Politics live updates: COVID relief negotiations stall over GOP senators’ call to end emergency Fed powers
won’t be demanding investigations into election results in battleground states despite an effort backed by a majority of Republican members. Trump bucked the general consensus and cast doubt on the Kremlin’s role.
In a tweet Saturday, the president said, “Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens.”
And despite the dire warnings from the Department of Homeland Security that the breach constitutes a “grave risk” for the U.S., as well as numerous experts’ concerns about the severity of the threat, Trump accused the news media of exaggerating the seriousness of the cyberattack.
“The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control,” Trump said.
– Sarah Elbeshbishi
Senate gavels in for rare weekend session as stimulus negotiations drag on
The Senate convened for a rare weekend session Saturday as negotiators struggled to close the gap on outstanding issues in a COVID-19 relief package.
pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity,” Pompeo said.
The Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity unit has acknowledged that the full scope of the attack is not yet known, with an untold number of local government and private sector systems at “grave risk.”
Pompeo also defended President Donald Trump’s public silence on the cyberattack, agreeing with Levin’s suggestion that the White House was working “behind the scenes” on a response. But he did not elaborate on what, if anything, the president might be doing to confront Moscow.
– Deirdre Shesgreen
COVID stimulus deal remains elusive as Congress avoids shutdown
Lawmakers avoided a government shutdown on Friday by passing a short-term government funding bill hours before funding was set to lapse, buying themselves a few more days of negotiations as talks in Congress over a COVID-19 stimulus bill stretched into the weekend.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said on the House floor following the vote he was hopeful a deal was possible, though there were “significant issues outstanding” as stimulus negotiations continued. He told lawmakers the earliest the House could vote on any stimulus legislation if a deal were to emerge would be 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday.
– Jeanine Santucci
Fellow Republican Johnson blocks Hawley on $1,200 stimulus checks
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley’s push to pass another round of stimulus checks with the same amount of money as last time hit a roadblock Friday with a fellow Republican, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who said Hawley’s proposal was too expensive.
Johnson blocked Hawley’s motion to pass $1,200 checks by unanimous consent.
Congressional leaders are working on a separate plan to send checks of $600-700 per person as part of a larger stimulus package that will likely also include a new round of loans to businesses as well as extra money for people on unemployment.
Hawley did not object to that idea in a floor speech Friday, but he argued his standalone proposal to simply repeat the first round of checks passed in March would be the best approach for working families.
– Austin Huguelet, Springfield News-Leader
Lawmakers get first doses of COVID-19 vaccine
As states received their first rounds of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine this week, lawmakers were among the first to to receive their first of two shots, including Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Pence, the head of the White House’s coronavirus task force, was vaccinated Friday morning at an on-camera event intended to build public confidence in the vaccine. He received the recently-approved vaccine developed by Pfizer that is being distributed throughout the country.
President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden will get their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine Monday in Delaware, Jen Psaki said Friday. Meanwhile, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will stagger getting her vaccination, to avoid getting it at the same time as Biden, by receiving hers the week after Christmas.
Pelosi, 80, received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Friday in the office of the Attending Physician in the Capitol, her office said. McConnell, 86, received the COVID-19 vaccine later Friday.
“Vaccines are how we beat this virus,” McConnell said in a statement posted on Twitter.
– Jeanine Santucci
