Sens. Joe Manchin Joseph (Joe) Manchin Overnight Defense: Capitol Police may ask National Guard to stay | Biden's Pentagon policy nominee faces criticism | Naval Academy midshipmen moved to hotels Progressives won't oppose bill over limits on stimulus checks Senate votes to take up COVID-19 relief bill MORE (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and other centrist Democrats increasingly are in control of the fate of President Biden Joe Biden Trump State Department appointee arrested in connection with Capitol riot FireEye finds evidence Chinese hackers exploited Microsoft email app flaw since January Biden officials to travel to border amid influx of young migrants MORE ’s COVID-19 relief package — and perhaps broader pieces of his agenda. In a Senate where both parties hold 50 seats, a single defection by a Democrat can sink legislation, giving the centrists significant influence. Just this week, several Democratic moderates worked behind the scenes to limit eligibility requirements for individuals and couples who would receive $1,400 direct stimulus checks, lowering the threshold for the checks from $100,000 in individual income to $80,000. ADVERTISEMENT The House-passed COVID-19 relief bill allowed individuals earning up to $100,000 and couples earning up to $200,000 to receive some money from the stimulus checks. Under the changes demanded by the centrists, the Senate now cuts off payments for individuals earning more than $80,000 and couples earning more than $160,000. Now there’s a push being led by Sen. Tom Carper Thomas (Tom) Richard Carper Biden to meet with bipartisan lawmakers on infrastructure Five takeaways from dramatic Capitol security hearing Democrats worry Senate will be graveyard for Biden agenda MORE (D-Del.) to keep weekly federal unemployment benefits at $300 a week, instead of the $400 a week favored by Biden and most Democrats. “We’re thinking about offering” ...
Democrats 1 6 billion wall
Senate includes nearly $2 billion in cyber, tech funds to COVID-19 bill
The Senate included close to $2 billion for federal cybersecurity and technology modernization programs in its version of President Biden ’s proposed COVID-19 relief package. The funds fall short of the more than $10 billion originally proposed by Biden in his American Rescue Plan, but far more than the House included in the version it approved along party lines earlier this week. The House stripped out Biden’s proposed funds for these areas. The Senate included $1 billion for the General Service Administration’s Technology Modernization Fund, a fraction of Biden’s originally proposed $9 billion for the fund, which is intended to help the federal government launch new cyber and information technology programs. ADVERTISEMENT The Senate also included $650 million to help the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) increase its risk mitigation services. While this was less than the $690 million Biden has proposed for CISA, the Senate did include the $200 million Biden proposed for the U.S. Digital Service. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck Schumer Ron Johnson forces reading of 628-page Senate coronavirus relief bill on floor Senate panel splits along party lines on Becerra House Democrats' ambitious agenda set to run into Senate blockade MORE (D-N.Y.), who unveiled the proposed legislation on Thursday, did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment on further details on the cyber and technology funding. Biden included the funds in his proposal following the discovery late last year of what has become known as the SolarWinds hack. U.S. intelligence officials have concluded the cyber espionage incident, one of the largest in U.S. history, was “likely” carried out by Russian hackers, and a White House official said last month that at least nine federal agencies and 100 private sector companies were compromised as a result. The breach was cited in the Biden ...
Exclusive–Ted Cruz Amendment Would Block Stimulus Checks for Illegal Aliens in Coronavirus Package
An amendment by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to the proposed coronavirus relief package passed out of the House last week would ensure that stimulus checks are not awarded to illegal aliens living in the United States, Breitbart News has exclusively learned. Senate Democrats opened debate on the $1.9 trillion relief package without any GOP support, and it will need to go back to the House for approval if the Senate passes the legislation. Included in the package are $1,400 stimulus checks that currently could go to illegal aliens if not explicitly blocked. Cruz, in an amendment announced on Friday, is seeking to prevent illegal aliens from getting stimulus checks, which his office said would save American taxpayers nearly $8 billion. “Not only does this COVID bill fail to address the real needs of the American people who are suffering, but it hands out billions in taxpayer dollars to illegal immigrants,” Cruz said in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News. “Congress should come together to pass my amendment to stop this,” Cruz said. “We need to stand for the American people, get our kids back to school, and reopen our small businesses.” In the package’s current form, illegal aliens could secure subsidies for COBRA healthcare premiums. Last month, Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Todd Young (R-IN) helped pass a budget amendment — with support from eight swing state Democrats — to make it more difficult for stimulus checks for illegal aliens to be included in the relief package. John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter here . ...
The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Virus relief bill headed for weekend vote
Presented by Facebook Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. Today is Friday! We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the co-creators. Readers can find us on Twitter @asimendinger and @alweaver22. Please recommend the Morning Report to friends and let us know what you think. CLICK HERE to subscribe! Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported each morning this week: Monday, 513,091; Tuesday, 514,657; Wednesday, 516,608; Thursday, 518,453; Friday, 520,356. Senate Democrats voted by the narrowest margin on Thursday to take up a sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill, teeing off what's expected to be a sprint through the weekend to help millions of struggling Americans. President Biden Joe Biden Trump State Department appointee arrested in connection with Capitol riot FireEye finds evidence Chinese hackers exploited Microsoft email app flaw since January Biden officials to travel to border amid influx of young migrants MORE could sign a measure into law by early next week. The Senate voted 50-50 to proceed to the relief legislation, with Vice President Harris breaking a tie to advance the bill ( The Hill ). Momentum slowed on Thursday as senators awaited a required assessment from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to ensure rules are being followed to permit the majority to bypass a 60-vote filibuster. The Senate's version of the coronavirus bill strips out House-passed language that would have increased the minimum wage to $15 per hour. It also provides less generous income allowances for those who would receive $1,400 direct payments from the government. A Senate Democratic aide said on Thursday that the bill also includes $510 million for Federal Emergency Management Agency homeless shelter providers, increases the total amount of Amtrak relief funding by $200 million and ...
Liz Peek: CPAC blasts cancel culture – could the attacks on Dr. Seuss be the tipping point?
close Video Tom Cotton speaks at CPAC: Liberals want to replace our history In his address to the annual CPAC gathering, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., criticizes liberals trying to rewrite history, COVID lockdowns, and the New York Times' meltdown over his op-ed. If I were running against a Democrat in 2022, I would not talk about how Donald Trump ’s policies delivered record-low poverty in the U.S., or Joe Biden’s dangerous and disingenuous $1.9 trillion "rescue" bill. I wouldn’t even rail about the Biden administration locking up children who have entered the country illegally, though it would be tempting, after the hysteria that met President Trump’s immigration policies. No, if I wanted to defeat a Democrat, I’d talk about Dr. Seuss. If you haven’t heard, Dr. Seuss is being canceled . The same boneheads who claim that the "mister" in Mr. Potato Head is overly "exclusive," that Aunt Jemima syrup encouraged racial stereotyping, that math is a vestige of White supremacy and that gender reveal parties are "transphobic," want you to find racism in the pages of "Hop on Pop." REP. KEVIN McCARTHY: DEMS' $1.9 TRILLION COVID BILL IS NOT RESCUE OR RELIEF PLAN, IT'S A PELOSI PAYOFF This is absurd, of course, and makes Democrats who applaud such virtue signaling look stupid. But the urge to condemn people who challenge the woke mob and cancel every icon of American life – the founders of our nation, the historical monuments that adorn our cities, the books we grew up reading – has reached a tipping point. Even the famously left-wing Bill Maher is calling for an end to the excess, telling his TV audience, "Cancel culture is real, it’s insane and it’s growing exponentially." CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER Cancel culture has become so mindless and all-encompassing that the average American will soon say…Enough! Dr. Seuss could bring us to that point. We should ridicule those who support ...
