Trump Pardons Manafort, Stone, Charles Kushner

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday granted full pardons to former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former adviser Roger Stone, sweeping away the most important convictions made under the long-running Russia election probe.Trump also issued a full pardon for Charles Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.It was the second wave of pardons Trump has issued in two days. The announcement came just after Trump arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, for the holiday season, with Jared Kushner on the Air Force One flight with him.In total, Trump issued on Wednesday full pardons to 26more

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Trump Pardons Former Campaign Chairman Manafort, Associate Roger Stone

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday granted full pardons to former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former adviser Roger Stone, sweeping away the most important convictions made under the long-running Russia election probe.Trump also issued a full pardon for Charles Kushner, a real estate developer and the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.It was the second wave of pardons Trump has issued in two days. The announcement came just after Trump arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, for the holiday season, with Jared Kushner on the Air Force One flight with him.In total, Trump issued on Wednesday full pardons to 26more

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US Immigration Changes Won’t Happen Overnight, Biden Advisers Say 

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President-elect Joe Biden’s top advisers say the incoming administration will “need time” to undo what they regard as damaging U.S. immigration and border enforcement policies implemented under President Donald Trump.In an interview with Spanish wire service EFE this week, Susan Rice, Biden’s incoming domestic policy adviser, and Jake Sullivan, his pick for national security adviser, said U.S. border policies the Trump administration put in place to deter mass migration will not disappear overnight. “We will be able to take some steps to change policies right away. Others will take time to put in place, and the situation at the border willmore

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Major Defense Bill, Strongly Backed in Congress, Draws Trump’s Veto

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U.S. President Donald Trump vetoed a $740 billion bill setting policy for the Department of Defense on Wednesday, despite its strong support in Congress, raising the possibility that the measure will fail to become law for the first time in 60 years.Trump said he vetoed the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, because it “fails to include critical national security measures, includes provisions that fail to respect our veterans and our military’s history, and contradicts efforts by my administration to put America first in our national security and foreign policy actions.””It is a ‘gift’ to China and Russia,” hemore

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Biden Introduces Connecticut Educator as his Education Secretary

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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden introduced Connecticut education commissioner Miguel Cardona as his education secretary nominee on Wednesday, touting him as a strong advocate of public schools who can lead the agency through struggles to educate students safely during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.   “We can do it if we give school districts, communities and states the clear guidance and resources that aren’t already in their tight budgets,” Biden said Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware.     Biden said educating students safely “requires someone who understands the need to prevent the pandemic from further exacerbating the inequities in our education system.”  more

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Trump Threatens Not to Sign COVID-19 Aid Package, Government Funding Bill

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President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday not to sign a massive year-end bill passed by lawmakers that includes a $900 billion coronavirus aid package and $1.4 trillion in annual government funding. Trump said in a video that was tweeted out Tuesday night that the bill didn’t deliver enough aid to Americans. The bill provides for a $600 payment to most Americans. The president said he is asking Congress to “increase the ridiculously low $600 to $2,000, or $4,000 for a couple. I am also asking Congress to get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me amore

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Trump Pardons 15, Including Republican Allies

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned 15 people, including Republican allies, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.Trump also commuted the sentences of five people. While it is not unusual for presidents to grant clemency on their way out the door, Trump has made clear that he has no qualms about intervening in the cases of friends and allies whom he believes have been treated unfairly. Despite speculation, though, not on the list were members of Trump’s own family, his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and the presidentmore

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Major COVID-19 and Defense Spending Bills Target USAGM Powers

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Two bills approved by Congress awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature would limit the powers of Michael Pack, the president’s pick to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and four other international media organizations.    A massive spending measure for COVID-19 relief and U.S. government operations approved late Monday by Congress and a previously approved National Defense Authorization Act both include changes limiting the powers of the USAGM and its chief executive, but in different ways.  The two bills taken together could restrict Pack’s actions between now and January 20, when Democratic President-elect Joe Bidenmore

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Biden: Reversing Trump Immigration Policies Will Take Months

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President-elect Joe Biden says it will take months to roll back some of President Donald Trump’s actions on immigration, offering a slower timeline than he promised on the campaign trail and one that may rile advocates pushing for speedy action on the issue.His Tuesday comments echo those made by two of his top foreign policy advisers in an interview with Spanish wire service EFE on Monday, hitting the brakes on rolling back Trump’s restrictive asylum policies. Susan Rice, Biden’s incoming domestic policy adviser, and Jake Sullivan, his pick for national security adviser, as well as Biden himself, warned that movingmore

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Biden Addresses COVID-19 Bill, Holiday Pandemic Precautions

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President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday expressed empathy with struggling families and applauded Congress for passing the coronavirus relief bill as the nation deals with a COVID-19 surge that’s casting a shadow over the Christmas holiday. He called out to frontline workers, scientists, researchers, clinical trial participants and those with deployed family members during the holiday season. “Our hearts are always with you — keep the faith,” he said in a year-end address from Wilmington, Delaware. Noting the ways that the pandemic has altered his own holiday celebrations, which typically include up to two dozen relatives, Biden said, “not this year.” “This season of reflectionmore

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Biden Reportedly to Name Connecticut Educator as Education Secretary

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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Miguel Cardona, currently Connecticut’s commissioner of education, to be secretary of education, according to news reports.Cardona took his current post just months before the coronavirus pandemic hit, becoming the first Latino to hold the job.Cardona reportedly embraced remote learning, but has recently been pushing for schools to reopen, saying continued remote learning was harmful.“Our position has always been when you can get students into the classroom, that’s the best option,” Cardona told state lawmakers in October, according to the Associated Press. “There is no replacement for that experience in the classroom withmore

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Mega Coronavirus and Government Spending Bill Tackles Climate Change 

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Major climate and clean energy measures are tucked inside the package of $1.4 trillion in annual spending to fund the government and $900 billion to provide COVID-19 relief approved by Congress late Monday.  It’s a rare bit of bipartisan agreement on an issue that has been mostly stalled in Congress while global temperatures rise and climate change-driven disasters pile up. Environmental groups said the initiative is a start, but much more needs to be done. FILE – A worker installs solar panels on a roof at Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, California, Aug. 8, 2019.The measure provides short-term tax breaks formore

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US Lawmakers Approve $900 Billion Coronavirus Aid Package

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The U.S. Congress has passed a massive year-end bill that includes both a $900 billion coronavirus aid package as well as $1.4 trillion in annual government funding.Both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the measure with overwhelming support late Monday, with lawmakers having only a few hours to look over the more than 5,000-page bill.  They were facing a midnight deadline to keep the U.S. government funded.President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill in the coming days.The legislation comes after weeks of negotiations during which Democratic and Republican leaders clashed over how much government assistance tomore

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US Attorney General: ‘No Reason’ for Special Counsel on Election, Biden’s Son 

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Outgoing Attorney General William Barr said he saw “no reason” to appoint a special counsel on potential election fraud or the tax investigation into the son of President-elect Joe Biden.  Barr said Monday in his final press conference that the investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial dealings was “being handled responsibly and professionally.”  “I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave,” he said.  Barr also told The Associated Press in a previous interview that he had seen no evidence of widespread voting fraud, despite President Donald Trump’smore

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AG: ‘No Reason’ for Special Counsel on Election, Biden’s Son 

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Outgoing Attorney General William Barr said he saw “no reason” to appoint a special counsel on potential election fraud or the tax investigation into the son of President-elect Joe Biden.  Barr said Monday in his final press conference that the investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial dealings was “being handled responsibly and professionally.”  “I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave,” he said.  Barr also told The Associated Press in a previous interview that he had seen no evidence of widespread voting fraud, despite President Donald Trump’smore

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Trump Wants Supreme Court to Overturn Pennsylvania Election Results

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Undeterred by dismissals and admonitions from judges, President Donald Trump’s campaign continued with its unprecedented efforts to overturn the results of the November 3 election Sunday, saying it had filed a new petition with the Supreme Court.The petition seeks to reverse a trio of Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases having to do with mail-in ballots and asks the court to reject voters’ will and allow the Pennsylvania General Assembly to pick its own slate of electors.While the prospect of the highest court in the land throwing out the results of a democratic election based on unfounded charges of voter fraud ismore

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Georgia Republicans Debate Whether to Vote in Runoff Elections

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As the U.S. state of Georgia begins early voting in a pair of runoff elections that will determine party control of the U.S. Senate, many Republicans are debating whether to vote in a system they believe to be fraudulent.“I think the presidential election was rigged,” Georgia resident Kyle Huneycutt, a Republican voter, told VOA, referring to the November 3 election that saw Joe Biden, a Democrat, defeat Republican President Donald Trump. “And I have very little confidence in Georgia’s capacity to conduct a fair and accurate election in January, either.”A POLITICO/Morning Consult survey from last month showed that even thoughmore

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Deal on Fed Removes Obstacle to US COVID Relief

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Top congressional lawmakers struck a late-night agreement on the last major obstacle to a COVID-19 economic relief package costing nearly $1 trillion, clearing the way for votes as early as Sunday.A Democratic aide said in an email that an agreement had been reached late Saturday and that compromise language was being finalized to seal a deal to be unveiled on Sunday.The breakthrough involved a fight over Federal Reserve emergency powers that was defused by an odd couple: the Senate’s top Democrat and a senior conservative Republican.“We’re getting very close, very close,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said earlier Saturday asmore

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Pentagon Plan on Cyber Split Draws Strong Hill Criticism 

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The Pentagon is proposing to end an arrangement in which a single military officer leads two of the nation’s main cybersecurity organizations, a move that a leading Democrat said Saturday makes him “profoundly concerned” amid a large-scale hacking campaign on U.S. government computer systems.Representative Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a letter to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller that he objected to the way the Pentagon was going about splitting off U.S. Cyber Command from the National Security Agency.Both organizations currently are headed by Army General Paul Nakasone, an arrangement known as “dual-hatting.””Any action tomore

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Congressional Negotiators Down to a Few Issues on $900B US Aid Plan

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Negotiators were down to a handful of issues as they sought to finalize an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package Saturday, still optimistic the overdue talks would soon produce an agreement. The Senate convened a Saturday session, while House members stood by for a vote that will come no earlier than Sunday.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said a provision by Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would curb emergency Federal Reserve powers was the biggest hurdle to sealing a deal.”That has to be resolved. And then everything will fall into place,” she said. “It’s a very significant difference.”Democrats said Toomey’smore

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Congress Averts Shutdown; Fight Continues Over Pandemic Aid

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Congress passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night, averting a partial government shutdown and buying yet more time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package.The virus aid talks remained on track, both sides said, but closing out final disagreements was proving difficult. Weekend sessions were on tap, and House leaders hoped for a vote on Sunday on the massive package, which wraps much of Capitol Hill’s unfinished 2020 business into a take-it-or-leave-it behemoth.The House passed the temporary funding bill by a 320-60 vote. The Senate approved it by voice vote almost immediatelymore

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Congress Passes Bill to Avert US Government Shutdown

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Congress swiftly passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night to avert a partial government shutdown, trying to buy time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said early in the day he was “even more optimistic now than I was last night,” but Democrats launched a concerted campaign to block an effort by Republicans to rein in emergency Federal Reserve lending powers. They said the GOP proposal would deprive President-elect Joe Biden of crucial tools to manage the economy.U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky,more

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Snags on US COVID-19 Relief May Force Weekend Sessions

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It’s a hurry up and wait moment on Capitol Hill as congressional negotiators on a must-pass, almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package struggled through a handful of remaining snags. The holdups mean a weekend session now appears virtually certain, and a top lawmaker warned that a government shutdown this weekend can’t be ruled out.All sides appeared hopeful that the wrangling wouldn’t derail the legislation, even as the chances for announcing a deal Thursday slipped away. After being bogged down for much of the day, negotiators reported behind-the-scenes progress Thursday night.The central elements of a hard-fought compromise appeared in place:more

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Biden Names Michael Regan as EPA Head 

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President-elect Joe Biden has picked Michael S. Regan,  head of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, to head the Environmental Protection Agency.North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat who hired Regan, called him “a consensus builder and a fierce protector of the environment. He’s been part of a strong, diverse cabinet in North Carolina. And if he is selected by the president-elect, I have no doubt that he will do the same kind of job for our country,” The Associated Press reported.Democratic U.S. Representative G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina said Regan was “well-prepared to meet the environmental challenges of ourmore

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