Good Wednesday morning, CivMixers.
So the House Democrats plan to move forward today with an effort to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time in his four-year tenure in an effort to hold him responsible for his role in inciting the violence on. the U.S. Capitol last week.
Ho hum. Nothing to see here. Just a little vote en route to making history, with at a small handful of Republicans – led by Central New York Rep. John Katko – saying they’ll join the Democrats in their quest.
This comes after Vice President Mike Pence, in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, declined to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Instead, he urged the Democrats to focus on the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, scheduled to take place January 20, and just let the whole impeachment thing go.
The House Democrats intended to do no such thing, voting just a few hours ago, 223-205, to adopt a non-binding resolution calling on Pence to use the 25th Amendment, even though he had already made it clear he has no intention of doing anything of the sort.
Only one Republican, Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, voted in favor. And lawmakers were escorted into the heavily armed Capitol by armed guards in order to vote.
But ah, the plot thickens, because reportedly U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell privately is in favor of the idea of impeachment, believing it will make it easier for the GOP to purge Trump from its ranks. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, while opposing impeachment, has not mounted an effort to stop the Democrats from going down that path.
So yeah, just a little action going down on Capitol Hill. Again.
Back here in Albany, Governor Andrew Cuomo will deliver the third of his four planned State of the State addresses. Yesterday’s focused largely on reviving the arts and entertainment industries as New York continues to try to recover from the pandemic-induced economic downturn.
It’s National Peach Melba Day, which celebrates the delicious combination of peaches, vanilla ice cream, and raspberry sauce created by French chef Auguste Escoffier while employed at the Savoy Hotel, London in honor of Australian soprano, Nellie Melba.
(This seems as good a time as any to plug Leanne Ricchiuti’s piece that we believe has finally solved the mystery of the melba sauce and mozzarella stick pairing that is unique to the Capital Region. If you haven’t read it, check it out here).
Sunshine and clouds, temperatures in the mid-30s. Mid-winter in upstate New York. Blah. Blah.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump doubled down on the incendiary rhetoric that incited the Capitol riot, warning darkly that it was dangerous to the United States for him to be impeached for his conduct.
With just eight days left as president, Trump jetted to Texas to burnish his tarnished legacy by touring a section of border wall constructed under his administration.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made no commitments on voting to convict Trump, and wants to see the article of impeachment itself before voting.
National Guard troops who are flooding into Washington to secure the Capitol for Inauguration Day will be armed, the Army secretary, Ryan McCarthy, has decided, Defense Department officials said.
President-elect Joe Biden is pushing to keep impeachment from consuming his agenda and overshadowing the early days of his administration, as he tries to avoid the appearance of either promoting the proceedings or trying to stop them.
The U.S. Senate has not yet held a single confirmation hearing on any of Biden’s cabinet picks, with the first not scheduled to get underway until January 19 – one day before the inauguration.
Biden intends to appoint acting agency heads across the federal government once he takes office because of delays to his transition and Senate consideration of his nominees.
Google’s YouTube has blocked Trump’s official channel from uploading new content for at least a week, citing the potential for violence following the deadly Capitol siege.
The city government is working to end contracts with Trump businesses, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, citing outrage over the commander-in-chief’s role sparking last week’s deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol.
De Blasio, who has repeatedly accused Trump of provoking the violent siege, said his legal team was assessing the city’s options.
Walmart’s political action committee will “indefinitely” suspend contributions to members of Congress who voted against the certification of state Electoral College votes, the company said in a statement.
Hits to Trump’s business empire since the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol are part of a liberal “cancel culture,” his son, Eric, said.
Trump has reportedly discussed issuing pardons for himself and his children with new urgency since the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
House Democrats intend to file new subpoenas related to Trump’s business deals with Deutsche Bank — after the Supreme Court said that their previous subpoenas were too broad, it was revealed in court.
NY-23 Republican Rep. Tom Reed and colleagues introduced a concurrent resolution to “censure” Trump “for attempting to unlawfully overturn the 2020 Presidential Election and for violating his oath of office.”
Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham and head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said he doesn’t expect the tumult at the Capitol to deter evangelical Christians from continuing to support Trump.
The nation’s military leadership denounced last week’s storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob as a plot to overthrow the government, while federal prosecutors said they were examining more than 160 cases and weighing sedition charges in some.
In the hour after they breached the building, the rioters – some carrying nooses, bats, pipes, chemical irritants and zip ties that can be used to handcuff people – were feet or seconds away from the lawmakers they sought to confront.
As the pro-Trump mob breached the U.S. Capitol and appeared on the brink of storming into the House chamber, New York Rep. Sean Maloney turned to one of his Democratic colleagues and asked, “Are you ready to fight these MAGA a–holes?”
An MTA worker charged with taking part in the deadly mob at the U.S. Capitol last week was arrested by federal law enforcement in the Hudson Valley, federal officials said.
The FBI arrested a man at a Queens home last night after investigating alleged online threats of sending an armed caravan to the U.S. Capitol, law enforcement sources said.
The pro-Trump son of a prominent Brooklyn judge who joined in last week’s deadly riots is banned from all state capitals and can’t participate in any political gatherings.
Harvard University cut ties with Republican North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik over her comments supporting Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud. She, in turn, accused the school of “bowing to the woke Far-Left.”
After a flurry of last-minute court orders, hours of uncertainty and one final plea to reconsider her competency, Lisa Montgomery became the first woman executed by the federal government in 67 years early this morning.
Middlebury College, a liberal arts school in Vermont, revoked an honorary degree it awarded to Rudy Giuliani over the role the president’s personal attorney played in last week’s violent Capitol Hill uprising.
A heckler disrupted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Midtown news conference yesterday, calling the Democrat a “racist, anti-Semite” during a bizarre rant on how she sided with Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol.
Schumer said the first legislation the Senate will take up under his leadership will be a COVID-19 relief package, including additional stimulus checks for qualifying Americans, small business aid, vaccine distribution money and assistance to state and local governments.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo abruptly canceled a trip to Europe during his final week in office as the nation’s top diplomat after several European officials refused to meet with him.
The Trump administration is releasing second doses of coronavirus vaccines that were reserved for booster shots and is urging states to give the vaccine to anyone age 65 and older, as well as to people with pre-existing health conditions.
…this is a shift in strategy that vastly expands the pool of those eligible for shots while presenting another hurdle for the logistics of administering the vaccine at state and local levels.
“We’re telling states today that they should open vaccinations to all of their most vulnerable people. That is the most effective way to save lives now,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said there is more vaccine available than is being requested by states, allowing for more liberal guidelines of who can be vaccinated.
Although more than 25.4 million vaccine doses have been distributed, just 8.9 million Americans have gotten a shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The U.S. government will require all international airline passengers to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test before boarding flights to the country, the CDC said.
The coronavirus is here to stay, but once most adults are immune — following natural infection or vaccination — the virus will be no more of a threat than the common cold, according to a study published in the journal Science.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the state would begin taking a series of interim steps to help to bring back some cultural events in the short term and put more unemployed artists back to work.
To that end, Cuomo announced a public-private initiative, under the banner New York Arts Revival, that will support numerous performances and events, beginning with its official launch February 4.
Cuomo said a survey in September found 52 percent of actors, 55 percent of dancers and 27 percent of musicians were out of work, underscoring the devastation the sector has experienced with the extended shutdown of indoor venues.
New York state has identified eight more cases of the more contagious coronavirus variant first identified in the UK, bringing its total to 12.
Spurred by the success in getting 7,000 fans into Bills Stadium to see Buffalo’s first playoff win in 25 years, Cuomo said New York will dramatically expand quick testing sites in a bid to reopen restaurants, entertainment venues and other businesses.
New York is also working to open up Covid-19 rapid-testing sites at commercial buildings to help return workers to their offices, Cuomo said.
New York City’s top health officials weren’t able to say how long it would take to vaccinate the roughly two million New Yorkers currently eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine, citing state and federal logistical issues as barriers to a smooth rollout.
Roughly 17,000 NYC educators said they were interested in getting a COVID-19 vaccine through the teachers union in the first day of signups, union officials said.
Five new state-run coronavirus vaccination sites will open this week to administer shots to eligible New Yorkers — including a reactivation of Manhattan’s Jacob Javits Center, which served as a COVID-19 field hospital during the pandemic’s start.
The city now has Yankee Stadium in its lineup of future COVID-19 vaccination sites, too, a rep for de Blasio said.
Leaders and frontline workers were among the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on Fort Drum.
Nearly 2,000 New York State prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last six weeks — exceeding the number of inmates who had the virus during the first eight months of the pandemic, new data from the Corrections Department shows.
Bronx Democratic state Sen. Luis Sepulveda was stripped of his committee assignments after an alleged domestic abuse incident last week.
Sepulveda, 56, turned himself in at a Bronx precinct and was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing, a misdemeanor, in connection with an altercation with his wife, police officials said.
Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Democratic majority leader in the state Senate, said Sepúlveda would be removed as chairman of the Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee and stripped of all his committee assignments.
Nicole Malliotakis, New York City’s only Republican congresswoman, sought to distance herself from a longtime adviser who posted a video of herself shouting “Heil Hitler” as part of an eyebrow-raising rant against coronavirus restrictions.
The NYC Department of Education ended the suspense around the city’s accelerated Gifted and Talented program, announcing that the single-test entry system will end after this year.
NYC mayoral candidate Ray McGuire’s campaign will report this week that it has already raised just over $5 million. It was an unusually high sum for such a short period, approaching the fund-raising totals of more established candidates.
NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson, while participating in a recent virtual meeting held by Manhattan Community Board 4, revealed that he’s taking online night college classes with the Columbia University School of General Studies.
Manhattan streets would be less crowded if Uber and Lyft pay when their cars cruise empty in the busiest parts of the borough, says a report released by the City Council.
The Vessel at Hudson Yards remained closed yesterday following the third suicide there in less than a year — as its owner scrambled to try to keep anyone else from jumping off the massive spiral staircase. It’s unclear when and if it will reopen.
Risa Sugarman, who pursued a number of significant cases during more than six years as New York’s top elections enforcement official, confirmed that she is retiring later this month.
The New York State Independent Redistricting Commission has been formed and will meet today.
Saratoga County officials said they have 18 sites – including the Saratoga Springs City Center – approved as point of distribution for mass vaccinations against COVID-19.
Albany County officials announced that St. Peter’s Health Partners is preparing to staff a 160-bed section of the county-run Shaker Place nursing home to handle an overflow of COVID-19 patients from local hospitals.
The City of Albany paid $14,000 in legal fees last month to a reverend who was threatened with arrest for preaching in Townsend Park in 2019.
Albany’s Policing Reform and Reinvention Collaborative’s working groups will release their recommendations for changes in the police department on Friday.
Schenectady’s Electric City Food Cooperative is poised to launch online as organizers continue their search for a permanent location.
Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, a giant in the casino industry and one of the largest donors to the Republican Party, has died at the age of 87.
The death of Adelson, who spent over half a billion dollars to help Republicans, may complicate their efforts to regain control of Congress. “A next generation of Sheldon-level giving does not readily exist,” one strategist said.
