Pelosi addresses Trump impeachment, inauguration security concerns
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held her weekly press conference at the Capitol Visitor Center on Friday, two days after the House voted to impeach President Trump for a second time.
"Right now, our managers are solemnly and prayerfully preparing for the trial which they will take to the Senate," Pelosi said of the president's forthcoming historic second impeachment trial in the Senate. "At the same time, we are in transition. With the COVID relief package President-elect Biden announced last night, he is delivering on what he said when he was elected, 'help is on the way.'"
Mr. Biden unveiled his roughly $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal on Thursday night. The massive stimulus bill is expected to fund vaccinations and provide immediate, direct relief to working families and communities, including $1,400 stimulus checks to American adults and implementing a $15 federal minimum wage.
"As the last jobs report of the Trump administration shows, the need could not be more urgent," Pelosi said. Hiring fell in December for the first time since April; employers cut 140,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate stayed flat at 6.7%, according to the Labor Department.
The speaker called Biden's plan "the right approach" in a written statement released Thursday. "It shows that Democrats will finally have a partner at the White House that understands the need to take swift action to address the needs of struggling communities," reads the statement.
"We will get right to work to turn President-elect Biden's vision into legislation that will pass both chambers and be signed into law."
Pelosi also addressed security concerns ahead of the inauguration. FBI Director Chris Wray said Thursday the agency is tracking an "extensive amount of concerning online chatter," including calls for armed protests ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's January 20 inauguration.
The speaker noted that the event was always intended to be small due to COVID-19, but said that the attack on the Capitol has necessitated more security. "This is not a concession to the terrorists," she said, but a "recognition" of the danger of COVID-19 and threats of more violence.
"I think in this case, redundancy might be necessary," she said.
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