Democrats

Roll Call reports: Not only does Manchin’s opposition place at risk what experts have called the biggest climate legislation Congress has ever considered, but it threatens policies that might benefit his West Virginia constituents, including thousands of coal miners. In a statement Monday, Cecil Roberts, the head of the UMWA, which endorsed Manchin in his 2018 Senate reelection campaign, said …

The Washington Post reports: Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) said Thursday he had tested positive for the coronavirus. In a statement, the senator said he is tested regularly for the virus and received a positive result Wednesday night. He described his symptoms as “minimal” so far and said he was “optimistic I will recover well after isolating and following CDC …

CNN reports: President Joe Biden says he supports making an exception to the Senate filibuster rules in order to pass voting rights legislation. “If the only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting passed is the filibuster, I support making the exception of voting rights for the filibuster,” Biden told ABC News’ David Muir in an …

NBC News reports: Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., was carjacked at gunpoint in a park in Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon, her spokeswoman said in a statement. Scanlon’s Acura was found at a shopping center in Newark, Delaware, around 9 p.m., and five people inside it were taken into custody, Delaware State Police said. They were not immediately identified. The investigation …

The Associated Press reports: House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said late Wednesday he has tested positive for COVID-19, though he is fully vaccinated with a booster and has no symptoms. “America is in a new phase of this pandemic,” Clyburn, 81, said in a statement. “No one is immune.” Two senators and another House lawmaker said recently they have tested …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon was carjacked and robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight on Wednesday afternoon shortly after finishing a meeting at FDR Park. She was not injured. Scanlon and other elected officials met to discuss constituent concerns around ongoing development plans for FDR Park, a sprawling and heavily used green space at the southern …

CNBC reports: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is weighing whether to impose more safety restrictions on the city’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square. “We’re looking to add additional measures to make it even safer. We’re still in discussion. The goal, of course, is to keep it going,” de Blasio said in an interview on CNN on …

The Washington Post reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has indicated there will be a “full program of events” to mark the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, in which a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the confirmation of President Biden’s electoral college win, a siege that resulted in five deaths and left some 140 …

ABC News reports: Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), a key leader among centrist House Democrats, announced Monday that she won’t seek reelection next year as her party faces increasingly tough odds for keeping its majorities in Congress. Murphy, a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, said in a video announcement that she wanted to spend more time with her family, including …

The Washington Post reports: Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed Monday to hold a vote early next year on a roughly $2 trillion bill to overhaul the country’s health-care, education, climate, immigration and tax laws, despite Sunday’s announcement by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) that he could not support President Biden’s signature legislation. Although the Build Back Better …

CNN reports: Senator Joe Manchin’s opposition to the Build Back Better Act prompted Goldman Sachs to swiftly dim its US economic outlook. The Wall Street firm told clients Sunday it no longer assumes President Joe Biden’s signature legislation will get through the narrowly divided Congress, citing the West Virginia Democrat’s announcement that he’s a “no” on the $1.75 trillion bill. …

ABC News reports: Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., announced on Sunday night he has tested positive with a breakthrough case of the coronavirus. In the statement posted to Twitter, Sen. Booker said that he has received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine and has received the booster shot. He first began feeling symptoms on Saturday, according to the tweet. “I learned …

CNN reports: Sen. Elizabeth Warren tested positive Sunday for the coronavirus, according to a tweet from her official account. The Massachusetts Democrat, who is vaccinated and boosted, said she is experiencing mild symptoms. Warren was on the Senate floor last week before the chamber went on recess. The announcement came as the emergence of the Omicron variant has thrust the …

The Daily Beast reports: In a blistering statement, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Manchin’s comments on Fox were “at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances.” She said Manchin had personally delivered President Biden a written outline for the bill this week, of “the same …

The Washington Post reports: Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) on Sunday said that he could not support Democrats’ roughly $2 trillion bill to overhaul the country’s health care, education, immigration, climate and tax laws, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the final piece of President Biden’s economic agenda. “I can’t move forward. I cannot vote to continue with this piece …

Mediaite reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is doing something pretty rare among Republicans on Capitol Hill — voicing support for the January 6 committee. In an interview with Spectrum News, the Kentucky senator was confronted about recent comments in which he said “it will be interesting to reveal all the participants that were involved” in January 6. “It …

Politico reports: Rep. Alan Lowenthal will not run for reelection, adding to a generational changing of the guard in California politics. The Long Beach Democrat said in a statement that he would not seek a sixth term in Congress, choosing instead to “pass the baton” and spend time with family. Lowenthal’s current seat is safely Democratic and will likely remain …

YouGov reports: Barack Obama retains his position as world’s most admired man in YouGov’s international survey this year, having wrested the position from long-time incumbent Bill Gates last year. Michelle Obama likewise holds on to her position as world’s most admired woman for the third year running. In fact, the top three spots for each sex are unchanged since last …

CNN reports: The Biden administration has released a tranche of secret documents that some historians — and conspiracy theorists — hope might shed light on the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. You can read the documents here. Longtime JFK researchers say the release likely does not include a smoking gun that would substantively change the public understanding of …

The Insider reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected the idea of banning members of Congress and their spouses from holding and trading individual stocks while in office. “This is a free market, and people — we are a free market economy. They should be able to participate in that,” Pelosi said when asked by Insider at her weekly …