After several days of post-election vote tabulation, Joe Biden is President-elect of the United States of America. Kamala Harris becomes the first woman to be Vice President-elect.
Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes went to Joe Biden according to CNN, NBC, Fox, and AP, giving him 273 electoral votes even without the uncalled states Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.
Amy Coney Barrett has been confirmed as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States by a 52-48 partisan vote. Barrett is now the third justice appointed by President Trump to join the Court.
Updates here.
Keep up with what’s happening in DC. Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team read this week.
SCOTUS Confirmation: The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court, with Democrats absent in protest. Democrats later forced a closed-door session in a failed attempt to stall bringing her nomination to the floor. The full Senate vote is scheduled for Monday. Full story.
Presidential Debate: In the final presidential debate on Thursday, candidates Biden and Trump squared off. Recap here.
Sudan-Israel Policy Win: The White House announced, alongside Israel and Sudan, that Sudan and Israel will normalize relations, following a similar move by the UAE and Bahrain. The announcement came after Sudan agreed to pay over $300 million to compensate victims of terrorism, and the US agreed to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Story here.
Facebook and Twitter Subpoenaed: The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve subpoenas for the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter. The majority is seeking a hearing, before election day, to review how the two companies restricted a NY Post story about Hunter Biden. The story was being checked for misinformation, according to the platforms, and contained “hacked material”. More here.
Judge Rules in Air Force Lawsuit: Judge Michael Fitzgerald of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that a sexual assault lawsuit against Air Force Gen. John Hyten can proceed. Gen. Hyten, now serving as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is accused of assaulting a now-retired colleague in a hotel room. Full story.
The Senate today voted on a GOP-introduced $500 billion stimulus package, however the bill failed on a 51-44 vote.
Negotiations continue between House Democrats and the Administration. The two sides are potentially very close to reaching a deal on an almost $2 trillion package. Senate Majority leadership reportedly does not support such a large price tag. An agreement would need to be reached between the House, Senate, and Administration in the next few days in order to pass both chambers and be signed into law before the November 3rd elections.
Updates here.
Keep up with what’s happening in DC. Below is a selection of articles the Federal Relations team read this week.
SCOTUS Hearings: Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett was questioned for 3 days in what many label as a relatively tame hearing. The vote on her nomination is scheduled for October 22, just 12 days before the election. Live updates.
Trump Recovery: The President’s medical team has stated that the President is negative for COVID-19 as he continues to participate in large events. Messaging from the White House has now turned to reopening. Full story.
Harris Limits Travel: VP nominee Senator Kamala Harris is limiting her travel after two staffers test positive for COVID-19. More.
Biden Article Blocked: Both Facebook and Twitter have taken controversial steps to limit distribution of an article claiming to reveal details of the Biden family’s relationship with Ukraine. The facts of the article are unverified. Twitter initially claimed the information was from hacked sources, however later backtracked and changed their policy. They now claim because the article contains personal contact information, it cannot be distributed. More.
Stimulus Strategy: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will again bring to the floor a $500 billion “targeted” COVID relief bill which includes supplement to the Paycheck Protection Program. Both the Administration and House Democrats oppose such a small bill, however Speaker Pelosi is facing internal pressure to accept a compromise. Read more.
Town Halls: On Thursday evening, President Trump and candidate Joe Biden held competing town halls. Recap here.
California Ballot Boxes: The California GOP has stated it will not comply with a cease-and-desist order from the State after setting up ballot collection boxes marked “official”. The GOP claims the boxes are legal, however the State contests that they are not. Full story.
Census Ends: The US Census will end counting on Thursday, after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Administration. Link here.
Detention Center Lawsuit: Former detainees are filing a class action lawsuit after alleging they were punished with solitary confinement for not cleaning the facility without pay. The lawsuit against CEO Group, Inc., a private ICE detention center operator, claims the punishment contradicts US Government standards and that company executives lied to Congress. Full story.