Republicans Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and others unabashedly endorsed the former president’s assault on democracy
A desk in the US Senate was notably empty for chunks of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial on Wednesday.
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Dozens of former Republican officials in talks to form anti-Trump party
Breakaway group would run on ‘principled conservatism’ platform, say those involved in discussions
Dozens of former Republican officials who view the party as unwilling to stand up to Donald Trump and his attempts to undermine US democracy are in talks to form a centre-right breakaway party, four people involved in the discussions have said.
The early stage discussions include former elected Republicans, former officials in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, George W Bush and Trump, ex-Republican ambassadors and Republican strategists, the people involved told Reuters.
Continue reading...Analysis: Democrats use Trump impeachment to show sometimes symbolism is the point
Analysis: faith in the US has been shaken and the impeachment trial is a test of accountability before a global audience
The Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin stood at the lectern, faced 100 senators and removed his black face mask to begin the historic second impeachment trial of former president Donald John Trump.
Continue reading...‘Trump’s guilt is obvious’, impeachment managers say in new legal brief – live
- ‘President Trump’s pre-trial brief confirms he has no good defense’
- Schumer says ‘sweeping it under the rug will not bring unity’
- Trump’s second impeachment trial set to begin in US Senate
- Donald Trump’s trial: what you need to know
- Outcry as more than 20 babies and children deported by US to Haiti
The election arm of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has brought out its final report on the US presidential election, concluding that it was well organised under the circumstances and there was no significant fraud.
The report also found that Donald Trump’s rhetoric and refusal to accept defeat undermined public faith in democratic institutions, and warned the US has long-term problems with providing equal voting rights for all.
Related: 'Jim Crow relic': Senate filibuster stands in way of Democratic voting rights push
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...Trump prosecutors pitch to the public in made-for-TV impeachment trial
Democrats hope harrowing audio and video from Capitol attack will make plain what no legal argument might deny
The lethal Capitol invasion by Donald Trump supporters that is at the heart of the former president’s second impeachment trial happened more than a month ago. But Democrats leading the prosecution of Trump are counting on an element of surprise.
Surprise, the impeachment prosecutors are calculating, because while most Americans understand the broad outlines of what happened during the 6 January attack on the Capitol, relatively few have come to grips with the shocking audio and video footage from that day – portraying a cauldron of violence, vandalism, bloodlust and fear.
Continue reading...‘This fever will break’: Republican Jeff Flake on the slow fade of Trumpism
Anti-Trumpists are growing but very slowly – convicting Trump in his impeachment trial would help speed things along, says Flake
By now, Jeff Flake thought this would all be over.
Flake, the former Arizona Republican senator and outspoken critic of Donald Trump, concedes that he expected the ripple effects in the Republican party Trump’s loss of the White House to have been bigger by now.
Continue reading...Liz Cheney raises possibility of criminal investigation of Trump for provoking violence
Republican pointed to former president’s tweet attacking vice-president Mike Pence after Capitol insurrection began
Liz Cheney, the third most senior Republican in the House of Representatives, has raised the possibility of Donald Trump being criminally investigated for provoking violence during the 6 January US Capitol insurrection, pointing to a tweet attacking his own vice-president, Mike Pence, that was posted after the assault had begun.
Related: Liz Cheney censured by Wyoming Republican party for voting to impeach Trump
Continue reading...Never Trumpers’ Republican revolt failed but they could still play key role
The attempt to pry the party away from Trump’s influence fizzled but support in Congress is greater than it may appear
The Republican rebellion failed: Donald Trump won.
“I was disappointed over the last few weeks to see what seemed like the Republican party waking up,” the Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger observed on NBC’s Meet the Press last week, “and then kind of falling asleep again”.
Continue reading...Liz Cheney censured by Wyoming Republican party for voting to impeach Trump
Cheney, the third ranking member of the House Republican leadership, was censured in a vote Saturday by her state’s Republican party
Liz Cheney, the third-highest-ranking Republican leader in the House, was censured by the Wyoming Republican party on Saturday for voting to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the 6 January riot at the US Capitol.
The overwhelming censure vote was the latest blowback for Cheney for joining nine Republican representatives and all Democrats in the US House in the 13 January impeachment vote.
Continue reading...House passes budget resolution, paving way for Covid relief – US politics live
- House votes 219-209 along mostly party lines to approve resolution
- Biden: ‘What Republicans proposed is either do nothing or not enough’
- Defense department will send 1,000 troops to vaccination sites
- US records more than 5,000 Covid deaths in single day
- US economy adds 49,000 jobs as Biden aims for further relief
The House has just passed the Senate-approved budget resolution, paving the way for the chamber to take up Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief proposal in the coming weeks.
The House voted 219-209 along mostly partly lines to approve the resolution as amended by the Senate. Jared Golden was the only Democrat to vote against the measure.
The rule for S.Con.Res. 5 – Setting forth the congressional budget for the US Gov't for FY 2021 & setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for FY 2022-2030 was adopted by a vote of 219-209.
S.Con.Res. 5 is hereby passed.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, fresh from being stripped of her committee assignments, seemed unrepentant on Friday morning, as she used a press conference to sum up the intertwining of the Republican party and Donald Trump.
“The party is his – it doesn’t belong to anyone else,” Greene told reporters in Washington this morning.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on Trump and the GOP Party:
"The party is his. It doesn’t belong to anybody else." pic.twitter.com/XOL8VzRicW
House votes to remove Republican extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene from committee roles
Vote largely along party lines serves as rebuke of congresswoman’s incendiary and racist statements
The US House of Representatives has voted to strip the extremist Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia from the committees she was assigned to, in a stark rebuke of her incendiary and racist statements.
Related: Republicans take no action against Cheney or extremist Greene after vote
Continue reading...Nancy Pelosi ‘profoundly concerned’ by Republican reaction to Marjorie Taylor Greene – video
House speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House of Representatives would vote to remove Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from committee positions after House Republican leaders declined to proactively discipline her. Pelosi said she was ‘profoundly concerned about House Republican leadership’s acceptance of an extreme conspiracy theorist’
Continue reading...Donald Trump takes up a post-presidency hobby: revenge
Instead of discreetly returning to private life the ex-president is focused on punishing Republicans he feels betrayed him
Every former American president picks up hobbies after leaving office (books, painting, skinny dipping, boxing). For the early days of Donald Trump’s post-presidency he has picked something a little different: revenge.
It’s early and presidents usually intentionally recede from public view dramatically after leaving office. But Trump appears uninterested in following that practice.
Continue reading...Republicans take no action against Cheney or extremist Greene after vote
Republicans met to consider fate of two prominent congresswoman in a divided party
House Republicans faced a reckoning on Wednesday as leaders in the US House of Representatives confronted calls to punish two prominent congresswomen who represent clashing visions for a party struggling to chart a path forward since Donald Trump left the White House.
Related: House to vote on removing rightwing extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene from committees – live
Continue reading...Mitch McConnell says congresswoman’s ‘loony lies’ are ‘a cancer’ for Republicans
Senate minority leader didn’t name Marjorie Taylor Greene, but the remarks were clearly directed at the QAnon supporter
Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the US Senate, has intensified pressure on the extremist Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, calling the “loony lies and conspiracy theories” that she endorses a “cancer for the Republican party”.
Continue reading...‘This path is untenable’: can the Republican party split with Trumpism?
A path forward for the GOP is unclear when the former president still holds power over many of its lawmakers
Donald Trump may have left the White House, but his shadow still looms large in Washington and the Republican party as the Senate prepares for his second impeachment trial.
Continue reading...Explainer: what is the filibuster and why do some Democrats want to get rid of it?
Abolishing the filibuster could allow Senate Democrats to pass Joe Biden’s agenda, but there are risks
While the US Senate has temporarily averted a showdown over its so-called filibuster rule, the issue appears likely to resurface, as the wafer-thin Democratic majority endeavors to pass Joe Biden’s legislative agenda into law – and Republicans try to stop them. Here’s what you need to know:
Continue reading...Cori Bush says she’s moving office away from GOP extremist over safety concerns
Democratic congresswoman said Marjorie Taylor Greene and her staff refused to wear masks and berated her
The Democratic representative Cori Bush said she is moving her office away from that of Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene due to safety concerns after Greene and her staff berated her and refused to wear masks.
Continue reading...‘What were they thinking?’: Pelosi slams GOP over Marjorie Taylor Greene committee seat – video
A visibly angry Nancy Pelosi accused Republican leaders of showing disregard to the victims of school shootings after the QAnon-supporting congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was assigned a seat on the House education committee. Greene has previously suggested the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida was a 'false flag' and was filmed harassing a teenage survivor on Capitol Hill in 2019. 'She has mocked the killing of little children,' Pelosi said. 'What could they be thinking? Or is thinking too strong a word for what they might be doing?'
Continue reading...Biden turns attention to climate crisis with new executive orders today – live updates
President, who has already cancelled Keystone XL pipeline, will address nation on the environment
- Biden vows to vaccinate 300m by end of summer or early fall
- 45 Republican senators vote to dismiss Trump impeachment
- Executive orders signed in effort to advance US racial equity
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While we’re waiting for a Covid-19 briefing, it’s worth remembering just how many people have gone through a year of pandemic without health insurance: likely at least 28.9 million.
The number of people who lacked health insurance rose through the Trump presidency, and grew by experts millions were added to the ranks of uninsured as the pandemic drove unprecedented job losses. A plurality of Americans rely on private health insurance through an employer.
WASHINGTON (AP) Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Joe Biden plans to reopen the HealthCare.gov insurance markets for a special sign-up opportunity geared to people needing coverage in the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden is expected to sign an executive order Thursday, said two people familiar with the plan, whose details were still being finalized. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the pending order ahead of a formal announcement.
Hello – this is Jessica Glenza taking over from Martin Belam. Among the most high profile events happening in Washington DC today is the first Covid-19 briefing, which the Biden administration promised will be a regular feature of his administration.
At 11am ET, we’re expecting Biden’s first Covid-19 briefing. Here’s a closer look at what is expected:
(AP) - For nearly a year it was the Trump show. Now President Joe Biden is calling up the nation’s top scientists and public health experts to regularly brief the American public about the pandemic that has claimed more than 425,000 US lives.
Beginning Wednesday, administration experts will host briefings three times a week on the state of the outbreak, efforts to control it and the race to deliver vaccines and therapeutics to end it.
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