Liz Cheney braces for loss as Donald Trump tested in Wyoming and Alaska
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a leader in the Republican resistance to former President Donald Trump, is fighting to save her seat in the U.S. House on Tuesday as voters weigh in on the direction of the GOP. Cheney is bracing for a loss against a Trump-backed challenger in the state in which he won by the largest of margins during the 2020 campaign. Win or lose, the 56-year-old daughter of a vice president is vowing to remain an active presence in national politics as she contemplates a 2024 presidential bid. But in the short term, Cheney is facing a dire threat from Republican opponent Harriet Hageman, a Cheyenne ranching industry attorney who has harnessed the full fury of the Trump movement in her bid to expel Cheney from the House. “Today, no matter what the outcome is, is certainly the beginning of a battle that is going to continue,” Cheney told CBS News after casting her vote Tuesday, standing alongside her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. “We’re facing a moment where our democracy really is under attack and under threat. And those of us across the board — Republicans, Democrats, and independents who believe deeply in freedom and who care about the Constitution and the future of the country — have an obligation to put that above party.” Many of Wyoming’s voters don’t seem to agree with their three-term Republican congresswoman. “We like Trump. She tried to impeach Trump,” Cheyenne voter Chester Barkell said of Cheney. “I don’t trust Liz Cheney.” And in Jackson, Republican voter Dan Winder said he felt betrayed. “Over 70% of the state of Wyoming voted Republican in the last presidential election, and she turned right around and voted against us,” said Winder, a hotel manager. “She was our representative, not her own.” Tuesday’s contests in Wyoming and Alaska offer one of the final tests for Trump and his brand of hard-line politics ahead of the November general election. So far, the former president has largely dominated the fight to shape the GOP in his image, having helped install loyalists in key general election matchups from Arizona to Georgia to Pennsylvania. This week’s contests come just eight days after the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump’s Florida estate, recovering 11 sets of classified records. Some were marked “sensitive compartmented information,” a special category meant to protect the nation’s most important secrets. The Republican Party initially rallied behind the former president, although the reaction turned somewhat mixed as more details emerged. In Alaska, a recent change to state election law gives a periodic Trump critic, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an opportunity to survive the former president’s wrath, even after she voted to convict him in his second impeachment trial. She is the only Senate Republican running for reelection this year who backed Trump’s impeachment. The top four primary Senate candidates in Alaska, regardless of party, will advance to the November general election, where voters will rank them in order of preference. In all, seven Republican senators and 10 Republican House members joined every Democrat in supporting Trump’s impeachment in the days after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress tried to certify President Joe Biden’s victory. Just two of those 10 House members have won their GOP primaries this year. The rest have lost or declined to seek reelection. Cheney would be just the third to return to Congress if she defies expectations on Tuesday. Murkowski is facing 18 opponents — the most prominent of which is Republican Kelly Tshibaka, who has been endorsed by Trump — in her push to preserve a seat she has held for nearly 20 years. On the other side of the GOP’s tent, Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential nominee, hopes to spark a political comeback on Tuesday. She’s actually on Tuesday’s ballot twice: once in a special election to complete former Rep. Don Young’s term and another for a full two-year House term starting in January. Back in Wyoming, Cheney’s political survival may depend upon persuading enough Democrats to cast ballots in her Republican primary election. While some Democrats have rallied behind her, it’s unclear whether there are enough in the state to make a difference. As of August 1, 2022, there were 285,000 registered voters in Wyoming, including 40,000 Democrats and 208,000 Republicans. Ardath Junge of Cheyenne, said she recently changed her registration from Democratic to Republican. “I did it just to vote for Cheney because I believe in what she’s doing,” said Junge, a retired schoolteacher. Many Republicans in the state — and in the country — have essentially excommunicated Cheney because of her outspoken criticism of Trump. The House GOP ousted her as the No. 3 House leader last year. And more recently, the Wyoming GOP and Republican National Committee censured her. Anti-Trump groups such as U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s Country First PAC and the Republican Accountability Project have worked to encourage independents and Democrats to support Cheney in recent weeks. They are clearly disappointed by the expected outcome of Tuesday’s election, although some are hopeful about her political future. “What’s remarkable is that in the face of almost certain defeat, she’s never once wavered,” said Sarah Longwell, executive director of the Republican Accountability Project. “We’ve been watching a national American figure be forged. It’s funny how small the election feels — the Wyoming election — because she feels bigger than it now.” Cheney has seemingly welcomed defeat by devoting almost every resource at her disposal to ending Trump’s political career since the insurrection. She emerged as a leader in the congressional committee investigating Trump’s role in the January 6 attack, giving the Democrat-led panel genuine bipartisan credibility. She has also devoted the vast majority of her time to the committee instead of the campaign trail back home, a decision that still fuels murmurs of disapproval among some Wyoming allies. And she has closed out the primary campaign with an unflinching anti-Trump message. “There is nothing more important she will ever do than lead the effort to make sure Donald Trump is
Mo Brooks: I’m ready to fight to save the country I love.
I got into this U.S. Senate race for one reason: I have never before feared for the future of my country like I do today. I think many of you feel the same way. I’ve heard it from thousands of Alabamians while traveling our state. Jim in Muscle Shoals was worried about being able to afford putting enough $4 per gallon gas in his car to get to work. Sarah in Foley was struggling to find baby formula to feed her newborn son. I’ve heard from you, and I feel your pain. Joe Biden has done more damage in his short time in office than any other President in American history. Socialism is on the march, and we find ourselves in a battle for the soul of our nation. During my time in Congress, I’ve had a very simple guiding philosophy: is the vote I’m about to cast going to make Americans’ lives better? Am I being asked to support a bill because it helps a select few of special interest groups or because it helps the people? I’ve taken some bullets during my time in Washington, both figuratively and literally. I was on the ball field in 2017 when a Bernie Sanders supporter shot a number of my colleagues. My name was one of six on the hit list in his pocket. I’ve been called a racist, misogynist, a Klansman, and just about every other name in the book. But I fought. I fought because America is worth fighting for. You are worth fighting for. I never asked for anything in return. I don’t want my name on buildings. I don’t want a seat at the table in some smoky backroom. I just want Alabama and America to be great. I hope that my record reflects some success in that. I’m proud of my A+ ratings from the NRA and Gun Owners of America for defending the Second Amendment. I’m proud of my 100% record of supporting life according to the National Right to Life. NumbersUSA has given me an A+ for putting America First and fighting for a strong border and immigration policies that suit America’s national interest, not the interest of the rest of the world. I’ve been consistently ranked the most conservative Congressman in Alabama according to the American Conservative Union and CPAC. But let me be clear, none of this matters if we lose the country we love. Lobbyists and special interest groups have spent millions trying to buy Senate seats and corrupt the public policy debate in America. They’ve been very active for my opponent in this race. I ask the people to ask why that is? Why are the lobbyists, special interest groups, McConnell lackeys, and Swampers ALL IN against me? Ilhan Omar and AOC have called for me to be expelled from Congress. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney have fought to get me kicked off my committees. And Mitch McConnell has spent over $20 million attacking me, trying to keep me out of the Senate. You’ve seen his work on TV and in your mailbox. It’s disgusting, it’s deceitful, and it’s shameful. But I’d like to think it’s because I’ve made a career of putting America First. I’ve shown I will not waver, and I can’t be bought. I stand for the people, period. While I’m proud of my proven conservative record, there is still unfinished business. America can ill afford a Senator who will be owned by the same America Last forces that have hindered Republicans from any real progress. McConnell and the Swamp believe our Senate seat is for sale. I ask you to show them it’s not. I’ve never before feared for the future of my country like I do today, but I still believe there’s hope. But we are out of time, and we can’t get this wrong. On June 21st, I ask for you to vote for Mo Brooks so we can send a proven fighter to the Senate. I’ve never gone wobbly on you; I’ve never kept quiet or toed the line to get along. I promise that in the Senate, you’ll be proud to know that Alabama has a fighter on the front lines, ready to do not what’s easy but what’s right. I’m ready to fight to save the country I love. I ask that on June 21st, you give me that chance. Mo Brooks is a U.S. Representative for Alabama’s Fifth Congressional District and a U.S. Senate candidate.
2 U.S. veterans from Alabama reported missing in Ukraine
Two U.S. veterans from Alabama who were in Ukraine assisting in the war against Russia haven’t been heard from in days and are missing, members of the state’s congressional delegation said Wednesday. Relatives of Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, of Trinity, and Alexander Drueke, 39, of Tuscaloosa, have been in contact with both Senate and House offices seeking information about the men’s whereabouts, press aides said. Rep. Robert Aderholt said Huynh had volunteered to go fight with the Ukrainian army against Russia, but relatives haven’t heard from him since June 8, when he was in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, which is near the Russian border. Huynh and Drueke were together, an aide to Aderholt said. “As you can imagine, his loved ones are very concerned about him,” Aderholt said in a statement. “My office has placed inquires with both the United States Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation trying to get any information possible.” Rep. Terri Sewell said Drueke’s mother reached out to her office earlier this week after she lost contact with her son. The U.S. State Department said it was looking into reports that Russian or Russian-backed separatist forces in Ukraine had captured at least two American citizens. If confirmed, they would be the first Americans fighting for Ukraine known to have been captured since the war began on February 24. “We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with Ukrainian authorities,” the department said in a statement emailed to reporters. It declined further comment, citing privacy considerations. John Kirby, a national security spokesman at the White House, said Wednesday that the administration wasn’t able to confirm the reports about missing Americans. “We’ll do the best we can to monitor this and see what we can learn about it,” he said. However, he reiterated his warnings against Americans going to Ukraine. “Ukraine is not the place for Americans to be traveling,” he said. “If you feel passionate about supporting Ukraine, there’s any number of ways to do that that that are safer and just as effective.” A court in Donetsk, under separatist control, sentenced two Britons and a Moroccan man to death last week. The Britons and Moroccan were accused of being mercenaries and seeking the violent overthrow of the separatist government in the Donetsk region. The Russian military has said it considers foreigners fighting with Ukraine to be mercenaries and claims they are not protected as combatants under the Geneva Convention. Huynh’s fiancee, Joy Black, posted publicly on Facebook that his family was in contact with the Drueke family and government officials and that nothing had been confirmed other than that the two were missing. “Please keep Andy and Alex, and all of their loved ones in prayer. We just want them to come home,” she wrote. U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger tweeted that the Americans “have enlisted in the Ukrainian army, and thus are afforded legal combatant protections. As such, we expect members of the Legion to be treated in accordance with the Geneva convention.” It was unclear whether Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, had any further information about the men. He was commenting on a tweet sent earlier Wednesday by Task Force Baguette, a group of former U.S. and French servicemen, saying that two Americans fighting with them were captured a week ago. The group said Ukrainian intelligence confirmed the information. Early in the war, Ukraine created the International Legion for foreign citizens who wanted to help defend against the Russian invasion. Huynh spoke to his local newspaper, the Decatur Daily, shortly before flying to Eastern Europe in April. He explained that he was studying robotics at Calhoun Community College but couldn’t stop thinking about Russia’s invasion. “I know it wasn’t my problem, but there was that gut feeling that I felt I had to do something,” Huynh told the Decatur Daily. “Two weeks after the war began, it kept eating me up inside, and it just felt wrong. I was losing sleep. … All I could think about was the situation in Ukraine.” He said he decided to fly out once he learned that young Ukrainians were being drafted into service. “Right when they turned 18, they were forced to enlist in the military to defend their homeland,” Huynh said. “Honestly, that broke my heart. I would say that is probably the moment where I decided that I have to do something.” According to the newspaper, Huynh enlisted in the Marines when he was 19 and served for four years, though he did not see active combat. He was born and raised in Orange County, California, to Vietnamese immigrants and moved to northern Alabama two years ago to be closer to his fiancee, the newspaper reported. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
House approves ‘red flag’ gun bill unlikely to pass Senate
The House approved a “red flag” bill Thursday that would allow families, police, and others to ask federal courts to order the removal of firearms from people at extreme risk of harming themselves or others. It’s the Democratic-controlled chamber’s latest response to U.S. mass shootings and likely stands little chance in the Senate. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia currently have such “red flag” laws. Under the House bill, a judge could issue an order to temporarily remove and store the firearms until a hearing can be held, up to two weeks later, to determine whether the firearms should be returned or kept for a specific period. The bill passed on a mostly party-line vote of 224-202. “We are painfully aware that we cannot do enough to save every life, and there is no one answer that will solve this problem,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. “But we do know that taking guns out of the hands of people who pose a danger to themselves, or others, would save countless lives.” The vote came after an emotional week that saw congressional testimony from victims of recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, and came ahead of a planned march Saturday in Washington by groups advocating stronger gun controls. On Wednesday, the House passed a wide-ranging gun control bill that would raise the age limit for purchasing a semi-automatic rifle and prohibit the sale of ammunition magazines with a capacity of more than 15 rounds. It, too has virtually no chance in the Senate. House Republicans criticized the “red flag” bill as giving the federal government the ability to take a law-abiding person’s guns without them having the ability to contest it beforehand. “It would allow the courts to take guns away from people without notice and without even the right to appear in the hearing to defend themselves in court,” said Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the bill would lead to roughly 10,000 emergency petitions being filed annually with the courts. The bill would also create a grant program at the U.S. Department of Justice to encourage states to adopt “red flag” laws and support the 19 states that have already implemented them. Five Republican lawmakers voted for the bill: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Chris Jacobs of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, and Fred Upton of Michigan. Only Fitzpatrick is seeking reelection. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the only Democratic member to vote no. The lead sponsors of the bill were Democratic Reps. Salud Carbajal of California and Lucy McBath of Georgia, whose son, Jordan Davis, was slain at a Jacksonville, Florida gas station in 2012 by a white man angry over the loud music the Black teenager and his friends had been playing in their car. President Joe Biden strongly supports the bill. The White House said it would “make significant progress toward keeping guns out of dangerous hands.” However, the legislation is unlikely to advance in the Senate, where at least 10 Republican senators would be needed. Instead, senators are focusing on incremental policy changes through a system that would send funds and other incentives to states to bolster security at school campuses, provide more mental health services to young people, and possibly encourage states to pursue red-flag laws of their own. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who is leading negotiations on the Republican side, said one focus is on enhancing the background check system known as NICS to include young buyers’ criminal records before they turn 18. “Adding juvenile records to the NICS system is a common-sense way to ensure we have a complete picture of the buyer’s history,” Cornyn said. He voiced optimism that senators will be able to reach an agreement. “Around here, if there’s a will, there is a way, and I believe we do have the will, and we will find the way,” Cornyn said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House stands ready to consider a gun bill from the Senate “if it’s life-saving and can make a difference.” But she cautioned: “We cannot have subterfuge. We can’t have them say well, it’s about this, and it’s about that. No, it’s about guns.” Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
January 6 panel subpoenas Mo Brooks, four other GOP lawmakers
A House panel issued subpoenas Thursday to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other GOP lawmakers in its probe into the violent January 6 insurrection, an extraordinary step that has little precedent and is certain to further inflame partisan tensions over the 2021 attack. The panel is investigating McCarthy’s conversations with then-President Donald Trump the day of the attack and meetings the four other lawmakers had with the White House beforehand as Trump and his aides worked to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The former president’s supporters violently pushed past police that day, broke through windows and doors of the Capitol, and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. The decision to issue subpoenas to McCarthy, R-Calif., and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Mo Brooks of Alabama is a dramatic show of force by the panel, which has already interviewed nearly 1,000 witnesses and collected more than 100,000 documents as it investigates the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries. The move is not without risk, as Republicans are favored to capture back the House majority in this fall’s midterm elections and have promised retribution for Democrats if they take control. After the announcement, McCarthy, who aspires to be House speaker, told reporters, “I have not seen a subpoena” and said his view on the January 6 committee has not changed since the nine-lawmaker panel asked for his voluntary cooperation earlier this year. “They’re not conducting a legitimate investigation,” McCarthy said. “Seems as though they just want to go after their political opponents.” Similarly, Perry told reporters the investigation is a “charade” and said the subpoena is “all about headlines.” Neither man said whether he would comply. The panel, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, had previously asked for voluntary cooperation from the five lawmakers, along with a handful of other GOP members, but all of them refused to speak with the panel, which debated for months whether to issue the subpoenas. “Before we hold our hearings next month, we wished to provide members the opportunity to discuss these matters with the committee voluntarily,” said Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chairman of the panel. “Regrettably, the individuals receiving subpoenas today have refused, and we’re forced to take this step to help ensure the committee uncovers facts concerning January 6th.” Rep. Liz Cheney, the panel’s Republican vice-chair, said the step wasn’t taken lightly. The unwillingness of the lawmakers to provide relevant information about the attack, she said, is “a very serious and grave situation.” Congressional subpoenas for sitting members of Congress, especially for a party leader, have little precedent in recent decades, and it is unclear what the consequences would be if any or all of the five men decline to comply. The House has voted to hold two other noncompliant witnesses, former Trump aides Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows, in contempt, referring their cases to the Justice Department. In announcing the subpoenas, the January 6 panel said there is historical precedent for the move and noted that the House Ethics Committee has “issued a number of subpoenas to members of Congress for testimony or documents,” though such actions are generally done secretly. “We recognize this is fairly unprecedented,” said Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the other GOP member of the panel, after the committee announced the subpoenas. “But the January 6 attack was very unprecedented.” Kinzinger said it is “important for us to get every piece of information we possibly can.” McCarthy has acknowledged he spoke with Trump on January 6 as Trump’s supporters were beating police outside the Capitol and forcing their way into the building. But he has not shared many details. The committee requested information about his conversations with Trump “before, during, and after” the riot. McCarthy took to the House floor after the rioters were cleared and said in a forceful speech that Trump “bears responsibility” for the attack and that it was the “saddest day I have ever had” in Congress — even as he went on to join 138 other House Republicans in voting to reject the election results. Another member of the GOP caucus, Washington Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, said after the attack that McCarthy had recounted that he told Trump to publicly “call off the riot” and said the violent mob was made up of Trump supporters, not far-left Antifa members, as Trump had claimed. “That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said, ’Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Herrera Beutler said in a statement last year. The GOP leader soon made up with Trump, though, visiting him in Florida and rallying House Republicans to vote against investigations of the attack. The other four men were in touch with the White House for several weeks ahead of the insurrection, talking to Trump and his legal advisers about ways to stop the congressional electoral count on January 6 to certify Joe Biden’s victory. “These members include those who participated in meetings at the White House, those who had direct conversations with President Trump leading up to and during the attack on the Capitol, and those who were involved in the planning and coordination of certain activities on and before January 6th,” the committee said in a release. Brooks, who has since been critical of Trump, spoke alongside the former president at the massive rally in front of the White House the morning of January 6, telling supporters to “start taking down names and kicking ass” before hundreds of them broke into the Capitol. Perry spoke to the White House about replacing acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with an official who was more sympathetic to Trump’s false claims of voter fraud, and Biggs was involved in plans to bring protesters to Washington and pressuring state officials to overturn the legitimate election results, according to the panel. Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, spoke to Trump on January 6 and was
January 6 committee prepares to go public as findings mount
They’ve interviewed more than 300 witnesses, collected tens of thousands of documents, and traveled around the country to talk to election officials who were pressured by Donald Trump. Now, after six months of intense work, the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection is preparing to go public. In the coming months, members of the panel will start to reveal their findings against the backdrop of the former president and his allies’ persistent efforts to whitewash the riots and reject suggestions that he helped instigate them. The committee also faces the burden of trying to persuade the American public that their conclusions are fact-based and credible. But the nine lawmakers — seven Democrats and two Republicans — are united in their commitment to tell the full story of January 6, and they are planning televised hearings and reports that will bring their findings out into the open. Their goal is not only to show the severity of the riot but also to make a clear connection between the attack and Trump’s brazen pressure on the states and Congress to overturn Joe Biden’s legitimate election as president. “The full picture is coming to light, despite President Trump’s ongoing efforts to hide the picture,” said Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chairwoman and one of its two Republican members. “I don’t think there’s any area of this broader history in which we aren’t learning new things,” she said. While the fundamental facts of January 6 are known, the committee says the extraordinary trove of material they have collected — 35,000 pages of records so far, including texts, emails, and phone records from people close to Trump — is fleshing out critical details of the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries, which played out on live television. They hope to fill in the blanks about the preparations before the attack, the financing behind the January 6 rally that preceded it, and the extensive White House campaign to overturn the 2020 election. They are also investigating what Trump himself was doing as his supporters fought their way into the Capitol. True accountability may be fleeting. Congressional investigations are not criminal cases, and lawmakers cannot dole out punishments. Even as the committee works, Trump and his allies continue to push lies about election fraud while working to place similarly minded officials at all levels of state and local government. “I think that the challenge that we face is that the attacks on our democracy are continuing — they didn’t come to an end on January 6,” said another panel member, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Still, the lawmakers hope they can present the public with a thorough accounting that captures what could have been “an even more serious and deeper constitutional crisis,” as Cheney put it. “I think this is one of the single most important congressional investigations in history,” Cheney said. The committee is up against the clock. Republicans could disband the investigation if they win the House majority in the November 2022 elections. The committee’s final report is expected before then, with a possible interim report coming in the spring or summer. In the hearings, which could start in the coming weeks, the committee wants to “bring the people who conducted the elections to Washington and tell their story,” said the panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Their testimony, he said, will further debunk Trump’s claims of election fraud. The committee has interviewed several election officials in battleground states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, about Trump’s pressure campaign. In some cases, staff have traveled to those states to gather more information. The panel also is focusing on the preparations for the January 6 rally near the White House where Trump told his supporters to “fight like hell” — and how the rioters may have planned to block the electoral count if they had been able to get their hands on the electoral ballots. They need to amplify to the public, Thompson said, “that it was an organized effort to change the outcome of the election by bringing people to Washington … and ultimately if all else failed, weaponize the people who came by sending them to the Capitol.” About 90% of the witnesses called by the committee have cooperated, Thompson said, despite the defiance of high-profile Trump allies such as Steve Bannon and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Lawmakers said they have been effective at gathering information from other sources in part because they share a unity of purpose rarely seen in a congressional investigation. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California, a close Trump ally, decided not to appoint any GOP members to the committee after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., rejected two of his picks last summer. Pelosi, who created the select committee after Republican senators rejected an evenly bipartisan outside commission, subsequently appointed Republicans Cheney and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Trump critics who shared the Democrats’ desire to investigate the attack. “I think you can see that Kevin made an epic mistake,” Kinzinger said. “I think part of the reason we’ve gone so fast and have been so effective so far is because we’ve decided, and we have the ability to do this as a nonpartisan investigation.” Kinzinger said the investigation would be “a very different scene” if Republicans allied with Trump were participating and able to obstruct some of their work. “I think in five or ten years, when school kids learn about January 6, they’re going to get the accurate story,” Kinzinger said. “And I think that’s going to be dependent on what we do here.” Democrats say having two Republicans working with them has been an asset, especially as they try to reach conservative audiences who may still believe Trump’s falsehoods about a stolen election. “They bring to the table perspectives and ability to translate a little bit what is being reflected in conservative media, or how this might be viewed through a
House votes to avert shutdown, but quick Senate approval in doubt
The House passed a bill Thursday that funds the government through February 18 and avoids a short-term shutdown after midnight Friday, but quick Senate approval was in doubt because of a fight over President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates. An agreement among congressional leaders announced earlier in the day would keep the government running for 11 more weeks, generally at current spending levels, while adding $7 billion to aid Afghanistan evacuees. The Democratic-led House passed the measure by a 221-212 vote. The Republican leadership urged members to vote no; the lone GOP vote for the bill came from Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger. Lawmakers bemoaned the short-term fix and blamed the opposing party for the lack of progress on this year’s spending bills. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said the measure would, however, allow for negotiations on a package covering the remainder of the budget year through September. “Make no mistake, a vote against this continuing resolution is a vote to shut government down,” DeLauro said during the House debate. Before the House acted, President Joe Biden said he had spoken with Senate leaders, and he played down fears of a shutdown. “There is a plan in place unless somebody decides to be totally erratic, and I don’t think that will happen,” Biden said. Conservative Republicans opposed to Biden’s vaccine rules want Congress to take a hard stand against the mandated shots for workers at larger businesses, even if that means shutting down federal offices over the weekend. It was just the latest instance of the brinkmanship around government funding that has triggered several costly shutdowns and partial closures over the past two decades. The longest shutdown in history happened under President Donald Trump — 35 days stretching into January 2019, when Democrats refused to approve money for his U.S-Mexico border wall. Both parties agree the stoppages are irresponsible, yet few deadlines pass without a late scramble to avoid them. Republicans said during the debate that they had made it clear in the summer that they would not support spending bills that include “irresponsible spending increases and extreme policies.” “Unfortunately, that is exactly where we find ourselves,” said Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas. Democrats were able to use their majority to advance the spending bill. They have a more difficult task in the 50-50 Senate, where objections by just one senator can slow a final vote past Friday’s midnight deadline. That could mean a short-term shutdown into the weekend. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Democrats knew last month from a letter that several Republicans would use all means at their disposal to oppose legislation that funds or allows the enforcement of the employer vaccine mandate. He blamed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for not negotiating and for ignoring their position. If the choice is between “suspending nonessential functions” or standing idle while Americans lose their ability to work, “I’ll stand with American workers every time,” Lee said. GOP senators said the idea is to vote on stripping money that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would use to implement the requirement that private employers with 100 or more workers ensure they are vaccinated or regularly tested. “This is a chance to correct a wrong,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who undertook a similar effort against vaccine mandates during the last government funding standoff. Schumer said it was “not easy to reach this deal” and that while most Republicans do not want a shutdown, a “few individual Republican senators appear determined to derail this important legislation because of their opposition to the president’s lifesaving vaccine guidelines.” “Let’s be clear, if there is a shutdown, it will be a Republican, anti-vaccine shutdown,” Schumer said. The White House sees vaccinations as the quickest way to end a pandemic that has killed more than 780,000 people in the United States and is still evolving, as seen Wednesday with the country’s first detected case of a troubling new variant. Courts have knocked back against the mandates, including a ruling this week blocking enforcement of a requirement for some health care workers. For some Republicans, the court cases and lawmakers’ fears about a potentially disruptive shutdown are factors against engaging in a high-stakes shutdown. “One of the things I’m a little concerned about is: Why would we make ourselves the object of public attention by creating the specter of a government shutdown?” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a GOP leader. “There’s too much chaos in our country right now, too much concern about omicron. The last thing we need is more confusion and fear,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reiterated that there will be no shutdown. “We’re not going to do that,” he said Thursday. The administration has pursued vaccine requirements for several groups of workers, but the effort is facing legal setbacks. A federal judge this week blocked the administration from enforcing a vaccine mandate on thousands of health care workers in 10 states. Earlier, a federal appeals court temporarily halted the OSHA requirement affecting employers with 100 or more workers. The administration has also put in place policies requiring millions of federal employees and federal contractors, including military troops, to be fully vaccinated. Those efforts are also under challenge. Polling from The Associated Press shows Americans are divided over Biden’s effort to vaccinate workers, with Democrats overwhelmingly for it while most Republicans are against. Some Republicans prefer an effort from Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., to vote to reject the administration’s mandates in a congressional review action expected next week, separate from the funding fight. Separately, some health care providers protested the stopgap spending measure. Hospitals say it does nothing to shield them from Medicare payment cuts scheduled to go into effect amid uncertainty about the new omicron variant. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Barry Moore cosigns letter to boot Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger out of GOP conference
Congressman Barry Moore signed a letter to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy requesting a reconsideration of a GOP Conference Rule change that would remove members who accept committee assignments or serve on a committee without a recommendation from the Republican Steering Committee or the Republican Leader. The letter, written by Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, comes in response to the select committee investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol. McCarthy was given five picks to serve on the committee. However Nancy Pelosi rejected two, and McCarthy pulled his other three as well. Pelosi, in an effort to maintain a bipartisan committee, asked Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger to serve on the committee, and they accepted. Congressman Moore stated, “It is absurd that a formal rule prohibiting this behavior is necessary, but Republicans must be united to defeat Nancy Pelosi’s socialist takeover of America, and the Republican conference should swiftly make this rule change to expel anyone who has chosen to take marching orders from her.” “Accepting committee assignments from Speaker Pelosi and ignoring the long-standing practice and rule of being nominated by designated GOP members is a betrayal to our party’s efforts against Pelosi and the Far Left’s attacks,” stated Biggs. “As Republican Members of Congress, it is our duty to strategize effective measures that protect America’s foundational values. We cannot allow our party, which stands as a bulwark against the socialist agenda of the Democrats, to be infiltrated by individuals who are coordinating with members of the opposition. Our party’s integrity, and the voice of conservative Americans who voted for us, must be protected and upheld.” Removal from the conference requires a two-thirds vote of all its members. Only the party leader can bring such a motion to a vote. Kinzinger’s spokesperson Maura Gillespie said in a statement that the congressman is looking for answers about the January 6 attack. “When a Member makes repeated calls to remove Representatives Kinzinger and Cheney from the Conference, it certainly calls into question their true motives,” Gillespie said. “Especially when that Member pushes conspiracy theories to their constituents and outright lies for their own personal gain.” The letter to McCarthy states, “Congresswoman Cheney and Congressman Kinzinger are two spies for the Democrats that we currently invite to the meetings, despite our inability to trust them.” On Twitter, Kinzinger responded, “I think this is interesting. Just coming off a member declaring bloodshed will happen, many pushing Covid denialism and Jan 6 trutherism….The GOP has a choice. I am even more committed to getting the truth now.” In July, Cheney posted on Twitter, “We cannot leave the violence of January 6th – and its causes – uninvestigated. We must know what happened at the Capitol and the White House on the day.” Matt Gaetz, one of the 16 cosigners commented, “Instead of investigating the Jihad Squad’s connections to groups that foment political violence like BLM and Antifa, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger have taken on Pelosi appointments to target the Republican Firebrands in Congress. Kevin McCarthy should remove them from their committees immediately.” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stated, “Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger knew all along the Jan. 6 committee was Witch Hunt 2.0, just like the one Democrats launched against President Trump. They’ve sold out Republicans and they must be thrown out of the GOP conference!” Additional cosigners of the letter are Reps. Jody Hice, Matt Gaetz, Andrew Clyde, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Dan Bishop, Randy Weber, Ralph Norman, Andy Harris, Scott Perry, Bill Posey, Madison Cawthorn, Mary Miller, Louie Gohmert, and Bob Good.
Kevin McCarthy proposes 5 Republicans to sit on Jan. 6 panel
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy has picked five Republicans to sit on the new select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, signaling that Republicans will participate in the investigation that they have staunchly opposed. McCarthy said Monday that he had selected Indiana Rep. Jim Banks, who recently visited former President Donald Trump on trips to the U.S.-Mexico border and Trump’s New Jersey golf club, to be the top Republican on the panel. The Republican leader also tapped Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong, and Texas Rep. Troy Nehls to serve on the committee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi must approve the names before they are final, per committee rules. An aide to Pelosi said she had received notification from McCarthy, but it is unclear when or if she will approve the GOP members. The aide was granted anonymity to discuss the Republican picks ahead of an official announcement. The five Republican men selected by McCarthy have all backed Trump, whose supporters laid siege to the Capitol building on Jan. 6 and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. Banks, Jordan, and Nehls all voted to overturn Biden’s win that day, even after the rioting. Davis and Armstrong were among the minority of Republicans who voted to certify Biden’s win. McCarthy’s picks come after all, but two Republicans opposed the creation of the 13-person select committee in a House vote last month, with most in the GOP arguing that the majority-Democratic panel would conduct a partisan probe. House Democrats originally attempted to create an evenly split, independent commission to investigate the insurrection, but that effort fell short when it was blocked by Senate Republicans. House Republicans have largely remained loyal to Trump despite the violent insurrection of his supporters that sent many of them running for their lives. Banks made clear in a statement Monday evening that he would take a politically combative approach to his leadership on the panel, sharply criticizing the Democrats who had set it up. “Make no mistake, Nancy Pelosi created this committee solely to malign conservatives and to justify the Left’s authoritarian agenda,” Banks said. Jordan, one of Trump’s staunchest defenders through his two impeachments and the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said after the House vote to form the panel that he believed the investigation is “impeachment three” against the former president. Trump was impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate both times. The members selected by McCarthy had mixed reactions to the insurrection as it happened on Jan. 6. While Jordan led the effort to overturn election results, others tweeted to the rioters to end the violence or condemned it. “Thank you to the Capitol police and all law enforcement,” Armstrong tweeted shortly after the House was evacuated that afternoon. “Rioting is not protesting. This needs to stop. Now.” Around the same time, Davis tweeted: “This is a sad day for our country. The lawlessness has got to stop. Protestors must leave the Capitol so Congress can resume the process of confirming the Electoral College vote.” Nehls, a former sheriff, was one of several members who helped barricade the House doors as rioters tried to beat them down. He tweeted an Associated Press photo of himself holding the door alongside Capitol Police — face to face with rioters who had broken the glass in the entryway. “I was proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with Capitol police barricading entrance to our sacred House chamber while trying to calm the situation talking to protestors,” Nehls tweeted. “What I’m witnessing is a disgrace. We’re better than this. Violence is NEVER the answer. Law and order!” A week later, all five members voted against the impeachment of Trump, who had told his supporters gathered in Washington on Jan. 6 to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat. The Democratic chair of the select committee, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, said Monday evening that he hadn’t seen the GOP names but referred the matter to Pelosi. “It’s up to her,” he said. Pelosi named eight members of the committee earlier this month — seven Democrats and Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who has strongly criticized Trump and has been the most outspoken member of her caucus against the insurrection. Cheney, who was demoted from GOP leadership in May over her comments, was one of the two Republicans who voted in favor of forming the committee, along with Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger. As McCarthy stayed quiet for weeks on Republican participation on the panel, Thompson has said that the committee will have a quorum to conduct business whether GOP members are present or not. The new members will be put to the test at the panel’s first hearing next week, with at least four rank-and-file police officers who battled rioters that day testifying about their experiences. Dozens of police officers were injured as the crowd pushed past them and broke into the Capitol building. Seven people died during and after the rioting, including a woman who was shot by police as she tried to break into the House chamber and three other Trump supporters who suffered medical emergencies. Two police officers died by suicide in the days that followed, and a third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and later died after engaging with the protesters. A medical examiner determined he died of natural causes. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Pfizer to discuss vaccine booster with U.S. officials Monday
Pfizer says it plans to meet with top U.S. health officials Monday to discuss the drugmaker’s request for federal authorization of a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine as President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser acknowledged that “it is entirely conceivable, maybe likely” that booster shots will be needed. The company said it was scheduled to have the meeting with the Food and Drug Administration and other officials Monday, days after Pfizer asserted that booster shots would be needed within 12 months. Pfizer’s Dr. Mikael Dolsten told The Associated Press last week that early data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels jump five- to 10-fold after a third dose, compared to their second dose months earlier — evidence it believes supports the need for a booster. On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci didn’t rule out the possibility but said it was too soon for the government to recommend another shot. He said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA did the right thing last week by pushing back against Pfizer’s assertion with their statement that they did not view booster shots as necessary “at this time.” Fauci said clinical studies and laboratory data have yet to fully bear out the need for a booster to the current two-shot Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson regimen. “Right now, given the data and the information we have, we do not need to give people a third shot,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we stop there. … There are studies being done now ongoing as we speak about looking at the feasibility about if and when we should be boosting people.” He said it was quite possible in the coming months “as data evolves” that the government may urge a booster based on such factors as age and underlying medical conditions. “Certainly it is entirely conceivable, maybe likely at some time, we will need a boost,″ Fauci said. Monday’s planned meeting between Pfizer and U.S. health officials was first reported by The Washington Post. Currently, only about 48% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. Some parts of the country have far lower immunization rates, and in those places, the delta variant is surging. Last week, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said that’s leading to “two truths” — highly immunized swaths of America are getting back to normal while hospitalizations are rising in other places. Fauci said it was inexplicable that some Americans are so resistant to getting a vaccine when scientific data show how effective it is in staving off COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, and he was dismayed by efforts to block making vaccinations more accessible, such as Biden’s suggestion of door-to-door outreach. Gov. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., agreed Sunday that there is vaccine resistance in Southern and rural states like his because “you have that more conservative approach, skepticism about government.” Describing his efforts to boost vaccinations in his state, which is seeing rising infections, Hutchinson said, “no one wants an agent knocking on a door,” but “we do want those that do not have access otherwise to make sure they know about it.” The grassroots component of the federal vaccination campaign has been in operation since April when supplies of shots began outpacing demand. It was outlined and funded by Congress in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill passed in March and overwhelmingly is carried out by local officials and private-sector workers, and volunteers. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., blasted opposition to vaccination efforts from some GOP lawmakers as “absolute insanity.” He said House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California and others in the party need to speak out against “these absolute clown politicians playing on your vaccine fears for their own selfish gain.” Fauci appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union,” ABC’s “This Week,” and CBS’ “Face the Nation”; Hutchinson spoke on ABC, and Kinzinger was on CNN. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Additional GOP leader backs Donald Trump impeachment as tide grows
Republican opposition to impeaching President Donald Trump began crumbling at the party’s upper echelons on Tuesday as the No. 3 House GOP leader said she would vote to impeach Trump. “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,” Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a statement that, while not unexpected, shook Congress as lawmakers prepared for a Wednesday House vote. With Democrats commanding that chamber, a vote impeaching Trump for an unprecedented second time seemed certain. More ominously for a president clinging to his final week in office, The New York Times reported that influential Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thinks Trump committed an impeachable offense and is glad Democrats are moving against him. Citing unidentified people familiar with the influential Kentucky Republican’s thinking, the Times reported McConnell believes moving against Trump will help the GOP forge a future independent of the divisive, chaotic president. McConnell thinks Trump’s behavior before last week’s assault on the Capitol by fuming Trump supporters cost Republicans their Senate majority in two Georgia runoff elections, the newspaper reported. That’s a sentiment shared by many Republicans about Trump, who rather than focusing on bolstering Georgia’s two sitting GOP senators spent the last weeks of their campaign reciting his false narrative that his own reelection was ruined by Democratic election fraud. McConnell is said to be angry at the president over the insurrection at the Capitol and the twin defeats in Georgia that cost the party its Senate majority, according to a Republican granted anonymity to discuss the situation. Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has run afoul of Trump and far-right Republicans over the years on issues like wearing a facemask and withdrawing troops from Syria. She’s respected by mainstream conservatives and is one of the GOP’s few House female stars. “Good for her for honoring her oath of office,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters when asked about Cheney’s decision. “Would that more Republicans would honor their oaths of office.” Lawmakers’ oath includes a vow to defend the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Reps. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., an Air Force veteran, and John Katko, R-N.Y., a former federal prosecutor, became the first rank-and-file GOP lawmakers to say they would vote to impeach Trump. Later joining the GOP faction was Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich. The House will vote on an impeachment article charging Trump with incitement of insurrection over his goading of a pro-Trump crowd that poured past police lines into the Capitol last Wednesday, disrupting lawmakers’ ceremonial counting of the electoral votes that sealed Trump’s defeat, leaving five dead and widespread damage. “There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection,” Kinzinger said in a statement about Trump, whom he’s repeatedly criticized over the years. In a statement, Upton said: “Congress must hold President Trump to account and send a clear message that our country cannot and will not tolerate any effort by any President to impede the peaceful transfer of power from one President to the next.” “To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy,” Katko said in a statement. “For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action” and backing impeachment. In remarks to his supporters outside the White House before they streamed to the Capitol, Trump told them “this is the time for strength,” adding, “We got to get rid of the weak Congress people,” describing them as “the Liz Cheneys of the world.” Republicans have said they expected perhaps 10 House GOP lawmakers to break ranks and vote with Democrats to impeach Trump, and a clear majority of Republicans seem likely to stand by him. But Trump may not have helped himself Tuesday. In his first public appearance since the attack on the Capitol, he took no responsibility for his role in egging on his supporters and added falsely, “People thought that what I said was totally appropriate.” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has told his colleagues that he believes impeaching Trump would be wrong but has not ruled out censuring him or taking other steps. House GOP leaders say they won’t press their colleagues on how they will vote Wednesday. In its story, the Times did not say how McConnell would vote in a Senate trial to convict Trump. Such a finding would usually result in a president’s removal from office, but in this case it seems unlikely a trial could be held and concluded before Jan. 20, when Democrat Joe Biden will be inaugurated to replace him. McConnell has been the engine that has driven Trump’s Supreme Court appointees and scores of other federal judicial nominees through the chamber. While seldom criticizing Trump, he often resorts to silence when pressed by reporters on some of Trump’s more outrageous statements and their relationship has never seemed warm. One White House official said McConnell and Trump last spoke in in mid-December. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump faces ‘incitement of insurrection’ impeachment charge
As the House prepares for impeachment, President Donald Trump faces a single charge — “incitement of insurrection” — over the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to a draft of the articles obtained by The Associated Press. Lawmakers are set to introduce the legislation Monday, with voting mid-week. Pelosi’s leadership team also will seek a quick vote on a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence and Cabinet officials to invoke the 25th Amendment. The four-page impeachment bill draws from Trump’s own false statements about his election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden; his pressure on state officials in Georgia to “find” him more votes; and his White House rally ahead of the Capitol siege, in which he encouraged thousands of supporters to “fight like hell” before they stormed the building on Wednesday. A violent and largely white mob of Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and windows, and rampaged through the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to scatter as they were finalizing Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College. “President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government,” the legislation said. The bill from Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Ted Lieu of California, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, and Jerrold Nadler of New York, said Trump threatened “the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power” and “betrayed” trust. “He will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office,” they wrote. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Ca., said Monday on CBS, “We need to move forward with alacrity.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will proceed with legislation to impeach Trump as she pushes the vice president and the Cabinet to invoke constitutional authority to force him out, warning that Trump is a threat to democracy after the deadly assault on the Capitol. A Republican senator, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, joined Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska over the weekend in calling for Trump to “resign and go away as soon as possible.” Lawmakers warned of the damage the president could still do before Joe Biden is inaugurated Jan. 20. Trump, holed up at the White House, was increasingly isolated after a mob rioted in the Capitol in support of his false claims of election fraud. Judges across the country, including some nominated by Trump, repeatedly dismissed cases and Attorney General William Barr, a Trump ally, said there was no sign of any widespread fraud. “We will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat,” Pelosi said in a letter late Sunday to colleagues emphasizing the need for quick action. “The horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.” During an interview on “60 Minutes” aired Sunday, Pelosi invoked the Watergate era when Republicans in the Senate told President Richard Nixon, “It’s over.” “That’s what has to happen now,” she said. Pence has given no indication he would act on the 25th Amendment. If he does not, the House would move toward impeachment. Toomey said he doubted impeachment could be done before Biden is inaugurated, even though a growing number of lawmakers say that step is necessary to ensure Trump can never hold elected office again. “I think the president has disqualified himself from ever, certainly, serving in office again,” Toomey said. “I don’t think he is electable in any way.” Murkowski, long exasperated with the president, told the Anchorage Daily News on Friday that Trump simply “needs to get out.” A third, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., did not go that far, but on Sunday he warned Trump to be “very careful” in his final days in office. On impeachment, House Democrats would likely delay for 100 days sending articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial, to allow Biden to focus on other priorities. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that instead of coming together, Democrats want to “talk about ridiculous things like ‘Let’s impeach a president’” with just days left in office. Still, some Republicans might be supportive. Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said he would take a look at any articles that the House sent over. Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a frequent Trump critic, said he would “vote the right way” if the matter were put in front of him. The Democratic effort to stamp Trump’s presidential record — for the second time — with the indelible mark of impeachment advanced rapidly after the riot. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I, a leader of the House effort to draft impeachment articles accusing Trump of inciting insurrection, said Sunday that his group had 200-plus co-sponsors. Potentially complicating Pelosi’s decision about impeachment was what it meant for Biden and the beginning of his presidency. While reiterating that he had long viewed Trump as unfit for office, Biden on Friday sidestepped a question about impeachment, saying what Congress did “is for them to decide.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
