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Source: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File
President-elect Joe Biden received the coronavirus vaccine on Monday morning, following the suit of various congressional leaders. Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy all publicly received the vaccine.
Biden said in a statement released on Friday that he hoped to “build confidence” in the scientific process. This is about more than politics. This is about saving lives. I look forward to receiving the vaccine publicly on Monday and continuing to build confidence in the scientific process. Vaccines don’t save lives, vaccinations do.
GOP senator says relief talks are in the same place, no progress
From CNN s Ted Barrett and Ali Zaslav
Rod Lamkey/Pool/Getty Images
The No. 2 Senate Republican, John Thune, said Friday that Covid-19 relief talks are in the same place.
“Kind of the same place, no progress,” Thune said, when asked if he had an update on the negotiations.
Congressional leaders are scrambling to finalize a $900 billion Covid-19 relief deal before tonight s midnight deadline to fund the government. Relief and the shutdown deadline are tied together since leaders want to tie the relief deal to a $1.4 trillion funding bill to keep the government open through next September.
Representatives are venting about the lack of information on the stimulus talks
From CNN s Manu Raju Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images
As congressional leaders scramble to finalize a possible Covid-19 relief deal, there’s a lot of frustration on the floor among rank-and-file House members who are shut out of the talks and have no information about timing, what’s in the deal, or when they may vote or if they’ll vote soon to keep the government open past midnight, according to members in both parties.
“What the hell is going on?” one Democrat said, summing up the frustration on the floor.
U.S. Congress nears $900 billion COVID-19 deal with direct checks but no local aid, liability shield -Politico
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. congressional negotiators neared a $900 billion deal to address COVID-19, including direct payments to Americans but no financial aid for states and cities and no liability protections for businesses, Politico reported on Wednesday.
The potential agreement could come as early as later on Wednesday morning, according to the report, which cited multiple sources involved in and briefed on the ongoing talks.
Reported progress on a relief bill comes after leaders in Congress on Tuesday said they had made substantial progress toward finalizing relief in late-night talks aimed at addressing the pandemic s heavy human and economic toll, and funding the federal government to avert a government shutdown.
HOUSTON (AP) More than half of House Republicans, including their top two leaders, are backing a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in an extraordinary display of the party s willingness to subvert the will of voters.
Seventeen Republican attorneys general and 126 members of Congress have joined Texas and President Donald Trump in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out millions of votes in four battleground states based on baseless claims of fraud. On Friday, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana signed onto a brief backing the longshot bid, demonstrating Trump s remarkable political power even even as he spreads false claims that many Democrats and others fear risk deeply damaging democracy.