February 2021 - Newshacker

Senate Official Rules Against $15 Minimum Wage In Stimulus

Democrats, especially progressive Democrats, suffered a major setback on Thursday in their bid to include a provision that would gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package, after the Senate parliamentarian, who acts as the rule enforcer, said that it could not be included in the bill, since the bill is to be passed via the budget reconciliation measure.

Supreme Court Denies Trump’s Final Bid to Shield Tax Records

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way to allow the Manhattan district attorney to obtain eight years of federal income tax and financial records of former President Donald Trump after it denied Trump’s last-ditch Supreme Court petition to get the court to hear his case. The decision marks the end of a long-running battle of prosecutors’ access to the documents.

Neera Tanden Faces Hard Path to Confirmation as OMB Director

Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, is facing scrutiny from members of Congress. As Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced on Friday that he would vote against her confirmation, it significantly reduces the likelihood of her confirmation given Republican resistance to her confirmation.

Nevada Looks to Succeed New Hampshire to Hold 1st Presidential Primaries

Iowa and New Hampshire have always been the first two states to hold presidential primaries every election cycle. The Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary have become synonymous with the first primaries and have always been seen as particularly important to prospective candidates. However, Iowa and New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation status when it comes to holding primaries is facing another threat: Nevada.

Ted Cruz Vacations in Mexico As Texans Suffer

Much of Texas has been weathering from days of harsh winter weather, snow, ice, and freezing rain since a major winter storm hit the region beginning on Feb. 15, battering the state’s power grid and leaving millions without power or water. Meanwhile, as Texas recovers from the winter storms, Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, was spotted on a plane heading to Cancún, Mexico, on Thursday.

SCOTUS: Right to an Attorney (Gideon v. Wainwright)

The right to an attorney when charged with a crime is laid out in the Sixth Amendment, and is widely known today that those unable to afford an attorney must receive one provided by the state to represent themselves in court. However, this was not always the case. Such precedent was only established in the landmark Supreme Court decision of Gideon v. Wainwright in 1963.

What Would Happen if the GOP Broke Into Two?

We have increasingly begun to see that the Republican Party is seeing two distinct factions forming within it: the more moderate, traditional type conservative faction and the pro-Trump, far-right faction. Especially after the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the two sides haven’t been getting along quite well lately, with people on both sides mulling over starting their own party.

Trump Acquitted for 2nd Time in Impeachment Trial

Former President Donald Trump was acquitted for a second time in his Senate impeachment trial on Saturday, drawing one of the fastest-ever impeachments to an end in the Democratic Senate. He had been impeached by the Democratic House of Representatives after his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection for high crimes and misdemeanors, more specifically, for “incitement of insurrection.”

Trump Displeased With His Impeachment Defense

The impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump began on Tuesday afternoon in the Senate, just over a year after he was last acquitted of high crimes and misdemeanors in his first trial. Trump has been accused of inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Though there had been debate over whether or not the trial of a former official left office was constitutional, the Senate voted to continue with the trial in the end.

Trump Impeachment Trial Begins Tuesday

In an unprecedented move, the House impeached now-former President Donald Trump in the middle of January over his alleged role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The impeachment now moves on into its last stage: a trial in the Senate. After this trial, scheduled to begin on Tuesday, the Senate will vote as to whether or not Trump is guilty over the articles of impeachment filed by the House.

SCOTUS: Protecting Press Freedom (New York Times v. US)

One of the most significant Supreme Court decisions was the case of New York Times Co. v. United States (1971), now also known as the Pentagon Papers Case. This case, which concerned whether it was legal for The New York Times to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers, saw the Supreme Court defend the First Amendment-guaranteed right of a free press against prior restraint by the government.

House Removes Greene From Committee Assignments

After House Republicans voted against removing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., of her committee assignments on Wednesday, the Democratic-controlled House held a floor vote on Thursday which removed her from her committee assignments on the House Budget Committee and House Committee on Education and Labor.

Divided GOP Refuses to Punish Greene But Lets Cheney Stay

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the House Minority Leader, refused on Wednesday to take action against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for spreading false and dangerous conspiracy theories and threatening violence against Democrats by removing all her committee assignments. However, in a House Republican Conference call, House Republicans voted not to remove Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., from Republican leadership even though she voted to impeach Trump last month.

Dems Pave Way to Use Reconciliation to Pass COVID-19 Relief

Senate Democrats took a major step Tuesday in advancing toward passing a major $1.9 trillion COVID-19 economic relief and stimulus package by voting to kickstart the process to pass the package via budget reconciliation. This is a congressional maneuver which could avoid a Republican filibuster in the Senate stopping the package from passing, since reconciliation requires only a simple majority to pass in the Senate.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Faces Backlash for Conspiratorial Comments

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a newly-elected Republican representative from Georgia’s 14th Congressional District in the northwestern part of the state, is under huge scrutiny from the Democratic Congress and even Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for her embracement of QAnon conspiracy theories, some of which include 9/11 conspiracy theories, school shootings as Democratic conspiracies to enact gun control, and more.

SCOTUS: How Same-Sex Marriage Became Legal (Obergefell v. Hodges)

Same-sex marriage was legalized throughout the entire United States just five years ago, in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges (2015). Prior to this ruling, it was only legal in 36 states plus Washington, D.C., and Guam. With this landmark civil rights case, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment.