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Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is a member of the bipartisan working group.

The gang is working to make it harder for senators and House members to challenge presidential election results, as well as to clarify the vice presidents role in election certification as ceremonial. Capito predicted that at least 10 Republicans could eventually come on board the final product: Theres a sweet spot of getting at least 60 people, and maybe more if we keep it narrow and focused and repair what needs to be repaired. It will probably take longer than people think.

In interviews with a dozen GOP senators over the past week, Cruz (R-Texas) came out most forcefully against the groups ongoing work to raise the bar for challenging elections in Congress.

I dont think a political stunt designed to go after President Trump is a worthwhile expenditure of time and energy, Cruz said.

And Hawley (R-Mo.) warned senators to be really careful about messing around with a law thats been on the books that long, thats governed that many elections.

Its not necessarily surprising that two senators who led objections to the certification of the 2020 results would question those who want to hamstring their ability to do so in the future. But it points to a gulf in the party over whether to dive into the Electoral Count Act or stay away from it altogether and avoid another conflict with Trump.

Last year, 19 Senate Republicans defied the former president and supported the bipartisan infrastructure law. But the idea of restricting election challenges, under the assumption that it would prevent a future Capitol riot-style attack, is significantly more sensitive for Republicans, given Trumps obsession with his loss and his recent assertion that former Vice President Mike Pence should have overturned the election.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said Trump's words will have an impact on GOP senators: Any time he speaks out on an issue, it gets some peoples attention." But Thune argued the GOP's reservations also center on trying to move so quickly to a bipartisan bill after Democrats forced a vote on weakening the filibuster in order to pass sweeping election reform.

I dont think theres any particular rush. These guys tried to blow up the Senate two weeks ago. Rewarding them by giving a win on something especially if theyre going to try and force their agenda into this is not something that some of our members are crazy about doing right away," Thune said.

Initially, most of the resistance to the work came from Democrats, who saw the Electoral Count Act as a distraction from the partys work on a sweeping elections and Voting Rights Act package. That reform push failed, leaving Democrats more open to seeing what the bipartisan group can produce. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that reforming the Electoral College is a good thing to do, but it sure doesnt replace the need to deal with voting rights.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is more overtly encouraging the group to work on updating the arcane law, and though theyve held multiple meetings, most recently on Wednesday, they are not close to a finished product. The group is looking at raising the threshold for objecting to a state's presidential election result higher than one senator and House member, making it clear the vice president has no role other than to count votes, enhancing protections for election officials and reauthorizing an expired voting grants program.

At their core, those reforms could have prevented or minimized the pro-Trump insurrection last year. A higher threshold may have prevented any votes or debate on election certification, and Congress would have completed its work more quickly before rioters entered the Capitol and disrupted the proceedings. And clarifying the vice presidents role would formally quash Trumps disputed theory that the vice president could unilaterally overturn an election.

There will be fairly widespread agreement that [the vice presidents role] needs to be clarified, said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the lead GOP organizer of the effort. She added that there was also pretty much a consensus that one member in each chamber being enough to object to a states election results is "far too low a threshold.

Given the fluidity of Collins work, many Republicans declined to take a firm view on the groups proposed reforms, though some were surprisingly open to the idea. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who initially sought to challenge the 2020 election results but did not ultimately vote to overturn them, called the Electoral Count Act antiquated and said it should take more than one member of each chamber to force a vote.

There could definitely be some clarifications. And it could be something we could do in a bipartisan way if the other side is willing to leave politics out of it, said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who voted to certify the election results.

The most skepticism lies among those senators that voted against certifying the elections. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) said it was unnecessary to revisit the law and that theres a lot of convincing to be done to think we need to do anything with it. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), one of eight senators who voted to block Bidens win, said he's "not against making it better, Im against doing something to just say we did something."

Even some of those who sided against Trump's efforts to overturn the election are openly questioning whether it should be a priority for the evenly split Senate.

Ive never seen a bigger disconnect between what actually matters on an hourly basis in our country versus what we spent our time on here, said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who is neutral on the reforms being discussed. We could talk about inflation, we could talk about supply chain disruptions, talk about labor shortages ... theres virtually no conversation about that here.

Read more from the original source:
Trump interference exacerbates GOP split on election reforms - POLITICO

Sen. Rand Paul blasted Dr. Anthony Fauci at a Senate hearing Thursday over gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China calling for his resignation and alleging hes learned nothing from this pandemic.

Paul (R-Ky.) grilled the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, on why he repeatedly denied that the virus research was funded by the NIH prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gain-of-function could cause a pandemic even worse next time, Paul said. [It] could endanger civilization as we know it.

The firebrand conservative claimed NIH-funded scientists created viruses not found in nature and that Fauci misled the American public by refusing to admit it.

Your repeated denials have worn thin and the majority of Americans, frankly, dont believe you, Paul said. Your persistent denials are not just a stain on your reputation but are a clear and present danger to the country and to the world.

You appear to have learned nothing from this pandemic, Paul said. I think its time you resign.

Regardless of whether the viruses created at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were linked to COVID-19, similar research funded by the NIH could spark another pandemic, Paul said. He also alleged that Fauci changed the definition of the term gain-of-function in order to deny it had happened.

Youve changed the definition on your website to cover your ass, Paul said.

But Fauci fired back, telling the Senate Health Committee that Paul is egregiously incorrect in what he says.

Senator, with all due respect, I disagree with so many of the things youve said, Fauci responded. First of all, gain of function is a very nebulous term.

He said the definition was developed over a period of two or three years beginning in 2014, and thatoutside bodies have spent a lot of time to give a more precise definition because it is a research of concern that might lead to a dangerous situation.

The gaudiness are clear that you have to be dealing with a pathogen that clearly shows [that its] very likely to be highly transmissible in an uncontrollable way in humans and to have a high degree of morbidity and that you do experiments to enhance that, he said.

In the case ofthe Wuhan Institute, Its much more likely that [COVID-19] was a natural occurrence, Fauci said.

The heated back-and-forth came two weeks after the NIHadmitted to funding gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses at Chinas Wuhan lab, despite Fauci repeatedly insisting to Congress that no such thing happened.

See the rest here:
Rand Paul calls on Fauci to resign over gain-of-function ...

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Sen. Rand Paul: 'Inflation is disproportionately hurting the working class and the poor' - fox28media.com

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has failed to follow the science for much of the pandemic, on Wednesday called Omicron, the Covid-19 variant responsible for record-setting number of positive cases, natures vaccine during an interview with Fox & Friends.

Weve got 150 million people in our country that have already had this, he said. Now in the last couple of weeks, were adding millions of people every week who have already gotten this. And the one thing we know is if you get this mild variant, the Omicron, its actually going to protect you against the more serious variants.

This is basically natures vaccine that is running through the community, he added, echoing comments made on the network last month by Dr. Nicole Saphier, a radiologist, who advocated for letting omicron circulate.

Paul noted that letting Omicron run wild doesnt mean some of the vulnerable people may not suffer and die from this, and that we should be trying to protect the vulnerable. The primary way to protect the vulnerable, though, is to get them vaccinated, and Paul has opposed mandates and said he will not even get vaccinated himself.

Paul claimed on Wednesday that the majority of the people in the hospital right now are vaccinated, despite the fact that recentCenters for Disease Control data shows that the risk of hospitalization skyrockets when those who test positive are unvaccinated.

Paul did not specify where he got the idea that 150 Americans have tested positive, a key part of his argument that the U.S. should just go ahead and let Omicron spread. U.S. cases since January 2020 total approximately 56 million, according to the CDC. The number includes all positive cases, not the number of people infected, as some have caught the virus more than once.

Letting Omicron spread like the variants before it could also lead to a new variant that might be able to evade Omicron immunity, even if getting it does provide some protection against older variants. The more Omicron spreads, the more it transmits and the more it replicates, the more likely it is to throw out a new variant, World Health Organization Senior Emergencies Officer Catherine Smallwood told AFP in an interview on Tuesday. Now, Omicron is lethal, it can cause death maybe a little bit less than Delta, but whos to say what the next variant might throw out.

Omicron is now responsible for more than 95 percent of U.S. cases, according to the CDC.

Pauls latest pseudoscience argument should come as no surprise, as the senator has been a notorious spreader of Covid falsehoods throughout the pandemic. This past summer, he was suspended from YouTube for Covid misinformation, prompting him to announce earlier this week that he is moving to Rumble, a video-hosting site favored by the far-right that bills itself as a free-speech haven. Paul will likely be able to spread all the Covid misinformation on the platform, but who needs Rumble when you have Fox News, whose anchors will uncritically nod along as the senator lies about the virus that has killed over 800,000 Americans.

More:
Rand Paul Comes Out as Pro-Omicron - Rolling Stone

U.S.Sen. Rand Paul will no longer post videos to YouTube, unless those videos are to criticize the platform or let viewers know where they can find his new videos, according to a release from his office Monday.

Today I begin my exodus from Big Tech, starting with the worst censor of all, YouTube,Paulsaid in the release.As a libertarian leaning Senator, I think private companies have the right to ban me if they want to, however, those of us who believe that truth comes from disputation and that the marketplace of ideas is a prerequisite for innovation should shun the close-minded censors and take our ideas elsewhere, which is exactly what Im doing.

YouTube has banned some of Paul's video in this past year, particularly those focused on whether masks are effective in preventing the spread of disease,according to the release.

More: 50 complaints, no action: Why Kentucky medical board won't police Rand Paul's COVID claims

"Over the last year, YouTube has continued to wage its dangerous, anti-progress of science war against free speech, choosing to act in lockstep with government and ban videos posted by Dr. Paul that dared to contradict the governments position," it stated.

Paul has attracted widespread attention for his comments about the COVID-19 pandemic and more than 50 complaints against him have been filed with the KentuckyBoard of Medical Licensure.

More: Rep. John Yarmuth backs Charles Booker in his bid to unseat Sen. Rand Paul

The Bowling Green Republican is also a physician, and those complaints alleged he violatedhis professional responsibility as a doctor with unfounded public claims about COVID-19.

"He is endangering the health, the well-being and lives of the American people,"one complaint from a Lexington resident said. "This is malpractice on a grand scale."

Paul denied spreading misinformation.

I dedicated my medical career to saving and restoring vision to patients, and Ive dedicated my political career to speaking truth to power in order to help save lives," he said in a statement in September 2021.

"Science, like medicine, has many perspectives and it is often said: 'Get a second opinion.'" Paul said. "Malcontents who want to stifle second opinions are themselves a danger to the community.

Moving forward, Paul will only post to his account on the platform Rumble. He first posted to the platform in February 2021 and has since posted about 100 videos. Paul is currently seeking his third term in Congress, with the primary elections set for May.

Contact reporter Krista Johnson atkjohnson3@gannett.com.

Original post:
Rand Paul says he's leaving 'dangerous' YouTube ... unless he wants to criticize it - Courier Journal