House Republicans meet with Trump to discuss overturning election results

Trump loyalists are planning a last stand Jan. 6.

President Donald Trump huddled with a group of congressional Republicans at the White House on Monday, where they strategized over a last-ditch effort to overturn the election results next month, according to several members who attended the meeting.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) — who is spearheading the long-shot push to overturn the election results in Congress — organized the trio of White House meetings, which lasted over three hours and included roughly a dozen lawmakers. The group also met with Vice President Mike Pence, who will be presiding over the joint session of Congress when lawmakers officially certify the Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, as well as members of Trump’s legal team.

“It was a back-and-forth concerning the planning and strategy for January the 6th,” Brooks said in a phone interview. Continue reading.

Rep. Laurie Pryor (HD48A) Update: December 23, 2020

Neighbors,

Earlier this week, Congress approved a $900 billion COVID-19 assistance package. Businesses and families need this boost from the federal government to manage the economic fallout from the virus.

At the time this update is being sent, there is still uncertainty about the final version of the aid billThis is exactly why the legislature passed – and governor signed – a COVID-19 Economic Assistance Package to help businesses and workers survive this economic crisis.

New laws take effect

Two significant new laws will take effect on January 1. One law will modify how sexual assault kits are tested and stored. It aims to ensure the kits are stored properly and extends the time that untested kits are retained, giving survivors more time to change their mind about having the evidence analyzed. The other will improve continuity of care via shortened timelines for prior authorization and access to information about health care plans. You can read more about these laws here.  

Continue reading “Rep. Laurie Pryor (HD48A) Update: December 23, 2020”

Congress passes massive coronavirus relief and government spending package

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The House and Senate passed a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill and a $1.4 trillion government funding measure Monday night after months of gridlock on Capitol Hill.

Why it matters: The bill’s passage comes before many of the existing coronavirus relief measures were set to expire on January 1. It also staves off a government shutdown.

The big picture: While the plan is roughly half the size of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act Congress passed in March, it is still one of the most expensive rescue packages in modern history. Continue reading.

Trump trashes McConnell to fellow Republicans

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President Trump lashed out at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday night for acknowledging Joe Biden won the election, sending a slide to Republican lawmakers taking credit for saving McConnell’s career with a tweet and robocall.

Why it matters: It’s an extraordinary broadside against McConnell by the sitting president and most popular Republican in the party, ahead of a crucial runoff election in Georgia on Jan. 5 that will determine control of the Senate.

  • “Sadly, Mitch forgot,” reads the top of the slide sent to Republican senators by Trump’s personal assistant, written in red for emphasis. “He was the first one off the ship.”

Between the lines: While both the message and its delivery targeted McConnell, they also carried a subtle warning to other Republicans who may follow suit as the president grasps at the last straws of his election-fraud claim. Continue reading.

Millions of Christmas presents may arrive late because of Postal Service delays

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Unprecedented package volume has paralyzed the agency, leading managers to divert vast shipments of mail across the country

Competing crises are slamming the U.S. Postal Service just days before Christmas, imperiling the delivery of millions of packages, as the agency contends with spiking coronavirus cases in its workforce, unprecedented volumes of e-commerce orders and the continuing fallout from a hobbled cost-cutting program launched by the postmaster general.

Nearly 19,000 of the agency’s 644,000 workers have called in sick or are isolating because of the virus, according to the American Postal Workers Union. Meanwhile, packages have stacked up inside some postal facilities, leading employees to push them aside to create narrow walkways on shop floors.

Some processing plants are now refusing to accept new mail shipments. The backlogs are so pronounced that some managers have reached out to colleagues in hopes of diverting mail shipments to nearby facilities. But often, those places are full, too. Meanwhile, packages sit on trucks for days waiting for floor space to open so the loads can be sorted. Continue reading.

Daughter of late state Sen. Jerry Relph who died of COVID-19 calls on Senate GOP leader to apologize for his role in father’s death

The daughter of the late state Sen. Jerry Relph, R-St. Cloud, is calling on the Minnesota Senate majority leader to apologize for holding an in-person election victory party last month, which is how her father likely contracted COVID-19 weeks before he died, she said. 

“It was a frivolous and vain action,” said Dana Relph, referring to the Nov. 5 dinner party at a Lake Elmo event center hosted by Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake. “I’m sorry, but celebrating holding onto the Senate in the middle of the pandemic? They were spending money on something like that and then putting people in danger.”

Relph, 42, spoke with the Reformer a day after her father succumbed to complications from the disease, the first Minnesota lawmaker to do so. COVID-19 is particularly deadly to the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. Jerry Relph was 76.  Continue reading.

‘A real mess’: Trump is leaving behind crises and undermining Biden before he takes office

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When President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office on Jan. 20, the list of crises he will face includes a massive cyber intrusion, a still-raging global pandemic, a slowing economic recovery and a lingering reckoning over the nation’s racial tensions.

President Trump is not making his job any easier and, in several ways, appears to be actively making it harder — going to extraordinary lengths to disrupt and undermine the traditional transition from one administration to another despite the nation’s many crises.

Trump has sought to play down or even deny the still-expanding cybersecurity breach that many experts blame on Russia, even as its impact has spread to a growing number of federal agencies. The delayed and turbulent transition process could complicate the Biden administration’s ability to address the challenge and shore up the nation’s cyber defenses. Continue reading.

Rep. Zack Stephenson (HD36A) Update: December 21, 2020

Dear Neighbors,

As 2020 draws to a close, news of a recent deal on a $900 billion COVID-19 assistance package at the federal level is encouraging. This is good first step toward more economic recovery for our families and businesses, but we know more robust response and recovery measures will be needed until a vaccine is widely available for all who want one.  

I am ready to continue working with my Republican and Democrat colleagues in the State House and Senate to find more local recovery strategies for Champlin and Coon Rapids families and businesses when we convene for session on January 5.


Mississippi River Crossing Study

We’re getting closer to developing a plan for the Northwest Metro Mississippi River Crossing!

Continue reading “Rep. Zack Stephenson (HD36A) Update: December 21, 2020”

Mnuchin says new stimulus payments could go out next week as Congress readies relief bill vote

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House and Senate are rushing to approve the package on Monday

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said millions of Americans could begin seeing stimulus payments as soon as next week as the White House and Congress work to rush a $900 billion spending package into law.

The House and Senate are planning to vote on the measure later in the day, though legislative text for the package was still in development on Monday morning. Final passage in the Senate could be delayed into Monday evening. Lawmakers reached a deal on the bill Sunday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday that lawmakers are “going to stay here until we finish tonight.”

Lawmakers are hoping to package the stimulus measure with other bills into a giant piece of legislation. It would include money to fund the government through September 2021 as well as the extension of various tax cuts, among other things. And lawmakers will only have a short period of time to review parts of the bill before voting on what could end up as one of the largest bills ever to pass Congress.

Barr: No need for special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, election fraud

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Attorney General William Barr on Monday said he saw no reason to tap a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden’s finances or claims of election fraud.

Barr, speaking at a Justice Department press conference about new charges in the Lockerbie bombing case, did not comment extensively on the Hunter Biden investigation but said it was being handled “appropriately.”

“I think to the extent that there’s an investigation I think that it’s being handled responsibly and professionally currently within the department,” Barr, who is leaving office this week, told reporters. “To this point, I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave.” Continue reading.