The Senate returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to start the 117th Congress, facing a possible impeachment trial looming for outgoing President Donald Trump, a slew of confirmation hearings and legislative proposals from the new Biden administration.
Tuesday is the Senate’s first return to the U.S. Capitol since the Jan. 6 attack by radical Trump supporters, who attempted to disrupt Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory.
In remarks on the Senate floor, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell gave his most vocal condemnation to date of the violence at the Capitol two weeks ago.
“The last time the Senate convened, we had just reclaimed the Capitol from violent criminals who tried to stop Congress from doing our duty,” he said.
“The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.”
McConnell had previously refused to return earlier to receive Trump’s second impeachment from the House and begin the trial. The House voted last week to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol attack.
A timeline for the trial remains unclear, but it could begin immediately or in a couple months.
McConnell’s remarks on Tuesday indicate a growing faction of Republicans who are open to possibly convicting Trump for inciting the Capitol attack, which led to hundreds of arrests and five deaths. The supporters had attended a heated rally by Trump near the White House before they marched to the Capitol and began the assault.
If the Senate convicts Trump on the charge, he would almost certainly be barred from ever holding federal office again.
The chamber began without the two Democratic winners of Georgia’s runoff races earlier this month — Raphael Warnock and Joss Ossoff — who both are expected to be sworn in on Wednesday and give Democrats the slightest of edges in the Senate.
Once Ossoff and Warnock take office, there will be a 50-50 split among Democrats and Republicans. As president of the Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris will be able to cast tie-breaking votes, when needed.
The Senate on Wednesday may also get a look at Biden’s sweeping immigration proposal, which includes an eight-year pathway to citizenship for migrants without legal status, expansion of refugee admissions and a new enforcement plan that deploys technology to patrol the border in lieu of a wall.
“Having leadership makes a big difference,” Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said. “You cannot achieve immigration reform without presidential leadership, and from what I see, the seriousness of their purpose to start off with gives me a real good feeling that the president-elect is actually going to use capital to try to make this happen.”
The Senate could also take up Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal for coronavirus economic stimulus package on Wednesday, which asks for a third round of direct payments of $1,400 to most Americans.
Biden has stressed that he wants the economic package to be a top priority for the new Congress.
Several Senate committees also convened Tuesday to begin confirmation hearings for several of Biden’s Cabinet nominees — Janet Yellen at Treasury, Avril Haines to be director of national intelligence, Alejandro Mayorkas at the Department of Homeland Security, Antony Blinken as secretary of state and Lloyd Austin as defense secretary.
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I understand the rhetoric blaming the capitol attack squarely on Trump and others. He did not, however, tell them to attack and occupy and destroy. He did say march and demonstrate. The issue I have with many, mainly the MSM, is that law enforcement has shown an organized assult with communications and directions. That alone takes it from spontaneous to planned and prepared. Another one of those facts the left and MSM choose to purposely ignore.
MORE like they fully ENCOURAGE it..
Absolutely TRUE! Burning and looting Seattle is AOK, but my goodness don’t invade Congress. The Left wavers back and forth according to the situation.
Remember, they CELEBRATED the “patriots” that invaded the senate, when it was KAVENAUGH’s hearing that was going on.
SO THEY ARE OK with congress being invaded.. WHEN ITS their agenda being pushed.
You also notice, we didn’t get a massive military presence, in RESPONSE to that, either.
As a new U.S. govt. employee I was given a tour of the capital and informed that it was the “People’s House and the door were never to be locked in order that Americans could easily enter to express their grievances.
Later a I worked in a building across from the Capital, I was treated to patriotic marches by citizens on their way to the capital for just that reason. They were marching to demonstrate their right to express their grievance directly to their representative in the People’s House.
Trump did no incite anything.
If anyone did, it was the drafters of the U.S. Constitution who anticipated exactly what the patriotic Americans came to protest–They came to protest the theft of our Presidency.
McConnel’s wife is not just leaking to the media, she is a Chinese Honeypot who is paid by China to leak sensitive info to our enemies in the Chinese Communist Party whose intent to destroy us is evident in the Chinese Covid Virus.
His wife also happens to have been Secretary of Transportation while owning the largest known shipping company in the world. All countries are affected by transportation, especially from China who produces almost all the world’s gadgets.
She and her father also own the largest ship building enterprise in the world and are now facing charges of violating international law. WHY IS HE STILL IN THE SENATE?
Hey Mitch, when blm and antifa were rioting, destroying property, tearing down statues, assaulting innocent people and assaulting police officers, you said nothing. Mitch, you said nothing about the fraudulent voting that went on and you said nothing about the deep state spying on Trump and attempting a coup against Trump. You said nothing about the phony Mueller investigation. You, Mitch you provoked the above, by being silent. You are complicit in the above Mitch. If you want to look at what scum looks like, what an enabler of crime looks like and what a traitor looks like, look at yourself in the mirror Mitch! You make me sick to my stomach.
the only appropriate response to this ugly sniveling coward is a spit in his face. don’t waste too much spit however. he isn’t worth it.
EXACTLY how I feel. we must, have to obligated to let him know this. HOW do we do that? letters? e mails, etc? what? and include spineless Pence and Barr too. I am set to retire and i would love to spend some of my free time telling these traitors, amoebas and bloodsucking clown off.
IF all of them, were lying on the floor, burning up.. I WOULDN’T even try and put it out. I’d just WALK AWAY and laugh.
You left out the fact that Mitch also helped sabotage the Georgia senate elections for the republicans. Makes a person wonder kind of a relationship Mitch and the Georgia governor have.
This morning Rush said that the Turtle and his Chinese wife have business ties to the Chicoms. I also suspect it would have been no more nookie for Turtle if he didn’t comply.
Ole mitch the snitch was in on it from the get go he’s a spineless worm of the swamp
IMO, a solid 90% or more of the GOP were in on this.. THEY ARE ALL SNAKES.
Mitch is a spineless RINO. He stands for himself NOT America and the American people! OR has the Deep State threatened him in a physical or political way? Welcome to the Unites States of Venezuela, with Quid Pro Quo Joe and Heals Up Harris as supreme commanders, General Pelosi as the enforcer. God Save America!
President Trump did tell his followers to go to the Capital, he told them to protest and also told them to protest peacefully! Hasn’t anyone questioned the fact, with all the coverage the media gave to the incident at the Capital, not once did the MSM show a sound bite of what the President actually said. How dramatic would it have been to see President Trump being shown saying what the MSM is saying he said, over and over; BUT HE DIDN”T SAY IT! The MSM has lied and lied to you again and again and you believed them… WHY? Mitch has to go!
McConnel just joined the swallow and follow club, led by the Schumer swamp kings. Mitch apparently believes swallowing a toad in the morning and he will encounter nothing more disgusting the rest of the day. Frankly Mitch should not swallow more things he cannot digest. Frankly, I can’t believe he ate the whole thing.
Mitch McConnell is a swamp dweller. None of them cares much which party is in power, only that they maintain their cushy positions. Kiss it goodbye, Mitch, you unprincipled ingrate. Kentucky will be well rid of you in another few years. You barely survived in 2020; don’t count on it happening again in 2026. Pack your bags.
YOU ASSUME our votes will even COUNT In 2022 and beyond..
Judith , Does So. Carolina have a recall law ?????? Wouldn’t THAT be cool. Fire Mitch….
IMO, every state should have the ability to recall ANY Senator/member of the house. NOT JUST governors or mayors.
Wouldn’t suprise me that his wife is among the leakers in the white house eh mitch
“Trump provoked the mob to attack the Capitol”, and McConnell is provoking lots and lots of Trump supporters to leave the Republican Party.
I hope so. Trump has made over 30,000 objectively provably false statements as president. This rate exceeds prior presidents by a multiple of over 1,000. We need to purge and get back to the GOP of Alan Simpson and his ilk…honesty, integrity, personal responsibility. The GOP Has a lot of work ahead of it.
As Paul Harvey used to say, you can’t have self government without self discipline. Let’s put this four years behind us and get back on track.
The previous president began with a lie about his name and nationality, personal development, education, accomplishments, church attendance…..
Honesty, integrity? ARE YOU smoking some weed or something?? SINCE WHEN has the GOP ever been honest or had integrity??? CERTAINLY NOT before trump, and right now, those two words, are NO WHERE IN THE GOPS vocabulary.
Serously? “30,000 objectively provable false statements”? I defy you to name three.
Under Beijing Biden, the country is going to go down a dark and dangerous road.. but guess that is fine with you .. Beijing Biden’s campaign was based on nothing BUT lies… but of course, there is a double standard for DemocRATS and Republicans… Trump had many accomplishments to help this country and the American people.. Under Beijing Biden there is already a crisis headed for the border because Beijing Biden wants to undo all the good Trump did with protecting our country from illegal aliens … DemocRATS don’t want walls to protect the American people and the country, but they sure want those walls to protect THEIR butts…
You start your statement with a blatant lie and then tout honesty and integrity!
I suggest you change your moniker to Mitch, as you both have the same disregard for truth!
NOTSYORB , you just made another objectively , provably , False statement , because you are a troll with no brain of your own , following the orders of your demonrat superiors. Take your advice and sit on it for awhile , remember to wipe when you finish , troll.
Which false statements were meant to mislead or trick the American voter? Any suggestions for the Purge? Maybe we could start with McConnell and Murkowski. I didn’t know Democrats could count past 10 without taking their shoes off. Is that new math or CNN math. What track is that? The third rail?
You have that right. With Mitch and the other RINO’s not slapping the Democrats down, and actually jumping on the ‘get Trump’ Dem clown car, they are pretty much cutting their own throats, killing the Republican party, and handing one-party rule to the Democrats for the foreseeable future. Many relatives and friends who are Republicans are all saying that if their votes don’t count, and their elected representatives don’t represent them (the 74 million that voted for Trump – over 7 million more than any sitting president in History), then come midterms and 2024 they will just stay home.
I quit the republican party and now am independent. The only republicans I’ll vote for are the ones who stuck by my president or the ones booting out the current crop of RINOs. Otherwise, I’ll leave those parts of the ballot blank or vote 3rd party. If the republicans want vote they have to earn it.
That list is VERY SMALL…
Oh did he? Where is your proof of that. What did he tell them to do? What? I heard him say,” peacefully” and “patriotically”. What did your democrat selective hearing tell you?
EVERY video i’ve seen, Show exactly the OPPOSITE.. IN NO WAY did he even come CLOSE to encouraging a riot.
UNLIKE mad maxine, and a LARGE NUMBER of demon-rats, when it came to inciting their voters to be VIOLENT Towards trump voters.
He probably only heard the vicious lies of the MSM and the democRATS… Trump told them to protest peacefully … but of course the democRATS and lying media will twist everything that is said and lie to the American people … they know the lunatics on the left hate Trump so much that they won’t actually listen to what was said…
“The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.” – President Trump has never lied to the people of America. If you can show or prove one lie that President Trump has told, I will change my party!
AS we see now, ITS NOT JUST Trump they hate with a passion. ITS ANYONE conservative, period.
I rather think the MOB was “motivated” (incensed) by YOUR lack of support for even a HINT of investigation into the BLATANT election fraud!
What more EVIDENCE do you need, Mitch, than surveillance video showing people pulling ballots out from under tables (after sending observers home for an alleged “water main” leak), or shoving the SAME ballots through the counting machines REPEATEDLY?
Maybe YOU see getting rid of Donald Trump as a way to get back to “business as usual”, but for the 75,000,000+ REAL Voters (not fake ballots or DEAD PEOPLE), we don’t take kindly to people LIKE YOU telling US that our votes DON’T COUNT, or that CHEATING is an acceptable process in all future elections!
Just as it took this unruly mob (invading your beloved Capitol Building) to get Democrats to SUPPORT Law Enforcement officers, it looks like the ONLY way they will (finally) object to CHEATING in elections, is if WE, Republicans DO IT TOO!
IF that happens, Sir, it will NOT be because of Trump, but because of YOUR inaction!
McConnell is burying himself.
He is one of those that give cause to TERM LIMITS. HiM, Pelosi, Schumer,swallwell, Biden, Harris should ALL be competency tested also and should only get paid by the hour. Then you will see how little actual work they DO NOT do and how worthless they are.
IMO< WE should have had term limits, fROM THE GET GO.. Then we'd not BE IN A LOT of this mess…
mcconnell just lied.It has been proven that he did not do that.I have to ask him who threatened him. Seems like the right has a problem in standing up for truth today.Worried about their own skin and not the country.
I must have missed this “Leaders” remarks when Antifa and BLM invaded the WH last year.
Also, what Bipartisan working relationship has he , the President and the American people had for last 4 years?
I want us to sell South Carolina to Venezuela and be done with McConnell. He was born to be part of a socialist government, he was born to be a leader in Venezuela.
This is one sorry deep state politician. He is actually worse than Schumer or Pelosi because at least they tell you what they are. The word now is this traitorous bag of swamp rot has some financial connections to Communist China. It is disgusting to me that this guy has been masquerading as a conservative Republican for all these years and then as soon as the winds change he pops out from under his rock and takes pot shots at Trump and the true conservatives that support him.
The entire bloody GOP can go Take a leap into shark infested waters, for all i care.
GARBAGE! President Trump – by the way he will always have that title, and it should be used as we address him. McConnell is cowering down to those who would seek to destroy our “One Nation Under God”.
If one would listen, they would hear, exactly what happened and what is NOW HAPPENING TO THE TROOPS . Vetting our Troops? Give me a break! If Biden is afraid of his own Troops, he is NOT fit to lead them.
McConnell is inciting people just by his presence in the Senate!.
Any doubt now if he was a rino or not?
Maybe he’s afraid of being rounded up by Katie Couric and he re-education camp.
Another traitor smoked out, evidence doe not suggest any of that and evidence is still being gathered, well maybe, the fbi may have covered up any real facts in the case.
Mitch McConnell is a traitor. He is happy that Biden won because they are both beholden to China. He is corrupt and he is evil. Republican party, you better get your act together because Trump is the reason for you being in power. And now that you turned your back on him, you will lose support. And rightly so.
RIP Republican Party 19JAN2021 – killed by The Turtle
IMO it died MONTHS ago.. Its just not been buried yet.
ANd i hope, TRUMP REGRETS ever stumping for a single one of these backstabbing judases, to get them re-elected.
Never thought I would say this, but Mitch McConnell is a TRAITOR. Go away turtle man.
McConnell is a two-faced coward trying to save his own wrinkly a s s skin.
He’s just another Denizen of the Deep State Swamp. He is in collusion with all the Criminal Career politicians who came to DC brown bagging it and left as multi millionaires. President Trump has always been a threat to their miserable existences.
You can tell McConnell is married to a rich Chinese shipping magnate. Trump had hit him right in the pocketbook.
thus the COWARDOUS REPUBLICANS!! that i dis own now!
McConnell is like a two sided edged sword that swing with who ever seems to be in authority and power and against who ever is not so in Washington, DC (District Of Corruption) !!!! He has No Allegiance to Either Party, nor We The People !!!!
Found out more news on the “attack” on the capitol building. First, there were several antifa people who wore Trump hats at the rally with the sole purpose of igniting a riot. One even took a video of himself admitting it while rioting. Second, some of those arrested turned out to be antifa members. Third, even a CNN reporter wore a Trump hate encouraging the people to riot. Fourth, good old Mitch also has ties to China like senile Joe and cement face Pelosi and he also wants his fortune fattened up via China. Fifth, Mitch’s Chinese wife had a job in the Trump administration and Mitch didn’t publicly say anything against Trump until his wife quit a few days ago. My, my, how when the whole truth comes out about what happened makes Trump come up smelling like a rose and the dummycrats and RINOs end up smelling like runny poop, as usual. Hey Mitch, get out of the republican party or 70 million Trump voters will leave and republicans will lose everytime without the dummycrats cheating.
McConnell is a Two-Face Coward, Him and Alex Baldwin, should hang together.
Turtle was never on board the Trump Train from the start. He could not believe that an outsider to his swamp could ever win the nomination of the party. He tolerated Trump, and was never an asset to Make America Great Again. Turtle has the ships in his shipyard built and in concert with the Chinese. He is in bed with the communist government and military of the Chicoms. He is the same as Biden, part of the same swamp. Sold out for the money, corrupt. This is the