Not Mar-a-Lago: Congress' secrets in sealed rooms, lock bags
As the Justice Department’s probe into the Republican former president’s possession of White House materials deepens, lawmakers of both parties have more questions than answers. Congress had asked for the briefing soon after the revelation of the unprecedented Aug. 8 search, but it may be delayed by the legal fight between Trump and the government. “We need to be able to do appropriate oversight for the Intelligence Committee so that we have a better handle on how this particular incident was handled, but so that we avoid problems like this in the future," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
news.yahoo.comSurprise Senate vote would overturn Biden environmental rule
In a surprise victory for Republicans, the Senate on Thursday voted to overturn a Biden administration rule requiring rigorous environmental review of major infrastructure projects such as highways, pipelines and oil wells — a victory enabled in part by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Texas massacre casts shadow over hearing for ATF pick
Less than a day after a gunman massacred 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas, a Wednesday Senate hearing for President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reflected the deep political divisions over guns.
Democrats blast Mexico's president for assailing judiciary
Democrats in Congress are sounding the alarm over what they claim is mounting evidence that Mexico’s chief prosecutor is assailing the nation’s independent judiciary and selectively targeting for prosecution opponents of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Jackson pushes back at GOP critics, defends judicial record
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson forcefully defended her record as a federal judge Tuesday, pushing back on Republican assertions that she would be soft on crime and declaring she would rule as an “independent jurist” if confirmed as the first Black woman on the high court.
Vermont Democratic US Rep. Peter Welch to seek Senate seat
Vermont's sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Democratic Rep. Peter Welch, announced Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy. Welch's decision comes a week after the 81-year-old Leahy's announcement that he will not seek reelection to the seat he first won in 1974. The 74-year-old Welch said the 2022 election will determine control of the Senate and, with it, what he can accomplish for Vermont families.
news.yahoo.comProsecutors may seek death penalty in Gary bank robbery shooting where security guard from Tinley Park was fatally shot
Two men who have been charged in the fatal shooting of a security guard during a June 11 bank robbery could face the death penalty, if federal prosecutors decide to seek it.
chicagotribune.comSenate Democrats urge Biden to condition aid to Brazil
More than a dozen Senate Democrats have sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden complaining of a woeful environmental track record by his Brazilian counterpart and urging him to condition any support for Amazon preservation on significant progress reducing deforestation.
Biden rolls out diverse first slate of judicial nominees
Three of the picks are Black women whom Biden wants for the federal courts of appeals, often a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. Circuit, in particular, is a place where presidents have searched for Supreme Court justices. Some liberal Democrats have urged Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who is 82, to retire to allow Biden to choose a possible replacement. Other Black women who would be front-runners if a spot on the U.S. Supreme Court were to open are California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs. Ad“This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession," Biden, a former Senate Judiciary Committee chair, said in a statement.
Cyber attack tied to China boosts development bank's chief
Claver-Carone was elected as the new president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in the fall of 2020. (AP Photo/Juan Karita, File)MIAMI – The cyberattack crested just as finance officials from across Latin America were descending on Washington to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Inter-American Development Bank. On Sept. 24, 2019, requests from more than 15,000 internet addresses throughout China flooded the bank’s website, knocking part of it intermittently offline. Details of the attack, which has not been previously reported, are contained in an IDB internal document reviewed by The Associated Press. But membership has been a cheap way for China to expand its reach in Latin America.
Democratic push to revive earmarks divides Republicans
A dirty word for many Republicans is making the rounds on Capitol Hill -- earmarks. It's a question that's vexing Republicans as they consider whether to join a Democratic push to revive earmarks, the much-maligned practice where lawmakers direct federal spending to a specific project or institution back home. Democratic appropriators in the House see a solution and are proposing a revamped process allowing lawmakers to submit public requests for “community project funding” in federal spending bills. The ranking Republican on the committee, Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, said earmarks would not increase the amount of money spent in a bill. “That’s something I feel pretty strongly about.”Norman worries that earmarks would be used to entice Republicans to vote for bills with expensive price tags.
Senate approves budget resolution as Democrats rush to pass Covid relief bill
Democrats passed it 51-50 in the evenly split Senate, as Vice President Kamala Harris had to cast her first tiebreaking vote. The Senate passed a budget resolution early Friday, moving toward passing a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill after a marathon of votes on dozens of amendments. The chamber will have to vote again because the Senate passed a separate version. The budget resolution directs committees to write legislation reflecting Biden's Covid relief package, while staying under the $1.9 trillion target. Democrats hope to pass a relief package before March 14, when a $300 per week unemployment supplement approved in December expires.
cnbc.comEye Opener: Biden vows to increase COVID-19 vaccine supply
Eye Opener: Biden vows to increase COVID-19 vaccine supply The Biden administration has promised to ramp up the U.S. supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses. Also, Senator Patrick Leahy was hospitalized just hours after presiding over the opening of former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. All that and all that matters in today's Eye Opener. Your world in 90 seconds.
cbsnews.comSenator presiding over impeachment trial hospitalized hours after colleagues sworn in as jury
Senator presiding over impeachment trial hospitalized hours after colleagues sworn in as jury Just hours after being sworn in as the jury in former President Trump's upcoming impeachment trial, Senator Patrick Leahy was hospitalized after he feeling unwell. Leahy is presiding over the trial, in place of Chief Justice John Roberts. Siobhan Hughes, a congressional correspondent with the Wall Street Journal, joins CBSN's Elaine Quijano to discuss what would happen if Leahy is unable to preside over the trial and what will happen between now and when the trial starts in two weeks.
cbsnews.comSen. Patrick Leahy, set to preside over Trump impeachment, returns home after brief hospitalization
Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat set to preside over the upcoming impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, has returned home after being taken to a Washington hospital for evaluation Tuesday out of an abundance of caution, his spokesman said. "The Capitol Physician suggested that Senator Leahy go to George Washington University Hospital this evening for observation, out of an abundance of caution," his spokesman David Carle said in a written statement. "After getting test results back, and after a thorough examination, Senator Leahy now is home. The House impeached Trump earlier this month for inciting the riot by his supporters at the Capitol complex on Jan. 6. The mob disrupted a joint session of Congress, which was confirming the election of Joe Biden as president.
cnbc.comSenator Patrick Leahy to preside over Trump's second impeachment trial
"The president pro tempore has historically presided over Senate impeachment trials of non-presidents," Leahy confirmed in a statement on Monday. "When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws. Roberts presided over Mr. Trump's first impeachment trial, as designated by the Constitution. But the Constitution is silent on the question of who presides over the Senate trial of a former president, and a former president has never faced an impeachment trial. But the Vermont senator also said that he considers his role as president pro tempore as "one of the highest honors and most serious responsibilities of my career. "
cbsnews.comSenators to be sworn in for impeachment trial against former President Trump
Senators to be sworn in for impeachment trial against former President Trump U.S. senators will be sworn in Tuesday for the second impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump, setting the stage for arguments to begin in February. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the longest-serving Democrat in the chamber, will preside over the trial. Nikole Killion reports.
cbsnews.comDemocratic Sen. Patrick Leahy to preside over Trump's second impeachment trial
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) exits the Senate chamber after the third day of the Senate impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, January 23, 2020. Sen. Patrick Leahy, not Chief Justice John Roberts, will preside over the imminent impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. Leahy, of Vermont, is the president pro tempore of the Senate and is the longest-serving active Democrat in the chamber. The president pro tempore of the Senate historically presides over impeachment trials of non-presidents. Roberts presided over Trump's first impeachment trial, about a year ago.
cnbc.comSenator Patrick Leahy to preside over Trump's second impeachment trial
"The president pro tempore has historically presided over Senate impeachment trials of non-presidents," Leahy confirmed in a statement on Monday. "When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws. Roberts presided over Mr. Trump's first impeachment trial, as designated by the Constitution. But the Constitution is silent on the question of who presides over the Senate trial of a former president, and a former president has never faced an impeachment trial. But the Vermont senator also said that he considers his role as president pro tempore as "one of the highest honors and most serious responsibilities of my career. "
cbsnews.comSenate Democrats unveil relief proposal in response to coronavirus outbreak
From left, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., participate in the Senate Democrats news conference on coronavirus relief proposals on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)Senate Democrats on Wednesday unveiled more than a dozen "critical measures" intended to provide relief to local communities in the wake of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for a relief proposal that is "targeted to the people who need help," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told NBC News earlier Wednesday. Trump has also indicated that his administration would propose relief to the airline and cruise ship industries, which have been impacted by the outbreak. Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the number of deaths attributable to the coronavirus in the U.S.
cnbc.comTrump rolls back Obama-era restrictions on land mines
President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Defense to roll back restrictions on the use of land mines, the White House announced on Friday. The new policy will enable the use of anti-personnel land mines elsewhere in the world in "exceptional circumstances." Anti-personnel land mines that do not self-destruct are banned by more than 150 countries because of their tendency to inflict civilian casualties, often years after they are used in conflict. Defense Secretary Mark Esper described land mines as an "important tool" during a press conference Friday at the Pentagon alongside his Italian counterpart. "The White House claims that the previous policy put our military at a 'severe disadvantage against our adversaries.'
cnbc.comBen Affleck gives Sen. Leahy shoutout for Batman cameo
The actor, director and activist used his star power to press Congress for more foreign aid for the Democratic Republic of Congo. He also gave a Hollywood hat-tip at a Senate hearing Thursday, calling out Sen. Patrick Leahy for his cameo in Batman. The Vermont senator is known for being a Batman fanatic. Gayle King reports.
cbsnews.com