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“That’s the Big Fear” – Democrats Fear ‘COVID Wildcard’ Could Ruin Pelosi’s Speaker Bid

If all the Democrats mentioned above do not make it to the floor or do not vote for Pelosi, a Republican unanimous vote can install a speaker.

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Democrat representatives fear there’s a possibility that COVID-stricken party members could be absent for the January, 3rd vote for house speaker, causing Nancy Pelosi to lose votes and ultimately lose her position.

A resolution passed by the House in May allows for absent members of the legislative body to vote remotely or vote by proxy, which would permit one present member to vote for another who is absent.

The passage of this resolution happened with the justification that the COVID pandemic created an emergency situation that could prohibit members from being present on the House floor to vote. This was the first time such a resolution was passed, and as The Heritage Foundation notes:

No crisis ever has changed that commitment. Not when the Capitol was burned to the ground during the War of 1812, not the Civil War, not the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, or even the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The unprecedented rule will go away at the start of the new year. It will not be in play for the January 3rd vote when Pelosi defends her position and there will be no chance to reinstate it as resolutions under a new congress can not be passed until there is an official speaker.

This means that House members will need to be present to have their vote counted.

House Democrats have been taking advantage of this ‘vote by proxy’ in large numbers. According to reports, 90 Dems voted by proxy on December 18th.

At the time the vote occurs, Democrats will hold only a slim majority in the chamber over Republicans with 222 members to the GOP’s 211.

File:Speaker Pelosi On The Impact Of Health Insurance Reform (4443559781).jpg
(2010) Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson holding a press conference in the Capitol. (Wikicommons)

Reps. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) have already said they do not plan on voting for the current speaker.

Also, Reps.-elect Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) have joined the Pelosi uncertainty pool this week when they refused to say if she would obtain their vote on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

With this in consideration and the wildcard potential of the COVID virus infecting members right before the vote, rendering them incapable of showing face on the house floor, Democrats are worried.

“COVID is a wild card,” Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) told The Hill. “If we have sick members who cannot come back, and we only have a four-vote majority, it throws our entire advent of the 117th Congress in peril — a smooth advent.”

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) worries that sick members could give Republicans the opportunity to vote in current minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker.

“Let’s say, just theoretically, we had six or eight people out with COVID and the Republicans have none. They probably could elect McCarthy,” Yarmuth said.

One House Democrat speaking anonymously to The Hill said this type of situtation is “a big fear.”

“We’re in a health care crisis, right? No one can get sick. That’s the X-factor here,” said the anon Democrat and apparent Pelosi ally. “We need everyone to be healthy. … That’s the big fear.”

Considering there are 5 Democrat representatives who are openly on the fence with their support for Pelosi, or have outright said she will not have their vote, the Dems will have to avoid the COVID wildcard from striking at most 7 members to defend against a unanimous GOP vote for McCarthy.

It is also unclear if Democrat Rep. Gwen Moore will make the vote since having tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. If Moore is to take the CDC’s recommendation and stay away from people for 14 days, she will miss the vote.

According to the Huffington Post‘s tally on congress members who have tested positive for COVID, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) has also been infected. Larsen’s positive came on December 23rd, meaning the congressman would have to break the CDC’s 14 day rule to make the vote on the House floor on Jan. 3rd.

If all the Democrats mentioned above do not make it to the floor or do not vote for Pelosi, a Republican unanimous vote can install a speaker.

48 members of congress in total have tested positive for the virus since March.

A March Gallup poll showed that Pelosi is unfavorable with 55% of Americans, a rate that is at its highest since her time as speaker in 2011.

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Politics

Biden Wants To Give Separated Illegal Immigrants $450,000 Per Person

The average amount sought through the courts is roughly $3.4 million per family, according to the report.

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Image Credit: Phil Murphy/Flickr

The Biden administration is mulling a plan to offer immigrant families separated during the Trump administration $450,000 per person in compensation, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.

The payments – part of an inter-agency solution to several lawsuits filed on behalf of separated parents and children claiming lasting psychological trauma could amount to nearly $1 million per family, though ‘the final numbers could shift,’ according to the report.

According to sources, most of the families crossing into the US from Mexico included one parent and one child. Depending on circumstances, many families could get smaller payouts.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents families in one of the lawsuits, has identified about 5,500 children separated at the border over the course of the Trump administration, citing figures provided to it by the government. The number of families eligible under the potential settlement is expected to be smaller, the people said, as government officials aren’t sure how many will come forward. Around 940 claims have so far been filed by the families, the people said. -WSJ

In total, the potential payout could reach $1 billion or more.

Throughout the Trump administration, thousands of children were separated from their parents (and coyotes paid to bring them into the country) after they had crossed illegally into the country from Mexico. The lawsuits allege some of the children suffered various ailments – including malnutrition, heat exhaustion, and were kept in freezing cold rooms with little medical attention. Some claim lasting mental health problems due to the trauma of being without their parents for several months.

The average amount sought through the courts is roughly $3.4 million per family, according to the report.

“President Biden has agreed that the family separation policy is a historic moral stain on our nation that must be fully remedied,” said ACLU deputy director, Lee Gelernt. “That remedy must include not only meaningful monetary compensation, but a pathway to remain in the country.”

Senate Republicans slammed the plan on Thursday afternoon following the WSJ‘s report.

“The Biden administration’s promises of citizenship and entitlement programs have already caused the worst border crisis in history—a huge cash reward will make it even worse,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).

The discussions about the payouts have taken place over the past few months among a group of dozens of private lawyers representing the families and government lawyers. Some government lawyers have viewed the payouts as excessive for people who had violated the law by crossing the border, the people said. One government lawyer threatened to remove his name from the case out of disagreement with the potential settlement offer, the people said. -WSJ

“It is a complicated, complex piece of litigation” – trying to resolve hundreds of separate lawsuits at the same time, and “sometimes even more complex to try the cases” said Margo Schlanger, who ran the civil-rights office during the Obama administration at the Department of Homeland Security and now teaches at the University of Michigan law school.

What will the reparations crowd think of this?

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Politics

White House To America: ‘We’re Coming Door To Door…With Shots!’

Will CDC soon recommend a nation-wide re-count of Covid deaths?

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White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said at the daily press conference yesterday that President Biden’s strategy to get everyone a Covid shot – whether they want it or not – is to start going “door-to-door” to those not yet jabbed. So…they have a list? Also today: bomb-maker Raytheon goes “woke.” Capitol Hill Cops set up shop in California. Will CDC soon recommend a nation-wide re-count of Covid deaths?

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Half A Million Illegals Crossed Since Harris Named Border ‘Czar’

By the time June’s figures are reported in the coming days, the combined number is expected to be over half a million, more than the entire population of Miami, Florida or Cleveland, Ohio.

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According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures, around 500,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the southern border since Kamala Harris was named border ‘czar’.

The Washington Free Beacon reported the findings, noting that only three months has passed since Harris took on the responsibility, and that the half a million figure is just those that have been apprehended.

The CBP says around 180,000 immigrants are being caught per month. In April agents arrested 178,854 illegal immigrants, the highest monthly figure for 21 years. That figure was then surpassed in May as agents apprehended 180,034 illegals.

By the time June’s figures are reported in the coming days, the combined number is expected to be over half a million, more than the entire population of Miami, Florida or Cleveland, Ohio.

Harris only bothered to visit the border when President Trump announced he was making a trip. Even then Harris visited El Paso, some 1000 miles away from where the crisis is taking place.

Previous to this, Harris lied and claimed she had been to the border, telling NBC’s Lester Holt “This whole thing about the border. We’ve been to the border. We’ve been to the border.”

When Holt pushed back and said she had not, Harris snapped “I—and I haven’t been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t—I don’t understand the point that you’re making,” then again laughed maniacally:

On Tuesday, Republican Senator Ron Johnson argued that Harris’ trip to El Paso was designed to distract the media and keep them away from the real crisis hit areas of the border.

“They took her to a point in the border where she wouldn’t see the crisis and so the press wouldn’t report on the crisis,” Johnson said.

The Senator added, “You just simply can’t understand what this administration is doing. We literally are apprehending now about 6,000 people per day. That’s I mean, that’s a large caravan every day being processed, some of them being returned, others are being dispersed. But this crisis is not going away. It’s just under everybody’s radar because the press isn’t covering it.”

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