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Added on the 19/07/2017 19:31:39 - Copyright : AFP EN
Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney-Barrett may be put on the back burner for the time being. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for a halt of the proceedings after two Senate Judiciary Committee members tested positive for COVID-19. GOP Senators Thom Tillis and Mike Lee said Friday they had tested positive for the virus after President Trump announced his diagnosis. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated the process would move forward as expected after Lee revealed his diagnosis. However, Business Insider reports McConnell has not commented since Sen. Tillis's announcement.
Lisa Murkowski is calling on President Donald Trump to resign following the riots at the Capitol. This makes her the first Republican senator to take that step. "I want him to resign. He has caused enough damage," Murkowski said in an interview. The chances of Trump resigning are incredibly low, according to reports at CNN. However, the Democrats plan to impeach him once more as early as Monday. Mike Pence may also use the 25th amendment to remove Trump from power.
On Saturday, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said he would object to the certification of Electoral College votes on Wednesday. Pres. Elect Joe Biden won the race in November. Trump and a number of his Republican allies have refused to accept the results. Business Insider reports the GOP have used baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. A number of other senators are expected to join Cruz, according to Axios. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has already said he planned to object to the certification next week. Fox News reports that Hawley's effort is separate.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that in November Pfizer offered the Trump Administration more COVID-19 vaccines. Gottlieb says the Trump administration rejected the offer. The NY Times reports that Pres. Trump rejected 100 million doses of Pfizer's recently approved COVID-19 vaccine over the summer. According to Business Insider the COVID-19 vaccine deployment campaign started Monday, December 14th.
On Saturday, GOP Rep-Elect Bob Good of Virginia labeled the coronavirus pandemic as "phony." Good made the remarks at a rally in support of President Donald Trump in Washington, DC. Business Insider reports he told the crowd they looked like a group of people that get that this is a phony pandemic." "It's a serious virus, but it's a virus. It's not a pandemic ... You get it. You stand up against tyranny." Just a day earlier, the US had roughly 231,000 new coronavirus infections and over 3,300 COVID-19 deaths. Both of those are record numbers for the country, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.