Advertisement

Politics live updates: Sen. Leahy, who is presiding over impeachment trial, discharged from hospital

Sen. Patrick Leahy discharged from hospital after taken 'out of an abundance of caution'

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who is set to preside over former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, has been discharged from the hospital Tuesday evening.

Leahy was taken to the hospital Tuesday evening "out of an abundance of caution" after "not feeling well," his spokesperson David Carle said.

"After getting test results back, and after a thorough examination, Senator Leahy now is home. He looks forward to getting back to work," Carle said in an update.

The impeachment trial is set to begin the week of Feb. 8.

ADVERTISEMENT

Leahy, 80, is third in line in the presidential line of succession behind the vice president and speaker of the House.

Earlier Tuesday, he swore in the 99 other senators to serve as jurors in Trump's impeachment trial.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who was the president pro tempore in the last Senate session as its most senior Republican, said Leahy was a "tough Vermonter" and that he and his wife sent their prayers to him.

— Nicholas Wu and Savannah Behrmann

Biden to purchase 200M additional vaccines to be delivered this summer

President Joe Biden announced the U.S. is working to purchase an additional 200 million coronavirus vaccine doses, doubling the nation's vaccine supply with enough to fully vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of summer or beginning of fall.

"This is a wartime undertaking. It's not hyperbole," Biden said during remarks on the COVID-19 pandemic at the White House.

Biden outlined the new purchase plans, along with an increase in the weekly vaccine allocation to states, tribes and territories from 8.6 million doses to a minimum of 10 million doses over the next three weeks.

The Department of Health and Human Services is also planning to provide states, tribes and territories with allocation estimates for the upcoming three weeks instead of the one week look-ahead they previously received, Biden said.

"This is going to help make sure governors, mayors and local leaders have greater certainty around supply, so they can carry out their plans to vaccinate as many people as possible," he said.

The 1.4 million federal boost will primarily be supplied by Moderna's vaccine, one of two authorized for emergency use in the United States. Pfizer, which makes the second authorized vaccine, announced earlier Tuesday it was ahead of schedule on fulfilling the 200 million doses the U.S. purchased last year.

Each of the vaccines require two doses. A second shot should be administered about three or four weeks after the first, depending on the vaccinegiven.

The announcement comes after several states have reported vaccine and supply shortages while tens of thousands of people who managed to get appointments for a first dose have complained of cancellations.

The president again warned that coronavirus cases would continue to climb, noting the death toll could top 500,000 by the end of next month, but remained confident in his administration's COVID-19 plan.

"I hope you're all asking me by the end of the summer that you have too much vaccine left over, you have too much equipment left over," he said.

Following a joint phone call with the nation's governors and senior Biden administration officials, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said the limited vaccine supply was "only a tiny fraction of what our citizens desperately need."

“We appreciate the administration stating that it will provide states with slightly higher allocations for the next few weeks, but we are going to need much more supply," he said in a statement.

— Courtney Subramanian

Senate upholds constitutionality of Trump impeachment trial

The Senate voted Tuesday to uphold the constitutionality of the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, but the vote suggested a lack of support for convicting him on the charge of inciting insurrection.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., forced the vote with a point of order arguing that Trump couldn’t be tried as a private citizen – and if he were tried, that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts should preside.

Instead, the longest-serving member of the Democratic majority, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, will preside. The Constitution calls for the chief justice to preside only over a trial of a sitting president.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Paul's argument "has been completely debunked by constitutional scholars from all across the political spectrum."

“The theory that the impeachment of a former official is unconstitutional is flat-out wrong by every frame of analysis," Schumer said.

The Senate voted 55-45 to reject Paul’s motion. The vote revealed more than one-third of the chamber opposing the trial. A two-thirds majority is required to convict Trump.

The vote signaled that more than one-third of the Senate – and the vast majority of Republicans – found the trial unconstitutional. "We're excited about it," Paul said after the vote. "It was one of the few times in Washington where a loss is actually a victory."

Mark Meadows, who was Trump’s White House chief of staff, said the vote showed the case is “dead on arrival.”

“If today’s Senate vote is any sign, the Democrats’ ridiculous impeachment of former President Trump will fail – again – by a long shot,” Meadows said in a tweet. “Dead on arrival.”

Paul had argued that the trial is a “kangaroo court” that will stoke partisan division. But the Senate has tried a former Cabinet official and former judges after leaving office.

Impeachment is typically used to remove someone from office, but the sentence upon conviction could also bar an official from holding future office.

Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania joined Democrats in killing Paul's motion.

Collins said the vote indicated Trump would likely be acquitted.

"I do the math, but I think that it's extraordinarily unlikely the president will be convicted," she said.

— Bart Jansen

Senators take oath in impeachment trial of former President Trump

Senators took their oaths Tuesday as jurors in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, setting the stage for oral arguments to begin Feb. 9.

The ceremonial start to the trial also formally installed Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the longest-serving member of the Democratic majority, as the presiding officer. Some Republicans argued that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts should preside, but the Constitution calls for the chief justice only in trials of a sitting president.

The longest-serving Republican in the chamber, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, administered the oath to the longest-serving member of the Democratic majority, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

Leahy then administered the oath to the 99 other senators, to serve as jurors in the trial.

In this image from video, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the president pro tempore of the Senate, who will preside over the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, swears in members of the Senate for the impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., raised a point of order challenging the constitutionality of trying a president who is already out of office. He didn’t expect to win the vote, but to demonstrate that the necessary two-thirds of the Senate wouldn’t vote to convict Trump.

Senators were sworn in after House prosecutors, who are called managers, carried over Monday the article of impeachment that charges Trump with inciting the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

A clerk handed each senator a different pen as a health precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., signed with a quill pen.

The trial will pause while sides in the trial prepare written arguments about the case. Senators will resume debating confirmation of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees and legislation to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

House managers now have until Feb. 2 to provide the Senate with written arguments in the case. Trump’s defense team will have until Feb. 8 to file written arguments. Then oral arguments begin the next day.

— Bart Jansen

Biden and Putin talk arms control, election meddling and Navalny’s poisoning

President Joe Biden had his first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin since being sworn into office last week – a conversation that came amid heightened US-Russia tensions.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden called Putin on Tuesday to discuss renewing an expiring US-Russia nuclear arms control agreement and to press the Russian leader on a batch of more nettlesome issues.

Biden used the call to “reaffirm our strong support for Ukraine sovereignty in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression,” she said, and to raise questions about Russia’s alleged role in the massive SolarWinds cyberattack, the country’s meddling in US elections, and reports that it offered bounties to militant extremists in Afghanistan to kill American soldiers.

“His intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia,” Psaki said.

She said the president also pressed Putin on allegations that the Kremlin tried to poison Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader, and then engaged in a widespread crackdown against protesters who demanded Navalny’s release from prison in demonstrations over the weekend.

Putin’s spokesman has denied playing a role in Navalny’s poisoning.

Even though Tuesday’s call focused on several flashpoints between the two countries, a readout from the White House suggested the U.S. and Russia would be able to work together on renewing the New START treaty for five years. That arms control agreement expires next week, so it’s an urgent issue, but Putin and Biden have both expressed support for a long-term extension.

“They also agreed to explore strategic stability discussions on a range of arms control and emerging security issues,” the White House said in its readout of the conversation.

While this is Biden’s first call as U.S. president with Putin, the two men have a long history of engagement – much of it frosty.

In 2011, for example, Biden was in Russia for a meeting with Putin when Biden made a startling remark about Putin’s character.

“Mr. Prime Minister, I’m looking into your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul,” Biden recalled in an interview with Evan Osnos, whose biography of Biden was published in October. “And he looked back at me, and he smiled, and he said, ‘We understand one another.’ ”

The comment was a play on former President George W. Bush’s warmer assessment of Putin in 2001, when Bush called the Russian strongman “very straightforward and trustworthy.”

Putin was among the last major world leaders to recognize Biden's win in the 2020 election. He had a seemingly cozy relationship with President Donald Trump, who often downplayed Russia's malign actions.

— Deirdre Shesgreen

Senate confirms Antony Blinken as Biden's secretary of State

The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Antony Blinken to be the nation’s 71st secretary of State on Tuesday, as lawmakers scrambled to approve President Joe Biden's Cabinet nominees before impeachment proceedings begin.

In a strong show of bipartisan support, the final Senate tally was 78 to 22 and included "yes" votes from several top Republicans.

Blinken will become America’s top diplomat as the world confronts a confluence of threats: the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and a great-power competition that increasingly pits the U.S. against China on trade, technology and other issues.

Read the full story.

— Deirdre Shesgreen

Biden to sign more orders addressing racial equality issues

President Joe Biden on Tuesday will take steps to address what the administration calls systemic racism in housing and criminal justice, including ending the federal government's use of private prisons.

Biden will sign four new executive orders, building on steps taken in his first week as part of his campaign promise to create a more equitable society.

Biden will also lay out his agenda to address racial inequity, which a senior Biden administration official said will be substantially an economic agenda,

The official also stressed that the actions aimed at creating a more equitable society are not aimed solely at communities of color and stressed that helping the disadvantaged will help the entire society.

The executive actions Biden will sign include:

  • Directing the Housing Department to address racially discriminatory federal housing policies.

  • Not renewing the Justice Department's contracts with private prisons.

  • Recommitting federal respect for tribal sovereignty

  • Directing federal agencies to mitigate xenophobia and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

On Biden's first day in office, he signed an order launching a government-wide initiative directing every federal agency to review its state of racial equity and deliver an action plan within 200 days to address any disparities in policies and programs.

The administration said Biden's "comprehensive mandate" to embed racial equity throughout everything being done is unprecedented.

— Maureen Groppe

GOP senator to force vote over constitutionality of Trump impeachment

Sen. Rand Paul plans to force a vote Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of the impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump – a move he doesn’t expect to win, but one to demonstrate the unlikelihood of conviction.

Paul, R-Ky., called the trial “a sham impeachment” if the chief justice doesn’t preside. “It’s just a partisan farce,” he told reporters.

The Senate is scheduled to be sworn in at 2:30 p.m. to serve as jurors in the trial, after the House delivered a charge that Trump incited insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Paul plans to raise a point of order during that ceremonial start to the trial to challenge its constitutionality. He doesn’t expect to win in a chamber controlled by Democrats. But because a two-thirds majority is required for conviction in the 100-member Senate, Paul said if the vote could demonstrate that Trump won’t be convicted.

“I think it'll be enough to show that, you know, more than a third of the Senate thinks that the whole proceeding is unconstitutional, which will show that ultimately they don't have the votes to do an impeachment,” Paul said.

Paul and some other Republicans contend the trial is unconstitutional because Trump left office Jan. 20. A Cabinet member and judges have been tried after leaving office, but never a president.

“The Constitution says you can only impeach the president, and it says if you impeach the president, the chief justice shall preside,” Paul said.

The result of prosecuting a former president is that Chief Justice John Roberts won’t be presiding, as he did at Trump’s first impeachment trial. The Constitution calls for the chief justice to preside at the trial of a sitting president, but is silent on who presides for a former president.

Instead, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the longest-serving member of the Democratic majority, will preside, as happens in the impeachment of judges or executive branch officials. Leahy has insisted he will be impartial in overseeing the proceedings.

Paul called the trial a “kangaroo court” that would further divide the country. He argued both that Trump can’t be tried as a private citizen and that if he were tried, the chief justice should preside.

“Democrats brazenly appointing a pro-impeachment Democrat to preside over the trial is not fair or impartial,” Paul said on the Senate floor. “Hyper-partisan Democrats are about to drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol, the likes of which has never been seen in our nation’s history.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called Trump’s rhetoric at a rally near the White House on Jan. 6, before a violent mob stormed the Capitol, “inflammatory” and “irresponsible.” But Hawley called the trial unconstitutional for pursuing a former president without the chief justice presiding.

“I think it's clearly unconstitutional,” Hawley said. “To me, this is an incredibly abusive process.”

At least one Republican senator said he wouldn't support Paul's motion. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the only Republican to vote for Trump's conviction in the first impeachment trial, said most opinion supports the constitutionality of trying a former president.

"The preponderance of opinion with regards to the constitutionality of a trial of impeachment of a former president is saying that it is a constitutional process," Romney said.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also said the trial was constitutional.

“My review of it has led me to conclude that it is constitutional in recognizing that impeachment is not solely about removing a president, it is also a matter of political consequence,” Murkowski said.

— Bart Jansen

Senate panel approves Mayorkas for DHS, paving way to full Senate vote

A Senate panel recommended confirmation Tuesday of Alejandro Mayorkas to become secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, where he would be the first immigrant and the first Latino to lead the department.

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 7-4 to recommend his confirmation by the whole Senate.

President Joe Biden had asked for the Senate to confirm Mayorkas and three other top posts quickly. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was confirmed last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was confirmed Monday, and Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken has a confirmation vote scheduled Tuesday.

Mayorkas has faced the most contentious confirmation hearing of Biden’s Cabinet so far. Republicans posed pointed questions about Biden’s proposals to create a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and to suspend construction of the wall along the southern border with Mexico.

Republicans also questioned him about an inspector general’s report that found an appearance of favoritism in how he handled visas associated with business investments during a previous stint with the Democrat. But Mayorkas said he was trying to fix problems in a complicated bureaucracy, and Democrats called the report an attempt to smear him.

The top Republican on the committee, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., said Tuesday he would not support Mayorkas’ nomination, citing “serious issues” in his background like the inspector general report, but Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who also serves on the panel, said Mayorkas had acknowledged his previous errors and supported his nomination heading to a full Senate vote.

Mayorkas has previously been deputy secretary of the department and headed its citizenship agency. He arrived with his parents from Cuba as refugees from Fidel Castro's regime in 1960.

— Bart Jansen and Nicholas Wu

Biden to outline racial equity agenda

After focusing his first few days on the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden is turning the spotlight on another top priority: racial inequality.

Biden plans to outline on Tuesday has agenda for fighting racial inequality, one of the four “converging crises” he has said is facing the nation.

“The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer,” Biden said in his inauguration speech.

Officials have said that addressing inequality will be a focus across all issues. For example, Biden has emphasized the need to help minority communities hit harder by the health and economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

But the administration is also putting a standalone emphasis on the initiative.

Susan Rice, the head of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council, is expected to talk about the efforts at Tuesday’s White House press briefing.

Susan Rice was appointed as Biden's Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council on Dec. 10, 2020. Rice previously served as an ambassador to the United Nations and a United States national security advisor.
Susan Rice was appointed as Biden's Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council on Dec. 10, 2020. Rice previously served as an ambassador to the United Nations and a United States national security advisor.

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the administration is speeding up a move stalled under President Donald Trump to put abolitionist hero Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.

Psaki said it’s important the nation’s currency “reflect the history and diversity of our country.”

Also on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris administered the oath of office to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

“The first Secretary of Defense in history to be sworn in by an African American @VP…is an African American Secretary of Defense,” tweeted Ron Klain, Biden’s chief of staff.

– Maureen Groppe

More: Amid calls for unity, President Biden and Republicans don't agree what that looks like

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin elbow bumps with Vice President Kamala Harris during his ceremonial swearing-in ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Jan. 25, 2021.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin elbow bumps with Vice President Kamala Harris during his ceremonial swearing-in ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Jan. 25, 2021.

Senate to take oath for second Trump impeachment trial

Senators on Tuesday will be sworn in as jurors in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, who is charged with inciting the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 that left five dead.

The formal oath-taking comes after House prosecutors walked the article of impeachment Monday across the Capitol, which some have called the scene of the crime.

Trump has said his rally speech near the White House questioning the results of the 2020 election was “appropriate.” But Democrats contend he exhorted a violent mob to lay siege to the Capitol, which interrupted the House and Senate while counting Electoral College votes.

House prosecutors, who are called managers, will present their written arguments to the Senate by Feb. 2. Trump’s defense team will then present written arguments in the case to the Senate by Feb. 8. Oral arguments begin the next day.

–Bart Jansen

More: The second Trump impeachment trial is set for February. What happens next?

More: As Trump impeachment trial begins, he lacks star lawyers, full Republican backing

US House Clerk Cheryl Johnson, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) walk  walk through the Capitols Statuary Hall to deliver the article of impeachment for incitement of insurrection against former President Donald Trump to the Senate floor on January 25, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Melina Mara / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MELINA MARA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 0 ORIG FILE ID: AFP_8ZJ46E.jpg

Vice President Harris to get second dose of COVID vaccine Tuesday

Vice President Kamala Harris will receive her second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday evening, according to her office.

Harris received her first dose in December before live television cameras as part of a concerted effort to convince the public the inoculations are safe.

Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, will receive the second dose in front of the news media at the National Institutes of Health.

President Joe Biden received his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Jan. 11.

Biden's and Harris' vaccinations were staggered at the recommendation of medical and national security experts.

--Savannah Behrmann

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received her COVID-19 vaccine along with her husband, Doug Emhoff.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received her COVID-19 vaccine along with her husband, Doug Emhoff.

Secretary of State nomination moving forward

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee greenlighted Antony Blinken’s nomination to be secretary of State in a bipartisan vote on Monday. The 15-to-3 vote sends Blinken’s nomination to the full Senate, which could take up his confirmation as early as Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Gina Marie Raimondo, Biden's nominee to head the Commerce Department.

President-elect Joe Biden wants Antony Blinken to mend relationships with international allies.
President-elect Joe Biden wants Antony Blinken to mend relationships with international allies.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Politics live updates: Sen. Leahy discharged from hospital