Thursday News: Senators “Spurn President on War in Yemen”; “Spanberger and Pressley would do their party a favor by becoming best friends”; VA House GOP Asks SCOTUS to Delay Primaries Until 9/10/19

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, November 29.

• Senators back effort to end U.S. support for Saudi-led campaign in Yemen (“In a historic rebuke of Saudi Arabia and President Trump’s handling of the fallout over journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing last month, a decisive majority in the Senate voted to advance a measure to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led war.”)
• May Says People’s Vote Would Mean Reopening Talks: Brexit Update
• Beijing Is Pushing Hard To Influence U.S. Views Of China, Report Says
• Senators, Furious Over Khashoggi Killing, Spurn President on War in Yemen (“The Senate voted 63 to 37 to bring to the floor a measure to limit presidential war powers in Yemen. It was the strongest signal yet that Republican and Democratic senators alike remain vehemently skeptical of the administration’s insistence that the Saudi crown prince cannot, with certainty, be blamed for the death of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”)
• The Mueller investigation keeps offering important revelations. It must continue.
• Does Trump’s great gut mean a tiny brain? (“And the president says his gut thinks better than some brains.”)
• Trump, Xi face pivotal moment in trade war
• Kremlin confirms Trump-Putin G20 meet amid Russia-Ukraine tensions
• Faced with months-long wait in Mexico, some caravan migrants decide to go home
• Trump shares image calling for his opponents to face trials for ‘treason’ (Trump needs to be reined in big time. Republican Senators, do your f’ing job!)
• Trump’s court picks held hostage by Mueller bill
• Can our country’s anti-Trump blocks work together to defeat him? (“Spanberger and Pressley would do their party a favor by becoming best friends. Democrats will not be able to govern and build a durable majority unless the forces that each represents can find their own brand of common ground. The two might invite into their friend group blue-collar Democrats such as Reps. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania and Daniel Kildee of Michigan, whose constituencies are the other ingredient to a new political formula.”)
• Trump Talks of Pardon for Manafort and Escalates Attacks on Russia Inquiry (Obstruction of justice?)
• Democrats Resoundingly Nominate Pelosi as Speaker, but Defections Signal Fight Ahead
• Why Nancy Pelosi Deserves to Be Speaker (“Her skills are a perfect match for the job, and there is no better choice in the Democratic caucus — it’s not even close.” Agreed.)
• Crude Oil Slides Below $50 for First Time in Over a Year
• Pelosi Wins the Democrats’ Nomination for Speaker—but It Ain’t Over Yet (“She still needs to win over a few opponents to secure the gavel in January.”)
• Key Mueller witness: I lied and I’m ready to die in jail (“In a blockbuster interview, key Mueller witness and Roger Stone associate Jerome Corsi admits to MSNBC’s Ari Melber that he lied to Congress, that he tried to get stolen Clinton emails back to the Trump campaign in 2016, that he ‘absolutely’ intended to help the Trump campaign by doing so…”)
• Trump’s night-owl calls to Roger Stone in 2016 draw scrutiny in Mueller probe
• There’s a Reason Our Barking St. Bernard of a President* Doesn’t Do These Interviews Often (“I just, y’know, I think I…but…yeah, I got nothing.”)
• ‘To the Syrian refugee — I say sorry:’ Horrific schoolyard bullying video revolts the world
• Trump on Rod Rosenstein: ‘He should have never picked a special counsel’
• Layoffs hit the NRA’s media operation NRATV
• Exclusive: Two key answers from Trump to Mueller
• Chuck Schumer Is Greatly Overestimating Trump’s Popularity (“The midterms were a stunning referendum. Democratic leaders should act accordingly.”)
• The Climate Apocalypse Is Now, and It’s Happening to You
• Study Warns of Cascading Health Risks From the Changing Climate
• Extreme heat from climate change a ‘medical emergency,’ sickening tens of millions worldwide
• A Carbon Tax Wave in the States? 7 Considering New Carbon Pricing
• Two pipelines in Pennsylvania, Ohio amass more than 800 violations: report
• New position of influence (“Rep. Scott will have both an audience and a venue to discuss issues vital to his district’s residents come January when he will be in line as the next chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.”)
• Audio: This Gonzo Interview Highlights Why Terry McAuliffe Would Be a Debacle as the Dems’ 2020 Presidential Nominee (“Among other things, McAuliffe claims he’s seen VIDEO of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.”)
• A Few Thoughts on Congresswoman-Elect Abigail Spanberger Joining the “Blue Dog Coalition”
• Video: Ralph Northam Dodges Question and Three Excellent Followups from WTOP on Air Board Dismissals
• Va. House GOP asks court to push back 2019 primary schedule over redistricting case (“The Supreme Court is expected to hear new arguments in the case in February. But a ruling isn’t likely to come until May or June, potentially in the thick of the legislative primaries scheduled for June 11. Cox asked the court to reschedule the primaries for Sept. 10 and push back other candidate deadlines accordingly. Under Cox’s proposed timeline, the candidate filing deadline would be July 17…Bernard Grofman, a University of California-Irvine political science professor, is in the process of redrawing the contested House districts for the court as its appointed expert. Grofman is scheduled to file his map Dec. 7.”)
• Schapiro: Cooking up opportunities for Va. on Capitol Hill
• Equal Rights Amendment campaign sets sights on General Assembly session
• Rep for Va. Supreme Court chief calls proposed eviction-diversion program ‘incredibly expensive window dressing’
• Editorial: What kind of Democratic leader would Rasoul be? (“A vote for Rasoul would signal many things — a more outward-facing caucus, for instance — but one thing it would signal is that House Democrats aren’t simply an insular party of Northern Virginia.”)
• Proposed changes to Virginia eviction laws aim for fairer balance
• Sterling man pleads guilty to murder in killing of Muslim teen (Gotta say, these are the types of cases that make me waver on my opposition to the death penalty.)
• Fairfax lawmaker wants to ‘Keep Virginia’s money in Virginia’ by allowing sports betting
• Ebbin touts benefits of Amazon’s HQ2 for Crystal City
• 3 of Agelasto’s constituents say he should forfeit Richmond City Council position because he moved out of district
• Virginia Hospital Center to expand in Arlington
• Winds ease but chill lingers today; weekend wet but warming up