Politics Election category, Page 259
Fauci unleashed: Doc takes ‘liberating’ turn at center stageVideo
WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci is back. In truth, the nation’s leading infectious-diseases expert never really went away. But after enduring nearly a year of darts and undermining comments from former President Donald Trump, Fauci now speaks with the authority of the White House again. He called it “liberating” Thursday...
Congress poised for quick action on Biden’s Pentagon nominee Lloyd Austin
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled Congress easily passed legislation Thursday required to confirm retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as President Joe Biden’s secretary of defense, brushing aside concerns that his retirement occurred inside the seven-year window that safeguards civilian leadership of the military. It would be the first measure to be signed...
Biden signs burst of coronavirus orders, vows ‘Help is on the way’Video
WASHINGTON — With a burst of executive orders, President Joe Biden served notice Thursday that America’s war on covid-19 is under new command, promising an anxious nation progress to reduce infections and lift the siege it has endured for nearly a year. At the same time, he tried to manage...
Biden cleans house at Voice of America after revolt over Trump changes
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has moved quickly to remove a number of senior officials aligned with former President Donald Trump from the Voice of America and the agency that oversees all U.S.-funded international broadcasting. The actions address fears that the U.S. Agency for Global Media was being turned into...
Bernie Sanders memes take over the internet during, after inauguration
Bernie Sanders may not have stolen the show during Wednesday’s presidential inauguration. But he clearly won the internet. At President Joe Biden’s inauguration, a few moments stood out among the festivities: the poem recited by 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, the collage of colorful coats worn by all the women involved in...
Buttigieg aims for ‘generational’ change at Transportation DepartmentVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg, is pledging to carry out the administration’s ambitious agenda to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, calling it a “generational opportunity” to create new jobs, fight economic inequality and stem climate change. “We need to build our economy back, better...
‘Just move on’: Republicans grapple with post-Trump future
For the first time in more than a decade, Republicans are waking up to a Washington where Democrats control the White House and Congress, adjusting to an era of diminished power, deep uncertainty and internal feuding. The shift to minority status is always difficult, prompting debates over who is to...
Ted Cruz brings back Paris vs. Pittsburgh in criticism of Biden; Peduto scoffs
“Are you kidding me? Here we go again…” That was Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s reply to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after the senator evoked a familiar refrain Wednesday during criticism of President Joe Biden’s signing of an executive order to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. Are you kidding me? Here...
Confederate Soldiers, Richard Nixon and Chelsea Manning: a look back at famous presidential pardonsVideo
The list of pardons and commutations issued Wednesday by President Donald Trump includes some household names, like rapper Lil Wayne and political strategist Steve Bannon. They’re not the only notable people to receive clemency from the president. Here’s a look back at some famous examples of pardons past: Every Confederate...
Pa. lawmakers react to swearing-in of Biden, Harris
Congressmen and senators representing Southwestern Pennsylvania weighed in on Wednesday’s swearing-in of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris with messages focusing largely on Biden’s call for unity in addressing the major problems facing the nation. Here’s what they had to say in statements and on social media:U.S. Sen....
Presidential pardons have roots in Southwestern Pennsylvania
When former President Donal Trump issued more than 140 acts of clemency in his final hours in the White House, he was exercising a presidential power that has its roots in Southwestern Pennsylvania. “George Washington, his first pardons were — ironically enough — two individuals that participated in the Pennsylvania...
On Day One, Biden targets Trump policies on climate, coronavirusVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is moving swiftly to dismantle Donald Trump’s legacy on his first day in office, signing a series of executive actions that reverse course on immigration, climate change, racial equity and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The new president signed the orders just hours after...
‘Trump House’ creator Leslie Baum Rossi seeks nod to run for open Pa. House seat
Former President Donald Trump might have left the Oval Office, but his influence could color the special election to fill the vacancy in Pennsylvania’s 59th legislative district this spring. Leslie Baum Rossi, the Unity woman who created the Trump House — the red, white and blue shrine to the former...
Text of Joe Biden’s inaugural address as the 46th president
President Joe Biden’s inaugural address Wednesday, as provided by CQ Transcripts: Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris. Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, and my distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, this is America’s day. This is democracy’s day. A day of history and hope, of renewal and...
Joe Biden’s inauguration goes off with no security issues
WASHINGTON — Troops in riot gear lined the streets of the nation’s capitol, but there were no crowds. Armored vehicles and concrete barriers blocked the empty streets around the U.S. Capitol. From behind miles of fencing, Joe Biden was safely sworn in as president in a Washington on edge, two...
Joe Biden takes the helm as 46th president: ‘Democracy has prevailed’
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, declaring that “democracy has prevailed” as he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors. “The will of the people has been...
Biden’s Bible puts him in line with inaugural tradition
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took their oaths of office on Wednesday using Bibles that are laden with personal meaning, writing new chapters in a long-running American tradition — and one that appears nowhere in the law. The Constitution does not require the use of a specific text...
Kamala Harris sworn in as vice president, breaking gender and racial barriers in American politics
Vice President Kamala Harris broke the barrier Wednesday that has kept men at the top ranks of American power for more than two centuries when she took the oath to hold the nation’s second-highest office. Harris was sworn in as the nation’s first female vice president — and the first...
Trump predicts ‘success’ for new administrationVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he thinks the new administration will have “great success” and claims to have laid the foundation for it. In making his brief farewell remarks Wednesday morning at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews, Trump said the new administration has the “foundation to do something really spectacular.”...
Trump leaves White House, says ‘It’s been a great honor’Video
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump pumped his fist and waved as he departed the White House on Marine One Wednesday for the last time as president, leaving behind a legacy of chaos and tumult and a nation bitterly divided. Four years after standing on stage at his own inauguration and painting...
@POTUS resets as Twitter juggles presidential accounts
It’s a Twitter user’s worst nightmare: Wake up to find most of your followers gone. But that’s exactly what will happen on Wednesday to the official presidential accounts on Twitter. No, not realDonaldTrump — he’s already been banned for life. This is the fate awaiting lesser-known accounts such as POTUS,...
On Day One, Biden to undo Trump policies on climate, virusVideo
In his first hours as president, Joe Biden will aim to strike at the heart of President Donald Trump’s policy legacy, signing a series of executive actions that reverse his predecessor’s orders on immigration, climate change and handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden on Wednesday will end construction on Trump’s...
Trump pardons ex-strategist Steve Bannon, dozens of othersVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon in the final hours of his White House term as part of a flurry of clemency action that benefited more than 140 people, including rap performers, ex-members of Congress and other allies of him and his family. The last-minute...
Looking back at Trump’s strong connection with Western Pennsylvania
Outgoing President Trump’s frequent visits to Western Pennsylvania were emblematic of his time in office. He brought aspirational ideas. He made questionable claims. He galvanized supporters and detractors alike. He made his first official Pennsylvania campaign stop in Pittsburgh in April 2016. Trump, then the front-runner for the GOP nomination,...
Report: Trump expected to pardon former chief strategist Steve Bannon
President Donald Trump is reportedly going to pardon his former chief strategist as one of his final acts in office, according to CNN and Bloomberg News. BREAKING: Trump is likely to grant Steve Bannon a pardon, sources tell me, ending federal prosecution of the president’s former strategist for allegedly defrauding...
