News Daypop Archives

Nancy Pelosi is re-elected House Speaker in narrow vote

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The 117th Congress convened on Sunday to swear in new lawmakers and re-elect Nancy Pelosi as House speaker. Democrats are set to enter the session with the narrowest majority in the House for either party in 20 years with a 222-211 lead over Republicans and two new Democrats and four Republicans were sworn into the Senate while a pair of runoff elections to determine the balance of the chamber will be held Tuesday.... [Read Full Story]

Department of Justice declines to charge officers in 2014 Tamir Rice shooting

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The U.S. Justice Department have declined to charge the Cleveland officers involved in the fatal 2014 shooting of Tamir Rice, and have closed its investigation.  An independent federal investigation into the Nov. 22, 2014, shooting of the 12-year-old Black boy seen playing with a toy gun at a park “found insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges against Cleveland Division of Police officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback,” accordimg to a statement from the DOJ. The statement added that Rice’s family attorneys were notified of the decision and were also sent a letter “explaining the findings of the investigation and reasons for the decision.”... [Read Full Story]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocks immediate vote on $2,000 stimulus checks

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After Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell blocked an effort by President Donald Trump and Democrats to increase stimulus payments to Americans, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said $600 payments would begin to be delivered Tuesday night. Mnuchin announced that the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service would begin delivering the $600 payments included in the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill signed into law by President Donald Trump over the weekend as early as Tuesday night through direct deposit, with paper checks being mailed out Wednesday.... [Read Full Story]

Federal judge denies Ghislaine Maxwell’s latest request for bail

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On Monday, a federal judge denied bail to Ghislaine Maxwell for a second time. Maxwell is the British socialite facing charges of acting as an accomplice of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Judge Alison Nathan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York again ruled that Maxwell, 59, poses a flight risk, citing the severity of the charges she faces. In July, Nathan first denied her bail, siding with prosecutors who said that her wealth and dozens of overseas bank accounts make her an “extreme” flight risk.... [Read Full Story]

President Trump Signs Coronavirus Relief and Government Funding Bill

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With unemployment benefits expiring and a pending government shutdown, President Trump signed the $900 billion coronavirus relief package, the White House announced Sunday night. The pandemic bill extends billions of dollars in coronavirus relief to millions of Americans. “Good news on Covid Relief Bill,” the president tweeted late Sunday before the signing of the bill was announced. “More information to follow!”... [Read Full Story]

House Democrats side with President Trump’s demands of $2,000 stimulus checks

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House Democrats aligned themselves with President Donald Trump and plan to vote Monday on legislation increasing the direct payments in the coronavirus stimulus bill to $2,000 per person, if Republicans block their efforts to pass it Thursday. The checks would be more than three times the $600 approved by Congress in the stimulus package approved earlier this week.... [Read Full Story]

President Trump issues 26 more pardons and commutations including Paul Manafort and Roger Stone

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On Wednesday, President Donald Trump granted 26 new pardons and commutations. Trump granted full pardons to his former campaign adviser Roger Stone and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort who were both convicted of multiple crimes related to Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion by Trump’s campaign. Trump has pardoned five people connected with Mueller’s investigation including his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, and Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan... [Read Full Story]

State of Virginia takes back Robert E. Lee statue from U.S. Capitol

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The state of Virginia has taken back the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that it contributed to the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol over 100 years ago. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced in a statement Monday that workers removed the statue of the Confederate commander of the Army of Northern Virginia overnight. The statue of Lee had stood in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol, as one of two statues each state is entitled to display since 1909. Lee’s statue stood with Virginia’s other contribution to the collection, a statute of America’s first president George Washington. ... [Read Full Story]

CDC advisory says frontline essential workers and older adults should receive COVID-19 vaccine next

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On Sunday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel recommended that frontline essential workers and persons 75 years and older should be next in line to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 13 to 1 to recommend 30 million frontline essential workers, which include first responders, teachers, food and agriculture, manufacturing, U.S. Postal Service, public transit, and grocery store workers, be the next priority for the vaccines. However, it wasn’t immediately clear when the next round of vaccinations would begin.... [Read Full Story]

Congress Reaches Deal on $900B Coronavirus Relief Package

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The U.S. Senate reached a deal on a $900 billion coronavirus relief package on Sunday. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced Sunday evening that lawmakers had come to an agreement on a COVID-19 aid package and a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill but did not provide details. A vote could be delayed until Monday because several senators would need to return to town,... [Read Full Story]

Texas and nine other states file lawsuit accusing Google of working with Facebook to break antitrust law

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On Wednesday, Texas and nine other states sued Google with accusations it of working with Facebook Inc in violation of antitrust law to boost its online advertising business. The states asked that Google compensate them for damages and sought “structural relief.” The nine states that joined Texas are Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah and Idaho... [Read Full Story]

President-elect Biden, Vice President Pence to receive COVID-19 vaccination

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Vice President Mike Pence will publicly receive a Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, and President-elect Joe Biden is expected to get a shot as soon as next week. Pence, who is the head of the White House coronavirus task force, is hoping to “promote the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and build confidence among the American people,” the White House said in a statement on Wednesday. His wife, Karen Pence, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams will receive the vaccine at Friday’s event, set to take place at the White House.... [Read Full Story]