Remarks comes after fellow centrist Kyrsten Sinema announced she was leaving party and becoming an independent
The centrist Democratic senator Joe Manchin does not intend to change his party affiliation – at least for now, he said Sunday.
Manchin’s remarks on CBS’s Face the Nation came after fellow centrist senator Kyrsten Sinema sent shock waves through Congress by announcing that she was leaving the Democratic party and listing herself as an independent.
Continue reading...Revelation casts light on direction of the criminal inquiry into the former president’s insurrection efforts
Joe Biden is at a town hall for veterans in New Castle, Delaware, choking with emotion when talking about his late son Beau, a former National Guard major for whom the center he was speaking at is named.
The president kept his comments tightly focused on the expansion of benefits and services for veterans resulting from the Pact Act, introducing a second world war pilot, and talking of the need to support and improve the physical and mental health of retired military members.
The Pact Act was the first step of being sure that we leave no-one behind.
We also need to pass the bipartisan government funding bill so we can deliver on the act’s promise.
Continue reading...Nancy Pelosi has given what she suggests will be her final press conference as House speaker, telling reporters this is “maybe the last time I see you in this way”.
She’s been reflecting on some of the successes of her tenure, and paying tribute to Joe Biden and Barack Obama for most of them, from the passing of the Affordable Care Act to this week’s signing of the same-sex Respect for Marriage Act.
He has been a remarkable president. He has a record that is so outstanding, and for such a short period of time as well.
People compare him to Lyndon Johnson, to Franklin Roosevelt, but I’d remind you all that Roosevelt had 319 Democrats in the House, President Biden 222, whatever it is, and even fewer now.
Passing the American rescue plan, getting vaccines at arms, money in pockets, children back to school and people safely back to work, the bipartisan infrastructure law, building roads, bridges, ports and water systems…
Bringing people together, not projects that divide communities but bringing people together, and this such a source of pride, putting justice and equity front and center.
We won’t relent until the job is done, until we can have background checks, and have banned assault weapons.
Continue reading...President commits to strengthening Africa’s food supplies, tackling climate and partnering to take on rising global power
Back at the House oversight hearing into anti-LGBTQ+ violence, Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) says her group has recorded an alarming surge in hate-related killings:
Over the last 10 years, the campaign has tracked over 300 incidents of fatal violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people. In 2022 so far, we’ve recorded the murder of 35 people.
It’s fueled by nearly unfettered access to guns, political extremism and rhetoric that is deliberately devised to make our community less safe, less equal, and less free. Violence has become a lived reality for so many in our community.
We should have societal guilt for taking too long to deal with this problem. We have a moral obligation to pass and enforce laws that can prevent these things from happening again. We owe it to the courageous, young survivors and to the families who lost part of their soul 10 years ago to turn their pain into purpose.
A few months ago, I signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law. We’ve reined in so-called ghost guns which have no serial numbers and are harder to trace. We’ve cracked down on gun trafficking and increased resources for violence prevention.
Continue reading...Breakthrough came after experiment with 192 high-energy lasers, say US energy officials
The energy department’s press conference on the breakthrough in its fusion experiment has wrapped up, but before it concluded, a top official said it could be a long time before the technology becomes commonly used.
“There are very significant hurdles, not just in the science but in technology,” said Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where the experiment was conducted. “This is one igniting capsule one time, and to realize commercial fusion energy, you have to do many things. You have to be able to produce many, many fusion ignition events per minute, and you have to have a robust system of drivers to enable that.”
Inside that was a small, spherical capsule about half the diameter of a BB. One hundred and ninety two laser beams entered from the two ends of the cylinder and struck the inner wall. They didn’t strike the capsule, they struck the inner wall of this cylinder and deposited energy, and that happened in less time than it takes light to move 10 feet, so it’s kind of fast.
X-rays from the wall impinged on the spherical capsule. Fusion fuel in the capsule got squeezed. Fusion reaction started.
Continue reading...Senator adds to chorus of detractors against Arizona lawmaker who left Democratic party and declared herself an independent
The popular progressive US senator Bernie Sanders would consider supporting any Democrat who might mount a challenge against his chamber colleague Kyrsten Sinema after she recently left the party and declared herself an independent like him, arguing that she has “helped sabotage” some of Congress’s most important legislation.
Sanders’s comments on Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union added to the chorus of detractors against the Arizona lawmaker who has undermined the agenda of the Joe Biden White House and other progressives, including by voting down raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and reforming the Senate filibuster so that voting rights legislation can pass.
Continue reading...As we’ve mentioned Republican criticism of Joe Biden for trading basketball star Brittney Griner for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, here’s Florida senator Marco Rubio’s considered opinion:
“We have to recognize, even as we’re happy an American’s coming home, it does incentivize the taking of more Americans,” he told reporters on Friday morning.
Continue reading...Arizona senator changes party affiliation and says she will not caucus with Republicans
The US senator Kyrsten Sinema has switched her political affiliation to independent, leaving the Democratic party just days after it won a Senate race in Georgia to secure a 51st seat in the chamber.
“I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington. I registered as an Arizona independent,” she said in an op-ed for Arizona Central, a local media outlet.
Continue reading...More on the Jan 6 committee’s announcement about upcoming criminal referrals.
Committee chairman Bennie G Thompson told reporters today that the committee has decided to make at least one criminal referral.
Continue reading...Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy denounced as ‘two-faced’ by Brian Sicknick’s mother at Congressional Gold Medal event
Senior Republicans Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy were snubbed by law enforcement leaders and a fallen officer’s family at Tuesday’s Congressional Gold Medal award ceremony for Capitol police who defended against the 6 January attacks.
The pair were denounced as “two-faced” by the mother of Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after a mob of Donald Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol building and forced politicians to flee for their lives.
Continue reading...Court allows early voting on a Saturday as polling shows Democrat Raphael Warnock with a lead over Herschel Walker
Thanks to a Georgia supreme court ruling, a week of early voting on Saturday began in nearly two dozen counties in the state for a contentious runoff between Democratic senator Raphael Warnock and Republican opponent Herschel Walker.
Recent polling commissioned by AARP shows Warnock with a four point lead over the Donald Trump-endorsed Walker ahead of the December 6 election.
Continue reading...Legislation on the debt ceiling, civil liberties and elections is still possible before Republican House majority kicks in
As a new era of divided government looms in the US, Democrats are rushing to complete a lengthy legislative to-do list that includes landmark civil liberties legislation, a routine but critical spending package and a bill to prevent another January 6.
There are only a handful of working days left before the balance of power in Congress shifts and Democrats’ unified control of government in Washington ends. In January, Republicans will claim the gavel in the House, giving them veto power over much of Joe Biden’s agenda.
Continue reading...Several politicians voice concerns about dominance of ticket sales company after botched release for singer’s tour
A US Senate antitrust panel will go ahead with a hearing on the lack of competition in the country’s ticketing industry after Ticketmaster’s problems last week managing the sale of Taylor Swift tickets.
Tickemaster’s parent company, Live Nation, has blamed presale problems for Swift’s Eras tour – the pop superstar’s first US tour in five years – on “unprecedented demand” and an effort to keep out bots run by ticket scalpers.
Continue reading...Speaking of Trump and lawyers, another of his former top White House officials is going to South Carolina’s high court to stop a subpoena from a Georgia prosecutor looking into meddling in the state’s 2020 election, Politico reports:
The appeal to South Carolina’s supreme court by Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff for his final months in the White House, is the latest development in his lengthy battle to resist the summons from Fanni Willis. She’s the district attorney in Fulton county, which contains most of Atlanta, and has empaneled a special grand jury to look into attempts by Trump’s allies to interfere in Joe Biden’s election victory in the state.
Continue reading...Merrick Garland names Jack Smith, a veteran prosecutor, as special counsel to decide whether to bring charges against Trump
Why didn’t last week’s midterm elections produce a landslide victory for Republicans? Why did so many people vote for Democrats, despite Joe Biden’s approval rating being underwater for more than a year?
Definitive answers to these questions are elusive, no matter how important they may be. The Guardian surveyed readers for their views on last Tuesday’s polls, and you can read what they had to say below:
Continue reading...Last week’s elections produced winners, losers and candidates like Kari Lake.
The Associated Press has already called the Arizona governor’s race for Democrat Katie Hobbs, but her Republican challenger Lake is refusing to concede. She said as much in a video released to supporters today:
Continue reading...Twice-impeached ex-president makes expected election announcement despite shaky midterms and surge from rival Ron DeSantis
Donald Trump on Tuesday night announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, likely sparking another period of tumult in US politics and especially his own political party.
“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said from ballroom of his private Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he stood on a stage crowded with American flags and Make America Great Again banners.
Continue reading...Democrats are behind in several districts needed to secure control of Congress’ lower chamber for another two years
The Senate will this week vote on a bill to codify same-sex marriage rights, Semafor reports.
Same-sex marriage rights are currently established nationwide by a supreme court ruling, but Democrats are trying to pass a law protecting the rights after rightwing justice Clarence Thomas in June mulled overturning the ruling.
Continue reading...Alabama congressman Mo Brooks, a once-zealous Trump ally, comments after party fails to retake Congress in midterms
Alabama congressman and once-zealous Trump supporter, Mo Brooks, has a remarkable new stance on the political future of his former hero. “It would be a bad mistake for the Republicans to have Donald Trump as their nominee in 2024,” he said.
The stark judgment from Brooks was indicative of the deepening and brutal blame game among Republicans which continued on Monday, nearly a week after the party failed to retake Congress in the midterm elections and a day before Trump’s expected announcement of a new presidential campaign.
Continue reading...Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer hail achievement after Nevada victory, while Georgia Senate heads to runoff
Analysts say victory by Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada, which secured her party’s control of the Senate for two more years, will be of massive importance to Joe Biden’s plans for filling judicial vacancies.
Retaining the majority in the chamber gives the president the opportunity to keep getting his picks confirmed, something for which the incumbent senator was a key ally even before the midterms.
Continue reading...