The Full Belmonte, 11/29/2022
Rail strike
“President Biden has called on Congress to pass legislation "immediately" to avert a freight rail shutdown that would "devastate the economy." The looming rail strike, which could begin as early as December 9, would cause product shortages, spiking prices and factory production issues. A strike could cost the US economy $1 billion in its first week alone, according to a new analysis from the Anderson Economic Group. Democratic leaders say they could act as soon as this week by officially adopting a September tentative agreement approved by labor and management leaders. While the railroads say they are hopeful that a strike by more than 100,000 union members can be avoided, they have so far rejected the demands that union negotiators say their members want -- including new terms for paid sick days and better working conditions.” Read more at CNN
What this week means for Congress
Washington is full-speed ahead as the House and Senate return this week from Thanksgiving break. They are grappling with a laundry list of priorities: a same-sex marriage act, electoral reform, military spending as well as government funding.
One thing to know: The current lame-duck session will extend well into December, possibly past Christmas – and potentially into the next Congress when Republicans will take over the House from Democrats.
•What would cause a shutdown: A current continuing resolution – a temporary spending bill allowing the federal government to keep operating while Congress works on a full-year funding bill – expires Dec. 16. Congress must pass legislation to keep the government operating past that date or risk a government shutdown.
•Same-sex marriage in focus: The Respect for Marriage Act could pass this week and would codify a 2015 Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex marriage legal nationwide. The Senate act would ensure it stays the law of the land.
•Ukraine, gun safety and more: One of the big sticking points with government funding is from House Republicans who want to tighten the purse strings on Ukraine aid. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden last week called again for an assault weapons ban.” Read more at USA Today
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) talks to reporters in the Senate subway on her way to a procedural vote on the Respect For Marriage Act, on which she was the lead Republican sponsor, at the U.S. Capitol on November 28, 2022 in Washington, DC.Drew Angerer, Getty Images
Supreme Court’s Lawyer Dismisses Ethics Allegations Against Justice Samuel Alito
High court’s legal counsel says there is no evidence supporting reports that justice may have played a role in leak of 2014 ruling on contraceptive access
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which found that some firms could deny coverage of contraceptives to female employees.PHOTO: POOL/REUTERS
“WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court’s staff lawyer rejected allegations that Justice Samuel Alito may have disclosed to conservative activists the outcome of a 2014 case on contraceptive access before it was published.
“There is nothing to suggest that Justice Alito’s actions violated ethics standards,” Ethan Torrey, the Supreme Court’s legal counsel, wrote in a letter responding to queries from two Democratic critics of the court’s ethical practices, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia.
The lawmakers have pressed the court over reports in Politico and the New York Times that leaders of the group Faith and Action undertook a campaign to get close to conservative justices by means such as donations to the Supreme Court Historical Society, which admitted them to exclusive social events where they could befriend the justices.
A former leader of the group, the Rev. Rob Schenck, described the operation to the news outlets and said he sent a letter in July to Chief Justice John Roberts alleging that a donor to Faith and Action, Gayle Wright, learned the outcome of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. after she and her late husband, Don, dined with Justice Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, in early June 2014.
Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion in Hobby Lobby, published June 30, 2014, which by a 5-4 vote found that closely held private companies could invoke a federal religious-freedom law to deny their women employees health-insurance coverage of contraceptives that otherwise was required under the Affordable Care Act.
In May of this year, Justice Alito’s draft opinion overruling Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision recognizing abortion rights, was published by Politico, nearly two months before the final opinion was released. Chief Justice Roberts immediately announced an investigation into the leak, but the court has provided few details since.
Mr. Torrey, in his Monday letter, emphasized gaps in the published reports about the 2014 incident and said the figures involved have denied the allegations of Mr. Schenck, who has since broken with the antiabortion movement.
“Justice Alito has said that neither he nor Mrs. Alito told the Wrights about the outcome of the decision in the Hobby Lobby case, or about the authorship of the opinion of the Court. [Gayle] Wright has denied Mr. Schenck’s allegation in multiple interviews, saying the account given by Mr. Schenck was ‘patently not true,’” Mr. Torrey wrote.
The lawyer wrote: “The Justice never detected any effort on the part of the Wrights to obtain confidential information or to influence anything he did in either an official or private capacity.”
The Supreme Court isn’t required to follow the ethical codes that bind lower federal courts, a fact that Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Johnson and other congressional Democrats aim to change with legislation. Mr. Torrey wrote that Justice Alito’s conduct didn’t in any case violate those codes or pertinent federal law.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Supreme Court to hear key immigration case
“Four months after the Supreme Court temporarily blocked President Joe Biden's power to prioritize certain immigrants in the country illegally for deportation, the justices will revisit the issue Tuesday in the first major immigration case of the term. The Biden administration wants to focus enforcement on immigrants who pose a threat to national security or public safety. But that approach, which officials announced last year, represents a departure from the Trump administration's more sweeping tactics. And two conservatives states, Texas and Louisiana, sued over the strategy.” Read more at USA Today
An immigrant considered a threat to public safety and national security waits to be processed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the ICE Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, after an early morning raid, June 6, 2022. The Supreme Court is taking up a dispute over a blocked Biden administration policy that would prioritize the deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk.Damian Dovarganes, AP
Buffalo Supermarket Shooter Pleads Guilty to Murder, Terrorism, Prosecutors Say
‘While this is going to be painful for some, I think it is important—it is necessary,’ says Erie County District Attorney John Flynn
Payton Gendron pleaded guilty to 15 counts, including first-degree murder and domestic terrorism, a prosecutor said.PHOTO: MATT ROURKE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Prosecutors in Buffalo, N.Y., said the man who killed 10 people during a racist massacre at a supermarket there faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison after pleading guilty to state charges on Monday.
Payton Gendron, 19 years old, pleaded guilty to 15 counts, including first-degree murder and domestic terrorism, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said. Gendron admitted to shooting 13 people during the May 14 attack on a Tops Friendly Market in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
“While this is going to be painful for some, I think it is important—it is necessary,” Mr. Flynn said. “This case is a poster child for swift justice.”
Gendron will be sentenced on Feb. 15, according to Mr. Flynn. The domestic terrorism charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Boil notice for over 2 million Houston area residents
“Officials say a boil order notice could end early Tuesday for more than 2 million people in the Houston area after a power outage caused low water pressure at a water purification plant. The advisory — which means water must be boiled before it’s used for cooking, bathing or drinking — also prompted schools in the Houston area to close Monday. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says the city believes the water is safe but a boil order was required because of the drop Sunday in water pressure. Turner said two electrical transformers failed, causing power outages at the water plant.” Read more at USA Today
John Beezley, of Bonham, buys cases of water after learning that a boil water notice was issued for the entire city of Houston on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, at Walmart on S. Post Oak Road in Houston. Beezley just arrived in town with his wife, who is undergoing treatment starting tomorrow at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where they are staying in a camping trailer.Mark Mulligan, AP
The US Senate is expected to pass a bill today that would federally recognize same-sex marriages. Democrats see the legislation as protection against a possible Supreme Court decision to overturn its 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which requires all states to grant same-sex marriage licenses, as it did this year with the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion. Read more at Bloomberg
“Apology demand | Former US Vice President Mike Pence urged Donald Trump to apologize for dining last week with rapper Ye and a well-known white nationalist and denounce “their hateful rhetoric without qualification.” Pence, who may challenge Trump for the Republican Party presidential nomination in 2024, is the most prominent GOP member to criticize the former president for the meeting.” Read more at Bloomberg
Supreme Court Weighs Limits in Fraud Prosecutions
Court hears cases stemming from former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s crackdown on what he called a ‘show-the-money culture’ under ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Joseph Percoco, outside a federal court in 2018, is challenging his conviction on bribery charges.PHOTO: DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
“WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a set of public-corruption cases that shook up New York politics, with the justices mulling whether to limit how federal prosecutors can pursue fraud cases nationwide.
The court heard two cases emerging from former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara‘s crackdown on what he called a “show-the-money culture in Albany” during the tenure of former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Mr. Cuomo, who resigned from office in August 2021, wasn’t accused of wrongdoing in the cases, but they cast a shadow over his governorship.
If the court rules against the Justice Department, federal prosecutors will likely face new constraints on how they prosecute wire fraud and honest-services fraud, two statutes frequently used against politicians and the businesspeople who lobby them.
In the first case, Percoco v. United States, former top Cuomo aide Joseph Percocochallenged his 2018 conviction on fraud and bribery charges.
Louis Ciminelli, outside a court in 2018, is seeking to overturn a conviction for conspiring to rig bids on a project that was part of an initiative to lift the economy of Buffalo, N.Y. PHOTO: LOUIS LANZANO/BLOOMBERG NEWS
Mr. Percoco, whom Mr. Cuomo once likened to a brother, was found guilty of soliciting and accepting a $35,000 bribe from an executive with state business in 2014. At the time, Mr. Percoco worked as Mr. Cuomo’s campaign manager but wasn’t a formal state employee.
At issue in Mr. Percoco’s appeal is the honest-services fraud statute, which is frequently used to prosecute bribery schemes. Prosecutors alleged that even though Mr. Percoco wasn’t a public official during the relevant time period, he owed a duty of honest services to the public because of his influence with the Cuomo family and his stated plans to return to the public sector after the reelection campaign.
Yaakov Roth, a lawyer for Mr. Percoco with the Jones Day law firm, said during the oral argument that prosecutors had overreached in the case. Because Mr. Percoco wasn’t a state employee at the time, he was engaging in the sort of lobbying that is perfectly lawful in U.S. politics, Mr. Roth said.” Read more at New York Times
Mauna Loa erupts
Mauna Loa as shown via thermal imaging. Photo: U.S. Geological Survey via Cover Images, Reuters
“The world's largest active volcano, Mauna Loa on Hawaii's Big Island, is erupting for the first time since 1984, Axios' Erin Doherty reports.
Many newer residents weren’t around when Mauna Loa last erupted, AP reports. The island's population has nearly doubled since 1980.” Read more at Axios
Photo: U.S. Geological Survey via Reuters
Above: Lava at the summit, seen by remote cameras.
“Elon Musk on Monday claimed that Apple has "threatened" to pull Twitter from its iOS app store, a move that could be devastating to the companyMusk just acquired for $44 billion. "Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won't tell us why," Musk said in one of several tweets taking aim at Apple and its CEO. In another tweet, Musk claimed that Apple has mostly stopped advertising on the platform and called out the 30% transaction fee Apple charges large app developers to be listed in its app store. Removal from Apple's app store, or that of Google, would be detrimental to Twitter's business, which is already struggling with a loss of advertisers following Musk's takeover and a rocky initial attempt at expanding its subscription business.” Read more at CNN
“The last time Iran and the US faced each other in a World Cup, in 1998, Iran’s team gave their rivals white flowers as a peace gesture before winning 2-1 in what state media called the “match of the century.”
They’ll repeat the fixture today as ties between the countries test new lows over accusations of foreign support for protests that have rocked the Islamic Republic for months.
For Iranian leaders, the match is a chance to rally the country behind their squad despite unrest at home, and maybe even humble the “great Satan” on the biggest stage in the world.
They blame the US for inciting protests where rights groups say security services have killed more than 400 people. A rare diplomatic opening also snapped shut earlier this year when talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal stalled.
Besides a propaganda opportunity for the state, an Iran win could affect the course of the protests, which erupted in September after the death of a young woman in police custody.
The judiciary announced the release of 1,156 prisoners, including some demonstrators, to mark last week’s 2-0 defeat of Wales. One member of parliament is calling for a national holiday if Iran beats the US, giving pro-government forces a chance to portray themselves in control. Any such day would likely be marked more by parades by loyalists than street protesters.
Iranian forward Karim Ansarifard sought a balanced tone at a pre-match press conference yesterday. Asked about what it would mean to beat the US, he said “we would like to make our people happy,” but added, “we will do our best to hold our country’s head high.” — Patrick Sykes Read more at Bloomberg
Iran’s players listen to their national anthem ahead of their World Cup match against England on Nov. 21. Photographer: Fadel Senna/Getty Images
“Pushing inoculation | China said it would bolster vaccination among its senior citizens, a move regarded by health experts as crucial to reopening an economy stuck in an endless loop of Covid Zero curbs. But it stopped short of announcing mandates that helped raise inoculation rates in other countries, indicating it will continue to follow its own path out of the pandemic.
Authorities are responding to protests against stringent Covid curbs with a heavy police presence, censorship on social media and some quiet concessions even as the country’s outbreak continues to flare.
The US is reacting cautiously to the protests in China, just two weeks after President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to warm up ties between their countries.” Read more at Bloomberg
A protest against strict Covid measures in Beijing. Photographer: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
“Membership stalled | NATO foreign ministers meet in Romania today for discussions that will be dominated by Russia’s war in Ukraine. But as Natalia Drozdiak and Daryna Krasnolutska report, while the supply of more air-defense systems will feature on the agenda, Kyiv’s pleas for accelerated accession to the alliance are unlikely to yield any significant progress.” Read more at Bloomberg
“The World Health Organization has renamed monkeypox disease, saying the original name fed into "racist and stigmatizing language" against Black and African people, as well as misinformation about how the disease is spread. The new name, mpox, will be phased in through the next year, although WHO has not discussed renaming the monkeypox virus species that causes the disease.” Read more at NPR
Photo: Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images
Above: “A World Cup spectator jumped onto the pitch in Qatar today, holding a rainbow flag and wearing a Superman T-shirt with messages supporting Ukraine and Iranian women.” [Axios]
Thanksgiving's massive sports audience
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
“Huge audiences tuned into football and soccer over Thanksgiving weekend, with the NFL, World Cup and college football all drawing record viewership, Axios' Sara Fischer and Kendall Baker report.
Why it matters: That was particularly good news for Fox Corp., which aired the three most-watched games on three consecutive days.
Thanksgiving: New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys was the most-watched NFL regular-season game ever, averaging 42 million viewers across live TV and streaming, Nielsen says. The total unduplicatedaudience for the three NFL Thanksgiving games was 138 million — up from 103 million last year and a new Thanksgiving Day record.
Friday: USA-England drew over 15.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched men's soccer match ever on English-language TV in the U.S., Fox said. Another 4.6 million watched the Spanish-language broadcast on Telemundo or Peacock, bringing the total viewership to nearly 20 million, NBC said.
Saturday: Michigan's thumping of Ohio State drew 17 million viewers, making it the most-watched regular-season college football game in Fox's history — and the most-watched regular-season game on any network since 2011.
For context: The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade — one of the few non-sports events that routinely ranks among the year's top broadcasts — drew 27.7 million viewers on Thursday across NBC and Peacock.
In the World Cup, Saturday's Argentina-Mexico match was the most-watched sporting event in Telemundo's history. The Spanish-language broadcast drew 8.9 million viewers across Telemundo + the Peacock and Telemundo streaming platforms, the network said.
Even after a jam-packed few days, fans still tuned into the NFL across all networks on Sunday, per usual. The Philadelphia Eagles-Green Bay Packers drew 16.2 million viewers on NBC's "Sunday Night Football" — the show's best overnight tally since Oct. 16.
What to watch: Fox should put up another impressive World Cup viewership number today: The U.S. takes on Iran in a win-or-go-home match at 2 p.m. ET.” Read more at Axios