Yearly Archives: 2021

(The Center Square) – Convicted felons in the state of Wisconsin cannot own guns, even if they didn’t commit a violent crime.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a Milwaukee man with a felony conviction for not paying his child support should not get special dispensation because his crime was not violent.

Justice Ann Walsh-Bradley wrote for the court’s 5-2 majority, asserting Leevan Roundtree’s challenge to the state’s ban on felons owning guns falls short.

Roundtree argued that not paying child support does not pose a threat to the general public, therefore he should have not be banned from owning a gun,

Walsh-Bradley said the Wisconsin Supreme Court is not going to create a "hierarchy of felonies."

Roundtree was arrested while in possession of a stolen gun, and sentenced to prison under a Wisconsin law that bans felons from possessing a firearm.

Walsh-Bradley wrote there is an argument to be made that a blanket ban on someone’s Second Amendment rights should be reconsidered.

Justice Brian Hagedorn dissented. He wrote that people who are convicted of violent misdemeanors don’t lose their gun rights, so why should non-violent felons?

“Felon-dispossession laws may be permissible under this historical protection, but only where the State shows the restriction substantially advances the State's interest in protecting against gun-related violence,” Hagedorn stated. “Here, however, the State did not carry its burden to show that Wisconsin's dispossession law satisfies this standard.”

(The Center Square) – Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler conceded her U.S. Senate special election runoff Thursday to Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock.

In a video statement, Loeffler said she called Warnock on Thursday to congratulate him and wish him well.

"I want to thank every Georgian and every single American who believed in me and our campaign," Loeffler said. "We accomplished so much in a short time. ... Unfortunately, we came up slightly short in the runoff election."

Warnock earned 50.91% of the vote, beating Loeffler by 81,260 votes in a race where nearly 4.5 million votes were cast. The Associated Press had called the race for Warnock at 2 a.m. EST Wednesday.

"Rest assured the fight to advance the American dream is far from over," Loeffler said. "The fight to protect conservative values is far from over, and the fight against socialism and the radical agenda of the left is very far from over. I fully intend to stay in this fight for freedom, for our values and for the future of this great country."

Loeffler, who was appointed to retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson's vacant seat in December 2019, and Warnock emerged from a pack of 21 candidates in the general election, where Warnock won 32.9% of the vote compared with Loeffler's 25.91%.

Warnock is a senior pastor of the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached. He will be the first Black U.S. senator from Georgia.

Georgia's second U.S. Senate runoff election between Republican David Perdue, whose U.S. Senate term expired Sunday, and Democrat Jon Ossoff was called for Ossoff by the AP at 4:16 p.m. EST Wednesday.

Perdue, however, has not conceded the race.

Ossoff holds a 43,246-vote lead over Perdue, 50.49% to 49.51%, in a race that also had nearly 4.5 million votes cast.

"I humbly thank the people of Georgia, who have entrusted me with the representation of our great state in the U.S. Senate," Ossoff tweeted Thursday night. "My team is working diligently on the transition so we can begin to deliver results immediately upon taking office."

The Perdue campaign said early Wednesday morning it will "exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are properly counted."

"This is an exceptionally close election that will require time and transparency to be certain the results are fair and accurate and the voices of Georgians are heard," Perdue's campaign said.

If Ossoff's lead holds, Democrats will gain control of the U.S. Senate with a 50-50 split in the chamber and Democrat and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaker vote. Two independent senators caucus with the Democrats.

Democrats already hold the majority in the U.S. House.

(The Center Square) – South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, said Thursday the president’s legacy was tarnished by the actions of “domestic terrorists” who broke into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

Graham, a Republican, said he does not support invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office, but he called on Trump and his team to stop peddling misinformation about the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“When it comes to accountability, the president needs to understand that his actions were the problem, not the solution,” Graham said during a news conference on Capitol Hill. “There's been a constant effort by people from the president's legal team to provide misinformation to distort the facts to make accusations that cannot be proven, and that needs to stop.”

Graham said he did not regret his previous support of and positive relationship with Trump. Citing conservative wins such as security along the U.S.-Mexico border, hundreds of appointed conservative judges and a record-breaking COVID-19 vaccine, Graham said Trump has had “an amazing four years.”

“Deregulating the economy, cutting taxes, historic Mideast peace agreements, the destruction of the caliphate – on and on and on – was tarnished by yesterday,” Graham said.

Reiterating his acknowledgement of Joe Biden as the president-elect of the United States, Graham chided fellow Senate Republicans who joined the effort to reject results of the Electoral College.

“To my colleagues who objected yesterday: you didn't do anything illegal. The law allows you to do what you did. I respect your ability to do it. I disagree with what you were trying to do,” Graham said.

Before the Electoral College objection debate, Graham had said he would listen to the objections of his colleagues, but there would need to be substantial evidence to support claims that state and federal courts had found insufficient to overturn election results.

As several high-level Trump administration officials, including Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, resigned Thursday, Graham urged high-level staff and cabinet members to stay on to assist with a peaceful transition to the Biden administration

Most scorchingly, Graham decried the failures of Capitol security.

“How could they fail so miserably? We're 20 years after 9-11. Yesterday they could have blown the building up. They could have killed us all. They could have destroyed the government,” Graham said.

“People coming through the windows had backpacks as big as my desk on the Senate,” he said. “Those backpacks could have had bombs chemical agents, weapons. We dodged a major bullet yesterday.”

Graham called for the creation of a task force to identify every person who breached Capitol security, saying he was interviewed by the FBI on Thursday morning.

“This shall never happen again,” he said.

(The Center Square) – The top Republican in the Wisconsin Assembly has made good on his promise to pass a coronavirus relief package as the first order of business. But his plan will almost certainly go no further.

The State Assembly on Thursday approved AB 1, the Republican’s $100 million coronavirus relief package.

“This is a good bill. It’s a good bill that resulted in lots of discussion,” Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said on the Assembly floor Thursday. “It started out with Gov. Evers, myself, and the senate majority leader. Unfortunately Gov. Evers then walked away from the table, thinking that he could just kind of dictate what the terms of the deal would be. That’s not how negotiations work. Nobody gets to dictate to anybody else when you have three individuals working in there, each with their own unique ability to bring ideas to the table.”

The plan enjoys plenty of Republican support, and passed the Assembly 56-34 on a party line vote.

New Senate Majority Leader and fellow Republican Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said on Thursday the Wisconsin Senate has no interest in the plan from the Assembly.

"There is a reason that was an Assembly bill and not a Senate bill,” LeMahieu said.

Senate Republicans have their own list of priorities for coronavirus relief, including a requirement that schools in Wisconsin reopen for in-person classes.

Gov. Tony Evers has also made it clear he will not sign Vos’ proposal into law.

Democratic lawmakers in Madison said that reality means Thursday’s vote was little more than a political side show.

"So we’re at the capitol, geared up in PPE, waiting for our GOP colleagues, some of whom won’t wear masks, to finish caucusing, so we can start a session that is now half an hour late, to vote on a bill that will never become law," Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, said on Twitter before Thursday’s vote.

Vos said there are 44 points to his plan, many of which the governor and senators are in agreement.

“I am very optimistic that everything in here is something that is modeled off of good ideas, is modeled off of best practices, and in many cases is modeled after what other states with divided government have been able to accomplish when they put their nose to the grindstone and start to say ‘Let’s focus on getting an answer, let’s not just play politics.’,” Vos added.

The Assembly sent the proposal to the Senate where it will wait for Senators to call it for a vote.

(The Center Square) - The University of Wisconsin System has tested nearly 200,000 people for the coronavirus in just two months. Now the school’s president is saying they can vaccinate everyone in the state in the next three.

UW President Tommy Thompson on Wednesday said the university can take over the state’s slow-to-start coronavirus vaccination program.

"We could set it up on our campuses," Thompson said. "We have nursing students, nursing deans, individuals qualified to administer vaccines. We could do it the same way as testing, and vaccinate as many people as needed."

Thompson said the UW System could vaccinate everyone in Wisconsin by the end of March, or beginning of April.

Wisconsin is lagging behind in getting the vaccine to people across the state. The state’s Department of Health Services on Tuesday reported that just 85,609 of Wisconsin’s 266,675 doses have been administered. Numbers from the CDC show Wisconsin lagging behind almost every other Midwestern state when it comes to vaccinations.

Thompson said his offer to take over is not meant as an insult to Gov. Tony Evers and his administration.

"We don't want to in any way criticize,” Thompson said. “We just want to help out and make sure that the vaccine is extended faster and to everybody that gets vaccinated as soon as possible."

In addition to running the University of Wisconsin, Thompson is a former Wisconsin governor and former federal Health and Human Services Secretary. He said that experience working with the federal government has proven crucial during the university’s testing program. He’s confident that it would be a smooth transition to vaccinations.

“It goes through the state and the federal government, and we’re talking to them, consulting with them,” Thompson said. “We’re saying, give us a chance. We’re ready to go. We’ll set up up a great program for vaccination and everybody wants us to do it.”

Thompson says he has not heard back from Gov. Evers about his offer.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin rang in the New Year with an uptick in new unemployment claims.

According to U.S. Department of Labor data released Thursday, 19,186 new claims were filed in the state in the week ending Jan. 2, a week-over-week increase of 4,892 over the previous week’s 14,294 claims.

The DOL reported Wisconsin processed 103,469 total unemployment claims during the final week of 2020, an increase of 13,541 over the previous week’s 89,928 claims.

Nationwide, 77,400 more initial claims were filed the week ending Jan. 2, bringing the Dec. 26 new unemployment claims tally of 844,672 claims to 922,072 claims, a 9.2% week-over-week increase.

The DOL also reported: “The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.7 percent during the week ending December 26, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week.

The DOL continued: "The advance unadjusted level of insured unemployment in state programs totaled 5,382,459, an increase of 145,444 (or 2.8 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected an increase of 271,437 (or 5.2 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.5 percent and the volume was 2,147,170.”

According to the DOL, New York (+10,318), California (+10,071), Kentucky (+4,341), Missouri (+4,105), and New Jersey (+2,851) recognized the largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 26, while the largest decreases were in Illinois (-34,568), Pennsylvania (-9,026), Georgia (-7,713), Kansas (-3,710), and Texas (-3,531).

(The Center Square) – Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement late Thursday morning saying President Donald Trump is no longer fit to hold office.

The New York Democrat called on Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the Constitution's 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Schumer blamed Trump for instigating the mob that marched on and infiltrated the Capitol Wednesday. Those acts forced a delay in ratifying the Electoral College results.

“It can be done today,” he said in a statement that appeared on his Facebook page.

Congress finally ratified the election results shortly after 3:30 a.m. ET Thursday morning. Minutes later, Trump, who had claimed the results were fraudulent, said in a statement issued by the White House there would be an orderly transition to the incoming Biden Administration.

However, Schumer said Trump should not serve another day in office.

“If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress must reconvene to impeach President Trump,” he said.

Under Section Four of the amendment, the vice president and a majority of sitting Cabinet members can deem the President unfit to serve. That would make the vice president the acting President.

If President Trump were to claim he is capable, then the vice president and Cabinet members would have four days to decide if they concur. If they do, Trump would resume his duties. If not, Pence would stay as acting president until Congress decides.

The vice president would remain as acting President only if two-thirds of both Congressional chambers find that the sitting President is unable to serve.

There are less than two weeks left in the Trump Administration. President-elect Joe Biden will take the oath of office on Jan. 20.

Schumer is the latest to call for Trump’s ouster. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, called for the president’s impeachment Wednesday.

Also on Thursday morning, U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, posted a video on Twitter saying “with a heavy heart” the 25th Amendment needs to be invoked.

He said Trump did little to get the mob to stand down and denounce their actions. As a result, the country needs “a sane captain” running the country over the next 13 days.

“What happened yesterday is a wake-up call to many, but it’s a call to accountability for others,” he said.

(The Center Square) – Congress “spent as never before, doing so ostensibly without a care” in 2020, greatly contributing to what is now a $3.1 trillion deficit, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, argues in his annual wasteful spending report.

At the same time, initial 15-day lockdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus turned into nearly year-long lockdowns, Paul said, “wreaking havoc on Americans’ health, sanity, and economy, while also empowering petty tyrants across the country.”

Some of the deficit is traceable to COVID-19-related spending, Paul said, “but a lot of it was not. For example, perhaps somebody can explain to me why … Congress reimbursed some agencies for money they had spent in late 2019 and early 2020, before COVID hit, on efforts unrelated to COVID?”

Paul suggested cutting agencies blank checks is why the debt skyrocketed from $23 trillion to more than $27 trillion. Congressional spending was 50% higher in 2020 than 2019, he said. Payments of interest on the public debt remained at $387 billion.

“If you laid out that many $1 bills end to end, it’d be enough to wrap around the Earth 1,506 times. And that’s money the government spends that doesn’t help anybody – doesn’t even buy a pen or a paper clip,” Paul said in the introduction to his report, which details how the federal government wasted $54.7 billion worth of taxpayer money.

Within that amount is $3.86 billion worth of health care spending that had nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul's report outlined examples of taxpayer-funded National Institutes of Health studies that could have gone toward paying down the debt, not increasing it, including:

• $1.3 million to study whether people will eat ground-up bugs;

• $36 million to ask why stress makes peoples’ hair turn gray;

• $1.47 million to persuade Eastern Mediterranean youth to stop smoking hookah;

• $6.97 million of cancer research money to create a “smart toilet;”

• $1.24 million to reduce the amount of time adults spend watching TV;

• $896,994 to give cigarettes to adolescents;

• $3.45 million to send messages to mothers to encourage their teenage daughters to stop indoor tanning;

• $31.5 million on an allegedly faked study linking e-cigarettes to heart attacks;

• $3.1 million interviewing San Franciscans about their edible cannabis use;

• $2 million on testing if using a hot tub can lower stress;

• $968,932 on developing a master’s degree in research ethics in Myanmar;

• $3.69 million on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Deeming Rule;

• $1 million on helping people get over their fear of going to the dentist;

• $1.45 million on studying the prevalence of party drug use at New York City clubs and raves; and

• $787,355 on studying the effect of sleepiness on diet, physical activity and obesity in children.

Other waste, according to Paul, in health care spending included funding federal employees' duplicative Medicare customer service access of up to $217 million and waiting for years on delinquent undelivered orders at the Veterans Administration, costing taxpayers $3.49 billion.

In one of several audit reports published last year by Open The Books, one 24-page report analyzed “why, how, and where” federal agencies wasted tax dollars in 2019.

Its auditors found the most wasteful federal programs were Medicaid, Medicare and the Earned Income Tax Credit. In these three programs, 69% of the money spent – $121 billion – were improper payments.

Dead people received $871.9 million in mistaken payments through Medicaid, Social Security, federal pensions and farm subsidies because agencies primarily failed to verify deaths, the report said. Over four years, money sent to dead people has cost taxpayers $2.8 billion.

The $175 billion in taxpayer money provided through improper payments, Open the Books' Adam Andrzejewski argued, could have paid for the equivalent of a full year of all federal salaries, perks and pension benefits for every employee of federal executive agencies.

Paul argued the $54 billion detailed in his report could have funded three years of the entire U.S. Treasury Department.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson says the questions about the November election cannot be swept under the rug.

Johnson, who led the U.S. Congressional opposition to the 2020 election result, released a statement late Wednesday night in which he completely condemns the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, but said he will not stop pushing for answers about the election.

“I refuse to dismiss the legitimate concerns of tens of millions of Americans who have lost faith in our institutions and the fairness of our electoral process,” Johnson said. “Those who have lost confidence are not crazy. They are patriots who dearly love America and are alarmed by what they have witnessed over the last four years: a thoroughly corrupt FBI investigation of a duly elected president; a grossly biased media that has chosen sides and uses its power to interfere in our politics to a far greater extent than any foreign entity could ever hope to achieve; an increasingly powerful social media that censors news and conservative voices; and courts and election officials that usurp the constitutional authority of state legislatures in setting the times, places, and manner of holding elections.”

Johnson ultimately, however, did not vote to object to the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. He’d previously said he would not object to the results from Wisconsin.

Johnson said thousands of people showed-up in Washington, D.C. yesterday because millions of Americans truly believe that something was wrong with the November election.

“The first step in solving any problem is admitting you have one. My support for a bipartisan commission to address electoral concerns is meant to acknowledge the problem and highlight that having a large percentage of Americans questioning the legitimacy of our elections is a dangerous reality that must be addressed,” Johnson said. “This is not a problem that can be swept under the rug with the hope it will somehow solve itself.”

Johnson said states, Wisconsin included, need to restore voters faith in the electoral system before the next election.

“For the future unity of our nation, it is crucial that states properly shoulder their responsibility, take the action required, and alleviate any doubt that future elections will be fair and legitimate,” Johnson concluded.

(The Center Square) – A joint session of Congress, completing its work in the early morning hours of Thursday after lawmakers had been forced to flee their chambers by a violent invasion of the Capitol, affirmed that Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States.

The proceedings concluded shortly after 3:30 a.m. EST, drawing to a close an chaotic day in the nation’s house of laws that saw one person shot dead inside the building after supporters of President Donald Trump breached its security.

Prior to the interruption caused by protesters rampaging through the halls of the Capitol, it had been expected pro-Trump lawmakers would lodge objections to the slates of electors from six states. The House and Senate had exited the joint session shortly before the hiatus to separately debate an objection to Arizona’s election results – an objection that was always bound to fail when a number of Republicans in the Senate and the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives expressly indicated they wouldn’t support it

But following the resumption of the legislators’ work, shortly after 8 p.m. EST, it became clear that the violent scenes played out on the nation’s TV screens had sapped much of the appetite of even fervent Trump supporters for pursuing the objection strategy. After the Arizona objection was voted down in the House and Senate, only one other objection was pursued – Pennsylvania – before Congress wrapped up its work, certifying the Electoral College’s report that Biden had collected 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.

Trump, who had vowed Wednesday during a rally in Washington that he would never concede the election, acknowledged in a statement that there will be a transfer of power.

“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” he said in a statement posted to the Twitter account of social media director Dan Scavino.

...fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!”— Dan Scavino🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) January 7, 2021

Trump’s own Facebook and Twitter accounts were suspended Wednesday evening amid accusations that his postings had encouraged the invasion of the Capitol.

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Senate voted 93-6 on Wednesday night against an objection to Arizona's Electoral College vote.

After a delay of several hours because protesters from a pro-Trump rally stormed the U.S. Capitol building, the U.S. House and Senate returned to their respective chambers Wednesday night to vote on the Arizona objection and continue certifying electoral votes from all the states.

The six Republican senators who voted in favor of the Arizona objection were Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Roger Marshall of Kansas and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

Shortly after the Senate rejected the Arizona objection, the House voted against it, 303-121. All 220 Democrats in the House and 83 Republicans voted to reject the objection.

Earlier in the day, as per procedure, a joint session of the House and Senate was gaveled open by Vice President Mike Pence shortly after 1 p.m. After the electoral votes from Alabama and Alaska were certified Republican Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar objected, with the support of Cruz, to Arizona's electoral vote.

The House and Senate retired to their separate chambers for debate about 1:30 p.m. By 2:15 p.m., the two chambers had to be evacuated as the protesters entered the Capitol building.

Before the disruption, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York echoed each other’s sentiments, saying it was not the job of Congress to pick the president.

McConnell, who already had recognized former Vice President Joe Biden as the next president, said he supported President Donald Trump’s quest to challenge results in a number of states.

“Now we have these sweeping conspiracy theories, even though his challenges were rejected over and over, including some by judges he appointed,” McConnell said.

It is unclear whether further objections might be filed as several Republicans said they no longer would support the effort. The GOP originally considered objections regarding Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, was one of the first to announce she was changing her stance on the objections.

“We must have a peaceful transfer of power,” she said in a statement. “The only reason for my objection was to give voice to the concern that governors and courts unilaterally changed election procedures without the will of the people and outside the legislative process.”

McMorris Rodgers said what happened at the Capitol was “disgraceful and un-American.”

Republican Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and James Lankford of Oklahoma also said they no longer would vote in favor of objections.

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump saw his Facebook and Twitter account suspended Wednesday evening after the nation’s two dominant social media platforms accused him of inciting violence through his posts.

Twitter was the first to act, issuing a minimum 12-hour ban with a threat that it could become permanent if Trump didn’t delete three offending Tweets.

“As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy,” the @TwitterSafety account posted. “This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked.

As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy. https://t.co/k6OkjNG3bM— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021

“Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account,” Twitter added.

A little over an hour later, Facebook followed suit, slapping Trump’s account with a 24-hour ban.

“We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time,” the Facebook Newsroom account posted on Twitter.

We've assessed two policy violations against President Trump's Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time.— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) January 7, 2021

The three posts that Twitter objected to featured Trump’s statements about the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday by his supporters following a rally at which he spoke. One tweet featured a video in which he came close to praising those who forced their way into the building through smashing windows, saying “We love you, you're very special. … I know how you feel, but go home and go home in peace."

In a followup Tweet, Trump said of the violence: “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”

The moves by Twitter and Facebook to sanction Trump were likely to inflame his ongoing fury against them. Twitter especially has drawn the president’s ire over the past few months as it began to apply warning labels to his tweets that disputed the result of the Nov. 3 election.

The spat between Trump and the social media giants led him to demand the repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which provides some protections for internet-based companies so that they’re not automatically liable for the content posted by their users.

Trump had demanded the repeal of Section 230, arguing that such a move would stop Facebook and Twitter from censoring conservatives. He vetoed a defense authorization bill in December after Congress refused to insert a repeal of Section 230 into the bill; the House and Senate later overturned his veto, the first time both chambers had done so during his presidency.

(The Center Square) – Vice President Mike Pence presided over the resumption of proceedings in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday evening, several hours after the violent incursion by protesters supporting President Donald Trump.

The House of Representatives and the Senate were meeting separately Wednesday afternoon to consider a challenge to Arizona’s electoral vote results when they were forced out of their respective chambers as protesters stormed the building.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told journalists Wednesday evening that his understanding is that there would be no further objections to the election results in the wake of the afternoon's violence.

By about 5 p.m. EST, the Capitol building reportedly had been cleared of those who had forced their way in. About 90 minutes later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced lawmakers would reconvene to confirm the results of the Electoral College and declare President-elect Joe Biden to be the next president.

“[A]fter calls to the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the Vice President, we have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is cleared for use,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Pelosi, a California Democrat, noted legislators already had prepared to work late into the night to accommodate the anticipated challenges to the slates of electors for six states. If a representative and a senator each sign on to challenge a given state’s results, the two chambers are obliged to exit the joint session called to ratify the results and go to their respective chambers for up to two hours of debate.

Only if both chambers agree to uphold a challenge would the electors for a state be thrown out, an unlikely prospect with Democrats controlling the House and eager to see their party’s nominee inaugurated Jan. 20.

If Paul's prediction that the expected challenges would not come to pass in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol comes true, lawmakers should be able to move through recording the remaining electoral votes without much in the way of drama or spectacle.

Pelosi blamed Trump for the violence at the Capitol, saying it was “anointed at the highest level of government.”

“We now will be part of history, as such a shameful picture of our country was put out to the world, instigated at the highest level,” she said.

(The Center Square) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would resume its joint session Wednesday night as soon as lawmakers are given the all-clear to do so after the violent incursion by protesters supporting President Donald Trump.

House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the session was expected to resume at 8 p.m. EST.

The House of Representatives and the Senate were meeting separately Wednesday afternoon to consider a challenge to Arizona’s electoral vote results when they were forced out of their respective chambers as protesters stormed the building.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told journalists Wednesday evening that his understanding is that there would be no further objections to the election results in the wake of the afternoon's violence.

By about 5 p.m. EST, the Capitol building reportedly had been cleared of those who had forced their way in. About 90 minutes later, Pelosi announced lawmakers would reconvene to confirm the results of the Electoral College and declare President-elect Joe Biden to be the next president.

“[A]fter calls to the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the Vice President, we have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is cleared for use,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Pelosi, a California Democrat, noted legislators already had prepared to work late into the night to accommodate the anticipated challenges to the slates of electors for six states. If a representative and a senator each sign on to challenge a given state’s results, the two chambers are obliged to exit the joint session called to ratify the results and go to their respective chambers for up to two hours of debate.

Only if both chambers agree to uphold a challenge would the electors for a state be thrown out, an unlikely prospect with Democrats controlling the House and eager to see their party’s nominee inaugurated Jan. 20.

If Paul's prediction that the expected challenges would not come to pass in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol comes true, lawmakers should be able to move through recording the remaining electoral votes without much in the way of drama or spectacle.

Pelosi blamed Trump for the violence at the Capitol, saying it was “anointed at the highest level of government.”

“We now will be part of history, as such a shameful picture of our country was put out to the world, instigated at the highest level,” she said.

(The Center Square) – The Associated Press declared Democrat Jon Ossoff the winner Wednesday over Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue in one of two U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia that will determine the balance of power in the chamber for the next two years.

The AP called the race for Ossoff at 4:16 p.m. EST Wednesday, about 14 hours after it declared Raphael Warnock the winner over Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the second U.S. Senate runoff.

With 100% of precincts reporting Wednesday afternoon, Ossoff held a 24,859-vote lead over Perdue, 50.28% to 49.72%. Warnock had a 50.73%-49.27% lead over Loeffler, a margin of 64,488 votes.

If Ossoff and Warnock's leads hold, Democrats would gain control of the U.S. Senate with a 50-50 split in the chamber and Democrat and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaker vote. Two independent senators caucus with the Democrats.

"It is with humility that I thank the people of Georgia for electing me to serve you in the United States Senate," Ossoff said in declaring victory Wednesday morning. "Thank you for the confidence and trust you have placed in me."

Neither Perdue nor Loeffler have conceded.

"This is an exceptionally close election that will require time and transparency to be certain the results are fair and accurate and the voices of Georgians are heard," Perdue's campaign said in a statement before Ossoff declared victory. "We will mobilize every available resource and exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are properly counted."

Warnock and Loeffler were vying to serve the remainder of retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson's term.

"[Tuesday night], we proved that with hope, hard work, and the people by our side, anything is possible," Warnock said.

Loeffler, who is in Washington on Wednesday for the certification of the Electoral College results, vowed to keep fighting.

“It's worth it for this election to last into [Wednesday]," she said. "We're gonna make sure every vote is counted. Every legal vote will be counted. And I'm not gonna stop working.”

(The Center Square) – Presumptive President-elect Joe Biden plans to name United States Circuit Judge Merrick Garland as his attorney general, according to media reports.

Biden could make a formal announcement on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. The former vice president selected Garland, 68, over U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., and Sally Yates, former deputy attorney general, Politico reported.

“Judge Garland will be viewed in a whole new light now,” CNN quoted a “top Biden ally” as saying.

Former President Barack Obama nominated Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill a vacancy created followed Antonin Scalia’s death in 2016. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., scuttled the nomination.

President Donald Trump later successfully nominated Neil Gorsuch to the nation’s top court, much to the dismay of liberals. Trump made three nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Bill Clinton nominated the Chicago-born Garland to the federal bench in 1997, according to Ballotpedia. Garland served as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2013 until February.

Before joining the judiciary, Garland was principal associate deputy U.S. attorney general, CNN reported. In that role, he oversaw the investigation into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

“If media reports are accurate, I believe Judge Garland would be a sound choice to be the next Attorney General,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on Twitter. “He is a man of great character, integrity, and tremendous competency in the law.

“He will be asked many questions regarding existing investigations that, in my view, need to continue,” Graham added. “I look forward to the confirmation process and will closely follow his answers.”

According to USA Today and NBC News, Biden plans to name Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general; Kristen Clarke to head the justice department’s Civil Rights Division; and Vanita Gupta as associate attorney general.

(The Center Square) – At least two members of the Wisconsin legislature say Wednesday’s chaos at the U.S. Capitol is not something you see in America.

Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher on Wednesday afternoon released a video on Twitter from his office in Washington, D.C., calling out both the protesters who stormed the Capitol and the Republicans who he blames for the violence.

“This is banana republic crap that we are watching right now,” Gallagher said. “This is the cost of countenancing an effort by Congress to overturn the election, and telling thousands of people that there is a legitimate shot at overturning the election today.”

Gallagher is one of Wisconsin’s Republicans who does not support the objections to the Electoral College results or the objections to Wisconsin’s election outcome.

Democratic Congressman Mark Pocan also released a Twitter video from his office Wednesday. He wasn’t inside the Capitol, but shared Gallagher’s outrage at the protesters who stormed the building.

“It’s a sad day for America when the president is inciting domestic terrorism and acting so incredibly irresponsibly because he is unhappy that he didn’t win the election,” Pocan said.

Gallagher echoed the sentiment. He said President Trump started the chaos, and only he can end it.

“Mr. President, you have got to stop this. You are the only person who can Call. This. Off,” Gallagher said. “The election is over. Call it off. This is bigger than you, this is bigger than any member of Congress. This is about the United States of America.”

Wisconsin’s Republican U.S. Senator, Ron Johnson, who has been one of the most vocal critics of the November election and a leader in the fight to oppose the election results said Wednesday that storming the Capitol is not an acceptable protest.

He asked for calm on Twitter.

“Please, if you are in or around the Capitol, respect law enforcement and peacefully disperse,” Johnson tweeted. “The Capitol Police have acted with incredible professionalism. I sincerely thank them for their service and condemn all lawless activity.”

(The Center Square) – Supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol Building Wednesday afternoon, interrupting the congressional session that was meeting to confirm the Electoral College votes.

Hundreds of protesters were shown on television news coverage walking through Statuary Hall without having gone through any security checkpoints. Debate was halted, and lawmakers were ordered to return to their offices and shelter in place. Legislators were told they may need to hide under their chairs and to be quiet and not draw attention to themselves.

The protesters appeared to have come from a rally earlier in the day in which Trump condemned, as he has repeatedly since November, the results of the Nov. 3 election that made former Vice President Joe Biden the president-elect.

Capitol Police put out calls to several other agencies to provide assistance after getting overrun, and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser has put in place a 6 p.m. curfew and asked for the Washington, D.C., National Guard to be called up.

Trump didn't directly address the actions of the protesters but he did ask them to avoid violence, tweeting "Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!"

The sight of massive crowds halting the democratic process in the nation's capital city was jarring to observers, some of whom laid the blame for the crowd's actions at the president's feet.

"This is a coup attempt," tweeted U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. Then, addressing Trump, he wrote, "You are not protecting the country. Where is the DC guard? You are done and your legacy will be a disaster."

(The Center Square) - Wisconsin schools saved about $40 million by not being open last spring, but a new report says no one is sure where the money went.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty looked at the data included in the coronavirus report issued by the state’s Department of Public Instruction last month.

“The report asks for costs and savings in five categories: utilities, transportation, food service, personnel, contract terminations, and a catch-all 'other' bucket," WILL Director of Research Will Flanders wrote. “By far the biggest savings came from transportation costs. When schools are shut down, obviously most kids are no longer being transported, leading to a savings statewide of more than $34 million.”

Flanders said schools across the state saved another $10.6 million in personnel costs, presumably from not needing as many substitute teachers.

The DPI report shows Wisconsin schools spent more on food service during last spring’s shutdowns.

“The only main bucket for which we see a cost increase is for food services, which increased by approximately $6.3 million,” Flanders added. “This likely results from the logistical challenges of continuing to provide free and reduced meals during the pandemic.”

Many schools across the state, mainly in bigger cities, turned their focus last spring almost entirely toward providing breakfasts and lunches for students.

The WILL study lists the biggest savers, and biggest losers from last spring’s shutdown.

Wausau schools saved more than $3 million, followed by Kenosha, Milwaukee, Fond du Lac, and Eau Claire schools.

Racine schools spent the most during last spring’s shutdown. Flanders noted Racine increased spending by $1.9 million. They were followed by Madison, New Berlin, North Fond du Lac, and Green Bay schools.

Flanders said districts that lost money owe taxpayers an explanation.

“Given that other districts were able to get out of at least a portion of their transportation spending, this suggests either that bad contracts were made by the district, or that they are not fully reporting the money they saved,” Flanders wrote.

He also says schools that saved money owe an explanation to taxpayers.

“Many districts throughout the state have continued to keep their doors shut, despite substantial scientific evidence that it is safe to reopen,” Flanders said in his study’s conclusion. “The data here shows clearly that districts enjoy significant financial savings from keeping their doors shut. This represents the hard-earned money of Wisconsin taxpayers, and ought to be used to educate Wisconsin’s children. These savings ought to be passed on to Wisconsin parents who are struggling to educate their children in districts more concerned about the interests of the teachers union than about educating kids.”

(The Center Square) – As expected, Republican lawmakers in Congress filed a written objection Wednesday over Arizona’s electoral votes in the presidential election.

The Joint Session of Congress was called to order by Vice President Mike Pence shortly after 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, and the electoral votes for either President Donald Trump or President-elect Joe Biden were to be certified by state in alphabetical order.

There were no objections over the first two states, Alabama and Alaska, which Trump won. The objection over Arizona was filed by U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and signed by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Biden edged Trump by fewer than 11,000 votes, or three-tenths of a percent, in Arizona to pick up the state’s 11 electoral votes.

The objection stated that “not under all of the known circumstances” that the state’s electoral votes were regularly given.

Several GOP legislators previously have said they would file objections over Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said those three states were guaranteed, and objections also could be filed in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.

A dozen Senate Republicans and at least 140 House Republicans have said they will object. Individual states last month certified their Electoral College votes, which showed Biden finishing with 306 votes to Trump’s 232. A minimum of 270 is required.

The Constitution requires both chambers of Congress to meet before the inauguration to count the electoral votes of each state. While in the past it has been a purely ceremonial event, several GOP legislators signed a letter pledging to object unless Congress agreed to investigate election results.

If a written objection is made regarding any state by one member of the House and one member of the Senate, members will adjourn to their separate chambers for up to two hours of debate. Statements from the floor are limited to five minutes during the debate.

Unless both the House and Senate vote to overturn the count for the state in question, the objection is rejected and the process begins again with the next state.

It is difficult to see any objections succeeding in the Democratic-controlled House, and several Republicans in the Senate have asked their colleagues not to object, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who acknowledged Biden as the winner.

Without mentioning Trump by name, Pence said he does not have authority under the Constitution to refuse to accept the certification of any state’s certification.

(The Center Square) – Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff declared victory Wednesday morning over Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue in their runoff election – one of two elections held Tuesday to determine power in the U.S. Senate.

With 99.92% of precincts reporting, Ossoff held a 16,370-vote lead over Perdue, 50.19% to 49-81%. Ossoff's victory declaration came about six hours after The Associated Press declared Democrat Raphael Warnock the winner in his U.S. Senate runoff with Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler.

"It is with humility that I thank the people of Georgia for electing me to serve you in the United States Senate," Ossoff said. "Thank you for the confidence and trust you have placed in me."

Neither Perdue nor Loeffler have conceded. If Ossoff and Warnock's leads hold, Democrats would gain control of the U.S. Senate with a 50-50 split in the chamber and Democrat and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaker vote. Two independent senators caucus with the Democrats.

"This is an exceptionally close election that will require time and transparency to be certain the results are fair and accurate and the voices of Georgians are heard," Perdue's campaign said in a statement before Ossoff declared victory. "We will mobilize every available resource and exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are properly counted."

In the special election runoff to serve the remainder of retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson's term, Warnock had a 50.61%-49.49% lead over Loeffler, a margin of more than 53,000 votes. The Associated Press called the race for Warnock at 2 a.m. EST Wednesday.

"Tonight, we proved that with hope, hard work, and the people by our side, anything is possible," Warnock said.

Loeffler, who is in Washington on Wednesday for the certification of the Electoral College results, vowed to keep fighting.

“It's worth it for this election to last into [Wednesday]," she said. "We're gonna make sure every vote is counted. Every legal vote will be counted. And I'm not gonna stop working.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s latest coronavirus count shows most of the state’s vaccine doses are still in the fridge.

The state’s Department of Health Services on Tuesday reported that just 85,609 of Wisconsin’s 266,675 vaccine doses have been administered.

DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm defended the slow roll-out, saying many states are off to a slow start with the vaccine.

"For the foreseeable future, demand for the vaccine is going to outstrip availability," Palm said. "The holiday season is over and it is now certainly time to ramp up to make sure that we are pushing the vaccine that we have through the system.”

Numbers from the Centers for Disease Control reveal Wisconsin is 10th out of 12 Midwestern states in terms of the percentage of the population that has received a dose of the vaccine. Just 1.2% of Wisconsin’s population has gotten a dose of the vaccine.

Palm didn’t have an explanation as to why the vaccination roll-out has been so slow.

Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said, no matter the reason, Gov. Evers and his administration is 100% to blame.

“The governor had months to prepare for this. We all knew the vaccines were on their way. Without a transparent and efficient plan, the governor is repeating the mistakes he made with unemployment insurance,” Darling said. “Wisconsin residents deserve and need to know when they can expect to be vaccinated against COVID-19.”

Darling sent the governor a list of 10 questions that she says need to be answered quickly.

“Governor Evers is on the verge of yet another disaster from his administration,” Darling said.

Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Cedarburg, said Wisconsin is lagging well behind other states in the Midwest and across the country. He too lays all of the blame on Gov. Evers.

“Gov. Evers is an absolute disaster as an executive,” Stroebel said on Twitter on Tuesday. “Wisconsin’s COVID-19 vaccination rates are the third worst in the Midwest. Must be easier to push a dubious mask mandate than distribute a vaccine.

Gov. Evers on Tuesday said he is not concerned about comparing Wisconsin to other states,

"While we're worrying about comparing ourselves to Florida or to some other state,” Evers said. “I've continued to encourage people ... to think about how important it is to make sure we're not spreading this virus."

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber on Wednesday that Gov. Evers owns the failure to distribute the vaccine because he, and he alone, has the power over the state’s coronavirus response.

“When do people think they might be able to get a vaccine?” Vos asked out loud. “Is it this month? Is it this quarter? Is it this year? We don’t even have basic details out to the public.”

Vos said people across the state should be outraged by the delay, and the fact that some people are being denied life-saving medicine.

“[Gov Evers and the media] spent literally months saying because the legislature passed a bill in April and we weren’t going to pass another one until December, that we were ‘killing people’,” Vos told Weber. “Well here we are where they literally have a life-saving vaccine sitting in a freezer, and there’s not even an article that’s critical of the idea that we are not getting the idea out.”

(The Center Square) – Democrat Raphael Warnock declared victory early Wednesday against Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler in one of two Georgia runoff elections that will determine which party controls the Senate.

With more than 98% of precincts reporting, Warnock held about a 50,000 vote advantage. CNN, FOX News and other media outlets called the race for the challenger.

"Tonight, we proved that with hope, hard work, and the people by our side, anything is possible," Warnock said.

Loeffler did not concede, however, saying she still had a path to victory.

“It's worth it for this election to last into tomorrow," she said. "We're gonna make sure every vote is counted. Every legal vote will be counted. And I'm not gonna stop working.”

The second Georgia runoff remained too close to call early Wednesday. Democrat Jon Ossoff had about a 10,000 vote advantage over incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue, 50.1% to 49.9 percent, with just over 98% of precincts reporting.

The two U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia will determine the balance of power in the chamber.

If Democrat Warnock retains his lead and Republican Perdue finds enough votes to surpass Ossoff, the Republicans will retain control of the chamber, 51-49.

If Democrats win both elections, the chamber will be split, 50-50, with Democrat and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaker vote. Two independent senators caucus with the Democrats.

More than 4.3 million votes had been counted in each race.

Perdue was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014. He won 49.73% of the vote to Ossoff's 47.95% in the general election. Ossoff, an investigative journalist and media executive, ran for Congress in 2017 in the special election for Georgia's 6th Congressional District.

Loeffler, who was appointed to retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson's vacant seat in December 2019, and Warnock emerged from a pack of 21 candidates in the general election, where Warnock won 32.9% of the vote compared with Loeffler's 25.91%. Warnock is a senior pastor of the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached. He also would be the first Black U.S. Senator from Georgia.

(The Center Square) – The two U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia that will determine the balance of power in the chamber were too close to call late Tuesday night.

If Republicans win one or both of the elections, the GOP will retain control in the U.S. Senate. If Democrats win both elections, the chamber will be split, 50-50, with Democrat and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaker vote.

With 84% of precincts reporting, Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. David Perdue led Democrat Jon Ossoff, 51.21% to 48.79%. Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed to retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson's vacant seat in December 2019, led Democrat Raphael Warnock, 50.81% to 49.19%.

Perdue was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014. He won 49.73% of the vote to Ossoff's 47.95% in the general election. Ossoff, an investigative journalist and media executive, ran for Congress in 2017 in the special election for Georgia's 6th Congressional District.

Loeffler and Warnock emerged from a pack of 21 candidates in the general election, where Warnock won 32.9% of the vote compared with Loeffler's 25.91%. Warnock is a senior pastor of the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached.

Voters also will settle the race for the Georgia Public Service Commission's District 4 seat in Tuesday's election. Republican incumbent Lauren "Bubba" McDonald Jr. had a 51.89% to 48.11% lead over Democrat Daniel Blackman.

The Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) oversees utility rates in the state.

(The Center Square) – Polls have closed at most precincts across Georgia in Tuesday's runoff elections.

Six polling places remained open past 7 p.m. because of issues earlier in the day. More than 3 million Georgians voted early or by mail ahead of the U.S. Senate and Public Service Commission runoff races.

The two U.S. Senate runoffs between Republican incumbent David Perdue and Democrat challenger Jon Ossoff and Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock will determine the balance of power in Congress.

In a District 4 runoff for public service commissioner, Republican incumbent Lauren "Bubba" McDonald Jr. faces Democratic challenger Daniel Blackman. The Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) oversees utility rates in the state. District 4 includes more than three dozen counties in north Georgia.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Tuesday's election went smoothly with short wait times. A few polling locations reported wait times between 20 to 30 minutes in the afternoon, officials said, but by evening, some saw wait times around an hour.

"After wait times averaging just 2 minutes on Nov. 3rd, Georgia's election administration is hitting a new milestone for effectiveness and efficiency," Raffensperger said. "I have always said that after every election, half the people will be happy and half will be disappointed, but everyone should be confident in the reliability of the results."

Poll workers in Columbia County reported having problems programming equipment and queuing voting machines. The Columbia County precincts remained opened until 7:01 p.m and 7:04 p.m. Another polling place in Gwinnett County stayed open until 7:04 p.m., and a Tift County polling place remains open until 7:40 p.m. Two precincts in Chatham County will remain open until 7:33 p.m. and 7:35 p.m.

Officials did not disclose the reason for the delays in Gwinnett, Chatham and Tift counties.

Officials in Cobb, Cherokee and Gilmer counties all requested judicial extensions, where polling places in the areas could remain open as late as 7:40 p.m.

Gabriel Sterling, the state's voting system implementation manager, said it could take a "couple of days" to count all of the votes. There were 229,357 outstanding absentee ballots shortly after 6 p.m.

Local election offices were allowed to start scanning the absentee ballots two weeks ago. Sterling said he anticipates smaller counties would finish scanning the absentee ballots by 9 p.m. All absentee ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday and counted by Friday.

(The Center Square) — Washington, Oregon, and 29 indigenous tribes are suing the federal government for selling what community organizations call a "treasure trove" of Pacific Northwest history.

The Seattle National Archives' 56,000 cubic feet houses thousands of paper files related to tribal treaty documents, ancestral records, and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, according to court documents.

Virtually all of the aging records have yet to be digitized, court documents state, and fewer than .001% are available online.

Seattle's National Archives building was listed as a "High Value Asset" in 2019 along with a dozen other federal properties slated for sale by the Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB).

The records will be sent to two separate National Archives sites in Kansas City, Missouri and Riverside, California.

Sixteen Democratic and Republican members of Congress from Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Alaska voiced opposition to the sale in a joint letter back in January 2020.

In a letter to the federal government sent on February 25, 2020, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson urged the federal government to rethink moving the sensitive and irreplaceable records.

Ferguson claims his public records requests concerning the building's proposed sale around that time were left unfulfilled and spurred a $65,000 fee for record redactions from the PBRB.

He says the PBRB has informed his office the requested records will take until March 31, 2021 to produce.

"To be blunt, these federal agencies don’t give a damn about their legal obligations or what these documents mean to our region," Ferguson said. "Consequently, this lawsuit is our only recourse to compel the government to follow the law and respect the fact that these irreplaceable records contain the DNA of our region.”

In response to the agencies’ refusal to comply with Ferguson’s records request, he filed four Freedom of Information Act lawsuits by September 2020.

Those lawsuits yielded a handful of related documents from four federal agencies which produced heavily redacted records, according to court documents.

By October 2020, the PBRB announced in a 74-page meeting record that it would advance the sale of Seattle's National Archives Building and 11 other federal sites due to the economic downturn of the national real estate market.

On Monday, Washington filed a joint lawsuit against federal authorities in U.S. District Court, claiming the National Archives building's expedited sale is illegal based on its relation to "agriculture, recreational, and conservation programs."

It also claims the sale violated various administrative protocol and did not seek testimony from tribal governments and other stakeholders.

The lawsuit names nine community organizations as plaintiffs who say the sale of the building would place priceless Pacific Northwest history at risk.

“The word ‘archives,’ from the view of law firms, businesses and courts, tends to conjure an image of a records storage facility for ‘dead files,’” said Tallis King George, a Puyallup tribal attorney. “A visit to the National Archives at Seattle, for native people whose ancestral historical and cultural records are housed there, fills a deep cultural yearning to know, honor and understand the lives and sacrifices of their ancestors.”

Among the files stored at the building are some 50,000 documents related to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which forced Chinese immigrants to go through a discriminatory application process meant to curb Chinese migration.

“The Archives are critical partners in the conservation of our community’s history,” said Connie So, president of OCA Asian Pacific Advocates – Greater Seattle Chapter. “Most Chinese Americans left few records of their lives and history prior to 1950, making the Archive’s treasure trove of files related to the Chinese Exclusion Act all the more precious."

The sale of the National Archives Building is in the middle of the bidding process which plaintiffs are seeking to block in court as the lawsuit awaits review.

(The Center Square) – No one will be charged in connection to Jacob Blake’s shooting by a Kenosha police officer.

Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley on Tuesday said neither the officers involved in Blake’s shooting, nor Blake himself will be charged with any crimes.

“No Kenosha law enforcement officer in this case will be charged with any criminal offense, based on the facts and the laws,” Graveley said. “I am going to also tell you, because I believe it is important, that no charge will be filed against Jacob Blake in regard to this incident either.”

A Kenosha police officer shot and wounded Blake on Aug. 23. Police were trying to arrest Blake that day for violating an order of protection. He was at his ex-girlfriend’s home. She had accused Blake of sexual assault not long before.

Video shows Blake wrestling and fighting with officers, who tried and failed to use a Taser to subdue Blake. The last seconds of that video went viral. They show Blake walking around to the front of his ex-girlfriend’s SUV, opening the door, and reaching in. That’s when the officer fired.

Investigators said in August that Blake had a knife either on him or in the car.

Blake was left paralyzed after the shooting.

At the time, Wisconsin’s governor and lieutenant governor were critical of Kenosha Police for the shooting.

"Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in broad daylight, in Kenosha, Wisconsin," Evers said in a statement in August. "While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country."

Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, perhaps, made the most inflammatory remarks after Blake's shooting.

“This wasn't bad police work," Barnes said after the shooting. "This felt like some sort of vendetta taken out on a member of our community."

Graveley on Tuesday said Blake’s shooting is a tragedy for everyone involved.

“I have thought several times, and had a quick conversation with Mr. Blake today, about his children who were in that vehicle,” Graveley told reporters. “And I don’t want to leave out the officers whose entire careers, in fact their whole lives, have been judged by a few seconds.... There is a tragedy there.”

Graveley said the shooting has also been a tragedy for the city of Kenosha, which saw nights of riots in August after of the shooting.

There is fear there will be another round of rioting this week.

Evers on Monday ordered 500 National Guard troops to Kenosha to help keep the peace. The city council in Kenosha on Monday also approved an emergency declaration that allows for the city to respond to protests and any violence that may happen.

The decision not to charge anyone in the Blake case came on the same day that Kyle Rittenhouse pleaded not guilty to the charges in his case.

Rittenhouse shot and killed two people during Kenosha’s final night of violence in August. He shot and wounded a third person. Rittenhouse’s lawyers insist he fired in self defense.

Graveley and his office is moving ahead with homicide and weapons charges against Rittenhouse.