December 22 political news briefs

Here are today’s political news briefs.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will leave her senate seat for her upcoming White House job, so who will take her place in the U.S. Senate? California Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Alex Padilla. He will be the first Latino in state history to have that role. Padilla is currently the California Secretary of State. The governor released a recorded Zoom meeting to show the moment he asked Padilla for the role. Padilla had just explained that his parents immigrated from Mexico when Newsom said, “Can you imagine what Mom would be thinking now as I ask you if you want to be the next U.S. Senator of the great state of California?” Padilla became emotional and said, “You serious?” He said he was honored and accepted the position.

NPR reported that President-elect Joe Biden is going to appoint Miguel Cardona to become the Secretary of Education in his administration. Cardona is currently the top official for public schools in Connecticut. He used to be an elementary school teacher in Meriden, Connecticut, then became a principal for 10 years before becoming the top official in the state. If Cardona is confirmed, then it would fulfill a promise Biden made in 2019 to appoint a former teacher for the position. Cardona is Hispanic — his parents are from Puerto Rico. NPR said Cardona would be different from the current secretary, Betsy DeVos, in that he will be an advocate for the nation’s public schools while DeVos was an advocate for school choice. USA Today reported that Cardona supports opening up schools to in-person instruction unless local conditions specifically dictate that remote learning is absolutely needed.

President Trump is still fighting the 2020 election results and the Electoral College. He tweeted this afternoon in all caps, “THE DEMOCRATS DUMPED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF BALLOTS IN THE SWING STATES LATE IN THE EVENING. IT WAS A RIGGED ELECTION!!!” Twitter flagged the tweet. Trump still has tremendous support, with over 200,000 people liking his tweet.

Axios reported that conservative television networks such as Newsmax, Fox Business, and Fox News have aired corrections and clarifications to their previously-aired allegations that election software companies Smartmatic and Dominion were involved in election fraud. News reports said the companies threatened to file defamation lawsuits. So far, the Department of Justice has not found evidence of widespread voter fraud. Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani and pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell have made many allegations of voter fraud in lawsuits, but almost all of them were dismissed or rejected by courts of all levels of our judicial system.

The Senate passed the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill last night. The House passed it earlier. All that’s left is President Trump’s signature and he is expected to sign it today. The bill will authorize direct payments of $600 to most Americans and their children. The relief bill is attached to a $1.4 trillion spending bill that will fund the government through September 30, 2021. The bill in total is 5,600 pages.

That’s all the political news briefs for today.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/22/politics/alex-padilla-senate-gavin-newsom/index.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/biden-transition-updates/2020/12/22/949114642/biden-to-pick-connecticut-schools-chief-miguel-cardona-as-education-secretary

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1341405487057821698

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/22/trump-expected-sign-covid-19-relief-bill-live-politics-updates/4004965001/