Category: US Senate

L. Brent Bozell IV, descendant of prominent conservative family, charged in Capitol breach

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The son of a prominent conservative activist who denounced the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol but has claimed that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election has been charged with participating in the riot.

Leo Brent Bozell IV, the son of L. Brent Bozell III, was charged with trespassing and obstruction of an official proceeding in the assault that left five dead, injured more than 100 police officers and delayed the electoral-vote confirmation of President Biden’s victory.

Charging papers made public Tuesday allege that the younger Bozell, 41, appeared on video on the Senate chamber floor during the event wearing a Hershey Christian Academy hooded sweatshirt. Online tipsters identified him as “Zeek” or “Zeeker Bozell” and traced his work as a girls’ basketball coach in Hershey, Pa., the FBI said. Continue reading.

Poll: Americans Dismiss GOP Obsessions With ‘Cancel Culture’ And ‘Debt Crisis’

The policy concerns most on the minds of the American people are the economy and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to polling conducted by the Pew Research Center January 8-12. Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans are focusing on issues like fighting “cancel culture” and repealing mask mandates.

Rather than address the issues that most people care about, a review of statements and legislation filed since the start of the current Congress reveals, GOP lawmakers are focused on issues that simply are not high priorities for the public.

Obsessing About “Cancel Culture”

Lawmakers like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has made “cancel culture” — a negative spin on the idea of holding people who say and do offensive or illegal things to account for their actions — a major target. “Anyone who disagrees, they try to cancel,” he said of Democrats in a January 24 tweet. Last week, he repeatedly complained that Disney fired actor Gina Carano following her social media posts suggesting Republicans face as much discrimination today as Jews did during the Holocaust. Continue reading.

McConnell shows that legacies don’t matter when facts no longer do

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It’s easier to rewrite history than reckon with it.

So that’s what more than a few Republicans have decided to do. They have been loose with facts and impenetrable to truth. And they have been unconcerned with their legacy. Reverence for one’s legacy was supposed to be the safety valve, the narcissistic self-defense mechanism that also has the effect of offering salvation to others. The guardrails are gone.

The country has been at war with the truth for some time. So in many ways, it’s not surprising that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has begun to peddle the false notion that the would-be insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 wasn’t actually an “armed” attempt to stop the certification of the presidential election. He apparently requires a full arsenal of confiscated artillery — rather than an assortment of bats, metal poles, bear spray and various projectiles — before being willing to acquiesce to the accuracy of the term. And it was inevitable that some supporters of the former president would argue without evidence that antifa — a loosely knit group of far-left activists — was behind the Capitol riot, rather than his followers. Continue reading.

Where things stand on COVID-19 relief measure

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Democrats are aiming to move quickly on a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and give President Biden a legislative accomplishment early in his tenure.

A multitude of House committees advanced portions of the bill last week, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told colleagues on Tuesday that the plan is for the bill to be considered on the House floor next week.

The bigger challenge lies ahead when the work shifts over to the Senate. The legislation will need every Senate Democrat to vote for it to pass if no Republicans back it. Continue reading.

The overwhelming lesson of the Trump era: Republicans often rebuke Trump — when they have latitude

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The Senate played host to a historic vote on Saturday, with seven members of former president Donald Trump’s party voting to convict him in his second impeachment trial.

One thing that won’t surprise anyone who has paid attention to Trump’s tenure: A disproportionate number of the votes came from retiring Republicans.

Two of the seven who voted to convict Trump — Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.) and Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.) — had already said they won’t seek reelection. That means two of the four Republicans who have said they will retire voted against Trump. Another of the four, Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), issued one of the strongest denunciations of Trump among those who cited the alleged unconstitutionality of the proceedings in voting to acquit. He said Trump’s conduct vis-a-vis the Jan. 6 Capitol riot “was inexcusable, because in his speech he encouraged the mob, and that he bears some responsibility for the tragic violence that occurred.” Continue reading.

McConnell shows that legacies don’t matter when facts no longer do

Washington Post logo

It’s easier to rewrite history than reckon with it.

So that’s what more than a few Republicans have decided to do. They have been loose with facts and impenetrable to truth. And they have been unconcerned with their legacy. Reverence for one’s legacy was supposed to be the safety valve, the narcissistic self-defense mechanism that also has the effect of offering salvation to others. The guardrails are gone.

The country has been at war with the truth for some time. So in many ways, it’s not surprising that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has begun to peddle the false notion that the would-be insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 wasn’t actually an “armed” attempt to stop the certification of the presidential election. He apparently requires a full arsenal of confiscated artillery — rather than an assortment of bats, metal poles, bear spray and various projectiles — before being willing to acquiesce to the accuracy of the term. And it was inevitable that some supporters of the former president would argue without evidence that antifa — a loosely knit group of far-left activists — was behind the Capitol riot, rather than his followers. Continue reading.

Trump unloads on McConnell, promises MAGA primary challengers

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Former President Trump on Tuesday unloaded on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and vowed to back challengers to lawmakers who have crossed him.

In a statement released through his Save America super PAC, Trump blamed McConnell for the GOP’s 2020 Senate losses and called for Republicans to elect new leaders to carry on his legacy.

“Mitch is a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack, and if Republican Senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again,” Trump said. Continue reading.

Biden indicates he’s open to negotiation on $15 minimum wage

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Comments come as attention turns to passing $1.9 trillion relief bill on Capitol Hill

President Biden indicated Tuesday that he’s open to negotiation on his proposal for a $15 minimum wage, a centerpiece of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that’s emerged as a flash point as congressional Democrats push the legislation forward.

Biden suggested he could be open to a longer phase-in than the current plan of five years in Democrats’ legislation. He also argued that phasing gradually up to $15 could be beneficial while having less potential impact on business owners.

He made the comments in response to a small-business owner at a town hall hosted by CNN in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. Continue reading.

McConnell would have happily considered finding Trump guilty, were it not for Mitch McConnell

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You could feel it coming, the unseeable tsunami on its way as you watched the water receding from the bay.

“There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking” the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Saturday, shortly after the majority of his Republican caucus voted against convicting the former president in his second impeachment trial. “No question about it. The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president. And having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.”

Boats were left stranded as the sea withdrew. McConnell himself had voted against convicting Trump, so all of his rhetoric about the former president’s culpability was clearly leading to that most political of words: But. Continue reading.

Sen. Ron Johnson plays down Capitol riots: ‘This didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me’

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As a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol last month, rioters battered police with a multitude of weapons: metal flagpoles, baseball bats, wrenches and clubs. Many soaked police in caustic bear spray. One officer died in the Jan. 6 melee along with four civilians.

But Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on Monday argued that it’s wrong to describe the group as “armed” and accused Democrats of “selectively” editing videos to exaggerate the threat posed by a mob that came within feet of Vice President Mike Pence and other elected officials.

“This didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me,” Johnson said on WISN. “When you hear the word ‘armed,’ don’t you think of firearms? Here’s the questions I would have liked to ask: How many firearms were confiscated? How many shots were fired?” Continue reading.