The House passed the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act on Wednesday in a 231-198 vote. The bill would allow concealed carriers with state-issued licenses to carry in other states that allow concealed carry.
Why it matters: This is the first major legislative win of the year for the NRA, and per Axios' Alayna Treene, proves that the group "still has clout on Capitol Hill." Unsurprisingly, the bill has been criticized by gun reform advocates.
Sen. Al Franken will resign tomorrow, Minnesota Public Radio reports, citing an unidentified Democratic official who has spoken to Franken and his aides.
Tina Dupuy, a former Democratic Hill staffer and columnist, is the 8th woman to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Sen. Al Franken. In Atlantic article, Dupuy wrote that Franken groped her while she took a photo with him in 2009. "We posed for the shot. He immediately put his hand on my waist, grabbing a handful of flesh. I froze. Then he squeezed. At least twice," she wrote.
I have directed officials in my Administration to call the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to request that they completely allow food, fuel, water, and medicine to reach the Yemeni people who desperately need it. This must be done for humanitarian reasons immediately.— Statement by the President
Palestininan Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejected President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital Wednesday, stating that the decision is a "declaration of withdrawal" from the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and undermines any attempt at achieving a two-state solution.
Abbas' bottom line: He said Trump's decision will "never change" the status of Jerusalem and will not give legitimacy to Israel. "It is the capital city of Palestine forever," he declared. Yesterday, Abbas joined other world leaders in warning Trump against such a decision.
58 House Democrats vote on Wednesday to open debate on a motion to impeach President Trump, but the effort for Rep. Al Green of Texas was overwhelmingly rejected by a 364-58 margin.
Why it matters: Green was the first member of Congress to advocate for Trump's impeachment, an idea supported by 40% of Americans, according to an October poll from the Public Religion Research Institute. House Democratic leadership called Green's move premature.
Sen. Al Franken's office said the senator will make a public announcement tomorrow amid mounting calls for his resignation.
Go deeper: More than a dozen senators came out against Franken Wednesday after a seventh woman accused him of sexual misconduct. Rep. John Conyers resigned yesterday over sexual harassment allegations.
President Trump told reporters ahead of a Cabinet meeting Wednesday that a government shutdown over the spending bill "could happen," and said if it does it will be the Democrats' fault:
"The Democrats are really looking at something that is very dangerous for our country. They are looking at shutting down. They want to have illegal immigrants pouring into our country, bringing with them tremendous crime... and we want people to come into our country, but we want it on our basis... I want to vet those people and I want to vet them very carefully." — President Trump
The USDA will be giving more local control over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to "promote self-sufficiency, integrity in the program," according to their press release. State agencies will get specifics on the changes in the next few weeks.
Key quote: "We want to provide the nutrition people need, but we also want to help them transition from government programs, back to work, and into lives of independence," Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in the statement.
A former office intern described her accusations to the Washington Post while Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) was hospitalized in Detroit, and Los Angeles attorney Lisa Bloom tweeted that she had affadavits from several other accusers that planned to make public.
Why it matters: Conyers officially submitted his resignation on Tuesday, which ended the House ethics probe on his alleged misconduct. But this means the revelations aren't finished.
Fiscal hawks in the House, including the conservative Freedom Caucus, are anxious about supporting a continuing resolution needed to fund the government by the end of this week to avoid a shutdown, per Bloomberg.
Yes, but: Those same congressional Republicans just voted to pass the tax bill, which the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has said would raise the federal deficit by $1.4 trillion over the next decade. And the upcoming resolution would fund the various promises made to get moderate Republicans on board with the GOP's tax plan and guarantee Democratic support for the spending bill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told The Weekly Standard he advised Trump to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel, which he is expected to do today. Trump will sign a waiver that will delay moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
But: World leaders have not been thrilled with the expected declaration because they believe it will stall or derail the peace process — Jerusalem is home to holy sites for Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Instead, other world leaders have been urging one another to intervene and warning Trump to not follow through with the move.
Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus believe that Rep. John Conyers, who abruptly resigned Tuesday after multiple allegations of sexual harassment, received undue scrutiny due to his race, according to a Politico report.
The big picture: Some members of the CBC aren't going so far as to call the treatment of Conyers' racist, but they do note that other sitting members of Congress, like Sen. Al Franken and Rep. Blake Farenthold, have managed to avoid significant pressure to step down while facing their own allegations of sexual misconduct. And another CBC faction thinks that Conyers' declining physical and mental state at 88 years old accelerated the process.
