Nancy Pelosi

Subterms

    More stories

    • 150 Shares159 Views

      in US Politics

      Matt Gaetz: Liz Cheney ‘sickened’ but stops short of calling for resignation

      by

      Two of the most powerful women in Congress on Sunday called allegations of sexual misconduct against the Republican representative Matt Gaetz “sickening” and in “clear violation” of House rules – but stopped short of calling for him to resign.The prominent Trump supporter faces investigations by law enforcement and the House ethics committee. Multiple reports have linked Gaetz to a political ally indicted for sex trafficking and other crimes. Gaetz is reported to be under investigation for possible sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl; for allegedly paying for sex; for alleged use of illegal drugs; and for allegedly showing House members nude pictures of women. It has also been reported that before Donald Trump left power, Gaetz unsuccessfully sought a blanket, pre-emptive pardon.The congressman denies all claims of wrongdoing and has said he will not resign. Speaking at a pro-Trump event in Florida on Friday, he said: “The truth will prevail.”But his indicted ally, former Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, is reported to be close to a deal with prosecutors, a move which would deepen Gaetz’s jeopardy.It’s up to the Republican leader, Mr McCarthy, to act upon that behaviourOn CBS’s Face the Nation the Democratic House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was asked if it was time for Gaetz to go. “Well,” she said, “it’s up to the Republicans to take responsibility for that. We in the Congress, in the House, have rule 23, which says that in the conduct of our duties we are not to bring dishonour to the House of Representatives. I think there’s been a clear violation of that. “But it’s up to the ethics committee to investigate that. And it’s up to the Republican leader, Mr McCarthy, to act upon that behaviour.”The House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, has said the claims against Gaetz “have serious implications”. But the California congressman must seek to control an unruly caucus in which Gaetz is a leading pro-Trump provocateur. Few Republicans have spoken against Gaetz though few have defended him either.In January, he travelled to Wyoming to address a rally against Liz Cheney, a senior member of Republican House leadership who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the US Capitol attack. The daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney also spoke to CBS on Sunday.Asked if she was “ready to call for his resignation”, she said: “You know, as the mother of daughters, the charges certainly are sickening. And as the speaker noted, there’s an ethics investigation under way. There are also criminal investigations under way. And I’m not going to comment further on that publicly right now.” More

    • 150 Shares189 Views

      in US Politics

      Nancy Pelosi hails 'historic' Covid relief bill as House prepares to vote

      by

      The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has hailed the massive $1.9tn Covid relief bill as “historic” and “transformative” as the House stood poised to give the legislation final approval with a vote on Wednesday morning.Joe Biden, who will mark a year since the pandemic brought shutdowns across the nation with a primetime speech on Thursday, has said he will sign the bill as soon as it lands on his desk.The House vote on the bill, which includes checks for most American households, comes after the Senate passed a modestly reworked version of the package on Saturday and will clinch Biden’s most significant early legislative achievement.“It’s a remarkable, historic, transformative piece of legislation, which goes a very long way to crushing the virus and solving our economic crisis,” Pelosi said during a press conference with senior Democrats on Tuesday afternoon, who took turns extolling what they said was the historic nature of the legislation and its impact on reducing poverty in America. “I’m so excited, I just can’t hide it,” she added.Several Democratic leaders compared it to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, saying the plan would not only “crush” the virus and the economic fallout but would look forward to tackle longstanding racial and gender inequalities in the economy.Smiling under her mask, Pelosi expressed full confidence that Democrats had the votes to pass the bill.Asked about possible defections from progressive members disappointed that the Senate had narrowed a version of the bill, initially proposed by Biden and passed by the House, Pelosi shook her head and said “no” repeatedly. The bill would head to Biden’s desk after the vote on Wednesday, she said.Besides the fresh round of stimulus checks, the bill also extends emergency jobless benefits to early September, instead of 14 March. It spends huge amounts on Covid-19 vaccines, testing and treatments, while also aiding state and local governments and schools, assisting small businesses and providing major expansions of tax breaks and programs for lower- and middle-income families.Progressives suffered setbacks, especially the Senate’s removal of a gradual minimum wage increase to $15 hourly by 2025. But the measure carries so many Democratic priorities that final passage was not in doubt, despite the party’s narrow 10-vote House majority.Meanwhile a hefty majority of Americans – 70% – say they are in favor of the coronavirus relief package. Only a third of Americans said the legislation is too costly, according to a poll from Pew research.Biden has said he will not be attaching his signature to the $1,400 relief checks that are expected to be mailed soon, a break with his predecessor who last year had “President Donald J Trump” printed on the economic impact payments approved by Congress.The next round of paper checks will bear the signature of a career official at the treasury department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said at a Tuesday briefing.Psaki said the goal was to get the payments out quickly instead of branding them as coming from Biden.“This is not about him, this is about the American people getting relief,” Psaki said. More

    • 125 Shares119 Views

      in US Politics

      Pelosi announces plans for 9/11-style commission to examine Capitol riot

      by

      House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday that the US Congress will establish an outside, independent commission to review the “facts and causes” related to the deadly 6 January insurrection at the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump in the waning days of his presidency.Pelosi said in a letter to members of Congress that the commission would be modeled on a similar one convened after the 11 September 2001, terrorist attack on Washington and New York.Democratic and Republican lawmakers had issued calls for a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate why government officials and law enforcement failed to stop the attack on the Capitol in January, while both chambers of Congress were engaged in the process of certifying Joe Biden’s election victory.The calls followed Trump’s acquittal in his second impeachment trial, in which he was accused of inciting the insurrection after months of stoking his supporters with exhortations to try to overturn the election result and an inflammatory rally on the day itself, outside the White House, when he urged angry supporters to march on the Capitol.Pelosi said on Monday that the panel will also look at the “facts and causes” behind the catastrophe, in which five people died on 6 January, including a police officer, many were injured, and two police officers died by suicide in the days that followed.There were renewed calls from both parties on Sunday for such a commission.“We need a 9/11 commission to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again, and I want to make sure that the Capitol footprint can be better defended next time,” said Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator of South Carolina and close Trump ally who voted to acquit the former president on Saturday. “His behavior after the election was over the top,” Graham said of the former president on Fox News Sunday.Democrat Chris Coons of Delaware agreed. Speaking on ABC’s This Week, he said that a bipartisan commission would “make sure we secure the Capitol going forward and that we lay bare the record of just how responsible and how abjectly violating of his constitutional oath Trump really was”.Pelosi’s statement on Monday referred to a review that has been underway, led by retired US army general Russel Honoré.Pelosi said: “For the past few weeks, General Honoré has been assessing our security needs by reviewing what happened on January 6 and how we must ensure that it does not happen again … It is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened.”She continued: “Our next step will be to establish an outside, independent 9/11-type commission to “investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex … and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power, including facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement in the National Capitol Region.” More

    • 175 Shares179 Views

      in Elections

      Mitch McConnell lambasts Donald Trump but votes not guilty in impeachment trial – video

      by

      The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, said on Saturday that Donald Trump was ‘practically and morally responsible’ for the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January – minutes after voting to acquit the former president in his impeachment trial for that very same act.
      The House majority leader, Nancy Pelosi, criticised McConnell’s remarks in a press conference on Saturday and said the issue of timing ‘was not the reason that he voted the way he did; it was the excuse that he used’
      Mitch McConnell savages Trump – minutes after voting to acquit More

    • 150 Shares99 Views

      in US Politics

      Nancy Pelosi 'profoundly concerned' by Republican reaction to Marjorie Taylor Greene – video

      by

      House speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House of Representatives would vote to remove Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from committee positions after House Republican leaders declined to proactively discipline her. Pelosi said she was ‘profoundly concerned about House Republican leadership’s acceptance of an extreme conspiracy theorist’
      US Politics live
      Republicans take no action against Cheney or extremist Greene after vote More

    • 188 Shares109 Views

      in US Politics

      'What were they thinking?': Pelosi slams GOP over Marjorie Taylor Greene committee seat – video

      by

      A visibly angry Nancy Pelosi accused Republican leaders of showing disregard to the victims of school shootings after the QAnon-supporting congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was assigned a seat on the House education committee. Greene has previously suggested the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida was a ‘false flag’ and was filmed harassing a teenage survivor on Capitol Hill in 2019. ‘She has mocked the killing of little children,’  Pelosi said. ‘What could they be thinking? Or is thinking too strong a word for what they might be doing?’
      Parkland survivors call for GOP extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene’s censure
      US politics live More

    • 150 Shares189 Views

      in US Politics

      Police arrest woman FBI alleges stole Pelosi laptop to sell to Russia

      by

      Federal authorities have arrested a woman whose former romantic partner says she took a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the riot at the US Capitol.Riley June Williams was arrested on Monday, according to a justice department official. It is not yet known when her initial court appearance will be.The FBI said in an arrest warrant on Sunday that Williams hasn’t been charged with theft but only with illegally entering the Capitol and with disorderly conduct.FBI officials said a caller claiming to be an ex of Williams said friends of hers showed him a video of her taking a laptop computer or hard drive from Pelosi’s office. The caller alleged she intended to send the device to a friend in Russia who planned to sell it to that country’s foreign intelligence service, but that plan fell through and she either has the device or destroyed it. The FBI says the matter remains under investigation.Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, confirmed on 8 January that a laptop was taken from a conference room but said “it was a laptop that was only used for presentations”.Williams’ mother, who lives with her in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, told ITV reporters that her daughter had taken a sudden interest in President Donald Trump’s politics and “far-right message boards”. Her father, who lives in Camp Hill, told local law enforcement that he and his daughter went to Washington on the day of the protest but didn’t stay together, meeting up later to return to Harrisburg, the FBI said.Williams’ mother told local law enforcement that her daughter packed a bag and left before she was arrested, saying she would be gone for a couple of weeks. She also changed her phone number and deleted a number of social media accounts, the FBI said. Court documents do not list an attorney for her. More