The U.S. Senate defied President Donald Trump Wednesday and voted to cut off support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen.

Seven of Trump’s fellow Republicans sided with Democrats in passing the measure 54-46.

It now goes to the House, which approved its own similar measure this year, only to have the process stall over a procedural issue. Trump has threatened to veto the bill if it reaches his desk, saying it would undermine the counterterrorism fight.

The measure demands Trump “remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen within 30 days.”

A first for the War Powers Resolution

If it passes in the House, it would be the first time in history Congress has invoked the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which says Congress determines when the U.S. goes to war, not the president.

“Today, we begin the process of reclaiming our constitutional power by ending U.S. involvement in a war that has not been authorized by Congress and is clearly unconstitutional,” said independent Senator Bernie Sanders, sponsor of the measure.

Opponents argued that the War Powers Resolution does not apply because the U.S. is not directly involved in combat in Yemen.

​Civilians killed, millions face famine

Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition helping Yemen fight Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The Trump administration has been providing Yemen with intelligence and other support.

Saudi airstrikes aimed at the rebels have also struck civilian areas, killing thousands of people, and devastating entire neighborhoods and hospitals.

The war has also worsened the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where millions face famine.

Saudi Arabia “is not an ally that deserves our support of our military intervention,” Republican Senator Mike Lee said, adding that the Saudis “are likely using our own weapons … to commit these atrocities of war. That’s not OK.”

​Khashoggi killing

Lawmakers from both parties are not only opposed to the bloodshed in Yemen, but also upset over what they see as Trump’s tepid response to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

His body has not been found.

Trump has called Saudi Arabia — an arch foe of Iran — an essential Mideast ally whose weapons purchases from the U.S. create thousands of American jobs.
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The U.S. Senate defied President Donald Trump Wednesday and voted to cut off support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in Yemen.

Seven of Trump’s fellow Republicans sided with Democrats in passing the measure 54-46.

It now goes to the House, which approved its own similar measure this year, only to have the process stall over a procedural issue. Trump has threatened to veto the bill if it reaches his desk, saying it would undermine the counterterrorism fight.

The measure demands Trump “remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen within 30 days.”

A first for the War Powers Resolution

If it passes in the House, it would be the first time in history Congress has invoked the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which says Congress determines when the U.S. goes to war, not the president.

“Today, we begin the process of reclaiming our constitutional power by ending U.S. involvement in a war that has not been authorized by Congress and is clearly unconstitutional,” said independent Senator Bernie Sanders, sponsor of the measure.

Opponents argued that the War Powers Resolution does not apply because the U.S. is not directly involved in combat in Yemen.

​Civilians killed, millions face famine

Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition helping Yemen fight Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The Trump administration has been providing Yemen with intelligence and other support.

Saudi airstrikes aimed at the rebels have also struck civilian areas, killing thousands of people, and devastating entire neighborhoods and hospitals.

The war has also worsened the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where millions face famine.

Saudi Arabia “is not an ally that deserves our support of our military intervention,” Republican Senator Mike Lee said, adding that the Saudis “are likely using our own weapons … to commit these atrocities of war. That’s not OK.”

​Khashoggi killing

Lawmakers from both parties are not only opposed to the bloodshed in Yemen, but also upset over what they see as Trump’s tepid response to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

His body has not been found.

Trump has called Saudi Arabia — an arch foe of Iran — an essential Mideast ally whose weapons purchases from the U.S. create thousands of American jobs.
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Beto O’Rourke, the youthful Texan who gained a national following with his long-shot election battle against U.S. Senator Ted Cruz last year, told a Texas TV station Wednesday he would seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

“I’m really proud of what El Paso did and what El Paso represents,” O’Rourke said in a text to TV station KTSM. “It’s a big part of why I’m running. This city is the best example of this country at its best.”

A formal announcement will be made Thursday morning by O’Rourke, a 46-year-old former three-term U.S. congressman from West Texas, the television station said.

With his presidential effort, O’Rourke is hoping to leverage the fame he gained with his Senate race. He was a heavy underdog when he challenged Cruz, a Republican, in mostly conservative Texas, but he quickly demonstrated an ability to draw capacity crowds and raise money from voters nationwide.

His Senate bid generated a torrent of media attention and excited voters in a party desperate for fresh political faces.

He lost the race by less than 3 percentage points, the tightest Senate contest in the state in four decades.

Early opinion polls on the 2020 race have consistently ranked O’Rourke in the top tier of contenders, behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who has not yet said whether he is running, and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
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Beto O’Rourke, the youthful Texan who gained a national following with his long-shot election battle against U.S. Senator Ted Cruz last year, told a Texas TV station Wednesday he would seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

“I’m really proud of what El Paso did and what El Paso represents,” O’Rourke said in a text to TV station KTSM. “It’s a big part of why I’m running. This city is the best example of this country at its best.”

A formal announcement will be made Thursday morning by O’Rourke, a 46-year-old former three-term U.S. congressman from West Texas, the television station said.

With his presidential effort, O’Rourke is hoping to leverage the fame he gained with his Senate race. He was a heavy underdog when he challenged Cruz, a Republican, in mostly conservative Texas, but he quickly demonstrated an ability to draw capacity crowds and raise money from voters nationwide.

His Senate bid generated a torrent of media attention and excited voters in a party desperate for fresh political faces.

He lost the race by less than 3 percentage points, the tightest Senate contest in the state in four decades.

Early opinion polls on the 2020 race have consistently ranked O’Rourke in the top tier of contenders, behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who has not yet said whether he is running, and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort is due to be sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Washington on two conspiracy charges.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson can order Manafort to spend up to 10 years in prison.

Last week, another federal judge sentenced Manafort to 47 months for tax and bank fraud.

It is up to Jackson to decide whether Manafort can serve his new sentence at the same time, or whether the punishment she imposes will begin after he is done with the prison time from the other case.

Jackson ordered Manafort to jail last year, revoking his previous house arrest over allegations of witness tampering.

The case is part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election. However, the charges against Manafort are not related to his work on the Trump campaign, but rather his work on behalf of a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine.

Manafort pleaded guilty in an agreement with Mueller’s team to fully cooperate with the Russia probe, but Jackson ruled he violated the terms of the plea deal by lying to investigators.
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort is due to be sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Washington on two conspiracy charges.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson can order Manafort to spend up to 10 years in prison.

Last week, another federal judge sentenced Manafort to 47 months for tax and bank fraud.

It is up to Jackson to decide whether Manafort can serve his new sentence at the same time, or whether the punishment she imposes will begin after he is done with the prison time from the other case.

Jackson ordered Manafort to jail last year, revoking his previous house arrest over allegations of witness tampering.

The case is part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election. However, the charges against Manafort are not related to his work on the Trump campaign, but rather his work on behalf of a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine.

Manafort pleaded guilty in an agreement with Mueller’s team to fully cooperate with the Russia probe, but Jackson ruled he violated the terms of the plea deal by lying to investigators.
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Democrats are largely lining up behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her wait-and-see strategy on any impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

Moderate and even some of the most liberal House Democrats said they were supportive of the speaker after she told The Washington Post that she’s not for impeachment, at least for now. Impeaching Trump is “just not worth it,” Pelosi said, unless there’s overwhelming support. While some in her caucus may disagree on certain points, the majority of Democrats endorsed Pelosi’s approach.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said a unilateral pursuit of impeachment by Democrats would be an “exercise doomed for failure.”

“I see little to be gained by putting the country through that kind of wrenching experience,” he said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said impeachment “has to be a bipartisan effort, and right now it’s not there.” Cummings said his sense is that “this matter will only be resolved at the polls.”

Even one of the strongest proponents of impeachment, freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, said Tuesday that she is “absolutely not” disappointed in Pelosi. Tlaib, who attracted attention the day she was sworn in by using a vulgarity in calling for Trump’s removal, said the speaker has always encouraged her to represent her liberal Detroit district.

Tlaib stressed that she is going to continue to push for impeachment, but echoed Democratic leaders’ caution in first calling for a committee process that investigates Trump.

“That doesn’t mean we are voting on it, it means we are beginning the process to look at some of these alleged claims,” Tlaib said.

Democrats have launched multiple probes into Trump’s White House and personal businesses. Those investigations, led by Schiff and other House committee chairmen, are intended to keep the focus on Trump’s business dealings and relationship with Russia, no matter what comes from the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., a member of the House Judiciary Committee and a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Pelosi’s comments are “probably a reaction to everybody wanting to go to the end of an investigation when we haven’t started.”

Pelosi’s approach could also provide cover to some of her members, including freshmen who were elected in November from “red-to-blue” districts where impeachment is politically fraught. California Rep. Katie Hill, one of those freshmen, praised Pelosi’s approach.

“If it’s going to be a political disaster for us, then we’re not going to do it,” she said.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., noted that the majority of freshman members have not been outspoken on impeachment, and that the Senate remains controlled by Republicans. “Nobody thinks there is going to be a conviction in the Senate, unless circumstances very substantially change.”

Pelosi has long resisted impeachment as a drastic step that should only be broached with “great care.”

She rebuffed calls when she first held the speaker’s gavel, in 2007, to start impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush. Having been a member of Congress during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, she saw the way the public turned on Republicans and helped Clinton win a second term.

Last year, heading into the midterm elections, Pelosi discouraged candidates from talking up impeachment, preferring to stick to the kitchen table issues that she believes most resonate with voters. The approach paid off, as Democrats won back the House majority for the first time in eight years.

In a caucus meeting Tuesday morning, Pelosi encouraged Democrats to “keep our eye on the prize” as “we look at what this president is doing to this great country.” Impeachment was not discussed, according to an aide who requested anonymity to discuss the closed meeting.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., a member of House leadership, said Democrats ran on an agenda of controlling health care costs, raising incomes and fighting corruption.

“We’re working very hard to deliver on those things, and I think the speaker wants to make sure we stay focused on that,” he said.
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Democrats are largely lining up behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her wait-and-see strategy on any impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

Moderate and even some of the most liberal House Democrats said they were supportive of the speaker after she told The Washington Post that she’s not for impeachment, at least for now. Impeaching Trump is “just not worth it,” Pelosi said, unless there’s overwhelming support. While some in her caucus may disagree on certain points, the majority of Democrats endorsed Pelosi’s approach.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said a unilateral pursuit of impeachment by Democrats would be an “exercise doomed for failure.”

“I see little to be gained by putting the country through that kind of wrenching experience,” he said at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings said impeachment “has to be a bipartisan effort, and right now it’s not there.” Cummings said his sense is that “this matter will only be resolved at the polls.”

Even one of the strongest proponents of impeachment, freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, said Tuesday that she is “absolutely not” disappointed in Pelosi. Tlaib, who attracted attention the day she was sworn in by using a vulgarity in calling for Trump’s removal, said the speaker has always encouraged her to represent her liberal Detroit district.

Tlaib stressed that she is going to continue to push for impeachment, but echoed Democratic leaders’ caution in first calling for a committee process that investigates Trump.

“That doesn’t mean we are voting on it, it means we are beginning the process to look at some of these alleged claims,” Tlaib said.

Democrats have launched multiple probes into Trump’s White House and personal businesses. Those investigations, led by Schiff and other House committee chairmen, are intended to keep the focus on Trump’s business dealings and relationship with Russia, no matter what comes from the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., a member of the House Judiciary Committee and a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Pelosi’s comments are “probably a reaction to everybody wanting to go to the end of an investigation when we haven’t started.”

Pelosi’s approach could also provide cover to some of her members, including freshmen who were elected in November from “red-to-blue” districts where impeachment is politically fraught. California Rep. Katie Hill, one of those freshmen, praised Pelosi’s approach.

“If it’s going to be a political disaster for us, then we’re not going to do it,” she said.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., noted that the majority of freshman members have not been outspoken on impeachment, and that the Senate remains controlled by Republicans. “Nobody thinks there is going to be a conviction in the Senate, unless circumstances very substantially change.”

Pelosi has long resisted impeachment as a drastic step that should only be broached with “great care.”

She rebuffed calls when she first held the speaker’s gavel, in 2007, to start impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush. Having been a member of Congress during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, she saw the way the public turned on Republicans and helped Clinton win a second term.

Last year, heading into the midterm elections, Pelosi discouraged candidates from talking up impeachment, preferring to stick to the kitchen table issues that she believes most resonate with voters. The approach paid off, as Democrats won back the House majority for the first time in eight years.

In a caucus meeting Tuesday morning, Pelosi encouraged Democrats to “keep our eye on the prize” as “we look at what this president is doing to this great country.” Impeachment was not discussed, according to an aide who requested anonymity to discuss the closed meeting.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., a member of House leadership, said Democrats ran on an agenda of controlling health care costs, raising incomes and fighting corruption.

“We’re working very hard to deliver on those things, and I think the speaker wants to make sure we stay focused on that,” he said.
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Former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn is not ready to be sentenced yet because “there may be additional cooperation” he can offer as he tries to reduce his potential punishment, according to a court filing Tuesday night.

Flynn has been cooperating with prosecutors in Virginia in an ongoing case against two former business associates accused of illegally lobbying for Turkey. That case is scheduled for trial in July, and because of Flynn’s continued cooperation, his lawyers asked in a court filing Tuesday to be able to submit another status report in 90 days.

In the same filing, prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office took no position on Flynn’s request for a continuance but said they viewed his cooperation as “otherwise complete.”

Flynn, President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, was supposed to be sentenced last December for lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. But after the judge appeared poised to send him to prison, Flynn’s lawyers asked for a postponement so he could continue cooperating with investigators and earn credit toward a lighter sentence.

The filing is part of a flurry of expected activity this week in Mueller’s investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, and prosecutors later in the week are expected to update a judge on the cooperation given by Manafort’s business partner Rick Gates, another defendant.

Mueller is expected to conclude his investigation soon and submit a confidential report to Attorney General William Barr.
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Former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn is not ready to be sentenced yet because “there may be additional cooperation” he can offer as he tries to reduce his potential punishment, according to a court filing Tuesday night.

Flynn has been cooperating with prosecutors in Virginia in an ongoing case against two former business associates accused of illegally lobbying for Turkey. That case is scheduled for trial in July, and because of Flynn’s continued cooperation, his lawyers asked in a court filing Tuesday to be able to submit another status report in 90 days.

In the same filing, prosecutors with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office took no position on Flynn’s request for a continuance but said they viewed his cooperation as “otherwise complete.”

Flynn, President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, was supposed to be sentenced last December for lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. But after the judge appeared poised to send him to prison, Flynn’s lawyers asked for a postponement so he could continue cooperating with investigators and earn credit toward a lighter sentence.

The filing is part of a flurry of expected activity this week in Mueller’s investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, and prosecutors later in the week are expected to update a judge on the cooperation given by Manafort’s business partner Rick Gates, another defendant.

Mueller is expected to conclude his investigation soon and submit a confidential report to Attorney General William Barr.
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Former US vice president Joe Biden dropped teasing hints Tuesday that he could soon announce a 2020 White House campaign, telling an enthusiastic crowd that he may need their energy “in a few weeks.”

The Democratic elder statesman has been mulling a challenge against President Donald Trump for months.

While he tops nearly all early polls for the Democratic nominations race, strategists and election observers have stressed that he is under pressure to enter the crowded field soon, or bow out.

Biden, a consensus-building pragmatist and Washington establishment fixture, is almost certain to jump in, with a campaign kickoff expected by mid-April, sources recently told The New York Times.

Much about Biden’s address to the International Association of Fire Fighters in Washington suggested he is in: attendees waving printed “Run Joe Run” placards; recollections from his blue-collar roots; criticism of Trump without naming him; and soaring oratory about America’s “creed” and the nation’s leadership role in the world.

“I appreciate the energy you showed when I got up here,” the 76-year-old told the fire fighters. “Save it a little longer. I may need it in a few weeks.”

The room rose in unison for a standing ovation, and Biden laughed as he said “be careful what you wish for.”

The event, attended by Biden’s wife Jill, could easily have been mistaken for a campaign stop.

The would-be candidate himself jogged on stage to Bruce Springsteen’s “We Take Care of Our Own,” followed by firefighters chanting “Run, Joe, run.” Biden quoted from the Declaration of Independence.

He would be an instant frontrunner should he enter the race, occupying the centrist lane in a field of Democrats whose party has steadily shifted leftward in recent years.

Senator Bernie Sanders currently leads the liberal charge of 2020 candidates.

Biden has another noteworthy speech this week. He addresses a Democratic Party dinner Saturday in Delaware, the small state he represented for 36 years in the US Senate until his stint as Barack Obama’s deputy.

‘Moving closer’

Fellow Delawarean Chris Coons, who replaced Biden in the Senate and speaks with him regularly, said all signs point to Biden jumping in.

“He is moving closer, he’s someone who I am confident is going to run,” Coons told CBS on Monday.

“Everything is being put in place but that last decision, which you know understandably is a big decision.”

Biden clearly spoke in the inspirational timber of a candidate, insisting that what makes America great is ” giving everyone a fair shot, leaving no one behind, demonizing no one.”

“We’re not able to be defined by race, by religion, by tribe,” Biden said.

“That’s what the next president of the United States needs to understand, and that’s what I don’t think this current president understands at all.”

He hit out at the tone of the Trump era, saying extremism is on the rise and “mean pettiness has overtaken our politics.”

And he took aim at the current administration’s policies, including the Republican “tax cut for the super wealthy.”

He has connected compassionately with working class Americans over the decades, and reflected that position again Tuesday, stressing that “unions built the middle class.”

Biden also movingly recalled the death of his first wife and their daughter in a 1972 car accident weeks before he was to be sworn in as a senator, and praised the work of firefighters who he said saved his two sons who were severely injured in the crash.

 
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Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan will speak in New Hampshire next month as he weighs a primary challenge to President Donald Trump.

The Republican Hogan, who remains popular in liberal leaning Maryland and won re-election last fall, will speak at “Politics & Eggs” on April 23.

The program from the New England Council and the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College is a political rite of passage for many candidates running for president.

Hogan hasn’t publicly decided whether he’ll challenge Trump in the primary, though he has not ruled out the possibility.

It’s unclear how a Hogan candidacy would be received by New Hampshire Republicans. An attempt last year to bind the New Hampshire Republican Party to Trump ahead of the 2020 primary faced pushback and was abandoned.
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