At 5:30 am EST on February 5, Madam Vice President Harris delivered the tie breaking vote to Senate regarding the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, moving government one step closer to passing the proposal without any Republican votes. They will be able to use a process called “reconciliation,” allowing bills concerning budget to avoid a filibuster and without it on the Democrats’ side, passing the budget would require at least 60 votes, 10 of which would have to come from Republicans.
President Biden has been adamant that the nearly $2 trillion is needed to help Americans recover from the economic devastation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
English By Masood Farivar Share on Facebook WASHINGTON - With the odds seemingly in favor of former President Donald Trump prevailing in his impeachment trial, a debate is brewing among legal scholars and some members of Congress over whether a once-forgotten provision of the U.S. Constitution can be used to bar the former president from holding federal office ever again.
The provision is part of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Ratified in 1868, the amendment is best known for expanding the civil rights of American citizens and guaranteeing “equal protection” under the law. Its lesser known but hotly debated Section Three bars anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States or who has given “aid and comfort” to its enemies from holding office.
Sanders, Warner Tapped to Chair Powerful Senate Committees
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will chair the Senate Budget Committee while Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) will take the top post for the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to assignments announced Tuesday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced choices for budget chairs and members, a few weeks after Democrats took control of the upper chamber.
Sanders takes over from Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.).
Warner takes over from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
Other chairs include Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) for the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) for the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
It’s not just Trump supporters outraged by the newly proposed domestic terrorism laws targeting them. None of “the Squad,” including Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and other avowed leftists, are tagging along with many of their Democratic colleagues.
The events of January 6, or how the “attack on the Capitol” was covered in the media, stirred up a frenzy among Democrats and their supporters to deploy some retaliation against not only the so-called domestic terrorists of that fateful day but also many of their fellow Trump supporters.
President Joe Biden ordered investigations from three intelligence agencies into “domestic violent extremism,” while in Congress, there are moves to establish new offices in the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Justice to pursue ill-defined public enemies.
Rubio: Relief Money Shouldn’t Go to Schools That Aren’t Open
Schools that won’t reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic shouldn’t get funding from COVID-19 relief bills, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said this week.
“There shouldn’t be any federal taxpayer money of COVID relief going to schools that aren’t open. The purpose of the money is to open the schools. If the schools aren’t going to open, we shouldn’t send you the money,” Rubio said on “Fox News Primetime.”
Congress has already approved billions of dollars in relief funding to schools. President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal calls for an additional $170 billion for K-12 schools and colleges.