Wild times in America, 2019-2021

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

A fun little mini-TL


BREAKING: Trump leaves GOP, becomes Independent
19 January 2019

(ABN—Washington) President Donald J. Trump will leave the Republican Party and re-register as an independent, according to a tweet this morning on the President's Twitter account. "Political Parties have ruined this country!" said the President's tweet. "I tried to fix the Rigged System (drain the swamp) from the inside, but NO GOOD! I will be INDEPENDENT-Just like our great Country should be!"
RNC Chairman Nick Ayers, a longtime ally of Vice President Mike Pence, was reportedly "flabbergasted" by the news, according to sources. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who recently survived a leadership challenge by Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), was not available for comment. Burr, who publicly declared his support for Mr. Trump's impeachment in late 2018, was quoted by CNN's Manu Raju as being "unsurprised" by the news. House Minority Leader Mark Meadows (R-NC) welcomed the President's move, saying that the move would allow Trump to "work much more efficiently for the American people.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) responded, saying that the President's move was thanks to the Democratic Party's "historically high support from the American people," as evidenced by their landslide victories in last year's midterm elections.
This story is developing.


Sen. Cory Booker becomes first Democrat to declare a presidential campaign
20 February 2019

(ABN—New York) The presidential election season has now begun. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) is the second major candidate, after President Trump in 2017, and the first Democrat, to announce he is running for President in 2020.
The junior Senator from New Jersey declared in his hometown of Newark that his campaign will be based on "love; love for your neighbors, love for the forgotten members of our society, and above all, love of country."
Other Democrats expected to declare their candidacies in the coming weeks are Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA), and Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA).


Sen. John McCain dies
14 March 2019

(ABN—Phoenix) Longtime Arizona Senator, 2008 presidential candidate, and Vietnam War hero John S. McCain has passed away at his home Phoenix, McCain's family says. The 82-year-old had been battling brain cancer since a 2017 diagnosis, and had largely recused himself from public life in recent months. His last public statement was a declaration in December 2018 supporting the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
Arizona Governor David Garcia (D) is expected to appoint Cindy McCain, the wife of John McCain, to replace McCain in the Senate.


House votes to impeach Trump
11 April 2019

(ABN—Washington) For only the third time in American history, the House of Representatives has voted to impeach the President of the United States. In a 312-103 vote, with 20 members not voting, articles of impeachment will be sent to the Senate, where the President's guilt will be decided by a jury of Senators in a trial overseen by Chief Justice John Roberts. 2/3rds of Senators must judge Mr. Trump to be guilty in order for him to be removed from office. The last president to be impeached, Bill Clinton, survived removal from office in his 1999 Senate trial, despite being impeached by the House. Currently, the Senate has a Democratic majority of 54 Senators, including 2 independents, and it is expected to be an uphill battle for removal, despite some Republican Senators such as Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Richard Burr (R-NC) publicly supporting the move.
The vast majority of Yes votes came from House Democrats, with only five Republican members of the House crossing the aisle to vote in favor of impeachment. The 20 Representatives who declined to vote, all Republicans, are also considered to have been silently supporting impeachment, or simply did not wish to reveal their opinion on the issue to the public.


What does everyone think? Is this cool and/or good or should I drop it?

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

Go on.

[Vespucci]

Go on

Also, a Republican must be appointed to the AZ Senate seat under their laws.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Go on

Also, a Republican must be appointed to the AZ Senate seat under their laws.

Oof

[MycroftCZ]

Go on.

[OBD]

Go on.

[TNcon4]

Go on.

[UlmerFudd]

Go on.

[wxtransit]

No, not like this! Update it before it's too late!

[America Needs R'hllor]

This is looking great.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

BREAKING: Trump survives Senate vote
5 May 2019

(ABN—Washington) In an unexpected turn of events, Donald Trump will remain president for the foreseeable future.

Despite the majority of Senators voting to remove him from office, President Trump has survived the Senate's vote to remove him from office on charges of obstruction of justice by a single vote. 66 Senators judged Mr. Trump to be guilty of the crime, with 34 judging him not guilty. 67 votes were needed for removal from office.

All 52 Senate Democrats, plus both Independents, voted in favor of removal. They were joined by 13 of their Republican colleagues. Republicans Richard Burr, Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, Jeff Flake, Cory Gardner, Lindsey Graham, John N. Kennedy, Cindy McCain, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Tim Scott, and Roger Wicker crossed the aisle to remove the President from office. Senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio had stated two days prior to the vote that they would "likely" vote to remove Mr. Trump from office, but they appear to have changed their minds since then.

The result was met with backlash across the nation, given that public polling showed around 60% of Americans believe Trump is guilty of the charges, and 65% support his removal from office. President Trump's approval rating has been steady at 20%.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), a member of House Republican leadership, told reporters in the Capitol that "May 5th will go down as a holiday in America, mark my words."

The White House has not given any official response, as press briefings have not occurred since March, due to the firing of Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Her position has been vacant ever since. Anonymous sources within the building have told ABN that the Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, was seen celebrating with other staffers.


McCarthy and Scalise call on Trump to resign
1 June 2019

(ABN—Washington) Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) have called for the resignation of President Donald Trump.

"President Trump has lost the faith, trust, and respect of the American people," the former Republican leaders said in a statement, joined by 12 of their GOP colleagues. "For the good of all Americans, and for the health of the nation, we believe it's time for this presidency to end."

McCarthy, the former House Majority Leader, and Scalise, the former House Majority Whip, were widely expected to lead their party after the 2018 retirement of Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), but were overthrown by their more hardline conservative colleagues like Reps. Mark Meadows (R-NC), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) in the leadership contest. Many of McCarthy and Scalise's allies were defeated in the Democratic wave that occurred in the 2018 midterm election, which saw over 100 Republican seats flip to the Democrats.


Rand Paul filibusters assault weapons ban
22 July 2019

(ABN—Washington) Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has completed a 16-hour filibuster on the Senate floor against the Democrats' proposed assault weapons ban.

The bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this week, is comparable to the failed 2013 assault weapons ban that was proposed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The National Rifle Association applauded Mr. Paul's move, calling the Kentucky Senator a "patriot and a hero."

The bill is just one of the many bills passed by Democrats since they took power in January 2019. With a huge majority in the House, Democrats have been able to pass bills codifying DACA into law, implementing universal background checks for all firearm purchases, raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, and increasing funding to Medicaid and Medicare, among others.


BREAKING: U.S. blunders late-night surprise strike on Venezuela
4 September 2019

(ABN—Miami) The United States military, under orders from President Donald Trump, attempted a strike against the Venezuelan military to try and end the civil conflict that has been underway since early 2019. Fighter jets were deployed from the U.S. Fourth Fleet to attack Venezuelan police forces outside of Caracas, Venezuela's capital. Two American jets were shot down, with one pilot killed and the other captured by the Venezuelan government.

An embargo was levied against Venezuela in late 2018, opposed by the Lima Group, an alliance of American nations set up in 2017 to find a solution to the Venezuelan crisis. The Lima Group has privately tried keep the United States away from the Venezuelan issue, fearing that any action by the U.S. would embolden leftist allies of the government of the country's dictator, Tareck El Aissami.

Cuban dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel has expressed his solidarity with El Aissami's government, rallying against "renewed American imperialism," harkening back to the powerful emotions felt across Latin America with respect to American intervention in their nations' affairs throughout the 20th century. Ecuador's Lenín Moreno also condemned the American actions.

Stateside, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) slammed President Trump for not consulting congressional leadership about the action, as well as the fact that an American pilot was killed and another taken hostage.

According to anonymous sources in the White House, Defense Secretary James Mattis was unaware of the President's decision to strike Venezuela, indicating that the action was not planned ahead of time, and did not include much input from the Department of Defense.


Please call out any and all mistakes in the articles throughout the TL.

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

The fires of revolution will burn.

[OBD]

If Trump stayed GOP, the Democrats would have had 537 seats in the house come 2020 (NE-3 only GOP seat for the meme)

[wxtransit]

If Trump stayed GOP, the Democrats would have had 537 seats in the house come 2020 (NE-3 only GOP seat for the meme)

Wait, there are 538 seats in the House now?

[OBD]

If Trump stayed GOP, the Democrats would have had 537 seats in the house come 2020 (NE-3 only GOP seat for the meme)

Wait, there are 538 seats in the House now?

Ah.

[wxtransit]

If Trump stayed GOP, the Democrats would have had 537 seats in the house come 2020 (NE-3 only GOP seat for the meme)

Wait, there are 538 seats in the House now?

Ah.

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

(ABN—Washington) President Trump has survived the Senate's vote to remove him from office on charges of obstruction of justice by a single vote. 66 Senators judged Mr. Trump to be guilty of the crime, with 34 judging him not guilty. 67 votes were needed for removal from office.

Oof, the Andrew Johnson treatment.