NEWS: Several Republicans in the House have skipped Friday's votes and enlisted their colleagues to vote on their behalf, signing letters saying they couldn't attend "due to the ongoing public health emergency."
But those members are scheduled to be at CPAC
The members include Rep. Matt Gaetz -- as well as some of Trump's staunchest defenders who are listed as speakers, like Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Ted Budd of North Carolina. cnn.com/2021/02/26/pol…
To vote by proxy, a process that Republicans originally fought in court, lawmakers must sign a letter with the House clerk and allow another member to vote at their direction and on their behalf.
The letters say: "I am unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency."
The House has had several votes on Friday and is scheduled to take up the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill in the evening
Republicans are using a process they criticized and sued over -- and now misusing it by saying they can't attend votes because of the pandemic, but are actually speaking at a political conference.
There are now 13 Republicans we have counted who signed letter saying they can’t attend votes today because of pandemic - but are listed as CPAC speakers. Many of them critics of voting by proxy. (GOP points to House Dems who’ve done similar in the past.) cnn.com/2021/02/26/pol…
On the floor tonight, responding to Chip Roy, the chair said the rule “requires any letter authorizing proxy voting to contain an affirmative statement that because of the public health emergency, the member is unable to physically attend proceedings in the House chamber.”
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Several Senate sources: No minimum wage in the budget reconciliation bill, a big loss for Democrats. Parliamentarian says it’s not within the Senate rules of reconciliation
Senate parliamentarian rejects the wage hike because of the way it’s currently drafted, per sources, noting it isn’t possible because it’s a mandate on businesses.
The Senate’s Byrd rule does not allow extraneous measures to the budget bill.
Dems believe the ruling will actually make it easier to pass covid relief bill. That’s because there’s not going to be a messy fight over whether to strip it out of the bill and whether to compromise. cnn.com/2021/02/25/pol…
Rubio, on whether Trump should have a role in GOP, says. "I don't know..why we would want that to be the case."
Rubio, who says he's seen no evidence of rigged election, said this when asked if Trump should say election was stolen at CPAC: "He can say whatever he wants to say"
Asked if he agreed with Trump that the election was rigged or stolen, Rick Scott would only say: "We'll see what he says. I know that Joe Biden is the President."
Scott voted to overturn PA election results. Scott said "no" when asked if he regretted that vote.
Warning sign for Neera Tanden. Murkowski, whose vote could seal her fate, is critical of past tweets. “I don't think that that's a model that we want to set for anybody whether it's a nominee, whether it's a president or whether it's a senator. So I'd like us all to cool that”
Murkowski was unaware of an old Tanden tweet that has surfaced, attacking Murkowski's support for the GOP tax law until @seungminkim showed her
"That goes to show how much homework I still have to do about her if I didn't even know that she sent out a tweet about me."
I asked if that tweet would affect her vote: "I suggested to the White House that my colleagues were being very critical of the statements, and rightly so and I think some of them were clearly over the top.” Says “we've kind of gotten numb to derogatory tweets” but shouldn’t
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has postoponed 10a vote on Neera Tanden’s nomination - a very bad sign for her confirmation
The committee vote has been postponed on Tanden because senators want more time to consider the nomination, per committee official. Not a good sign for her getting the votes. Sen. Sinema sits on the committee and hasn’t said how she would vote
WH not yet pulling Tanden, per @kaitlancollins. “Neera Tanden is a leading policy expert who brings critical qualifications to the table during this time of unprecedented crisis," Psaki says
#Breaking: The Senate is voting on whether to convict Donald Trump on a charge of inciting an insurrection. Their choice: Guilty or Not Guilty. 67 votes needed for conviction.
Baldwin: Guilty
Barrasso: Not guilty
Bennet: Guilty
Blackburn: Not guilty
Blumenthal: Guilty
Blunt: Not guilty
Booker: Guilty
Boozman: Not guilty
Braun: Not guilty
Brown: Guilty
Burr: Guilty
Cantwell: Guilty
Capito: Not Guilty
-- It was truly a last-minute decision to call witnesses after House Dems debated until 3am whether to call witnesses
- It was ultimately a huge risk, they concluded. A deal to submit statement was safer route
Democrats believed that pushing forward with Herrera Beutler testimony would add little beyond her statement and could potentially cost them GOP support, while dragging out the proceedings further.
Democrats were uncertain how Herrera Beutler's testimony would come across after she was subject to cross examination, with some concerns that she could potentially undercut their case if there were holes in her account, sources said