- Trump fires head of cybersecurity agency that refuted voter fraud claims
- Pelosi criticises ‘dangerous, shameful charade’ undermining democracy
- Pennsylvania court deals blow to Trump bid to overturn Biden win
- Can Trump actually stage a coup and stay in office for a second term?
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11.01am GMT
Bracing for a divided government, progressives are charting a path forward for Joe Biden’s economic vision that doesn’t involve Congress.
In a memo released on Wednesday, New Consensus, a progressive think tank led by former aides to congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, outlines how Biden could implement his “Build Back Better” economic agenda using only his presidential powers and executive authorities.
10.56am GMT
Emily Cochrane at the New York Times has been pointing out the concerns that there is an ongoing coronavirus outbreak on Capitol Hill. She writes:
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, 87, on Tuesday became the latest lawmaker to be affected, announcing that he had tested positive. His absence helped to temporarily derail the confirmation of president Trump’s nominee for the Federal Reserve Board and shattered Mr. Grassley’s pride and joy, the longest consecutive voting streak in Senate history.
His diagnosis came the day after Representative Don Young of Alaska, also 87, disclosed that he had been hospitalized over the weekend after what he described as a particularly brutal bout with Covid-19. The twin announcements from two men whose gender and age put them at peak vulnerability to being killed by the virus underscored the risks that lawmakers are operating under as Congress continues to meet.
Related: Trump administration has ‘checked out’ as Covid-19 surges, experts say
10.47am GMT
There’s no doubt that an incoming Biden-Harris administration will take a much stronger line on suggesting people wear masks to combat the spread of coronavirus than the outgoing Trump administration has.
Andrew Selsky at Associated Press has been looking at how the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advice on masks has been modified during the course of the pandemic as more science has emerged about the way the virus propagates.
10.37am GMT
Ian Martin, whose writing credits include Veep, writes this for us this morning:
“He went mad and lost America”. A conventional summary of King George III, the tragic figure who took on the colonies, sending in his troops to “dominate” the streets and crush resistance. Alas, the war of independence didn’t end well, for George anyway. Defeated, bipolar, suffering frequent manic episodes, he retreated to Windsor Castle having nevertheless amassed an impressive library and a reputation for cultured intelligence.
A couple of centuries and 45 presidents later, Old King Trump sits barricaded in the White House doing nothing much. His face puckered into that trademark rosebud of petulance. Barking at underlings. Pretending HE won because a lot of Democrat votes were from dead people and very illegal. His sulky-toddler folded arms, like that time he refused to say a single kind word when fellow Republican and war hero John McCain died. There’s something almost majestic about Trump’s utter contempt for the office of president.
Related: The madness of King Trump, America’s sulky George III sequel | Ian Martin
10.22am GMT
It is approaching eight months since the last coronavirus economic relief package, and yesterday the Republicans and Democrats again traded barbs about whose fault that was. Jacob Jarvis sums it all up for Newsweek:
Democrat figureheads sent a letter to Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, urging him to negotiate with them this week in order to facilitate a bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill amid the ongoing pandemic.
Following this message, McConnell indicated that his stance remains that a “targeted rescue package” should be passed—bemoaning Democrats for having rejected the prospect of slimmed down measures.
Republicans have tried for weeks to pass another targeted rescue package. It would send hundreds of billions of dollars to schools, unemployment aid, another round of the job-saving PPP, and healthcare.
Democrats repeatedly blocked it all. Let’s hope they let us make law soon.
A Democrat-led package, the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act, passed the House of Representatives in May before an updated version—marking a reduction on topline spend to $2.2 trillion—also passed in October.
However, such plans have been met with pushback from the GOP-controlled Senate—with Republican leadership in the upper chamber pushing for a tighter bill with a lower overall cost.
10.19am GMT
Here’s how Chris Krebs has reacted to that firing in public, by the way. He’s changed his Twitter biography to say “Used to be the 1st Director @CISAgov. Now I’m going to reintroduce myself to my family, fire up the BGE, watch @UVa sports, and ride bikes.”
He may also regret the typo* in this tweet where he says he did the right thing, which has proved popular overnight.
Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomrorow. #Protect2020
10.15am GMT
Secretary of state Mike Pompeo is in Georgia today – but the other one, in Europe’s South Caucasus region. There are some similarities though – Reuters report that thousands of Georgians unhappy over the way a recent election was held took to the streets of the capital even while Pompeo held talks with local politicians and a church leader.
Pompeo held talks with president Salome Zurabishvili, prime minister Giorgi Gakharia, as well as civil society representatives.
Good to see President @Zourabichvili_S in Tbilisi today. U.S. cooperation with Georgia is of paramount importance, and our support for Georgia’s sovereignty in the face of Russian occupation is unwavering. pic.twitter.com/L89OzNw8g6
10.05am GMT
Election officials across Georgia are staring down a deadline today to complete a hand tally of the presidential race in the state.
The hand recount of nearly 5 million votes stems from an audit required by a new state law, and wasn’t in response to any suspected problems with the state’s results or an official recount request. The law requires the audit to be done before the counties’ certified results can be certified by the state.
9.55am GMT
With changes made at the top of the Pentagon and the firing of people in government who are opposing his false narrative of a stolen election, I know the question on a lot of people’s lips is “Can Trump actually get away with this, stage a coup, and stay in office?”
Sam Levine has got you covered, and the answer is (almost certainly) no. Sam sets out the routes by which Trump and the Republicans might try and subvert Biden’s victory in the courts and state legislatures, however he concludes:
Despite all of Trump’s machinations, it is extremely unlikely he can find a way to stay in power or stage a coup. Regardless of however long a dispute is, the constitution sets one final deadline. Even if counting and legal disputes are ongoing, the president and vice-president’s terms both end at noon on 20 January. At that point if there isn’t a final result in the race, the speaker of the House – probably Nancy Pelosi – would become the acting president.
Related: Can Trump actually stage a coup and stay in office for a second term?
9.48am GMT
Overnight Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi has issued a stinging statement about the firing of Cisa director Chris Krebs. She says:
Director Krebs is a deeply respected cybersecurity expert who worked diligently to safeguard our elections, support state and local election officials and dispel dangerous misinformation. Yet, instead of rewarding this patriotic service, the President has fired Director Krebs for speaking truth to power and rejecting Trump’s constant campaign of election falsehoods.
The president’s insistence on distracting and dividing the country by denying his defeat in the election undermines our democracy. As the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council Executive Committee and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council — composed of the top nonpartisan election security officials in the country — stated last week, “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised… we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too.”
Related: Trump fires head of US cybersecurity agency that refuted voter fraud claims
9.44am GMT
Welcome to our live coverage of US politics for Wednesday, as president Donald Trump still refuses to concede his overwhelming defeat in the election, and appears to be taking a wrecking ball to his administration along the way.