Month: November 2024

Senate Republicans met behind closed doors Wednesday to vote by secret ballot, and have elected South Dakota Senator John Thune to serve as Senate Majority Leader when the new Congress convenes in January. Thune, currently the number two GOP leader, was viewed as the frontrunner leading up to the closed-door election. He replaces current GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who announced in February he was stepping down from his leadership post after an 18-year tenure, marking the end of his run as the longest serving GOP leader.

Thune said in a statement: “I am extremely honored to have earned the support of my colleagues to lead the Senate in the 119th Congress, and I am beyond proud of the work we have done to secure our majority and the White House. This Republican team is united behind President Trump’s agenda, and our work starts today.”

Thune, who serves on the Senate Finance committee, was elected to the House in 1996 and served three terms. After losing his first Senate bid in 2002, he ran again in 2004 and defeated Democratic Leader Tom Daschle. Thune has held other posts in Senate GOP leadership since 2009 and chaired the Senate Commerce committee.

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President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump met in the Oval Office on Wednesday, shaking hands before reporters and news cameras. The two men took photos and spoke briefly, but did not respond to questions from reporters.

The ceremonial visit marked Trump’s first return to the White House since January 2021 when he left office. Biden extended the invitation last Wednesday after Trump’s election prior to his welcome a week later by Biden and first lady Jill Biden.

Promising Trump that his administration will accommodate the president-elect’s needs, Biden said: “Well Mr. President-elect and former president, Donald, congratulations, and looking forward to having, like we said, a smooth transition.Welcome, welcome back.”

Trump responded: “Thank you very much, and politics is tough, and it’s, many cases, not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today, and I appreciate very much a transition that’s so smooth, it’ll be as smooth as it can get, and I very much appreciate that, Joe.”

Per the White House, First lady Jill Biden joined the President in greeting Trump upon his arrival, giving him a handwritten letter of congratulations for Melania Trump. The first lady’s office confirmed that a joint invitation was extended to the Trumps to meet at the White House, but Mrs. Trump did not travel to Washington with her husband. Melania Trump’s office said in a statement: “her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success.”

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The judge in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case in New York ordered Tuesday to delay any decision on whether to throw out Trump’s conviction based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision on presidential immunity. Judge Juan Merchan was scheduled on Tuesday to decide the fate of the case, but both sides requested more time to consider how to proceed now that Trump is president-elect.

Merchan granted the request by attorneys for the defense and prosecution to delay the proceedings for another week. He gave himself a Tuesday deadline to announce his decision after pushing sentencing until after the election.Merchan wrote: “As per the People’s request, the People are to file with the Court, off calendar, your view of appropriate steps going forward.”  

Sentencing was originally slated for July 11, at which time Merchan moved the date back as Trump campaigned for the presidency. The Republican National Convention took place four days after the original sentencing date. Ahead of the next scheduled date (Sept. 18) Merchan announced sentencing would stay on hold until after the election.

A jury convicted Trump in May of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniel to silence allegations about a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

Sentencing in the case is currently scheduled for Nov. 26, less than two months ahead of Trump’s inauguration. Trump has asked that the verdict be overturned or the case be thrown out entirely. If Judge Merchan tosses the conviction, he could order a new trial — which would be delayed for at least four years until Trump leaves office — or dismiss the indictment altogether.

If Trump’s conviction holds up, he will be the first convicted felon in the office of the president. He faces up to four years in prison.

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On Tuesday, a federal judge blocked a Louisiana law requiring the Bible’s Ten Commandments to be displayed in the state’s publicly-funded schools. U.S. District Judge John deGravelles issued an order granting a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop its enforcement, writing that the law is “facially unconstitutional” and “in all applications” that will “irreparably harm.” Judge deGravelles further ordered Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill to “provide notice to all schools that the Act has been found unconstitutional.”

Gov. Jeff Landry had signed House Bill 71 into law after state lawmakers approved the measure, making Louisana the first state in the country to require the Ten Commandments be displayed in public elementary, high school and state-funded universities.  The bill required the biblical inscriptions to be displayed in “large, easily readable font” inside classrooms by the start of 2025.

The Louisiana law had the support of President-elect Donald Trump, wrote on his Truth Social platform when the bill was signed into law: “I LOVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, AND MANY OTHER PLACES, FOR THAT MATTER. READ IT — HOW CAN WE, AS A NATION, GO WRONG??? THIS MAY BE, IN FACT, THE FIRST MAJOR STEP IN THE REVIVAL OF RELIGION, WHICH IS DESPERATELY NEEDED, IN OUR COUNTRY.”

However, the lawsuit argued that requiring poster-sized displays of religious doctrine in classrooms violates the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights and the separation of church and state. The suit seeking to block the law was promoted by a broad coalition of parents of Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and nonreligious faiths with the American Civil Liberties Union and its Louisiana chapter, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. According to the complaint, the law, “sends the harmful and religiously divisive message that students who do not subscribe to the Ten Commandments … do not belong in their own school community and should refrain from expressing any faith practices or beliefs that are not aligned with the state’s religious preferences.”

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The Federal Aviation Administration said that a Spirit Airlines flight from Florida was hit by gunfire while trying to land in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, on Monday and diverted to the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic. The FAA said in a statement that two other flights bound for Port-au-Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport were diverted as a precaution.

Spirit Airlines Flight 951 took off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, just north of Miami, on Monday morning, bound for Port-au-Prince. According to data on FlightRadar24, the plane came within 550 feet of the runway before aborting its landing; the flight flew over parts of Haiti and circled around Port-au-Prince before diverting to Cibao International Airport in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

Spirit Airlines said in a statement Monday that the plane “diverted and landed safely in Santiago, Dominican Republic,” adding that none of the 48 passengers reported injuries, and one flight attendant onboard the plane reported unspecified “minor injuries” and was undergoing medical evaluation. The airline statement continued to say that after the plane arrived in the Dominican Republic, “an inspection revealed evidence of damage to the aircraft consistent with gunfire.”  The plane was taken out of service and a different aircraft was secured to return the passengers and crew to Fort Lauderdale.

The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince said in a security alert Monday it was aware of “gang-led efforts” to block travel to and from the capital that may include “armed violence, and disruptions to roads, ports, and airports. The security situation in Haiti is unpredictable and dangerous. Travel within Haiti is conducted at your own risk. The U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety traveling to airports, borders, or during any onward travel. You should consider your personal security situation before traveling anywhere in Haiti.”

Spirit said its service at Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haïtien in northern Haiti was suspended “pending further evaluation.”  Additionally, American Airlines said it was suspending flights between Miami and Port-au-Prince through Thursday with the airline stating “we will continue to monitor the situation with safety and security top of mind and will adjust our operation as needed,” while JetBlue canceled its flights to and from Haiti through Thursday as well, issuing a similar statement: “We will continue to monitor the situation to determine if additional cancellations may be required.”

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President-elect Donald Trump has selected House Republican Conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, of New York to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik is Trump’s first Cabinet pick for his second term in the White House.

Trump said in a statement: “I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter.”

Stefanik told the New York Post that she was “truly honored to earn President Trump’s nomination to serve in his Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,” adding that when speaking with Trump, she “shared how deeply humbled I am to accept his nomination and that I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the United States Senate.”

Stefanik, 40, is a Republican congresswoman from New York’s 21st District (which covers upstate NY), and was elected last week to her sixth term in the House. She joined House leadership in May 2021, when she was elected as chair of the House Republican Conference, replacing former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy) in the role. Stefanik has served in the House since 2015; at the time of her election in 2014, she was the youngest woman to ever win a seat in Congress.

Stefanik has also been a staunch defender of Israel in its response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks and has been outspoken over the last year about antisemitism on college campuses. Stefanik reiterated her call for the defunding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East before last week’s election, alleging that it has been infiltrated by Hamas.

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