For city leaders in Washington, DC, the deadly January 6 attack on the Capitol reinforces the need for Congress to move on granting statehood to the district, particularly after pro-Trump rioters were able to incite violence without immediate repercussion or proper law enforcement on hand to tame the crowd, according to Rep. Oye Owolewa, DC's shadow representative.
"We don't have control over our National Guard. While every other state can just have the governor reach and get their resources to protect them, we don't have that," he said.
The need for statehood was evident even before the Capitol attack and was highlighted last year when the ongoing coronavirus pandemic first swept the U.S., Owolewa added. "We don't control our own budget. We can't even create our own laws without federal intervention. We're not able to get all the resources to fight COVID compared to our neighboring states in Maryland and Virginia."
Just off of the heels of last week's attack, the city is gearing up to host President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, an event DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is asking that Americans virtually attend from home because of persistent safety concerns. Owolewa said he is concerned about residents of the city, in particular, not just for potential violence at the event but the fallout from the pandemic at health care facilities, restaurants, and shops.
"This is supposed to be a time where people come to DC and celebrate a peaceful transition of power. This is our opportunity to show the world what democracy is like, and right now, we have a president that puts his own interest in front of national security," he continued.
As the House debates over articles of impeachment, despite not having a seat in Congress due to DC's lack of statehood, Owolewa echoed the sentiments from many critics of the president and supported attempting to convict and oust Donald Trump.
"[Trump] is going to be impeached based off his comments that he made that incited a riot and today, I expect a bipartisan vote that will pass the articles of impeachment and send it over to the Senate for a vote," he said.
House Republicans in key battleground districts are working to contain the political fallout expected when thousands of their constituents face higher bills for health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act. For a critical sliver of the GOP majority, the impending expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits after Dec. 31 could be a major political liability as they potentially face midterm headwinds in a 2026 election critical to President Donald Trump’s agenda. For Democrats, the party’s strategy for capturing the House majority revolves around pinning higher bills for groceries, health insurance and utilities on Republicans.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
