US politics in the news ticker: Former President Donald Trump has officially submitted the documents for another presidential candidacy. You can read all the news about US politics here in the news ticker on FOCUS Online.
Wednesday, November 16, 3:10 a.m.: Former US President Donald Trump has submitted official documents for a renewed presidential candidacy. The corresponding form for the 2024 presidential election was filed with the US Federal Elections Commission on Tuesday (local time), according to the agency’s website.
The 76-year-old gave a speech on Tuesday evening (local time) at his Mar-a-Lago estate in the state of Florida, in which he announced his renewed candidacy for the presidency. “America’s comeback is starting right now,” Trump said at the start of his speech in front of numerous supporters.
The Republican praised achievements during his 2017-2021 tenure and lamented that the country has gone downhill steeply since Biden took office. “Soon we will be a great nation again,” Trump said.
His announcement comes just a week after the general and gubernatorial elections in the US, in which the Republicans, contrary to expectations, did not achieve a spectacular victory. Trump, who loudly interfered in the election campaign and publicly supported numerous right-wing candidates, is held responsible for the poor result. That could now complicate his project: Because in the end, in order to actually run as his party’s official candidate for the 2024 presidential election, Trump has to assert himself in internal party primaries.
Surf tip: 45th US President – Donald Trump: candidacy 2024, Twitter ban and family
5:45 a.m .: A month after the massacre at a Texas elementary school, the US Senate passed a law for better protection against gun violence. The reform was passed on Thursday evening (local time) with a bipartisan majority of 65 to 33 votes. According to experts, it was the most significant tightening of gun laws at the federal level in decades – even though it was a minimum non-partisan compromise that critics described as completely inadequate.
The text of the law will now be forwarded to the House of Representatives, where rapid approval was also expected. President Joe Biden must then sign the law into law. The Democrat said “after a 28-year stalemate” on gun laws, officials from both parties have acted to confront “the plague of gun violence.”
Amid the debate over gun violence, the country’s Supreme Court expanded the right to carry guns in public on Thursday. The Supreme Court overturned a more than 100-year-old New York state statute that requires you to have valid reason to obtain a license to carry a handgun concealed outside the home.
Friday, June 24, 1:57 a.m .: According to the department’s leadership at the time, ex-President Donald Trump wanted to use the US Department of Justice to avert his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. At a hearing in the House of Representatives, then Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue described how Trump put them under vehement pressure. He also threatened to appoint a new head of the ministry in order to have the authority take action against alleged election fraud, they said on Thursday (local time) before the investigative committee into the storming of the US Capitol in January 2021.
Rosen said during his short tenure at the helm of the ministry, Trump called or video chatted with him virtually every day from December 23, 2020 to January 3, 2021. Donoghue said Trump had “an arsenal of allegations” about alleged voter fraud “that he wanted to base himself on.” The President has urged the Justice Department to investigate. However, these were baseless allegations or conspiracy theories. “These allegations were simply baseless,” Donoghue said.
The Department of Justice has complied with the law and the facts, stressed Rosen. Among other things, Trump tried to get the department to write a letter declaring that the election was corrupt, Donoghue said. Trump said that he and his Republican allies in Congress would then do the “rest” – i.e. overturning the legitimate election result.
Saturday, June 18, 12:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.: Former US President Donald Trump publicly attacked his former Vice President Mike Pence again. “Mike didn’t have the courage to act,” Trump said Friday in Nashville, Tennessee, at an event hosted by an ultra-conservative religious organization. Pence had a chance to be “historic” on January 6, 2021. “But Mike was afraid, whatever he was afraid of.”
On Thursday, at a public meeting of the committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol, new details about the chaotic hours of that day were revealed. Trump again denounced the committee and its members in his speech. It’s a “hijacker”. “Each of them is a left-wing hater who hates you all,” Trump told his audience.
Trump supporters had stormed the seat of parliament in Washington at the time. Congress met there to formally confirm the election victory of Trump’s democratic challenger Joe Biden. The violent crowd wanted to prevent that. At that time, Pence chaired the congress session in his role as Vice President – legally a purely ceremonial task. Trump had previously openly called on his deputy to block the procedure – in order to help him win the election afterwards.
Shortly before the attack on the Capitol, Trump once again incited his supporters at a rally that his election victory had been stolen.
4:49 a.m .: Despite the contradiction of close comrades-in-arms, former US President Donald Trump spread the false allegation of massive election fraud after his election defeat in 2020. At the public hearings of the parliamentary investigative committee on the Capitol storming on January 6, 2021, corresponding videotaped statements by Trump’s former Attorney General and campaign chief were played on Monday. Trump himself described the event as a “comedy” and persisted in his claims.
“I told him it was crazy stuff,” ex-Attorney General Bill Barr said in his testimony about the voter fraud allegations. Trump’s campaign manager at the time, Bill Stepien, said that on election night on November 3, 2020, he unsuccessfully advised the incumbent against prematurely declaring himself the winner. “He thought I was wrong, he told me that, and that they were going in a different direction,” Stepien said. And Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump also said in her recorded statement: “It became obvious that the election would not be decided that evening”.
Tuesday, June 14, 3:05 a.m .: Former US President Donald Trump has rejected allegations by the investigative committee to storm the US Capitol in a multi-page document. Trump accused the committee on Monday evening of making “justice a laughingstock” and excluding exonerating witnesses. In the twelve-page letter, which also contains a number of footnotes, Trump repeated his unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud and fantasies of election victory. He accused the Democrats and US President Joe Biden of destroying the country. “The Democrats (…) are doing everything in their power to stop me – but we cannot be stopped,” it said.
At the second public hearing of the committee of inquiry on Monday, several high-ranking people from Trump’s environment had firmly contradicted his allegations of voter fraud. Former members of the government and campaign advisors have clearly distanced themselves from Trump’s actions. Ex-Attorney General William Barr and others called Trump’s fraud allegations “insane.” Barr said Trump had increasingly “lost touch with reality”.
To this day, Trump claims without evidence that he was deprived of victory in the 2020 presidential election by electoral fraud. Resistance to the outcome of the election culminated in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which the committee of inquiry in Congress is working on. For months, the investigative committee questioned hundreds of witnesses behind closed doors – including Trump’s daughter Ivanka – and viewed large amounts of documents and evidence. The panel is now revealing its findings in a series of public hearings. Some Trump confidants, such as former chief strategist Steve Bannon, refused to cooperate with the committee.
Monday, June 13, 11:14 p.m.: US State Department officials met with representatives of the WNBA team of Olympic basketball champion Brittney Griner, who is being held in Russia. The US news agency AP reported on Monday, citing the ministry. Accordingly, at the meeting on Monday, representatives of the Phoenix Mercury specialists from the department for hostages and illegally held Americans were present. There was no information about the content and reasons for the meeting.
Griner has been in a Russian prison for almost four months. The two-time Olympic champion and star player of the WNBA team Phoenix Mercury was arrested on February 17 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on charges of drug possession. You face five to ten years in prison. The US State Department classifies the arrest of the 31-year-old as unlawful.
Tuesday, March 8, 2:35 a.m.: Senate Democrats are preparing a more than $12 billion humanitarian and military aid package for Ukraine. The funds would benefit refugees and displaced persons, as well as medical care, food security and arms transfers to Ukraine, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The package should be decided later this week as part of the budget.
A few days after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the government of US President Joe Biden had applied to Congress for a package worth a good six billion dollars. Since then, the planned scope of the package has almost doubled. Many Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate also want to give Ukraine further support. Details and the exact scope of the bundle of measures are still being negotiated.
“The clearest signal Congress can send to Vladimir Putin this week is to enact a bipartisan aid package and leave no doubt that the world’s democratic institutions stand by Ukraine,” Schumer said in the US Senate on Monday . Congress will oppose the “deeply immoral and bloody war” ordered by the Russian President, Schumer said. At the same time, there are also efforts to ban the import of Russian oil and gas.
The aid package for Ukraine is to be decided with a budget law that must be passed by Congress this week so that the government does not run out of money by the weekend. Just last week, Biden approved emergency military aid for Ukraine worth $350 million. According to official figures, US military aid has totaled more than one billion dollars since last year.
Thursday, 11:21 p.m.: The investigative committee for the storming of the US Capitol has summoned the girlfriend of ex-President Donald Trump’s son, Kimberly Guilfoyle. The committee has evidence that Guilfoyle was in direct contact with key people and was raising funds for the rally immediately before the Capitol was stormed, the panel said Thursday. Therefore, documents were requested from the 52-year-old and she was summoned to make a statement. Guilfoyle is in a relationship with Donald Trump Jr.
Because Guilfoyle did not keep her original promise for a voluntary interview, she will now be subpoenaed, according to the House Special Committee. “We expect her to obey the law and cooperate,” it said. The committee has already spoken to dozens of witnesses – but some of those summoned refuse to cooperate. Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon must therefore answer in court. The same threatens Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol in early January 2021 while Congress was meeting there to certify the outcome of the presidential election. Trump had recently incited his supporters at a rally that his election victory had been stolen. Five people were killed, including a police officer.
Tuesday, March 1, 1:41 a.m .: After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the government of US President Joe Biden has asked Congress for an aid package worth 6.4 billion dollars (5.7 billion euros) for the beleaguered country . This should include humanitarian aid, economic aid and military aid for Ukraine’s self-defense, said the majority leader of Biden’s Democrats in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, on Monday (local time). In the coming weeks, the Senate will put together “a solid aid package for Ukraine” on a cross-party basis and in coordination with the Biden government. The aim is to adopt the support with the next budget law by March 11th.
The planned billion-euro package is independent of the US government’s recent emergency military aid for Ukraine with a volume of 350 million dollars. Biden had already ordered their payment on Saturday night. With this tranche, US military aid to Ukraine has totaled more than $1 billion since last year, according to official figures.
Thursday, February 25, 2022, 3:02 p.m.: President Joe Biden has selected Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee for the Supreme Court, CNN reports. In doing so, he sets in motion a historic confirmation process for the first black woman in the nation’s highest court.
Jackson, 51, currently sits on the federal appeals court in Washington and was considered the favorite for the vacancy after Judge Stephen Breyer announced his resignation. In a phone call Thursday evening, she received and accepted Biden’s offer, a source familiar with the decision told CNN.
Tuesday, February 8, 1:25 a.m .: The top Republican in the US Senate has demanded a clear commitment from Chancellor Olaf Scholz to a final end for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. “It would be a powerful demonstration of German leadership if Chancellor Scholz were to state clearly that the Russian escalation in Europe will lead to a termination – a termination – of Nord Stream 2,” Mitch McConnell said on Monday (local time) in the Senate. “Not another pause, just the end of the pipeline, period.”
McConnell also advocated that Germany should assist Ukraine with “legitimate military capabilities.” “It is now time for Germany to stand up and protect the peace and defend the stable Europe that modern Germany itself helped build and from which it has benefited greatly.” McConnell and other senators from both the Republicans and Democrats were scheduled to meet with Scholz in Washington on Monday evening before his flight back to Berlin.
At a press conference with Scholz in the White House, US President Joe Biden made it clear that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would mean the end of Nord Stream 2. In the event of an invasion, “there will be no more Nord Stream 2. We will put an end to that,” said the Democrat. When asked how he intends to do this in a German-Russian project, Biden replied: “I promise you that we will do it.” Scholz did not mention Nord Stream 2.
Tuesday, January 25, 12:15 a.m .: US President Joe Biden was caught vulgarly insulting a journalist because the microphone was still on. “What a stupid bastard,” Biden said Monday at the White House via reporter Peter Doocy of the conservative news network Fox News, according to recordings.
At the end of a press conference, Doocy asked Biden if high inflation in the US could harm his Democratic Party in the November midterm elections. “What a great plus, more inflation,” said Biden, still standing at his desk, sarcastically in a low voice. “What a stupid prick.”
Biden used the expression “stupid son of a bitch”. “Son of a bitch” is considered a less serious insult in the USA than the literal German translation “Hurensohn”. Biden’s comments were clearly heard on the recordings.
Monday, January 24, 11:45 p.m.: Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to the United States for his inaugural visit in February. This was confirmed by a government spokesman on Monday in Berlin. The White House had previously announced the visit to Washington. “Germany is one of our closest allies,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki. “Of course we look forward to welcoming the Chancellor here in the United States in February.” An exact date for the visit has not yet been given.
Scholz was sworn in as the new Federal Chancellor on December 8 and has since made inaugural visits to Paris, Brussels, Warsaw, Rome and Madrid. As Germany’s closest ally outside the European Union, the USA is traditionally one of the first travel destinations for a new chancellor. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was received by her counterpart Antony Blinken in Washington on January 5 for an inaugural visit.
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Saturday, December 18, 8:33 a.m .: A US court has imposed the toughest sentence to date on a supporter of former US President Donald Trump for storming the Capitol in January. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan sentenced Trump supporter Robert Scott Palmer to five years in prison for assaulting police officers. Videos showed Palmer throwing boards, a fire extinguisher and other objects at police outside the Capitol.
The 54-year-old did not make it to the Capitol itself after officials stopped him with pepper spray and rubber bullets. The man was unsuccessful with an application for mitigating circumstances because of a difficult childhood and a handwritten apology. In it he wrote that the “tyrannical” Trump had tricked him and others into attacking Parliament by lying.
However, prosecutors pointed out that even after his guilty plea in early October, Palmer defended his actions and described the police as the attacker on a donation website he set up. “Palmer’s violence pursued the political aim of undermining a democratic election and the peaceful transfer of power,” prosecutors wrote to the court.
The harshest sentence yet in connection with the attack on the Capitol was 41 months in prison for two men charged with obstructing an official process. However, they were not charged with attacking law enforcement.
More than 700 people have been charged in connection with the attack, most of them with minor offenses such as illegally entering the Capitol. However, several dozen have been charged with assault, carrying deadly weapons and conspiracy, all of which could carry hefty sentences.
Tuesday, December 14, 2:30 a.m.: The committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol has prepared the way for criminal action against then-President Donald Trump’s chief of staff. The committee unanimously adopted a report Monday night accusing Mark Meadows of disrespect for Congress. The next step is for the House of Representatives to vote. There, the Democrats of US President Joe Biden have a narrow majority. If the majority goes along with the committee, the case goes to the Justice Department, which could indict Meadows.
Meadows is in a “unique position to provide important information regarding the events of January 6, 2021,” the report said. The 62-year-old is considered an important witness and was in the White House during the storming of the Capitol.
Trump supporters then stormed the seat of the US Congress in Washington. Five people were killed, including a police officer. The attack on the heart of US democracy, which left many lawmakers and senators fearing for their lives, shook the country. Trump had to face impeachment because of the attack because he had previously incited his supporters in a speech. In the end, however, he was acquitted.
Tuesday, December 7, 3 a.m.: Republican Congressman Devin Nunes is to head a media company founded by ex-President Donald Trump. This was announced by Trump Media
Trump announced in October that he wanted to set up an alternative social network called “Truth Social” – under the umbrella of the media company. The aim is to stand up to the “tyranny” of the big tech companies.
Trump responded to his ejection from established social media by taking the step. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube blocked Trump’s accounts in January shortly before the end of his term. The trigger was the storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters – and the fact that he expressed sympathy for the attackers. In addition, Trump continues to claim, without any evidence whatsoever, that his victory in the November 2020 presidential election was stolen through fraud. He heated up the atmosphere in the country. Twitter, where Trump was followed by more than 80 million users, had been the most important communication platform for him up to that point.
Wednesday, December 1, 8:04 p.m .: A corona test by former US President Donald Trump is said to have been positive last year before a television debate with his challenger at the time, Joe Biden. That’s what Trump’s then chief of staff, Mark Meadows, writes in an unpublished book quoted by the British newspaper “Guardian” (Wednesday). According to a report by the New York Times, two former government officials confirmed Meadow’s report of Trump’s positive test before the debate. Trump, on the other hand, stated in a statement that “the story that I had Covid before or during the first debate is fake news”.
The TV duel before the election took place on September 29th. On October 2, the White House announced that Trump had contracted the coronavirus. Trump was taken to a military hospital that same day. The rapid succession of events between the positive test and the apparent need for hospitalization had sparked speculation last year that Trump might have been infected for a long time.
According to Meadows, a test should have been positive three days before the debate, which would have meant an exclusion. Trump was “nothing” to stop him from appearing and shortly afterwards presented a negative result from another test.
According to Meadows, Trump is said to have looked a bit battered in the days leading up to the debate. But he stuck to his public appointments. According to Trump Meadows, Trump was said to have seemed somewhat weakened immediately before his combative appearance in the TV duel with Biden. Then-moderator Chris Wallace later said the contestants were not tested immediately prior to the duel. Trump finally lost the election in November.
Biden, who has been President since January, did not respond directly to a journalist’s question on Wednesday whether Trump had put him in danger at the time because of his apparently concealed infection. “I don’t think about the former president,” Biden said simply during an appearance in the White House.
Tuesday, November 30, 4:20 a.m.: Disputes over sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline have contributed to the temporary blocking of the US defense budget for the coming year. Republicans in the US Senate used procedural rules to prevent a vote on the defense budget package (NDAA) Monday night. Minority Republican leader Mitch McConnell justified the move by saying, among other things, that the Democrats refused to include a Nord Stream 2 legislative change in the package. After the change, US President Joe Biden should no longer have the option of exempting US sanctions over Nord Stream 2 for reasons of national security.
Several Republican senators want to use the change in the law to prevent the operation of the pipeline, which is intended to bring gas from Russia to Germany while bypassing Ukraine. In May, Democrat Biden issued special permits (“Presidential Waiver”), with which Nord Stream 2 AG, based in Switzerland, and its German managing director were spared US sanctions.
Majority leader of the Democrats, Chuck Schumer, criticized the blockade as “outrageous”. Schumer said, “Democrats will continue to work to ensure our troops are paid and our vital defense programs can continue.” McConnell accused Schumer of having delayed introducing the package and now wanting to prevent debates about “Russia’s aggression”. He called Nord Stream 2 “the pipeline fueling Putin’s onslaught on Europe.” The Democrats need the votes of several Republicans in order for the defense budget to be put to a vote in the Senate at all.
Should the new regulation that the Republicans are striving for come about, German-American relations are likely to suffer as a result.
2:33 a.m .: The committee investigating the storming of the US Capitol in January summoned Roger Stone, a longtime companion of then President Donald Trump. In addition, the ultra-conservative radio host Alex Jones should answer questions from MPs, as the House of Representatives committee said on Monday. Jones, Stone and three other subpoenas are also said to produce a number of documents.
Jones, who is considered a right-wing conspiracy theorist, is said to have helped fund Trump supporters’ Jan. 6 event outside the White House, according to the committee. Stone is also said to have been in Washington for the event.
Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison in 2020 in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigations, among other things, for making false statements and obstructing justice. Trump pardoned him shortly before the end of his term.
The committee has already subpoenaed numerous Trump advisors and associates, including his former campaign manager William Stepien and former spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany. The committee also summoned Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon. But he refused to cooperate and now faces charges of contempt of Congress.
Supporters of Republican Trump stormed the US Congress on January 6th. Five people were killed, including a police officer. Trump had to face impeachment over the attack because he had previously incited his supporters in a speech. In the end, however, he was acquitted. The attack on the Capitol, the heart of US democracy, which left many lawmakers and senators fearing for their lives, shook the country.
Tuesday, November 23, 12:20 a.m .: The US State Department warns against traveling to Germany due to the massive spread of the corona virus. This is the consequence of a reassessment of the pandemic situation there by the US health authority CDC, the ministry said on Monday. The authority calls on US citizens to avoid traveling to Germany. There, “even fully vaccinated travelers could be in danger” of “getting and passing on” virus variants. Denmark has also been upgraded to level four, the highest level of travel advice (“Do not travel”).
Warning level four also applies to other countries in Europe currently severely affected by the pandemic, including Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Austria and the Netherlands. For France and Italy, on the other hand, only level three applies, which requires travelers to re-examine travel plans. Before the pandemic, the highest level of travel warnings was mostly reserved for crisis and conflict countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq.
Monday, 11 p.m.: The United States wants to impose further sanctions on the controversial German-Russian natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2. The Transadria company, which is involved with the pipeline and is related to Russia, and its ship “Merlin” are affected, the State Department said on Monday in Washington. This means that eight people or institutions and 17 ships have been sanctioned.
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken stressed that the new penalties are in line with the US government’s opposition to the pipeline, which is designed to bring gas from Russia to Germany, bypassing Ukraine. At the same time, cooperation with Germany and other allies will continue in order to reduce the danger of the pipeline for Ukraine and eastern NATO countries. Critics see Nord Stream 2 primarily as a geopolitical project by Russia.
In the years-long dispute over the project, the federal government and the government of US President Joe Biden announced a breakthrough in July. They released a joint statement pledged support to Ukraine. The US government also conceded that it would no longer be able to prevent the pipeline and therefore initially refrained from imposing more drastic sanctions – for example against the company operating the pipeline, which is registered in Switzerland.
So far, however, no natural gas has flowed through the completed 1,230-kilometer double line from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. Last week, the Federal Network Agency suspended a necessary certification process for the time being. The operator Nord Stream 2 AG is a subsidiary of the Russian gas group Gazprom.
Saturday, November 20th, 6:25 p.m.: January 6th should not only have been burned into the memory of many Americans. It was the day supporters of Donald Trump, who had lost the election, stormed the Capitol in Washington. Five people lost their lives in the process.
Shortly thereafter, President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, apparently threw a dinner party with husband Jared Kushner. This is currently reported by the magazine “Vanity Fair”, citing the book “Betrayal” by “ABC News” correspondent Jonathan Karl. Just hours after the deadly siege of the US Capitol, the Kushners invited members of the Trump administration to dinner.
According to Karl, the event took place on January 7, just over 24 hours after one of the most shocking scenes in US political history and amid a wave of uncertainty and resignations. At the party, the storming of the Capitol should not have been an issue once.
9:59 p.m .: US President Joe Biden briefly handed over his authority to his deputy Kamala Harris on Friday. This was the first time that a woman was at the head of state in the United States – if only for around 85 minutes. The reason for the temporary transfer of power, according to the White House, was a colonoscopy under general anesthesia. Biden then called Harris and was in good spirits when he assumed office again, his spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Twitter on Friday.
The White House said it was a scheduled routine check-up at Walter Reed Military Hospital near Washington. There should therefore be a statement on Biden’s general state of health on Friday afternoon (local time). Biden celebrates his 79th birthday this Saturday.
In accordance with the constitutional requirement, Biden wrote to notify House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and incumbent Senate Speaker Patrick Lehy of the relinquishment and eventual return to office.
The White House emphasized that the then-President George W. Bush also briefly transferred authority to the Vice-President in 2002 and 2007 because of preventive medical check-ups with anesthesia. Harris wanted to work in her office in the West Wing of the White House while she was President-in-Office. The office of the US President, the so-called Oval Office, is also located there.
Around noon on Friday (local time), Harris flew to an appointment in the state of Ohio as planned. Biden, in turn, wanted to fly to his home state of Delaware for the weekend in the evening.
It is routine for US Presidents to have an examination at the Walter Reed Hospital at least once a year. As a rule, more or less detailed information on the state of health of the president is also published afterwards.
Friday, November 19, 9:37 a.m.: With an hour-long speech, the minority leader in the US House of Representatives forced a postponement of the vote on President Joe Biden’s billion-dollar social and climate protection package. Kevin McCarthy, leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, spoke on Thursday (local time) for more than five hours instead of a planned minute – to ridicule and boos from the Democrats. The vote was therefore postponed to Friday morning.
McCarthy spoke at 8:30 p.m., and at 1:30 a.m. he was still speaking. He ranted incoherently about Biden’s spending and trips to Europe, the departure from Afghanistan, Elon Musk, Abraham Lincoln, the Nobel Peace Prize, and the artwork in his office.
“I don’t know if you think I’m quitting because you left. I don’t,” McCarthy said as Democrats learned his tactic had worked and began to leave the chamber. “I really don’t speak to them. I speak to the American people.”
The chair of the Chamber of Congress, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, had previously expressed the hope of being able to vote on the text of the law with a volume of 1.75 trillion dollars (around 1.5 trillion euros) on Thursday.
The package, known as Build Back Better, would bring about “historic” change in healthcare, family policy and climate protection, Pelosi said. “It will create millions of well-paying jobs, reduce costs and taxes for families, and ensure that the super-rich and big corporations do their fair share.”
After a vote in the House of Representatives, the text still has to go to the Senate, where an uncertain fate awaits it. The Democrats can’t afford a single dissenter in the upper house of Congress if they want to pass the bill.
However, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has repeatedly made his reservations about the trillion package clear. In his own words, he fears an increase in inflation and national debt.
Biden had already cut the $3.5 trillion social and climate protection package in half in the face of Manchin’s opposition. Among other things, an expansion of childcare, care for the elderly and statutory health insurance, tax cuts for families and 555 billion dollars for climate policy are planned.
The interim blocking of his reform agenda has seriously damaged Biden – especially since the sharp rise in inflation in the wake of the corona pandemic is hitting the president hard. His poll numbers have plummeted in recent months.
Wednesday, November 17, 6:00 p.m.: A US federal judge sentenced the rioters in the storming of the US Capitol, nicknamed the “QAnon Shaman” because of his horned headdress, to 41 months in prison.
Prosecutors had asked for a 51-month prison sentence for Jacob Chansley, who pleaded guilty in September. The “QAnon shaman” stormed the building with thousands of others to prevent Congress from formally confirming President Joe Biden as the successor to Donald Trump and thus the new US President.
“What you did was terrible,” said Judge Royce Lamberth in federal court in Washington, D.C., but certified Chansley’s remorse for his actions as genuine. “I made a mistake entering the Capitol. I have no excuse. No excuse,” Chansley told Lamberth. “My behavior is inexcusable.”
Surf tip: Children’s blood and the Deep State – What you need to know about the conspiracy theory QAnon
5:25 a.m.: The US is making it easier for Afghan refugees to immigrate. The Department of Homeland Security announced in Washington on Monday that the approximately 70,000 Afghans who have arrived in the United States since July 30 are to have easier access to residence permits, green cards, and various work permit documents.
The program, entitled “Allies Welcome,” envisages, among other things, that registration fees, which can cost several thousand dollars, will be waived for Afghan refugees.
“By giving them simplified procedures and waivers, we are opening up opportunities for our Afghan allies and helping them make a new life faster in our country,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. He recalled the “precious support” given to Afghan local forces during the 20-year US military operation in Afghanistan.
After the decision to withdraw international troops from Afghanistan, more than 120,000 people were taken out of the country via a military airlift in the summer. However, tens of thousands of Afghan local workers and their relatives stayed behind.
They had worked with the international troops and now fear revenge from the radical Islamic Taliban. They took power again in Kabul in mid-August.
Tuesday, November 9, 12:38 a.m.: The committee investigating the storming of the US Capitol in January has summoned William Stepien, then-President Donald Trump’s campaign manager. In addition, former senior Trump adviser Jason Miller and former national security adviser Michael Flynn should answer questions from MPs, as the House of Representatives committee said on Monday. Those summoned and three other people from Trump’s environment at the time should also present a number of documents.
Bennie Thompson, chairman of the committee, said the investigative committee must “examine every detail” of their efforts to sabotage the election result. It must be clarified with whom the people in the White House and in Congress were in contact and what connects them to the protests that led to the violent storming of the Capitol, he explained.
The committee had already summoned Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon. But he refused to cooperate. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives then voted to allow Bannon to be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. The decision on criminal proceedings now lies with the Ministry of Justice. Bannon is suspected of having prior knowledge of plans for violent protests.
Supporters of Republican Trump stormed the US Congress on January 6th. Five people were killed, including a police officer. Trump had to face impeachment over the attack because he had previously incited his supporters in a speech. In the end, however, he was acquitted.
Youngkin was supported in the election campaign by ex-President Donald Trump – even if he publicly distanced himself from him and focused on moderate voters. A head-to-head race had already become apparent before the election, but the Democrat McAuliffe was still ahead in the summer. McAuliffe was governor from 2014 to 2018, Youngkin is a successful businessman. According to forecasts, Youngkin was now around three percentage points ahead. At the beginning of the election night, the gap between the two candidates seemed much larger – but McAuliffe then caught up.
The election is seen as a kind of litmus test for Biden, who was elected to the White House a year ago. His approval ratings are worse than they have been since he took office. He’s been trying to get two investment packages through Congress for a long time. So far, however, Biden has failed due to factional struggles in his own Democratic Party. According to observers, the defeat in the Virginia election should also be seen as a receipt.
03:55: The Democratic candidate for the governorship of the US state of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, has thanked his family and his campaign team for their support. You now have to continue counting the votes, because every vote counts, said McAuliffe on Tuesday evening (local time). In forecasts, the candidate supported by President Joe Biden was behind Republican Glenn Youngkin – but had recently caught up. The majority of the votes have now been counted – but a final result has not yet been determined.
2:55 a.m.: Democrat Eric Adams becomes the new mayor of New York. According to projections, the black ex-cop clearly won the mayoral election in the US metropolis on Tuesday with around 67 percent of the votes against his rival Curtis Sliwa from the Republicans. The 61-year-old becomes the second African-American mayor in the history of New York.
“Tonight I achieved my dream, and with all my heart I will break down the barriers that prevent you from achieving yours,” Adams told celebratory supporters in Brooklyn after his election victory. The democrat had already campaigned against racism among the security forces during his time with the police.
New York has been a stronghold of the Democrats for years, so Adams was considered the clear favorite even before the election. The number of registered supporters of the Democrats in the US metropolis is seven times as high as that of Republican supporters.
Adams’ rival Sliwa, a right-wing conservative radio host and founder of the Guardian Angels, conceded defeat shortly after the election.
Adams will take office in January. He succeeds the unpopular Democrat Bill de Blasio, who was barred from running for office after two terms. The 61-year-old faces great challenges. The mayor’s office in New York City has long been considered the “second toughest job” in the United States after that of the president. The city is suffering from the consequences of the corona pandemic, high levels of poverty and a lack of affordable housing.
Wednesday, November 3, 1:42 a.m .: In the governor election in the US state of Virginia, which is considered an important mood test, there is a clear lead for the Republican candidate. According to CNN, Glenn Youngkin was more than ten percentage points ahead of Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who is supported by US President Joe Biden, on Tuesday evening (local time). It was similar at the ABC station. However, only around 50 percent of the votes were counted – the numbers can therefore still change.
Virginia’s election, one year ahead of the congressional elections, is being followed closely around the country. A few months ago it looked like a comfortable win for McAuliffe, then Republican Youngkin caught up significantly in the polls – and was even slightly ahead in the end. McAuliffe was governor from 2014 to 2018, Youngkin is a successful businessman. Former President Donald Trump supports him. The election is considered a kind of referendum on Biden’s policy, which has been in power in the White House for almost a year.
Friday, October 8, 10:13 a.m .: According to media reports, former US President Donald Trump is trying to prevent former confidants from testifying before the Congressional Committee investigating the US Capitol. In a letter that was available to the Politico portal and the Washington Post, among others, a lawyer for Trump urged the men not to cooperate with the committee. The committee had summoned former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump’s social media chief Dan Scavino, and a former Defense Department official for mid-October.
In addition, certain documents were requested from the four men by Thursday. The letter reportedly said the documents were protected from disclosure because they fell under the President’s prerogative not to disclose certain information. Trump is prepared to defend this right in court. It’s unclear how the committee will attempt to enforce the subpoenas. He could reach out to the Justice Department and ask that witnesses who refuse to cooperate be prosecuted, Politico wrote. They could then face imprisonment and large fines for contempt of Congress.
Trump supporters stormed the seat of the US Congress in Washington on January 6th. Five people were killed, including a police officer. Trump had to face impeachment over the attack because he had previously incited his supporters in a speech. However, at the end of the trial, the Republican was acquitted. Trump continues to claim without evidence that he won the 2020 presidential election. A report by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday revealed how Trump tried to pressure Justice Department staff after the election.
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