A new poll on impeachment is released, plus three other things you need to know today.
Poll: By slim majority, voters want Trump removed
According to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted from Dec 19 to 20, a 52 percent majority of voters approve of the House of Representatives’ move to impeach President Trump, while 43 percent say they disapprove. Support for impeachment breaks sharply among party lines. Among Democrats, 85 percent approve of the House’s action, and only 12 percent disapprove. Approval among Republicans is only 16 percent, compared with 81 percent who disapprove. Among independents, 48 percent approve of the House passing articles of impeachment and 41 percent disapprove.
Trump signs spending bills with allocations for border wall and Space Force funding
On Friday, Trump signed a $1.4 trillion spending package to avoid a government shutdown, reports NBC News. The package included a $738 billion defense bill, one of the most expensive military bills in U.S. history; money to establish an Air Force operation called Space Force; and $1.4 billion for Trump’s border wall. Democrats used the bill to bring back funding for gun violence research and to end taxes on some Affordable Care Act plans.
As candidates woo, Iowans remain noncommittal
Democratic presidential candidates head to Iowa to campaign in advance of the Feb 3 Iowa caucuses, the first nominating contest of the primaries. In one of the most volatile races in years, many Iowans are as yet undecided. Amy Klobuchar made the largest gain in the polls since the Democratic debate, though she trails the frontrunners at 6.5% percent, Pete Buttigeig leads at 22%, according to Real Clear Politics polls. But as the LA Times reports, since September, polling ratings for Biden, Warren, and Buttigieg have all changed, leaving the outlook for the candidates fairly unclear.
Senate impeachment trial stalls going into holidays
The standoff between Democrats and Republicans over President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial is deepening, with both sides lacking an incentive to move forward over the holidays, according to CNN. On Sunday, Democrats issued new demands for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to call witnesses that the President had previously refused to provide for the House investigation. Republicans countered that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi overreached in declining to send the Senate voted-out articles of impeachment and slowing down the impeachment process by not appointing impeachment managers before the holidays.
Emiene Wright Emiene Wright is associate editor at Cardinal & PIne. Before that she was on the 24-hour news desk of the Miami Herald and the Detroit Free Press, and her writing has been featured in Crisis, the Charlotte Observer, and Our State magazine.
