Ousters, upsets halfway through 2022 primary election season
More than halfway through a tumultuous primary season, voters have rendered verdicts in a number of contests, many of which featured candidates arguing they best represented a continuation of policies favored by former President Donald Trump.
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Pa. Rep. Kelly faces ethics scrutiny over stock purchase
A congressional ethics watchdog has concluded there is โsubstantial reason to believeโ that the wife of Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly used nonpublic information gained through her husbandโs position in Congress to purchase stock last year.
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House urges Pence to help oust Trump; impeachment next
The House is trying to push the vice president and Cabinet to act even more quickly to remove President Donald Trump from office. Democrats are set to pass a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke constitutional authority under the 25th Amendment to oust Trump. Trump, meanwhile, warned the lawmakers off impeachment and suggested it was the drive to oust him that was dividing the country. Trump faces a single charge โ โincitement of insurrectionโ โ in the impeachment resolution after the most serious and deadly domestic incursion at the Capitol in the nationโs history. Trump was impeached by the House in 2019 over dealings with Ukraine and acquitted in 2020 by the Senate.
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GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell finally acknowledges Joe Biden won election
First, the Republican leader heaped praise on Trump's โendlessโ accomplishments as he congratulated President-elect Joe Biden during a morning Senate speech. Then he pivoted, privately warning Republican senators away from disputing the Electoral College tally when Congress convenes in a joint session Jan. 6 to confirm the results. โI want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden,โ McConnell said as he opened the Senate. They finally said aloud what many Republicans had been signaling privately โ that Biden is the winner of the presidential election, and they are essentially abandoning Trump's election attacks. Some GOP lawmakers have vowed to carry the fight to Jan. 6 when Congress votes to accept or reject the Electoral College results.
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In a first, leading Republicans call Biden president-elect
He said Mondayโs Electoral College vote โwas significant.โTexas GOP Sen. John Cornyn said barring further legal challenges it appears Biden will be president. Others have said Trump's legal battles should continue toward resolution by inauguration day, Jan. 20. "Once the Electoral College has voted, most people are going to recognize Joe Biden as the president-elect." "Although I supported President Trump, the Electoral College vote today makes clear that Joe Biden is now President-Elect,โ said Sen. Many Republicans are unwilling to declare Biden the winner for the same reasons they avoided standing up to Trump during his presidency.
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President-elect? GOP may wait for January to say Biden won
President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, to announce his health care team. Next weekโs Dec. 14 Electoral College deadline may produce just a few more congratulatory GOP calls to Biden. Increasingly, GOP lawmakers say the Jan. 6 vote in Congress to accept the Electoral College outcome may be when the presidential winner becomes official. They're relying on Trump voters to power the Georgia runoff elections Jan. 5 that will determine control of the Senate. Until then, his group is trying to push Georgia's Trump voters to the polls, even as the president disputes Biden's win of the state.
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Biden: Trump diagnosis is 'bracing reminder' of virus stakes
Meanwhile, Trump has proceeded with large in-person rallies where attendees often go maskless, and he regularly mocks Bidenโs decision to wear a mask in public. The Biden campaign just began launching in-person canvassing, after largely focusing on virtual events because of the pandemic. The Biden campaign declined to comment on whether those plans would change in the days ahead. Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh slammed Biden for his campaignโs decision to begin in-person campaigning after expressing concern for volunteersโ safety for months. โBidenโs been hiding in his basement for months โ but now heโs coming out to do in-person rallies,โ he said.