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US House delivers article of impeachment against Trump to Senate – live US House delivers article of impeachment against Trump to Senate – live
(32 minutes later)
Nancy Pelosi sends charge of incitement to Senate, while Janet Yellen confirmed as Treasury secretary – follow all the latest news liveNancy Pelosi sends charge of incitement to Senate, while Janet Yellen confirmed as Treasury secretary – follow all the latest news live
Mitch McConnell, the leader of Senate Republicans for over a decade, now finds himself in the position every caucus leader dreads: out of power in the chamber, in charge of an unruly bunch of politicians, and under pressure over how to handle the impeachment of Donald Trump.
And as McConnell became the Senate minority leader last week, he was confronted with two pressing concerns: retaining power through early negotiations with his Democratic counterpart Chuck Schumer, the new Senate majority leader, and figuring out how to proceed on the impeachment trial of Trump, which is set to begin in early February.
It’s a unique predicament for a senator regarded by Republicans as a strategic mastermind of Senate procedure – and one reviled by Democrats for obstructionism.
McConnell, now once again in the minority, will have to deal with anti-establishment colleagues such as Cruz and Missouri senator Josh Hawley. Those two senators led the challenge to certifying Joe Biden’s victory that resulted in a mob invading Capitol Hill. McConnell has butted heads with Cruz and allies before, and emerged victorious while effectively isolating Cruz as punishment. As his caucus knows, losing a fight with McConnell has its consequences.
He and other Republicans are weighing how to proceed on impeaching Trump. McConnell and other Republican leaders were horrified both by the certification challenge, and it further undermined the already strained ties between McConnell and Trump. Privately, McConnell has indicated that he is at least more open to a Trump impeachment conviction, which could facilitate barring him from becoming president again.
“The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people,” McConnell said earlier this week.
But it’s unclear whether there are the 17 votes needed among Republicans for the Senate to convict Trump, and how fraught with peril it might be for Republicans who do support impeachment. Some are already lobbying McConnell to move forward, even as the few House Republicans who supported impeachment in their chamber face primary challenges and growing blowback.
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The impeachment trial of Donald Trump “has to happen,” Joe Biden told CNN.
The president has urged Senators to prioritize coronavirus relief legislation and approving his Cabinet nominees but acknowledged in an interview with the news network that the trial has to take place, even if chances that Republicans will vote to convict are slim.
“The Senate has changed since I was there, but it hasn’t changed that much,” Biden told CNN.
The Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. At least 17 Republican senators will have to vote with all the Democrats in order to convict the president, who the House has charged with inciting the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January.
House impeachment managers delivered the article of impeachment against Trump to the Senate today. Traditionally, the trial would kick off right afterward - but Republicans and Democrats agreed to a two-week delay to allow both sides to prepare arguments and give senators a fortnight to negotiate vital legislation and consider cabinet appointments in the meantime.
Trump, who has left Washington for his private resort in Florida, is accused of inciting the Capitol insurrection while trying to overturn his election defeat.
The impeachment article mentions his attempt to get Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, also a Republican, to “find” votes that would overturn the result there, as detailed in a recorded phone call that was obtained by reporters.
Senators are also likely to be asked to consider new reporting, first by the New York Times, which alleges that in Trump’s final weeks in office he considered replacing the acting attorney general with a Department of Justice (DoJ) lawyer ready to pursue unfounded claims of election fraud.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump pushed the DoJ to ask the supreme court to invalidate Biden’s win. Senior officials reportedly threatened to resign en masse if the acting attorney general was forced out.
Trump survived his first impeachment, over approaches to Ukraine for dirt on political rivals, last year. He became the first federal official to be impeached twice on 13 January, when every House Democrat and 10 Republicans voted to send him to the Senate for trial.
In a statement then, Pelosi said: “Exactly one week after the attack on the Capitol to undermine the integrity of our democracy, a bipartisan vote of the House of Representatives passed the article of impeachment, which is our solemn duty to deliver to the Senate.”
Though the Senate is now controlled by Democrats, two-thirds of senators must vote against Trump if he is to be convicted. That means 17 Republicans must go against a former president from their own party. As of Friday, according to a tally by the Washington Post, 42 senators had said they supported impeachment, 19 were open to conviction, 28 were opposed and 11 had made no indication.
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Trump’s counselTrump’s counsel
Butch Bowers: Trump tapped Bowers, a South Carolina lawyer, to lead his legal team and defense in the senate. A friend of Trump ally Lindsey Graham, Bowers worked for Mark Sanford, then the South Carolina governor, when he was nearly impeached in connection to an affair over a decade ago. In 2012, he also represented Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who went on to work in the Trump administration, in an ethics investigation. He also has helped defend North Carolina and South Carolina voter ID measures, according to the Post and Courier, and worked as a special counsel on voting matters in the justice department under George W Bush.Butch Bowers: Trump tapped Bowers, a South Carolina lawyer, to lead his legal team and defense in the senate. A friend of Trump ally Lindsey Graham, Bowers worked for Mark Sanford, then the South Carolina governor, when he was nearly impeached in connection to an affair over a decade ago. In 2012, he also represented Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who went on to work in the Trump administration, in an ethics investigation. He also has helped defend North Carolina and South Carolina voter ID measures, according to the Post and Courier, and worked as a special counsel on voting matters in the justice department under George W Bush.
Trump reportedly struggled to find a legal team for the trial. Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and well-known lawyers like Jay Sekulow, Ken Starr, Alan Derschowitz, and Rudy Giuliani who helped defend the president during the first trial are not participating.Trump reportedly struggled to find a legal team for the trial. Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and well-known lawyers like Jay Sekulow, Ken Starr, Alan Derschowitz, and Rudy Giuliani who helped defend the president during the first trial are not participating.
Senate party leadersSenate party leaders
Mitch McConnell: The cunning House minority leader, McConnell won’t be making a case for or against Trump during the trial, but will remain one of the most powerful Republicans. In a significant move, McConnell has left the door open towards voting for impeaching Trump, which could encourage other Republicans following along. Even if they do get McConnell’s vote, Democrats would still need to get at least 16 other senators to vote for impeachment – a high bar.Mitch McConnell: The cunning House minority leader, McConnell won’t be making a case for or against Trump during the trial, but will remain one of the most powerful Republicans. In a significant move, McConnell has left the door open towards voting for impeaching Trump, which could encourage other Republicans following along. Even if they do get McConnell’s vote, Democrats would still need to get at least 16 other senators to vote for impeachment – a high bar.
Chuck Schumer: The newly elected Ssenate majority leader, Schumer will be responsible for keeping his caucus aligned and trying to win over Republican support, all while helping to maintain messaging during the trial. Schumer has been outspoken about the need to impeach Trump.Chuck Schumer: The newly elected Ssenate majority leader, Schumer will be responsible for keeping his caucus aligned and trying to win over Republican support, all while helping to maintain messaging during the trial. Schumer has been outspoken about the need to impeach Trump.
House impeachment managersHouse impeachment managers
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has tapped nine Democrats to be House impeachment managers and essentially serve as prosecutors against Trump. Here’s a look at some of the major players in the trial.The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has tapped nine Democrats to be House impeachment managers and essentially serve as prosecutors against Trump. Here’s a look at some of the major players in the trial.
Read more about them here:Read more about them here:
The impeachment article reads:The impeachment article reads:
The House impeachment managers are now being received at the Senate.The House impeachment managers are now being received at the Senate.
Maryland representative Jamie Raskin will read the article...Maryland representative Jamie Raskin will read the article...
The US House impeachment managers are marching the article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate.The US House impeachment managers are marching the article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate.
Trump will be the first American president in history to face a second impeachment trial.Trump will be the first American president in history to face a second impeachment trial.
A reading of the article – which charges incitement – will follow the formal procession.A reading of the article – which charges incitement – will follow the formal procession.
Normally, the trial would begin as soon as the article is read. But Republicans and Democrats in the Senate reached a deal to allow Trump two weeks to mount a defense, while senators focus on Joe Biden’s legislative agenda and voting on his cabinet nominees.Normally, the trial would begin as soon as the article is read. But Republicans and Democrats in the Senate reached a deal to allow Trump two weeks to mount a defense, while senators focus on Joe Biden’s legislative agenda and voting on his cabinet nominees.
Donald Trump, banned from Twitter, appears to have up an “office of the former president” in Florida.Donald Trump, banned from Twitter, appears to have up an “office of the former president” in Florida.
Per a statement from the office:Per a statement from the office:
Antony Blinken’s nomination for secretary of state was approved by the Senate foreign relations committee, 15-3.Antony Blinken’s nomination for secretary of state was approved by the Senate foreign relations committee, 15-3.
Republicans John Barrasso, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz voted against the nomination.Republicans John Barrasso, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz voted against the nomination.
The Guardian’s Julian Borger wrote, on Biden’s pick of Blinken in November:The Guardian’s Julian Borger wrote, on Biden’s pick of Blinken in November:
Read more:Read more:
Yellen sailed through a congressional hearing last week and had already been unanimously approved by the Senate finance committee and backed by all living former treasury secretaries.Yellen sailed through a congressional hearing last week and had already been unanimously approved by the Senate finance committee and backed by all living former treasury secretaries.
She faces a monumental task. Only this week another 900,000 people filed for unemployment benefits – more than the population of San Francisco and four times the number of weekly claims made before the coronavirus pandemic struck.She faces a monumental task. Only this week another 900,000 people filed for unemployment benefits – more than the population of San Francisco and four times the number of weekly claims made before the coronavirus pandemic struck.
Businesses are closing across the US amid a surge in infections. The US reported more than 188,000 new cases for Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and close to 4,000 people are dying per day.Businesses are closing across the US amid a surge in infections. The US reported more than 188,000 new cases for Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and close to 4,000 people are dying per day.
At the hearing, Yellen said it was imperative for the government to “act big” on the next coronavirus relief package and argued now is not the time to worry about the costs of a higher debt burden.At the hearing, Yellen said it was imperative for the government to “act big” on the next coronavirus relief package and argued now is not the time to worry about the costs of a higher debt burden.
Tackling the fallout of Covid 19 would be her top priority, said Yellen, and especially its disproportionately hard impact on communities of color. Black and Latino workers are still experiencing far higher rates of unemployment, at 9.9% and 9.3%, compared with their white counterparts, 6%.Tackling the fallout of Covid 19 would be her top priority, said Yellen, and especially its disproportionately hard impact on communities of color. Black and Latino workers are still experiencing far higher rates of unemployment, at 9.9% and 9.3%, compared with their white counterparts, 6%.
“We need to make sure that people aren’t going hungry in America, that they can put food on the table, that they’re not losing their homes and ending up out on the street because of evictions,” Yellen said. “We really need to address those forms of suffering, and I think we shouldn’t compromise on it.”“We need to make sure that people aren’t going hungry in America, that they can put food on the table, that they’re not losing their homes and ending up out on the street because of evictions,” Yellen said. “We really need to address those forms of suffering, and I think we shouldn’t compromise on it.”
Janet Yellen has been confirmed as Treasury Secretary. She’s the first woman to take the post.Janet Yellen has been confirmed as Treasury Secretary. She’s the first woman to take the post.
Yellen, 74, received support from both Republicans and Democrats and was confirmed 84-15. She was chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018 and has longstanding ties to Capitol Hill lawmakers – making her an uncontroversial pick.Yellen, 74, received support from both Republicans and Democrats and was confirmed 84-15. She was chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018 and has longstanding ties to Capitol Hill lawmakers – making her an uncontroversial pick.
Minnesota officials said they’ve found the first known Covid-19 case associated with the P.1 variant found amid the outbreak in Manaus, Brazil.
The variant was found to have infected “a Minnesota resident with recent travel history to Brazil.” The individual tested positive on 9 January, and genomic sequencing has since revealed that they were carrying the P.1 variant.
Other cases of the P.1 variant could have gone undetected, as the US lacks a robust system for monitoring variants.
In a bit over an hour, the article of impeachment against Donald Trump will be walked over to the Senate. What’s next?
What happens on today?
Pelosi will send the article of impeachment – the charge of incitement laid out and approved by the House – to the Senate at 7pm EST. The charge will be carried by Democratic impeachment managers in a small, formal procession through National Statuary Hall, where just weeks ago rioters paraded, waving Trump flags. In the Senate, Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland and the lead impeachment manager, will read the article of impeachment on the floor of the chamber.
What happens next?
Traditionally the trial would begin almost immediately upon receipt of the impeachment article. But Senate leaders have agreed on a two-week delay, allowing time for Joe Biden to install his cabinet and begin pursuing a legislative agenda.
Under the deal struck by Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, and Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, the president’s team and the House managers will have until the week of 8 February to draft and exchange written legal briefs.
Trump’s legal team must submit an answer to the article by 2 February, the same day House managers must provide their pre-trial brief. Trump’s pre-trial brief will be due on 8 February and the House will have until 9 February for a rebuttal, allowing for the trial to begin.
What is the charge?
Trump is accused of “inciting violence against the government of the United States”, for his statements at a rally prior to his supporters launching the attack on the Capitol in which five people died. The House impeached Trump for “high crimes and misdemeanors” on 13 January, exactly one week after the siege. The final vote was 232 to 197, with 10 Republicans joining Democrats.
Will witnesses be called?
That is not yet known. In Trump’s first impeachment trial, over approaches to Ukraine for dirt on political rivals, the Republican-held Senate refused to call witnesses. Now the Senate is in Democratic hands but many in the party are hoping for a speedy trial so as not to distract from Biden’s first weeks in the White House. Some Democrats have said they do not expect to call witnesses, given that lawmakers bore witness to –and were the victims of – the attack on the Capitol.
Who runs the trial?
The chief justice of the supreme court, John Roberts, oversaw Trump’s first trial in February 2020. However, the constitution only stipulates that the chief justice must preside over the trial of a current president, leaving scholars divided over who should lead the chamber during the proceedings this time. If Roberts declined to preside, the task would likely fall to the president of the Senate: Kamala Harris, the vice-president. In the event she preferred not to become involved with the proceedings, which overlaps with her first weeks in her new job, the job could fall to Patrick Leahy, a Democratic senator from Vermont and the Senate president pro tempore, a position decided by seniority.
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The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports from San Francisco:
California lifted its stay-at-home order statewide Monday after four-week projections showed intensive care unit capacity to be above 15% in beleaguered regions for the first time in weeks.
“Today we can lay claim to starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel as it relates to case numbers,” said the California governor Gavin Newsom during a press briefing on Monday.
Monday’s change moves counties back to a tiered system of reopening, with most regions across the state expected to move into the most restrictive tier. It lifts an evening curfew and, in many areas, will allow restaurants and churches to resume outdoor operations and hair and nail salons to reopen. Local officials still could choose to impose stricter rules.
The decision came amid improving trends in the state’s rate of infections, hospitalizations and intensive care unit capacity as well as vaccinations. Newsom said on Monday that California averaged 23,283 new coronavirus cases per day over the past week, and its positivity rate was down to 8%, below that of Texas, Florida and Arizona.
Monday’s announcement follows months of a relentless case surge that exhausted the healthcare system statewide and made California the first US state to record 3m Covid-19 infections. It also comes as more than 50 wine country-based restaurants and wineries have filed a lawsuit against Newsomover the state’s restrictions on outdoor dining.
Public officials in some of California’s major cities and counties indicated they could soon lift local restrictions.
“We will be moving forward with some limited re-openings, including outdoor dining and personal services,” said the San Francisco mayor London Breed in a tweet.
Orange county planned to lift some restrictions as well, said Jessica Good, a spokesperson for the county health agency. In Los Angeles county, home to 10 million people, the Republican district supervisor Kathryn Barger expressed support for opening outdoor dining, personal care services and other industries and said the state must balance public health with “devastating social, emotional and economic impacts of this virus”.Los Angeles county public health officials are expected to hold a briefing later Monday.
Others expressed dismay at how the order will affect low-income communities of color that have already been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic because so many work as essential workers in service industry jobs.
“This new executive order is surprising,” tweeted Lena Gonzalez, a California state senator. “My quintessential question: How are low income communities of color and essential workers being impacted by this order? Why do I have to keep asking this question?
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It’s been a busy day so far in US politics and the best drama is yet to come, with the article of impeachment due to be marched from the House to the Senate at 7pm ET. Many apologies to all our readers that there wasn’t a summary in the middle of the day, the blog got carried away with so many events at the White House.
My Guardian colleague on the west coast, Maanvi Singh, will take over in a moment to carry you through the next few hours in her inimitable style.
Here are the main events so far today:
Joe Biden announced he is very keen to step up vaccination efforts in hopes of increasing from a million shots a day to 1.5m and getting most Americans vaccinated “by the spring”.
The president signed an order to close loopholes and oblige the US government itself to made more effort to make its purchases from American-made manufacturers. He’s creating a new figure in the budget office.
The Treasury Department is taking steps to get the project to put abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the US $20 bill back on track.
The US Department of Justice’s internal watchdog, inspector general Michael Horowitz, is launching an investigation in whether any department officials engaged in an improper attempt to alter the election result.
The Biden-Harris administration, with the strong support of the newly-sworn-in defense secretary Lloyd Austin, reversed Donald Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the US military.
In a little over two hours, the House of Representatives impeachment managers, led by Maryland congressman Jamie Raskin, will ceremoniously walk the article of impeachment against Donald Trump across the Capitol to the Senate, ahead of the former president’s trial for high crimes and misdemeanors.
It is a single article, accusing Trump of “incitement of insurrection” because he exhorted the supporters at his rally near the White House on January 6 to “fight” to overturn the election result.
But there’s also the Georgia element.
Here are some condensed extracts from the article (my bold), you can read the whole thing here.
“On January 6, 2021, the House and Senate met at the US Capitol to count the votes of the electoral college. In the months preceding, President Trump repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the results were the product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted or certified by officials.
“Shortly before the joint session, Trump addressed a crowd in Washington, DC. There, he reiterated false claims that ‘we won this election and we won it by a landslide’. He also willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged - and foreseeably resulted in - lawless action at the Capitol, such as: ‘if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country any more.’
“Thus incited by President Trump, members of the crowd he had addressed, in an attempt to interfere with the joint session [of Congress], unlawfully breached and vandalized the Capitol, injured and killed law enforcement personnel, menaced members of Congress, the vice president [Mike Pence] and congressional personnel, and engaged in other violent, deadly, destructive and seditious acts.”
Then it refers back a little before January 6, when it said his conduct followed “prior efforts to subvert and obstruct” the certification of election results, including:
“A phone call on January 2 during which President Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to ‘find’ enough votes to overturn the Georgia presidential election results and threatened Raffensperger if he failed to do so.”
It then goes on to say that “Trump gravely endangered the security of the US...threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power.......he betrayed his trust as president.”
The White House press briefings will from now on regularly include an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter for what seems to be the first time in history.
Jen Psaki, press secretary, announced the change today, noting that an interpreter named Heather was translating the conference virtually in a concurrent livestream.
“The president is committed to building an America that is more inclusive, more just and more accessible for every American,” she said.
About one million Americans use ASL as their primary language of communication.
Without access to the language and interpreters, many deaf people suffer job discrimination or underemployment.
The Trump administration had been sued over the lack of accessibility of its press conferences, as NPR pointed out.
A judge had required the press briefings to include sign language at coronavirus briefings last September.Biden’s inauguration ceremony, meanwhile, included a sign language interpreter and such interpretation was seen on his presidential campaign trail last year.
A New Jersey Democrat is calling on Joe Biden to fire top officials at the US Postal Service over what he called “their silence and complicity” in attempts by Donald Trump to undermine the electoral process back in the late summer, the Hill reports.
“Today I am calling on President Biden to fire the entire Postal Board of Governors for their silence and complicity in trump and dejoy’s attempts to subvert the election and destroy the Post Office,” Representative Bill Pascrell tweeted, referring to postmaster general Louis DeJoy.
The tweet accompanied a letter from Pascrell, a fierce Trump critic, to Biden saying the Postal Service’s Board of Governors “sat silent” while DeJoy implemented “efforts to dismantle mail sorting machines, cut overtime, restrict deliveries, and remove mailboxes,” which he noted the Postal Service inspector general had blamed for reductions in both the timeliness and quality of the nation’s mail delivery service.
“If we wear masks between now and the end of April we can save 50,000 lives,” Biden said about curbing the spread of coronavirus, just now at the White House.
The president said the government is racing towards its initial goal to get a million Americans vaccinated per day and would like to increase to getting 1.5m shots into arms across the US daily.
Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences thinks the vaccinations could and should double from one to two million shots administered every day.
The White House event with the president has just ended.
Joe Biden is still talking at the White House, now taking press questions. He has complained that the division in government has actually led to less heated discussion on Capitol Hill, not more - at least in terms of lawmakers talking to each other across the aisle.
“There were very few debates on the Senate floor last year on any issue”, Biden said, turning to his vice president, Kamala Harris, standing close by, for affirmation.
Harris, who until she became veep was a Democratic Senator for California, nodded in agreement.
Biden continued: “I’m optimistic that. It may take some time, but if we treat each other with respect...we are going to argue like hell, but I think we can do it in a way where we can get things done for the American people.”
“The middle class built this country and the unions built the middle class, so let’s invest in them again,” US president Joe Biden just said.
He’s now signing an executive order to push the government to buy American. Now he’s going to Q&A from the press.
The first question concerns Chicago teachers who are refusing to return to in-person teaching in the classroom because they are at risk from coronavirus, while the vaccination program is behind.
Biden said: “We should make our school classrooms safe and secure” for teachers and children. He wants better ventilation, better sanitization, more testing, plastic dividers between desks and some other measures.
“They just want to work in a safe environment, and we can do that, and we should be able to open up these schools if we do this,” Biden said.