Month: February 2021

Sen. Ted Cruz rips second impeachment trial, predicts Trump will be acquitted

Posted on by Stephanie Giang-Paunon
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Wednesday on "America’s Newsroom" that the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is a "mistake" and "doomed to failure."

Will impeachment witnesses be called in Trump trial? How the decision could impact the proceedings

Posted on by Tyler Olson
Between the start of the arguments on merits Tuesday and the nearly inevitable acquittal of Trump stands one giant unknown that could significantly extend the Senate impeachment trial -- whether there will be witnesses. 

Here Are the 6 Republicans Who Voted That Trump’s Impeachment Trial Is Constitutional

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Six Republican senators voted Tuesday to affirm that the impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump is constitutional.

That is one more senator than voted for essentially the same point of order that Rand Paul (R-KY) forced just two weeks ago.

There were, of course, the usual suspects who joined Democrats in declaring the trial constitutional – Republican senators Mitt Romney (UT), Ben Sasse (NE), Susan Collins (ME), and Lisa Murkowski (AK).

Trump has been living rent-free in Sasse and Romney’s heads for some time, while Murkowski and Collins are often squishes who threaten to side with Democrats.

In addition to those four, Senator Pat Toomey (PA), a former ‘Tea Party Caucus’ guy, and Bill Cassidy (LA) voted with Democrats on the trial’s constitutionality.

RELATED: Trump Lawyer’s Demand Senate Impeachment Trial Be Dismissed, Top Dem Admits ‘Not Crazy To Argue’ It’s Unconstitutional

Republicans Join Democrats in Vote At Trump Impeachment Trial

Bill Cassidy is the only Republican senator who voted that the trial is unconstitutional under Paul’s motion, but switched to vote alongside the Democrats saying it is constitutional at the start of the trial.

What changed?

“If anyone disagrees with my vote and would like an explanation, I ask them to listen to the arguments presented by the House Managers and former President Trump’s lawyers,” Cassidy told reporters.

“The House managers had much stronger constitutional arguments. The president’s team did not.”

Strength of arguments aside, you know what didn’t change, Mr. Cassidy?

The Constitution.

“When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside,” Article 1, Section 3 reads.

Both aspects are not being adhered to, as Donald Trump is now a private citizen – not president – and Chief Justice John Roberts has refused to preside over the trial.

“The Constitution says two things about impeachment — it is a tool to remove the officeholder, and it must be presided over by the chief justice of the Supreme Court,” Paul wrote in an op-ed.

RELATED: Democrats Have A Back-Up Plan That Might Still Bar Trump From Running Again If Impeachment Fails

Stupidest Week in the Senate

Perhaps the lone voice of reason coming out of Congress this week was that of Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) who described the impeachment trial as, well … ‘stupid.’

“Welcome to the stupidest week in the Senate,” he announced in a video statement.

Cramer also blasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for using impeachment “flippantly” as a political tool and described her impeachment managers as “backbenchers.”

“While Speaker Pelosi sent these backbenchers to tie up the Senate,” Cramer said, “she sent the rest of the House home instead of leaving them here to carry out the actual work of the American people.”

The post Here Are the 6 Republicans Who Voted That Trump’s Impeachment Trial Is Constitutional appeared first on The Political Insider.

Cassidy vote on Trump impeachment constitutionality sparks GOP backlash at home: ‘Profoundly disappointed’

Posted on by Ronn Blitzer
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., drew the ire of his state's Republican Party after he voted in favor of the Senate being constitutionally allowed to hear the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.

Biden’s COVID Team Warns There Might Not Be Herd Immunity Until Thanksgiving Or Even Later

Posted on by John Hanson

Some members of President Joe Biden’s COVID response team leaders are saying internally that it might be Thanksgiving, or even later, before the U.S. reaches herd immunity, which is months later than was originally predicted.

This news comes from two senior administration officials who spoke to The Daily Beast.

Herd Immunity Is The Goal

Biden told CBS News this week that it would “very difficult” to reach herd immunity – which means enough of the population is resistant to the virus for life to return to some semblance of normalcy – “much before the end of the summer.”

Biden said this based on the approximately 1.3 million vaccine doses that are being  produced and/or administered daily.

The Daily Beast reported on Tuesday, “Other top officials working on the federal government’s COVID-19 response say the are uneasy about vaccine supply long term and the impact on herd immunity, and have begun to explore ways to expand U.S. manufacturing capacity, potentially through new partnerships with outside pharmaceutical firms.”

RELATED: Texas Sheriff Claims Biden Admin Releasing Illegal Immigrants Into U.S. Without COVID Testing

Top officials are also reportedly worried about how new variants of the virus might affect achieving herd immunity:

“Together, the recent data has alarmed health officials in the Biden administration who are now raising questions about what more can be done to not only shorten the herd immunity timeline—not just to return Americans to some sort of normalcy but also to ensure the country does not experience another surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.”

It continued, “Officials have spent the last several days discussing ways to ramp up genome sequencing to track variants and how to push out the message that Americans need to more closely follow public health guidelines to reduce transmission as B117 variant cases begin to increase.”

Fauci: ‘We’re Going In The Right Direction’

The Daily Beast notes that White House pandemic leader Dr. Anthony Fauci had previously said that about 75 percent of Americans and those in the U.S. would need to receive a vaccine to reach herd immunity, but was “cautiously optimistic” this goal could be reached by the beginning of the fall.

“I still think that is possible,” Fauci said. “As I’ve said before, once we get into mass vaccination when the general public starts getting it by the end of the spring—April, May, June …and we get past any vaccine hesitancy, then we should be able to reach that 70 or 75 percent mark.”

“We’re going in the right direction.” Fauci added.

In December, however, the New York Times reported that Fauci admitted to moving the goal posts upward, to 80 or 85 percent.

Centers for Disease Control Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky addressed the potential dangers of COVID variants on Monday. 

RELATED: PBS’ Yamiche Alcindor Defends Democrat Double Standard On Impeachment – ‘Wasn’t Storming Of The Capitol’ After Maxine Waters’ Speech

‘We’re Still At Over 100,000 Cases A Day’

“The virus is going to continue to mutate no matter what we do,” Walensky said. “The types of mutations we’ll see will change as more people are immunized.”

This news comes as many states and municipalities across the U.S. are loosening their COVID restrictions. 

Walensky warned against this, particularly regarding masks. 

“We’re still at over 100,000 cases a day,” she said. “I think we have yet to control this pandemic. We still have this emerging threat of variants. And I would just simply discourage any of those activities.”

“We really need to keep all of the mitigation measures at play here if we’re really going to get control of this pandemic” she added.

The post Biden’s COVID Team Warns There Might Not Be Herd Immunity Until Thanksgiving Or Even Later appeared first on The Political Insider.

Louisiana GOP ‘profoundly disappointed’ over Cassidy’s impeachment vote

Posted on by By Ben Leonard

Louisiana's state Republican Party said Tuesday that it was “profoundly disappointed” in Sen. Bill Cassidy’s vote that the impeachment trial over former President Donald Trump is constitutional, joining several other state parties which have criticized or censured lawmakers for their votes against the former president.

“The Republican Party of Louisiana is profoundly disappointed by Senator Bill Cassidy’s vote,” the party said in a statement Tuesday. “We feel that an impeachment trial of a private citizen is not only an unconstitutional act, but also an attack on the very foundation of American democracy, which will have far reaching and unforeseen consequences for our republic.”

The party said that Trump was “innocent of the politically motivated, bogus charges” brought by a “kangaroo court” and praised Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) for voting that the trial was unconstitutional.

Cassidy (R-La.) was one of six Senate Republicans who voted with Democrats Tuesday to affirm the Senate’s authority to hold Trump’s impeachment trial for inciting an insurrection. Cassidy was lone GOP lawmaker to switch positions after previously voting that the Senate impeachment trial was not constitutional.

Cassidy defended his decision Tuesday, arguing that House impeachment managers made a better case than Trump’s defense, which he said did “a terrible job.” Trump’s attorneys, Bruce Castor and David Schoen, “didn’t talk about the issue at hand” and “had nothing,” Cassidy said.

“A sufficient amount of evidence of constitutionality exists for the Senate to proceed with the trial. This vote is not a prejudgment on the final vote to convict,” Cassidy wrote in a statement. “If anyone disagrees with my vote and would like an explanation, I ask them to listen to the arguments presented by the House Managers and former President Trump’s lawyers. The House managers had much stronger constitutional arguments. The president’s team did not.”

Trump himself was not pleased with his defense attorneys, who made weaving arguments at times.

With the Republican party in the midst of a conflict between Trump loyalists and those less eager to fully embrace the former president in the aftermath of his single term in office, several state parties have chastised lawmakers seen as insufficiently loyal to Trump.

The Wyoming Republican Party voted Saturday to censure Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) for voting to impeach Trump, and Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) faces potential censure from the Nebraska GOP's central committee for not backing Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.

Sasse responded the committee in a sharply-worded video.

"Politics isn’t about the weird worship of one dude,” Sasse said. “The party can purge Trump skeptics. But I’d like to convince you that not only is that civic cancer for the nation, it’s just terrible for our party.”

The Arizona Republican Party censured GOP Gov. Doug Ducey after he didn't back Trump's election subversion bid. The party also censured former Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, Sen. John McCain's widow, after they endorsed Joe Biden for president.

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