Erica Werner
@ericawerner
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Writer, reader, mother, widow. Former longtime reporter for the Washington Post and AP at Capitol Hill and the White House.
SoCal
Joined April 2009
House Republicans-elect look pretty different from House Democrats-elect.
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"This will be the first time I can recall we've spent $1.9 trillion based on one party's view of things" Lindsey Graham says. (Pretty much exactly the size of the GOP tax cut).
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"I was one of the worst waiters in the history of the country but I was a waiter," Bernie says on the Senate floor as he speaks in favor of raising tipped minimum wage.
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Spanberger on the Dem caucus call: We lost races we shouldn’t have lost. Defund police almost cost me my race bc of an attack ad. Don’t say socialism ever again. Need to get back to basics. (Is yelling.).
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Maxine Waters says on the floor that her sister is dying of coronavirus in a hospital in St Louis, Mo.
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The count is over. Pence reads the final tallies: 306 for Biden, 232 for Trump."The announcement of the state of the vote by the president of the Senate shall be deemed a significant declaration" Pence concludes.
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Jim Cramer: “What deal can we have, Crazy Nancy? I’m sorry, that was the president, I have such reverence for the office I would never use that term . ”. Pelosi: “But you just did. But you just did.”.
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Classic from Pelosi, asked if she spoke to Trump at all this week: "There was no need for that.".
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Wolf Blitzer grilling Pelosi on why she won't take $1.8T deal. Reads Ro Khanna tweet. Pelosi: "I don’t know why you’re always an apologist and many of your colleagues are apologists for the Republican position-- Ro Khanna, that’s nice. That isn’t what we’re going to do.".
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Biden/Harris topped the 270 mark with the votes from Vermont. Pence and the tellers now pushing quickly toward the end of the alphabet with Wisconsin. Gohmert objects -- but objection not signed by a senator and "cannot be entertained" Pence says. On to Wyoming.
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Trump: “Nancy I need 10 votes from Chuck.” .Schumer: “Alright let me say something here.”.Pelosi: “Let me just say one thing.The fact is you do not have the votes in the House.”.Trump: “Nancy I do. And we need border security.”.Pelosi: “Then take the vote we’ll find out.”.
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Pelosi: “I’m a mother of five, grandmother of nine - I know a temper tantrum when I see one.”.
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If we run this race again we will get fucking torn apart again in 2022, Spanberger says.
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Stmt on @AOC "present" vote on the CR last night. "Representatives were given approximately 30 minutes to read the 115 page text of the funding agreement before votes, which wasn’t sufficient time for Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to feel comfortable that she was making an informed vote.”.
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Biden today in Toledo: ."In the middle of this pandemic, why do the Republicans have the time to hold a hearing on the Supreme Court instead of providing the significant economic need to localities?".
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Paul Ryan: "The president is all-in on this." .Jake Tapper: "He just gave a speech in Michigan he didn’t mention it once.".
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Sen Burr is ordering lunch in the Senate carry out. Not going to WH while investigation under way he says.
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Jeffries comes back on to tell people to stop leaking and that reporters aren’t your friends! 😢.
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Tlaib: They called Obama worse, they called him a Muslim, a socialist, you can blame these words but if it wasn’t on BLM would’ve been something else.
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House has passed two more spending bills to reopen government. 10 R's voted for the Ag spending bill. 12 R's voted for the Transpo/HUD spending bill. Slightly higher defections than on past couple votes.
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Chris Wallace asserts US has 7th-highest mortality rate (based on Hopkins data).Trump: "I heard we had the best mortality rate!".Demands charts, papers from aides he insists prove it, tells Wallace he's fake news. Wallace: "I don't think I'm fake news."."Yes you are.".
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Pelosi: "Thank you for your sensitivity to our constituents' needs.".Wolf: "I am sensitive to them because I see them on the street begging for food, begging for money.".Pelosi: "Have you fed them? We feed them. We feed them.".(Interview ends).(🔥).
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House Armed Services ranking member Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) opposes use of military $$ to build wall under emergency declaration. “In short I’m opposed to using defense dollars for non-defense purposes.”.
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Sen Graham: "I don't believe Trump colluded with the Russians because I don't think he colludes with his own staff.".
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Wolf says he's also spoken with Andrew Yang who says take the deal. Pelosi: "Honest to God, I really can’t get over it. Because Andrew Yang, he’s lovely. Ro Khanna, he’s lovely. They’re not negotiating this situation.".
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Trump is the "healthcare president," Kellyanne Conyway said three times this am in interview on Fox&Friends.
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Yikes! ."With all due respect you really don't know what you're talking about" Pelosi tells Wolf Blitzer as he presses her on why she won't take Mnuchin deal.
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Wow. "Well we have a new Supreme Court justice" McConnell says when asked how he'll justify failure on health care to voters.
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Also earlier in the call Debbie Mucarsel-Powell who lost her race was crying , and mentioned how people can’t pronounce her name, and said stop being negative on Twitter.
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Asked why he wouldn't let Fauci testify in the House this week, Trump says: "Because the House is a setup, the House is a bunch of Trump haters.". The official explanation Friday was that it would be "counterproductive" to take Fauci away from his work.
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NEWS: GAO say Cuccinelli and Wolf not eligible to serve in current roles under Vacancy Act.
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Mnuchin and Meadows wrapping up a conf call with Senate R's where they are taking a beating over the new proposal, per multiple sources -- topline and specific issues.
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Pelosi comes back on and says she disagrees, they won the House and presidency.
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Rep Ro Khanna:."I think the fact that we have won the House majority because of women candidates with huge women turnout, to then deny the first woman speaker who led us to that victory the gavel I think would be a slap in the face of a lot of voters who sent us here.".
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Wolf: "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.".Pelosi: "It is nowhere near perfect . we're not even close to the good.".
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We have a mandate! Pelosi says before getting off the call.
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Wolf says Pelosi should call the president and say let’s make a deal. Pelosi: “Look let me say this, the president has sent Mr Mnuchin to negotiate . They do not share our values, have a little respect that we know something about these subjects.”.
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Wolf: "These are incredibly difficult times right now and we'll leave it on that note . ".Pelosi: "We'll leave it on the note that you are not right on this Wolf . ".Wolf: "It's not about me it's about millions of Americans. ".Pelosi: "And we represent them.".
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PERSONAL NEWS: I am moving on from covering Congress for the Post. I am returning to my native California to report stories that don't involve standing in hallways in the Capitol for hours on end -- much as I've truly loved doing that for years.
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Rashida Tlaib saying before we make painful statements we need to wait and see how the numbers come down, feels like I’m being asked to be quiet and we need to appeal to certain people, and that’s not right.
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The agreement reached tonight would include: . -$1.375b for border barriers (55 new miles of bollard fencing).-Dems drop call for new cap on ICE beds for detentions in interior.-Overall cap on detention beds drops from 49,057 to 40,520 . Per congressional official.
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Forgetting or pretending not to know someone's name is one of Pelosi's fave shade moves (in this case Ron Johnson aka Don Johnson). She never could remember Russ Vought's name, or Steve King's, to name a couple.
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Pelosi: “For some reason, maybe it was lack of confidence on his part . he took a pass and it just makes me wonder why he did that. In any event I pray for the president of the United States.”.
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"Everyone should just wear a damn mask, like you guys are, like I am right now," Rubio tells reporters exiting GOP lunch with Pence.
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Just amazing. On the House floor, Jim Jordan railing against supposed election fraud. On the Senate floor, McConnell delivering strong speech in favor of electoral certification. And outside the Capitol, Trump supporters storming the gates.
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Hard to do justice to what is unfolding here: After fully 7 years of talking constantly about repeal, R's are choking at the moment of truth.
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Authorized McConnell biographer, from prominent KY GOP family, says R’s are “beyond redemption” and he’s registering as a Democrat—>.
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Protester ID’d self as Ryan Clayton from Americans Take Action got very close to Trump and threw these flags at him
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Biden: "Not once has President Trump called a high level meeting with Democrats and Republicans to the White House to deliver a new COVID relief package for working families and small business owners.".
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As I asked Mark Meadows who the public would blame for a shutdown, Matt Gaetz piped up and said “Hillary!”.
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NEWS: House Dems have decided on their approach to reopen government. Will be a Homeland CR til Feb 8 (extending existing levels of $1.3b border funding) + full-year bills on the other 6, using the bipartisan Senate versions. Expected to be made public later today.
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Murkowski: "The reason I could not support Judge Kavanaugh": And she quotes from the judicial code of conduct, to the effect that "A judge should act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.".
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Schumer says Senate will “power through and finish this bill.” .“It would be so much better if we could in a bipartisan way, but we need to get it done. We’re not going to make the same mistake we made after the last economic downturn, when Congress did too little.”.
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Sen Toomey tells me Trump called him last night from Singapore, still defending his 232 tariffs on Mexico, EU, Canada. Toomey remains determined to get a vote on his amendment with Corker requiring congressional approval of such tariffs.
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Rep Jim Jordan on why House R's shot down Dem push for more election security $$: "I know what we need for safe and secure elections, and that’s voter ID.".
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"We're not looking backwards we're looking forward" Jeffries says when asked whether the House should impeach Trump over Ga phone call.
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Ivanka Trump arriving at the Capitol greeted by Sen Rubio. She's now meeting with lawmakers on child tax credit.
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I was there. Not in position to see the gesture but saw Issa turn to Rachael, her react. I believe @rachaelmbade
@rachaelmbade I respect @rachaelmbade and worked with her for years. I know she must have seen or heard something to believe this happened, but it didn't.
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Pelosi: "Our unity is our power, and that maybe is what the president underestimated.".
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McConnell, in elevator, asked what he thinks of Trump saying the Kurds are not angels:.Silence, then raises eyebrows. If only we had video.
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After being turned away from McConnell’s office for the second day running, House Dem freshmen now trying to find him on the Senate floor or Senate R cloakroom.
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New stimulus deal "unlikely in the next three weeks" McConnell saying in event in KY.
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Pelosi refuses to refer to Trump by name, calling him only "45".
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McCain just saw WP: "We certainly don't want any president to leak classified information but the president does have the right to do that.".
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It just keeps going as Pascrell now calling out Schumer. Pelosi’s done an amazing job . but where’s Schumer in all of this? Says Pelosi has one hand tied behind her back.
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Pelosi at Gridiron: Trump "has appointed so many people from Goldman Sachs . that there's no one left to listen to Hillarys speeches.".
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Martha McSally stood up in GOP conference meeting and said let's get this "fucking thing" done. Yes, direct quote — per members and aides.
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As @asfram points out it's the revenge of the GOP women - Capito, Collins, Murkowski - all frozen out of the initial health working group.
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Corker struggled to name a colleague who could fill the role of challenging Trump - with McCain's death and his own retirement. "I don't know, I mean, uh, Ron Johnson maybe?".This drew a quizzical response from reporters. Corker said he'd keep thinking about it.
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MANCHIN not sounding overly outraged by new move by House Dems to go back to original income levels on checks, via @alizaslav / Hill pool:.
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A Congress that couldn't repeal Obamacare is now being asked to reform the immigration system.
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Pelosi suggests in response to question that she would agree to a dollar - one - for Trump wall.
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Pelosi responding to Barr saying Dems are creating a "public spectacle" by subpoenaing Mueller: ."I don’t even want to address him. He has lied to Congress as the attorney general of the United States. He’s lied under oath. I’m not speaking to anything more that he has to say.".
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One more random detail is that Earl Blumenauer said marijuana was the big winner of the election citing successful ballot initiatives in various places.
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House votes 218-212 to pass budget resolution with reconciliation instructions for $1.9T relief bill.
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Trump tells reporters on AF1 “We had a very good meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer" -- doesn't even mention Ryan, McConnell.
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First un-endorsement -- Sen. Mark Kirk. "I cannot and will not support my party's nominee for President.".
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Some fuller comments from GOP Rep. Mark Sanford regarding Stormy Daniels
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Chris Wallace: "You’re known as a master negotiator but didn’t you mess this one up?". Pelosi: "Clearly you don’t have an understanding of what is happening here.".
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ALERT: Rand Paul says he and three other GOP senators will issue statement shortly announcing opposition to bill as written.
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The end is in sight for this Dem caucus call that started more than two hours ago. Jeffries said 7-8 mbrs in queue and then will wrap up. Anyways I have to go help with kids zoom piano lessons so leaving it here.
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Progressive Caucus chair Jayapal says $1.9T on covid relief bill must be "Absolute floor for spending and not the ceiling.". Listing priorities: $15 minimum wage is first.
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Outside the Capitol , Santa giving interviews about why Trump should be impeached
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McConnell on floor, not happy. After he passed Pelosi's bill he wants that reciprocated. But multiple Dems saying they will vote "no" on upcoming cloture vote.
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Cutting analysis from my 6-year-old just now: “This is all you do all day: You go on meetings, you type on your computer, you look at your phone, and you watch C-SPAN.”.
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Pelosi statement confirms they will include $15 min wage in their bill tomorrow regardless.
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"I have faced tougher adversaries" McCain just said when asked about Trump's threats .
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Flake is delivering his speech against Trump fake news attacks to a nearly empty chamber. Only one senator - Durbin - and fewer than half-a-dozen reporters are present.
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Biden to House D caucus call this am: "We can't walk away from an additional $1,400 in direct checks, because people need it. we can better target the number, I'm OK with that. I'm not going to start my administration by breaking a promise to people.".
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WOW. After hours of limbo in Senate, McConnell suddenly appears on the floor -- interrupting Grassley, who snaps about it -- and says Trump will sign the spending/border bill and declare a national emergency.
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Wait, he walked back the walk back during the walk back?.
Trump said he accepts intelligence officials’ conclusions on Russia. Or MAYBE NOT. “I've said this many times: I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there.”
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WH press sec Jen Psaki says “not taking any tools off the table” when asked how long they’ll try to get GOP votes for covid bill before moving to reconciliation.
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Remember how the Cares Act created a Congressional Oversight Commission with four members appointed by each congressional leader, and the chair to be appointed jointly by Pelosi and McConnell?.There STILL IS NOT A CHAIR. It seems like there might NEVER be a chair.
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Corker: “The administration creates a problem for farmers and so now they need to put them on welfare.”.
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Just asked Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., about the Flake-Corker criticisms of Trump. He had this to say:
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Update on Russia sanctions bill: GOP leaders -- who control the House -- are blaming the holdup on House Democrats -- who control nothing.
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