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

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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 

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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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Cruz Joins Republican Bloc in Senate to Challenge Biden’s Victory

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U.S. Senator Ted Cruz said Saturday that he would be among a dozen Republican senators who will challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory when Electoral College results are tallied in Congress next week — a largely symbolic move that has little chance of preventing Biden from taking office.The Republicans join Senator Josh Hawley, who earlier this week became the first sitting member of the Senate to announce he would challenge the election result. A number of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives also plan on contesting the vote tally.In a statement, Cruz and the other senators said they intended tomore

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In a First, Congress Overrides Trump Veto of Defense Bill 

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Congress has overridden President Donald Trump’s veto of a defense policy bill, a first by lawmakers since Trump took office nearly four years ago.In an extraordinary New Year’s Day session, the Republican-controlled Senate easily turned aside the veto, dismissing Trump’s objections to the $740 billion bill and handing him a rebuke weeks before his term ends.Trump had lashed out at lawmakers from his own party on Twitter, charging earlier this week that “Weak and tired Republican ‘leadership’ will allow the bad Defense Bill to pass.”Trump called the looming override vote a “disgraceful act of cowardice and total submission by weakmore

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US Senator Perdue in Quarantine After Coronavirus Contact Days Before Vote

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David Perdue, one of two Republican U.S. senators facing a runoff election in Georgia next week that will determine control of the Senate, is quarantining after coming in close contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, his campaign said Thursday.Perdue was notified of the contact Thursday and has tested negative, his campaign said.It did not say how close the contact was or when it occurred, how long his quarantine would last or how it would impact any campaign events, adding that more information would be provided later.Perdue faces Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff in an election Tuesday that willmore

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How Congress Will Count Electoral College Votes

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The congressional joint session to count electoral votes is generally a routine, ceremonial affair. But President Donald Trump’s repeated efforts to challenge Democrat Joe Biden’s victory will bring more attention than usual to next Wednesday’s joint session of the Senate and the House.   The congressional count is the final step in reaffirming Biden’s win, after the Electoral College officially elected him on Dec 14. The meeting is required by the Constitution and includes several distinct steps.     Some Republicans who are echoing Trump’s baseless claims of fraud have said they will officially object to the results, forcing votesmore

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‘We Have to Be Remembered for What’s Been Done,’ Trump Says on Return to DC

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After weeks of vowing to win his fight to remain in office, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a video Thursday looking back on what he called “historic victories” and said: “We have to be remembered for what’s been done.” Trump, who has yet to formally concede his November election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, posted the message on Twitter after returning to Washington early from his Florida resort amid a fight with Congress over a defense bill and coronavirus aid checks. Trump praised his administration’s accomplishments, which he said included its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and rebuilding the economy. Trump, who hadmore

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Students Ask for More Transparency During Pandemic

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College students say clearer communications with their institutions could improve learning during the COVID-19 pandemic that has limited most classes to online.Better communications include transparent decision-making, a 24/7 chatbot, text messaging and better IT support, according to a poll of 2,200 students and staff in Spain, the United States, Britain, Australia, France, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.While all students reported diminished trust with university leadership during the pandemic, students in the U.S., Britain and Spain reported the greatest amount of disconnect from their institutions.Students and staff also asked for testing for COVID-19 and personalmore

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Vitriol Hangs Over Georgia’s January 5 Runoff

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Two crucial Senate runoff elections will be held in the southern state of Georgia next week, with inflammatory accusations still circulating about the state’s handling of last month’s presidential election. As Mike O’Sullivan reports, the rhetoric about election fraud has reached dangerous levels, casting a cloud over the Jan. 5 runoffs. …

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Students Want Universities to Boost Communication During Pandemic

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College students say clearer communications with their institutions could improve learning during the COVID-19 pandemic that has limited most classes to online.Better communications include transparent decision-making, a 24/7 chatbot, text messaging and better IT support, according to a poll of 2,200 students and staff in Spain, the United States, Britain, Australia, France, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.While all students reported diminished trust with university leadership during the pandemic, students in the U.S., Britain and Spain reported the greatest amount of disconnect from their institutions.Students and staff also asked for testing for COVID-19 and personalmore

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Bill for Higher Stimulus Payouts Stalls in Senate

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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday the Senate would not quickly take up a House bill to boost the size of pandemic relief payments for most Americans to $2,000 from the current $600.  The Kentucky senator said the House bill “has no realistic path to quickly pass the Senate.”   With a new Congress due to be sworn in January 3, it was unclear what, if any, actions would be taken by the current Congress. Without action, the House bill will expire.   McConnell introduced a measure Tuesday that tied the demand for higher coronavirus pandemic relief payments togethermore

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Vitriol Hangs Over Upcoming Georgia Runoff

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Two crucial Senate runoff elections will be held in the Southern state of Georgia next week, with inflammatory accusations still circulating about the state’s handling of last month’s presidential election — and on the same voting machines that are at the center of President Donald Trump’s charges that the November balloting was fixed. Courts around the country have rejected the claims of fraud in Georgia and elsewhere, and election officials from Trump’s own Republican Party have defended the handling of the November 3 vote in that state.  But they also say the rhetoric has reached dangerous levels, casting a cloud overmore

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Census Bureau to Miss Deadline, Jeopardizing Trump Plan 

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The Census Bureau plans to announce it will miss a year-end deadline for handing in numbers used for divvying up congressional seats. That delay could undermine President Donald Trump’s efforts to exclude people in the country illegally from the count if the figures aren’t turned in before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.It will be the first time that the December 31 target date has been missed since Congress implemented the deadline more than four decades ago.Internal documents obtained this month by a House committee show that Census Bureau officials don’t see the apportionment numbers being ready until days after Bidenmore

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Republican Senator to Contest Biden’s Electoral College Victory

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Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said Wednesday that he would contest next week’s certification of the Electoral College vote in a last-ditch but almost certainly futile effort to upend Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in last month’s election over President Donald Trump.Hawley’s challenge, coupled with a Republican protest in the House of Representatives led by Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, ensures that the two chambers in Congress on January 6 will debate the legitimacy of Biden’s 306-232 victory in the Electoral College that would make him the country’s 46th president at his inauguration on January 20.Biden’s incoming Whitemore

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Biden, Harris, Trump Staging Georgia Senate Runoff Rallies

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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and outgoing President Donald Trump are all planning to campaign in the southern state of Georgia in the final two days ahead of next Tuesday’s crucial Senate runoff elections. Harris is staging a rally Sunday in the Atlantic coastal city of Savannah for the Democratic contenders, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Baptist minister, who is opposing incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler, and Jon Ossoff, a television documentary producer who is running against Republican Senator David Perdue. Biden and Trump both have announced rallies for Monday, the day before the Tuesday in-person voting. FILE – Sen.more

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US Senate Poised to Vote on Defense Funding Veto Override    

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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is urging his colleagues to override President Donald Trump’s veto of a $740 billion defense spending measure in a vote expected this week.    “President Trump has rightly noted this year’s defense bill doesn’t contain every provision that we Republicans would have wanted. I’m confident our Democratic colleagues feel the same way,” McConnell said Tuesday. “But that is the case every year. And yet, for 59 consecutive years and counting, Washington has put our differences aside, found common ground, and passed the annual defense bill.”    The Senate approved the NDAA in an 84-13 vote earlier thismore

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US Senate Balance of Power Hangs on Georgia Runoff

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Early voting is under way in the U.S. southern state of Georgia for two Senate seats for which none of the candidates received a majority of the vote in the November election. At stake in the January 5 runoff vote — the balance of power in the U.S. Congress. Both U.S. President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden have focused their energies on the races. Trump told a December 5 rally in the state that “the voters of Georgia will determine which party runs every committee, writes every piece of legislation, controls every single taxpayer dollar,” as he urged support formore

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Atlanta’s Increasingly Diverse Suburbs Could Decide US Senate Control

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Gwinnett County is located just 16 kilometers northeast of Atlanta and is one of the most populous suburbs of Georgia’s largest city. In November, Democrat Joe Biden won 58% of the presidential vote in the county, helping propel his razor-thin margin of victory in Georgia overall. Thirty years ago, however, Gwinnett county was mostly rural and a Republican stronghold in a state where Republicans have long dominated. “Atlanta was mostly African American and voted Democrat, but, back then, the suburbs around Atlanta were like the rest of Georgia — a lot of white people nearly exclusively voting Republican,” Nick Masino,more

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Democrats Push for Senate Vote on Higher Pandemic Relief

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Democrats plan to push Tuesday for the U.S. Senate to pass higher pandemic relief payments to Americans, meeting President Donald Trump’s demand for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks that has already been approved by the House of Representatives.With Democrats in the minority in the Senate, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell giving no public indication of bringing the measure for a vote, prominent Democratic figures said they intended to take several possible paths toward forcing action.FILE – Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 1, 2020.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer planned to usemore

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2020 Sees Higher Education Admissions Scandal, Visa Challenges for International Students

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The coronavirus pandemic led to more than 1.7 million deaths and 79 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 — the disease caused by the virus — and international students around the world largely escaped health affects but were disrupted in their studies. Higher education in the United States also was roiled by a huge admissions scandal and immigration restrictions, which punctuated a chaotic and anxiety-ridden year.  The issues: College admissions scandal  Nearly three dozen parents, including “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were sentenced in a high-profile college admissions scandal that revealed wealthy parents buying their children’s way intomore

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COVID-19 Dominates Rough Year for Universities

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Higher education did not escape the reaches of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. U.S. colleges and universities struggled with decisions in the spring to send students home, and then whether to open campuses in the fall, all with an eye to trying to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Students still feel adrift, and the financial impact on the industry has been significant.  The issues:  COVID-19 begins  In December 2019, international students celebrated the end of a semester’s hard work, with many flying home for the winter holidays. A month later, they traveled back to their U.S. schools for themore

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House Passes Higher Pandemic Relief, Overrides Trump Defense Veto

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The U.S. House of Representatives has passed higher pandemic relief payments to Americans, meeting President Donald Trump’s demand for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks, and it passed an override of Trump’s veto of a multibillion-dollar bill funding the country’s defense programs.  The House interrupted its usual Christmas recess to return to work to pass the measures Monday, less than a week before a new Congress is to be sworn into office. The Democrat-led House passed the additional pandemic relief payments by a vote of 275-134. The House and Senate had previously passed $600 payments for struggling Americans as part of a compromisemore

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Biden: Trump Aides Setting ‘Roadblocks’ for Transition Team

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President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday that many of America’s security agencies had been “hollowed out” under President Donald Trump, and the lack of information being provided to his transition team by the outgoing administration was an “irresponsibility.” “We’ve encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget,” Biden said after a meeting with his foreign policy team. “Right now, we just aren’t getting all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It’s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility,” he added. Trump, a Republican, hasmore

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