House overrides Trump's veto of defense bill

The House of Representatives on Dec. 28 voted to override President Trump's veto of the $741 billion National Defense Authorization Act, the first congressional override of his presidency.

Latest Stories

  • Mike Pence is homeless after leaving office and ‘couch-surfing’ with Indiana politicians, report says

    Mike Pence has been residing in public housing for the past eight years

  • Biden did not, in fact, remove Trump's 'Diet Coke button' from the Resolute Desk, White House clarifies

    The new Biden administration has yet not disclosed the secrets of Area 51 or explained what the Air Force really knows about UFOs, but it did clarify, at least, the mystery of the vanished "Diet Coke button" former President Donald Trump would use to summon refreshments in the Oval Office. The usher button, as it is formally known, is not gone, even if it is no longer used to summon Diet Cokes, a White House official tells Politico. The White House official "unfortunately wouldn't say what Biden will use the button for," Politico's Daniel Lippman writes, suggesting Biden might summon Orange Gatorade and not the obvious answer, ice cream — or, let's get real, coffee. What's more, there are evidently two usher buttons in the Oval Office, one at the Resolute Desk and the other next to the chair by the fireplace, a former White House official told Politico, adding that Trump didn't actually use the Diet Coke button all that much because "he would usually just verbally ask the valets, who were around all day, for what he needed." In any case, it is not the placement of the button that matters, of course, but how you use it. And Biden will presumably know better than to order ice cream treats during a top-secret national security briefing. More stories from theweek.comSarah Huckabee Sanders' shameless campaign for governorMitch McConnell is the GOATTrump's impeachment lawyer said he thinks 'the facts and the law will speak for themselves'

  • Navalny ally vows to press for his freedom despite crackdown

    A top ally of Alexei Navalny vowed Tuesday to keep up the fight to free the jailed Russian opposition leader and his battle to influence this year's parliamentary election despite a government crackdown on nationwide protests and its attempts to create a climate of fear. U.S. officials said President Joe Biden raised concerns about Navalny's arrest in his call Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the G7 foreign ministers also criticized the jailing of Navalny and the demonstrators demanding his release. Lawyer and politician Lyubov Sobol told a news conference that Navalny's Foundation for Fighting Corruption and his team's regional offices will continue to operate even amid the “arrests of our followers and allies, open criminal probes (and) criminal probes that are yet to come."

  • California man accused of stealing documents from Mitch McConnell's desk during Capitol riot

    Tommy Frederick Allan said he took the documents because he is a taxpayer, according to an arrest warrant.

  • Tibetan Monk, 19, Dies After Months of Beatings in Chinese Custody, Human Rights Watch Claims

    A 19-year-old Tibetan monk has reportedly died after battling two months of alleged mistreatment under Chinese authorities. Tenzin Nyima, also known as Tamay, served at Dza Wonpo monastery in Wonpo township, Kandze prefecture, a Tibetan area in the Sichuan province of China. Nyima was first arrested in November 2019 after distributing leaflets with three other monks according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

  • Democrats may try to pass Biden's COVID bill with majority vote: Schumer

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday that Democrats may try to pass much of President Joe Biden's coronavirus relief bill using a process that would bypass a Republican filibuster and could pass with a majority vote. Biden wants Congress to pass a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief proposal, but many Republicans have balked at the price tag. The Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris holding the tie-breaking vote.

  • Iran's president criticizes prosecution of telecom minister

    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday criticized Iran's hard-liner dominated judiciary over last week's prosecution of the countrys telecommunications minister. Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi was released on bail after he was summoned for prosecution. Judiciary officials cited his refusal to block Instagram and impose limitations on the bandwidth of other foreign social media and messaging systems.

  • Former VA doctor who misdiagnosed patient sentenced to prison

    A former pathologist at an Arkansas veterans’ hospital has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty last year to involuntary manslaughter in the death of a patient that he misdiagnosed.

  • Georgia lawmaker removed from House chamber after refusing Covid test

    "The member in question had been advised numerous times about the requirements and had refused to be tested," the House speaker said.

  • Four teenagers arrested over ‘live-streamed’ murder of 15-year-old girl in Walmart

    ‘There appeared to be no remorse,’ says Calcasieu Parish sheriff Tony Mancus

  • Here Are The Brightest Decor Buys of the Season

    Let’s get loudOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Biden overturns Trump ban on transgender people serving in U.S. military

    President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order that overturned a controversial ban by his predecessor on transgender individuals serving in the U.S. military, a move cheered by LGBTQ advocates that fulfills a campaign promise. Flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, Biden signed the executive order in the Oval Office. "It’s simple: America is safer when everyone qualified to serve can do so openly and with pride," Biden said on Twitter after the signing.

  • MSNBC's Rachel Maddow says McConnell 'caved' on his filibuster demand during her Schumer interview

    In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Monday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said his caucus won't allow Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to dictate the agenda in the Democratic-led 50-50 Senate or demand an end to the legislative filibuster as a precondition for a power-sharing pact. "We've told McConnell no on the organizing resolution, and that's that. So there's no negotiations on that," Schumer said, suggesting he had a secret plan. "There are ways to deal with him." Maddow included an update when she broadcast the interview Monday night. "While we were airing that right now, and you were watching it, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell just put out a statement that he is folding on this" and willl "agree to go forward with what Sen. Schumer told him he must," she said. "Sen. Mitch McConnell has caved and Sen. Schumer has won that fight. That was quick. Let's see what else we can do." No sooner has the portion of Rachel Maddow's interview with Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer aired than Mitch McConnell has put out a statement that he is folding, ending the stand-off. pic.twitter.com/9qR1jpKXkf — Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) January 26, 2021 McConnell said he would allow the Senate to move forward because two Democrats had reiterated their opposition to ending the filibuster, effectively taking that option off the table. Maddow asked Schumer about that, too, and he didn't answer directly. "The caucus is united with the belief that I have: We must get big, strong, bold things done," Schumer said. The Democratic caucus is also "totally united" that "we will not let Mitch McConnell dictate to us what we will do and not do," and "we have tools that we can use," notably the budget reconciliation process," he added. "We will come together as a caucus and figure it out." "We will not let Mitch McConnell dictate to us what we will do and not do." Here's Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier in his interview with Rachel Maddow, talking about the filibuster specifically, and getting things done. pic.twitter.com/xOAKWfe2Fu — Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) January 26, 2021 Schumer also suggested he is not interested in playing cat-and-mouse with McConnell's Republicans again. Watch below. "We will not repeat that mistake." Senate Majority Leader Schumer cites Obama era lessons in prioritizing legislation over bad faith Republican 'bipartisanship.' pic.twitter.com/gpc1kBP45w — Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) January 26, 2021 More stories from theweek.comSarah Huckabee Sanders' shameless campaign for governorMitch McConnell is the GOATTrump's impeachment lawyer said he thinks 'the facts and the law will speak for themselves'

  • Court upholds order for Dakota Access environmental review

    A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a district judge's order for a full environmental impact review of the Dakota Access pipeline, but declined to shut the line down while the review is completed. Following a complaint by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in April 2020 that a more extensive review was necessary than the environmental assessment conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile (1,886 kilometer) pipeline crosses beneath the Missouri River, just north of the the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation that straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border.

  • 70-year-old Tennessee man wanted for 2 murders is armed and dangerous

    The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said that warrants have been issued for David Vowell, who faces two counts of first degree murder.

  • Biden tells Fox News reporter he talked to Putin about ‘You’ when asked about his call with Russian president

    Leaders reportedly discussed Ukraine tensions, a massive cyberattack and Russia’s poisoned opposition leader

  • Exclusive: Saudi Arabia to get 3 million AstraZeneca shots in about a week from India

    The Serum Institute of India (SII) will supply Saudi Arabia with 3 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses priced at $5.25 each in about a week on behalf of the British drugmaker, its chief executive told Reuters on Monday. SII has no immediate plans, however, to divert supplies to Europe, even though AstraZeneca has come under pressure from the EU to deliver more shots after announcing a big cut in shipments due to production problems at a Belgian factory. SII, the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer, has partnered with AstraZeneca, the Gates Foundation and the Gavi vaccine alliance to make up to a billion doses for poorer countries.

  • Iran sentences Iranian-American to prison on spying charges

    An Iranian-American has been sentenced by Iran to 10 years in prison on spying charges, despite his family alleging he never had a trial or an opportunity to defend himself. A family spokesman Tuesday confirmed the sentencing of Emad Shargi, the latest dual national to be held in Iran amid tensions with the West. Iran’s judiciary acknowledged the sentence without naming him or saying how many years in prison he'd face.

  • Hong Kong begins 'ambush lockdowns' to prevent residents escaping

    Hong Kong has begun using "ambush lockdowns" to suddenly close off and test everyone inside neighbourhoods where coronavirus cases have spiked, as a spate of recent outbreaks lay bare the rampant inequality in the wealthy Chinese finance hub. Police cordoned off a row of densely packed tenement buildings in the Yau Ma Tei area overnight on Tuesday through to Wednesday morning to conduct mandatory tests. The new tactic involves authorities giving no warning of an impending lockdown. City leader Carrie Lam said such "ambush style" lockdowns were needed to ensure people did not flee before testers move in. "I thank residents in the restricted area for their cooperation," she wrote on her Facebook page Wednesday as the lockdown was lifted. A similar two-day lockdown in a neighbourhood over the weekend was leaked to the media a day before police moved in. Tuesday night's operation was small. Some 330 tests were conducted in 20 buildings, with one coronavirus case found. But authorities say further ambush lockdowns may be necessary in the days ahead. Hong Kong was one of the first places to be struck by the coronavirus after it spilled out of central China. It has recorded just over 10,000 infections with some 170 deaths by imposing effective but economically ruinous social distancing measures for much of the last year. In recent weeks stubborn clusters have emerged in low-income neighbourhoods notorious for some of the world's most cramped housing. On paper Hong Kong is one of the richest cities in the world. But it suffers from pervasive inequality, an acute housing shortage and eye-watering rents that successive administrations have failed to solve. The average flat in Hong Kong is about 500 square feet (46 square metres) and sells for around HK$7 million (£650,000). Rents are punishing. Many therefore squeeze themselves into even smaller subdivided flats known as "cage homes" – cubicles that can be as tiny as 50 square feet or even less, with shared bathrooms and showers inside ageing walk-up buildings. It is in these kinds of building where many clusters have been located in recent weeks.

  • Joe Biden: America's second Catholic president

    The president's views on some hot-button social issues have led to clashes with US Catholic hierarchy.