The state House in Arizona voted to approve a proposal to lift almost all restrictions on abortions. Republicans faced a lot of pressure over this issue for two weeks. This has been a difficult issue for former U.S leaders President Donald Trump is trying to become president again.
Three Republicans and 29 Democrats worked together to get rid of a law in Arizona that doesn’t make any exceptions for rape or incest and has been around since before the state became official. If the Senate says yes, Arizona will let women have abortions up to 15 weeks.
Trump and US Senate candidate Kari Lake wanted Arizona lawmakers to make it easier for women to get abortions because their plans for politics were in danger because many people were against a nearly complete ban on abortions. However, before Wednesday, many Republicans in the state House used procedural votes to stop the repeal. This made President Joe Biden, a Democrat, very upset because he strongly believes in the right to have an abortion. He has been focusing on this issue in his campaign for re-election.
“Arizonans are living in the past because Donald Trump got rid of Roe v. Wade,” said Democratic state Sen. Priya Sundareshan from Tucson spoke at a news event on Wednesday held by the Biden campaign and the Arizona Democratic Party.
The repeal vote happened the day after Biden said Trump made it harder for women to get health care.
Many people stood outside the state Capitol and then went inside to watch as lawmakers voted. Some of them had signs or wore shirts to show they disagreed with abortion rights.
Arizona Republicans are feeling pressure because some of the people who support them want to ban abortion. But, this is causing problems with other voters who are undecided and will make important decisions in elections. The Senate and the GOP control the government.
The Republican representative said he is very upset today. Rachel Jones did not want to cancel something. “Life is an important part of our Republican beliefs. ” I feel very upset when I see people not following that value.
The highest court in Arizona decided that the state can start using a law that allows abortions only when the patient’s life is in danger. The decision said doctors could be charged under a law from 1864 that punishes people who help with abortions with two to five years in prison.
A week ago, one Republican and all Democrats in the Arizona House voted to get rid of a law, but it didn’t pass.
The law was stopped after the US Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision said that it’s a constitutional right to have an abortion all over the country.
After the court decided to change Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich convinced a state judge to enforce the 1864 ban. However, the law has not been put into action while the case has been going through the courts. Kris Mayes, who is the new Attorney General and a Democrat, asked the state’s highest court not to bring back the law.
Mayes says the law might start on June 8. But the anti-abortion group, Alliance Defending Freedom, says that county prosecutors can start enforcing it when the Supreme Court’s decision is final, which will likely be this week.
If the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs agree, a new law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy would become the main rule for abortions in 2022.
Planned Parenthood promises to keep doing abortions as long as it’s still allowed. They will also find ways to help patients go to other states like New Mexico and California for abortions.
Last summer, people who support abortion rights started an effort to have Arizona voters make a new law that says women have the right to choose abortion.
The new law would make sure women can have an abortion up to around 24 weeks into their pregnancy, when the baby could live outside the womb. It would also permit abortions at a later stage if it’s necessary to save the parent’s life or to protect her physical or mental well-being.
Republican politicians are thinking about adding different ideas about abortion to the voting choices in November.
A secret document showed what House Republicans are thinking about for abortion laws. They might make existing regulations into laws, make a 14-week ban that looks like a 15-week law, and stop abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
House Republicans have not told anyone about the plans they have for voting.
Tag: Senate
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Arizona House sends bill to Senate to abolish nearly complete ban on abortion
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Zuckerberg issues apology to families during heated US Senate session
Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said sorry to families who say their kids were hurt by social media, in a heated meeting at the US Senate.
Mark Zuckerberg, who is in charge of Instagram and Facebook, told them that no one should experience what they went through.
He and the leaders of TikTok, Snap, X and Discord were asked questions by senators from both political parties for nearly four hours.
Legislators wanted to find out how they are keeping kids safe on the internet.
New rules are being made by Congress to make social media companies responsible for what people post on their websites.
On Wednesday, US senators got a chance to ask tech bosses some questions, which does not happen often.
Mr Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said yes to testifying, but the leaders of Snap, X (formerly Twitter), and messaging platform Discord said no at first. So, they were forced to with government subpoenas.
Five tech bosses were sitting with families who said their children had hurt themselves or died because of things they saw on social media.
They showed how they felt by booing when the CEOs came in and clapping when the lawmakers asked hard questions.
The meeting mainly talked about keeping kids safe from being hurt on the internet. The senators asked a lot of different questions to the executives who were there.
TikTok, a company owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance, was asked if it shares American users’ data with the Chinese government. The CEO, Mr. Chew, said they do not.
US Senator Tom Cotton asked a person from Singapore if they were ever a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
“Senator, I am from Singapore. ” “No,” Mr Chew said.
Mr Cotton then asked, “Have you ever been connected or involved with the Chinese Communist Party. ”
Mr Chew said: “No, senator. ” Once again, I am from Singapore.
He said that as a father of three young kids, he knew the problems being talked about were “awful and every parent’s worst fear”.
He said his kids don’t use TikTok because in Singapore kids under 13 are not allowed to have accounts.
Mr Zuckerberg, who runs Meta, had to answer a lot of questions when he appeared before Congress for the eighth time.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz asked Mr. Zuckerberg “What were you thinking. ” when he showed him an Instagram prompt that warns users they may see child sexual abuse material, but asks if they still want to see it.
Mr Zuckerberg said the “basic idea is that instead of just blocking the bad stuff, it can be more useful to guide people towards something helpful. ” He said he will check it himself.
During a conversation with Senator Josh Hawley, Mr. Zuckerberg was asked to say sorry to the families who were sitting near him.
He got up, faced the people and told them: “I apologize for all the bad things you have experienced, it’s really awful. ”
“No one should have to experience the same pain and hardships that your families have gone through.
Senators annoyed over things not moving forward as they hoped.
The main topic of the hearing was the companies’ opinions on the new online safety laws Congress is working on.
This was seen during a heated argument between Jason Citron of Discord and Republican lawmaker Lindsey Graham.
Mr Graham talked about some bills in Congress that are about keeping people safe online. He asked Mr Citron if he agreed with those bills or not.
“Mr Graham didn’t let Mr. Citron talk much, and the Discord boss seemed to have doubts about most of Mr. Citron’s ideas”
Mr Graham said: “If we are waiting for these guys to solve the problem, we are not going to make it. ”
Before the meeting, Meta said they will now make it so kids on Instagram and Messenger can’t get messages from people they don’t know.Social media expert Matt Navarra told the media that he believed the hearing looked like many other confrontations, with a lot of US political showmanship and a great chance for Mr. Zuckerberg to apologize and have his photo taken.
He said that even though senators agreed on the need for both political parties to work together to make rules for websites, it’s still not clear what will happen next.
He said we’ve had these hearings many times before, but they haven’t really resulted in any important rules or regulations.
It’s 2024 and the US barely has any rules for social media companies, as was mentioned during the hearings.
The bosses also said how many people they hired to check content on their websites.
Meta and TikTok have the most users, and they each have 40,000 moderators. Snap has 2,300 moderators, X has 2,000, and Discord, which is smaller, has “hundreds” of moderators.
Discord is a messaging app and people have asked how it keeps kids safe from harm on its platform.
After the meeting, some parents went outside and held a gathering, asking lawmakers to make laws that make companies responsible.
Joann Bogard said that many parents still don’t think that the bad things we’re talking about today will hurt their families, just like she did before her son Mason died in May 2019. She said he had joined a TikTok trend where people pretended to choke themselves.
“She said that our normal kids are getting hurt during the night. ” “We have the evidence from people who witnessed it. ” It’s time for our lawmakers to approve the Kids Online Safety Act.
Arturo Béjar, who used to work for Meta and spoke to Congress in November 2023, said to the BBC that the company is not taking responsibility for keeping teenagers safe. He said they won’t even add a button for teens to report unwanted advances.
“How can they keep teens safe without it. ”
Today, Meta said they have brought in “more than 30 tools” to help keep teenagers safe on the internet. -
Senate authorises US Navy’s first female commander
The Senate has agreed that Admiral Lisa Franchetti should become the leader of the US Navy.
As the head of the Navy, she is the first woman to join a special group of high-ranking military officers called the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Her appointment was accepted with a vote of 95 in favor and 1 against, as the Senate made an effort to fill important positions in military leadership.
A senator from the Republican party is trying to stop the appointment of military personnel because they disagree with the Pentagon’s policy on abortion.
The person is a 38-year veteran of the Navy. They used to be in charge of the US 6th Fleet and US naval forces in South Korea, and they also commanded a group of aircraft carriers.
President Joe Biden nominated a woman for the first time to lead a military service branch of the Pentagon.
The US Coast Guard is led by a woman named Admiral Linda Fagan. However, instead of being part of the Department of Defense, it falls under the Department of Homeland Security.
Senators also took up two other important positions.
General David Allvin became the top officer in the US Air Force and Lt Gen Chris Mahoney became the second-in-command of the Marine Corps. This happened quickly because the Commandant of the Marine Corps had a heart attack.
Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has been stopping the Democrat-led Senate from approving almost 400 military promotions for the past nine months. He opposes a Pentagon policy that covers the travel costs of service members who need to go to another state for an abortion.
On Wednesday night, the Republicans disagreed with him for the first time and loudly stated the names of 61 people to vote on each one separately, which went around his refusal.
Alaska Republican Dan Sullivan criticized Mr. Tuberville for punishing the careers of US troops. He mentioned that these soldiers had nothing to do with a policy dispute and had no authority to resolve it.
Many military officials and lawmakers believe that he is endangering the safety of the United States during the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that both groups need to cooperate to make sure our military is fully ready and has all the resources it needs to protect the American people, especially during this difficult time.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he is happy that some job assignments have been approved, but he also said that the extremely long wait to confirm our military’s top leaders has harmed our military’s preparedness and created unnecessary burdens on military families.
“He said in a statement that these individuals are excellent leaders who have served their country for many years. He is confident that they will continue to be great leaders of our group as they address the important national security concerns we face during these difficult times. ”
However, we still have over 370 highly qualified leaders who have had their nominations delayed for no good reason. -
Senate approves China Development Bank as financier for rail project
The China Development Bank has been accepted by the Nigerian Senate as the new funder for a rail project, which is expected to cost close to $1 billion.
The route between Kaduna and Kano, the biggest city in the north, was scheduled to be funded by another Chinese lender, but it withdrew in 2020.
Eight years ago, when President Muhammadu Buhari took office, he made improving the country’s inadequate electrical grid and transportation system a top priority.
But a significant barrier has been a lack of money.
Many billion dollars in loans from China and other foreign lenders have been approved by the parliament, but the money has not yet arrived.
When president-elect Bola Tinubu takes over in May, he will inherit a raft of challenges including double-digit inflation and widespread insecurity.
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Retirement age in France now 64, after Senate votes
Despite weeks of demonstrations and strikes that drew thousands of workers, the French Senate decided to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The proposal to raise the retirement age in France by two years, to 64, was approved by the Senate. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 201 to 115.
The vote was held in the midst of widespread strikes and protests, which have paralysed many industries because employees in the public sector and other workers opposed President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal.
What is the deal?
The French government is looking to realign the country’s pension system despite strong opposition from labor unions, saying that it is financially unsustainable otherwise.
On top of pushing retirement age to 64, Macron is seeking to incerase the period of payment required to qualify for a full state pension.
Macron’s government argues that the unpopular measures are needed to shore up the scheme for the future.
Despite clearing the Senate on Thursday, the bill is still bouncing between France’s chambers of parliament.
President Emmanuel Macron’sadjustment of pensions also needs to be approved by the lower house of the French parliament, the National Assembly, where majority support might not be as easy to come by.
The lower house is also working on proposed amendments in the form of a compromise plan that might also be sent to the Senate for a vote.
Strong opposition
The increase of retirement age and the proposed changes to the pensions face stiff opposition from parts of French society.
Left-wing politicians voiced anger after the Senate voted in favor of the reforms.
“Your name will forever be attached to a reform that will set the clock back almost 40 years,” Socialist Monique Lubin told Labor Minister Oliver Dussopt.
Labor unions have promised to increase pressure on the government by calling for mass action by workers across different sectors.
Fuel deliveries, schools, trains, and flights are being disrupted by the demonstrations.
Dock workers have joined strikes in a bid to convince Macron to change his stance on the bill that he has championed in both of his presidential campaigns — he gave up on the proposed reforms amid the onset of the Covid pandemic in his first term.
Most other European countries have already hiked the retirement age to 65 or over, with France’s retirement system among Europe’s and particularly western Europe’s most generous.
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Biden is the first president in 20 years to hold the Senate at the midterms
Only three other presidents were able to grow support in the midterms in the past century.Defying political gravity, Democrats have avoided defeat in the Senate and could even score a victory.
President Joe Biden’s party flipped Pennsylvania and held on to every other seat (bar Georgia, where the Senate race is headed for a runoff on Dec. 6), a result that few other presidents have enjoyed in the past.
The Republicans are currently projected to win a slim majority in the House of Representatives, although 20 races remain too close to call. Still, Democrats’ losses in the lower chamber are fewer than forecast, scoring one of the best midterm results for the party in the last century.Typically, the political party in the White House loses popularity, and therefore seats, in the midterm elections. There are a number of reasons for this: an overall lower voter turnout compared to presidential elections, those dissatisfied with the status quo being more likely to head to the ballots than those who support it, and swing voters switching their vote away from the ruling party depending on how economic and social conditions have fared.
Ahead of the Nov. 8 vote, Biden recorded low popularity rates in the polls as inflation touched 40-year highs. The odds appeared to be in Republicans’ favor, but the conservative party ultimately failed to get a leg up in the Senate races. Voters showed up for abortion rights, and against Donald Trump and candidates who doubted or rejected the outcome of the 2020 election .
Time Capsule: When presidents’ parties gained in Senate races
Only on three occasions since 1922 has the president’s party gained (or lost no) Senate seats.
On Saturday Nov. 12, Mark Kelly’s re-election in Arizona put the Democrats one vote away from clinching the Senate. The former NASA astronaut, who won a second term in a state that has historically voted red, has at times criticized Biden on issues such as immigration.Later that day, the Nevada race results cemented the Democrats’ held of the Senate. When the tight race was called in Catherine Cortez Masto’s favor, Republicans’ 1994-like “red wave” talk fell flat on its head.
Now, Masto’s win over Trump-backed Adam Laxalt gives Democrats an opportunity to clinch an outright Senate majority if they win in Georgia’s December runoff.
All eyes on Georgia’s runoff election
Neither candidate in the Georgia Senate race won an outright majority, so the top two, Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker, will face off in a runoff election on Dec 6. (Ironically, two black contenders will face-off with a tradition that was originally designed to keep Black voters away from the polls.)
Independently, a Warnock win would make history considering there has never been a midterm where every incumbent who sought another term won their primary and general elections since the popular vote for US senators were established in 1913.
In the context of the Senate, Warnock’s win would give Democrats a clear majority, so vice president Kamala Harris wouldn’t have to be the tie-breaker.
Democrats are eyeing a Georgia win, president Biden says
“I’m incredibly pleased by the turnout. And I think it’s a reflection of the quality of our candidates. And they’re all running on the same program. There wasn’t anybody who wasn’t running on what we did. They’re all staying, sticking with it. And so, I feel good. I’m looking forward to the next couple years.” —President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters on Nov. 13
Person of interest: Mitch McConnell
Many members of the Republican party, including Trump and his former White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, are blaming Minority Leader of the US Senate Mitch McConnell for losing the Arizona election. The Senate Leadership Fund, led by McConnell, withdrew broadcast ad spending from Arizona candidate Blake Masters to the tune of $9 million, and instead gave it to Lisa Murkowski, who was up against another Republican-backed nominee in Alaska. McConnell also spent more on Colorado than he did on Arizona, to little avail.
As the tense Arizona race trotted on, Masters said: “The people who control the purse strings, Senate Leadership Fund, Mitch McConnell—McConnell decided to spend millions of dollars attacking a fellow Republican in Alaska instead of helping me defeat Senator Mark Kelly. Had he chosen to spend money in Arizona, this race would be over, we’d be celebrating a Senate Majority right now.”A disgruntled Masters said McConnell does not deserve to be a majority or minority leader, highlighting growing divisions regarding the future of the Republican party leadership.
Source: Quartz.com
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Midterm elections results: Two days on this is where the races stand
The ultimate outcome of the US midterms remains unclear nearly two days after polls closed, with control of Congress still hanging in the balance.
Control of the Senate now hinges on the outcome of three states: Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, where a run-off election will be held on 6 December.
Meanwhile, the Republicans are inching closer to a 218-seat majority in the House of Representatives.
President Joe Biden has hailed the results as a “good day for America”.
Electoral officials have repeatedly described the delays announcing the final results as a normal, expected part of US elections due to thin margins between candidates, possible recounts and potentially contested elections. Additionally, rules differ by state for how mail-in ballots are counted, and when.
As of Thursday morning:
The House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is leaning towards the Republicans, according to projections from CBS News, the BBC’s partner in the US.
The Republicans have so far secured 211 seats, compared to 193 for the Democrats. A total of 218 seats are needed to gain a majority in the legislative body, which has 435 members.
The Senate
Control of the Senate remains a toss-up, with the Democrats having secured 48 seats to the Republicans’ 49. Three races – Arizona, Nevada and Georgia – have yet to be called.
CBS has projected that Arizona is leaning Democrat, while Nevada could go to either party.
Alaska- where three candidates were on the ballot in a ranked-choice voting system – has not been called, although CBS has projected it will remain Republican, with two Republicans – incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski and challenger Kelly Tshibaka – in the lead.
In Georgia, the closely-watched Senate race between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker will head to a run-off in December.
With a third-party candidate on the ballot in this week‘s election, neither candidate secured the 50% of the votes needed for a winner to be declared.
In Arizona, hundreds of thousands of ballots remained uncounted as of Wednesday night, including an estimated 400,000 in Maricopa County and approximately 159,000 in Pima County, where officials have said that a final count is unlikely until early next week.
In addition to a hotly contested Senate race between Democrat Mark Kelly and Republican Blake Masters, the state is host to a high-profile match-up for governor between Democrat Katie Hobbs and Donald Trump-backed Republican Kari Lake.
Votes are still also being tabulated in Nevada,where thousands of ballots – nearly 60,000 – still needed to be processed.
Even with results still being calculated on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said the election was a “good day” for US democracy. An expected ‘red wave’ of resounding Republican victories failed to materialise despite high inflation and relatively low approval ratings for the Biden administration.
Source: BBC.com
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US elections: Biden hails better-than-expected midterms results
US President Joe Biden has expressed relief after Democrats fended off major Republican gains in the midterms.
Republicans are inching towards control of the House of Representatives, but Mr Biden noted that a “giant red wave” did not materialise on Tuesday night.
Either party could still win the Senate, which hinges on three races that are too close to call.
The party in power, currently the Democrats, usually suffers losses in a president’s first midterm elections.
Republican strategists had been hopeful of sweeping victories, given that inflation is at a 40-year-high and Mr Biden’s approval ratings are relatively low.
But exit poll data suggests voters may have punished Republicans for their efforts to restrict access to abortion.
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Biden said the results so far had made him breathe a “sigh of relief”.
“It was a good day, I think, for democracy,” he said.
He added that his optimism had been vindicated, and ribbed journalists who had predicted heavy Democratic losses.
Buoyed by the better-than-expected night, Mr Biden said he plans to stand for re-election in 2024. “Our intention is to run again, that’s been our intention,” Mr Biden, who turns 80 this month, told reporters.
Republicans, meanwhile, were closing in on the 218 seats they need to wrest control of the House from Democrats.
If Republicans win either chamber of Congress, they will be able to block the president’s agenda. The White House is also braced for congressional investigations into the Biden administration.
Mr Biden said he was prepared to work with Republicans and would host bipartisan talks next week.
But the president also said he believed the American people would view any Republican-led inquiries as “almost comedy”.
Source: BBC
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Where things stand in the Senate
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is feeling cautiously optimistic.
“While many races remain too close to call, it is clear that House Democratic Members and candidates are strongly outperforming expectations across the country,” she says.
She calls for every vote to be counted and thanks volunteers for “enabling every voter to have their say”.
Pelosi was re-elected to Congress tonight for a 19th consecutive term. But a violent assault on her husband Paul at their California home less than a fortnight ago has raised questions about the top Democrat’s future.
If Republicans take control of the House of Representatives in these elections, as is predicted, Pelosi will lose her position as speaker.
Source: BBC
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Senator Joe Manchin suddenly backs Biden climate and tax bill
A US Democratic senator who has proved a political thorn in the White House’s side has stunned Washington by announcing sudden support for President Joe Biden’s top agenda item.
Joe Manchin says he now backs a bill to raise corporate taxes, fight climate change, and lower medical costs.
The West Virginians previously objected to the proposal, citing fears more spending could worsen inflation.
Passage of the bill would be a major legislative victory for Mr. Biden.
Salvaging a key plank of his domestic agenda could also grant a much-needed electoral boost for his fellow Democrats, who are battling to retain control of Congress as midterm elections loom in November.
“If enacted, this legislation will be historic,” said the president.
It is not clear what prompted the senator’s dramatic reversal to support the new bill. He is something of a political anomaly, representing a conservative state that voted overwhelmingly for former President Donald Trump.
Earlier this week, the 74-year-old tested positive for Covid. He is fully vaccinated and wrote on Twitter that he was experiencing mild symptoms.
In a joint statement on Wednesday evening with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, Mr. Manchin provided a few specifics about his change in position on the bill which:
- Is said to be much more modest than the $3.5tn (£2.9tn) version Democrats originally put forward
- Would arguably help the US lower its carbon emissions by about 40% by the year 2030
- Would devote $369bn to climate policies such as tax credits for solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles, and to tackling the impact of pollution on low-income communities.
“By a wide margin, this legislation will be the greatest pro-climate legislation that has ever been passed by Congress,” Mr. Schumer said.
Mr. Manchin and Mr. Schumer also maintained the measure would pay for itself by raising $739bn (£608bn) over the decade through hiking the corporate minimum tax on big companies to 15%, beefing up Internal Revenue Service tax enforcement, and allowing the government to negotiate prescription drug prices.
President Biden needs the support of all 50 Democratic senators, along with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote, to get the bill through the Senate and send it to the House of Representatives – where Democrats hold a razor-thin majority.
If passed, the legislation would mark a major breakthrough for the president, enshrining a number of his major policy goals into law and offering to salvage a domestic economic agenda that has in recent months stalled under failed negotiations.
The bill still amounts to significantly less than what the White House had hoped to achieve in its original $1.9tn Build Back Better agenda – an ambitious plan to comprehensively rewrite the US’s health, education, climate, and tax laws.
That earlier plan, which for months has floundered in the Senate with an uncertain future, is now “dead”, Mr. Manchin said on Wednesday.
Barely a fortnight ago, the senator exasperated the White House by saying he could only back the portions of the proposal relating to pharmaceutical prices and healthcare subsidies.
“I have worked diligently to get input from all sides,” Mr. Manchin said on Wednesday evening.
He had previously expressed concern that policies boosting the development of clean energy without also increasing fossil fuel production could hurt the US by making it more dependent on foreign imports.
Oil and gas companies employ tens of thousands of people in West Virginia and Mr. Manchin received $875,000 (£718,000) in campaign donations from the industry over the past five years.
Mr. Schumer hopes to pass the bill with 51 votes through a budgetary maneuver that would allow him to circumvent rules requiring support from 60 out of 100 senators. If every Democrat backs the measure in the evenly split chamber, it would go through.
Mr. Schumer said the Senate would take the bill up next week. The House of Representatives could then take it up later in August.
However, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a moderate Arizona Democrat who has in the past acted as a roadblock to President Biden’s agenda, could still scupper the plan. She declined to comment on news of the agreement on Wednesday night.
In April, US media reported that Ms. Sinema had told Arizona business leaders she remained “opposed to raising the corporate minimum tax rate”.
Republicans, who have previously tried to woo Mr. Manchin to join their party, slammed him.
“I can’t believe that Senator Manchin is agreeing to a massive tax increase in the name of climate change when our economy is in a recession,” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said.
Ahead of the Glasgow climate conference last year, Mr. Biden promised the US would provide $11.4 billion (£9.35 billion) a year in climate finance by 2024 – to help developing countries tackle and prepare for climate change.
But in March he managed to secure just $1 billion of that from Congress – only a third more than the Trump-era spending.
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Senate approves historic $2 trillion stimulus deal amid growing coronavirus fears
Washington (CNN)The Senate on Wednesday approved a historic, $2 trillion stimulus package to provide a jolt to an economy reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, capping days of intense negotiations that produced one of the most expensive and far-reaching measures Congress has ever considered.
In a remarkable sign of overwhelming bipartisan support for the legislation, the vote was unanimous at 96-0.The legislation represents the largest emergency aid package in US history and the most significant legislative action taken to address the rapidly intensifying coronavirus crisis, which is overwhelming hospitals and grinding much of the economy to a halt.It will next go to the House for a vote. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced Wednesday evening ahead of Senate passage that the House will convene at 9 a.m. on Friday to consider the relief package. The plan is to pass the bill by voice vote, a move that would allow the House to avoid forcing all members to return to Washington for a recorded roll call vote.President Donald Trump has indicated he will sign the measure and tweeted his congratulations after it cleared the Senate.The White House and Senate leaders struck a major deal early Wednesday morning on the package. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell formally announced the agreement on the Senate floor, describing it as “a wartime level of investment for our nation.”LIVE UPDATES: Coronavirus pandemic alters life as we know itLegislative text of the final deal was released Wednesday evening ahead of a final vote. Key elements of the proposal are $250 billion set aside for direct payments to individuals and families, $350 billion in small business loans, $250 billion in unemployment insurance benefits and $500 billion in loans for distressed companies.The plan will deliver a massive infusion of financial aid into a struggling economy hard hit by job loss, with provisions to help impacted American workers and families as well as small businesses and major industries including airlines.Under the plan, individuals who earn $75,000 in adjusted gross income or less would get direct payments of $1,200 each, with married couples earning up to $150,000 receiving $2,400 — and an additional $500 per each child. The payment would scale down by income, phasing out entirely at $99,000 for singles and $198,000 for couples without children.In addition, the bill would provide a major amount of funding for hard-hit hospitals — $130 billion — as well as $150 billion for state and local governments that are cash-strapped due to their response to coronavirus.It also has a provision that would block Trump and his family, as well as other top government officials and members of Congress, from getting loans or investments from Treasury programs in the stimulus, according to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office.A few senators were missing from the vote due to concerns about their health amid the coronavirus outbreak, including GOP Sen. Whip John Thune who missed the vote because he was not feeling well, his communications director said in a series of tweets. The tweets do not mention coronavirus or self-quarantine, but said he returned home to South Dakota “out of an abundance of caution.”Hard-fought negotiations
A deal came together after hard-fought negotiations between congressional Republicans, Democrats and the Trump administration.After two consecutive days of high-profile setbacks — with Senate Democrats blocking procedural votes on Sunday and Monday over opposition to a bill initially crafted by Senate Republicans — a deal appeared to be imminent by Tuesday morning, but was ultimately not announced until the early hours of Wednesday morning.Democrats had argued over the course of negotiations that they wanted to see more safeguards for American workers in the deal and oversight for how funding would be doled out.There was intense partisan debate over the $500 billion proposal to provide loans to distressed companies, with $50 billion in loans for passenger air carriers. Democrats initially contended there was not enough oversight on how the money would be disbursed, but the Trump administration agreed to an oversight board and the creation of an inspector general position to review how the money is spent.There has also been controversy over the stimulus plan’s unemployment benefits.On Wednesday afternoon, the package hit a last-minute snag with a group of Republican senators arguing that it would incentivize unemployment and could trigger worker shortages and supply disruptions by providing more money to some unemployed workers than they would make working.“This bill pays you more not to work than if you were working,” GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said. “You’re literally incentivizing taking people out of the workforce at a time when we need critical infrastructure supplied with workers.”Republican critics secured a Wednesday evening vote on an amendment to cap unemployment benefits at 100% of the wages workers received while employed, but the amendment did not pass.Legislation heads to the House next
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now emphasizing that Democrats should “recognize the good” in the massive stimulus.“What is important is for us to recognize the good that is in the bill, appreciate it for what it does. Don’t judge it for what it doesn’t because we have more bills to come,” the California Democrat told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room” Wednesday evening.Those comments came just after Pelosi told House Democrats on a series of conference calls that she is already thinking about the substance of the fourth coronavirus relief package that Congress will have to pass to respond to the crisis, according to sources on the calls.Pelosi made it clear to members who are disappointed that the pending bill did not include enough of their priorities that they will have a chance to add those provisions in the fourth package, the sources said.But passage in the House has been made more daunting by the fact that several of its members have tested positive for coronavirus, while many more have self-quarantined after contact with infected individuals.A voice vote is a procedural move that would avoid a recorded roll call vote, which would have forced members now dispersed throughout the country to travel back to Washington to get the stimulus across the finish line.“Members are further advised that due to the limited flight options, Members participating in self-quarantine, and several states mandating stay-at-home orders, we expect the bill to pass by voice vote on Friday,” Hoyer announced in a notice to members Wednesday evening.Pelosi had suggested on Tuesday that she was hoping to avoid bringing the full House back to Washington to vote on the package, seeking to pass it through unanimous consent instead. But any individual member can block such a move, which would make passage more difficult.This story has been updated to include additional developments Wednesday.Source: .cnn.com.