus crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States. The committee said in a statement it is collaborating with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies “to ensure that the inauguration … honors and resembles sacred American traditions while keeping Americans safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19.” On January 20, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take oaths of office at the U.S. Capitol with “vigorous health and safety protocols,” followed by Biden’s inaugural address, the committee said.  “The ceremony’s footprint will be extremely limited, and the parade that follows will be reimagined,” it added. President-elect Joe Biden speaks after the Electoral College formally elected him as president, Dec. 14, 2020, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del.The committee is calling on Americans to remain at home as they celebrate the day’s inaugural activities. “The pandemic is continuing to have a significant public health impact across the nation. Americans everywhere must do their part to slow the spread of the virus: wear masks, stay home and limit gatherings. We are asking Americans to participate in inaugural events from home to protect themselves, their families, friends and communities,” said Dr. David Kessler, the committee’s chief medical adviser. President Donald Trump’s presence at the inauguration has yet to be determined. When asked during an interview broadcast Sunday with Fox News if he would attend the ceremony, Trump, still waging an unsuccessful battle to overturn election results, replied, “I don’t want to talk about that.”  As it has for months, the U.S. continues to lead the world in coronavirus infections and related deaths. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 16.5 million of the world’s 73 million coronavirus cases were in the U.S., home to more than 301,200 COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.  
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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has named Pete Buttigieg, one of his former rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, as head of the Department of Transportation in his new administration, according to news accounts Tuesday.   Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was a surprise contender in the Democratic presidential race last year. He was the first openly gay major party candidate to win convention delegates in a bid for the White House.   But Buttigieg’s campaign eventually stalled, and he dropped out of the race before the Democratic Party primaries in early March, and later endorsed Biden.  Biden has compared the 38-year-old Buttigieg to his late son, Beau.  “To me, it’s the highest compliment I can give any man or woman. And like Beau, he has a backbone like a ramrod,” Biden said of Buttigieg.  Buttigieg has been married to his husband, Chasten, since 2018.    As Transportation chief, Buttigieg would help oversee the country’s highway system, planes, trains and mass transit systems.Biden has pledged to spend billions of dollars to make major infrastructure improvements, part of the new president’s effort to boost the economy that has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. 
 
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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will campaign Tuesday in the southern state of Georgia for two Democratic Senate candidates involved in crucial runoff elections next month that will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate during the first two years of Biden’s presidency. Biden is due to appear with the candidates — investigative documentary filmmaker Jon Ossoff and clergyman Raphael Warnock — in Atlanta, the state capital and Georgia’s largest city. The two Democrats face incumbent Republican lawmakers in the January 5 elections — Ossoff against Sen. David Perdue and Warnock facing Sen. Kelly Loeffler. In-Person Voting Begins in Crucial Georgia Senate Runoffs Winners will determine which party holds Senate majorityPolls in the state show both elections are closely contested. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have already campaigned in the state on behalf of Perdue and Loeffler.  Republicans currently hold a 50-48 advantage over Democrats in the U.S. Senate that takes office in early January.  They need to win at least one of the two Georgia contests to take outright control, which would give the party a majority on all Senate committees and the right to set the chamber’s agenda. Democrats need to win both seats for a 50-50 split, which would give Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote in favor of the Democrats and a majority after Biden and Harris are inaugurated on January 20. Georgia has long been a Republican stronghold, but Democrats have made strong gains in voter registration to turn the state into a political battleground. After the state’s 5 million votes in last month’s presidential contest were counted three times, Biden defeated Trump by more than 11,000 votes.  Biden was the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1992.
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“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,” President-elect Joe Biden said Monday night, shortly after the Electoral College vote that confirmed his presidency.While urging Americans that now is the time “to unite, to heal,” Biden for the first time bluntly condemned attempts by President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results, calling it an “unprecedented assault on our democracy.”Not even an abuse of power can stop a peaceful transition, Biden said, just hours after members of the Electoral College voted in every state and the District of Columbia.“We the people voted, faith in our institutions held, the integrity of our elections remains intact,” Biden said in a speech held in Wilmington, Delaware.Electors on Monday gave Biden 306 votes to incumbent Trump’s 232, comfortably above the threshold of 270 electoral votes required for election.Biden’s 306 vote total is the same Trump achieved four years ago when he defeated Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton.“At the time, President Trump called his Electoral College tally a landslide,” Biden said. “By his own standards, these numbers represented a clear victory then, and I respectfully suggest they do so now.”The former vice president, speaking in a downtown Wilmington theater, said that “if anyone didn’t know it before, we know it now. What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this: Democracy.”Trump has refused to concede, claiming without evidence that the election was rigged and that Biden would be an illegitimate president.Trump had no comment immediately after Biden’s speech, but on Sunday, he took to Twitter, saying, “Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime.”He retweeted it Monday morning as the Electoral College voting started.Trump’s campaign and supporters have filed dozens of lawsuits, which have been rebuffed by judges.However, on Monday, Senator John Thune, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, said it was “time to move on” and that as soon as Biden crossed the 270-vote threshold in the Electoral College, he would be president-elect, Reuters reported.Electoral College member Pennsylvania State Representative Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) arrives ahead of electors gathering to cast their votes at the at the state capitol complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Dec. 14, 2020.Other Republican senators who publicly recognized Biden as president-elect Monday included South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, Ohio’s Rob Portman, Missouri’s Roy Blunt and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.Biden noted Trump’s actions in his speech and added that “respecting the will of the people is at the heart of our democracy — even when we find those results hard to accept. But that’s the obligation of those who have taken on a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution.”The president-elect, with just a small number of staff, journalists and TV cameras in the historic Queen Theater because of COVID-19 precautions, said, “The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know that nothing — not even a pandemic or an abuse of power — can extinguish that flame.”And he added, “Now it is time to turn the page — to unite, to heal.”There is little indication yet that the majority of lawmakers of Trump’s party are receptive to that message. Most Republicans in Congress have yet to recognize Biden’s victory.
The president-elect indicated his preference going forward is to focus on the pandemic, rather than looking back on the contentious election, saying: “There is urgent work in front of all of us. Getting the pandemic under control, to getting the nation vaccinated against this virus. Delivering immediate economic help so badly needed by so many Americans who are hurting today — and then building our economy back better than ever.”
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A bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled a detailed COVID-19 aid proposal on Monday in hopes it would serve as a model for its battling leaders to follow as they try to negotiate a final agreement on a new round of virus relief.  The dozen or so lawmakers unveiled two bills. One is a $748 billion aid package containing money for struggling businesses, the unemployed, schools and vaccine distribution. The other bill proposes a $160 billion aid package for state and local governments that is favored by Democrats and GOP-sought provisions shielding businesses from COVID-19-related lawsuits. But agreement proved impossible, and most Democrats opposed a compromise on the liability issue forged by GOP Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. The path forward for their proposals — and for COVID-19 aid more generally — remains unclear. Parallel negotiations over virus relief and government funding are proceeding on the leadership level involving House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. And that is where any agreement is likely to be forged.  Outstanding issues in the leadership talks include a potential second round of direct payments to individuals, a plan for $300 bonus unemployment benefits, state and local aid, and the GOP-sought liability shield against COVID-19-related lawsuits. FILE – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington.Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she hoped that top Capitol Hill leaders and the administration would use the proposals as the basis for a COVID-19 relief package “that is urgently needed by our struggling families, our hard-hit small businesses, our stressed-out health care providers, our overwhelmed Postal Service, our challenged schools and so many others.” A key trade-off involves aid to states and local governments, a top Pelosi priority, and the liability shield, a top demand of McConnell. The Kentucky Republican has suggested an all-or-nothing approach in which the fate of both ideas is linked to the other — either both are added, or both are dropped. Pelosi is insisting so far that state and local aid be added, demanding that McConnell compromise on his pet provision. Agreement remains elusive. But progress was being reported on another key front as lawmakers cobbled together a year-end catchall funding package that will be the basis for the last significant legislation of the Trump presidency. There is a hoped-for deadline of midnight Friday to deliver the completed package to President Donald Trump, which is when a partial government shutdown would arrive with the expiration of last week’s temporary funding bill. But there is no guarantee that the massive year-end measure will be completed in time. If the talks drag, further temporary bills could be needed. FILE – President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington before boarding Marine One, Dec. 12, 2020.Meanwhile, negotiations on a $1.4 trillion catchall spending bill are “essentially finished,” said a congressional aide participating in the talks. While details are closely held, “the status quo is prevailing.” That means Trump would get another $1.4 billion or so for a final installment to continue construction of his long-sought U.S.-Mexico border wall. Republicans have succeeded in killing a $12 billion plan to break last year’s budget mini-agreement by using accounting maneuvers to pad health care funding for veterans to accommodate big cost increases from expanding access to health care services from private providers. Instead, a different set of moves is being employed to provide for equivalent spending increases for other domestic programs. The post-election lame-duck session is the last chance to wrap up the unfinished work this year, a goal of all involved, though they have been slow until now to forge the often-tricky compromises required to pull the measure together. FILE – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin makes a brief comment as he leaves the Capitol, Sept. 30, 2020, in Washington.Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke Sunday afternoon and are likely to be the crucial pair to watch going down the stretch. Pelosi has not thrown in the towel on her drive to obtain state and local aid, which was part of the almost $2 trillion CARES Act in March.  President-elect Joe Biden wants as much COVID-19 relief as possible but has no direct influence on the negotiations. While he will empower Democrats after taking office next year, GOP leaders like McConnell are playing hardball and have forced Pelosi to scale back her demands. And while McConnell supported a $300 per week bonus unemployment benefit this summer, he has pulled back after the November election. Also in the mix is a deal to curb “surprise medical bills,” the astonishingly high fees charged to patients with health insurance when they are treated by a doctor or hospital outside of their insurer’s provider network. It is a particular problem for people getting emergency services and for patients undergoing complex surgeries where another specialist might have to be called in. Although there is agreement among most lawmakers and the White House that patients should not face thousands of dollars in unexpected bills, legislation has been slow to gel. It has been blocked by a lobbying war between consumer groups and insurers on one side, and on the other, doctors and investors in medical practices. The potential compromise would ban surprise bills for emergency room visits and scheduled procedures, but McConnell has yet to endorse the agreement. 
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President-elect Joe Biden told Americans on Monday that “democracy prevailed” as electors nationwide cast votes affirming his victory in last month’s election, saying the country’s governing principles were “pushed, tested, threatened” but did not crumble.  In a speech from his longtime home of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden aimed to guide Americans past the tumult of the campaign and President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat.  “If anyone didn’t know it before, we know it now. What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this: Democracy,” Biden said. “The right to be heard. To have your vote counted. To choose the leaders of this nation. To govern ourselves.” After garnering a record of more than 81 million votes, Biden is trying to build momentum as he prepares to assume the presidency on Jan. 20. That’s been complicated by Trump refusing to concede and instead pursuing baseless legal challenges that have been roundly rejected by judges across the political spectrum, including the justices at the Supreme Court. FILE – Signs by supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump hang outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, Nov. 10, 2020.Though Trump’s actions have threatened core democratic norms, including the peaceful transfer of power, Biden argued that America’s system of government remains intact. “In America, politicians don’t take power — the people grant it to them,” Biden said. “The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know that nothing — not even a pandemic — or an abuse of power — can extinguish that flame.” He also pledged to be “a president for all Americans” who will “work just as hard for those of you who didn’t vote for me, as I will for those who did.” Whether his message of unity will have any effect remains to be seen. Top Republicans have mostly continued to back Trump and his unsubstantiated claims of a rigged election and, even once Biden takes power, are unlikely to give him any of the traditional honeymoon period.  FILE – Supporters of President Donald Trump who are wearing attire associated with the Proud Boys attend a rally at Freedom Plaza, December 12, 2020, in Washington.Biden faces a narrowly divided Senate — next month’s runoff elections in Georgia will decide which party controls the chamber — and a thinned Democratic majority in the House as the GOP picked up seats even as Trump lost. But aides are pointing to the president-elect’s strong approval numbers and an electorate worn by the pandemic in their attempt to nudge Republicans to cooperate. Mike Donilon, a senior adviser to Biden, said Americans are looking for Democrats and Republicans to get in sync. “The agenda that the president-elect is putting forward is very much at the forefront of what people want in their lives,” Donilon said. “So, I think the case is going to be that it’s going to be in the interest of the country, it’s going to be in their own self-interest to get on board and not to get in the way.” In making the case for a mandate, Biden’s team points to the president-elect retaking Rust Belt states that helped spring Trump to the White House four years ago as well as wins in Arizona and Georgia — firsts for a Democratic presidential candidate since the 1990s. Biden also won the popular vote by more than 7 million people, powered by strong showings with women, people of color and independents. FILE – A supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump defends the right of a presidential nominee Joe Biden supporter to be at a gathering during a protest about the early results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in Phoenix, Arizona, Nov. 6, 2020.Still, getting the nation to turn away from a contentious election and to governing is perhaps easier said than done. The spotlight on the Electoral College vote process is heightened this year because Trump has refused to concede the election and is pushing forward with baseless allegations of fraud. “We have won so many times, at this point, in so many different ways. We’re just excited to keep on winning,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s deputy chief of staff, shrugging off Trump’s challenges. “(Monday) obviously is a big day as it takes on a little bit more import than maybe traditionally it does.” And after losing dozens of legal challenges on the state and federal level, Trump is expected to push forward with new litigation this week. Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani says he expects five more lawsuits at the state level. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is set to hold a hearing Wednesday on election irregularities. Johnson has questioned why Congress wasn’t informed that the taxes of Biden’s son Hunter were under federal investigation during Trump’s impeachment trial last year. The president was acquitted in a Senate trial that centered on Trump’s dealings with Ukraine’s president and on whether he abused his office by seeking an investigation into the Bidens. Hunter Biden served on the board of directors of a Ukrainian energy company. The younger Biden said in a statement last week that he just recently learned that he was under investigation. He also said he committed no wrongdoing. O’Malley Dillon downplayed the notion that the investigation could hamper Biden’s ability to pursue his agenda. “The president-elect himself has said this is not about his family or Donald Trump’s family,” she said. “It is about the American people’s families. And I think we’re going to continue to stay focused on the issues that are impacting their daily lives.” 
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In-person early voting begins Monday in the U.S. state of Georgia where two runoff elections will decide which political party holds a majority in the U.S. Senate when a new term begins in January.Democrats are challenging two Republican incumbents after no candidate earned an absolute majority in either race in the November general election.Republicans currently stand to hold a 50 to 48 advantage in the 100-seat Senate. But with a Democrat winning the presidential election, and the vice president wielding a tie-breaker vote in a 50-50 Senate, Democrats could claim a majority by winning both Georgia seats.With Democrats already holding a majority in the House of Representatives, the stakes for both parties are immense in determining the course of U.S. policy in the coming years.In one contest, Democrat Raphael Warnock is trying to unseat Republican Senator Kelly Loefller, while in the other race Democrat Jon Ossoff is challenging Republican Senator David Perdue.Georgia was one of many states that saw huge early voting turnouts in November as people opted to try to avoid large election day crowds amid the coronavirus pandemic.More than half of the roughly five million votes in Georgia were cast before election day, including 125,000 on the first day of early voting.Voters will have until December 31 in some parts of the state to cast early ballots with the runoff election date set for January 5.
For decades a Republican stronghold, Georgia was narrowly won by Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the November 3 presidential election.
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In the United States, nearly three million doses of the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered this week to states to administer to high-risk health care workers as the nation’s death toll from the disease continues to rise. Michelle Quinn reports.Produced by: Mary Cieslak
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A day before the U.S. Electoral College meets to formally pick Democrat Joe Biden as America’s next president, Donald Trump continues to deny the results of the November 3 election, buoyed by thousands of supporters who rallied in Washington to back the president’s failed efforts to overturn his defeat at the polls.America’s presidential contests are not complete until constitutionally mandated electors from all 50 states, drawn proportionally to their population and mirroring their representation in Congress, meet to cast their votes. Except in two U.S. states, each state’s electors all vote for the presidential contender who won their state.With all states having certified election results, Biden won 306 electoral votes — 36 more than he needs to become president — compared to Trump’s 232 votes. Absent a court-sanctioned delay, the presidential electors are expected to finalize Biden’s victory Monday.Federal and state courts have rejected dozens of lawsuits by Trump and his allies seeking to overturn or nullify election results in battleground states Biden won by varying margins. Most recently, late Friday the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate results in four states, all but terminating any pathway for Trump to overturn the election outcome through the courts.Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump wave flags outside the D.C. Mayor’s office building during the “Stop the Steal” rally, in Washington, Dec. 12, 2020.Trump nevertheless remains combative and has signaled he is not giving up.“WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT,” the president tweeted Saturday. An hour earlier, he wrote, “I WON THE ELECTION IN A LANDSLIDE.”Trump took to Twitter as thousands of his most ardent supporters gathered in Washington to march and chant for the president to remain in office. Similar demonstrations occurred in several U.S. states where Trump’s legal team has unsuccessfully challenged Biden victories.Supporters of President Donald Trump who are wearing attire associated with the Proud Boys attend a rally at Freedom Plaza, Dec. 12, 2020, in Washington.Sporadic street clashes broke out between Trump backers and opponents. Four people were taken to the hospital with stab wounds and 23 people were arrested, according to Washington’s municipal police department. 
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Two key U.S. Senate races remain undecided from November’s general election. Both are in the southern state of Georgia, where President-elect Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win the state since 1992. The outcome of these runoff elections may determine how much Biden can accomplish with Congress once he is inaugurated as president.What is a runoff election?A runoff election is a second, or follow-up election, in which the top two vote-getters run against each other. Runoff elections occur when no candidate meets a certain threshold of votes to be declared the winner. Georgia election law requires a candidate to win a majority of votes (50%+1) to be elected to office. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, a runoff election of the top two candidates is held.Has Georgia always used a runoff?No. The runoff system was instituted in 1964 after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling that found Georgia’s election system violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because votes cast in small rural counties counted more heavily than votes cast in large urban jurisdictions. A 2007 U.S. Interior Department study said Georgia’s runoff system was proposed to “circumvent” the Black voting bloc.Do other states use runoff elections?Louisiana uses a runoff election system but holds no primary elections. All candidates for local, state and federal office, regardless of party affiliation, are on the same ballot in either October (odd-numbered years) or November (even-numbered years).Who are the candidates in Georgia’s runoffs?In one election, Republican Sen. David Perdue is running against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff. Perdue narrowly missed reaching the majority threshold in November. The other election has Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock challenging Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler. They received the most votes in a field of 20 candidates.When will the runoff elections take place?Both will be held Jan. 5, 2021.What is at stake?The outcome of these elections will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Currently, Republicans hold a 50-48 margin. If they win one of the two seats, they retain control of the 100-seat Senate. Democrats need to win both runoff elections to control the Senate because the U.S. vice president casts a vote in case of a tie. Democrat Kamala Harris will become vice president Jan. 20, 2021.Why are two Senate seats being contested in the same state?Perdue’s six-year term expires this year. Loeffler was selected by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in December 2019 to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Sen. Johnny Isakson. Loeffler and Warnock are competing for the remaining two years of Isakson’s term.What has happened in past runoff elections in Georgia?Democrats last won a statewide runoff election in the state in 1988. Republicans have won the seven runoffs since then.
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The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit backed by President Donald Trump to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory, ending a desperate attempt to get legal issues that state and federal judges had rejected before the nation’s highest court.In a brief order, the court said Texas does not have the legal right to sue Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin because it “has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections.”Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who have said previously the court does not have the authority to turn away lawsuits between states, said they would have heard Texas’ complaint. But they would not have done as Texas wanted pending resolution of the lawsuit and set aside those four states’ 62 electoral votes for Biden.No dissent from Trump appointeesThree Trump appointees sit on the high court. In his push to get the most recent of his nominees, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, confirmed quickly, Trump said she would be needed for any post-election lawsuits. Barrett appears to have participated in both cases this week. None of the Trump appointees noted a dissent in either case.The court’s order was its second this week rebuffing Republican requests that it get involved in the 2020 election outcome. The justices turned away an appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans on Tuesday.The Electoral College meets Monday to formally elect Biden as the next president.More than half of House Republicans, including their top two leaders, backed the lawsuit in an extraordinary display of the party’s willingness to subvert the will of voters.FILE – Signs by supporters of President Donald Trump hang outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, Nov. 10, 2020.Seventeen Republican attorneys general and 126 members of Congress joined Texas and Trump in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out millions of votes in four battleground states based on unsubstantiated claims of fraud. On Friday, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana signed onto a brief backing the long-shot bid, demonstrating Trump’s remarkable political power even as he spreads false claims that many Democrats and others fear risk deeply damaging democracy.”This lawsuit is an act of flailing GOP desperation, which violates the principles enshrined in our American democracy,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a message to Democrats on Friday.’Hard time’ understanding caseA few Republicans expressed concerns about the case. Many others remained silent.”Texas is a big state, but I don’t know exactly why it has a right to tell four other states how to run their elections. So I’m having a hard time figuring out the basis for that lawsuit,” Republican Senator Lamar Alexander told NBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview for “Meet the Press” that will air Sunday.The lawsuit filed against Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin repeated false, disproven and unsubstantiated accusations about the voting in four states that went for Trump’s Democratic challenger. The case demanded that the high court invalidate the states’ 62 total Electoral College votes. That’s an unprecedented remedy in American history: setting aside the votes of tens of millions of people, under the baseless claim the Republican incumbent lost a chance at a second term because of widespread fraud.FILE – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses reporters on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.Two days after Paxton sued, 17 states filed a motion supporting the lawsuit, and on Thursday six of those states asked to join the case themselves. Trump acted to join the case, tweeting Thursday that “the Supreme Court has a chance to save our country from the greatest election abuse in the history of the United States.” Hours later, Trump held a meeting at the White House, scheduled before the suit was filed, with a dozen Republican attorneys general, including Paxton and several others who backed the effort.Still, some of the top state Republican prosecutors urging the Supreme Court to hear the case acknowledged that the effort was a long shot and were seeking to distance themselves from Trump’s baseless allegations of fraud. North Dakota’s Wayne Stenehjem, among the 17 attorneys general supporting the case, said North Dakota was not alleging voter fraud in the four states at issue.’We’re careful'”We’re careful on that,” said Stenehjem, who noted that his office had received thousands of calls and emails from constituents asking the state to support the suit. “But it’s worth it for the Supreme Court to weigh in and settle it once and for all,” he said.The case has inflamed already high tensions over the election. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said his office staff received two death threats Thursday after he signed onto the brief supporting the case.Officials in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin said the suit was a publicity stunt. More than 20 other attorneys general from states including California and Virginia also filed a brief Thursday urging the court to reject the case.
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