Up until now, lead House Manager Adam Schiff has elicited some of the only audible responses to his answers — groans from Republican senators yesterday when Schiff noted Dershowitz was “the only scholar” making the argument that the president’s actions to get re-elected were “in the public interest.” Today he conjured up more reactions on the Senate floor when he answered a question by noting that today, in contrast to what has been going on in the chamber, the Justice Department is arguing in federal court that Congress can use impeachment to enforce subpoenas.
“You can’t make this stuff up,” Schiff said to audible laughter from senators.“While we’ve been debating whether a president can be impeached for essentially bogus claims of privilege for attempting to use the courts to cover up misconduct, the Justice Department, in resisting House subpoenas, is in court today,” he explained, continuing, “So the judge says if the Congress can’t enforce its subpoenas in court then what remedy is there? And the Justice Department lawyers’ response is impeachment. Impeachment!”
“I didn’t think they’d do this on the same day,” Schiff said.
Schiff today has fought back against the expansive view of executive power the president’s defense team has put forward. “What we have seen over the last couple days is a descent into constitutional madness,” Schiff told senators.
Senators remain on the Senate floor asking questions to House Managers and defense lawyers, which are read aloud by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Thursday’s round of questioning wraps up the allotted 16 hours of question and answer time, and on Friday, senators will hold the key vote to decide whether to allow the submission of documents and testimony from witnesses. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is working to whip 51 senators in order to avoid that and quickly allow an up or down vote on the two articles of impeachment. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he will try to delay the final vote.
McConnell and Schumer sit, literally, across the aisle in the Senate chamber and, though Schumer has been nodding along and reacting to questions asked, McConnell has largely remained in the exact same seated position for hours of testimony: sitting back from his desk, with his arms crossed across his stomach and his mouth set.
Highlights from the early hours of Thursday’s debate included one of the few interjections from the Chief Justice who refused to read aloud Sen. Rand Paul’s question that reportedly included the name of the alleged whistleblower whose complaint led to the impeachment inquiry. After that, Paul was followed by several reporters to a press conference where he read the question aloud.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
The Supreme Court is allowing Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now.
Rep. John Moolenaar has requested an urgent briefing from the White House after Trump supported a deal giving Americans a majority stake in TikTok.
A new report finds the Department of Government Efficiency’s remaking of the federal workforce has battered the Washington job market and put more households in the metropolitan area in financial distress.
A new poll finds U.S. adults are more likely than they were a year ago to think immigrants in the country legally benefit the economy. That comes as President Donald Trump's administration imposes new restrictions targeting legal pathways into the country. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds Americans are more likely than they were in March 2024 to say it’s a “major benefit” that people who come to the U.S. legally contribute to the economy and help American companies get the expertise of skilled workers. At the same time, perceptions of illegal immigration haven’t shifted meaningfully. Americans still see fewer benefits from people who come to the U.S. illegally.
Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue are bouncing back sharply before the opening bell a day after President Donald Trump promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism. Trump told pregnant women not to use the painkiller around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday. The drugmaker tumbled 7.5%. Shares have regained most of those losses early Tuesday in premarket trading.
