THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2021
The House of Representatives Thursday takes up a supplemental security funding bill for $1.9 billion to reimburse the National Guard and an increase for both Capitol Police and Congress members in the wake of the pro-MAGA January 6 insurrection. It may seem like a slam-dunk, but like Wednesday’s House vote to approve a commission to investigate the attacks, the supplemental spending needs 10 Republican votes to pass in the Senate.
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Initial Unemployment Claims Hit Another Post-Pandemic Low – Seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims dropped to 444,000 for the week ending May 15, another record low since the pandemic begun shutting down the economy last year, the U.S. Labor Department reports Thursday morning. Last week’s unemployment claims number was 34,000 lower than the previous week’s revised claims of 478,000 (up 5,000 after revision).
Note: Though we’re still in for a bumpy unemployment claims ride over the next several months as the economy reopens, the latest numbers take some air out of Republican criticism of President Biden’s $1.9-trillion COVID-19 stimulus package that the party’s leaders say has created disincentives for those unemployed because of the pandemic to seek work.
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McConnell Push-Back Jeopardizes 1/6 Commission – Considering ex-President Trump’s hold on the GOP, yesterday’s 252-175 vote in the House of Representatives to approve the National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attacks on the United States Capitol Act, HR 3233, may seem a sort of victory against the “Big Lie.” Support included 35 House Republicans, 25 more than had voted for Trump’s second impeachment resulting from the attacks in January.
Now the bill must pass the Senate.
Following the Senate’s acquittal of ex-President Trump in his second impeachment trial last February, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said; “The issue is not only the President’s intemperate language on January 6th. … It is not just his endorsement of remarks in which an associate urged ‘trial by combat. … It was also the entire manufactured atmosphere of looming catastrophe; the increasingly wild myths about a reverse landslide election that was being stolen in some secret coup by our now-president.”
The Office of the Former President at Mar-a-Lago issued a statement by Trump Wednesday calling the 9/11-style commission on the insurrection a “Democratic trap.” McConnell is warning his caucus that they should vote against the bill because the attack has been sufficiently investigated, already. Democrats need 10 Republicans to vote with them to approve the commission in order to avoid its dying by filibuster.
So far, there appears to be two.
“We should understand what mistakes were made and how we could prevent this from happening again,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-UT. Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, says she also supports the idea of a commission, but the House bill needs “adjustments,” the AP reports.
Note: Rep. John Katko, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee from New York, who negotiated the specifics of the commission said, “This is about facts, not partisan politics.” Rep. Fred Upton, R-MI, said the insurrection “is going to haunt this institution for a long, long time.”
But other House Republicans who opposed the bill used the word “incoherence” to describe it. That was the jumping-off point for Rep. Tim Ryan’s, D-OH, impassioned response, which bears repeating even as they fall on deaf Trumpian ears. Most of what he said was shouted from a sparsely attended House floor Wednesday (per The Hill).
“To the other 90% of our friends on the other side of the aisle, holy cow! Incoherence! No idea of what you’re talking about. …
“Benghazi! You guys chased the former secretary of State all over the country. Spent millions of dollars! We have people scaling the Capitol, hitting the Capitol Police with lead pipes across the head, and we can’t get bi-partisanship? …
“If we’re gonna take on China, if we’re gonna reverse climate change, we need two political parties in this country that are both living in reality, and you ain’t one of them.”
Unauthorized Capitol Police Letter Slams Commission Opposition – Every member of the House and Senate received an unsigned letter on U.S. Capitol Police letterhead Wednesday, just prior to the House’s vote on HR 3233 Politico reports. It reads:
“On Jan 6th, where some officers served their last day in the US Capitol Police uniform, and not by choice, we would hope that Members whom we took an oath to protect, would at the very minimum support an investigation to get to the bottom of EVERYONE responsible and hold them 100 percent accountable no matter the title or position they hold or held.”
The Capitol Police issued a statement that the letter was not written, nor formally approved by the department. The U.S. Capitol Police “has no way of confirming it was ever authorized by USPC personnel. The U.S. Capitol Police does NOT take positions on legislation.”
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Texas Abortion Ban Law Signed -- A ban on abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy — or two weeks after a missed menstrual cycle — has been signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R. The law is to take effect in September, the Texas Tribune reports. During the bill signing Abbott said, “Our creator endowed us with the right to life and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion.”
Note — Also on Wednesday Texas executed Quintin Jones by lethal injection, The Daily Skimm reports, ending the state’s 10-month pause on executions.
A disconnect?
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Progressives Probe Biden Arms Deal with Israel – Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, plans to introduce a resolution to dissolve the Biden administration’s recent $735 million arms deal with Israel because of the country’s intense battles with Hamas on the Gaza strip, The Washington Post reports. The arms sale came to light just as fighting between Israel and Hamas commenced nearly two weeks ago.– Edited by Todd Lassa and Gary S. Vasilash