Monthly Archives: January, 2021

We are going to call it like it is. That is our mission, expose the truth, regardless of the narrative. This time it hurts....

(The Center Square) – What exactly did we see Wednesday at the Capitol?

We know what we were shown. We know what we watched.

I suspect that you saw what I saw, and then on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, read what I read.

But what happened Wednesday at the Capitol isn’t known for certain. And I am not confident that we ever will know. Because to know, far more questions must be asked and then answered. I am not confident that the questions will be answered.

Something has changed in journalism. Conclusive outcomes are made in real time across all platforms today, and then the spin overwhelms the need for the pursuit of the truth.

In fact, for all the presumptive conclusions that you’ve read or seen in the days since, a tremendous number of questions remain to be answered.

Let’s start here: who stormed the Capitol? Again, what I saw was what you saw. A lot of Donald Trump flags, MAGA hats and signs.

These were all Trump supporters? Doesn’t seem plausible.

Could it be that simple? Probably not.

People inside the Capitol who certainly were not pro-Trump have been questioned by police. John Earle Sullivan, an activist with who founded a Utah group that is openly anti-fascist and a supporter of Black Lives Matters, captured 40 minutes of video with a female partner from inside the Capitol. That wasn’t being reported in Washington. It was reported in Utah, where Sullivan staged another protest that led to a man’s death.

On the video itself, the Insurgence USA founder can be heard saying, “As far as them storming the Capitol, I knew that was going to happen,” he said. “I’m on chats that are underground that are sending out flyers that are just like, ‘Storm all Capitols on the 6th.’ It wasn’t anything that was secret. It was something that was out there ... and they did it.”

Sullivan, whose video includes the shooting of Ashli Babbitt, was at the front of the mob.

Here in Chicago, I have seen multiple reports of a CEO who was charged for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. His company fired him Friday. Similar callouts are happening around the country to identify and cancel not only those charged with crimes but those who simply were around the Capitol who had the misfortune of appearing on someone else’s camera.

If you’d watched Washington Post’s livestream Wednesday, you’d have been led to believe that all of the people within the camera’s view were men and women who were pro-Trumpers disenchanted by the election results of Nov. 3 and then the Georgia Senate races Tuesday night that turned out from all corners of the far right for the purpose of popping off like blood-filled ticks at the Capitol. That they had saved it all up for one final turnout in Washington, D.C.?

Say that out loud. Then think about it.

I struggle with the full plausibility of such a storyline, which we are being fed by some of the same national outlets that characterized 2020 riots in Kenosha, Wis., as “fiery but mostly peaceful” and in Minneapolis as not “generally speaking, unruly,”

That would seem to be, for any worthwhile journalist – at a minimum, lacking balance in perspective.

We should be asking why only 14 people were arrested at the scene by Capitol Police.

The Capitol Police were tactically miserable on a day made for opportunists of all stripes. Sadly, they lost one of their own in the madness.

Why is it we know all manner of things about Babbitt, the woman who was shot inside the Capitol? We know her name. What she did for a living. That she supported Trump. That she had a MAGA hat. That she owned a pool supply business. That she served 14 years in the Air Force. That she posted Q-Anon content on social media.

We don’t know – at this time – the name of the Capitol Police officer who shot her. No calls to ferret that out. No effort there. That would be contrary to the way the media swarmed to name the police officers who arrested George Floyd in Minneapolis or shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha. The names of those officers were all over the news in a matter of hours.

There is no denying people from the Save America March were loose in the Capitol. That’s indisputable. You can watch the people physically move from the rally to the Capitol.

And, for sure, there were pro-Trump supporters inside the building.

But who else was in there, and who in the media will make the effort to tell that story?

Perhaps only us.

* * * *

Elsewhere in America …

GEORGIA

The Democrats wrestled control of the U.S. Senate after Tuesday's runoff elections in Georgia. Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler conceded to Democrat challenger Raphael Warnock on Thursday, vowing "to stay in this fight for freedom." Republican incumbent David Perdue conceded Friday to Democrat Jon Ossoff in a runoff that was called Wednesday for Ossoff. The Perdue campaign had said it would "exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are properly counted," but ended its efforts Friday afternoon.

FLORIDA

New legislation filed in Florida ahead of the spring legislative session extends COVID-19 protections to businesses, schools, nonprofits and religious institutions. Businesses would be immune from liability if courts determine the businesses have “substantially” complied with government-issued health standards or guidance. Republican leaders said separate legislation will address liability protection for the health care industry.

VIRGINIA

Although a new law allowing public-sector collective bargaining in Virginia does not go into effect until May, at least two Virginia counties are preparing to spend more taxpayer money on staff and resources if public-sector collective bargaining is approved in each county. In Fairfax County, it is suggested $1 million at the county level and $600,000 at the school board level be directed to support collective bargaining negotiations. The Arlington County Board has directed its county manager to provide budget recommendations for fiscal year 2022, with considerations for additional costs related to collective bargaining.

TENNESSEE

The state released details of a $100 million literacy initiative that will provide optional reading resources and support to students, teachers and school districts. The goal is to help students to read on grade level by third grade. State officials estimated last fall Tennessee third-graders will experience 50% learning loss in reading proficiency because of pandemic-related school closures.

NORTH CAROLINA

New federal rules require hospitals to make their health care prices public, and North Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell called on the state's hospitals to do so. Folwell said the new transparency would increase health care's affordability and quality.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Gov. Henry McMaster announced he is allocating $19.9 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds for education programing for foster children, expanded day programs and summer school for early childhood education, and career and technical education programs in South Carolina’s state technical college system. The South Carolina Supreme Court struck down the governor's previous attempt to use the funding to enable families with pandemic-related financial hardships to keep their children in private schools.

ILLINOIS

Gov. J.B. Pritzker was all smiles about Georgia’s U.S. Senate election results Wednesday, saying he’s optimistic the federal government will come through with more state aid now that Republicans can’t block it. “I’m thrilled about the fact that the Senate changed hands,” he said. “As far as how that will affect the state of Illinois, I think there are two things that we can all immediately point to. One is that I think we will begin to see serious consideration of state and local funding, finally, because Mitch McConnell won’t be able to block it, and there are Republican senators whose states need state and local funding and they were working on that behind the scenes but Mitch McConnell would not bring that to a vote.”

Pritzker said Wednesday it could be difficult to address the state's out-of-balance budget during the short lame-duck legislative session that started Friday to wrap up the 101st General Assembly. State Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, said thanks to last month’s federal stimulus bill, there may be some cushion to get to the next General Assembly that begins work Wednesday. Zalewski also said the governor’s announced $711 million in cuts will help bridge to the new legislature.

MICHIGAN

Michigan business and political leaders are pondering why Gov. Gretchen Whitmer chose to veto a bipartisan effort to allocate $220 million for Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The leaders note Whitmer’s shutdown orders are responsible for putting people out of work, but also have made it extremely difficult for out-of-work Michiganders to receive unemployment benefits.

Whitmer also declined to sign two bills into law, exercising a "pocket veto" on legislation that would have given a tax break to Meijer and allowed businesses hit hard by COVID-19 to defer summer 2020 property taxes. Critics assert the governor’s move further distorts the state’s tax code by favoring certain businesses over another.

WISCONSIN

Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced the officers involved in Jacob Blake’s shooting last summer will not be charged with any crimes. Blake also will not face any criminal charges. In other legal news, the FBI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are joining Grafton police in looking into why an employee at the Aurora Health Clinic intentionally spoiled more than 500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

MINNESOTA

The Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) filed a federal lawsuit aiming to stop Gov. Tim Walz’s administration from adopting California’s vehicle emission standards. MADA, which represents 350 franchised new car dealers with more than 20,000 employees, claims Minnesota lacks the authority under the Federal Clean Air Act to regulate motor vehicle emissions.

NEW YORK

Much of the discussion of policies that might be coming out of Washington over the next few years has focused on President-elect Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But now that Democrats will control the U.S. Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York is poised to become majority leader – the first from the Empire State in that role. The Brooklyn politician has served as a lawmaker since he served in the state Assembly in the 1970s and was one of the first prominent voices to call for President Donald Trump’s removal after Wednesday's events at the U.S. Capitol.

NEW JERSEY

Republican lawmakers are hoping there’s sufficient appetite among their Democratic colleagues to override Gov. Phil Murphy’s veto of a bill that passed unanimously through both the Assembly and Senate. The legislation in question aims to help restaurants and taverns struggling through the pandemic by allowing them to expand outdoor seating beyond what current regulations allow. Murphy argued it would circumvent licensing rules critical to “the public’s health and safety.” GOP lawmakers are circulating a letter seeking a veto override vote as soon as possible.

PENNSYLVANIA

The question of whether it’s safe for school-age children to be in school has been a tough one to answer during the coronavirus pandemic, with deeply held beliefs on both sides of the argument. Now, 10 months into the COVID-19 crisis, the Pennsylvania Department of Education is trying to chart a middle course by allowing elementary school children to return to in-person learning, as of Jan. 25, if local school officials decide to reopen their buildings. Middle and high school students, however, must continue their studies from home, acting Education Secretary Noe Ortega said.

OHIO

After receiving encouragement from Ohio prosecutors to veto Ohio’s new Stand Your Ground legislation and a week after hinting he might do just that, Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill last week. DeWine wants something in return, however. For more than a year, the Republican governor pushed his plan for tighter gun controls, but the General Assembly has yet to move anything forward. DeWine hopes signing the new bill leads to more cooperation with lawmakers.

INDIANA

Republican U.S. Sen. Todd Young released a statement Wednesday just before the joint session of Congress that said he will not join other senators in objecting to Electoral College votes from up to six states, saying he believes Congress has “no authority” to do anything other than certify the votes.

KENTUCKY

Survey results released by the Kentucky Democratic Party last week show Gov. Andy Beshear has strong statewide support, but Republicans expressed skepticism about the poll. Overall, the poll showed voters support the Democratic governor by a 59% to 37% margin, including 55% of independent voters and one-third of people who voted for Trump in November. Those numbers prompted a couple of GOP officials and consultants to scoff at the findings. “I can make a poll say people loved Wonder Woman 84 if you pay me to ...,” tweeted Tres Watson, a Republican campaign and communications consultant.

IOWA

In the week since Iowa’s in-person registration requirement expired, at least three new online operators have opened sportsbooks in the state. Rush Street Interactive (RSI), BetMGM and PointsBet are among online sportsbook operators inviting Iowans to register remotely to place bets on their websites now that Iowa bettors no longer have to first visit one of the state’s 19 retail casinos to verify their identification and open an account.

MISSOURI

As providers ramp up resources to deliver millions of shots into millions of arms in the coming months, Missouri lawmakers will consider allowing dentists to inoculate patients to expedite COVID-19 vaccinations this winter and spring. House Bill 628, sponsored by Rep. Danny Busick, R-Newtown, would make Missouri the fifth state to allow dentists to vaccinate patients for the virus.

TEXAS

Many counties in Texas have imposed a new round of COVID-19-related economic shutdowns, citing executive orders still in place from Gov. Greg Abbott. In September and October, Abbott issued additional executive orders to expand capacity limits for many businesses to 75%. The affected businesses included gyms, restaurants and retail stores and some bars. In the orders, the ability to expand capacity was dependent upon the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to a hospital in a given area.

COLORADO

Researchers and public health officials are using Colorado’s wastewater system to understand the prevalence and transmission of COVID-19 throughout the state. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said studying detectable COVID-19 particles in wastewater systems helps public health officials “improve our understanding of the number of individuals affected by COVID-19, including individuals who do not have symptoms or do not undergo testing.” The department has partnered with researchers from Colorado State University, Metropolitan State University, GT Molecular and Colorado wastewater utilities to conduct a study and publish a dashboard tracking COVID-19 wastewater data.

ARIZONA

Arizona’s COVID-19 cases spiked the week after Thanksgiving, something the state's top doctor blamed on local family gatherings. Seeing the same after the December holiday week, The Center Square reached out to data firm Cuebiq to find out just how many out-of-state visitors came to Arizona, thinking that could have been a factor, rather than just locals seeing family. The data was striking. An estimated 1.38 million people, mostly from locked-down California, visited Arizona in the last two weeks of 2020, 86% of which did not quarantine. We asked state officials whether they thought these tourists could be the cause, rather than residents. They’ve yet to respond.

WASHINGTON/OREGON

Washington and Oregon have joined with over a dozen indigenous tribes in a lawsuit against the federal government to stop the sale of the Seattle National Archives building, which houses thousands of paper files related to tribal treaty documents, ancestral records and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The records will be sent to two separate National Archives sites in Kansas City, Mo., and Riverside, Calif. The lawsuit claims the building's expedited sale is illegal based on its relation to "agriculture, recreational, and conservation programs," and alleges the federal government did not seek testimony from tribal governments and other stakeholders.

OREGON

The same day Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, a pro-Trump protest descended into an "unlawful assembly" after groups clashed and several people were injured. As Trump supporters moved in for a shouting match with counter-protesters, which included a number of uniformed anti-fascists, the two groups converged at the Capitol building. Officers spent 20 minutes pushing heavily armed Proud Boys and Trump supporters out of the area as counter-protesters dispersed.

Chris Krug is publisher of The Center Square. Regional editors J.D. Davidson, Derek Draplin, Cole Lauterbach, Delphine Luneau, Brett Rowland, Jason Schaumburg and Bruce Walker contributed to the column.

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(The Center Square) – When Donald Trump rose from a political outsider to claim the most powerful political job in the world – president of the U.S. – at least a portion of his success was attributed to his direct line of communication with the American people via his Twitter account.

But that avenue for airing his thoughts, grievances and political edicts appears to be closed for good after the social media platform announced Friday evening that it was closing down his account permanently.

“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” the Twitter Safety account tweeted at 6:21 p.m. “In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action.”

In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action. https://t.co/NrANZJcAfo— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021

The move follows Facebook’s announcement earlier Friday that Trump’s account on that platform would remain suspended through at least Jan. 20, the day that President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to be sworn in as Trump’s successor.

Both platforms, as well as others, had issued temporary suspensions on Wednesday after Trump sent out messages on social media that some viewed as tacitly supportive of the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

Twitter had reinstated Trump’s account on Thursday, and he used it on Friday to announce that he would not be attending Biden’s inauguration. In another tweet featuring his typical style of all-caps words and emphatic, repeated exclamation marks, he vowed that the political movement he leads wasn’t going away.

“The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future,” Trump wrote. “They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”

In an unsigned blog post, Twitter said those two tweets had violated the platform’s “Glorification of Violence Policy” and dictated that his account be shut down.

“Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks,” the blog post said.

The blog post went on to make the case that the two tweets were likely to send a signal to Trump supporters that further attacks were welcomed. It suggested that by announcing he wouldn't be at the inauguration, he was indicating to his followers that they were free to launch attacks on the ceremony.

“Plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter, including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021,” the blog post said.

(The Center Square) – House Democrats could begin formal impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump next week, seeking again to initiate the process to remove him from office, this time during the final two weeks of his term in office.

Multiple media outlets were reporting Friday afternoon that U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.; Ted Lieu, D-Calif.; and David Cicilline, D-R.I., had drafted a single article of impeachment against Trump over the events that led to Wednesday’s violent incursion of the U.S. Capitol, which led to five deaths.

According to a four-page draft of the impeachment resolution, the president would be accused of “high crimes and misdemeanors” that would necessitate his removal from office.

The resolution points to Trump’s remarks during a rally near the White House on Wednesday at which he exhorted his supporters to go to the Capitol and register their displeasure over the imminent votes to certify the Electoral College results formally making Joe Biden the president-elect.

JUST IN: 4-page draft article of impeachment against President Trump that Reps. Raskin, Lieu, Cicilline are planning to introduce Monday: "Incitement of insurrection" pic.twitter.com/KdQrzQy6pf— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 8, 2021

“He … willfully made statements that encouraged – and forseeably resulted in – imminent lawless action at the Capitol,” the resolution reads. “Incited by President Trump, a mob unlawfully breached the Capitol, injured law enforcement personnel, menaced Members of Congress and the Vice President, interfered with the Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify election results, and engaged in violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts.”

NBC News was among the outlets reporting that Raskin, Lieu and Cicilline intend to introduce the resolution Monday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a letter to the House of Representatives on Friday, indicated that impeachment proceedings would move forward unless the president resigns “immediately.”

She noted Republicans had called for the resignation of former President Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal, and she said they need to do so again.

“Today, following the president’s dangerous and seditious acts, Republicans in Congress need to follow that example and call on Trump to depart his office – immediately,” she wrote, according to The New York Times. “If the president does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action.”

If the House does impeach Trump, he would become the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. The Democrat-controlled House voted to approve three articles of impeachment against him in December 2019, but the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him of all three charges in February 2020.

Biden hasn’t endorsed the idea of impeaching the president, saying Friday it was a “judgment for the Congress to make,” according to Politico.

The White House, in a statement, argued a move toward impeachment would be a futile effort.

"As President Trump said yesterday, this is a time for healing and unity as one Nation," the statement read. "A politically motivated impeachment against a President with 12 days remaining in his term will only serve to further divide our great country."

(The Center Square) – Democrats will have control of the U.S. Senate for the next two years after Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue conceded his runoff election in Georgia on Friday to Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff.

The race had been called for Ossoff on Wednesday afternoon by the Associated Press and other media outlets. As of Friday afternoon, Ossoff held a 44,973-vote lead over Perdue, 50.50% to 49.50%, in a race that had nearly 4.5 million votes cast.

Perdue won 49.73% of the vote to Ossoff's 47.95% in the November general election, but Georgia law mandates a candidate must earn a majority of the vote to avoid a runoff.

"Although we won the general election, we came up just short of Georgia's 50% rule, and now I want to congratulate the Democratic Party and my opponent for this runoff win," Perdue said in a statement.

In Georgia's other U.S. Senate runoff, Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler conceded Thursday to Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock.

After securing both runoff victories in Georgia, Democrats have gained control of the U.S. Senate with a 50-50 split in the chamber and Democrat and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaker vote. Two independent senators caucus with the Democrats.

Democrats already held the majority in the U.S. House.

(The Center Square) – In another attempt to challenge the Electoral College votes approved by Congress on Jan. 6, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court for it to hear arguments in his lawsuit against Vice President Mike Pence.

But the Supreme Court rejected his emergency application in an unsigned response with no explanation.

Two days after Christmas, Gohmert, with 11 Arizona officials as co-plaintiffs, asked a federal district judge to grant Pence as the president of the Senate overseeing the Joint Session of Congress “the exclusive authority and sole discretion in determining which electoral votes to count for a given State” on Jan. 6. They argued a section of the 1887 Electoral Count Act violates the 12th Amendment.

The judge dismissed the lawsuit one day after Pence and members of the U.S. House objected to it.

Pence’s attorneys filed a brief arguing that the plaintiffs “have sued the wrong defendant,” adding that Gohmert’s lawsuit objects to procedures in the law and “not any actions that Vice President Pence has taken,” therefore he should not be the one being sued.

Pence’s brief states, “A suit to establish that the Vice President has discretion over the count, filed against the Vice President, is a walking legal contradiction.”

District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a nominee of President Donald Trump, said Gohmert didn’t have standing to bring legal action.

In response, Gohmert told Newsmax, “If I don’t have standing to do that, nobody does.”

Gohmert then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which also rejected it. On the afternoon of Jan. 6, he lodged his final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which summarily rejected it.

Court file number 20A115 was made public Jan. 7, roughly nine hours after Congress formally certified former Democrat Vice President Joe Biden as now the president-elect.

Roughly 89 Republican members of the House and 12 U.S. Senators expressed objection to certifying some states’ Electoral College votes.

Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD), a group claiming to represent 5,000 lawyers nationwide, has publicly requested disciplinary bodies overseeing lawyers to censure Gohmert, his attorney, William Sessions, and any other attorneys supporting the lawsuit.

"It is hard to conceive of a more self-evident breach of these oaths and ethical prohibitions than this case," the LDAD wrote, calling Gohmert's lawsuit "absurd" and "specious."

(The Center Square) – In its 44th Annual National Migration Study, United Van Lines found that migration to Western and Southern states from Northern states has been a prevalent pattern for the past several years.

According to the study, which tracks the company’s exclusive data for customers’ 2020 state-to-state migration patterns, the greatest percentage of people moved to Idaho, with an inbound migration of 70 percent.

The greatest percentage of people left New Jersey, with an outbound migration of 70 percent. New Jersey has held the top outbound spot for the past three years.

States with the top inbound migration rates last year, following Idaho, were South Carolina (64%), Oregon (63%), South Dakota (62%) and Arizona (62%).

States with the top outbound migration, following New Jersey, were New York (67%), Illinois (67%), Connecticut (63%) and California (59%).

United Van Lines conducts a survey examining the reasons why their clients moved to different states. In 2020, it found that 40 percent moved for a new job or job transfer. More than one in four (27%) moved to be closer to family, a significant increase from the previous year.

For customers who cited COVID-19 as a reason for their move, top reasons were concerns for personal and family health and wellbeing (60%) and a desire to be closer to family (59%). Others moved as a result of changes in employment status or work arrangements (57%), including the ability to work remotely, and 53% expressed seeking a lifestyle change or improvement of quality of life.

Minnesota led the list of states people moved to be closer to family (41%); Wyoming led as the primary destination for those seeking a lifestyle change (nearly 29%). More people migrated to Nebraska for a new job or job transfer than any other state (72%), and more people moved to Idaho due to the cost of living than any other state.

The top inbound states (with 250 moves or more) in 2020 were Idaho, South Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Arizona, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and Arkansas.

The top outbound states in 2020 were New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Connecticut, California, Kansas, North Dakota, Massachusetts, Ohio and Maryland.

(The Center Square) – Leadership failures, poor internal and external communication and inadequate social distancing protocol were among the deficiencies an outside firm pinpointed in its investigation into deaths in the early months of COVID-19 at the Southeastern Veterans Center.

The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, within Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration, recently released an independent audit of the 292-bed SEVC in Spring City, which was under scrutiny throughout 2020 for a disproportionately high number of deaths compared to other facilities within the organization’s oversight.

The law firm Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP completed the audit Oct. 15, and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs released it publicly Dec. 29.

In the 142-page report, law firm representatives laid out an 11-point list of problems that resulted in at least 42 SEVC residents dying of the coronavirus when 2020 came to a close.

“(The front line workers) should be recognized and lauded. This report commends their efforts,” the auditors wrote in the report. “Nevertheless, their leadership failed them, and much went wrong at SEVC that could have been avoided.

A number of the nearly dozen issues outlined in the report took aim at procedural failures that exposed residents to the virus. Communal dining, for instance, continued through early April, even though there was a call to cease such activities in mid-March.

Other procedural failures early in the pandemic at the SEVC included little to no infection control planning, even as the virus was spreading in the facility, and an inadequate job of isolating residents from one another.

The DMVA issued a statement in response to the report, asserting proactive measures have and will continue to be implemented within the SEVC and other facilities across Pennsylvania.

“The DMVA has implemented most of the recommendations in this report that could be implemented immediately and is now in the process of reviewing and implementing additional recommendations, to include a review of its organizational structure, crisis management, communications and infection control procedures,” the statement, in part, reads.

The state agency’s release of the audit coincides with a number of other late-year developments related to the SEVC, including a Dec. 21 lawsuit filed on behalf of five resident veterans who died from COVID-19. The DMVA is named in the complaint, as is Rohan Blackwood, SEVC’s former commandant, and Deborah Mullane, SEVC’s former director of nursing.

Ian Horowitz, whose 81-year-old father, Edward, is among the residents who died from the virus, is among the parties involved in the lawsuit.

Reached for comment, Horowitz said he was gratified with the findings within the report.

“I read through the report for a couple of hours,” Horowitz said in an interview with The Center Square. “I looked at it as a gift and a small victory. It reflects what I’ve been saying and others have been saying.”

As 2021 unfolds, Horowitz said he hopes the coronavirus-fueled deaths at the SEVC and other facilities shine a spotlight on the importance of having strict protocols in place.

“My word for 2021 is accountability,” Horowitz said. “I see state legislators finding it more important to try and pass laws to try and protect these nursing homes with immunity and protect these managers from prosecution. Where’s the protection of our senior citizens, our veterans and other vulnerable populations?”

Early in December, state Auditor Gen. Eugene DePasquale also issued a 12-page report, “Protecting Our Protectors: A Review of State Veterans Homes.” The document, DePasquale said, was a follow-up to a similar analysis he conducted in 2016.

“Given the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on residents of long-term care facilities and nursing homes across the state this year, a review solely of the 2016 audit recommendations would not present a full picture of how the DMVA is serving our aging veterans,” DePasquale wrote.

In his updated report, DePasquale issued a number of recommendations to all statewide veterans centers, including training on proper use of personal protective equipment, or PPE, and improving management-workforce communication.

Deputy Sheriff Johnathan Price was killed in a vehicle crash at the intersection of Maiden Down Road and Jackson Road at approximately 10:50 pm. His patrol car collided with another vehicle...

Officer Brian Sicknick succumbed to injuries sustained the previous day while physically engaging with protestors on the grounds of the United States Capitol. The protestors breached the entrances of the Capitol...

(The Center Square) – Convicted felons in the state of Wisconsin cannot own guns, even if they didn’t commit a violent crime.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a Milwaukee man with a felony conviction for not paying his child support should not get special dispensation because his crime was not violent.

Justice Ann Walsh-Bradley wrote for the court’s 5-2 majority, asserting Leevan Roundtree’s challenge to the state’s ban on felons owning guns falls short.

Roundtree argued that not paying child support does not pose a threat to the general public, therefore he should have not be banned from owning a gun,

Walsh-Bradley said the Wisconsin Supreme Court is not going to create a "hierarchy of felonies."

Roundtree was arrested while in possession of a stolen gun, and sentenced to prison under a Wisconsin law that bans felons from possessing a firearm.

Walsh-Bradley wrote there is an argument to be made that a blanket ban on someone’s Second Amendment rights should be reconsidered.

Justice Brian Hagedorn dissented. He wrote that people who are convicted of violent misdemeanors don’t lose their gun rights, so why should non-violent felons?

“Felon-dispossession laws may be permissible under this historical protection, but only where the State shows the restriction substantially advances the State's interest in protecting against gun-related violence,” Hagedorn stated. “Here, however, the State did not carry its burden to show that Wisconsin's dispossession law satisfies this standard.”

(The Center Square) – Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler conceded her U.S. Senate special election runoff Thursday to Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock.

In a video statement, Loeffler said she called Warnock on Thursday to congratulate him and wish him well.

"I want to thank every Georgian and every single American who believed in me and our campaign," Loeffler said. "We accomplished so much in a short time. ... Unfortunately, we came up slightly short in the runoff election."

Warnock earned 50.91% of the vote, beating Loeffler by 81,260 votes in a race where nearly 4.5 million votes were cast. The Associated Press had called the race for Warnock at 2 a.m. EST Wednesday.

"Rest assured the fight to advance the American dream is far from over," Loeffler said. "The fight to protect conservative values is far from over, and the fight against socialism and the radical agenda of the left is very far from over. I fully intend to stay in this fight for freedom, for our values and for the future of this great country."

Loeffler, who was appointed to retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson's vacant seat in December 2019, and Warnock emerged from a pack of 21 candidates in the general election, where Warnock won 32.9% of the vote compared with Loeffler's 25.91%.

Warnock is a senior pastor of the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached. He will be the first Black U.S. senator from Georgia.

Georgia's second U.S. Senate runoff election between Republican David Perdue, whose U.S. Senate term expired Sunday, and Democrat Jon Ossoff was called for Ossoff by the AP at 4:16 p.m. EST Wednesday.

Perdue, however, has not conceded the race.

Ossoff holds a 43,246-vote lead over Perdue, 50.49% to 49.51%, in a race that also had nearly 4.5 million votes cast.

"I humbly thank the people of Georgia, who have entrusted me with the representation of our great state in the U.S. Senate," Ossoff tweeted Thursday night. "My team is working diligently on the transition so we can begin to deliver results immediately upon taking office."

The Perdue campaign said early Wednesday morning it will "exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are properly counted."

"This is an exceptionally close election that will require time and transparency to be certain the results are fair and accurate and the voices of Georgians are heard," Perdue's campaign said.

If Ossoff's lead holds, Democrats will gain control of the U.S. Senate with a 50-50 split in the chamber and Democrat and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaker vote. Two independent senators caucus with the Democrats.

Democrats already hold the majority in the U.S. House.

(The Center Square) – South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, said Thursday the president’s legacy was tarnished by the actions of “domestic terrorists” who broke into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

Graham, a Republican, said he does not support invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office, but he called on Trump and his team to stop peddling misinformation about the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“When it comes to accountability, the president needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution,” Graham said during a news conference on Capitol Hill. “There's been a constant effort by people from the president's legal team to provide misinformation to distort the facts to make accusations that cannot be proven, and that needs to stop.”

Graham said he did not regret his previous support of and positive relationship with Trump. Citing conservative wins such as security along the U.S.-Mexico border, hundreds of appointed conservative judges and a record-breaking COVID-19 vaccine, Graham said Trump has had “an amazing four years.”

“Deregulating the economy, cutting taxes, historic Mideast peace agreements, the destruction of the caliphate – on and on and on – was tarnished by yesterday,” Graham said.

Reiterating his acknowledgement of Joe Biden as the president-elect of the United States, Graham chided fellow Senate Republicans who joined the effort to reject results of the Electoral College.

“To my colleagues who objected yesterday: you didn't do anything illegal. The law allows you to do what you did. I respect your ability to do it. I disagree with what you were trying to do,” Graham said.

Before the Electoral College objection debate, Graham had said he would listen to the objections of his colleagues, but there would need to be substantial evidence to support claims that state and federal courts had found insufficient to overturn election results.

As several high-level Trump administration officials, including Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, resigned Thursday, Graham urged high-level staff and cabinet members to stay on to assist with a peaceful transition to the Biden administration

Most scorchingly, Graham decried the failures of Capitol security.

“How could they fail so miserably? We're 20 years after 9-11. Yesterday they could have blown the building up. They could have killed us all. They could have destroyed the government,” Graham said.

“People coming through the windows had backpacks as big as my desk on the Senate,” he said. “Those backpacks could have had bombs chemical agents, weapons. We dodged a major bullet yesterday.”

Graham called for the creation of a task force to identify every person who breached Capitol security, saying he was interviewed by the FBI on Thursday morning.

“This shall never happen again,” he said.

(The Center Square) – The top Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly has made good on his promise to pass a coronavirus relief package as the first order of business. But his plan will almost certainly go no further.

The State Assembly on Thursday approved AB 1, the Republican’s $100 million coronavirus relief package.

“This is a good bill. It’s a good bill that resulted in lots of discussion,” Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said on the Assembly floor Thursday. “It started out with Gov. Evers, myself, and the senate majority leader. Unfortunately Gov. Evers then walked away from the table, thinking that he could just kind of dictate what the terms of the deal would be. That’s not how negotiations work. Nobody gets to dictate to anybody else when you have three individuals working in there, each with their own unique ability to bring ideas to the table.”

The plan enjoys plenty of Republican support, and passed the Assembly 56-34 on a party line vote.

New Senate Majority Leader and fellow Republican Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said on Thursday the Wisconsin Senate has no interest in the plan from the Assembly.

"There is a reason that was an Assembly bill and not a Senate bill,” LeMahieu said.

Senate Republicans have their own list of priorities for coronavirus relief, including a requirement that schools in Wisconsin reopen for in-person classes.

Gov. Tony Evers has also made it clear he will not sign Vos’ proposal into law.

Democratic lawmakers in Madison said that reality means Thursday’s vote was little more than a political side show.

"So we’re at the capitol, geared up in PPE, waiting for our GOP colleagues, some of whom won’t wear masks, to finish caucusing, so we can start a session that is now half an hour late, to vote on a bill that will never become law," Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, said on Twitter before Thursday’s vote.

Vos said there are 44 points to his plan, many of which the governor and senators are in agreement.

“I am very optimistic that everything in here is something that is modeled off of good ideas, is modeled off of best practices, and in many cases is modeled after what other states with divided government have been able to accomplish when they put their nose to the grindstone and start to say ‘Let’s focus on getting an answer, let’s not just play politics.’,” Vos added.

The Assembly sent the proposal to the Senate where it will wait for Senators to call it for a vote.

(The Center Square) - The University of Wisconsin System has tested nearly 200,000 people for the coronavirus in just two months. Now the school’s president is saying they can vaccinate everyone in the state in the next three.

UW President Tommy Thompson on Wednesday said the university can take over the state’s slow-to-start coronavirus vaccination program.

"We could set it up on our campuses," Thompson said. "We have nursing students, nursing deans, individuals qualified to administer vaccines. We could do it the same way as testing, and vaccinate as many people as needed."

Thompson said the UW System could vaccinate everyone in Wisconsin by the end of March, or beginning of April.

Wisconsin is lagging behind in getting the vaccine to people across the state. The state’s Department of Health Services on Tuesday reported that just 85,609 of Wisconsin’s 266,675 doses have been administered. Numbers from the CDC show Wisconsin lagging behind almost every other Midwestern state when it comes to vaccinations.

Thompson said his offer to take over is not meant as an insult to Gov. Tony Evers and his administration.

"We don't want to in any way criticize,” Thompson said. “We just want to help out and make sure that the vaccine is extended faster and to everybody that gets vaccinated as soon as possible."

In addition to running the University of Wisconsin, Thompson is a former Wisconsin governor and former federal Health and Human Services Secretary. He said that experience working with the federal government has proven crucial during the university’s testing program. He’s confident that it would be a smooth transition to vaccinations.

“It goes through the state and the federal government, and we’re talking to them, consulting with them,” Thompson said. “We’re saying, give us a chance. We’re ready to go. We’ll set up up a great program for vaccination and everybody wants us to do it.”

Thompson says he has not heard back from Gov. Evers about his offer.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin rang in the New Year with an uptick in new unemployment claims.

According to U.S. Department of Labor data released Thursday, 19,186 new claims were filed in the state in the week ending Jan. 2, a week-over-week increase of 4,892 over the previous week’s 14,294 claims.

The DOL reported Wisconsin processed 103,469 total unemployment claims during the final week of 2020, an increase of 13,541 over the previous week’s 89,928 claims.

Nationwide, 77,400 more initial claims were filed the week ending Jan. 2, bringing the Dec. 26 new unemployment claims tally of 844,672 claims to 922,072 claims, a 9.2% week-over-week increase.

The DOL also reported: “The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.7 percent during the week ending December 26, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week.

The DOL continued: "The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 5,382,459, an increase of 145,444 (or 2.8 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 271,437 (or 5.2 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.5 percent and the volume was 2,147,170.”

According to the DOL, New York (+10,318), California (+10,071), Kentucky (+4,341), Missouri (+4,105), and New Jersey (+2,851) recognized the largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 26, while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-34,568), Pennsylvania (-9,026), Georgia (-7,713), Kansas (-3,710), and Texas (-3,531).

(The Center Square) – Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement late Thursday morning saying President Donald Trump is no longer fit to hold office.

The New York Democrat called on Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the Constitution's 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Schumer blamed Trump for instigating the mob that marched on and infiltrated the Capitol Wednesday. Those acts forced a delay in ratifying the Electoral College results.

“It can be done today,” he said in a statement that appeared on his Facebook page.

Congress finally ratified the election results shortly after 3:30 a.m. ET Thursday morning. Minutes later, Trump, who had claimed the results were fraudulent, said in a statement issued by the White House there would be an orderly transition to the incoming Biden Administration.

However, Schumer said Trump should not serve another day in office.

“If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress must reconvene to impeach President Trump,” he said.

Under Section Four of the amendment, the vice president and a majority of sitting Cabinet members can deem the President unfit to serve. That would make the vice president the acting President.

If President Trump were to claim he is capable, then the vice president and Cabinet members would have four days to decide if they concur. If they do, Trump would resume his duties. If not, Pence would stay as acting president until Congress decides.

The vice president would remain as acting President only if two-thirds of both Congressional chambers find that the sitting President is unable to serve.

There are less than two weeks left in the Trump Administration. President-elect Joe Biden will take the oath of office on Jan. 20.

Schumer is the latest to call for Trump’s ouster. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, called for the president’s impeachment Wednesday.

Also on Thursday morning, U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, posted a video on Twitter saying “with a heavy heart” the 25th Amendment needs to be invoked.

He said Trump did little to get the mob to stand down and denounce their actions. As a result, the country needs “a sane captain” running the country over the next 13 days.

“What happened yesterday is a wake-up call to many, but it’s a call to accountability for others,” he said.

(The Center Square) – Congress “spent as never before, doing so ostensibly without a care” in 2020, greatly contributing to what is now a $3.1 trillion deficit, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, argues in his annual wasteful spending report.

At the same time, initial 15-day lockdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus turned into nearly year-long lockdowns, Paul said, “wreaking havoc on Americans’ health, sanity, and economy, while also empowering petty tyrants across the country.”

Some of the deficit is traceable to COVID-19-related spending, Paul said, “but a lot of it was not. For example, perhaps somebody can explain to me why … Congress reimbursed some agencies for money they had spent in late 2019 and early 2020, before COVID hit, on efforts unrelated to COVID?”

Paul suggested cutting agencies blank checks is why the debt skyrocketed from $23 trillion to more than $27 trillion. Congressional spending was 50% higher in 2020 than 2019, he said. Payments of interest on the public debt remained at $387 billion.

“If you laid out that many $1 bills end to end, it’d be enough to wrap around the Earth 1,506 times. And that’s money the government spends that doesn’t help anybody – doesn’t even buy a pen or a paper clip,” Paul said in the introduction to his report, which details how the federal government wasted $54.7 billion worth of taxpayer money.

Within that amount is $3.86 billion worth of health care spending that had nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul's report outlined examples of taxpayer-funded National Institutes of Health studies that could have gone toward paying down the debt, not increasing it, including:

• $1.3 million to study whether people will eat ground-up bugs;

• $36 million to ask why stress makes peoples’ hair turn gray;

• $1.47 million to persuade Eastern Mediterranean youth to stop smoking hookah;

• $6.97 million of cancer research money to create a “smart toilet;”

• $1.24 million to reduce the amount of time adults spend watching TV;

• $896,994 to give cigarettes to adolescents;

• $3.45 million to send messages to mothers to encourage their teenage daughters to stop indoor tanning;

• $31.5 million on an allegedly faked study linking e-cigarettes to heart attacks;

• $3.1 million interviewing San Franciscans about their edible cannabis use;

• $2 million on testing if using a hot tub can lower stress;

• $968,932 on developing a master’s degree in research ethics in Myanmar;

• $3.69 million on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Deeming Rule;

• $1 million on helping people get over their fear of going to the dentist;

• $1.45 million on studying the prevalence of party drug use at New York City clubs and raves; and

• $787,355 on studying the effect of sleepiness on diet, physical activity and obesity in children.

Other waste, according to Paul, in health care spending included funding federal employees' duplicative Medicare customer service access of up to $217 million and waiting for years on delinquent undelivered orders at the Veterans Administration, costing taxpayers $3.49 billion.

In one of several audit reports published last year by Open The Books, one 24-page report analyzed “why, how, and where” federal agencies wasted tax dollars in 2019.

Its auditors found the most wasteful federal programs were Medicaid, Medicare and the Earned Income Tax Credit. In these three programs, 69% of the money spent – $121 billion – were improper payments.

Dead people received $871.9 million in mistaken payments through Medicaid, Social Security, federal pensions and farm subsidies because agencies primarily failed to verify deaths, the report said. Over four years, money sent to dead people has cost taxpayers $2.8 billion.

The $175 billion in taxpayer money provided through improper payments, Open the Books' Adam Andrzejewski argued, could have paid for the equivalent of a full year of all federal salaries, perks and pension benefits for every employee of federal executive agencies.

Paul argued the $54 billion detailed in his report could have funded three years of the entire U.S. Treasury Department.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson says the questions about the November election cannot be swept under the rug.

Johnson, who led the U.S. Congressional opposition to the 2020 election result, released a statement late Wednesday night in which he completely condemns the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, but said he will not stop pushing for answers about the election.

“I refuse to dismiss the legitimate concerns of tens of millions of Americans who have lost faith in our institutions and the fairness of our electoral process,” Johnson said. “Those who have lost confidence are not crazy. They are patriots who dearly love America and are alarmed by what they have witnessed over the last four years: a thoroughly corrupt FBI investigation of a duly elected president; a grossly biased media that has chosen sides and uses its power to interfere in our politics to a far greater extent than any foreign entity could ever hope to achieve; an increasingly powerful social media that censors news and conservative voices; and courts and election officials that usurp the constitutional authority of state legislatures in setting the times, places, and manner of holding elections.”

Johnson ultimately, however, did not vote to object to the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. He’d previously said he would not object to the results from Wisconsin.

Johnson said thousands of people showed-up in Washington, D.C. yesterday because millions of Americans truly believe that something was wrong with the November election.

“The first step in solving any problem is admitting you have one. My support for a bipartisan commission to address electoral concerns is meant to acknowledge the problem and highlight that having a large percentage of Americans questioning the legitimacy of our elections is a dangerous reality that must be addressed,” Johnson said. “This is not a problem that can be swept under the rug with the hope it will somehow solve itself.”

Johnson said states, Wisconsin included, need to restore voters faith in the electoral system before the next election.

“For the future unity of our nation, it is crucial that states properly shoulder their responsibility, take the action required, and alleviate any doubt that future elections will be fair and legitimate,” Johnson concluded.

(The Center Square) – A joint session of Congress, completing its work in the early morning hours of Thursday after lawmakers had been forced to flee their chambers by a violent invasion of the Capitol, affirmed that Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States.

The proceedings concluded shortly after 3:30 a.m. EST, drawing to a close an chaotic day in the nation’s house of laws that saw one person shot dead inside the building after supporters of President Donald Trump breached its security.

Prior to the interruption caused by protesters rampaging through the halls of the Capitol, it had been expected pro-Trump lawmakers would lodge objections to the slates of electors from six states. The House and Senate had exited the joint session shortly before the hiatus to separately debate an objection to Arizona’s election results – an objection that was always bound to fail when a number of Republicans in the Senate and the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives expressly indicated they wouldn’t support it

But following the resumption of the legislators’ work, shortly after 8 p.m. EST, it became clear that the violent scenes played out on the nation’s TV screens had sapped much of the appetite of even fervent Trump supporters for pursuing the objection strategy. After the Arizona objection was voted down in the House and Senate, only one other objection was pursued – Pennsylvania – before Congress wrapped up its work, certifying the Electoral College’s report that Biden had collected 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.

Trump, who had vowed Wednesday during a rally in Washington that he would never concede the election, acknowledged in a statement that there will be a transfer of power.

“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” he said in a statement posted to the Twitter account of social media director Dan Scavino.

...fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!”— Dan Scavino🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) January 7, 2021

Trump’s own Facebook and Twitter accounts were suspended Wednesday evening amid accusations that his postings had encouraged the invasion of the Capitol.

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Senate voted 93-6 on Wednesday night against an objection to Arizona's Electoral College vote.

After a delay of several hours because protesters from a pro-Trump rally stormed the U.S. Capitol building, the U.S. House and Senate returned to their respective chambers Wednesday night to vote on the Arizona objection and continue certifying electoral votes from all the states.

The six Republican senators who voted in favor of the Arizona objection were Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Roger Marshall of Kansas and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

Shortly after the Senate rejected the Arizona objection, the House voted against it, 303-121. All 220 Democrats in the House and 83 Republicans voted to reject the objection.

Earlier in the day, as per procedure, a joint session of the House and Senate was gaveled open by Vice President Mike Pence shortly after 1 p.m. After the electoral votes from Alabama and Alaska were certified Republican Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar objected, with the support of Cruz, to Arizona's electoral vote.

The House and Senate retired to their separate chambers for debate about 1:30 p.m. By 2:15 p.m., the two chambers had to be evacuated as the protesters entered the Capitol building.

Before the disruption, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York echoed each other’s sentiments, saying it was not the job of Congress to pick the president.

McConnell, who already had recognized former Vice President Joe Biden as the next president, said he supported President Donald Trump’s quest to challenge results in a number of states.

“Now we have these sweeping conspiracy theories, even though his challenges were rejected over and over, including some by judges he appointed,” McConnell said.

It is unclear whether further objections might be filed as several Republicans said they no longer would support the effort. The GOP originally considered objections regarding Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, was one of the first to announce she was changing her stance on the objections.

“We must have a peaceful transfer of power,” she said in a statement. “The only reason for my objection was to give voice to the concern that governors and courts unilaterally changed election procedures without the will of the people and outside the legislative process.”

McMorris Rodgers said what happened at the Capitol was “disgraceful and un-American.”

Republican Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and James Lankford of Oklahoma also said they no longer would vote in favor of objections.

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump saw his Facebook and Twitter account suspended Wednesday evening after the nation’s two dominant social media platforms accused him of inciting violence through his posts.

Twitter was the first to act, issuing a minimum 12-hour ban with a threat that it could become permanent if Trump didn’t delete three offending Tweets.

“As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy,” the @TwitterSafety account posted. “This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked.

As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy. https://t.co/k6OkjNG3bM— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021

“Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account,” Twitter added.

A little over an hour later, Facebook followed suit, slapping Trump’s account with a 24-hour ban.

“We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time,” the Facebook Newsroom account posted on Twitter.

We've assessed two policy violations against President Trump's Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time.— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) January 7, 2021

The three posts that Twitter objected to featured Trump’s statements about the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday by his supporters following a rally at which he spoke. One tweet featured a video in which he came close to praising those who forced their way into the building through smashing windows, saying “We love you, you're very special. … I know how you feel, but go home and go home in peace."

In a followup Tweet, Trump said of the violence: “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

The moves by Twitter and Facebook to sanction Trump were likely to inflame his ongoing fury against them. Twitter especially has drawn the president’s ire over the past few months as it began to apply warning labels to his tweets that disputed the result of the Nov. 3 election.

The spat between Trump and the social media giants led him to demand the repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which provides some protections for internet-based companies so that they’re not automatically liable for the content posted by their users.

Trump had demanded the repeal of Section 230, arguing that such a move would stop Facebook and Twitter from censoring conservatives. He vetoed a defense authorization bill in December after Congress refused to insert a repeal of Section 230 into the bill; the House and Senate later overturned his veto, the first time both chambers had done so during his presidency.

(The Center Square) – Vice President Mike Pence presided over the resumption of proceedings in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday evening, several hours after the violent incursion by protesters supporting President Donald Trump.

The House of Representatives and the Senate were meeting separately Wednesday afternoon to consider a challenge to Arizona’s electoral vote results when they were forced out of their respective chambers as protesters stormed the building.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told journalists Wednesday evening that his understanding is that there would be no further objections to the election results in the wake of the afternoon's violence.

By about 5 p.m. EST, the Capitol building reportedly had been cleared of those who had forced their way in. About 90 minutes later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced lawmakers would reconvene to confirm the results of the Electoral College and declare President-elect Joe Biden to be the next president.

“[A]fter calls to the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the Vice President, we have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is cleared for use,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Pelosi, a California Democrat, noted legislators already had prepared to work late into the night to accommodate the anticipated challenges to the slates of electors for six states. If a representative and a senator each sign on to challenge a given state’s results, the two chambers are obliged to exit the joint session called to ratify the results and go to their respective chambers for up to two hours of debate.

Only if both chambers agree to uphold a challenge would the electors for a state be thrown out, an unlikely prospect with Democrats controlling the House and eager to see their party’s nominee inaugurated Jan. 20.

If Paul's prediction that the expected challenges would not come to pass in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol comes true, lawmakers should be able to move through recording the remaining electoral votes without much in the way of drama or spectacle.

Pelosi blamed Trump for the violence at the Capitol, saying it was “anointed at the highest level of government.”

“We now will be part of history, as such a shameful picture of our country was put out to the world, instigated at the highest level,” she said.

(The Center Square) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would resume its joint session Wednesday night as soon as lawmakers are given the all-clear to do so after the violent incursion by protesters supporting President Donald Trump.

House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the session was expected to resume at 8 p.m. EST.

The House of Representatives and the Senate were meeting separately Wednesday afternoon to consider a challenge to Arizona’s electoral vote results when they were forced out of their respective chambers as protesters stormed the building.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told journalists Wednesday evening that his understanding is that there would be no further objections to the election results in the wake of the afternoon's violence.

By about 5 p.m. EST, the Capitol building reportedly had been cleared of those who had forced their way in. About 90 minutes later, Pelosi announced lawmakers would reconvene to confirm the results of the Electoral College and declare President-elect Joe Biden to be the next president.

“[A]fter calls to the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the Vice President, we have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is cleared for use,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Pelosi, a California Democrat, noted legislators already had prepared to work late into the night to accommodate the anticipated challenges to the slates of electors for six states. If a representative and a senator each sign on to challenge a given state’s results, the two chambers are obliged to exit the joint session called to ratify the results and go to their respective chambers for up to two hours of debate.

Only if both chambers agree to uphold a challenge would the electors for a state be thrown out, an unlikely prospect with Democrats controlling the House and eager to see their party’s nominee inaugurated Jan. 20.

If Paul's prediction that the expected challenges would not come to pass in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol comes true, lawmakers should be able to move through recording the remaining electoral votes without much in the way of drama or spectacle.

Pelosi blamed Trump for the violence at the Capitol, saying it was “anointed at the highest level of government.”

“We now will be part of history, as such a shameful picture of our country was put out to the world, instigated at the highest level,” she said.

(The Center Square) – The Associated Press declared Democrat Jon Ossoff the winner Wednesday over Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue in one of two U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia that will determine the balance of power in the chamber for the next two years.

The AP called the race for Ossoff at 4:16 p.m. EST Wednesday, about 14 hours after it declared Raphael Warnock the winner over Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the second U.S. Senate runoff.

With 100% of precincts reporting Wednesday afternoon, Ossoff held a 24,859-vote lead over Perdue, 50.28% to 49.72%. Warnock had a 50.73%-49.27% lead over Loeffler, a margin of 64,488 votes.

If Ossoff and Warnock's leads hold, Democrats would gain control of the U.S. Senate with a 50-50 split in the chamber and Democrat and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaker vote. Two independent senators caucus with the Democrats.

"It is with humility that I thank the people of Georgia for electing me to serve you in the United States Senate," Ossoff said in declaring victory Wednesday morning. "Thank you for the confidence and trust you have placed in me."

Neither Perdue nor Loeffler have conceded.

"This is an exceptionally close election that will require time and transparency to be certain the results are fair and accurate and the voices of Georgians are heard," Perdue's campaign said in a statement before Ossoff declared victory. "We will mobilize every available resource and exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are properly counted."

Warnock and Loeffler were vying to serve the remainder of retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson's term.

"[Tuesday night], we proved that with hope, hard work, and the people by our side, anything is possible," Warnock said.

Loeffler, who is in Washington on Wednesday for the certification of the Electoral College results, vowed to keep fighting.

“It's worth it for this election to last into [Wednesday]," she said. "We're gonna make sure every vote is counted. Every legal vote will be counted. And I'm not gonna stop working.”

(The Center Square) – Presumptive President-elect Joe Biden plans to name United States Circuit Judge Merrick Garland as his attorney general, according to media reports.

Biden could make a formal announcement on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. The former vice president selected Garland, 68, over U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., and Sally Yates, former deputy attorney general, Politico reported.

“Judge Garland will be viewed in a whole new light now,” CNN quoted a “top Biden ally” as saying.

Former President Barack Obama nominated Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill a vacancy created followed Antonin Scalia’s death in 2016. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., scuttled the nomination.

President Donald Trump later successfully nominated Neil Gorsuch to the nation’s top court, much to the dismay of liberals. Trump made three nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Bill Clinton nominated the Chicago-born Garland to the federal bench in 1997, according to Ballotpedia. Garland served as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2013 until February.

Before joining the judiciary, Garland was principal associate deputy U.S. attorney general, CNN reported. In that role, he oversaw the investigation into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

“If media reports are accurate, I believe Judge Garland would be a sound choice to be the next Attorney General,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on Twitter. “He is a man of great character, integrity, and tremendous competency in the law.

“He will be asked many questions regarding existing investigations that, in my view, need to continue,” Graham added. “I look forward to the confirmation process and will closely follow his answers.”

According to USA Today and NBC News, Biden plans to name Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general; Kristen Clarke to head the justice department’s Civil Rights Division; and Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general.