Senate Panel Wraps Confirmation Hearings for Trump’s Supreme Court Pick

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The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee heard arguments Thursday supporting and opposing the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as the panel finishes four days of hearings to fill a vacancy on the country’s highest court.   Democrats invoked committee rules to push a final vote by the panel on Barrett’s nomination by a week until next Thursday. A vote in the full Senate could come by the end of the month, just days ahead of the Nov. 3 national presidential and congressional elections.   Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in his home state of Kentucky,more

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Mnuchin Says White House Open to Compromise on COVID Bill

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday the Trump administration will not let disagreements over Democrats’ demands for a national coronavirus testing strategy foil attempts to agree on coronavirus relief legislation.Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC television he would tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the administration generally agrees with a strategy to test people for COVID-19 throughout the U.S.“When I speak to Pelosi today, I’m going to tell her that we’re not going to let the testing issue stand in the way, that we’ll fundamentally agree with their testing language subject to some minor issues, Mnuchin said.Mnuchin also clarifiedmore

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Trump Supreme Court Nominee Confirmation Hearings Reach Final Day

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Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee are set to hear Thursday from witnesses supporting and opposing the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett as the panel finishes its confirmation hearings.Democrats are expected to invoke committee rules to push a final vote on Barrett’s nomination by a week to Oct. 22. A vote in the full Senate could come by the end of the month.Wednesday marked the third day of the hearings, with Democrats again pressing Barrett on a key upcoming case that if overturned could impact healthcare for millions of Americans.Barrett reiterated she is not hostile tomore

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North Carolina Starts In-Person Early Voting as Judge Tightens Mail-In Ballot Rules

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Voters in the electoral battleground state of North Carolina are the latest in the United States to get their chance to cast early ballots in person for the Nov. 3 election.   The start of early voting Thursday coincides with campaign events in the state for President Donald Trump and Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris. Trump is visiting Greenville, while Harris is making stops in Charlotte and Asheville.   Many states have seen a surge in early voting, with concerns about crowds at polling places in the middle of a pandemic driving many voters’ decisions to find a waymore

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Confirmation Hearings for Trump Supreme Court Nominee Reach Final Day

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Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee are set to hear Thursday from witnesses supporting and opposing the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett as the panel finishes its confirmation hearings.Democrats are expected to invoke committee rules to push a final vote on Barrett’s nomination by a week to Oct. 22. A vote in the full Senate could come by the end of the month.Wednesday marked the third day of the hearings, with Democrats again pressing Barrett on a key upcoming case that if overturned could impact healthcare for millions of Americans.Barrett reiterated she is not hostile tomore

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Supreme Court Justice Confirmation Flashpoint for Trump, Biden

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This week, the U.S. Senate is holding confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat left empty by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away last month. Supreme Court justices receive lifetime positions, and the battle to fill the seat has become a focus of the contest between President Donald Trump and his challenger, Joe Biden. Patsy Widakuswara reports. …

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Judge Extends Virginia Voter Registration

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A federal judge on Wednesday extended the deadline for registering to vote in the U.S. state of Virginia by 48 hours. The order came one day after an accidentally severed fiber optic cable at a field project site caused the state’s online portal to shut down on the last day of registration before the November 3 general election.U.S. District Judge John Gibney, in the state capital of Richmond, issued the order extending the deadline to make up for several hours of lost time. He said the disruption caused “a tremendous harm” to those who wanted to register.Gibney’s order came aftermore

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Trump, Biden to Stage Dueling Televised Town Halls on Thursday 

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With their once-planned Thursday night debate canceled, Republican U.S. President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, instead are staging dueling town hall question-and-answer sessions with voters. NBC News said Wednesday it would broadcast an 8 p.m. prime-time town hall Thursday, with Trump facing voters in the southern city of Miami, Florida. ABC News had already scheduled a town hall with Biden for the same time in the eastern city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Orlando Sanford International Airport, Oct. 12, 2020, in Sanford, Florida.Florida and Pennsylvania are key battleground statesmore

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US Justice Department Accuses Melania Trump Book Author of Breaking Nondisclosure Pact

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The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday accused Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, author of a tell-all book about first lady Melania Trump, of breaking their nondisclosure agreement and asked a court to set aside profits from the book in a government trust.   In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, Justice Department lawyers said Wolkoff, a former aide who fell out with the first lady, failed to submit to government review a draft of her book, “Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady,” which offers an unflattering portrayal of President Donald Trump’smore

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Trump Supreme Court Nominee Faces Another Day of Questioning

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U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett returns to the U.S. Capitol Wednesday for more questioning after a nearly 12-hour session Tuesday in which she declined to answer a range of questions from senators on how she might rule on legal disputes she would face if confirmed to fill a crucial vacancy on the country’s highest courtBarrett told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee conducting her confirmation hearing that she wouldn’t let her personal and religious views determine how she would decide cases.  “I have no agenda,” Barrett said. “I’ll follow the law.” Abortion, gun ownership Barrett, in initial queries from two Republicans, the panel chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Sen.more

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US Election, Healthcare Dominate First Day of Barrett Questions

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U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett told the US Senate Tuesday she would not bring her own agenda to the bench if she is confirmed to the nation’s highest court. In the first full day of questioning from senators, Barrett deflected a range of inquiries on issues impacting a wide range of Americans, from abortion to healthcare to gun rights. VOA’s Congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.Produced by: Katherine Gypson                               Camera: Adam Greenbaum   …

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Donald Trump and Joe Biden Set Their Sights on Battleground States

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It is Presidential Donald Trump’s first week back on the campaign trail since his COVID-19 diagnosis and after his doctor said he is no longer infectious to others. With three weeks left to go until election day, Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden are crisscrossing battleground states this week to energize their supporters. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details. …

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Biden, Trump Continue Battle in Swing States

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Former Vice President Joe Biden took his campaign to a county in Florida he called crucial for victory in the presidential election just three weeks away.  Broward County, the second most populous in the state, is “where this election will be determined,” Biden said Tuesday afternoon at a senior citizens’ center in Pembrook Pines.  In 2016, Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump by a 2-to-1 margin in the county. But the Republican candidate edged her out in the state total to capture all of Florida’s 29 electoral votes, helping him to become president.  On Monday, Trump held a large rally at an airport in Florida’s Seminole County, which he won four years ago by less than 4,000more

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US Supreme Court Halts Census in Latest Twist of 2020 Count

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday stopped the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident from continuing through the end of October. President Donald Trump’s administration had asked the nation’s high court to suspend a district court’s order permitting the 2020 census to continue through the end of the month. The Trump administration argued that the head count needed to end immediately so the U.S. Census Bureau had enough time to crunch the numbers before a congressionally mandated year-end deadline for turning in figures used for deciding how many congressional seats each state gets. A coalition of local governments and civil rightsmore

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Voter Registration in Virginia Inadvertently Halted by Severed Optic Cable

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The government elections agency in the U.S. state of Virginia said Tuesday its voter registration system was shut down by a fiber optic cable that had been accidentally severed on the last day of registration before the Nov. 3 general election. The shutdown affected connectivity for the citizens’ registration portal, the election registrar’s office and multiple other state agencies, the Virginia Department of Elections said in a statement. The agency said technicians were working to repair the cable that the Virginia Information Technologies Agency said was cut during a utilities project in Chesterfield County. The state did not say when connectivity would bemore

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Youth Voting Trends Vary by Race

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Voters under 30 are a keenly watched voting bloc in the United States, with race being a top issue for many young people.  “There are huge differences in who young people support, candidate-wise, by race and gender,” Abby Kiesa, director of impact at the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) based at Tufts University, told VOA. “For example, for a huge portion of young people of color, we are much more likely to see use of color, especially young Black and Latino young people, vote for Democratic candidates. However, when we look at white youth, wemore

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Senators Question Supreme Court Nominee Barrett

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Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are questioning U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on a range of issues Tuesday during the second day of her confirmation hearings. Expected topics include health care, her approach to legal precedent and the court’s potential role in sorting out any legal challenges that may arise from the November election. Senators will have 30 minutes each to ask their questions Tuesday, with a similar session to follow Wednesday.Senate Judiciary Committee holds confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 12, 2020.Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham has set an initialmore

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Trump, Biden Trade Verbal Volleys in Battleground States

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With three weeks until Election Day, a handful of swing states is expected to determine if former Vice President Joe Biden can deny President Donald Trump a second term. That has the rival campaigns focusing on Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania at the start of a critical week.  “The corrupt political class is desperate to regain their power by any means necessary,” Trump said Monday night in Sanford, Florida. “We’re the ones standing in their way.”  Trump accused Biden of being owned by “radical globalists” and having handed control of the Democratic Party to “the socialists, the Marxists and the left-wingmore

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US Senate Kicks Off Sprint to Confirm Barrett Before Election Day

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U.S. Senate Republicans kicked off a sprint Monday to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Just three weeks before Election Day, Senate Judiciary Committee hearings began amid continuing concerns about the impact coronavirus infections will have on Barrett’s final nomination vote. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.Produced by: Katherine Gypson, Taameen Mohammed, Tressie Rhodes                                Camera: Adam Greenbaum   …

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Trump Remains Popular in Israel as US Election Looms

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Israelis and Palestinians are closely following the U.S. elections. For many in Israel, incumbent Donald Trump is the most pro-Israeli U.S. president in history. Some in the Jewish state fear that a Joe Biden victory could mean a change in U.S. foreign policy – one that Palestinians would welcome. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem.Videographer: Ricki Rosen …

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Senators Set to Question Supreme Court Nominee Barrett

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Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are set to question U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on a range of issues Tuesday during the second day of her confirmation hearings. Expected topics include health care, her approach to legal precedent and the court’s potential role in sorting out any legal challenges that may arise from the November election. Senators will have 30 minutes each to ask their questions Tuesday, with a similar session to follow Wednesday.Senate Judiciary Committee holds confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 12, 2020.Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham has setmore

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Election Day Sprint to Confirm Barrett Kicks Off on Capitol Hill

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U.S. Senate Republicans kicked off a sprint Monday to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Just three weeks before Election Day, Senate Judiciary Committee hearings began amid continuing concerns about the impact coronavirus infections will have on Barrett’s final nomination vote. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.Produced by: Katherine Gypson, Taameen Mohammed, Tressie Rhodes                                Camera: Adam Greenbaum   …

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Trump, Biden Fire Verbal Volleys at Each Other in Battleground States

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With three weeks until Election Day, a handful of swing states is expected to determine if former Vice President Joe Biden can deny President Donald Trump a second term. That has the rival campaigns focusing on Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania at the start of a critical week.  “The corrupt political class is desperate to regain their power by any means necessary,” Trump said Monday night in Sanford, Florida. “We’re the ones standing in their way.”  Trump accused Biden of being owned by “radical globalists” and having handed control of the Democratic Party to “the socialists, the Marxists and the left-wingmore

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Supreme Court Nominee Barrett: Courts ‘Should Not Try’ to Make Policy

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Confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett opened Monday in Washington, with Barrett set to tell senators that courts “should not try” to make policy and should leave that to American presidents and Congress. In an advance release of her opening statement, Barrett lays out a strict interpretation of the high court’s role, saying it is “not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the lead Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, immediately signaled that the minority Democrats plan to sharply question Barrett about one major policy dispute — hermore

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