Democrats need to stop infighting ‘as quickly as we can’: Sen. Whitehouse
ABC News
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said Sunday that Republicans forced Democratic lawmakers to choose between supporting a continuing resolution or a government shutdown, which would have allowed them to further slash the federal government.
He told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz that in past shutdowns, the executive branch has advocated for the government to reopen, but President Donald Trump’s administration would have taken advantage of one.
“With these MAGA extremists in charge, they don’t necessarily want to come out of shutdown, and they have tools in shutdown contingencies and nonessentialness determinations and riffing and things like that that they can use to destroy the government, just like doggy DOGE is doing, except with a veneer of legitimacy, with the authority of shutdown powers,” Whitehouse said in an exclusive interview.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and nine others in the Democratic caucus voted with Republicans to pass the continuing resolution. Whitehouse voted against it.
Schumer’s support sparked backlash among Democrats, with many calling for a change in leadership.
Here are additional highlights from Whitehouse’s interview:
On the dangers of shutdown
“When you understand how dangerous a shutdown is, it’s even more, sort of, understandable why they would feel that way. And so I think what we need to do is stop the intramural fighting and bleeding as quickly as we can. We are in a fight for our democracy right now, and if we’re having a fight in our dugout, we’re not out on the field, and the other team is scoring runs.”
On what Democrats need to do
“They were both extremely, extremely dangerous options, and my view is that as Democrats, we need to stop the intramural quarreling about who voted what way and get back to work saving our democracy.”
On Democrats who voted for the continuing resolution
“I think that [Schumer] and the other nine colleagues of mine who made that decision made a very conscientious and principled decision after a lot of reflection. I’m not going to throw any of them under the bus for the choice that they made. When you understand how dangerous a shutdown is, it’s even more sort of understandable why they would feel that way.”
On House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ non-answer on Senate Democrats needing new leadership
“That is not my agenda. That is not a helpful narrative right now. I think that obviously there is a lot of distress, back and forth, between the House and the Senate. That is not unheard of before. And one can read Leader Jeffries’ answers as basically, ‘Look, move on, I’m not going to dwell on internal infighting among Democrats,’ and not necessarily like ‘I’m throwing Schumer under the bus.’ They’ve known each other a long time. They’re experienced politicians. We need to pull this back together and get back to work.”
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump, speaking at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, blasted President Joe Biden’s final actions before leaving office.
Trump accused the outgoing administration of not providing a “smooth transition.”
Trump kicked off the presser by announcing a $20 billion investment in the U.S. from DAMAC Properties, a Middle East-based company. He said the investments will focus on building new data centers across the Midwest and Sun Belt.
He quickly shifted focus, however, to criticizing the Biden’s recent moves — including a ban all future offshore oil and natural gas drilling off America’s East and West coasts.
“We are inheriting a difficult situation from the outgoing administration, and they’re trying everything they can to make it more difficult,” Trump said.
On Biden’s oil drilling ban, Trump vowed: “I will reverse it immediately. It’ll be done immediately. And we will drill baby drill.”
The president-elect also claimed he would rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”
“What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate. It’s appropriate,” he said.
Trump also continued his public push for the U.S. to control the Panama Canal and Greenland. Asked by a reporter if he would commit to not using military force or economic coercion in his quest to acquire the territories, he flatly said no.
“No, I can assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security,” Trump said.
The president-elect went on to criticize former President Jimmy Carter, whose remains are being transported to Washington on Tuesday for a state funeral, for ceding control of the critical waterway to the Central American nation.
“Giving the Panama Canal is why Jimmy Carter lost the election, in my opinion, more so maybe than the hostages,” Trump said, calling it a “very big mistake” on Carter’s part.
Trump, who last held a news conference in mid-December, is speaking to the press one day after his 2024 election victory was certified by Congress. The Monday ceremony, which marked a return to a peaceful transition, came exactly four years after a mob violently stormed the Capitol and disrupted the counting of President Biden’s electoral win.
Republicans are preparing for Trump to visit Washington on Wednesday, ABC News has learned. Currently, lawmakers are debating how best to fund Trump’s major policy initiatives once he is back in the White House.
This is Trump’s second news conference since becoming president-elect.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Congress is gathering for a joint session to certify the results of the 2024 election, the final step before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, after some major changes to security for the ceremony and the law that dictates how it’s carried out.
Before 2021, the Congress’ constitutionally mandated responsibilities to count electoral certifications from the states and certify the results on Jan. 6 often passed in less than an hour with little notice from the public.
But the events of four years ago make this a more closely watched affair.
Washington, D.C., is under heightened security — not only for the certification of the vote, but also for the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter at the end of this week and Trump’s inauguration in two weeks.
There are no known threats to the certification of the electoral votes, authorities say, but police are preparing for the possibility.
And the Washington area is forecast to get its heaviest snowfall in a few years on Monday, which could impact government operations, but it isn’t expected to prevent certification.
Here’s what we expect to happen on Monday:
Security
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request to designate Washington a National Security Special Event for the counting and certification of the vote, which was approved in September. This allows for significant resources from the federal government, as well as state and local partners, to be utilized in a comprehensive security plan, with the U.S. Secret Service as the lead agency.
The Secret Service is deploying agents and specialists from field offices across the country to supplement staffing. D.C. Police will be fully activated beginning Sunday morning and are bringing in nearly 4,000 additional officers from across the country to assist with policing for the special events. Drones will be in use for both events and training preparations.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger told reporters, “The United States Capitol Police [are] better staffed, better trained, better equipped than ever before, to protect our Capitol and protect our Congress.”
“The legislative process will proceed without disruption, and our government will have a peaceful transfer of power,” he said.
Capitol Police has completed more than 100 recommendations its inspector general made after the Jan. 6 attack, including increasing staffing, training, and building a new intelligence operation.
The D.C. National Guard confirmed to ABC News that it has been activated and will assist with events this month. Some 500 members of the Guard are on standby for Jan. 6 and Carter’s funeral. A request for 7,800 members of the military for Trump’s inauguration is pending approval.
Fencing is installed around a perimeter that goes beyond the office buildings on both sides of the Capitol, and there’s an inner perimeter that surrounds the immediate Capitol complex. The fencing was implemented for the first time after the 2021 insurrection and will be similar to what was installed for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress last summer.
The fencing on Capitol Hill and near the White House is expected to remain through February, sources told ABC News.
No major groups have applied for permits or announced any protests for the election certification.
Snow day
D.C. is expected to get between 8 to 12 inches of snow through Monday but members are expected to get to the Capitol.
House Republican leaders urged members to stay in Washington over the weekend and Speaker Mike Johnson is plowing ahead with Monday’s certification.
In an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, Johnson said he’s hoping for full attendance.
“Whether we’re in a blizzard or not, we are going to be in that chamber making sure this is done,” Johnson said.
The role of the vice president
Vice President Kamala Harris will preside over the certification, putting her in the unenviable position of certifying the victory of her 2024 opponent. Congress enacted a law in 2022 to define the role of the vice president as purely ceremonial.
The Electoral Count Reform Act modified some of the provisions that Trump attempted to use to challenge the electoral count on Jan. 6, 2021.
The law also makes it harder harder for Congress to challenge a state’s electoral votes. The law raised the threshold required to object to a state’s electoral votes from one senator and one representative to one-fifth of each chamber and it takes one half of each chamber to sustain objections.
Though there were objections to states’ electors that led to the dissolution of the joint session in 2021, none were sustained by a half-chamber vote in either the Senate or the House.
The law also cleaned up vague language about what date states must select their electors and created an expedited procedure for federal courts, or the Supreme Court when necessary, to hear cases with over state executives’ duty to issue and transmit to Congress the certification of appointed electors.
Certifying the vote
Procession of the ballots: The sealed votes arrived at the Capitol addressed to the vice president in her role as president of the Senate. The votes are placed in ceremonial leather-bound boxes and processed from the Senate to the House by a group of Senate pages.
Procession of senators to the House: Senators follow the electoral boxes to the House to convene the joint session.
Members convene for joint session: Federal law stipulates that members must convene at 1 p.m. for the opening of the presidential election results. The House sergeant at arms announces the president of the Senate (Harris) and senators as in the State of the Union address, and then the president of the Senate takes the dais and becomes the presiding officer of the ceremony. The speaker of the House usually sits behind the vice president.
“Tellers” come to the dais: Two House members and two Senate members who have been selected by the speaker and Senate majority leader help shepherd the ceremony by reading out the votes alphabetically by state. This is typically the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Rules and House Administration committees.
Harris reads the votes by each state in alphabetical order: Starting with Alabama, Harris will open the certificates and hand them down to one of the tellers. After the teller announces the result, Harris will ask if there are any objections. If there are objections as there were in 2021, this would be when they’re heard.
If the threshold for an objection is reached: Harris would announce that the two chambers will deliberate separately on the pending objection and report its decision back to the joint session. The Senate would withdraw from the joint session and return to its chamber. Both chambers would get up to two hours to debate whether to uphold the objection. It requires the vote of half of each chamber to sustain an objection.
Never in their history has either chamber sustained an objection.
Completing the process: The vice president will announce the whole number of electoral votes (538) and what constitutes a simple majority (217) and announce how many electoral votes each candidate got, then do the same for vice president.The vice president will declare the joint session dissolved. Usually there is applause, and the certification is complete.
How long does all this take?: There have been instances in which certification has taken less than half an hour. In 2017, the certification of President Trump’s first term, presided over by then-Vice President Joe Biden, took 41 minutes.
In 2021, Congress convened at 1 p.m. in a joint session and, because of both a prolonged recess due to the breach of the Capitol and multiple state objections, did not complete its work certifying the election until 3:39 a.m. on Jan. 7.
ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce affect the World Trade Center Health Program, putting the health of 9/11 first responders at risk, critics said.
Sixteen probationary staff members at the World Trade Center Health Program have been fired as part of the layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Several other full-time staff members have agreed to take a buyout, according to Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act.
The firings and buyouts amount to a 20% reduction in the staff that supervises and administers the World Trade Center Health Program. There are also cuts to research grants that fund efforts at the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) to determine whether new health conditions are related to service at the World Trade Center site on and after 9/11.
Decisions on certifications to allow for treatment of new cancers and other conditions will be delayed because of the firings and layoffs, Benjamin Chevat, of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, told ABC News. Additionally, decisions on pending petitions to expand coverage to autoimmune and cardiac conditions will be delayed and there will be fewer people to intervene when there are problems with prescriptions and treatment, according to Chevat.
“We cannot believe that the Trump administration or the new HHS Secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr. intends to harm 9/11 responders and survivors in the World Trade Center Health Program, but that will be the outcome of these cuts,” Chevat said.
In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., New York Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer demanded that the funds be restored.
“‘Never forget’ is not just a slogan. It is a sacred promise to always stand by 9/11 heroes, a promise being broken by slashing funding and vital staffing for their healthcare in the World Trade Center Health Program. It’s unacceptable, and un-American,” said Schumer in a joint statement with Gillibrand. “To say funding for 9/11 first responders is government waste is outrageous and insulting.”
“These brutal cuts mean layoffs for staff who have dedicated their careers to caring for our 9/11 survivors. It means delayed care for our sick first responders. It is telling 9/11 survivors that after they risked everything to protect us, we can’t support their healthcare needs,” the statement continued.
The World Trade Center Health Program was created in 2011 as part of the Zadroga Act. It was extended until 2090 to compensate the growing number of people who have contracted illnesses related to 9/11.
About 140,000 survivors have enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, including about 12,000 last year alone, according to the CDC.
“Slashing funding and laying off workers who run this vital program will have a devastating impact on its ability to provide sick responders and survivors with the care they need. This is betrayal of our heroes who stepped up and risked their lives to put our community back together in one of our nation’s darkest hours, and we will not let it stand. HHS Secretary Kennedy must reverse these cuts and terminations immediately,” Gillibrand said in the statement.
