Chuck Schumer

Subterms

    More stories

    • 163 Shares199 Views

      in US Politics

      Kevin McCarthy faces long battle after two votes fail to win House speakership

      by

      Kevin McCarthy faces long battle after two votes fail to win House speakership‘We have a battle on the floor’: ultraconservatives vote against the aspiring leader as challengers rack up votes In a historic delay, House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, is facing a protracted battle to secure the speaker’s gavel after failing to win the first and second votes on Tuesday, the opening day of the new Congress.On both of the first two ballots to decide the next House speaker, 19 Republicans opposed McCarthy’s candidacy, leaving him 15 votes short of the 218 needed for a win. In a demoralizing sign for the new House Republican majority, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries received more votes than McCarthy on both ballots.With his loss, McCarthy became the first nominee for speaker in 100 years to fail to win the initial vote for the gavel. After the inconclusive first two ballots, the House prepared for additional votes that could stretch into Tuesday evening.McCarthy previously acknowledged he was unlikely to win the speakership on the first ballot, setting the stage for a potentially lengthy delay before new members of the House can be sworn into office. Underscoring his commitment, McCarthy suggested he was comfortable breaking the record for the longest speakership election in history, which currently stands at two months and 133 ballots.“We may have a battle on the floor,” McCarthy told reporters ahead of the vote. “But the battle is for the conference and the country, and that’s fine with me.”The Republican opposition to McCarthy has been led by members of the House Freedom Caucus, a hard-right group of lawmakers who have pushed for a number of changes to chamber rules in recent weeks. Scott Perry, the chair of the Freedom Caucus, reiterated his opposition on Tuesday and accused McCarthy of failing to work in good faith with his group.“At nearly every turn, we’ve been sidelined or resisted by McCarthy, and any perceived progress has often been vague or contained loopholes that further amplified concerns as to the sincerity of the promises being made,” Perry said in a statement. “Kevin McCarthy had an opportunity to be Speaker of the House. He rejected it.”McCarthy’s allies have lashed out against Perry and other holdouts in the speakership vote, contending they have prioritized their own political ambitions over the wellbeing of the party.Formally nominating McCarthy for speaker before the first vote, Elise Stefanik wholeheartedly endorsed his candidacy and delivered some thinly veiled criticism of his opponents.“No one in this body has worked harder for this Republican majority than Kevin McCarthy,” Stefanik said. “A proud conservative with a tireless work ethic, Kevin McCarthy has earned the speakership of the People’s House.”In the first vote, a third nomination was put forward by Arizona congressman Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican who offered Arizona congressman Andy Biggs as a conservative alternative. Of the 19 Republicans who opposed McCarthy on the first ballot, 10 supported Biggs, who lost to McCarthy in the November nominating contest, 188-31. On the second ballot, Jim Jordan, a Republican of Ohio, won the support of all 19 Republicans who opposed McCarthy in the first vote. That impressive showing came even after Jordan himself nominated McCarthy for the second ballot in an attempted show of unity. In his nominating speech, Jordan outlined Republicans’ legislative agenda and urged his colleagues to set aside their differences to achieve their collective goals.“We need to rally around him [and] come together,” Jordan said.The Tuesday conference meeting failed to resolve the lingering issues between McCarthy and his detractors. Matt Gaetz, one of McCarthy’s most vocal critics in the caucus, said that those withholding their support were threatened with being removed from committees if they did not change their position.“If you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise,” Gaetz told reporters. “I’m a Florida man, and I know of what I speak.”Gaetz and his colleagues showed no sign of relenting as the House prepared for a third ballot on Tuesday afternoon. Their continued opposition raised the prospect of the first lengthy floor fight over the House speakership in 100 years, as the last such spectacle unfolded in 1923.”We’re not going to back down until we get in a room and we decide how we’ll be able to stand up and fight for the American people no matter who the speaker is.””I’m not blinking.” pic.twitter.com/BGY2RmucQ8— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) January 3, 2023
      As Republicans squabbled, Democrats rallied behind their leader, Jeffries. “He does not bend a knee to anyone who would seek to undermine our democracy,” California congressman Pete Aguilar, the third-ranking House Democrat, said in a speech nominating Jeffries to be speaker.Across the Capitol, the Senate convened without incident. Democrats welcomed two new members – including Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who helped his party secure a 51-49 majority in the chamber.In his first floor remarks of the new Congress, the majority leader, Chuck Schumer, commended his counterpart, the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, on becoming the chamber’s longest-serving party leader in history.As a new era of divided government begins, after two years of unified Democratic control, Schumer acknowledged the legislative path forward “won’t be easy” but was nevertheless optimistic.“After everything we’ve accomplished in an evenly divided Senate and a narrowly divided House,” he said, “there’s no reason both sides can’t keep working together for the good of our country, our beloved country.”Kevin McCarthy’s faces election for House speaker unsure if he has votes needed – liveRead moreTopicsHouse of RepresentativesRepublicansUS politicsUS CongressUS SenateChuck SchumernewsReuse this content More

    • 188 Shares189 Views

      in Elections

      ‘Do you believe this?’: New video shows how Nancy Pelosi took charge in Capitol riot

      by

      ‘Do you believe this?’: New video shows how Nancy Pelosi took charge in Capitol riotHouse speaker continued to try to find a way for House and Senate to reconvene despite turmoilNew footage of the January 6 riots at the US Capitol shows House speaker Nancy Pelosi calmly trying to take charge of the situation as she sheltered at Fort McNair, two miles south of the Capitol. “There has to be some way,” she told colleagues, “we can maintain the sense that people have that there is some security or some confidence that government can function and that you can elect the president of the United States.” Then an unidentified voice interjected with alarming news: lawmakers on the House floor had begun putting on teargas masks in preparation for a breach. Pelosi asked the woman to repeat what she said.Capitol attack panel votes to subpoena Trump – ‘the central cause of January 6’Read more“Do you believe this?” Pelosi said to another Democratic leader, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina. The footage was from about 2.45pm, when rioters had already disrupted the planned certification of the 2020 presidential election results. It would be hours before the building was secure. Never-before-seen video footage played Thursday by the House of Representatives select committee investigating last year’s riot shows how Pelosi and other leaders, including Republican allies of Donald Trump, responded to the insurrection. The recordings offer a rare glimpse into the real-time reactions of the most powerful members of Congress as they scrambled to drum up support from all parts of the government, including from agencies seemingly ill prepared for the chaos, and vented anger over a president whose conduct they felt had endangered their lives. In the videos, Pelosi and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer negotiate with governors and defence officials to try to get the national guard to the Capitol as police were being brutally beaten outside the building. The deployment of the guard was delayed for hours as Trump stood by and did little to stop the violence of his supporters. The footage, recorded by Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra, a documentary film-maker, was shown during the committee’s 10th hearing as an illustration of the president’s inaction in the face of the grave danger posed by the rioters. “As the president watched the bloody attack unfold on Fox News from his dining room, members of Congress and other government officials stepped into the gigantic leadership void created by the president’s chilling and steady passivity that day,” said Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin, a committee member. The concerns were not theoretical. At roughly 3pm, as a Trump loyalist outside Pelosi’s office pointed her finger and shouted, “Bring her out now!” and, “We’re coming in if you don’t bring her out!” the speaker was in a room with Schumer, who said: “I’m gonna call up the effin’ secretary of DoD.”As the violence persisted at the Capitol – “Officer down, get him up,” a voice could be heard bellowing in one clip shown by the committee – the leaders kept making calls from Fort McNair. One went to Virginia governor Ralph Northam about the possibility of help from the Virginia national guard, with Pelosi narrating the events based on what she saw from television news footage. An angrier call followed with Jeffrey Rosen, the then acting attorney general. Days earlier, and unbeknownst at the time to Congress or to the public, Rosen and colleagues had fended off a slapdash attempt by Trump to replace him with a subordinate eager to challenge the election results. On that day, though, Schumer and Pelosi sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the couch and laid bare their frustrations with the country’s top law enforcement official.Throughout the footage, Pelosi maintains her composure, barely raising her voice as she urges Rosen, and later vice-president Mike Pence and others, to send help and tries to work out a way for the House and Senate to reconvene. “They’re breaking the law in many different ways,” Pelosi said to Rosen. “And quite frankly, much of it at the instigation of the president of the United States.” Schumer weighed in too: “Yeah, why don’t you get the president to tell them to leave the Capitol, Mr attorney-general, in your law enforcement responsibility? A public statement they should all leave.” It wasn’t until the evening that the Capitol would be cleared and work would resume. The news that Congress would be able to reconvene to finish its work in certifying the election results was delivered to the congressional leaders not by Trump but by Pence. The House January 6 committee voted unanimously Thursday to subpoena Trump, demanding his personal testimony as it unveiled startling new video of close aides describing his multi-part plan to overturn his 2020 election loss that led to his supporters assault on the Capitol.TopicsJanuary 6 hearingsUS Capitol attackDonald TrumpChuck SchumerUS politicsNancy PelosinewsReuse this content More

    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      Schumer and Manchin’s ‘dirty side deal’ to fast-track pipelines faces backlash

      by

      Schumer and Manchin’s ‘dirty side deal’ to fast-track pipelines faces backlashScientists and environmental groups call proposed legislation a ‘giveaway’ to fossil fuel industry that will gut protections Scientists, health experts and environmental groups have condemned new legislation negotiated in secret by the fossil-fuel-friendly Democratic senator Joe Manchin and the Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, which will fast-track major energy projects by gutting clean water and environmental protections.Senator Joe Manchin unveils bill that would expedite federal energy projectsRead moreThe permitting bill published on Wednesday was the result of a deal between Manchin and Democratic leaders, which secured the West Virginia senator’s vote for Joe Biden’s historic climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, which Manchin held up for months.The bill mandates all permits for the Mountain Valley pipeline (MVP), a project long delayed by environmental violations and judicial rulings, be issued within 30 days of passage and strips away virtually any scope for judicial review.Democratic leaders want to push through Manchin’s bill without debate or analysis, and are expected to attach the legislation to a funding measure Congress must pass before 1 October.Energy industry associations have widely welcomed the reforms but opposition from Democrats and Republicans could scupper the deal.Critics say the bill is a giveaway to the fossil fuel lobby, paving the way for oil and gas production that will stop the US meeting its obligations to cut greenhouse gases and lead to further environmental injustices for people of color, Indigenous communities and low-income areas. It slashes judicial and state powers and oversight, handing Washington greater control over major projects.“This is not permitting reform,” said the Greenpeace USA co-executive director Ebony Twilley Martin. “This is permitting a giveaway that benefits those who continue to line their pockets at the expense of those affected by climate disasters. Our country cannot afford any new oil, gas or coal projects if we’re going to avoid climate catastrophe.”On Thursday, more than 400 scientists, doctors and nurses delivered a letter imploring Schumer and the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to reject the deal. “The scientific consensus is now crystal clear … fossil fuel projects carry enormous risks to public health … we need to leave oil, gas and coal in the ground and turn off the spigot of carbon pouring into the air.”Jennifer K Falcon, an Indigenous environmentalist from the Ikiya Collective, said: “Our communities have already lost so much from environmental racism but there is so much to save. [They] are not sacrifice zones for corrupt politicians like Manchin and Schumer who benefit from big oil’s windfall profits.“The science is clear about the worsening climate crisis. We have no time to waste on dirty side deals.”Manchin has received more campaign contributions from fossil fuel industries than any other lawmaker this election cycle, according to Open Secrets.The legislative side deal requires Biden to designate at least 25 energy projects of strategic national importance for federal review within 90 days of passage. The projects must include at least five that produce, process, transport or store fossil fuels or biofuels, as well as six that are not fossil fuels and four mining projects.The bill mandates a two-year limit on environmental reviews for major projects – regardless of their complexity and potential for harming the environment, water supplies and human health.According to Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, the bill contains the most significant loss of protections under the bedrock National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa) and the Clean Water Act since at least the last Bush administration, when Republicans had full control of Congress.“Any member of Congress who claims this disastrous legislation is vital for ramping up renewables either doesn’t understand or is ignoring the enormous fossil fuel giveaways at stake,” Hartl said.The bill was negotiated under a cloak of secrecy. Passage through the Senate is far from assured. A small group of progressive Democrats are looking to separate Manchin’s legislation from the stopgap funding bill, so they can vote against the permitting bill without voting to shut down the government.Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon has organised a letter to Schumer, with the support of Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont – a move that mirrors a similar plea by 77 House progressives earlier this month.The letter, which was leaked to Politico, states: “We have heard extensive concerns from the environmental justice community regarding the proposed permitting reforms and are writing to convey the importance of those concerns, and to let you know that we share them.”On Tuesday, Schumer said he planned to add permitting reform to the spending bill and “get it done”.But Republicans who want more radical regulatory and permitting reforms may also vote against the bill, which requires 60 votes to move to the House. Earlier this month, 46 Republicans signed on to an alternative permitting bill introduced by the other West Virginian senator, Shelley Moore Capito.Schumer’s decision to capitulate to Manchin has angered progressives.Manchin agreed to back his party’s historic climate legislation before the midterm elections but only after negotiating a side deal to fast-track the MVP, a shale gas pipeline which would stretch 303 miles across the Appalachian mountains from north-western West Virginia to southern Virginia.Before construction was suspended, the MVP had produced more than 350 water quality violations. Manchin’s bill exempts the MVP from the Endangered Species Act, which experts say will push two species – the Roanoke logperch and the candy darter – much closer toward extinction.On Wednesday, the Democratic senator Tim Kaine, of Virginia, said he could not support the “highly unusual provisions” regarding the MVP which “eliminate any judicial review”. Kaine said he had been excluded from talks, even though 100 miles of the pipeline would run through his state.Raúl Grijalva, chair of the House natural resources committee, said: “These dangerous permitting shortcuts have been on industry wishlists for years. And now they’ve added the Mountain Valley pipeline approval as the rotten cherry on top of the pile.“The very fact that this fossil fuel brainchild is being force-fed into must-pass government funding speaks to its unpopularity. My colleagues and I don’t want this. The communities that are already hit hardest by the fossil fuel industry’s messes certainly don’t want or deserve this. Even Republicans don’t want this. Right now, our focus should be on keeping the government open, not destructive, unrelated riders.”In favor of the bill Gregory Wetstone, chief executive of the American Council on Renewable Energy, said it “includes provisions that will help streamline the transmission approval process, improving our ability to meet our nation’s decarbonisation goals”.Heather Zichal, chief executive of the American Clean Power Association, said: “Our current permitting system is overly cumbersome and mired in delays, hamstringing our ability to grow the clean energy economy.”TopicsUS SenateFossil fuelsOil (Environment)Gas (Environment)Oil (Business)Gas (Business)Joe ManchinnewsReuse this content More

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in Elections

      US Senate passes $739bn healthcare and climate bill – video

      by

      Senate Democrats passed their climate and healthcare spending package on Sunday, sending the legislation to the House and bringing Joe Biden one step closer to a significant legislative victory ahead of crucial midterm elections in November.
      ‘To the tens of millions of young Americans who spent years marching, rallying, demanding that Congress act on climate change, this bill is for you,’ said Chuck Schumer, the US Senate majority leader. 
      ‘The time has come to pass this historic bill’

      Senate passes $739bn healthcare and climate bill after months of wrangling
      Climate bill could slash US emissions by 40% after historic Senate vote
      What does the US-China row mean for climate change? More

    • 113 Shares189 Views

      in US Politics

      Families of 9/11 victims hail killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri

      by

      Families of 9/11 victims hail killing of Ayman al-ZawahiriDrone strike against al-Qaida leader praised across US political spectrum but 9/11 families press for Saudi accountability Families torn apart by the deadly September 11 terrorist attacks celebrated Sunday’s killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, one of the top al-Qaida leaders behind the 2001 attacks, but they continued demanding accountability for the Saudi Arabian government’s alleged role.How Ayman al-Zawahiri’s ‘pattern of life’ allowed the US to kill al-Qaida leader Read moreMeanwhile, Democratic politicians touted Zawahiri’s death as a major accomplishment for Joe Biden.The president announced Zawahiri’s killing on Monday during a live televised address from the White House, saying, “Justice has been delivered and this terrorist leader is no more.“People around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer.”Survivors of those killed by the September 11 attacks published a statement on Zawahiri’s killing, expressing gratitude about the al-Qaida leader’s death but expressing a desire to see Saudi Arabia held to account for its alleged role in the terror plot. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi nationals.“This news is also a reminder that in order to achieve full accountability for the murders of thousands on September 11 2001, President Biden must also hold the Saudi paymasters accountable for killing our loved ones,” the national chairperson of 9/11 Families United, Terry Strada, said in a statement.Referring to a controversial trip Biden took to Saudi Arabia last month where Biden fist bumped the country’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Strada added: “The financiers are not being targeted by drones, they are being met with fist pumps and hosted at golf clubs. If we’re going to be serious about accountability, we must hold everyone accountable.”The organization wrote that they have repeatedly requested meetings with the president about punishing the Saudi Arabia government for September 11, but Biden has refused to meet.Barack Obama, for whom Biden once served as vice-president, stood prominently among politicians who hailed Zawahiri’s death.01:05He tweeted in part: “It’s a tribute to President Biden’s leadership, to the members of the intelligence community who have been working for decades for this moment, and to the counter-terrorism professionals who were able to take al-Zawahiri out without a single civilian casualty.”Obama called Zawahiri’s death “proof that it’s possible to root out terrorism without being at war in Afghanistan”.The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, in his own statement on Zawahiri on Twitter, added: “This is a major accomplishment to bring to justice one of the world’s most wanted terrorists who helped orchestrate the cold-blooded murder of thousands of my fellow New Yorkers on 9/11.”Conservatives have had mixed reaction to the announcement of Zawahiri’s killing, with few directly praising Biden for the attack and calling for increased scrutiny of al-Qaida’s presence in Afghanistan.The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, said in a statement that Biden “deserves credit” for approving the strike that killed Zawahiri, but the Republican stalwart noted that the administration needs a “comprehensive plan” to address al-Qaida in Afghanistan.The House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, wrote on Twitter celebrating the “brave Americans who took out the terrorist, [al-Zawahiri]”. McCarthy added that a briefing is needed from the Biden administration to address questions over al-Qaida’s remaining in Afghanistan after the American military’s withdrawal from the region between February 2020 and August 2021.On Twitter, the Colorado representative Lauren Boebert also praised Zawahiri’s killing, writing that it “is undoubtedly a win for the world”.“This truly evil man can do no more harm to anyone,” Boebert added. “God bless the USA!”Zawahiri’s death came after his family had moved into a reported safe house in downtown Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, according to White House officials.In the months leading up to his death, the 71-year-old had been spotted several times on a balcony, making al-Qaida propaganda videos.Zawahiri had just stepped on to the balcony Sunday morning when the drone strike that killed him unfolded.TopicsAyman al-ZawahiriUS politicsJoe BidenAl-QaidaChuck SchumerBarack ObamanewsReuse this content More

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in US Politics

      Six staffers arrested after climate sit-in at Chuck Schumer’s office

      by

      Six staffers arrested after climate sit-in at Chuck Schumer’s officeOn Monday, 17 people sat in the Senate majority leader’s office to demand he reopen climate negotiations Six staffers were reportedly arrested in Congress on Monday afternoon for staging a sit-in at Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer’s office and protesting about a lack of legislative action on the environment.Biden under pressure to declare climate emergency after Manchin torpedoes billRead moreThe congressional staffers and activists had started the demonstration earlier Monday, with 17 staffers sitting in Schumer’s office to demand that he reopen climate negotiations, according to Saul Levin, a policy adviser for progressive congresswoman Cori Bush.“Right now, we Hill staffers are peacefully protesting Dem leaders INSIDE. To my knowledge, this has never been done,” he wrote.HAPPENING NOW: We’re asking Senator Schumer to negotiate like this is the coldest summer of the rest of our lives (it is). pic.twitter.com/wjXnHfTQqn— Saul (@saaaauuull) July 25, 2022
      Some also protested outside the building.Schumer, Senate majority leader, had been under pressure to negotiate a climate deal, especially after the supreme court struck down a key protection of the Environmental Protection Agency.But Schumer, and Joe Biden’s, efforts to advance climate legislation have been thwarted largely because of the opposition of the Democratic West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, who has been called a “modern day villain” for his ties to the fossil fuel industry and killing off the president’s environmental proposals.Later in the day the sit-in at Schumer’s office seemed to turn more contentious.A tweet posted by NBC News reporter Julia Jester features a short video purporting to show one of the staff members in handcuffs, explaining why the group jeopardized their careers to take the action.The reporter asked the male staffer what they were demanding of the senior Democrat. He replied: “to reopen negotiations on the climate reconciliation package … and pass climate legislation”.Christian Hall, a congressional reporter for Punchbowl News, also tweeted that Philip Bennet, president of the Congressional Workers Union, had been taken away in handcuffs.Philip Bennet, President of the Congressional Workers Union is among one of the arrested protesters. pic.twitter.com/JG1oNKgHbg— Christian Hall (@christianjhall) July 25, 2022
      The reporter asked why the group had chosen Schumer’s office, and not that of Manchin. (Earlier today, Manchin announced he had tested positive for Covid-19 and was working remotely).The staffer replied cryptically: “Because there’s always going to be a sheep that strays away from the herd.”TopicsChuck SchumerClimate crisisUS CongressUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

    • 175 Shares99 Views

      in US Politics

      Supreme court overturning Roe allows 'open season' on American freedoms, warns Schumer – video

      by

      The supreme court overturning the landmark Roe v Wade decision that protects women’s rights to abortion in the US would create an open season on Americans’ freedoms, majority leader Chuck Schumer has said.
      Schumer was speaking before a vote in which the US Senate rejected legislation enshrining abortion rights into federal law 51-49.
      On 2 May, a draft decision by the United States supreme court to overturn Roe was published by Politico, which has been verified as genuine by the justices but it ‘does not represent a decision by the court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.’

      US politics: latest updates More