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Added on the 17/01/2019 20:01:23 - Copyright : Wochit
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday placed the blame for the attack on the Capitol firmly at the feet of President Donald Trump. CNN reports the Kentucky Republican said on the Senate floor that Trump 'provoked' the violent insurrectionists on January 6th. The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the President and other powerful people. US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell McConnell's comments came as the Senate prepares to hold an impeachment trial over the House's charge of 'incitement of insurrection.' He said the despite the violence, Congress did its duty by certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
The vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus COVID-19 is rolling along--but very, very slowly. While the FDA has approved two vaccines for distribution, experts say it will be many months before all Americans who want a vaccine can receive one. An NBC News analysis says that at the current pace, it'll take nearly a decade to vaccinate enough Americans to bring the pandemic under control. And according to Business Insider, Brown University's Dr. Ashish K. Jha knows why. He says it's because the Trump administration has bucked the responsibility of vaccine distribution to already overwhelmed state health departments.
Dr. Anthony Fauci had previously said it could take up to 90% of the US population to get vaccinated to reach herd immunity against the coronavirus. But on Sunday, he clarified his 'guesstimate' downwards to 70 to 85% of the population. Business Insider reports Fauci admitted on CNN's 'State of the Union' that 'we all have to be honest and humble, nobody really knows for sure.' This month, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized both Moderna and Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. Healthcare professionals and frontline workers across the country have been getting vaccinations since the vaccine rollouts.
President Donald Trump faces a ticking clock with respect to the current proposed COVID-19 relief package. Trump has suggested he may reject the $900 billion package that Congress approved earlier this week unless lawmakers include $2,000 stimulus payments. Business Insider reports Trump could cost jobless workers a week of $300 federal unemployment benefits if he fails to sign the bill by midnight Saturday. Business Insider reports nearly 14 million Americans may lose all their unemployment aid this weekend if the bill doesn't pass. Labor experts say a two-to-three week gap in unemployment benefits is inevitable, as states need to recalibrate their computer systems to send the payments.
When President Donald Trump vetoed the $900 billion stimulus bill Tuesday night, he claimed sending $600 checks to working Americans wasn't enough. But according to Business Insider, some Republicans aren't buying it. One anonymous GOP official said Trump was throwing a 'tantrum' in order to punish GOP lawmakers who didn't back his bid to hold onto the presidency. As Trump left to spend the Christmas holidays in his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Wednesday, the White House was fielding furious calls from Republicans. They wanted to know why they were told that Trump supported the bill and asked them to vote for it, only to be abandoned at the last minute.
US lawmakers are back to square one with respect to the passage of the most recent $900 billion pandemic stimulus package. CNN reports the House of Representatives on Thursday failed to secure an increase of direct payments to Americans from $600 to $2,000. The attempt was a response to one of President Donald Trump's surprise demands he made in a tweeted video late on Tuesday. House Democrats tried to quickly pass the bill by a unanimous consent request Thursday morning, but Republicans rejected the move. GOP lawmakers are now in a difficult spot where they will be forced to decide whether or not they will defy the President.