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Biden tells Zelensky US to stand with Ukraine 'as long as it takes'

President Biden on Wednesday pledged to stand with Ukraine for “as long as it takes” during a press conference alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, vowing to help Kyiv win on the battlefield before any peace talks could take place with Moscow.

Biden’s remarks, which came during an unprecedented visit to Washington by Zelensky, underscored a view that U.S. assistance for Ukraine — military, economic and humanitarian — must continue for an undetermined amount of time into the future.

Biden also suggested that an end to the war would mean a win by Ukraine on the battlefield, which would also strengthen future potential talks between Zelensky and the Kremlin.

“We’re going to help Ukraine succeed on the battlefield — if and when President Zelensky is ready to talk to the Russians, he will be able to succeed as well because he will have won on the battlefield,” Biden said.

Zelensky echoed the president’s remarks that a “just peace” for Ukraine is about ensuring all of the country’s territory was liberated — and secure — from Russia.  

“For me, as a president, just peace is no compromises as to the sovereignty, freedom, territorial integrity of my country, payback for all the damages inflicted by Russian aggression,” Zelensky said.

The historic wartime press conference at the White House came amid the Biden administration’s latest bulk of assistance to Ukraine during its war with Russia, most notably in the form of an additional $2 billion in security and humanitarian aid that includes a Patriot missile battery, an advanced aerial defense system to help Ukraine against Russia’s targeted attacks on the country’s energy and electricity infrastructure.

“Russia is using winter as a weapon,” Biden said. “Freezing people, starving people, cutting them off from one another. It’s the latest example of the outrageous atrocities the Russians are committing against innocent Ukrainian civilians, children and their families.”

Biden also praised Ukraine’s military successes, saying that, “Ukraine has won the battle of Kyiv, won the battle Kherson, won the battle of Kharkiv, defied Russia’s expectation at every single turn” and praised Zelensky for being open to “pursuing peace, a just peace.”

But the president added, “We know that Putin has no intention of stopping this cruel war.”

Zelensky and his top officials have been warning in recent days that Russia is preparing to renew its invasion on Ukraine with a massive ground offensive with an estimated 200,000 troops. 

Zelensky said that the U.S. assistance will help strengthen Ukrainian defense capabilities but that he would not “discuss it in details now, I believe you understand why,” a remark raising the possibility of a Ukrainian counter-offensive, as forces have stalled out in routing Russian forces that have been pushed back by tens of thousands of square miles since September. 

The more than $2 billion package – that includes nearly $400 million in humanitarian support – comes as Congress is working to pass a larger $45 billion aid package for Ukraine as part of a government funding bill by the end of this week.

Zelensky spoke to the historic nature of his visit to Washington, his first trip outside of Ukraine since Russia launched a full scale invasion in February, and said the main mission of his trip was to “strengthen Ukraine.”

“The main issue during today’s talks is to strengthen Ukraine. Next year, our movement forward [is] to fight for our freedom and independence. I have good news returning home. President Biden announced a new package of defense support, about $2 billion U.S. dollars” he said, adding that Patriot Missile Battery systems is the most important part of the package.

Zelensky, in a moment of levity during the press conference, said that after the Patriot batteries become operational – which is not expected to happen for at least a few weeks – he would signal to Biden “we would like to get more patriots.”

“We are in war, I’m really sorry,” he said amid laughter among those gathered in the East Room of the White House.  

The Ukrainian president, who is also addressing a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday, spoke to concerns that some Republicans have expressed opposition to continued U.S. assistance to Kyiv, even as the majority of Democratic and Republican lawmakers have voiced commitment to supporting Ukraine. 

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), who is expected to be the next Speaker of the House if he can overcome opposition by some in his own party, has promised no “blank check” for Ukraine, in responding to calls for more oversight, which other Republicans have echoed.

“Regardless of changes in the Congress, I believe that there will be bipartisan and bicameral support,” Zelensky said, in reference to a Republican take over of the lower chamber, which will have to approve future Ukraine aid.

The Ukrainian president said that he discussed with Biden about Kyiv’s “strategic steps… what we expect next year and what we are preparing.”

Biden was asked by a Ukrainian reporter why the United States can’t provide Ukraine with all capabilities it needs.

“I agree,” Zelensky said, laughing.

Biden reiterated that the U.S. provided “an enormous amount” of assistance to Ukraine before the Russian invasion, has provided over $20 billion in security assistance so far, and will provide the additional $1.85 billion.

“We’re going to give Ukraine what it needs to be able to defend itself, to be able to succeed,” he said.

Updated 6:23 p.m.

Source: TEST FEED1

Live coverage: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses Congress

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a historic address to a joint meeting of Congress tonight.

Zelensky spoke for just over 20 minutes in English, invoking U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, thanking lawmakers for their support and vowing to defeat Russia.

He was interrupted multiple times for standing ovations.

Wednesday marked Zelensky’s first trip outside Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February and comes as Ukrainian officials warn Moscow is preparing for a massive winter offensive.

Catch up with live updates from The Hill’s reporters below:

Source: TEST FEED1

McCarthy asks Senate Republicans to trust his ability to run House in 2023 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) on Wednesday urged Senate Republicans to have faith in his ability to manage the new House Republican majority next year and not feel compelled to vote for bills because they fear the incoming House majority can’t get legislation passed, according to GOP sources.

McCarthy’s appearance at the Senate GOP lunch came as the upper chamber prepares to vote on a year-end government spending bill that McCarthy and other House Republicans have urged them to punt into the new year.

But GOP senators described McCarthy’s comments more as a plea for Republicans in the Senate and House to work together more closely in the next Congress, when he is aiming to win the Speaker’s gavel.

“It was a unifying message, he talked about how we need to work better together than we have in the past,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) told reporters after the meeting.  

McCarthy called on Senate Republicans last week not to vote for an omnibus spending package that legislators have negotiated while Democrats still control the House. He accused the Senate of trying to “jam” the House before Christmas.  

“They’re trying to jam us right before Christmas. Why would you ever move forward when there’s a change in power in 21 days where Republicans would have a stronger hand?” McCarthy said last week in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.   

And on Tuesday, he endorsed a letter from 13 current and incoming House Republicans calling for any legislative priorities backed by a GOP senator who supports the $1.7 trillion year-end spending bill to be thwarted in the 118th Congress.

McCarthy softened his rhetoric considerably when he spoke to GOP senators in person during a Wednesday meeting.  

Republican senators say McCarthy made it clear he does not support the omnibus spending bill that the Senate voted to advance to the floor on Tuesday, but he was careful not to “lecture” senators about why he thinks it’s a bad bill.  

“He said he didn’t agree with the omnibus,” one GOP senator who attended the meeting said. “His basic message was: ‘Don’t do things because you think we can’t. Give us a chance.’” 

“But in this case, the die is cast,” the lawmaker added, noting that 70 senators voted Tuesday evening voted to advance the 1,455-page bill.  

Other sources familiar with the meeting said McCarthy’s comments were not aimed at trying to convince Senate GOP senators to vote against the pending omnibus.  

Instead, he made a plea for GOP senators to work with House Republicans next year to curb spending and avoid another scenario in which they feel pressured to vote for a massive year-end spending bill.   

McCarthy tackled one of the main arguments that some GOP senators have advanced as a reason to pass the omnibus this week.  

Several GOP senators have argued that punting spending decisions into next year will create a legislative pile-up in the House and overwhelm the newly elected GOP majority while it’s trying to organize itself in January and February.  

The next Speaker will be operating with a slim five-seat majority, and the fact that McCarthy hasn’t yet nailed down the 218 votes to be elected Speaker is raising doubts about his ability — or anyone’s ability — to get spending bills passed next year while facing divisions within the House GOP conference.  

“He was very careful not to lecture us” on the omnibus, said another Senate GOP senator. “He said, ‘you guys shouldn’t take votes thinking we can’t get things done in the House.'” 

At the same time, “he acknowledged it’s going to be hard” to run the new House GOP majority with only a five-seat majority, the lawmaker said.   

Another person familiar with the meeting said that McCarthy’s basic message to GOP senators was: “Let us do our thing, give us a chance.”  

McCarthy was invited by Senate Republican Steering Committee Chairman Mike Lee (R-Utah) to speak to the Senate Republican conference at the Wednesday lunch.  

Lee has led the conservative Republican opposition to passing the $1.7 trillion omnibus in the lame-duck session, arguing that the spending bills should be delayed until next year so the incoming House GOP majority can exert its leverage.  

Lee also invited Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, who expressed his opposition to the omnibus, to attend the meeting, according to Senate sources. 

The Heritage Foundation’s vice president of government relations last week argued that an “omnibus would lock in the Biden-Schumer-Pelosi agenda,” slamming it for not securing the border or reining in an expansion of the Internal Revenue Service.  

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said McCarthy made a courteous and diplomatic pitch to Senate Republicans to not allow the upper chamber to send another omnibus package to the House right before a government funding deadline. 

“It was so soft, it was like falling on a puff-cloud of cotton,” she said. “He did a very nice job of threading that needle, it was kind of impressive.” 

McCarthy told senators he’s still working on rounding up the 218 votes to be elected Speaker in January and received positive feedback from senators. 

“He was talking about still working on it,” Lummis said, describing McCarthy’s demeanor as confident.

“I get the impression he’s going to get it one. Who knows if it’s going to be on the first ballot. My money is on McCarthy,” she said. “A lot of the people who were making remarks to him were saying, ‘We know you’ll be Speaker.’”  

Relations between Senate and House Republicans have become somewhat strained in recent weeks over their diverging strategies on passing a year-end omnibus spending package.  

GOP senators weren’t happy that McCarthy bashed the omnibus during his appearance on Hannity’s show. 

But Senate and House Republican leaders are getting ready to work more closely next year.  

Asked Tuesday whether he supports McCarthy’s bid to become Speaker,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters: “Absolutely, I’m pulling for Kevin.”  

Source: TEST FEED1

Zelensky lands at Joint Base Andrews ahead of US visit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has landed at Joint Base Andrews, beginning his first visit outside of his country since Russia invaded Ukraine 300 days ago, according to a White House official.

Zelensky is set to meet with President Biden at the White House this afternoon before addressing a joint session of Congress this evening, and the official said the events are tracking on time.

Flight data shows a U.S. Air Force plane landed at Joint Base Andrews, located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., shortly after noon after taking off from Rzeszow, Poland, which is located near the Ukrainian border.

Polish television station TVN24 posted footage of Zelensky in Rzeszow, saying he took a train to the country before boarding an aircraft.

The Air Force describes the plane, a C-40B, as an “office in the sky” for senior military and government leaders, including capability to conduct secure voice and data communication.

The details of Zelensky’s travel were closely held until hours before his visit.

Biden and Zelensky confirmed the visit publicly at 1 a.m., roughly an hour before the plane took off from Poland.

Biden is slated to welcome Zelensky to the White House at 2 p.m.

–Updated at 12:56 p.m.

Source: TEST FEED1

Five things we've learned through the release of Trump's tax records

The main tax committee in the House voted Tuesday night to release six years of tax returns belonging to former President Trump as part of an investigation into the presidential audit program at the IRS. The vote was 24-16 and fell along party lines, with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans voting against.

The returns include six years of personal returns as well as returns for eight of Trump’s businesses. They’ll be released within a few days following redactions, committee members said Tuesday.

Reports from the Ways and Means Committee about the IRS’s presidential audit program as well as from the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) on the content of the tax returns have already been released. 

Here’s what we know from their reports and from what lawmakers have been saying.

The IRS didn’t audit Trump in 2017 or 2018 and Democrats want to know why

The IRS has a mandatory audit program for sitting presidents, but didn’t audit Trump until more than two years after he assumed the presidency. Trump filed two tax returns in 2017 and one in 2018, but only received his first audit while he was in office in 2019.

“There were no audits in a timely manner,” Ways and Means Committee chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) said Tuesday. 

“Once [committee] staff went to visit the IRS, once staff had a chance to go to some of the … locations that are within the jurisdictions of the IRS, they quickly concluded that in fact the audit did not occur,” he said.

Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden said in a Wednesday statement that the “IRS was asleep at the wheel.”

“The presidential audit program is broken. There is no justification for the failure to conduct the required presidential audits until a congressional inquiry was made. I have additional questions about the extent to which resource issues or fear of political retaliation from the White House contributed to lapses here,” he said.

Trump’s two audit-free years may be part of the reason that no audits of the president were concluded during his time in office and that those started during the latter part of his term have yet to be finished. Tax experts say complex audits usually take several years.

“Not surprising,” Steve Rosenthal, an analyst with the Tax Policy Center who has testified to Congress about Trump’s tax returns, said in an interview about those audits remaining incomplete. “The IRS takes years to finish complicated audits.”

The presidential audit program is an IRS policy outlined in the agency’s regulatory manual, not a federal law. Neal showed off legislation he was introducing Tuesday evening to turn the policy into a law, but the future of that proposal is uncertain since the House is about to flip from Democratic to Republican control.

The IRS started auditing Trump on the same day that Neal asked for Trump’s tax returns

Trump was selected for examination by the IRS on April 3, 2019, the same day that Neal wrote a letter to the then-commissioner of the IRS, Charles Rettig, asking for Trump’s tax returns.

That’s according to a letter from the IRS to Trump and his wife Melania, published online by Ways and Means Democrat Don Beyer (D-Va.) on Tuesday evening, parts of which were redacted.

“On April 3, 2019, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal wrote the IRS to request Trump’s tax returns as part of our Committee’s oversight of the IRS’ mandatory audit of presidential tax returns. On the same day, the IRS initiated its first audit of Donald Trump’s tax returns,” Beyer wrote.

Other Democrats raised the alarm on Tuesday about this.

“In the case of the Trump years, there was only one time when the mandatory audit was triggered and that was when chairman Neal wrote a letter,” Ways and Means Democrat Judy Chu (Calif.) said during a press conference on Wednesday.

“There is something clearly wrong here,” Chu said.

Trump paid $0 in tax in his last year in office

Trump’s tax liability fluctuated wildly in the years his returns were reviewed by the Ways and Means Committee and by the JCT.

The JCT found that Trump paid nothing in tax in 2020, $558,000 in tax in 2019, $5.3 million in tax in 2018 and nothing again in 2017.

His taxable income in these years was also a roller coaster ride. Trump had $0 in taxable income in 2020, $3 million in taxable income in 2019, $23 million in 2018 and $0 again in 2017.

These ups and downs were made possible by the strategic distribution of business losses, which soak up income levels and with them tax liability, tax experts say.

In 2015, Trump reported $105 million in business losses left over from more than $700 million in losses reported in 2009, according to Rosenthal.

These were distributed over the years that the JCT performed its examinations of Trump’s returns. For example, in 2015 Trump wrote down a $76 million loss in his “other income” category to wind up at $30 million in the hole.

This accounting trick resulted in a taxable income of $0 and a tax liability of $0 for that year.

“Trump paid nothing in taxes for years and years. How does he do that? Through losses. By using losses as a sheltering device,” Rosenthal said.

“Donald Trump’s tax returns exemplify the shortcomings of our tax code,” Wyden said Wednesday. “These are issues much bigger than Donald Trump. Trump’s returns likely look similar to those of many other wealthy tax cheats—hundreds of partnership interests, highly-questionable deductions, and debts that can be shifted around to wipe out tax liabilities.”

“Donald Trump had big deductions, big credits, and big losses—but seldom a big tax bill,” Ways and Means Committee member Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said in a statement Tuesday. “Trump claimed tens of millions of dollars in losses and credits without the type of substantiation an ordinary taxpayer would likely provide.”

Trump was making his money through investments, not businesses

The JCT report shows that Trump’s real estate ventures and other businesses consistently lost money and were written down as losses, and that most of his actual income was coming through interest earned on his investments.

For 2020, Trump made more than $10.6 million in taxable interest. The same year, he reported a $15 million loss from his rental real estate properties and other ventures structured as S-corporations, partnerships and similar pass-through entities.

His total income for that year was a $4.7 million loss.

2019 tells much the same story. Trump reported $11.3 million made from interest and $16.5 million in losses incurred from his real estate businesses and other companies. His capital gains from that year totaled $9.26 million, putting him in the black for a total of $4.4 million.

That put his tax liability for that year into positive territory, at over $558,000.

The pattern of interest income reported as a net gain with business income reported as a net loss holds throughout the returns for the years reported to the Ways and Means Committee.

Republicans say the release of Trump’s tax returns is a “political weapon”

Republicans have been saying that publishing Trump’s tax returns should be considered a new precedent, and some commentators are reading a threat of direct retaliation into it as Republicans prepare to take over the Ways and Means Committee in the new Congress.

“Ways and Means Republicans could come out and say, ‘You guys started it. This is both-sides-ism.’ And so they’re going to ask for the tax return information on Hunter Biden and Joe Biden and whoever else they want to embarrass,” Rosenthal said in an interview.

Ways and Means Republican leader Kevin Brady (Texas) said he didn’t want to speculate about what Republican control would mean for the committee in the next Congress, but he did mention tax returns on Wednesday in the context of the upcoming Congress.

“I won’t speculate on what the next Congress and this committee will focus on related to tax returns,” he said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Schumer says Senate could pass $1.7T funding package as early as Wednesday

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he hoped the Senate could pass a sweeping fiscal 2023 government funding package as early as Wednesday, as leaders press for swift passage ahead of a Friday shutdown deadline.

“The Senate took the first step to passing this bill last night voting 75 to 20 to begin to debate,” he said, referring to a procedural vote to kickstart the process in the upper chamber on Tuesday.

Schumer on Wednesday morning called the margin “a strong signal that both sides are keen to finish funding the government very soon.” 

“We must finish our work before the deadline of Friday midnight, but, in reality, I hope we can vote on final passage much sooner than that, even as early as tonight,” he said on Monday morning.

The House and Senate are both readying for an address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. The funding package includes $45 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Schumer said both sides are still negotiating possible amendments he’s hopeful senators can begin voting on later in the day in order to “reach final passage soon.”

“But again, that’s going to require cooperation,” he said. “So, I urge my colleagues not to stand in the way of moving this process forward. Nobody wants a shutdown.”

Government funding is scheduled to lapse on midnight Friday under a deadline set by a short-term measure lawmakers passed last week to buy more time for funding negotiations.

The omnibus funding package unveiled by congressional negotiators on early Tuesday will fund the government and its various agencies through the remainder of fiscal 2023, which ends in late September.

Republicans opposing the omnibus have been pressing for Congress to put off government spending through early next year. The move, they say, is necessary to give the party more influence in funding talks as Washington prepares to usher in a newly GOP-led House.

But many Senate Republicans have expressed support for an omnibus to be enacted sooner than next year, citing concerns for funding in areas such as defense.

The 4,155-page package, made up of the 12 annual appropriations bills, includes $772.5 billion in non-defense discretionary spending, and $858 billion in defense funding – a gap in growth that Republicans pushing for passage are seeking to capitalize on when factoring in inflation. 

“The world’s greatest military will get the funding increases that it needs, outpacing inflation,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the floor shortly after Schumer’s remarks. “Meanwhile, non-defense, non-veterans spending all come in below the rate of inflation for a real dollar cut.”

“If Senate Republicans control the chamber, we would have handled the appropriations process entirely differently from top to bottom,” McConnell said. “But, given the reality of where we stand today, senators have two options this week, just two, give our armed forces the resources and the certainty that they need or we will deny it to them.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Why Belarus matters for the Russia-Ukraine war

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Belarus this week escalated concerns that he is seeking to drag the country into his war in Ukraine.

Both Russia and Ukraine have acknowledged they are expecting a long fight, and Putin’s high-profile trip to Minsk to meet Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko underscored the country’s role as a border state to both countries. 

Analysts said Russia may actually try and push Belarus into the war, or it could merely be using the threat of the country’s involvement to spook western nations and Ukraine.

David Marples, a professor at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies with the University of Alberta, said Putin likely increased pressure on Lukashenko to commit forces in Ukraine.

“Lukashenko has been resisting that ever since the war began,” he said. 

Marples said the visit was especially significant because Putin “never bothered going” to Minsk in the past three years, including during turmoil in Belarus in 2020.

“Now Lukashenko has a little bit more leeway because Russia needs him as well,” he said, adding the Belarusian leader “may ultimately try to make some deal that would allow him to stay in power and keep a sovereign state and then perhaps commit troops.”

At a Monday press conference with Lukashenko, Putin said the leaders reviewed defense issues and “agreed to continue taking all necessary measures to ensure the security of our countries.”

Those include the continuance of joint drills and training as well as a new effort equipping Belarusian air force crews with “special warheads.”

“These coordinated measures are extremely important in view of the tensions at the external borders of the Union State,” Putin said, referring to Russia and Belarus.

Russia used Belarus as a staging ground early in the war. Since then, Russia has trained troops in Belarus, conducted joint drills with the Belarusian army and fired missiles into Ukraine from the country as part of a wave of rocket strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and energy grids.

Experts say Lukashenko is unlikely to send troops to Ukraine at the moment, largely because it would be a deeply unpopular move at home, where he recently fended off an uprising against his regime after the 2020 election.

A Chatham House poll in August found more than 90 percent of Belarus was against joining the war on the side of Russia. Around 27 percent in the poll supported complete neutrality in the war.

A Belarusian rebel brigade is also fighting for Ukrainian independence, so the Belarus army could end up clashing with its own people if it enters Ukraine.

It’s also unlikely that Belarus could change the tide of the war in Russia’s favor. As a much smaller nation than both Ukraine and Russia, it only has around 10,000 troops to readily commit.

The threat from Belarus alone is already a significant deterrence to Ukraine, said Mark Galeotti, the executive director of consulting firm Mayak Intelligence.

“The irony is Belarus is more useful as a threat than a military ally,” Galeotti said in an interview, saying the Belarusian army would get “chewed up” by Ukrainian forces. “It’s more about keeping Ukrainians worried. The threat can do that without needing to carry through with it.”

The International Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Putin’s meeting in Minsk was part of an ongoing Russian information operation to convince Ukraine and the west that Belarus would join the war effort.

“The Kremlin likely seeks to convince the West to accept a false fait accompli that Ukraine cannot materially alter the current front lines and that the war is effectively stalemated,” George Barros, a Russian analyst, told The Hill. 

“ISW assesses that such a conclusion is inaccurate and that Ukraine stands a good chance of regaining considerable critical terrain in the coming months.”

Russia has faced heavy losses in Ukraine but Putin has continually doubled on the war, earlier this year mobilizing hundreds of thousands of reservists who are now starting to reinforce Moscow’s army. 

Because of aggressive western sanctions, Belarus heavily relies on Russia for its economy, including for gas and product exports.

The European Council on Foreign Relations said in an October blog post that Belarus may at some point decide the cost of not joining the war effort outweighs the cost of joining.

Belarus also appears to be slowly conceding to Russia’s push to establish military and political dominance over the country, said the ISW.

On Monday, Lukashenko said he placed on combat alert an S-400 air defense system he received from Russia, a defense system the Belarusian leader rejected in 2020.

Barros from the ISW said that indicated Lukashenko’s “maneuvering space to resist Russian efforts to absorb Belarus is decreasing.”

However, Marples said Russia needs to prove that joining the war would not be a losing proposition for the embattled Belarusian leader. 

“I think he would like to see Russia do a little bit better in the war than they are so far before he did that, because no one wants to join a side that’s going to lose,” he said.  

Marples said Putin is desperate for help and that a Belarusian commitment in Ukraine would ease up pressure on its own troops, some of whom have deserted.  Russia has also seen some protests at home after Putin’s partial mobilization order.

Belarus would also help by creating a threat from the north to potentially divert Ukrainian forces, who are fighting primarily in the southern and eastern region of Ukraine against invading Russian troops.

But Galeotti said Putin has grown much weaker on the international stage since the war began and that heading into the Minsk meeting, Lukashenko had some leverage.

Ahead of the meeting with Putin, Lukashenko reaffirmed that Belarus was an independent nation and that Russia was not controlling the country, refuting what he called “whispers” in Belarus.

At the press conference with Putin, Lukashenko was asked by a reporter about suggestions that Belarus was being “absorbed” by Russia, noting the many meetings the leaders have held in the past year.

“Today, they will claim that Putin has arrived in order to scare someone here,” Lukashenko answered.

“You know, the two of us are co-aggressors, the meanest, most toxic people on this planet. The only issue we have between us is to determine who is bigger,” he added. 

“President Putin tells me that I am, but I am beginning to think that he is. So we decided to stick together, as equals, and that’s it.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Electoral Count Act set to deliver another blow to Trump

The House isn’t the only congressional chamber taking steps this week to counteract former President Trump, as legislation to overhaul how Congress counts electoral votes is one step closer to becoming law.

Less than a day after a House panel investigating Jan. 6, 2021, issued four criminal referrals for the former president, the Senate unveiled a $1.7 trillion omnibus government funding package that includes the Electoral Count Reform Act (ECRA), marking a second blow in as many days against Trump.

The Electoral Count Reform Act, an update to the Electoral Count Act of 1887, raises the threshold for objections to Electoral College votes from one member in each chamber to one-fifth of members in both chambers. Unlike the House panel’s criminal referral that may or may not go anywhere — the Department of Justice is not obligated to consider congressional referrals — the Senate-negotiated bill marks concrete action against Trump that is set to be signed into law by the end of the week.

“It will arguably save our democracy,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who helped negotiate the proposal, told The Hill. “What we wrote is not foolproof. Malevolent actors could still steal an election, but it makes it a lot harder.”

The effort comes two years after Trump and his allies attempted to use the 135-year-old statute to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

In addition to increasing the threshold, the bill clarifies that the role of the vice president in tallying and certifying the Electoral College votes is purely ceremonial and that only a state’s governor or another designated official may submit election results. 

And the proposal allows the General Services Administration to release transition funds to both candidates if neither has issued a concession five days after the election. It would, however, nix funds to the losing candidate once the result of the election was determined. 

Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) led negotiations on the measure over the summer. The push ramped up prior to the October recess and included winning support from Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), before it was ultimately included in the year-end package.  

Of course, the timing of the Electoral Count Reform Act’s passage and the conclusions laid out by the Jan. 6 select committee are largely coincidental. Both had deadlines of the end of the year to get them across the finish line due to the incoming House GOP majority. 

However, it did turn into somewhat of a one-two punch. And passage of the Electoral Count Act reform was considered a priority by top lawmakers. 

“I think it’s just important to get that done before it becomes a presidential year issue of some kind and needs to be changed. We’ve got broad agreement on changes,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.), the top Republican on the Senate Rules Committee, told The Hill. “It will be a good thing.” 

“It really was never a problem anywhere from 1887 until 2001. Since it became a problem, it’s become a problem about three or four times. It’s just an important time to straighten it out,” Blunt, who is retiring, continued. “People decided no matter what the law says, they want to read it some other way and clarifying this law is a good thing.”

Republicans received a key boost on Tuesday, when Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tossed his support behind the proposal. Paul argued in an op-ed in The Louisville Courier-Journal that the electoral system needs to be fixed so that the Electoral College writ large is not abolished.

“This legislation preserves the Founders’ intent that the laws and election results of the several states are respected,” Paul wrote. “Enacting the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act into law will help demonstrate, both to our citizens and to the world, that our republican form of government, which respects the laws of the sovereign states and the various perspectives of individuals throughout our common country, will long endure.” 

Blunt noted that perhaps the most important item included is a provision that strikes a nearly 200-year-old law that state legislatures could use to nullify the popular vote by declaring a “failed election,” noting that the term has never been specifically defined. 

“[It] may in some ways be the provision that most needed clarifying,” Blunt added.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Trump had not referenced the ECRA effort on his Truth Social page since the beginning of the week. By contrast, he dedicated roughly a dozen posts to the Jan. 6 committee’s criminal referral to the Justice Department. 

That panel held its final public meeting on Monday, at which it voted on the four criminal referrals, and plans to release the full report from its 18-month investigation on Wednesday.

The Senate-led package was included at the expense of a stricter House bill drawn up by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), two members of the Jan. 6 committee, that would have required one-third of lawmakers in each chamber to object. 

The ECRA blueprint was attached to the omnibus spending bill alongside other items, including funding for Ukraine, a ban on TikTok from being used on government phones and devices, and money for disaster relief. 

Among the provisions not included were an expansion of the child tax credit, a bill allowing banks to become involved with legal cannabis businesses and sentencing reform.

Source: TEST FEED1