This week in politics: Jan. 6 committee releases final report, $1.7T spending package passes
a $1.7 trillion spending bill that includes billions in aid for Ukraine.Â
Former President Donald Trump continues to face mounting legal troubles, as the House committee investigating Jan. 6, 2021, concluded its work and released a final report this week. After months of public hearings with riveting witness testimony, the committee recommended to the Department of Justice multiple criminal charges against Trump.
What happened in politics this week?
- Congress was able to reach an agreement to pass a $1.7 trillion spending plan Friday and prevent a partial government shutdown before its midnight deadline.
- The House committee investigating Jan. 6, 2021, announced their final recommendations for the Department of Justice, including criminal charges against Trump, in a public meeting held Monday and final report released Thursday.
- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Washington, D.C. Wednesday to meet with President Joe Biden and address a joint session of Congress to make a plea for additional aid.
- A Trump-era immigration policy remains in effect, after the Supreme Court intervened Monday. The Biden administration has contested the highest court’s ruling, asking for Title 42’s expiration on Dec. 27.
President Zelenskyy spoke before a joint session of Congress Wednesday, urging U.S. lawmakers to continue sending emergency money to fund Ukraine’s war efforts against Russia.Electoral Count Act at heart of Trump’s effort to overturn election part of spending bill
More:New retirement bill means big changes for retirement and 529 plans
Trump sinks further in legal troubles
In a more than 800-page report released Thursday, the House committee on Jan. 6 pointed to Trump as the “one man” behind the violence at the Capitol. The committee’s recommendations, approved in a vote Monday and expanded on in their final report, accuse the former president of a number of criminal charges, including inciting an insurrection and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
announced his latest presidential campaign last month, has already seen his popularity among the electorate waning. In another blow to the former president, the House Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday to release Trump’s tax records.
OnPolitics:Will Trump’s taxes become public? As House panel decides, here’s what we know
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What is the latest with Title 42?
The Supreme Court intervened Monday to keep a Trump-era immigration policy in place, acting just before Title 42 was set to expire this week. The policy, implemented at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, allows officials to quickly turn away migrants due to health concerns.
The Biden administration responded by asking that the highest court allow the policy to come to an end next week. Acknowledging the influx of unlawful border crossings that will likely come as result, the White House told the court, “The solution to that immigration problem cannot be to extend indefinitely a public-health measure that all now acknowledge has outlived its public-health justification.”
Go deeper
- Jan. 6 recap:Ex-Trump aide inspired to testify after reading Watergate book
- Explainer:Conservative states ask Supreme Court to keep Trump-era Title 42 immigration policy in place
- What to know:What is Title 42, when does it end, how does it impact US-Mexico border?
- FTX founder extradited:FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried released on massive $250 million bond after being extradited from the Bahamas
- OnPolitics special edition:Key findings of the House Jan. 6 committee’s final report
- More:This Republican Congressman has warned of a new Cold War with China.