A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would back efforts by congressional staffers to unionize after she appeared to sidestep a question about the topic earlier Thursday, NBC News reports.
Biden Renews Trump Tariffs on Solar Panels
President Biden “has renewed for four years Trump-era tariffs on imported solar panels that were set to expire this weekend as his administration tries to boost US manufacturing of clean energy infrastructure,” the Financial Times reports.
New York Times: “But the Biden administration also moved to double the amount of solar cells that can come into the country without facing tariffs, and said it would begin talks with Canada and Mexico to export their products to the United States duty-free.”
Val Arkoosh Drops Senate Bid In Pennsylvania
Val Arkoosh (D), a physician and the lone woman in Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate primary, is dropping out of the race, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
“She said she doesn’t plan to endorse in the primary but will campaign for the Democratic nominee in the general election.”
Said Arkoosh: “Every Republican in this race is deeply concerning.”
Oil Company Board Members Decline to Testify
“Board members of four major oil companies declined to appear at a House oversight panel hearing scheduled for Feb. 8 to answer questions about their companies’ climate change plans,” Reuters reports.
Quote of the Day
“Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol. Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost.”
— Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), on Twitter.
Romney’s niece, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, helped to broker the censure of Cheney and Kinzinger.
Trump Personally Reviewed Order to Seize Voting Machines
“Weeks after the 2020 election, Donald Trump reviewed a draft executive order that authorized the national guard to seize voting machines and verbally agreed to appoint Sidney Powell, a campaign lawyer and conspiracy theorist, as special counsel to investigate election fraud,” The Guardian reports.
“The two previously unreported actions of the former president – which is certain to interest the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack and Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat – came during a contentious White House meeting on December 18, 2020.”
A Few Thoughts for the End of the Week
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Capitol Rioter Asks Judge if He Can Fight His Prison Guards
“A suspect in the January 6 Capitol riot accused of assaulting several officers in the attack asked a federal judge for permission to defend himself against prison guards at a status hearing for his case,” Newsweek reports.
“Josiah Kenyon asked Judge Carl Nichols to acknowledge that he has the right to defend himself if corrections officers try to assault him.”
Before his comment, Nichols warned Kenyon to consult with his attorney first before speaking, but Kenyon shot back: “I have a high enough IQ range to not screw up there, boss.”
Biden Renews Trump Pandemic Order Expelling Migrants
“After a recent internal review, the Biden administration decided to maintain a pandemic-era order put in place under former President Donald Trump that authorizes the rapid deportation of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border,” CBS News reports.
Rand Paul Pledges Investigation of Dr. Fauci
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) says he plans to subpoena Dr. Anthony Fauci’s records if Republicans retake the Senate in November’s midterm elections and he becomes chairman of a committee, The Hill reports.
Said Paul: “If we win in November, if I’m chairman of a committee, if I have subpoena power, we’ll go after every one of his records. We’ll have an investigator go through this piece-by-piece because we don’t need this to happen again.”
Mike Lee Blocked Bill Without Even Being Present
“An episode Thursday shows how the objection process in the Senate works. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) has a bill (it cleared the House 416-2) that would make a site of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II into a national park. He tried to pass the measure by unanimous consent,” Politico reports.
“Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) then took to the floor and said he was a ‘noncombatant on this issue’ but objected on behalf of Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who was prevented from being there in person by winter storms snarling air travel.”
Said Cornyn: “I had the bad luck to be here when he communicated to me his desire that I make an objection.”
Pence To Rebut Trump’s Election Lie Again
“Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday is expected to rebut, again, claims by Donald Trump that Pence ‘could have overturned the election’ to let Trump remain in power despite having lost in 2020 by more than 7 million votes,” the HuffPost reports.
Boris Johnson Is a Liar
Jonathan Pie reports in a hilarious new video what many of us suspected all along: Boris Johnson is a liar.
This will almost certainly be the funniest thing you see today.
Job Growth Up Sharply Despite Omicron Wave
“Payrolls rose far more than expected in January despite surging omicron cases that seemingly sent millions of workers to the sidelines,” CNBC reports.
“Nonfarm payrolls surged by 467,000 for the month, while the unemployment rate edged higher to 4%.”
“The stunning gain came a week after the White House warned that the numbers could be low due to the pandemic.”
Kevin McCarthy Walks a Tightrope
Punchbowl News: “With President Joe Biden and Democrats unable to move their agenda due to Senate GOP opposition, the American public’s frustration with the continuing Covid pandemic and soaring inflation felt across the country, and House Republicans seemingly on the march toward the majority, why would McCarthy want the spotlight on internecine fighting over Trump? The way the GOP leadership sees this, Kinzinger will be gone from Congress after the election and Cheney will lose in November.”
“McCarthy has a tightrope to walk here. If he’s seen as protecting Cheney and Kinzinger, the California Republican risks damaging his relationship with the hard right – a relationship that was once rocky but is now largely under control. However, If he gives in to their demands, McCarthy puts the spotlight directly on his conference at a time when his best move is to keep a low profile.”
Covid-19 Commission Draws Bipartisan Backing
New York Times: “A broad and bipartisan group of senators is coalescing around legislation to create a high-level independent commission, modeled after the one that examined the Sept. 11 attacks, with broad powers to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and the response across the Trump and Biden administrations,”
High Inflation Will Continue Through End of Year
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who warned of inflation more than a year ago, writes in the Washington Post that today’s consensus view “that inflation will fall below 3 percent by the end of the year is likely a repeat of last year’s wishful thinking.”
Quote of the Day
“The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential election and suggests he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy. I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump. History will be their judge.”
— Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), in a statement after news she would be censured by the Republican National Committee.
