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☆ Senate Votes to Advance Same-Sex Marriage Legislation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Katy Stech Ferek | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D., Wis.), the first openly gay senator, said the legislation aims to ‘create certainty around these fundamental rights.’WASHINGTON—The Senate voted 62-37 Wednesday to advance legislation that would cement same-sex marriage protections into law, clearing a decisive hurdle as lawmakers aim to get the measure to President Biden’s desk in the lame-duck session. The vote underscored how a once politically divisive issue now draws bipartisan support despite opposition from some social conservatives, less than a decade after same-sex marriage became legal nationwide under a 2015 Supreme Court ruling.

☆ Trump promises to ban lawmakers from trading stocks during his 2024 announcement
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Trump endorsed a ban on members of Congress trading stocks. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle support a ban but progress has stalled during the current Congress. Trump has previously attacked the idea of lawmakers trading stocks before, but his comments on Tuesday appeared to be his most fulsome endorsement of a ban thus far. House leaders have pledged to move forward on stock-ban legislation this month, but it's not immediately clear where negotiations for passing a stock ban stand. While the issue has bipartisan support, lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol have a number of issues to deal with during the so-called "lame duck" session.

☆ Democrats could defuse the GOP's biggest fiscal threat next year by raising the debt ceiling to a ludicrously high number
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Andy Kiersz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US is currently set to hit the federal debt ceiling once again next year. Historically, raising the debt ceiling was a fairly uncontroversial move taken by Congress every couple years as needed. Before the midterms, Republicans were already suggesting that they would use the upcoming debt ceiling fight to push for spending cuts, according to the Washington Post. They could repeal the debt ceiling outright, although that is unlikely given Biden and other prominent Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders have ruled that out. If one wanted to be patriotic, the new debt ceiling could be $7.41776, commemorating the date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

☆ Senate Democrats laugh off Trump's endorsement of banning congressional stock trading. But there's still no consensus on passing their proposals in the lame duck session.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Senate Democrats have been wrestling with a proposed congressional stock trading ban. Donald Trump endorsed banning congressional stock trading in his 2024 campaign launch. He still felt qualified to weigh in on the unfinished legislative business Senate stock-ban point man Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon shelved until the lame duck in September. "I'm pleased to hear Trump supports a ban on congressional stock trading," Merkley wrote in an email. Stock trading ban advocate Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts urged Democratic leaders to follow through on the most popular proposals before decamping for the holidays.

Congressional Democrats are weighing a push for a fix to the decade-old program that protects hundreds of thousands of immigrants known as “Dreamers” in the lame-duck session. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., mentioned addressing DACA as a top priority in the lame-duck session during a Democratic caucus meeting Tuesday, a senior Democratic aide told NBC News. “We want to get DACA done,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. He expressed confidence that a group of Senate Democrats, including Durbin, are working to gain the Republican votes needed in the upper chamber. Democrats are projected to hold onto the majority in the Senate, but control of the House remains unknown.

☆ Tax Breaks for Retirement, Corporate Research on Congress’s Lame-Duck Agenda
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Richard Rubin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A lame-duck session can often be an opportunity for the current Congress to push through final priorities. WASHINGTON—The House and Senate returned for a postelection session of Congress this week with tax breaks for retirement savings and corporate research on the agenda. Lawmakers are hopeful that some of these tax measures with bipartisan support can get through Congress before the end of the year. But short deadlines and postelection uncertainty could impede those efforts.

☆ Bipartisan senators revive effort to pass bill codifying same-sex marriage protections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A bipartisan group of senators on Monday released an updated version of a bill to codify federal protections for same-sex marriages that they say they feel confident can get enough Republican support to pass in the Senate. Democrats are aiming to pass the bill before next year when Republicans are favored to take back control of the House. The Respect for Marriage Act would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which was largely invalidated by two Supreme Court rulings. After the high court struck down Roe v. Wade in June, advocates warned that the same-sex marriage rulings could also be in jeopardy. The bill would require the federal government to recognize a marriage between two individuals if the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed.

WASHINGTON — With the 2022 election over, Congress will return to work Monday with a packed to-do list for the final weeks of the year. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, is expected to get a vote in the lame duck session. A package of revisions to the bill easily cleared the Senate Rules and Administration Committee on a 14-1 vote in September. Same-sex marriage billThe House has passed a bipartisan bill to codify federal recognition of same-sex marriage. The Senate punted it to the lame duck session, with the leader of the effort, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., saying the chamber needed more time to secure 60 votes.

REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstWASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Congress aim to pass bills protecting same-sex marriage, clarifying lawmakers' role in certifying presidential elections and raising the nation's debt ceiling when they return from the campaign trail on Monday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen both signaled that addressing the nations' looming debt ceiling would be a priority during the session. Some Republicans have threatened to use the next hike in the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, expected in the first quarter of 2023, as leverage to force concessions from Biden. Pelosi, who would lose her position as speaker if Republicans win a majority in the House, told ABC News on Sunday that the best way to address the debt ceiling was "to do it now." "We'll have to, again, lift the debt ceiling so that the full faith and credit of the United States is respected."

"I know I'm a cockeyed optimist," Biden told reporters in Cambodia, referencing a sunny song from the musical South Pacific, "but I'm not surprised by the turnout." A Democratic victory in a Georgia Senate runoff on Dec. 6 would give the party outright majority control, bolstering its sway over committees, bills, and judicial picks. As of Sunday evening, Republicans had won 211 seats and the Democrats 206, with 218 needed for a majority. World leaders at an East Asia summit of ASEAN nations told Biden they are closely following the midterms results, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One. He has said he will invite Republicans and Democrats to the White House once he returns.

New York CNN Business —A third railroad union has rejected a tentative labor deal, a move that further raises the odds that America’s 110,000 freight railroad workers will go on strike early next month. It is the smallest of 13 unions that represent more than 100,000 union members at the nation’s major freight railroads. The union’s brief statement on the vote said it “fully expects to continue negotiating further toward a satisfactory contract” with railroad management. A freight railroad strike would create massive problems for the US economy, snarling still-struggling supply chains and triggering widespread bottlenecks and shortages. Congress can also prevent or end a strike by extending a cooling-off period during which the unions cannot strike, or by imposing a contract on union members.

☆ Yellen says U.S. debt ceiling hike by lame-duck Congress would be 'great'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks at a news conference during the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, U.S., October 14, 2022. Yellen told reporters on the sidelines of G20 summit meetings in Bali that Senate control by Democrats would ease the path for approving nominations and other legislative actions. "We want to see the debt ceiling get done. If it got done in the lame duck, that would be great, as far as I'm concerned," Yellen said. Reporting by David Lawder Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

“Senate Democrats have been committed to restoring balance to the federal judiciary with professionally and personally diverse judges,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told NBC News on Saturday night. Senate Republican leaders told NBC News before the election that if they took the majority, they would use their power over the floor to compel Biden to send more centrist judges that GOP senators could support. He said Democrats keeping control means that if a Supreme Court vacancy were to open up, Biden’s nominee would be assured a vote. While the current 50-member Democratic caucus has been unified behind Biden’s judicial nominees, a 51st seat for the party could further embolden it. As a practical matter, that means Democrats currently need Republican sign-off to confirm judges in red states.

☆ Democratic congressional leaders vow to address U.S. debt limit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Congressional Democratic leaders on Sunday vowed to tackle the nation's debt ceiling in coming weeks, saying their party's election victories offer them leverage even as Republicans have promised a potentially explosive fight. "The debt ceiling of course, is something that we have to deal with. The debt ceiling must be approved each time it needs to be raised in order to ensure that the United States avoids a default, which would have catastrophic effects. The mechanism is meant to control the nation's rising debt, although it has been ineffective in recent decades. Republicans have said the debt ceiling would be an "important tool" to rein in federal spending if they take control of the House.

☆ Biden faces scrutiny about America's future as he heads abroad
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Peter Nicholas | Peter Nicholas Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

For the world leaders meeting with Biden over the next week, there’s no assurance that he'll be the president they’ll be dealing with for the next six years. The U.S. is unnerved by Chinese military exercises that threaten Taiwan and raise the specter of a future invasion. “Tuesday was a good day for America, a good day for democracy,” Biden said Thursday at a Democratic National Committee event. Another reason that Biden might find the trip more gratifying is that he averted the midterm wipeout that sitting presidents normally endure. Biden’s midterm test went much better.

☆ The Fed's tightening will 'wallop' the US economy if inflation is cooling on its own anyway, a Lazard CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US economy won't feel the impact of the Fed's tightening until 2023, Peter Orszag told CNBC. If inflation is coming down anyway, it will be walloped by unneeded monetary policy, the Lazard CEO said. The lame-duck Congress needs to move on the debt limit soon — otherwise, it's "playing with matches." "The point is, if inflation is coming down anyway, then you're going to get walloped with the lagged effect of the monetary policy tightening, when you don't really need it," he said. "I would highlight the imperative on the debt limit in particular.

☆ GOP Insider readers: Dump Trump!
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Kayla Gallagher | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

Insider asked its Republican readers to send in their thoughts on Donald Trump following the GOP's dismal midterm performance. Subscribers to Insider's newsletter were asked two questions: Do you agree with the GOP insiders who blame Trump? Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Image— Joe S.I don't blame Trump per se. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images— Julia T.I think Trump, DeSantis AND the GOP are EXTREMELY dangerous for our Democracy. The Republican Party needs to get away from the extremists in the party or the Republican Party will no longer exist.

REUTERS/Emilie MadiSHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic lawmakers at the UN climate summit in Egypt expressed concern on Thursday that Republican gains in the midterm Congressional elections could spell trouble for America's efforts to fight climate change. Speaking on the same panel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticised lawmakers who disagree global warming is a real problem, and said Democrats and Republicans would have to work together to combat climate change. "We have to get over that," Pelosi said of lawmakers who have claimed climate change is a hoax. A delegation of Republican lawmakers arrived on Thursday in Sharm El-Sheikh separately from the Democrats and will hold an event on Friday. Last year, Biden pledged to double funds to help developing nations adapt to the effects of climate change by 2024 to $11.4 billion per year.

Democrats bucked dire forecasts in national races, clinched governors' races in states seen as crucial to the next election in 2024, and passed left-leaning measures like codifying abortion rights in Michigan. "Amazing," said one stunned Biden aide as results results trickled in at the White House overnight. Donald Trump saw Republicans lose 40 House seats in his first midterms, and Barack Obama more than 60. Aides and allies believe his efforts to cast the election in terms of abortion rights, right-wing political extremism and healthcare staved off a Republican "wave." While Republicans cited high inflation and crime as top voting issues, Democrats said they were more motivated by abortion rights and gun violence, exit polls show.

☆ Market sees divided government after the election as a positive, and a thin GOP majority is good enough
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

That would be viewed as a positive by markets, which generally view gridlock in Washington as a good thing and clearly prefer divided government to the current Democrat-controlled Congress. Therefore, there is no declaration yet of victory for either party in the House or Senate. "We think Republicans will have the [House] majority, but it's going to be a very narrow majority," said Ed Mills, Washington policy analyst at Raymond James. "The more you can keep the fight between the House and Senate, that slightly reduces some of the brinksmanship out there." "Sector-focused policy changes would be even more limited under a divided Congress than under Republican control," the Goldman analysts note.

☆ Here's what the midterm election results could mean for energy ETFs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Energy has been a key political topic this year, with soaring oil prices leading to discussions about how to boost U.S. energy production. "Sector-focused policy changes would be even more limited under a divided Congress than under Republican control. That could be good news for the clean energy policies pushed in the Inflation Reduction Act, which included several provisions to boost green energy that some Republicans opposed. Some progressive lawmakers had resisted the idea, which could ease the process for approving new oil pipelines and green energy projects. Pipeline funds Tortoise North American Pipeline fund (TPYP) and Global X MPL & Energy Infrastructure ETF (MLPX) were outperforming traditional energy funds on Wednesday, but still lower as oil prices declined.

☆ Republican victory paves road to softer dollar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Early results show key victories for Republican candidates in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee on Tuesday, pushing favor to the conservative party in the House. That means Republicans can block any spending bills that Biden might have otherwise been inclined to push through. Once hints of a shift emerge, markets will quickly pivot from the U.S. dollar, which has become a safe haven, back to riskier assets. But if they don’t, and Republicans hold the line, the U.S. could come dangerously close to default. The elections come after the U.S. dollar has increased 14% year-to-date versus a basket of currencies.

☆ How Tuesday's election will impact the stock market — Watch the 'Republican portfolio' names
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

There will be things about gridlock the market doesn't like," said Ed Mills, Washington policy analyst at Raymond James. Meanwhile, under a Republican president, the stock market on average gains 4.9% when Democrats control Congress, and the market gains 7.3% with a split Congress. Strategas Research says the stock market is signaling that Republicans may sweep the election . There are clear stock market winners from a Republican victory, at least in the House. Laperriere, in a note, wrote that tech, small cap and financial firms are most vulnerable to higher taxes and tougher regulations, and they could benefit from a Republican Congress.

☆ Debt ceiling showdown could be first battle for new Congress and White House
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Congress last raised the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion December, 2021, providing enough borrowing capacity to get past the midterm elections. "Since 2011, the market really hasn't reacted too much to the debt ceiling fights. That would pit the White House against congressional Republicans, who see raising the debt ceiling as an opportunity to cut and redirect spending. President Joe Biden, in a tweet, last weekend talked about the pending debt ceiling battle. He said that even before the debt ceiling, Congress needs to pass a continuing resolution in December to temporarily fund the government.

In the wake of Greene’s statement and other Republicans aligned with former President Donald Trump questioning the amount of U.S. aid delivered to Ukraine in recent weeks, Sens. A key supporter of Kyiv, Portman is the co-chair and co-founder of the Senate Ukraine Caucus and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His departure from Congress is seen as a potential blow for Ukrainian support. Some Ukrainian officials have expressed nervousness in recent weeks, as news stories indicated potential GOP opposition to continued support for Kyiv. Barry Reeger / AP fileYuriy Saks, adviser to Ukraine Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov, told NBC News on Monday that he hoped the results of the U.S. election would not affect the country’s continued support of Ukraine.

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