ВИБОРЧА ГАЗЕТА

Biden Seeks to Ease High Prices of Gas, Goods

As Americans face high prices in stores and at the gas pump, President Joe Biden says he is taking key steps to lower gas prices by opening up strategic reserves and to ease the burden on consumers in other ways. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
…

Bidens Serve Up Meal Kits Before Thanksgiving Holiday

President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, served up turkey and sweet potatoes on Tuesday at the D.C. Central Kitchen, an organization that makes fresh food for schools and homeless shelters in Washington, ahead of this week’s U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. 

The Bidens were joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, who dished out green beans and gravy, respectively. The two couples, who were also joined by chef Jose Andres, were putting together Thanksgiving meal kits along with staff from the facility. 

Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday with a traditional meal that often includes turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and other fixings. 

Asked what he was thankful for, Biden told reporters: “the people standing right next to me.” 

After their community service event, the Bidens headed to Joint Base Andrews for a flight to Nantucket, Massachusetts, where they are scheduled to vacation for the remainder of the week. 

 
…

How a ‘Senate Hold’ Gives US Lawmakers Sway Over White House Nominees

When U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican, put a hold on President Joe Biden’s nominees to serve as ambassadors to China and Spain earlier this month, he was making a move commonly used by American senators since the 1950s.

Rubio last week objected to R. Nicholas Burns and Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, U.S. ambassador nominees to China and to Spain, on the grounds they each had conflicting interests in the countries in which had been selected to serve as representatives of the United States.

But what happens next with their nominations is anything but straightforward since the written rules – and unwritten expectations – for this informal procedure have changed over the years?

What is a Senate hold and how does it work?

The U.S. Senate is governed by parliamentary procedure. Before senators can vote on a presidential nominee or a piece of legislation, a motion must be made to bring that nominee or bill up for a vote on the Senate floor. Because the chamber deals with so much business, some decisions are effectively fast-tracked under a process called unanimous consent, bypassing that motion to proceed.

The Standing Rules of the U.S. Senate allow senators to express their preferences on whether to proceed to unanimous consent. Any senator can inform the Senate majority leadership that he or she objects to unanimous consent, holding up the process.

Holds are only allowed in the U.S. Senate – one of two chambers of Congress – and reflect the importance that body holds in the governance of the United States. A senator’s vote is recognized as having such importance that he or she has wide-ranging say in how the Senate operates.

What happens after a Senator places a hold?

Just as Senate rules recognize the importance of any one senator’s say in the business of the Senate floor, the rules also acknowledge that ultimately the Senate majority leader controls the schedule. 

The leader can choose whether or not to honor the hold request. Usually, the majority leader does honor the hold request because the senator (or senators) could filibuster in response. A filibuster is a means of taking up all the time on the Senate floor talking, debating or offering motions as a way of blocking action on any other matters. Since the U.S. Senate has so much business to conduct, the leader does not want this to happen.

In practice, the majority leader would rather negotiate with the senator to reach a satisfactory agreement and work on other Senate business in the meantime. In past decades, the procedures for Senate holds were much more permissive. At one time “secret” holds, or holds that were not publicly announced, were allowed. Senate rules also used to allow the minority leader much more power in determining Senate schedules, which allowed the leader to support senators in delaying certain matters for consideration.

How common is a hold? How often does it permanently obstruct a nomination?

The practice of placing holds is very common. Senators often use holds only temporarily as a way of drawing attention to their concerns or as a negotiation tactic for other legislation.

In the past, if the majority leader and the objecting senator (or senators) could not reach an agreement, there were two ways to proceed. The White House could withdraw a nomination and nominate someone else who will not receive an objection. Or the majority leader could decide the nomination is so important he or she will risk a filibuster – and all other Senate business – for a vote.

But holds became much less important after the U.S. Senate invoked the so-called “nuclear option” allowing nominees from the majority party to be passed with only 51 votes.

Democrats currently hold the thinnest of margins in the U.S. Senate. There are currently 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats serving as senators, along with two independents who usually vote with Democrats.

That leaves Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking 51st vote in her role as president of the U.S. Senate.

Despite Democrats’ ability to confirm Biden’s nominees so long as they maintain party unity in the Senate, Republicans retain the ability to slow the process down – and could block them entirely if they take control of the Senate in next year’s midterm elections. 

 
…

House January 6 Panel Subpoenas Alex Jones, Roger Stone 

A committee investigating the January 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection issued subpoenas Monday to five more individuals, including former President Donald Trump’s ally Roger Stone and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

The subpoenas include demands for documents and testimony from Stone and Jones as well as three people accused of organizing and promoting the two rallies that took place January 6.

“The Select Committee is seeking information about the rallies and subsequent march to the Capitol that escalated into a violent mob attacking the Capitol and threatening our democracy,” said Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Democratic chair of the panel. “We need to know who organized, planned, paid for, and received funds related to those events, as well as what communications organizers had with officials in the White House and Congress.” 

Stone was convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation of lying to Congress about his efforts to gather inside information about Russia-hacked Democratic emails that were published by WikiLeaks in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. He was subsequently pardoned by Trump. 

The House subpoena notes that Stone spoke at rallies on the day before the Capitol insurrection and used members of a far-right group, the Oath Keepers, as personal security guards while he was in Washington. 

The House panel also wants to hear from Jones, with Thompson saying that the conspiracy theorist and talk-show host helped organize the January 6 rally at the Ellipse before the insurrection. Thompson says that Jones repeatedly promoted Trump’s claims of election fraud, urged his listeners to come to Washington for the rally and marched from the Ellipse to the Capitol. 

The other three subpoenas were issued to Dustin Stockton, Jennifer Lawrence and Taylor Budowich for their alleged involvement in the promotion and organization of the series of rallies following the 2020 presidential election that promoted false information regarding the election results, including the Ellipse rally that preceded the violent attack on the Capitol.

The results of the election were confirmed by state officials and upheld by the courts. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, had said the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread fraud that could have overturned the results. 

The committee is seeking information from Stockton and his fiancee, Lawrence, who they say were involved in organizing some of the rallies. The committee alleges Stockton was concerned enough that the Ellipse rally would lead to “possible danger” that he escalated those concerns to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

The panel has already demanded documents and testimony from several other Trump advisers — some have cooperated and some have not. Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of Trump, was indicted November 12 on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress after he defied a subpoena from the House committee.

The subpoenas issued Monday are the latest in a wide net the House panel has cast in an effort to investigate the deadly day when a group of Trump’s supporters, fueled by his false claims of a stolen election, brutally assaulted police and smashed their way into the Capitol to interrupt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. 

The committee has already interviewed more than 150 people across government, social media and law enforcement, including some former Trump aides who have been cooperative. The panel has subpoenaed more than 20 witnesses, and most of them, including several associates who helped plan the massive “Stop the Steal” rally the morning of January 6, have signaled they will cooperate. 

 
…

Anxiety High as Americans Get Together for Thanksgiving Holiday Despite COVID-19

As people in the United States prepare to gather for the Thanksgiving Day holiday, health authorities continue to push for vaccination to protect against COVID-19 and say all inoculated adults can get a booster shot. Michelle Quinn reports.
…