Why did the mansplainer drown in the puddle? It was a well, actually.
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Patricia Zengerle
@ReutersZengerle
Reuters foreign policy and national security reporter covering Congress. Lucky wife/parent. Lover of ducks. Ultimate. YNWA LGM
Patricia Zengerle’s posts
FFS... boardwalk today in Ocean City, Md. No one has any self-control and we will all be in quarantine forever.
So there’s indoor smoking on the House side of the Capitol now that the Republicans have taken control.
Biden picks Sen. Harris, an intelligence committee member, as his running mate. Shortly afterward, Trump administration says it will no longer brief the committee on election security, alleging sudden concern about “leaks.” #2020
In their statement, Reps. Massie, Roy and others note that a Republican presidential candidate has won the popular vote only once in 32 years, so delegitimizing the Electoral College could imperil the party's only hope for victory in 2024... which is quite something.
It’s DC - of course someone made a Bernie snowman. (H/t my son)
Five of the nine current Supreme Court justices were nominated by presidents who lost the popular vote. (W and Trump).
Replying to
Washington, D.C., law bans smoking in all indoor spaces, but it does not apply to the private offices of members of Congress, never has.
The Senate will vote on all 22 of the resolutions of disapproval of Trump's plan to sell $8 billion to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, sidestepping Congress by citing an Iran-related emergency ("emergency," according to some)
Just called a Republican congressional office I deal with often and was told the press relations staff is no longer speaking to reporters.
Nunes says Democrats wanted "nude pictures of Trump."
Pro-Trump rally on the Capitol lawn. They were just chanting “Drain the swamp.”
Replying to
So when you have a change in party control, and they move offices like they just did, if the member who moves into the office is - as in this case - a cigar smoker - you have smoke.
Trump spox asked if "Made in America" week wld include a push for Ivanka to sell products made in the US. “We’ll get back to you on that.”
So ... is this the new “but her emails?”
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Biden Campaign Continues To Deflect On Court-Packing npr.org/2020/10/11/922
Again, our photographer took this in Minnesota. I had the location wrong the first time. Apologies.
Senate pages are teenagers - high school aged teenagers. Van Orden is a 53-year-old member of Congress. The kids were lying on the floor to take pictures of the frescoes.
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We obtained a transcript of Rep. Van Orden cursing out Senate pages overnight in the Capitol Rotunda. The account was taken by a page who wrote down the remarks minutes after the incident:
thehill.com/homenews/41236
Day made.
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Our sweet panda cub had his first taste of sweet potato. Spoiler alert: he gobbled it up. 
KEEPER UPDATE: s.si.edu/2Nungsv.
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Get pandas in your inbox! Sign up for the Giant Panda Bulletin: nationalzoo.si.edu/email.
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#PandaStory #PandaCubdates
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Sen Orrin Hatch: “I think he has changed a lot of his life once he was elected. I think Trump is a much better person today than he was then.”
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.@hillhulse: “For those wondering if the latest disclosures from the Trump legal file are finally weighty enough to cause top congressional Republicans to break from the president, the answer is no.” nytimes.com/2018/08/22/us/
Rep. Kinzinger backing weapons for Ukraine: "We have to arm them, because they are fighting for all of us."
People died, 140 officers were injured.
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MEANWHILE - Trump just filed emergency request at SCOTUS trying to block his taxes from being released
Merkel and Modi were at the climate session.
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More on Pres. Trump Missing climate meeting: @PressSec statement: “The President had
scheduled meetings and bilaterals with Germany and India, so a senior
member of the Administration attended in his stead.” However, Pres. said twice he was going himself.
Blumenthal notes that, without "a free press telling us" about Flynn, he might not have resigned, since Trump fired Yates. #TrumpRussia
Healthcare workers have been working hard, risking their health, throughout this pandemic.
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Replying to @atrupar
Wow -- Trump pushes a baseless conspiracy theory that US coronavirus deaths are overcounted because "doctors get more money and hospitals get more money" if they say people died of Covid instead of other co-morbidities they might have
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Former top NSC official Fiona Hill says: "This is exactly what the Russian government was hoping for," referring to doubt about the electoral process and division within the United States.
Six months ago today - these are notes I was filing to our bureau from the floor of the balcony in the House chamber (I’ve blacked out things sent by colleagues.)
Senator Susan Collins on Castor: “I was perplexed by the first attorney, who did not seem to make any arguments at all, which was an unusual approach to take." #impeachment
Quite the endorsement
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Osama bin Laden's niece says only Trump can prevent another 9/11 trib.al/84YQePZ
The Democrats play a video of Trump saying: "I have the right to do whatever I want as president." #ImpeachmentHearings
This is happening: Trump's executive branch is ignoring the judicial branch. (Dulles CPB ignoring federal judge's order). What now?
It feels almost quaint to ask about the Hatch Act. twitter.com/realDonaldTrum
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One thing learned today: It's a violation of House of Representatives rules to play audio of children crying after they've been taken from their parents at the border. Rep
Senator Harris asks Ratcliffe if he believes that Trump has accurately conveyed the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic to the American people. Ratcliffe: "I believe so." Then Harris starts citing Trump statements.
But at least women aren't wearing sleeveless dresses.
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A subtext of this story is that there’s an appetite among male members of Congress for showing each other photos of nude women while on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. cnn.com/2021/04/01/pol
I feel soooo bad for DC hotel and restaurant workers.
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NEW from me: Big Ivermectin is headed to DC to march on Sunday.
They've sold out hotels, shared directions on forging vaxx cards, and they're expecting 10,000+.
It's an antivaxx Super Bowl, a "who’s who of grifters," and it was organized on... Facebook.
nbcnews.com/tech/internet/
One year to the day after five U.S. journalists were murdered at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis.
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Replying to @JenniferJJacobs
Trump also bonded with Putin over a scorn for journalists.
“Get rid of them. Fake news is a great term, isn't it? You don’t have this problem in Russia, but we do.”
“We also have,” Putin answered, in English. “It’s the same.”
They shared a chuckle.
Sadly, women who have childhoods troubled by, say, abuse by adult men, often go on to have troubled adulthoods.
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Purportedly Moore’s main accuser Leigh Corfman has had three divorces, filed for bankruptcy three times, and has been charged with multiple misdemeanors.
Posts on Moore's FB page indicate that Corfman, has claimed several pastors at various churches made sexual advances at her.
If there is a national emergency at the southern border, how can CPB agents be deployed against U.S. citizens in American cities?
Ouch - Schumer and Pelosi after Gang of 8 briefing on Afghanistan/Russia/bounties: “Our Armed Forces would be better served if President Trump spent more time reading his daily briefing and less time planning military parades and defending relics of the Confederacy.”
Virginia Gov Youngkin follows Florida on seeking review of AP African American studies class - The Washington Post
When there's no one else around in the Capitol, stand by this and listen for ghosts.
So Barrett - who has made a thing of testifying "without notes" - can't name the five freedoms protected in the first amendment to the Constitution. #BarrettHearing
But wait - I thought Leader McConnell didn’t accept the results of the election yet....
Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former television personality who’s dating Mr. Trump’s eldest son, controls an expanding fund-raising division that is paying at least one donor, the socialite Somers Farkas, to help raise money. via
💔
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This photograph is a powerful reminder of the huge impact HIV/AIDS has had on the LGBTQ+ community. We must never forget just how many were lost #40yearsofHIV
I sent this to a tax expert and she noted: “if the IRS killed taxpayers they would not pay.”
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Brian Kilmeade just said that the IRS is "Joe Biden's new army" that will "hunt down and kill middle class taxpayers that don't pay enough"
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Cole voted to overturn the election.
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“I’ve been in Republican politics for 40 years professionally — so, just after Watergate — and I will tell you this has been the worst period of the entire time,” says @TomColeOK04. nyti.ms/2MiZL5e
Cohen says Trump attorney told him to lie about Moscow project washingtonpost.com/politics/cohen
“The father” (not “the rapist”)
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This Texas abortion law is positively dystopian
nytimes.com/2021/11/26/hea
Sen Corker, asked about Trump/London: "Probably it's best to refrain from communicating with 140 characters on topics that are so important"
Trump himself votes by mail.
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Replying to @benwikler
Here's what Trump said on Friday about voting in Wisconsin.
“It shouldn’t be mail-in voting. It should be: You go to a booth and you proudly display yourself. You don’t send it in the mail where people pick up — all sorts of bad things can happen.”
whitehouse.gov/briefings-stat
Senator Jim Inhofe, the current Republican chairman of Senate Armed Services, says he is going to have ranking Democrat Jack Reed chair the Senate Armed Services hearing, since Democrats will soon have the Senate majority.
Here’s a gallery of Reuters photos from Wednesday. Swarms of Trump supporters storm U.S. Capitol reut.rs/38hth3E?slideI via
This has become normalized - staging campaign events at the White House, despite the law against it.
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If you vote for someone for president, it means you want him or her to be president. Don't be ridiculous.
It takes two years to be vetted for a refugee visa. So, no.
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If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there!
Not a peep about Alaska results having taken so long. ....
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Presumably Republicans are ok with the statewide races they won in PA twitter.com/ForecasterEnte…
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There were 12 Democratic women in the House when Pelosi came. “Now there are over 90, and we want more,” she says. #Pelosi
Obama: "The biggest threat to our democracy is indifference. The biggest threat to our democracy is cynicism. Cynicism led too many people to turn away from politics and stay home on Election Day."
Missed this the first time - beautiful - and donate to
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.@PanicAtTheDisco, @theroots and I perform “Under Pressure” with At Home Instruments #FallonAtHome #QuaranTune
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Up to six shot at a high school near Spokane, Washington, and it barely ripples the news flow.
“The president”
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Asked on CNN about Trump seemingly making a death threat against Mitch McConnell, Rick Scott refuses to condemn it, saying "the president [sic] likes to give people nicknames. I'm sure he has a nickname for me."
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Blair House, across the street from the WH, is where Truman stayed during renovations. blairhouse.org/history/histor
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Working in Bedminster, N.J., as long planned construction is being done at the White House. This is not a vacation - meetings and calls!
Expression of solidarity with Ukraine two days after a Senate Republican blocked quick passage of $40 billion in aid for Zelenskiy’s government.
This was quite the exchange.
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Replying to @atrupar
BLINKEN: If you look at the countries Russia attacked, these were countries that were not part of NATO
RAND PAUL: You could also argue the countries they've attacked were part of Russia
BLINKEN: I firmly disagree. It's the right of these countries to decide their future
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Hmmmm.... first amendment?
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Ryan, on WI radio, backs removing pig/cop painting. "It’s not as if you have a constitutional right to hang whatever painting you want."
One thing that people forget is how the Trump administration was filled with “acting” officials.
He’s not wrong. The past couple years have been a fascinating example of how narratives are controlled.
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If a Democratic President raided money from service members and military construction projects no one would be talking about anything else for like three months.
Note: He is saying it is a ban.
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If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there!
So all the folks who thought, "I have insurance through my job, this doesn't affect me ...." Guess what!
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Replying to @SenBobCasey
Section 102 of this scheme means large employers will no longer have to provide insurance
Replying to
As she wraps up, Cheney says: "The case made against him is not made by his political enemies. It is instead a series of confessions by Donald Trump's own appointees, his own friends, his own campaign officials, people who worked for him for years and his own family."
Rep. McCaul, the ranking Republican on House Foreign Affairs, says he supports the resolution to keep sanctions on Rusal, Deripaska's company. (It was blocked on Wednesday by Senate Republicans, despite 11 voting with Dems)
Some context on Senator Duckworth being allowed to bring her baby onto the Senate floor so she could vote: There weren't even bathrooms for women at the U.S. Senate until 1992.
Fox, which declined to show the hearing, averaged 3 million viewers. thehill.com/blogs/pundits-
Some context for Trump and Syria: his refugee ban would keep those children out of the US, leave them in the bombs' path.
Ryan spokesman. - wants a full explanation after report of Trump providing classified info to Russia.
And yet he won his election.
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna at press conference announcing a bill to halt arms sales to Saudi Arabia, notes years of U.S. support for the kingdom. "What galls many of us in Congress is the ingratitude," he says.
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Cheney showed messages sent to unidentified witnesses advising them that an unidentified person would be watching their testimony closely and expecting loyalty. #tampering
U.S. Archives turns over Trump White House visitor logs to Jan. 6 committee
Expert at Senate intelligence hearing tells Senator Rubio that his 2016 presidential campaign suffered from Russian media manipulation.
Alabama gets $2.17 for every $1 it pays in federal taxes.
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Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) on the call to increase direct stimulus payments to $2,000: “Someone’s gotta show me how we’re going to pay for it.”
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Just caught up with interview with - so great. Needed the laughs. Thanks!
Meanwhile, in the Senate, an emotional McConnell says: "We cannot simply declare ourselves a national board of election on steroids." He says it would "damage our republic forever" to overrule the states, and court.
He notes: "This election was not actually unusally close."
This is quite the version of, “ I went to college just outside Boston”…
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Right now a guy who was in my dorm senior year who is now a Republican Senator is questioning the woman with whom I was in an improv troupe who is now a SCOTUS nominee and that is the tweet.
Moody's analytics chief economist Mark Zandi sided with the White House, saying the resumption of billions of dollars per month in student loan payments "will restrain growth and is disinflationary."
For those unaware, his dad is a Republican. twitter.com/rsg/status/102
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Any one senator can hold any ambassador nominee indefinitely. Remember when Sen Cotton held a nominee of Obama's until she died.
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Senate Foreign Relations Committee sets confirmation hearing for David Friedman to be Trump's ambassador to Israel for Thursday at 10.
The mayor of Paris.
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Welcome back America! Congratulations to @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris for their election! While we are about to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, this victory symbolizes our need to act together more than ever, in view of climate emergency. 
#Election2020
#Election2020Senator Romney blasts the Texas lawsuit. (His home state Utah is one of the 17 supporting it)."The idea of supplanting the vote of the people with partisan legislators is so completely out of our national character that it's simply mad."