Politics Election category, Page 250
What’s ahead as Trump impeachment trial beginsVideo
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial begins Tuesday, forcing the Senate to decide whether to convict him of incitement of insurrection after a violent mob of his supporters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. While Trump’s acquittal is expected, Democrats hope to gain...
Senate confirms McDonough as Veterans Affairs secretary
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 87-7 Monday to confirm Denis McDonough to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, making him the second nonveteran in history to helm the massive federal agency that oversees health care and other benefits for the nation’s veterans. McDonough, 51, received a muted reception from veterans...
Georgia election officials investigate Trump telephone call
ATLANTA — Georgia’s secretary of state’s office on Monday opened an investigation into a phone call between Donald Trump and the state’s top elections official in which the then-president said he wanted to “find” enough votes to overturn his loss in the state, an official said. Walter Jones, a spokesman...
House Democrats reveal first draft of stimulus-bill measuresVideo
WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Monday released the first draft text for key pieces of legislation that will constitute President Joe Biden’s covid-19 relief bill. The legislative language released by the Education and Labor Committee and Committee on Financial Services shows Democrats are forging ahead with plans to increase the...
Alabama U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby announces he won’t seek a 7th termVideo
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — U.S. Sen. Richard C. Shelby, the Senate’s fourth most senior member and a force in Alabama politics for more than four decades, announced Monday that he will not seek a seventh term in office in 2022. The 86-year-old Republican has spent more than 40 years in Washington,...
Arizona Democrats move to expel lawmaker who attended Jan. 6 rally
PHOENIX — Democrats in the Arizona House moved Monday to expel a Republican lawmaker who attended the Jan. 6 rally that turned violent when demonstrators stormed the U.S. Capitol. Republican Rep. Mark Finchem of Tucson violated his oath of office and undermined democracy through actions that include his attendance at...
How some Pa. lawmakers score a ‘golden parachute’ to pad their pensions
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. A version of this story originally appeared in our free weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — Members of Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board, whose responsibilities include meeting once or twice...
Arizona Senate planning to hold board in contempt in election fight
PHOENIX — Republicans who control the Arizona Senate were poised to hold the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in contempt Monday for failing to turn over voting machines and ballots from the November election that lawmakers want to examine as they continue to question President Joe Biden’s win in the...
Republican Tenney’s narrow win certified in U.S. House race
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state elections officials certified Republican Claudia Tenney’s razor-thin victory over U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi on Monday, more than three months after Election Day. The certification came after a state judge ruled that Tenney won the race for central New York’s 22nd Congressional District by 109...
Trump lawyers blast impeachment trial as ‘political theater’
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Donald Trump on Monday blasted the impeachment case against him as an act of “political theater” as they accused House Democrats of exploiting the chaos and trauma of last month’s riot at the U.S. Capitol for their party’s gain. In a brief filed on the eve...
Poll: Few in U.S. say democracy is working very well
Only a fragment of Americans believe democracy is thriving in the U.S., even as broad majorities agree that representative government is one of the country’s bedrock principles, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Just 16% of Americans say democracy is working well...
Pa. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman makes U.S. Senate run official
Pennsylvania Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman officially launched his campaign for U.S. Senate on Monday. “Now, it’s my turn,” Fetterman said on Twitter early Monday morning. “Let’s get to work.” “This will be the most important Senate race in 2022, so we need to build as much early momentum as...
West Virginia lawmaker faces fresh criticism for discrimination stance
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Republican lawmaker in West Virginia who resigned after posting an anti-gay slur but then was re-elected is drawing fresh criticism for an extended online diatribe opposing protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. House Delegate John Mandt said in a now-deleted Facebook post...
Senate Republicans back Trump as impeachment trial nearsVideo
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s defenders in the Senate on Sunday rallied around the former president before his impeachment trial, dismissing it as a waste of time and arguing that the former president’s fiery speech before the U.S. Capitol insurrection does not make him responsible for the violence of Jan. 6....
False narratives seeped in through multiple channels to fuel violence at the Capitol
Disinformation, misinformation and social media proved a potent brew in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Experts say it is important to understand the role each played in inciting protesters to sack the Capitol. But no one was surprised events...
Wyoming GOP censures Rep. Liz Cheney over impeachment vote
RAWLINS, Wyo. — The Wyoming Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Saturday to censure U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney for voting to impeach President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Only eight of the 74-member state GOP’s central committee stood to oppose censure in a...
Biden gives Calif. woman pep talk in weekly address revival
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden gave a pep talk to a California woman who was laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic, during a conversation the White House said is part of an effort to help him engage more consistently with regular Americans. The White House on Saturday released...
5 key questions for Trump’s Senate impeachment trial
WASHINGTON — Arguments begin Tuesday in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump on allegations that he incited the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. A look at five key questions about what to expect when senators hear the case against the former president in the very...
Pa. legislature enacted 140 laws last year, only 27 addressed pandemic
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — In 2020, the coronavirus thrust state government into the lives of Pennsylvanians unlike any other time in recent history....
Biden back in Delaware as CDC recommends avoiding travel
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden flew home to Delaware on Friday to spend the weekend with his wife and family, even as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Americans forgo travel because of the coronavirus pandemic. The White House officials said the trip by Biden, his...
Republican group pressures GOP senators to convict Trump in impeachment trial
WASHINGTON — A Republican group plans to run ads in the home states of nearly two dozen GOP senators during next week’s impeachment trial, pressuring them to vote to convict former President Donald Trump and bar him from holding office again. The Republican Accountability Project is spending a half-million dollars...
Pa. Republicans mostly support Marjorie Taylor Greene in House committee ouster
Eight out of nine Pennsylvania Republicans in the House of Representatives stood with U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, as Democrats led a successful move to strip committee assignments from the controversial Georgia Republican with a history of supporting conspiracy theories and making racist comments. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents a...
Virus outbreaks stoke tensions in some state capitols
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — After only their first few weeks of work, tensions already are high among lawmakers meeting in-person at some state capitols — not because of testy debates over taxes, guns or abortion, but because of a disregard for coronavirus precautions. In Georgia, a Republican lawmaker recently was...
AP-NORC poll: Americans are split on Trump’s impeachment
WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans say former President Donald Trump bears at least some blame for the Capitol insurrection, and about half say the Senate should vote to convict him at the end of his impeachment trial. That’s according to a survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public...
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman files statement of candidacy for possible U.S. Senate run
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has taken further steps toward finalizing a possible bid for Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seat that will be open in the 2022 election. While he has not formally announced his bid for the seat, Fetterman, 51, filed a statement of candidacy this week with the Federal Election...
