Congress - The African Mirror

Nov

2022

Biden White House cheers ‘red ripple’ as Republicans underperform midterm forecasts

TREVOR HUNNICUTT and JEFF MASON U.S. President Joe Biden, who declared optimism about the midterm elections this week despite opinion polls predicting Republican wins, had reason to feel vindicated morning even though his Democrats could still lose control of Congress. Republicans may eke out a narrow majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate was still up for grabs with key races in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada undecided. But that was all part of better-than-expected news for the White House. Democrats bucked dire forecasts in national races, clinched governors' races in states seen as crucial to the next election in 2024,…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

U.S. voters decide control of Congress, and Biden’s agenda, in midterms

WORLD

JOSEPH AX AMERICANS cast the final ballots in closely fought elections that will determine whether Democrats lose control of Congress, and with it the ability to push forward on President Joe Biden's agenda in the next two years. The party that controls the White House typically loses seats in midterm elections. Polls suggest Tuesday's results will be no exception, as concerns about high inflation and crime, as highlighted by Republicans, outweigh warnings from Democrats about the end of national abortion rights and the violent January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. Thirty-five Senate seats and all 435 House of Representatives seats are on the ballot. Republicans are widely…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

China’s Xi further cements power as party congress closes

WORLD

YEW LUN TIAN and EDUARDO BAPTISTA CHINA'S ruling Communist Party wrapped up its twice-a-decade congress, cementing Xi Jinping's iron grip on power and revealing a new Central Committee missing two key officials lacking close ties to the leader. Xi, 69, is poised to clinch a third five-year leadership term as party general secretary, breaking with precedent and solidifying his place as China's most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong, the founding leader of the People's Republic. The new leadership will be unveiled at around noon (0400 GMT) on Sunday when Xi walks into a room of journalists at the Great Hall…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

After Capitol violence, Trump faces removal and staff exodus

WORLD

ANDY SULLIVAN and JONATHAN LANDAY THE top two Democrats in Congress have called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office, one day after his supporters stormed and vandalized the U.S. Capitol in a harrowing assault on American democracy. With 13 days left in Trump's term, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer both said Vice President Mike Pence should invoke the U.S. Constitution to remove him from office before then. Absent that, they said Congress should move quickly to expel him through the impeachment process. "We are in a very difficult place in…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

‘We will not take it any more,’ Trump tells supporters as Congress meets to certify Biden win

WORLD

JONATHAN LANDAY OUTGOING U.S. President Donald Trump addressed thousands of supporters, including members of far-right groups, at a rally in Washington protesting the meeting of Congress to confirm his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden in November. Trump, who has spent much of his time since the November 3 election trying to overturn the results, falsely said he won as he spoke on an outdoor stage framing the White House, which Biden is due to move into in two weeks. Crowds gathered at the "Save America March" wore Trump-approved red baseball caps and cheered as Trump repeated the groundless conspiracy…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

U.S. civil rights pioneer, congressman John Lewis dies

WORLD

PATRICIA ZENGERLE JOHN Lewis, a pioneer of the civil rights movement and long-time member of the U.S. House of Representatives, has died. Lewis, a member of Congress from Atlanta who had announced in December that he had advanced pancreatic cancer, was 80. "He loved this country so much that he risked his life and his blood so that it might live up to its promise," former President Barack Obama said in a statement. "And through the decades, he not only gave all of himself to the cause of freedom and justice but inspired generations that followed to try to live…