7. More wall could be coming soon
- In an effort to get more of President Donald Trump’s border wall built, the Department of Homeland Security has asked the Department of Defense to fund 270 more miles of the wall to help fight drug smuggling at the border.
- The DOD is allowed to fund such projects to combat issues like narcotics. The area that the DHS is requesting help for is all federal property; by the end of 2020, it’s expected there will be at least 500 miles of wall completed.
6. Prisons to be a focus in 2020
- State Senator Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville) said that the 2020 legislative session will likely be focused on the issues surrounding Alabama’s prisons and the pressure from the Department of Justice to do something.
- Chambliss went on to say, “[I]f we don’t solve it in the first part of this year in the sessions, then it will be out of our hands beyond that and the cost will double to triple for what we could solve it for if the federal government makes the decisions.”
5. Alabama House minority leader open to the deal with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians
- The Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PCI) have previously announced their compact plan that would introduce the public campaign “Winning for Alabama,” which could potentially pay billions to the state.
- House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) said during an interview with WHNT that the state “needs more revenue, and our constituencies are not in favor of any more taxes,” and added that this plan is “appealing” to him, but he also expects that the “other operators in the state” to bring bills forward, too.
4. Shelby and Jones vote for new trade deal with Mexico and Canada
- The trade agreement United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement has been approved by the U.S. Senate. Two Senators who helped the agreement pass were from Alabama.
- U.S. Senators Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Doug Jones (D-AL) voted in favor of the trade deaL. Shelby said, “Passage of this important trade pact is a significant win for our state and nation’s farmers, manufacturers, workers, and businesses.”
3. The “crime” Democrats are latching on to is not what it seems
- The issue of whether President Donald Trump did anything illegal when the foreign aid was withheld from Ukraine has been widely debated, but now the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has said Trump broke the law. This is not a high crime and misdemeanor, but a dishonest media will imply otherwise.
- There is more to this story than a simple “he broke the law.” The Obama administration (who also was found to have broken the law a few times by the GAO and no one cared) technically broke the law and violated the Constitution every single time the Supreme Court ruled against them.
2. Doug Jones fundraising off of impeachment while claiming he’s impartial
- Thursday morning, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) was appearing on CNN in a somber tone declaring himself to be an impartial arbiter of the truth in the Senate, but it seems unlikely that anyone in the Senate is actually undecided on this very public matter that has been discussed for months.
- Later, the Jones campaign was fundraising using the impeachment proceedings to raise money and created a page that asks donors to give him money during the process which states, “While Doug is doing his duty, we’ve got to have his back. His opponents are taking every opportunity to divide and attack, but Doug is focused on impartial justice and real leadership.”
1. The impeachment trial has started
- U.S. Senators have sworn an oath of “impartial justice” as the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump started. Chief Justice John Roberts will be presiding over the trial.
- House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) spoke about the trial, saying that it’s a “taxpayer-funded campaign stunt,” adding that if the impeachment issues were real “yesterday was no cause for celebration.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said the trial will continue on Tuesday afternoon.
