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@ISIDEWITH submitted…4wks4W
The Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a defense policy bill directing $895 billion toward the Pentagon and other military activities, moving over the objections of some Democrats who opposed a provision added late in the negotiations that would deny coverage for transgender health procedures for minors.The 85-to-14 vote, coming a week after a divided House passed the same measure, cleared the bill for President Biden’s signature.Most Republicans and many Democrats supported the measure, which provides a 14.5 percent pay raise to junior enlisted service members and a 4.5 percent pay raise for all other service members. It also expands access to meal assistance, housing and child care programs that benefit those in uniform.But several Democrats withheld their backing in protest of a provision preventing TRICARE, the military’s health care plan for service members, from covering “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” for children under 18.The language, which would affect the gender-transitioning children of service members, was recently added to the measure at the insistence of Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, who refused to bring a defense bill to the House floor without it, according to aides familiar with the negotiations.Twenty-one Democrats, led by Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, proposed an amendment to strip the provision from the bill, but the matter was never brought to a vote. Several of them took to the floor on Tuesday to lodge their objections.“It’s flat-out wrong to put this provision in this bill and take away a service member’s freedom to make that decision for their families,” Ms. Baldwin said, estimating that the provision could negatively affect as many as 6,000 to 7,000 military families.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…2mos2MO
Filibuster for me, but not for thee. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), an outspoken critic of the Senate filibuster, indicated Monday that she will not support axing the procedural hurdle as long as Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress. “Am I championing getting rid of the filibuster now when the Senate has the trifecta? No,” the chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said at a press conference on Capitol Hill. “But had we had the trifecta, I would have been, because we have to show that government can deliver,” Jayapal added. The Senate filibuster rule, which requires a 60-vote threshold to end debate and pass most types of legislation in the upper chamber, is seen as the best chance Democrats have at blocking the adoption of President-elect Donald Trump agenda – with Republicans taking a 53-47 seat advantage in the Senate and expected to retain a slim majority in the House. Jayapal, as recently as September, was pushing to “abolish” what she called the “Jim Crow filibuster.” “The filibuster was originally created *by mistake* in 1806,” she wrote on X. “Every day we don’t abolish it is just as big a mistake.”The Washington Democrat dislikes that the procedural tool makes it difficult for progressives to ram their agenda through Congress. “It’s the filibuster OR an assault weapons ban. It’s the filibuster OR codified abortion access. It’s the filibuster OR raising the minimum wage. It’s the filibuster OR protecting voting rights. The choice is clear. Abolish the Jim Crow filibuster,” Jayapal tweeted. The progressive rep argued Monday that passing a liberal agenda would’ve “built some trust with the American people.”“If we had had control of the trifecta and gotten rid of the filibuster to pass minimum wage, to pass paid sick leave, to pass many of these things that are passing – abortion access – that are passing on ballot measures that are so popular … then I think we would have built some trust with the American people,” Jayapal argued.
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Pope Francis called for an investigation into whether Israel's military actions in Gaza legally constitute genocide, according to a book due out this week.The pope has previously criticized Israel's attacks on Gaza as "immoral" and disproportionate, but had stopped short of calling for an investigation into whether they violate international law.Francis reportedly privately used the term "genocide" last year to describe Israeli military actions while speaking to a group of Palestinians, the Washington Post reported.Pope Francis made the remarks in a forthcoming book — "Hope Never Disappoints. Pilgrims Towards a Better World" — that was based on interviews with him."According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide," Francis is quoted as saying in the book."We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies," he adds.A UN report earlier this month stated that nearly 70% of the verified fatalities in Gaza were women and children.
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Matt Gaetz announced he is withdrawing his name from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump's pick as attorney general, noting in a social media post that his nomination had become a distraction.Gaetz held multiple meetings with GOP senators over the past couple of days as he sought to game out his chances of getting confirmed.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…20hrs20H
President-elect Donald Trump has encouraged billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to consider filling Ohio’s vacant Senate seat should the post be offered to him, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private deliberations.Ramaswamy publicly withdrew his name from consideration for the post in November, after Trump chose him to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” panel along with billionaire executive Elon Musk. But the Ohio native has reemerged in recent days as one of the leading contenders for the Senate seat and is in advanced discussions with GOP leaders about the position, the people said.JD Vance, who previously held the seat, officially resigned Friday to serve as Trump’s vice president. Under Ohio law, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) will appoint a replacement for the next two years, and then a special election on Nov. 3, 2026, will decide who serves until the term expires in 2029.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…15hrs15H
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not been formally invited to US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month, a senior aide to the premier told The Times of Israel on Thursday, putting the kibosh on a trip to Washington for the ceremony.Israeli officials had said in recent weeks that Netanyahu was expected to attend the January 20 swearing-in and insisted that he was still planning on doing so even after undergoing prostate removal surgery late last month.But on Thursday, an aide said that he would not be in the audience, barring any last-minute changes.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not been formally invited to US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month, a senior aide to the premier told The Times of Israel on Thursday, putting the kibosh on a trip to Washington for the ceremony.Israeli officials had said in recent weeks that Netanyahu was expected to attend the January 20 swearing-in and insisted that he was still planning on doing so even after undergoing prostate removal surgery late last month.But on Thursday, an aide said that he would not be in the audience, barring any last-minute changes.1/2The video player is currently playing an ad.The aide said Netanyahu had not received an official invitation, though it was unclear if he had been informally asked to attend.Beyond the premier’s medical troubles, the trip, should he have taken it, would have been made slightly more fraught by an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in November for alleged war crimes in Gaza.While the US has said that it will not execute the warrant against the prime minister or his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, they could still be at risk of arrest while traveling should they need to make an emergency landing en route.Foreign leaders generally do not attend US presidential inaugurations and Netanyahu did not attend Trump’s first inauguration in January 2017.
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