Category Archives: US Senate

Biden and Harris release first public schedule as they begin transition – US election live

Posted on by

Here are some details on the reaction to Biden’s win in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and other Pacific nations, from Ben Doherty, the Guardian’s Pacific editor:

Joe Biden’s presidential ascension had not even been settled when Fiji’s forthright prime minister was already urging greater US action on climate change from the incoming American leader.

Related: Pacific nations herald Biden presidency amid hope for action on climate emergency

There are a number of troubling statistics out today on the current state of Covid-19 in the US, the most urgent crisis Biden will inherit. Reuters has published an analysis of where things stand in the worsening pandemic in America, as the country nears 10m cases, becoming the first nation in the world to surpass that figure. Some specifics from the news agency’s report:

Related: Coronavirus live news: US nears 10m cases as global infections pass 50m

Continue reading...

US election live: Joe Biden wins and says ‘It’s time for America to unite’

Posted on by

Georgia’s Secretary of State has tweeted that that county of Fulton had “discovered an issue involving reporting from their work” on Friday.

Brad Raffensperger said officials will rescan the “work”, which I assume he means ballots, although the tweet is fairly vague.

Fulton has discovered an issue involving reporting from their work on Fri. Officials are at State Farm Arena to rescan that work. I have a monitor & investigators onsite. Also sent Dep. SOS as well to oversee the process to make sure to secure the vote and protect all legal votes

The Guardian’s Libby Brooks reports from Glasgow:

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris following the US Presidential election.

Continue reading...

Who will fill Kamala Harris’s Senate seat in California?

Posted on by

The state’s governor will appoint a replacement for Harris now she has been elected vice-president. Who’s in the frame?

With Kamala Harris officially headed to the White House, a fresh political battle in her home state of California looms: who will fill her US Senate seat?

Related: US election live: Joe Biden wins and says 'It’s time for America to unite'

Continue reading...

The path to Joe Biden’s victory: five days in five minutes – video highlights

Posted on by

President-elect Joe Biden has thanked the American people for their support after winning the US presidential election against Donald Trump. From razor-thin margins, record voter turnout and protests via false claims of victory and Joe and Kamala Harris's congratulatory call - here's the story of how the presidency was won

Continue reading...

‘Democracy works’: Biden addresses nation as vote count shows him on brink of victory – live

Posted on by

A campaign aide has also tested positive, Bloomberg reports. CNN and NBC have also confirmed the Meadows has contracted Covid-19.

Worth noting that Mark Meadows was at the election night party at the White House Tuesday that hundreds of people attended. Officials said everyone would be tested beforehand.

Mark Meadows has tested positive for coronavirus, according to reporters from Bloomberg news.

BREAKING: Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has the coronavirus. Meadows informed a close circle of advisers after the election.

Story by me, @tylerpager and @MarioDParker out soon.

Continue reading...

‘The American way’: Mitch McConnell defends Trump threat to challenge election results – video

Posted on by

‘We don’t know who won the presidential race yet,’ said Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell as he defended Trump’s threat to challenge election results in the supreme court, a statement that drew wide criticism.

McConnell on Wednesday said Trump should not be criticised for threatening to bring in his lawyers, adding the Biden campaign would do the same.

‘In a close election you can anticipate in some of these states you are going to end up in court, (it’s) the American way,’ McConnell said during a news conference in Louisville, Kentucky

Continue reading...

US election 2020 live: Trump and Biden pick up wins as votes counted in Florida

Posted on by

The AP has confirmed that Senator John Cornyn has won another Senate term in Texas, defeating Democratic candidate MJ Hegar.

BREAKING: Republican John Cornyn wins reelection to U.S. Senate from Texas. #APracecall at 9:06 p.m. CST. #Election2020 #TXelection https://t.co/lGfinjTqT4

Donald Trump has won Kansas and its 6 electoral votes, the AP just announced.

BREAKING: Donald Trump wins Kansas. #APracecall at 9:00 p.m. CST. #Election2020

Continue reading...

Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to supreme court in major victory for US conservatives

Posted on by

Senate’s confirmation of Barrett, 48, cements rightwing domination of court for years to come

The US Senate has confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court, delivering Donald Trump a huge but partisan victory just eight days before the election and locking in rightwing domination of the nation’s highest court for years to come.

Continue reading...

McConnell revels in moving Amy Coney Barrett’s supreme court vote forward – video

Posted on by

After the Senate voted to move forward with the final vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell spoke on the Senate floor, celebrating the lasting influence of the vote for posterity.

'By tomorrow night, we’ll have a new member of the United States Supreme Court,' he told the chamber.

The Senate voted 51-48 to move forward with the final vote for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination, and the final vote for her confirmation will take place on Monday

Continue reading...

Democrats refuse to participate as Amy Coney Barrett nomination advanced – video

Posted on by

Amy Coney Barrett’s supreme court nomination was advanced by a unilateral Republican vote to the full Senate despite Democrats’ refusal to participate in the Senate judiciary committee hearing for what they called a ‘naked power grab’.

Democratic senators stood outside the Capital and boycotted the vote to install Donald Trump’s third supreme court nominee less than two weeks before the election.

No supreme court nominee has ever been installed so close to a presidential election and, just four years ago, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and senator Lindsey Graham, who now chairs the judiciary committee, said that installing a nominee in an election year would be a shameful defiance of the will of voters

Continue reading...

Trump blasts Sasse for predicting Senate Republican bloodbath

Posted on by

The president issued a familiar stream of insults on Twitter after the Nebraska senator heavily criticised him to constituents

Down in the polls to Joe Biden and campaigning through a surging pandemic, Donald Trump chose to devote time on Saturday morning to a Twitter rant against a member of his own party in the Senate, a chamber Republicans face losing on 3 November.

Related: Trump trails Biden with two weeks to go – but there could yet be surprises

Continue reading...

Top Senate Republican says he has the votes to confirm Amy Coney Barrett

Posted on by

Judiciary committee expected to confirm supreme court justice nomination on 22 October before advancing to full Senate ballot

The Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said he has the votes to confirm the nomination of conservative Amy Coney Barrett as a supreme court justice as the upper chamber’s judiciary committee scheduled a vote for 22 October to advance the nomination towards a full Senate ballot shortly after.

Barrett’s progression towards taking up the seat vacated by the death of the liberal favorite Ruth Bader Ginsburg now appears virtually assured, but the unprecedented nomination of a new justice so close to a presidential election – and one who will shift the balance of the court rightward – has been contentious.

Continue reading...

Democrats are resigned to losing the supreme court battle – but set on winning the war

Posted on by

Amy Coney Barrett’s supreme court confirmation hearings bring few surprises – with occasional glimpses of truth

It was the five-hour mark when the tech gods finally pulled the plug.

As Senator Richard Blumenthal started questioning supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, the Senate’s audio system crashed and her words floated away on the air.

Continue reading...

Amy Coney Barrett dodges abortion, healthcare and election law questions

Posted on by
  • Democrats press supreme court nominee with little success
  • Barrett argues she is not a pundit, on second day of hearings
  • US politics – live coverage

On the second day of hearings before the Senate judiciary committee, Democrats pressed supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on healthcare, election law and abortion rights – and met with little success.

Related: 'Slayer Pete': Buttigieg emerges as Biden's unlikely Fox News fighter

Continue reading...

Senators stir ghosts of Scalia and Ginsburg for Amy Coney Barrett hearing

Posted on by

Amid talk of originalism, harking to a time when only white men with property could vote, Republican ears pricked up

Depending on your point of view, the woman seated before the Senate judiciary committee for her first day of questioning was either the female Scalia or the anti-RBG. Or maybe, of course, both.

Related: Amy Coney Barrett dodges abortion, healthcare and election law questions

Continue reading...

Amy Coney Barrett faces questions on legal record as nomination hearings continue – live

Posted on by

One other extraordinary dodge today: Barrett said that while she has “read things about climate change”, she does not have “firm views on it”.

Amy Coney Barrett tells Sen. Kennedy: “I have read things about climate change. I would not say I have firm views on it.” pic.twitter.com/kG3cv8XN5Q

The day was characterized by Barrett dodging questions on abortion, voting rights, the Affordable Care Act, and the presidential transfer of power.

Continue reading...

Amy Coney Barrett’s hearing kicks off with hypocrisy and healthcare | David Smith

Posted on by

Republicans sought to normalise her rushed nomination while Democrats maintained a laser-like focus on the future of Obamacare

That was rich. Senate Republicans, otherwise known as Donald Trump’s Praetorian Guard, lined up on Monday to pay pious homage to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the separation of powers and the halcyon days of political bipartisanship.

Related: What Amy Coney Barrett's likely confirmation means for America

Continue reading...

Amy Coney Barrett: quick confirmation under threat as three senators infected

Posted on by
  • Democrats urge delay in process amid coronavirus turmoil
  • Senate judiciary committee to convene as planned on 12 October

Senate Republicans are facing a shrinking window of time before the November 3 election to confirm Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, following the news that at least three Republican senators have tested positive for the coronavirus and more are quarantining after likely exposure.

Related: Confusion mounts over Trump's true condition after doctor's Covid briefing – live

Continue reading...

Trump names Amy Coney Barrett for supreme court, stoking liberal backlash

Posted on by

Donald Trump’s pick for America’s highest court, Amy Coney Barrett, is an “ideological fanatic” who threatens abortion rights, healthcare and the environment, activists warned on Saturday, before Trump unveiled his third supreme court nominee in the White House Rose Garden.

Related: 'Not special any more': how the Senate has failed the American people

Continue reading...

Trump nominates Amy Coney Barrett to supreme court – live

Posted on by

A quick glance at the guest list for Amy Comey Barrett’s nomination ceremony today makes troubling reading. Among the guests were representatives from Judicial Watch, which has described climate science as a “fraud”; the Heritage Foundation (which has also pushed back against climate science); and the Family Research Council (which has opposed abortion, divorce and LGBT rights).

Attendees at Trump's SCOTUS nomination of Amy Coney Barrett:
•Judicial Crisis Network's Carrie Severino
Heritage Foundation's Kay Cole James
•Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton
•Family Research Council's Tony Perkins
•Cleta Mitchell—a lawyer tied to many GOP 'dark money' nonprofits https://t.co/q5BzTkPBs9

Now that Amy Coney Barrett has been nominated for the supreme court, the senate hearings are likely to last from 12-15 October. And, as is more than likely, she will be confirmed by the Republican-held Senate by 29 October, well before the 3 November elections.

Donald Trump’s rival for the presidency, Joe Biden, has issued a statement saying the process should be delayed until after the election.

Election Day is just weeks away, and millions of Americans are already voting because the stakes in this election could not be higher. They feel the urgency of this choice – an urgency made all the more acute by what’s at stake at the U.S. Supreme Court.

They are voting because their health care hangs in the balance. They are voting because they worry about losing their right to vote or being expelled from the only country they have ever known. They are voting right now because they fear losing their collective bargaining rights. They are voting to demand that equal justice be guaranteed for all. They are voting because they don’t want Roe v. Wade, which has been the law of the land for nearly half a century, to be overturned.

Continue reading...