Colorado turns to ice-fishing tents to house homeless
Gary Peters spent seven years camping outside a Denver golf course to avoid sleeping in a public shelter until last summer when he moved into a new homeless community where he's been given his own ice-fishing tent featuring electrical outlets, a cot and a zero-degree rated sleeping bag. The 75-year-old is among the benefactors of Denver’s nearly $4 million investment aimed at providing homeless people with “safe outdoor spaces” as an alternative to public shelters, which many have chosen to avoid due to safety concerns or restrictive rules — including curfews and bans on pets. The need for alternatives to shelters increased during the pandemic as more people moved outdoors due to concerns over the risk of COVID-19 transmission in such indoor facilities.
news.yahoo.comLocal Democrats warn party: Growing Republican wave is real
Democrats in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, felt the Republican wave building over the summer when frustrated parents filled school board meetings to complain about masking requirements and an academic theory on systemic racism that wasn’t even taught in local schools.
Dems Think Voting Bill Will Be the Ghost That Haunts GOP
Scott McIntyreAs their marquee bill to overhaul U.S. elections met the buzzsaw that is the U.S. Senate, Democrats were beginning to grapple with one possible silver lining of this expected failure: turning it into a political weapon.On Tuesday, all 50 Senate Democrats voted to begin debate on the For The People Act, perhaps better known by its bill number, S.1. But all 50 Senate Republicans voted to block it. And with 60 votes needed to move to the bill under current Senate rules, the bill Democ
news.yahoo.comAfter Senate review, questions persist about Jan. 6 attack
A bipartisan Senate report released last week details security failures surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and recommends how to fix them. The report, which detailed broad failures across government and law enforcement, was narrowly focused and did not examine the broader motivations of the rioters or Trump’s role as he spread lies about his election defeat. The joint investigation by two Senate committees was finished quickly to ensure that the necessary security improvements could be made, and some government agencies didn't fully cooperate.
news.yahoo.comSenators press for more on SolarWinds hack after AP report
Key lawmakers say they’re concerned they’ve been kept in the dark about what suspected Russian hackers stole from the federal government and they pressed Biden administration officials for more details about the scope of what’s known as the SolarWinds hack.
Pelosi taps DC National Guard head to lead House security
National Guard troops were delayed in getting to the building as the rioters beat up police officers and smashed through windows and doors to get in. On Thursday, seven House committees asked 10 federal agencies for documents and communications from the government as part of a wide-ranging investigation. The Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Senate Rules Committee have already held two hearings with security officials about what went wrong. The security officials described violent attacks on overwhelmed police officers and desperate pleas for backup. As the committees investigate, Capitol officials are improving the building's physical security, including reinforcing the House doors that the rioters attempted to breach.
Slower mail, fewer office hours part of Postal Service plans
United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy speaks during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on "Legislative Proposals to Put the Postal Service on Sustainable Financial Footing" on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, in Washington. United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is left. Postal Service over persistent delivery delays under DeJoy, a major GOP donor who took over the agency last summer. He announced the plans at a webinar with other postal service officials. And those concerns remain.”DeJoy, a former supply-chain CEO who took over the Postal Service last June, has been mired in controversy since taking over the agency.
DHS secretary and lawmakers visit U.S.-Mexico border amid influx of asylum seekers
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border Friday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers as an influx of migrants seek asylum, creating a backlog of unaccompanied minors in U.S. custody. Roughly 4,500 unaccompanied migrant children were being held in short-term Custom and Border Protection (CBP) facilities along the southern border as of Thursday, according to a Biden administration official. The backlog of migrant children in Border Patrol custody has steadily increased over the past week. The number of unaccompanied migrant children housed by the U.S. As of Wednesday, more than 9,500 unaccompanied children remained in shelters and emergency housing facilities overseen by the refugee agency.
cbsnews.comMichigan lawmakers slam "highly inadequate" food given to National Guardsmen still protecting the Capitol
As a result, he said, the 983 members of the state's National Guard still protecting the Capitol were often forced to purchase food with their own money. "Since January 6, there have been no National Guard members hospitalized because of illness from food. "The National Guard continues to closely monitor the quality and safety of meals provided to its personnel." Approximately one-fifth of the National Guard troops still working within the Capitol perimeter are from Michigan, CBS affiliate WUSA9 reported. All National Guard troops will leave Capitol grounds by March 12, the outlet said.
cbsnews.comCapitol defenders cite missed intelligence for deadly breach
Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund testifies before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs & Senate Rules and Administration joint hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, to examine the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Sund said he hadn’t seen an FBI field office report that warned of potential violence citing online posts about a “war." Sund said he did see an intelligence report created within his own department warning that Congress could be targeted on Jan. 6. ”Sund and Irving disagreed on when the National Guard was called and on requests for the guard beforehand. A House subcommittee will examine damage to the Capitol on Wednesday and will hear testimony from current security officials, including Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman, on Thursday.
Takeaways from Congress' first hearing on Capitol riot
Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund appears before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs & Senate Rules and Administration joint hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, to examine the January 6th attack on the Capitol. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)WASHINGTON – Security officials testifying at Congress' first hearing on the deadly siege of the Capitol cast blame and pointed fingers on Tuesday but also acknowledged they were woefully unprepared for the violence. The security officials lost their jobs, and Trump was impeached by the House on a charge of inciting the insurrection, the deadliest attack on Congress in 200 years. But then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund testified that he only learned about it the day before Tuesday's hearing. But in closing, Klobuchar restated the testimony: “There was clear agreement this was a planned insurrection.”ONE OFFICER'S PERSONAL STORYThe hearing opened with Capitol Police Capt.
Watch Live: Congress holds first hearing into security failures during Capitol attack
It was an attack on our republic itself," Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, the Rules Committee chairwoman, said to open the hearing. How to watch the Senate hearing today on the Capitol attackWhat: The Senate Rules Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hold a hearing on security failures during the January 6 attack on the CapitolThe Senate Rules Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hold a hearing on security failures during the January 6 attack on the Capitol Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2021Tuesday, February 23, 2021 Time: 10 a.m. Sund and Irving differed in their accounts of when Sund first requested National Guard reinforcements to support the police as the riot unfolded. "Certain media reports have stated that 'optics' determined my judgment about using those National Guard troops," said Irving. Lawmakers zeroed in on the byzantine process for requesting the assistance of the D.C. National Guard, which is controlled by the Pentagon, not the mayor of the District of Columbia.
cbsnews.comImpeachment over, Congress shifts focus to security failures
Two Senate committees have summoned top security officials to testify, the beginning of a comprehensive look at what went wrong. In her letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. The hearing will begin a broad examination of the security failures that led to the breach. The security breakdown on Jan. 6, as the House and Senate met for a joint session to count electoral votes, was severe. With the diminished security presence, the rioters not only breached the Capitol but entered the Senate chamber minutes after senators had fled.
Senate confirms Mayorkas as Biden's homeland security chief
Vice President Kamala Harris, right, ceremonially swears in Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, accompanied by his wife Tanya Mayorkas, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Complex in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)WASHINGTON – The Senate confirmed Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday as President Joe Biden's homeland security secretary, the first Latino to fill a post that will have a central role in the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, a sweeping Russia-linked cyber hack and domestic extremism. His nomination was stalled in the Senate by Republicans who wanted to question him further on Biden's plans for immigration policy. Mayorkas is uniquely qualified to make sure the Department of Homeland Security is working to protect people from all backgrounds, all communities and all walks of life,” Sen. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat and chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said from the Senate floor. “He has nominated a very good secretary for DHS, a secretary that understands that policies affect border security,” he said.
Michigan Sen. Peters to lead Dem efforts to expand majority
Scott Applewhite)LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who won a tough reelection race in the fall, will lead Democrats' efforts in 2022 to expand their current razor-thin Senate majority. Next year, Democrats will have chances to pick up seats in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and Wisconsin. In November, Peters withstood a stiff challenge from top Republican recruit John James, winning by 1.7 percentage points in a state that Joe Biden reclaimed after Donald Trump won it four years earlier. He said while Democrats could benefit from “disarray” within the GOP, it is up to Republicans to determine Trump's influence. Peters pointed to his own electoral victories — such as the 2014 midterm, when he won an open seat as Republicans swept other top statewide offices.
Michigan Senator Gary Peters named new DSCC Chair
Michigan Senator Gary Peters, who was just reelected to his second term in the Senate, has been named the new chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the party's Senate campaign arm. As DSCC chair, Peters will be responsible for helping recruit candidates for Senate races and leading fundraising efforts. His top task is to build upon the slim majority Democrats currently hold in the Senate. James outraised Peters in the first two quarters of 2020, and many of the Senate Democratic candidates running against Republican incumbents raised significantly more money than Peters. But while his fundraising wasn't as strong as that of other Senate Democrats, Peters' supporters point to a key attribute: he won his race.
cbsnews.comGov. Newsom challenged to address Senate's lack of diversity
Gavin Newsom speaks at a COVID-19 testing facility in Valencia, Calif. As California Gov. Gavin Newsom's shoulders as he considers his pick to serve out the rest of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' Senate term through 2022. The South saw its highest number of Black Senate candidates ever this year, but none won races outright. Labor icon Dolores Huerta and California Latinas for Reproductive Justice want Newsom to appoint a Black woman. De Leon won the endorsement of the California Democratic Party and prominent labor unions, in part because of his support for immigrant rights and aggressive policies to curb climate change.
Senate hearing elevates baseless claims of election fraud
Christopher Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, testifies before a Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee hearing to discuss election security and the 2020 election process on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Republican senators on Wednesday further perpetuated President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, two days after Democrat Joe Biden’s victory was sealed by the Electoral College. GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the committee chairman and one of Trump’s fiercest defenders, said his goal was to have a bipartisan hearing to examine the election. But he repeated Trump’s assertions without evidence and focused heavily on the claims being made by the president's team. There was no testimony from state or local election officials who conducted extensive checks to ensure the accuracy of the election before certifying the results.
Senate control hangs in balance with a few races undecided
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks with reporters during a press conference in Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. “We’re waiting — whether I’m going to be the majority leader or not,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday. There already is a Jan. 5 runoff in the state's other Senate race. Securing the Senate majority will be vital for the winner of the presidency. John Hickenlooper defeated GOP Sen. Cory Gardner, and Arizona, where former astronaut Mark Kelly beat Republican incumbent Martha McSally.
Democrat incumbent Gary Peters is projected to win Michigan Senate race
The call came hours after NBC projected that former Vice President Joe Biden would win the state's 16 electoral votes in the race for the White House against President Donald Trump . Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan is projected to win reelection, according to NBC News . The tight race between Peters, the first-term incumbent, and his Republican challenger John James, a businessman and veteran, had been the most expensive Senate contest in Michigan history. As of Oct. 14, the campaigns had raised a combined total of nearly $80 million, according to data gathered by Open Secrets, making it the fifth highest-raising Senate race in the U.S. in the 2020 cycle. "It's an honor to serve you for another six years in the U.S. Senate," Peters said in a statement Wednesday evening.
cnbc.comElection splits Congress, GOP bolstered as Democrats falter
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was on track to keep control of the Democratic House, but saw her majority shrinking and her leadership called into question. By evening, Pelosi had all but declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner, saying House Democrats “will now have the opportunity to deliver extraordinary progress” on party priorities — lowering health care costs, providing jobs through new infrastructure and others. “I know folks are anxious,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy told followers on a live Twitter video. McConnell also warned of the continued problems Republicans face in the Trump era as voters turn away from the GOP. “It’s time for a different approach,” said Democrat John Hickenlooper, a former governor who unseated Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado.
Democrats' Senate drive halted by GOP; key races undecided
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Donald Trump’s campaign helped his GOP allies, but that state election officials were still counting ballots. Key Senate races in North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia remained undecided. Democrats contested seats from New England to the Deep South and the Midwest to the Mountain West, reaching deep into GOP strongholds. North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has struggled against Democrat Cal Cunningham, despite the married challenger’s sexting scandal with a public relations strategist. GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler will face Democrat Raphael Warnock, a Black pastor at the church where the Rev.
2020 Latest: Mich. Democrat Peters wins Senate reelection
He ran by emphasizing his bipartisan work and by criticizing James’ support for President Donald Trump. States still up for grabs include Nevada (6 electoral votes), Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes) and Georgia (16 electoral votes). Nevada, which has six electoral votes, is among the states Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016 that hasn’t yet been called. Nebraska, one of two states that divides its electoral votes, has five total electoral votes up for grabs. Trump won Texas by 9 percentage points in 2016 and all but took a win here for granted.
Democrats losing paths to Senate control as GOP hangs on
Republican Senate candidate Sen. Mitch McConnell, second from right, and his wife, Elaine Chao, right, look on as aides show him the election results in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)WASHINGTON – Hopes fading for Senate control, Democrats had a disappointing election night as Republicans swatted down an onslaught of challengers and fought to retain their fragile majority. Democrats contested seats from New England to the Deep South and the Midwest to the Mountain West, reaching deep into GOP strongholds. The Democrats' gains were in Colorado and Arizona, where former astronaut Mark Kelly beat GOP incumbent Martha McSally. Republican Cynthia Lummis, the former congresswoman from Wyoming, won the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Mike Enzi.
GOP tries to save its Senate majority, with or without Trump
Republican senators are fighting to save their majority against an onslaught of challengers in states once off limits to Democrats that are now hotbeds of the backlash to President Donald Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans are fighting to save their majority, a final election push against the onslaught of challengers in states once off limits to Democrats but now hotbeds of a potential backlash to President Donald Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill. With it, a reelected Trump could confirm his nominees and ensure a backstop against legislation from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. With the chamber now split, 53-47, three or four seats will determine Senate control, depending on which party wins the White House. Swooping in to fill the gap for Republicans is the Senate Leadership Fund, tapping deep-pocketed donors.
Parties' late spending on Senate races shows GOP's jeopardy
Less than two weeks from an Election Day that will determine Senate control, each party is throwing late money at an up-for-grabs Democratic seat in Michigan. The Senate Majority PAC, a political committee aligned with the chamber's Democratic leaders, has canceled its remaining $1.2 million in spending against GOP Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado, sensing victory. He's getting outspent 3-1,” said GOP Sen. Pat Roberts, whose retirement is making the seat available. Besides Alabama, Michigan is the GOP's best chance at gaining a seat and thwarting Democrats' drive to a Senate majority. “It matters," agreed Poersch of Democrats' Senate Majority PAC, citing a shift in voters' sentiment over the final weeks of the 2016 campaign that helped Trump edge to victory.
Battleground postal delays persist with mail voting underway
Postal Service records show delivery delays have persisted across the country as millions of Americans began voting by mail, raising the possibility of ballots being rejected because they arrive too late. Postal Service records show delivery delays have persisted across the country as millions of Americans are voting by mail, raising the possibility of ballots being rejected because they arrive too late. The agency also announced it will treat election mail as first-class, which had previously been an informal policy. Other battleground areas also showed problems in early October, with delivery rates of first-class mail below the national average. Postal delays also could compound existing issues that have cropped up in recent weeks as election officials manage the unpreceded surge in mail voting with deadlines looming.
In pitch for Biden, Obama urges voters to cast Trump out
Former President Barack Obama speaks at Citizens Bank Park as he campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, in Philadelphia. The president on Wednesday was in Erie, one of a handful of Pennsylvania counties that Obama won twice before it flipped to Trump. Obama paid heed especially to disillusioned voters, including Black men and progressives wary of Biden. With his reprisal for Biden, Obama reminded voters of 2016, when Trump upset Clinton narrowly in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin to forge an Electoral College majority despite losing the popular vote nationally. Not this election.”The roundtable was a personalized version of the same message, with the nation's first Black president urging Black men not to give into apathy.
Low-key Democrat tries to hang onto Senate seat in Michigan
Peters was the only non-incumbent Democrat to win a Senate election in 2014, when he prevailed easily despite the GOP’s successes nationally and in Michigan. All largely back both Biden and Peters, but a bigger percentage remain undecided in the Senate race, according to some polls. He said he ranks as one of the most bipartisan Senate Democrats and, despite being a freshman in the minority, has written and passed more of his bills than any other senator. Before winning promotion to the Senate, Peters was a congressman, lottery commissioner and state senator and served in the Navy Reserve. Stu Sandler, a consultant for James' campaign, said support for Peters is “soft all around.
White House again criticizes FBI director for voting remarks
WASHINGTON – FBI Director Christopher Wray was the target of White House criticism for the second time in a week Friday as Chief of Staff Mark Meadows chided him over remarks made a day earlier to Congress about voter fraud. Meadows was critical in his CBS interview of the director, tying his remarks on voter fraud to a probe of the FBI's handling of Russian links to the Trump campaign. It was unusually pointed criticism of an FBI director, especially one who was appointed by Trump. But in response to a question from Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the FBI director said the agency has not seen evidence of widespread voter fraud, at least not to date. “Now, we have not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it’s by mail or otherwise,” he said.
Senate committee moves forward with Hunter Biden probe, schedules subpoena vote
"A bipartisan group of committee members recommended that we subpoena Blue Star Strategies, which makes Ranking Member Peters' decision to force a vote on the subpoena surprising," Altenberg said in a statement to CNBC. The majority's statement said that Blue Star had not "fully responded" to prior requests for information. It is unclear why anyone would want to help Blue Star Strategies continue to hide what happened here." Peters' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the majority's claim that he forced the subpoena vote. Efforts by congressional Republicans to investigate Hunter Biden appeared to lose much of their steam after Trump's acquittal.
cnbc.comKey incumbents are losing the money battle as 2020's top Senate races heat up
Graphics by CNBC's Nate RattnerAlabama, Democratic Sen. Doug Jones:Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) speaks during a news conference on healthcare April 30, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The former House member lost a Senate race only last year to Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. James, a businessman and veteran, lost to Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow by more than 6 percentage points last year. Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham edged Tillis out, taking in about $766,000 during the period. Texas, Republican Sen. John Cornyn:Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is seen after the Senate Policy luncheons in the Capitol on Tuesday, June 11, 2019.
cnbc.comSenator challenges Zuckerberg testimony as 'at best, incomplete' after report of Facebook's audio transcription
"At that hearing, I asked you specifically if Facebook uses audio obtained from mobile devices to enrich personal information about its users. During the testimony, Zuckerberg appeared to be referencing a long-standing theory that Facebook records audio to target users with ads. But Facebook had not told users that their audio could be reviewed by third parties, according to Bloomberg. Facebook confirmed the audio transcription to CNBC following the initial report on Tuesday, but said it recently discontinued the program. The Irish Data Protection Commission confirmed to CNBC that it is looking into Facebook's audio collection processes as well.
cnbc.comOpen: This is Face the Nation, November 30
Open: This is Face the Nation, November 30 The latest on the reaction to protests in Ferguson, Missouri and a look at the incoming Congress with Benjamin Crump, Dr. James Peterson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Senators-elect Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, and Gary Peters, D-Michigan, Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich, and others.
cbsnews.comNovember 30: Crump, Peterson, and Cupich
November 30: Crump, Peterson, and Cupich The latest on the reaction to protests in Ferguson, Missouri and a look at the incoming Congress with Benjamin Crump, Dr. James Peterson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Senators-elect Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, and Gary Peters, D-Michigan, Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich, and others.
cbsnews.com