- US vice president refused to remove Trump from power
- China allowed entry for WHO experts
- Fed officials: ‘’Support should not be discussed’’
US Vice President Refused to Remove Trump From Power
US Vice President Refused to Remove Trump From Power
The US House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to remove President Donald Trump from office. According to the results of the voting, the resolution was supported by 223 legislators, while 205 opposed it. Among those who voted in favor – one Republican.
However, as reported on the White House website, Pence sent a letter of refusal to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
The vice president noted that there are eight days left before the end of Trump’s presidential term, and such actions will become “a terrible precedent.” According to Pence, the application of the 25th amendment to the Constitution on the inability of the president to fulfill his duties is not a measure of punishment or usurpation. “I do not believe that such a course of action is in the interests of our nation or is consistent with our Constitution,” Pence wrote.
“Last week, I did not succumb to pressure outside my constitutional mandate to determine the outcome of the elections, and now I will not give in to the House of Representatives’ efforts to play political games at such a serious time in our nation’s life,” he added, urging Pelosi and of all members of Congress ‘’to bring the temperature down and unite our country as we prepare for the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.”
Now the House of Representatives intends to vote on the impeachment of the president. It could take place on Wednesday evening based on the resolution published on January 11th. She refers to the third section of the 14th amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits a person who has participated “in an insurrection or insurrection” from holding any office in the United States. According to Politico, the resolution to impeach the incumbent president was supported by a majority of the US House of Representatives.
Trump himself said he was not worried about the risk of his removal. In his opinion, the use of the 25th Amendment will persecute Joe Biden and his administration, and “falsification of impeachment” is the continuation of the greatest and most vicious witch hunt in US history.
China Allowed Entry for WHO Experts
China Allowed Entry for WHO Experts
A team of international experts studying the origins of the coronavirus will soon be able to begin work in Wuhan. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), on Monday, January 11, the Chinese authorities finally allowed these specialists to enter. Scientists are expected to arrive in China on January 14, but they will be able to start research only after spending two weeks in quarantine.
Negotiations between the WHO and Beijing on conducting research in the PRC on the origin of the coronavirus began several months ago, but progressed very slowly. On January 5, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking in Geneva, said that China had refused entry to the organization’s staff at the last minute. Two of them had already hit the road by that time and had to interrupt the trip. One of them returned home, the other stayed temporarily in a third country.
China attributed the delay to the lack of some documents from the WHO experts, as well as the difficulties associated with preparing to receive the delegation.
Earlier, the head of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was very disappointed that China did not authorize the entry of an international mission.
The representative of the international group of WHO experts, Marion Koopmans, in an interview with CGTN, answering the question of whether the virus could appear in different countries of the world at the same time, said that this is not excluded.
“At this stage, I don’t think we should rule out anything, but it is important to start in Wuhan, where the first big outbreak occurred. We should be open-minded about all hypotheses. This is what we were asked to do. But we should start with Wuhan. , where they first learned about this situation, “- said Marion Koopmans.
The expert noted that one of the main issues that the mission will study will be the source of the pandemic.
“There are, of course, ideas about where the virus came from, most likely from reservoirs of bats. But can we somehow reconstruct exactly how this happened and learn from this a lesson for future preparedness for new diseases,” said Marion Koopmans.
On January 2, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the Covid-19 pandemic was caused by separate outbreaks in different places around the world. He stressed that China was simply the first to report on the detection of a new virus.
Fed Officials: ‘’Support Should Not be Discussed’’
Fed Officials: ‘’Support Should Not be Discussed’’
Two officials of the US Federal Reserve think that reducing monetary policy support should not be discussed in an environment where the effects of the coronavirus pandemic continue.
“We want to get through the pandemic and sort of see where the dust settles, then we will be able to think about where to go with balance-sheet policy,” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said Tuesday during an online interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Noting that the outlook will hinge on the successful rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and the path of the virus, Bullard said “we are going to have to see how all of that proceeds here going forward. Then we will be in a position to make a judgment.” Bullard is not a voter this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren also made clear he didn’t want to get into the debate of when to pare back that massive support.
“I expect it to be a little while before we’re even talking about tapering on our purchases of government and mortgage-backed securities,” he said in answer to a question following a speech.
At the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the Fed signaled that the interest rates would remain close to zero at least until the end of 2023, and stated that the monthly bond purchases of $ 120 billion will continue unless “significant further progress” is achieved towards inflation and employment targets. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan recently stated that they are open to discussing this issue.
Whether Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will address this issue in his speech scheduled for Thursday will be watched. The next Fed meeting will be held on January 26-27.
