2018 Presidential Election

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lord caedus

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Bipartisan Senate group tries to avoid shutdown

Tuesday, October 26th, 2021

Ahead of the looming budget deadline on November 1, a bipartisan group of senators are attempting to forge a compromise alternative to the House-backed budget bill that Senate Democrats are threatening to filibuster if Republican leadership tries to bring it to the floor.

Led by Hubert "Arkansas" Smith (D-AR) and Curtis Ryan (R-OR), the group of ten senators, has been crafting an alternative budget proposal that would fund the government for the next fiscal year and through next November's presidential election.

"We have been in constant contact with the White House and leaders of both parties," Ryan said between meetings. "We hope that we can craft a 'clean' bill that both parties can live with."

The "Gang of Ten" includes five Republicans (Ryan, Michael Rojas of New Mexico, Patrick Stacy of Tennessee, Ellie Wilkins of New Hampshire and George Wirth of Montana) plus five Democrats (Smith, Arthur Breech of Hawaii, Ben Newell of Colorado, Rick Remick of Louisiana and Becky Reeseman of Michigan). Unofficial supporters of the group include Jasper Irving (R-IL), who has been splitting time between Washington and the campaign trail, and Joseph McKenna (D-DE), who is recuperating from heart surgery.

Senate Democrats, and privately some Republicans, are angry about the House-backed budget, which would institute cuts to social programs like Medicaid and Medicare, and strip federal funding from public primary and secondary schools that teach "critical race theory", among other provisions.

"They believe that [House] Republicans are refusing to negotiate in good faith," said Toby Ziegler, who served as White House Communications Director under Josiah Bartlet, "They passed a continuing resolution [in September] and expected [Speaker of the House] Mitch Harris to come back with a budget they and the president could live with. Instead he just gave them pretty much the same budget as before and expected them to go along with it."

This anger has led to threats of a filibuster from Senate Minority Leader Jimmy Fitzsimmons (D-MA), which would grind the Senate to a halt and prevent any other legislation from being considered. Should Senate Majority Leader Cody Riley (R-AL) call Fitzsimmons' bluff and introduce the budget, Republicans would have to convince three Democratic senators to vote to end debate in order to overcome a filibuster.

There have been no policy proposals from the "Gang of Ten" so far, but several sources say the main focus of debate is over the funding to social programs, lowering the top marginal tax rate, and the proposed restrictions on federal education funds to schools depending on their curriculum. Those close to the process say that both the White House and congressional leadership are being kept up-to-date on the group's progress.
 

lord caedus

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Thursday, October 28th, 2021

BREAKING: Major oil spill in Michigan

A mandatory evacuation has been ordered in several townships in St. Clair County, Michigan after what authorities describe as a "major" pipeline leak forced the evacuation of many residents of the town of Kimball, Michigan.

Officials in Michigan say that a major rupture of the Line 5 oil pipeline near the Canadian border has resulted in tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil spilling into the ground and into nearby waterways. Local authorities and Enbridge crews have warned of dangerous levels of natural gas buildup detected in several homes near where the spill is thought to have originated.
 

lord caedus

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Thursday, October 28th, 2021

BREAKING: Laurion declares disaster in Michigan oil spill, cancels campaign events

Michigan Governor Ben Laurion (R) has issued a disaster declaration for St. Clair County, Michigan, the site of what is described as a major oil spill. The governor, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, has cancelled all campaign events and appearances for the remainder of the day and is currently flying back to Michigan from Iowa.

Several townships are now under mandatory evacuation order as emergency responders and Enbridge (the owner of the pipeline) cleanup crews have revised the estimated spillage to at least 250,000 gallons of crude oil.
 

lord caedus

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Thursday, October 28th, 2021

BREAKING: Oil spill threatens Lake Huron, Army Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard dispatched

Governor Ben Laurion told reporters moments ago that oil from today's spill in St. Clair County, Michigan could seep into the St. Clair River and "from there, reach Lake Huron." Speaking in the state capital of Lansing, Laurion said that President Sam Seaborn had approved his disaster declaration and that the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard had been ordered to the spill site to prevent spilled oil from reaching the water source for nearly 3 million people in Michigan and thousands of people in Canada.

Experts have again revised the estimate of the amount of oil spilled upwards to "at minimum, 500,000 gallons."
 
ajm8888

ajm8888

Department of the Interior, Department of Energy, and Army Corps of Engineers are probably at the lead agencies, FEMA, I am not sure if that is under their purview.

Edit: I forgot the EPA, guh sorry.
 

lord caedus

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Thursday, October 28th, 2021

Laurion promises to "get to the bottom of this" as construction begins on emergency dam

Governor Ben Laurion (R-MI) promised Michiganders that his administration would "get to the bottom of this [accident]" and hold those responsible accountable. The governor addressed both local and national media from a makeshift command post in the state capitol, updating them.

Laurion said that the Army Corps of Engineers had begun work on an emergency dam that would prevent any oil from flowing into the St. Clair River from the Pine River, a tributary that has been confirmed to have been the primary water source affected by the oil spill.

At least 10,000 residents in the area have either been evacuated or have been warned not to use their water as authorities continue to gather accurate survey data to determine the extent of the oil's spread through the swampy area where the oil pipeline is thought to have leaked. Enbridge, the pipeline's owner, has stated that the oil flow was shut off "immediately" after the company learned that the spill had occurred, although they did not give an estimate for the amount of time oil had been leaking from their pipe, saying it a proper estimation could only be determined once the piece of pipe that had leaked had been identified and examined by engineers.

The governor said that he had been in contact with President Seaborn on the mobilization of federal agencies, including FEMA, which has begun delivering bottled water to residents in the affected area. Laurion confirmed that Canadian prime minister Leslie Van Merhalls and prime minister-elect Kate Sansellfort had been informed of the disaster and begun preparations to assist containing the spill if oil does indeed leak into the St. Clair River (which is part of the Canada-US border).
 
KingCrawa

KingCrawa

BBC.CO.UK

Friday 29th October 2021

Former Archbishop to Join Roman Catholic Church.

Former Archbishop of York, Matthew Walsh has today announced that he will be stepping down as Principle of St Stephens House Oxford, with immediate affect and will be becoming a member of the Roman Catholic Church via the personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Archbishop Walsh will be the most senior Anglican figure to have left for Rome since the former Bishop of London Graham Leonard in 1994. Archbishop Walsh was the Bishop of Chichester from 2001 to 2007, Archbishop of York from 2007 to 2017 and has been principle of St Stephens House for the last three years.

Archbishop Walsh said that, “I have for the last few years be considering my position, and while I will always look back on my time in the Church of England with fondness, and will be proud of the work that I have done, the time has come to admit that the Church is no longer the one I joined, and that I can now best serve God through the Roman Catholic Church.”

The Ordinariate was set up by Pope Victor IV in 2009 to allow members of Anglican Churches to join the Roman Catholic Church while still retaining some elements of Anglican liturgy, theology, and worship. The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is led by the Rt Reverend Keith Webster, who prior to joining the Roman Catholic Church, was the Anglican Bishop of Beverly, a Flying Bishop tasked with caring for traditional Catholics. He released a statement saying: “It is always a joy when people return home. I have known and worked with Matthew for many years, especially during the time he was Archbishop of York. He is a scholar and a man of prayer and he will be a great blessing to the Ordinariate.” He also suggested that Archbishop Walsh could be ordained as Roman Catholic priest at some point in the next few months, (however as a married man he is not eligible to become a Bishop).

The office of the Archbishop of Westminster also issued a statement saying, “Archbishop Walsh has been a strong supporter of Anglican and Roman Catholic Unity for several decades and the Archbishop looks forward to working with him again in the future.”

Lambeth Palace could not be reached for comment.
 

lord caedus

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Laurion declares threat to St. Clair River "over" in spill site press conference

Friday, October 29th, 2021

Governor Ben Laurion (R-MI) informed the media that the threat to the St. Clair River from the spill from the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline near Kimball, Michigan is "over" after the Army Corps of Engineers completed the installation of a temporary dam that will prevent any oil from the already-polluted Pine River to reach the St. Clair.

"The people of Michigan, and I'm sure other Americans who treasure our Great Lakes, are extremely thankful to the Army Corps of Engineers, first responders and cleanup crews," Laurion said at a press conference in the town of St. Clair. "There will be a lot of clean-up work ahead, but we have passed our first test with flying colors."

Laurion had visited with displaced residents, clean-up crews and first responders at the scene before making his statement. The governor's presidential campaign said that Laurion will be in Michigan until "a complete survey of the affected regions is completed and [clean-up operations] have been enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency, and Enbridge."

Secretary of Transportation Matt Skinner, whose agency oversees the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that regulates such pipelines, announced an investigation into the spill, now estimated to be one of the largest inland oil spills in US history, this afternoon.

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Friday, October 29 2021

Qumari, US forces retake Har-e-Garbik

Har-e-Garbik —After five weeks of continuous fighting, the flag of Qumar again flies over the northern city of Har-e-Garbik, with the final Bahji insurgents having retreated into the hills early this morning.

Qumari forces rolled in to Har-e-Garbik early this morning following one of the toughest battles seen in the country since the collapse of the central government in 2016. Aided by American air and artillery support, they successfully dislodged an entrenched Bahji force that had retaken the city in August. At least one thousand civilians have been estimated to have been killed in the fighting, including at least two dozen prisoners who were executed by their Bahji captors shortly before the Islamic fundamentalist insurgents fled.

Only five American casualties were reported as a result of the battle, with zero fatalities.

A Pentagon spokesman said that General Tom Garver, commander of all international forces in Qumar, had been given permission to use American and British forces "to maintain order and provide humanitarian relief" in the city until Qumari military forces can be repositioned and the city's infrastructure sufficiently restored.

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Congress announces rare weekend session in hopes of preventing shutdown

Friday, October 29th, 2021

Both houses of Congress have agreed to a rare weekend legislative session as a government shutdown looms ever closer.

Spokespersons for both Senate Majority Leader Cody Riley (R-AL) and Speaker of the House Mitchell Harris (R-IN) have said released plans for long sessions over both Saturday and Sunday. Resolutions in both chambers for the impromptu special sessions passed unanimously as both parties seek to pass a federal budget that is acceptable both to conservatives in the Republican caucus and President Sam Seaborn.

"We will break out the sleeping cots if we have to," Riley said. "If a compromise is found, we want to be able to have it on the president's desk before the ink dries."

Several Republican presidential candidates, including senators Ruth Norton-Stewart (OH), Jasper Irving (IL), Charlie Forrester (GA), and representative Alan Moore (CA) have had to leave the campaign trail to return to Washington to be on-hand to vote.
 

lord caedus

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Saturday budget session only sees EPA funding for Michigan oil spill

Saturday, October 30th, 2021

Congress' Saturday session produced only one piece of legislation- an emergency funding resolution to fund the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s operations "related to the October 28, 2021 oil spill in Kimball, Michigan" after Director of the Office of Management and Budget Karen Hepner informed congressional leaders that the EPA would be forced to discontinue its operations at the spill site should a budget shutdown occur.

"Under current legislative language, to continue its work [in the spill zone] during a shutdown, the site would have to be declared a SuperFund site," Congressman J.D. Garrett (R-NE), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said upon introducing the bill. "As the federal agency with proper authority to oversee and authorize clean-up operations, we must allow it to continue its work there."

The bill quickly passed in both chambers and was signed by President Seaborn earlier this evening.

It was a brief moment of bipartisanship in a day that saw members in both chambers become irritated at times with their colleagues across the aisle. Congressman Marvin Halifax (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, was involved in a shouting match with Winchester Collins (R-CA) and Shane Reeves (R-OK) outside the House chamber that was audible to C-SPAN's cameras inside. The confrontation was eventually resolved by Ronnie Tucker (D-NY), a former NFL linebacker escorting Hallifax away from the two Republicans as Bob Mayer (R-TX) calmed down the two Republicans who reportedly had responded negatively to a comment Hallifax had made in passing about the party's budget priorities.

Things were only slightly less tense on the Senate side, with Democrats making clear that they intended to make good on their filibuster threat if Republicans tried to bring the House budget to the floor.

"President Seaborn has made it clear that he understands that divided government means we, as Democrats, must compromise some of our wishes in order to maintain a functioning government," Minority Leader Jimmy Fitzsimmons (D-MA) told the body.

"But apparently Republicans in the House do not understand that reality. They also do not understand why we would be opposed to cutting the social safety net during a period of economic slowdown, or why we would be opposed to taking federal funding away from schools that teach children about America's fraught racial history, and they certainly don't understand why we do not think we should give even more tax breaks to billionaires instead of working to make our tax system fairer...We hope our colleagues across the aisle here do not share their House counterparts' lack of understanding."
 

Marky Bunny

Public Service Announcement
We will not be providing "live" coverage on Tuesday of the New Jersey & Virginia gubernatorial races and the New York Mayoral race. We will of course have the usual articles with the results etc during Wednesday.
Kind regards
Mark
(on behalf of the writing team).
 

lord caedus

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BREAKING: Budget negotiations fail, federal government shuts down

Monday, November 1st, 2021

A last-ditch weekend session of Congress has failed to pass a new budget, meaning that the U.S. federal government has shut down for the first time since 2003.

Effective immediately, around 800,000 federal employees have been furloughed, and most of the remaining 1.3 million "essential" non-military federal workers are going to be required to work without pay until Congress allocates backpay once a new budget has been passed.

Per the Office of Management and the Budget, several agencies will remain fully funded throughout the shutdown: the military and its 1.4 million active duty service members, agencies conducting essential services "to protect life and property" (federal law enforcement and disaster relief agencies, federal prisons, air traffic controllers, agencies that regulate the banking sector, national power grid and nuclear stockpile, etc.), the Social Security Administration and some portions of the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA), and agencies that have independent revenue sources (the U.S. Postal Service and Federal Reserve).

Many agencies and amenities are expected to be shut down or operating in a partial capacity until full federal funding is restored: national parks and monuments will be closed to visitors, federal housing subsidies and vouchers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development will stop being sent out, farm loans and payments from the Department of Agriculture will be halted, employers will not be able to submit E-Verify information for new hires to the Immigration and Naturalization Services (a legal requirement for some or all employers in 22 states), veterans seeking to appeal or submit claims to the VA will be unable to do so, and nearly half of all civilian contractors with the Department of Defense will be furlough.

The District of Columbia, whose budget is controlled by Congress, will keep up non-essential city services "as long as possible", Mayor Sharlene Mason (D) said Saturday. Mason said that the city had accumulated $144 million in funds to continue street sweeping, garbage collection and other non-emergency services.

Even members of Congress and the White House will not be immune from the shutdown's effects: aides and staffers deemed "non-essential" will be sent home until funding can be restored.
 

WestWingNut

So who's gonna get the blame for this? Sam or the Republicans? Also how many government shutdowns have happened in the West Wing universe? I know there was the actual one on the show. Didn't one happen under Walken?
 

lord caedus

WestWingNut said:
So who's gonna get the blame for this? Sam or the Republicans? Also how many government shutdowns have happened in the West Wing universe? I know there was the actual one on the show. Didn't one happen under Walken?
Click to expand...
There were five government shutdowns before this one in the WWverse: four very brief OTL shutdowns (1980, 1981, 1984, & 1986) and the 2003 in the show.

There wasn't a federal shutdown under Walken, but California did have a statewide shutdown very early in Walken's term.
 
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