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Post by Webster on Dec 5, 2023 15:44:12 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Dec 5, 2023 15:45:43 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Schumer blames GOP for impasse in Ukraine aid talks, accuses them of 'hostage taking'In yet another dismal sign for the prospects of Congress approving more military aid that Ukraine says it needs to fend off Russia’s invasion, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said Republican “hostage taking” brought negotiations to a standstill. Schumer’s remarks on the Senate floor were an indication that the two parties are far apart on an agreement on aid to Kyiv, with the New York Democrat blaming the GOP for insisting on passing immigration policies championed by Donald Trump – which his party’s lawmakers will never support. “If Republicans are unable to produce a broadly bipartisan immigration proposal, they should not block aid to Ukraine in response. They should not be resorting to hostage taking,” Schumer said. “That would be madness, utter madness. It would be an insult to our Ukrainian friends who are fighting for their lives against Russian autocracy. And it could go down as a major turning point where the West didn’t live up to its responsibilities and things turned away from our democracies and our values and towards autocracy.” He closed with a reference to Ronald Reagan, the Republican former president known for his opposition to the Soviet Union in the 1980s: Ronald Reagan would be rolling in his grave – rolling in his grave – if he saw his own party let Vladimir Putin roll through Europe.
So, once again, I urge my Republican colleagues to think carefully about what’s at stake with this week’s vote. What we do now will reverberate across the world for years and decades to come.
And history – history – will render harsh judgment on those who abandoned democracy for Donald Trump’s extreme immigration policies.
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Post by Webster on Dec 5, 2023 15:47:25 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Republican senator Tuberville appears set to drop blockade of military promotions – reportsReports have emerged that Republican senator Tommy Tuberville will drop his months-long blockade of most military officer promotions. According to CNN, the senator announced a press conference where he was expected to end to his campaign, only to quickly cancel it in favor of more informal remarks to reporters: Tuberville announced the blockade in February in protest of a Pentagon policy that will help active duty service members travel to seek abortions, if they are stationed in areas where the procedure is not accessible. The senator’s effort was criticized by Democrats and an increasing number of Republicans as jeopardizing national security by leaving important officer roles in the military unfilled.
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Post by Webster on Dec 5, 2023 15:58:06 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Republican senator Tuberville ends blockade of military promotions over Pentagon abortion policyRepublican senator Tommy Tuberville has agreed to end his blockade of most military promotions in protest of a Pentagon policy paying expenses for some service members who travel to seek abortions, Reuters reports. Tuberville’s blockade began in February after the defense department announced the abortion policy, but has come under increasing fire from both Democrats and Republicans alike for endangering US national security by preventing the military from filling high-ranking command posts. The senator has lifted his holds of the promotion of about 400 officers, as well as other lower-ranked positions, Reuters reports, but continues to block a handful of high-ranking positions. “I’ve still got a hold on, I think, 11 four-star generals. Everybody else is completely released by me,” Tuberville said. “It was pretty much a draw. They didn’t get what they wanted. We didn’t get what we wanted.”
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Post by Webster on Dec 5, 2023 16:00:28 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Zelenskiy unable to attend Senate briefing on Ukraine aidUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will not be able to attend a scheduled briefing of senators on the situation in the country, the Senate’s Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. “Zelenskiy, by the way, could not make it … something happened at the last minute,” Schumer said. The Ukrainian leader was scheduled to virtually address the classified briefing for all senators at 3pm. Schumer said earlier in the day that the Senate would hold a vote on legislation to approve more military aid to Ukraine, but the package is opposed by Republicans who are demanding stricter immigration policies.
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Post by Webster on Dec 6, 2023 16:27:06 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Republicans set to block vote on Ukraine and Israel aid as they press for stricter border policiesThe increasingly intense debate in Congress over approving more aid to Ukraine will come to something of a head today when the Senate holds a procedural vote the approve aid to both Kyiv and Israel. Republicans have vowed to block it, and have the numbers to do so, saying legislation that would implement stricter border policies must be passed as well. If the vote fails, negotiators will be back to square one, and there’s no telling how they will find their way out of this quagmire. Approving military assistance to Israel is also a priority for both parties, but opposition to assisting Ukraine’s defense has grown among Republicans over the past months. Party chiefs like Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell continue to support its cause, as does House speaker Mike Johnson, who previously voted against helping Kyiv but appears to have reversed his position since getting the chamber’s top job. However, the immigration proposals Republicans want passed are unpalatable to Democrats, such as restarting construction of Donald Trump’s border wall, or curbing who can apply for asylum. Emotions over these issues are apparently running high among senators – yesterday, several Republicans walked out of a briefing on Ukraine aid, upset that the Biden administration officials in attendance would not discuss border security. Perhaps there will be some progress in resolving this standoff today.
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Post by Webster on Dec 6, 2023 16:38:13 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Senate Ukraine briefing flops as Zelenskiy cancels and Republicans walk outTuesday was the day when it became crystal clear that neither side was backing down in the tangled negotiations over legislation, first proposed by Joe Biden, to green-light military assistance to Ukraine and Israel as well as spend money on border security. Republican House speaker Mike Johnson started the day off with a letter to the White House insisting that the administration would have to agree to strict border policy changes – far beyond what Biden supports publicly – if any Ukraine aid legislation was to make it through his chamber. In the afternoon, senators were expected to hear from Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was going to appear by video conference at a briefing to the chamber. But Zelenskiy canceled for reasons that remain unclear, and as the Associated Press reports, Republicans left the meeting early when the Biden administration officials in attendance refused to discuss border security. Here’s more on yesterday’s fiasco, from the AP: Several Republican senators walked out of a classified briefing on Ukraine Tuesday as it descended into a row over the border crisis, after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, unexpectedly canceled a video-link appearance to appeal for continued US funding.
Zelenskiy had been due to update the senators on the latest developments in the conflict with Russia and press for them to support a procedural vote expected on Wednesday on an emergency aid package that includes more than $60bn for Kyiv.
The cash has been held up for weeks in Congress, as the White House has warned that existing funds will run out by the end of the year and that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, could win the war if lawmakers fail to act.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, announced that Zelenskiy had been prevented from taking part by a “last-minute” hiccup, but he pressed ahead with the briefing anyway – only for the proceedings to turn into a war of words.
Utah’s Mitt Romney left early, confirming that “a number” of his Republican colleagues had followed suit, angry that they had heard nothing on their demand that Ukraine aid be coupled with action on what they call the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border.
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Post by Webster on Dec 6, 2023 17:23:43 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The standoff between Republicans and Democrats over aid to Ukraine in border security was months in the making. The seeds were sewn in October, when Joe Biden requested Congress pass a more than $100b bill to assist both Kyiv and Israel, but which quickly ran up against the machinations of Congress, where Republicans at the time were without a leader in the House. Here’s the Guardian’s Joan E Greve with the concise version of the long and winding story that got us to this point: The White House issued an urgent warning to Congress on Monday, predicting that Ukraine will soon lose ground in its war against Russia without another infusion of financial aid from the US.
“I want to be clear: without congressional action, by the end of the year we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from US military stocks,” Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in her letter to congressional leaders. “There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money – and nearly out of time.”
In October, the White House asked Congress to approve a $106bn supplemental funding bill that would provide assistance to Ukraine, Israel and allies in the Indo-Pacific while also strengthening border security. However, bipartisan negotiations over that bill have now stalled.
Although previous funding packages for Ukraine have won widespread bipartisan support in Congress, the issue has become increasingly contentious in the Republican-controlled House. Given hard-right Republicans’ entrenched opposition to additional Ukraine aid, the new Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, must walk a fine line in his negotiations with the Senate.
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Post by Webster on Dec 6, 2023 17:24:54 GMT -5
(The Guardian) What are the changes the GOP is demanding when it comes to border policy? While there is some variation among lawmakers, Republicans are generally demanding that Democrats sign on to the Secure the Border Act. From the start of his presidency, the GOP has criticized Joe Biden for what they call his mishandling of undocumented people crossing the southern border. When they took control of the House earlier this year, they quickly passed the Secure the Border Act, also known as HR 2, which would resurrect some of the hardline policies Donald Trump implemented, and create other new ones. The bill would force the Biden administration to restart construction of the border wall, while also turning away many asylum seekers and restrict which ones could remain in the United States while their applications are processed. The White House said Biden would veto the bill if it somehow managed to get to his desk, and Democrats in the Senate have shown not interest in approving it, even though the GOP has made its passage, or something like it, the price for supporting Ukraine aid. As for why the legislation is so disliked by Democrats, here’s what the White House said in May, when they issued their veto threat: The Administration is limited in what it can achieve by an outdated statutory framework and inadequate resources, particularly in this time of unprecedented global movement. HR 2 does nothing to address the root causes of migration, reduces humanitarian protections, and restricts lawful pathways, which are critical alternatives to unlawful entry.
The bill would cut off nearly all access to humanitarian protections in ways that are inconsistent with our Nation’s values and international obligations. In addition, the bill would make processing less efficient by prohibiting the use of the CBP One mobile application to process noncitizens and restricting DHS’s parole authority, such that successful programs, like “Uniting for Ukraine,” would be prohibited. The bill would also reduce authorized funding for essential programs including the Shelter and Services Program that provides a critical source of funds for state and local governments and reduces pressure at the border.
While we welcome Congress’ engagement on meaningful steps to address immigration and the challenges at the border, this bill would make things worse, not better. Because this bill does very little to actually increase border security while doing a great deal to trample on the Nation’s core values and international obligations, it should be rejected.
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Post by Webster on Dec 6, 2023 17:25:42 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Dec 6, 2023 17:59:27 GMT -5
(The Guardian) With the Senate blocking Joe Biden’s supplemental funding bill on Thursday which included additional aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, the Guardian’s Joan E Greve and Patrick Wintour has this report: The vote, which fell mostly along party lines, increases the likelihood that Congress will fail to approve more funding for Ukraine before the end of the year, as the White House has warned that Kyiv is desperately in need of more aid.
The vote was 49 to 51, as every Senate Republican opposed advancing the legislation. Sixty votes were needed to take up the bill. Republicans in both chambers of Congress had demanded stricter border regulations in exchange for their support, and they said the bill failed to meet their requirements.
The vote came one day after Senate Democrats formally unveiled the $111bn supplemental security bill, reflecting the funding request that Joe Biden issued in October to provide assistance to the US’s allies abroad.
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Post by Webster on Dec 7, 2023 16:33:12 GMT -5
(The Guardian) House to vote on censure of New York Democratic representative Jamaal BowmanThe House is set to vote on the censure of New York Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman who pleaded guilty to setting off a fire alarm in a House office building in September. The expected vote follows a censure resolution introduced by Michigan’s Republican representative Lisa McClain on Tuesday over the matter. Following Bowman’s guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge, he agreed to pay a maximum fine of $1,000 and serve three months of probation, after which the misdemeanor charge is set to be dismissed.
The House is now voting on the censure of New York’s Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman. The vote follows Bowman pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge for pulling a fire alarm in a House office building in September. House votes to censure New York Democratic representative Jamaal BowmanThe House has voted to censure Jamaal Bowman with 214 yeas and 191 nays. There were also five votes of present.
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Post by Webster on Dec 7, 2023 16:35:38 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Tlaib on Bowman censure: 'yet another attempt to silence a person of color'Rashida Tlaib has criticized House Republicans following the vote to censure New York’s Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman. In an impassioned address, she said: “So desperate. You all [are] so desperate to distract from the fact that you all have nothing, nothing to improve the lives of the American people or end the ongoing genocide [in Gaza]. So now you’re trying to shift the focus by baselessly attacking Rep. Bowman to score cheap political points, comparing him to the white supremacists on January 6th, who were smashing windows in the Capitol, you all, and screaming ‘Hang Mike Pence!’
Your inability to govern is so obvious to the American people. You all can’t even find enough Republicans to vote to pass a budget or keep a speaker. This is yet another attempt to silence a person of color in this chamber.”Last month, the Republican-majority House voted to censure Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, over her condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza which has killed over 21,700 Palestinians in the last two months.
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Post by Webster on Dec 7, 2023 16:36:45 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Jeffries: Maga Republicans 'wasting so much time' targeting Democrats because they 'have nothing to show for their fading majority'In response to the House’s vote to censure New York’s Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said that Maga Republicans “have nothing to show for their narrow, fading and decreasing majority”. He said: Extreme Maga Republicans continue to utilize tactics such as censuring Democratic members of Congress, burying their heads in the sand with respect to unlawful or unacceptable conduct by their own members including but not limited to Marjorie Taylor Greene, and engaging in efforts to irresponsibly and illegitimately target president Joe Biden and his family.
Why are extreme Maga Republicans wasting so much time on these efforts to target Democratic members of Congress, target president Biden?… It’s because the extreme Maga Republicans have nothing to show for their narrow, fading and decreasing majority.
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Post by Webster on Dec 7, 2023 16:37:40 GMT -5
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