Pelosi Re-elected US House Speaker

Representative Nancy Pelosi was elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Sunday for her fourth term, with a narrower Democratic majority in the chamber and challenges ahead.The Democrat from California surpassed the necessary majority of votes Sunday afternoon, with two Democrats voting for other candidates and three more voting present.   Democrats hold a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the new 117th Congress, with 222 Democrats and 211 Republicans. A few members were unable to vote because they had tested positive for the coronavirus or had other health problems.For the first time since May, lawmakers had to be present for the vote instead of using a proxy system set up amid the pandemic. The vote lasted several hours as lawmakers weremore

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Dozens of House, Senate Republicans Join Likely Futile Effort to Reject Biden Victory

More than 100 Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives and a dozen senators say they will join an almost assuredly futile effort Wednesday to try to block certification of the Electoral College vote showing that Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump in the November election. The certification of the 306-232 Electoral College vote favoring Biden, a fixture on the Washington political scene for nearly a half century, is the last step before he is set to be inaugurated as the country’s 46th president on January 20.Both chambers of Congress would need to uphold the challenges to Biden’s victorymore

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Homes of Top Republican and Democrat Vandalized

Vandals have targeted the homes of Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi with graffiti, fake blood and a pig’s head, U.S. media said.”Were’s [sic] my money,” and “Mitch kills the poor,” was daubed on McConnell’s front door and window in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. media reported.A pig’s head and fake blood were left outside Pelosi’s San Francisco home on Jan. 2, according to local media Saturday.The houses of the top Republican and Democrat were targeted following intense debate over a COVID-19 stimulus bailout for Americans.A long-awaited $900 billion pandemic relief package was finally approvedmore

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After Pardon, Blackwater Guard Defiant: ‘I Acted Correctly’

Evan Liberty was reading in the top bunk of his cell one evening late last month when a prison supervisor delivered news he had hoped for.“He says, ‘Are you ready for this?’” Liberty recalled. “I said, ‘Uh, I’m not sure. What is going on?’ He said, ‘Presidential pardon. Pack your stuff.’”Liberty is one of four former Blackwater contractors pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump in one of Trump’s final acts in office, freeing them from prison after a 2007 shooting rampage in Baghdad that killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians. Even for a president who has repeatedly exercised hismore

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Dozen GOP Senators Enlist in Trump Effort to Undo Biden Win 

A growing number of Republican lawmakers are joining President Donald Trump’s extraordinary effort to overturn the election, pledging to reject the results when Congress meets next week to count the Electoral College votes and certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win.Senator Ted Cruz of Texas on Saturday announced a coalition of 12 senators who have been enlisted for Trump’s effort to subvert the will of American voters.This follows the declaration from Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who was the first to buck Senate leadership by saying he would join with House Republicans in objecting to the state tallies during Wednesday’s joint sessionmore

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