BREAKING: Trump survives Senate vote
5 May 2019(ABN—Washington) In an unexpected turn of events, Donald Trump will remain president for the foreseeable future.
Despite the majority of Senators voting to remove him from office, President Trump has survived the Senate's vote to remove him from office on charges of obstruction of justice by a single vote. 66 Senators judged Mr. Trump to be guilty of the crime, with 34 judging him not guilty. 67 votes were needed for removal from office.
All 52 Senate Democrats, plus both Independents, voted in favor of removal. They were joined by 13 of their Republican colleagues. Republicans Richard Burr, Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, Jeff Flake, Cory Gardner, Lindsey Graham, John N. Kennedy, Cindy McCain, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Tim Scott, and Roger Wicker crossed the aisle to remove the President from office. Senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio had stated two days prior to the vote that they would "likely" vote to remove Mr. Trump from office, but they appear to have changed their minds since then.
The result was met with backlash across the nation, given that public polling showed around 60% of Americans believe Trump is guilty of the charges, and 65% support his removal from office. President Trump's approval rating has been steady at 20%.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), a member of House Republican leadership, told reporters in the Capitol that "May 5th will go down as a holiday in America, mark my words."
The White House has not given any official response, as press briefings have not occurred since March, due to the firing of Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Her position has been vacant ever since. Anonymous sources within the building have told ABN that the Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, was seen celebrating with other staffers.
McCarthy and Scalise call on Trump to resign
1 June 2019(ABN—Washington) Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) have called for the resignation of President Donald Trump.
"President Trump has lost the faith, trust, and respect of the American people," the former Republican leaders said in a statement, joined by 12 of their GOP colleagues. "For the good of all Americans, and for the health of the nation, we believe it's time for this presidency to end."
McCarthy, the former House Majority Leader, and Scalise, the former House Majority Whip, were widely expected to lead their party after the 2018 retirement of Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), but were overthrown by their more hardline conservative colleagues like Reps. Mark Meadows (R-NC), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) in the leadership contest. Many of McCarthy and Scalise's allies were defeated in the Democratic wave that occurred in the 2018 midterm election, which saw over 100 Republican seats flip to the Democrats.
Rand Paul filibusters assault weapons ban
22 July 2019(ABN—Washington) Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has completed a 16-hour filibuster on the Senate floor against the Democrats' proposed assault weapons ban.
The bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this week, is comparable to the failed 2013 assault weapons ban that was proposed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The National Rifle Association applauded Mr. Paul's move, calling the Kentucky Senator a "patriot and a hero."
The bill is just one of the many bills passed by Democrats since they took power in January 2019. With a huge majority in the House, Democrats have been able to pass bills codifying DACA into law, implementing universal background checks for all firearm purchases, raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, and increasing funding to Medicaid and Medicare, among others.
BREAKING: U.S. blunders late-night surprise strike on Venezuela
4 September 2019(ABN—Miami) The United States military, under orders from President Donald Trump, attempted a strike against the Venezuelan military to try and end the civil conflict that has been underway since early 2019. Fighter jets were deployed from the U.S. Fourth Fleet to attack Venezuelan police forces outside of Caracas, Venezuela's capital. Two American jets were shot down, with one pilot killed and the other captured by the Venezuelan government.
An embargo was levied against Venezuela in late 2018, opposed by the Lima Group, an alliance of American nations set up in 2017 to find a solution to the Venezuelan crisis. The Lima Group has privately tried keep the United States away from the Venezuelan issue, fearing that any action by the U.S. would embolden leftist allies of the government of the country's dictator, Tareck El Aissami.
Cuban dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel has expressed his solidarity with El Aissami's government, rallying against "renewed American imperialism," harkening back to the powerful emotions felt across Latin America with respect to American intervention in their nations' affairs throughout the 20th century. Ecuador's Lenín Moreno also condemned the American actions.
Stateside, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) slammed President Trump for not consulting congressional leadership about the action, as well as the fact that an American pilot was killed and another taken hostage.
According to anonymous sources in the White House, Defense Secretary James Mattis was unaware of the President's decision to strike Venezuela, indicating that the action was not planned ahead of time, and did not include much input from the Department of Defense.
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