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Democrats to maintain control of the United States Senate

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Source image: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-maintain-control-united-states-senate

Democrats will have continued control of the Senate, the Fox News Decision Desk can project. 

Democrats will maintain power in the Senate thanks to Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto being declared the winner in Nevada on Saturday night in her race against Republican challenger Adam Laxalt. 

Democrats now hold 50 seats compared to the 49 seats held by Republicans with one seat yet to be decided in Georgia where a runoff election will be held between Republican Herschel Walker and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock on December 6th.

Even if Walker were to win in Georgia, Democrats would still have control with Vice President Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote. 

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The U.S. Capitol Building is seen on September 27, 2022 in Washington, DC.

The U.S. Capitol Building is seen on September 27, 2022 in Washington, DC.
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Voters across the country have delivered a resounding endorsement of Democrats’ Senate majority,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Sen. Gary Peters said in a statement. “These historic results in race after race speak for themselves, and they reflect the strength of our candidates, the popularity of Senate Democrats’ message to the American people, and a rejection of the extremism espoused by the GOP.  Now our work continues in Georgia to ensure Herschel Walker is defeated and Rev. Warnock is re-elected.”

Prior to Tuesday’s nationwide midterm elections, Democrats held a razor-thin majority in the upper chamber of Congress with 50 seats in their party’s control. Because Vice President Kamala Harris has the ability to cast tie-breaking votes, Democrats only needed 50 seats to keep control.

Prior to 2021, the last time Democrats controlled the Senate was from January 2013 to January 2015 during the 113th Congress.

In this year’s midterm elections, Republicans were forced to defend 21 seats, while Democrats had to defend just 14. Three of the four closest Senate races this cycle featured a Democrat incumbent.

Throughout their campaigns, Republican candidates focused their messaging around issues that they believed voters care most about, including rising crime, out of control inflation, and the southern border crisis.

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, speaks during a news conference following the weekly Republican caucus luncheon on Sept. 28, 2022.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, speaks during a news conference following the weekly Republican caucus luncheon on Sept. 28, 2022.
(Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Democrats, however, focused on protections for abortion after the Supreme Court’s summer ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade. The party also focused on voting rights and election deniers, with President Joe Biden declaring just before the elections that “MAGA Republicans” who promoted former President Trump’s “Big Lie” about the 2020 election and engaged in voter intimidation are a “threat” to democracy.

The Senate consists of 100 lawmakers serving six-year terms; every election year about one-third of Senate seats are up for grabs.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, speaks during a news conference following the weekly Democratic caucus luncheon on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, speaks during a news conference following the weekly Democratic caucus luncheon on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.
(Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Prior to Tuesday’s elections, the Fox News’ Power Rankings showed 47 seats going to the Democrats and 49 to the Republicans, leaving four crucial toss-up races to decide control of the Senate: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

The new Congress will officially be sworn into office in January.

Republicans are still hoping to take back control of the House of Representatives and appear on track to do so needing to win 7 races out of the two dozen congressional races across the country that are still outstanding.

So far, after Tuesday’s midterm elections results, Republicans have secured 211 seats of the chamber’s 435 members — just shy of a 218-member majority.

Fox News’ Sophia Slacik contributed to this article.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrats-maintain-control-united-states-senate

Politics

Biden vetoes bill cancelling his $400 billion student loan handout, vows he’s ‘not going to back down’

President Biden on Wednesday vetoed the bill that would have scrapped his $400 billion student loan handout and vowed he wasn’t “going to back down” when it came to forgiving the college debt of millions across the country.

“Folks, Republican in Congress led an effort to pass a bill blocking my administration’s plan to provide up to $10,000 in student debt relief and up to $20,000 for borrowers that received a Pell Grant. Nearly 90% of those relief dollars go to people making less than $75,000 a year,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter

“I’m not going to back down on my efforts to help tens of millions of working and middle class families. That’s why I’m going to veto this bill,” he said. 

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Amid his railing against Republicans, Biden made no mention of the two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., who joined all Republicans in voting to advance the bill last week. Independent Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema also voted in favor with the final tally coming to 52-46.

Biden also made no mention of Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., who joined Republicans in voting for the bill in the House of Representatives. The final House vote tally was 218-203.

The president went on to say that some of the members who voted for the bill had “personally received loans to keep their small business afloat during the pandemic,” and supported “huge tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.” 

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President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden speaks ahead of vetoing a bill scrapping his $400 billion student loan handout on June 7, 2023 in the Oval Office. (White House)

“But when it comes to hardworking Americans trying to get ahead, dealing with student debt relief, that’s where they drew the line. I think it’s wrong,” he said.

“Let me make something really clear, I’m never going to apologize for helping working and middle class Americans as they recover from this pandemic. Never,” he added before signing his veto of the bill.

Biden’s veto of the bill marks his fifth veto since taking office.

Under the program announced last year, Biden said he would cancel up to $10,000 in student loans for people making less than $125,000, and up to $20,000 for students who received Pell Grants. That program was expected to cost the government more than $400 billion in lost debt repayment, but the program was put on hold after a court blocked it.

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US Capitol Washington DC

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

The resolution approved by the House and Senate was written under the Congressional Review Act, which lets Congress reject an executive branch policy as long as both the House and Senate pass a resolution disapproving of that policy.

Given the mostly partisan nature of the votes in the House and Senate, it’s unlikely Congress will be able to find the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to override Biden’s veto.

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Fox News’ Peter Kasperowicz contributed to this report.

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Politics

Michigan man pleads guilty to assisting Whitmer kidnapping scheme

A man accused of aiding a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor pleaded guilty Wednesday, the ninth conviction in state and federal courts since agents broke up an astonishing scheme by anti-government rebels in 2020.

Shawn Fix said he provided material support for an act of terrorism, namely the strategy to snatch Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home in Antrim County. Prosecutors agreed to drop a weapon charge.

Fix trained with a militia, the Wolverine Watchmen, for “politically motivated violence,” prosecutors have said, and hosted a five-hour meeting at his Belleville home where there was much discussion about kidnapping Whitmer.

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Fix, 40, acknowledged helping plot leader Adam Fox pinpoint the location of Whitmer’s home, key information that was used for a 2020 ride to find the property in northern Michigan.

“Guilty,” Fix told the judge.

Shawn Fix

Shawn Fix has pleaded guilty to his role in the planned kidnapping of Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (AP Photo/John Flesher)

He appeared in an Antrim County court, one of five people charged in that leg of the investigation. A co-defendant pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in March, leaving three other men to face trial in August.

Fix, who faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, agreed to testify if called by prosecutors.

The main kidnapping conspiracy case was handled in federal court, where four men, including ringleaders Fox and Barry Croft Jr., were convicted. Two others were acquitted.

WISCONSIN MAN CHARGED IN WHITMER KIDNAPPING PLOT TO CHANGE PLEA

Separately, three men were convicted at trial in Jackson County, the site of militia training, and are serving long prison terms.

Whitmer, a Democrat, was targeted as part of a broad effort by anti-government extremists to trigger a civil war around the time of the 2020 presidential election, investigators said. Her COVID-19 policies, which shut down schools and restricted the economy, were deeply scorned by foes.

But informants and undercover FBI agents were inside the group for months, leading to arrests in October 2020. Whitmer was not physically harmed.

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After the plot was thwarted, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had given “comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.” Last August, after 19 months out of office, Trump called the kidnapping plan a “fake deal.”

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Politics

Utah Rep. Chris Stewart to step down from Congress in September

U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, on Wednesday officially submitted his letter of resignation from Congress. 

In a letter to Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox, Stewart said he would be stepping down as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives effective Sept. 15. 

Utah Rep. Chris Stewart addresses supporters at an election night party

FILE: Utah Rep. Chris Stewart talks to supporters during an Utah Republican election night party on June 28, 2022, in South Jordan, Utah.  (Photo/George Frey, File)

“It has been one of the great honors of my life to serve the good people of Utah in Congress,” Stewart said.

Stewart, a six-term lawmaker, announced his plans to leave Congress last month due to his wife’s illness. 

His resignation would leave open a Republican seat on the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees — and reduce an already narrow GOP majority to just four seats.

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Utah law states that the governor must call for a special election in the event of a House vacancy. Once Stewart makes his resignation official, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox will have seven days to set the time for a primary and special election. 

The law requires those dates to be the same as municipal primary and general elections scheduled for this year, unless the state legislature appropriates funds to hold a separate election.

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Though Stewart’s departure will mean one less Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, it is not expected to affect House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ability to steer a tight Republican majority. 

The district is reliably Republican and Stewart defeated a Democratic challenger by more than 30 percentage points in 2022.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report. 

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