By ROBERT ZULLO <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/03/as-another-winter-storm-strains-the-electric-grid-its-time-to-fix-transmission-experts-say/">States Newsroom</a>

The deadly winter storm, christened 
Elliott by the Weather Channel, that tore through much of the United 
States over the Christmas weekend placed a huge strain on the American 
electric grid, pushing it past the breaking point in some places.

Frigid temperatures, in some places <a target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/12/24/winter-storm-elliott-heres-which-cities-set-record-low-temperatures-so-far/?sh=4ac325fb33b0">setting records</a>,
 drove a surge in electric demand while also causing big problems for 
gas, coal and other power plants that took electric generation offline 
just when it was needed most. That forced some Southeastern utilities to
 cut power to thousands of people on a rotating basis, and led grid 
operators to <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/pjminterconnect/status/1606761678426832898?s=20&amp;t=2Wzc6NDbC9K13aikdQt8gg">urge customers</a> to conserve power.&nbsp;

“Supply and demand for electricity 
have to exactly balance in real time,” said Michael Goggin, a longtime 
electric industry analyst and vice president at Grid Strategies, a 
consulting firm focused on clean energy integration. “If not, in a 
matter of seconds the grid can collapse.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation 
announced Wednesday that they will open a<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nerc.com/news/Pages/FERC,-NERC-to-Open-Joint-Inquiry-into-Winter-Storm-Elliott.aspx"> joint investigation</a> into the power system’s performance.

“There will be multiple lessons 
learned from last week’s polar vortex that will inform future winter 
preparations,” said Jim Robb, president and CEO of NERC, the nonprofit 
regulator that sets and enforces reliability standards for the bulk 
power system in the U.S.&nbsp;

“This storm underscores the 
increasing frequency of significant extreme weather events (the fifth 
major winter event in the last 11 years) and underscores the need for 
the electric sector to change its planning scenarios and preparations 
for extreme events.”

But for some experts, a major lesson 
from the storm is already plain, and it’s the same as learned in past 
severe winter weather: The U.S. grid needs to be better connected to 
enable power to be moved easily to where it’s needed in moments of 
crisis.

“Although this was a massive event 
that ultimately affected huge parts of the country, there were 
geographic elements to it,” said Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity
 Law Initiative at Harvard Law School. “The attention belongs on the 
transmission system.”

John Moore, a meteorologist with the 
National Weather Service, said the storm was unusual in several aspects,
 including the rapid drop in temperatures triggered by a blast of arctic
 air pushing down from Canada far into the American South, the rapid 
strengthening called “<a target="_blank" href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bombogenesis.html">bombogenesis</a>,” and the heft of the pressure behind the system, which he said set a record in Edmonton, Canada.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“It’s a very broad system and it’s a 
lot of impacts associated with it. … The cold air with this one was a 
little bit stronger than we usually see this time of year,” Moore said, 
noting that the storm caused temperatures to drop 37 degrees in one hour
 at Denver International Airport, for example, and set temperature 
records in Wyoming and Montana, according to preliminary data.&nbsp;&nbsp;

As it moved east, it caused a deadly blizzard in the Buffalo area that claimed at least <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/weather-buffalo-natural-disasters-new-york-city-storms-6cb9f31599be5f698a927fa971fcf019">40 lives</a> and wreaked havoc on the electric grid.&nbsp;

“There were likely other records set across the South and East Coast,” Moore said.

Though <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/millions-without-power-as-winter-storm-batters-u-s-with-blizzards-freezing-rain">hundreds of thousands</a>
 of homes and businesses were left without power because of normal storm
 calamities such as downed power lines, many other customers in the 
Carolinas and the Tennessee Valley Authority service territory, which 
includes most of Tennessee and parts of Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, 
Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina, saw outages because of the strain 
struggling power plants and surging demand placed on the grid.

“What we saw was concerning,” said Goggin, who was monitoring data from many of the major <a target="_blank" href="https://arkansasadvocate.com/2022/09/26/amid-a-massive-american-clean-energy-shift-grid-operators-play-catch-up/">regional transmission organizations</a>
 hit by the storm. “You saw very high unplanned or forced outages of 
power plants of many types but primarily fossil.” The extreme cold shut 
down many <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-24/storm-elliott-latest-us-natural-gas-output-plunges">natural gas production wells</a>, he said, which limited pipeline supplies that feed power plants.&nbsp;

“We’ve seen a number of events like 
this where the extreme cold disrupts the gas system which then cascades 
to the power system,” he said.&nbsp;

On Dec. 23, with demand climbing past
 33,000 megawatts (its normal December demand is around 24,000) the TVA 
for the first time in its 90-year history instituted load shedding — 
temporary, controlled outages — and urged customers to conserve 
electricity. The service interruptions ended on Dec. 24, with the TVA 
saying it had supplied more power over the previous 24 hours than ever 
before to meet an all-time peak winter demand. POWER magazine <a target="_blank" href="https://www.powermag.com/arctic-blast-roiling-reliability-in-tva-miso-spp-pjm/">also quoted</a>
 a TVA spokesperson saying that a “limited number” of power plants in 
TVA’s territory “did not operate as expected during this event resulting
 in a loss of generation.”

“We at TVA take full responsibility for the impact we had on our customers,” the authority said in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tva.com/newsroom/press-releases/tva-accepts-responsibility-starts-full-review">Dec. 28 statement</a>.
 “We are conducting a thorough review of what occurred and why. We are 
committed to sharing these lessons learned and — more importantly — the 
corrective actions we take in the weeks ahead to ensure we are prepared 
to manage significant events in the future.”

In an email to States Newsroom 
Thursday, a TVA spokesperson could not say how many customers were 
affected nor provide any information on why power plants weren’t able to
 perform, citing the ongoing review. In the Memphis area, where Memphis 
Light, Gas and Water is the TVA’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.localmemphis.com/article/news/local/mlgw-tva-utility-light-gas-water-memphis-midsouth/522-8dc09855-2efc-475d-bb39-ddabfebf76e7">largest customer</a>, more than 30,000 customers were affected, WMC-TV, a local station, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.actionnews5.com/2022/12/24/rolling-blackouts-reinstituted-thousands-mlgw-customers-without-power/">reported</a>. The Chattanooga Free Press <a target="_blank" href="https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2022/dec/24/power-outages-tfp/">reported on Christmas Eve</a> that the TVA had lost about 6,000 megawatts of generation the day before at coal and gas plants.

“Until the review is completed over 
the next few weeks, any discussion on individual plants would be 
inappropriate because it would just be speculation on our part,” TVA 
spokesman Scott Fiedler told States Newsroom. “As the wholesale power 
provider, we instruct our 153 local power companies to reduce load. They
 implement the process to limit the impact to their customers. We expect
 customers were affected by 15-30 minutes in a rolling fashion as LPCs 
implemented curtailments.”

Duke Energy, one of the nation’s 
largest utility companies, was forced to cut power to about 500,000 of 
its customers in North Carolina and South Carolina on Dec. 24, with the 
last of them having power restored by about 6 p.m., spokesman Jeff 
Brooks said.&nbsp;

“The combination of temperatures that
 were lower than forecast, customer usage that was higher than 
projected, some reduction in generating capacity on our system and 
limited options for additional capacity from outside of our service area
 due to extreme cold weather that impacted the eastern half of the 
United States created conditions that resulted in the need to conduct 
temporary outages,” Brooks said.&nbsp;

“We made this difficult decision to 
protect the electric grid and reliability on our system, and to avoid a 
potential longer or broader outage to customers.”

Another Duke Energy spokesman <a target="_blank" href="https://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2022/12/09/reliability-watchdog-warns-of-potential-electric-shortfalls-this-winter/#sthash.BtyAWOBF.dpbs">told States Newsroom</a>
 in November, in response to a report by NERC that its service territory
 might be vulnerable to electric outages in the event of extreme winter 
weather, that the company was “ready to meet the energy needs of our 
customers every day, regardless of weather.”&nbsp;

Brooks said the company is still 
examining generation performance during the storm and assembling 
information for regulators and couldn’t provide more details on what 
type of power plants failed to perform.&nbsp;

Duke Energy officials <a target="_blank" href="https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article270559742.html">are scheduled to brief</a> the N.C. Utilities Commission staff on the outages on Tuesday.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“It was a combination of generation 
on our system that was either reduced or unavailable that evening, 
coupled with the inability to import additional electricity from out of 
state (which is something we can typically do to add to our native 
generation) that resulted in the need to initiate temporary outages,” 
Brooks said, noting that solar wasn’t a factor because it was dark when 
the outages were initiated. As of 2021, wind, solar and hydroelectric 
power <a target="_blank" href="https://news.duke-energy.com/releases/clean-generation-remains-duke-energys-focus-as-it-plans-to-triple-renewable-energy-this-decade">made up</a> just 7% of Duke’s company-owned output.

“We did believe that we had adequate 
generation going into Friday evening to meet the forecasted demand for 
electricity,” Brooks said. “That demand ultimately came in higher than 
we forecast.”

Faced with plunging temperatures, 
surging power demand and some power plants struggling to perform, PJM, 
the nation’s largest grid operator, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pjm.com/-/media/about-pjm/newsroom/2022-releases/20221223-news-release-w1-statement-call-for-conservation.ashx">issued a call </a>for customers to conserve energy a day before Christmas Eve. The call came as a surprise for electric industry experts.

In a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nerc.com/pa/RAPA/ra/Reliability%20Assessments%20DL/NERC_WRA_2022.pdf">winter reliability assessment</a>,
 NERC said that PJM — which coordinates the movement of electricity for 
65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, 
Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, 
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of 
Columbia — “expects no resource problems over the entire 2022-23 winter 
peak season because installed capacity is almost three times the reserve
 requirement.”

But a big portion of that excess 
electric generation capacity was struggling to produce power, said 
Michael Bryson, PJM’s senior vice president of system operations.

The Midcontinent Independent System 
Operator declared a maximum generation event on Dec. 23 “due to 
unplanned generation outages and higher-than-expected electricity 
consumption.”&nbsp;

MISO manages electricity across all 
or part of 15 U.S. states (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, 
Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North 
Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin) and the Canadian province of
 Manitoba, an area that includes 45 million people.

Declaring that event involves 
multiple steps, including directing its members to turn on all available
 emergency power generation, asking electric customers to reduce energy 
usage and purchasing any available emergency energy from neighbors. 
Rolling outages are a last resort, but that never happened.&nbsp;

A MISO spokesman told States Newsroom
 collection of data from the storm is underway and more information 
might be available soon. 

“We saw pretty significant generation
 outage data coming in, failing to start or tripping offline, far 
exceeding our ability to keep up,” Bryson said. In its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pjm.com/-/media/documents/ferc/orders/2022/20221224-pjm-202c-doe-order.ashx">request</a>
 to the Department of Energy for a temporary waiver of environmental 
rules for generation units, PJM said its peak load, or electric demand, 
exceeded 135,000 megawatts on Dec. 23 while about 45,000 megawatts of 
generation were out or underperforming. (<a target="_blank" href="http://learn.pjm.com/-/media/about-pjm/newsroom/fact-sheets/power-in-balance-fact-sheet.ashx#:~:text=PJM%20controls%20the%20operation%20of,in%20usage%20from%20demand%20resources.">PJM lists </a>about 185,000 megawatts of total generation capacity)

Bryson said in an interview that the 
performance problems affected coal, gas and nuclear plants. Wind, which 
makes up the majority of renewable energy in PJM’s generation mix 
(though it is <a target="_blank" href="https://pjm.com/">dwarfed</a>
 by coal, gas and nuclear) performed well during the storm, Bryson said.
 He had not had the chance to review how solar energy fared during the 
event.&nbsp;

“We’ll be working through those 
issues unit by unit over the next week,” he said, adding that power 
plants that failed to meet their performance criteria risk financial 
penalties.&nbsp;

In addition to participating in the 
NERC-FERC inquiry, “we’re going to kick off a pretty comprehensive 
lessons-learned session ourselves,” Bryson said, including examining the
 organization’s own extreme cold electric load forecasting. He said 
PJM’s forecast was low by about 7 to 10% on Dec. 23.

Creating a grid ‘bigger than the weather’

Peskoe, the director of the 
electricity law initiative at Harvard, and Goggin, the energy consulting
 firm executive, both said too often in the aftermath of major storms 
that stress the power grid, one form of generation or another comes 
under fire.&nbsp;

“Extreme weather like this does 
affect all generation sources,” Goggin said, though he said it appeared 
that renewables, which don’t need coal piles that can freeze or 
pipelines that can be curtailed by cold, largely fared well during the 
storm.

But the real task for the people in 
charge of the nation’s electric grid is to grow a transmission system 
that’s “bigger than the weather,” as Goggin put it.

“When you do that, it allows you to 
bring in power from areas that are less affected,” he said. “Having a 
large grid that allows you to move power around as events like this 
unfold provides a lot of value.”&nbsp;

Goggin said he monitored data from 
the regional transmission organizations affected by the storm, including
 the Southwest Power Pool and MISO (Midcontinent Independent System 
Operator), neither of which had to resort to rolling outages, and 
noticed that wind electric prices in those markets plunged to very low 
or even negative levels. That means there wasn’t enough transmission 
capacity to get the large amount of electricity the turbines were 
producing to where it was needed.

“That power would have been extremely
 valuable in locations farther east but it couldn’t get out of the 
wind-producing areas,” he said.&nbsp;

Simon Mahan, executive director of 
the Southern Renewable Energy Association, a trade group for large 
renewable energy and energy storage companies, said the storm showed how
 critical interconnection between regions is for reliability and that 
other parts of the southern electric grid are vulnerable to severe 
winter weather like the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/news/final-report-february-2021-freeze-underscores-winterization-recommendations">catastrophic grid collapse</a> Texas saw in 2021

“Being connected with our neighbors 
is exceptionally important,” he said. “If we weren’t connected with MISO
 and PJM, things would have been a disaster. … Winter Storm Elliott is 
kind of that storm that showed that the rest of the Southeast is 
vulnerable like Texas was.”

Mahan noted that the storm raised 
transparency issues as well, with real-time data on generation and load 
coming in from areas controlled by regional transmission organizations 
like PJM and MISO but not so much from areas controlled by the TVA or 
monopoly utilities like those owned by Duke in the Carolinas and 
Southern Company in Alabama and Georgia.

“It’s very easy to see where there 
are problems. But in the Southeast, because there’s so little 
transparency, it’s hard to see,” he said.&nbsp;

The storm came as FERC is weighing a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/news/ferc-issues-transmission-nopr-addressing-planning-cost-allocation">major proposed rule</a>
 on streamlining regional electric transmission planning and cost 
allocation as well as taking into account broader benefits. And it comes
 less than a month after a <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.ferc.gov/media/day-1-establishing-interregional-transfer-capability-transmission-planning-cost-allocation">FERC-led meeting</a>
 on potentially requiring a minimum amount of interregional electric 
transfer capability — electricity that can be moved between regional 
transmission systems —&nbsp; for public utility transmission providers. 
Supporters described it as an “insurance policy” in the event of grid 
crises like extreme weather.&nbsp;

“One thing that I hope is explored as
 people try to dissect what happened is what would the value have been 
of interregional transfer capability during this event,” Peskoe said.

FERC Commissioner Willie Phillips at 
the meeting said better transfer capability can improve reliability and 
resilience, lower costs for customers by allowing them to access cheaper
 electricity and accommodate more renewable power.&nbsp;

“Given the likelihood of future 
extreme weather events and related generation shortfalls, many 
stakeholders have been asking us to do something,” Philips said. “Both 
Winter Storm Uri and the 2014 polar vortex, these events have shown that
 greater interregional transfer capability has a significant reliability
 benefit.”&nbsp;

Not everyone was a fan of the idea 
though. Tricia Pridemore, chair of the Georgia Public Service 
Commission, which regulates utilities, said states like Georgia that are
 not part of regional transmission organizations, don’t need a new 
transfer requirement, citing the state’s utility planning process and 
cooperation with other southeastern utilities.&nbsp;

“Our bottom-up approach maintains 
reliability and does not put upward pressure on rates by constructing 
unnecessary or duplicative transmission assets,” she said. “Georgia is 
better for maintaining a safe, reliable affordable system all while not 
being told to do so from a top-down governance structure.”&nbsp;

According to the federal Energy Information Administration, Georgia is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.eia.gov/state/rankings/?sid=GA#series/31">one of the more</a> expensive states in the South in terms of average residential retail electric price and Pridemore’s commission just approved a <a target="_blank" href="https://georgiarecorder.com/2022/12/20/georgia-power-customers-will-foot-1-8b-rate-hike-tab-after-state-regulators-ok-three-year-plan/">big rate hike</a> for the state’s dominant utility, Georgia Power.&nbsp;

“The reality is during the storm and 
this past week after the storm, Southern Company and Georgia have really
 relied on imports from MISO and a significant amount of power from 
Canada that has been brought into MISO,” Mahan said. “It’s pretty 
incredible how Canada is helping keep the power on in places like 
Atlanta.” 

Experts: As storms strain electric grid, it’s time to fix transmission

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kevin-mccarthy">Kevin McCarthy</a>&nbsp;was elected House speaker on a historic post-midnight 15th ballot early Saturday, overcoming holdouts from his own ranks and floor tensions that boiled over after a chaotic week that tested the new GOP majority’s ability to govern.

“My father always told me, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” McCarthy told cheering fellow Republicans.

Eager to confront President Joe Biden and the Democrats, he promised subpoenas and investigations. “Now the hard work begins," the California Republican declared. He credited former President Donald Trump for standing with him and for making late calls “helping get those final votes.”

Republicans roared in celebration when his victory was announced, chanting “USA! USA!”

Finally elected, McCarthy took the oath of office, and the House was finally able to swear in newly elected lawmakers who had been waiting all week for the chamber to formally open and the 2023-24 session to begin.

After four days of grueling ballots, McCarthy flipped more than a dozen conservative holdouts to become supporters, including the chairman of the chamber’s Freedom Caucus.

He fell one vote short on the 14th ballot, and the chamber became raucous, unruly.

McCarthy strode to the back of the chamber to confront Republican Matt Gaetz, sitting with Lauren Boebert and other holdouts. Fingers were pointed, words exchanged and violence apparently just averted.

At one point, Republican Mike Rogers of Alabama, shouting, approached Gaetz before another Republican, Richard Hudson, physically pulled him back.

Order restored, the Republicans fell in line to give McCarthy the post he had fought so hard to gain, House speaker, second in the line of succession to the presidency.

The few remaining Republican holdouts began voting present, dropping the tally he needed. It was the end of a bitter standoff that had shown the strengths and fragility of American democracy.

The tally was 216-212 with Democrats voting for leader Hakeem Jeffries, and six Republican holdouts to McCarthy simply voting present.

The night's stunning turn of events came after McCarthy agreed to many of the detractors’ demands — including the reinstatement of a longstanding House rule that would allow any single member to call a vote to oust him from office.

Even as McCarthy secured the votes he needs, he will emerge as a weakened speaker, having given away some powers and constantly under the threat of being booted by his detractors.

But he could also be emboldened as a survivor of one of the more brutal fights for the gavel in U.S. history. Not since the Civil War era has a speaker's vote dragged through so many rounds of voting.

The showdown that has stymied the new Congress came against the backdrop of the second anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which shook the country when a mob of Trump’s supporters tried to stop Congress from certifying the Republican’s 2020 election defeat to Biden.

At a Capitol event Friday, some lawmakers, all but one of them Democrats, observed a moment of silence and praised officers who helped protect Congress on that day. And at the White House, Biden handed out medals to officers and others who fought the attackers.

“America is a land of laws, not chaos,” he said.

At the afternoon speaker's vote, a number of Republicans tiring of the spectacle temporarily walked out when one of McCarthy's most ardent challengers, Gaetz, railed against the GOP leader.

Contours of a deal with conservative holdouts who had been blocking McCarthy's rise had emerged the night before, and took hold after four dismal days and 14 failed votes in an intraparty standoff&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-house-of-representatives-kentucky-kevin-mccarthy-e177c4405ef9b8a7b38641a15855764c">unseen in modern times</a>.

One significant former holdout — Republican Scott Perry, chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, who had been a leader of Trump's efforts to challenge the 2020 election — tweeted after his switched vote for McCarthy, “We're at a turning point.”

Another Republican holdout, Byron Donalds of Florida, who was repeatedly nominated as an alternative candidate for speaker, switched Friday too, voting for McCarthy.

Trump may have played a role in swaying some holdouts — calling into a meeting of Republican freshmen the night before, and calling other members ahead of voting. He had urged Republicans to wrap up their public dispute.

As Republican Mike Garcia nominated McCarthy on Friday, he also thanked the U.S. Capitol Police who were given a standing ovation for protecting lawmakers and the legislative seat of democracy on Jan. 6.

But in nominating the Democratic leader Jeffries, Democrat Jim Clyburn recalled the horror of that day and told his colleagues, “The eyes of the country are on us today.”

Electing a speaker is normally an easy, joyous task for a party that has just won majority control. But not this time: About 200 Republicans were stymied by 20 far-right colleagues who said McCarthy was not conservative enough.

The House adjourned Friday until late in the night, giving time for last-minute negotiations and allowing two absent Republican colleagues to return to Washington.

Newly elected Wesley Hunt of Texas arrived to vote for McCarthy — to applause, days after his wife had given birth — as did Ken Buck of Colorado.

The disorganized start to the new Congress pointed to difficulties ahead with Republicans now in control of the House, much the way that some past Republican speakers, including John Boehner, had trouble leading a rebellious right flank. The result: government shutdowns, standoffs and Boehner’s early retirement when conservatives threatened to oust him.

The agreement McCarthy presented to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-mccarthy-hard-right-foes-5edc1d9468e606a3f1230e98702d9a23">the holdouts</a>&nbsp;from the Freedom Caucus and others centers around rules changes they have been seeking for months. Those changes would shrink the power of the speaker’s office and give rank-and-file lawmakers more influence in drafting and passing legislation.

At the core of the emerging deal was the reinstatement of a House rule that would allow a single lawmaker to make a motion to “vacate the chair,” essentially calling a vote to oust the speaker. McCarthy had resisted allowing a return to the longstanding rule that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi had done away with, because it had been held over the head of Boehner. But it appears McCarthy had no other choice.

Other wins for the holdouts are more obscure and include provisions in the proposed deal to expand the number of seats available on the House Rules Committee; to mandate 72 hours for bills to be posted before votes; and to promise to try for a constitutional amendment that would impose federal limits on the number of terms a person could serve in the House and Senate.

Before Friday's ballots, Democratic leader Jeffries of New York had won the most votes on every ballot but also remained short of a majority. McCarthy had run second, gaining no ground.

The longest fight for the gavel started in late 1855 and dragged on for two months, with 133 ballots, during debates over slavery in the run-up to the Civil War.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673095339769.png" alt="After four days of grueling ballots, McCarthy flipped more than a dozen conservative holdouts to become supporters, including the chairman of the chamber’s Freedom Caucus-image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>After four days of grueling ballots, McCarthy flipped more than a dozen conservative holdouts to become supporters, including the chairman of the chamber’s Freedom Caucus-image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kevin-mccarthy">Kevin McCarthy</a>&nbsp;was elected House speaker on a historic post-midnight 15th ballot early Saturday, overcoming holdouts from his own ranks and floor tensions that boiled over after a chaotic week that tested the new GOP majority’s ability to govern.“My father always told me, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” McCarthy told cheering fellow Republicans.Eager to confront President Joe Biden and the Democrats, he promised subpoenas and investigations. “Now the hard work begins," the California Republican declared. He credited former President Donald Trump for standing with him and for making late calls “helping get those final votes.”Republicans roared in celebration when his victory was announced, chanting “USA! USA!”Finally elected, McCarthy took the oath of office, and the House was finally able to swear in newly elected lawmakers who had been waiting all week for the chamber to formally open and the 2023-24 session to begin.After four days of grueling ballots, McCarthy flipped more than a dozen conservative holdouts to become supporters, including the chairman of the chamber’s Freedom Caucus.He fell one vote short on the 14th ballot, and the chamber became raucous, unruly.McCarthy strode to the back of the chamber to confront Republican Matt Gaetz, sitting with Lauren Boebert and other holdouts. Fingers were pointed, words exchanged and violence apparently just averted.At one point, Republican Mike Rogers of Alabama, shouting, approached Gaetz before another Republican, Richard Hudson, physically pulled him back.“Stay civil!” someone shouted.Order restored, the Republicans fell in line to give McCarthy the post he had fought so hard to gain, House speaker, second in the line of succession to the presidency.The few remaining Republican holdouts began voting present, dropping the tally he needed. It was the end of a bitter standoff that had shown the strengths and fragility of American democracy.The tally was 216-212 with Democrats voting for leader Hakeem Jeffries, and six Republican holdouts to McCarthy simply voting present.The night's stunning turn of events came after McCarthy agreed to many of the detractors’ demands — including the reinstatement of a longstanding House rule that would allow any single member to call a vote to oust him from office.Even as McCarthy secured the votes he needs, he will emerge as a weakened speaker, having given away some powers and constantly under the threat of being booted by his detractors.But he could also be emboldened as a survivor of one of the more brutal fights for the gavel in U.S. history. Not since the Civil War era has a speaker's vote dragged through so many rounds of voting.The showdown that has stymied the new Congress came against the backdrop of the second anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which shook the country when a mob of Trump’s supporters tried to stop Congress from certifying the Republican’s 2020 election defeat to Biden.At a Capitol event Friday, some lawmakers, all but one of them Democrats, observed a moment of silence and praised officers who helped protect Congress on that day. And at the White House, Biden handed out medals to officers and others who fought the attackers.“America is a land of laws, not chaos,” he said.At the afternoon speaker's vote, a number of Republicans tiring of the spectacle temporarily walked out when one of McCarthy's most ardent challengers, Gaetz, railed against the GOP leader.Contours of a deal with conservative holdouts who had been blocking McCarthy's rise had emerged the night before, and took hold after four dismal days and 14 failed votes in an intraparty standoff&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-house-of-representatives-kentucky-kevin-mccarthy-e177c4405ef9b8a7b38641a15855764c">unseen in modern times</a>.One significant former holdout — Republican Scott Perry, chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus, who had been a leader of Trump's efforts to challenge the 2020 election — tweeted after his switched vote for McCarthy, “We're at a turning point.”Another Republican holdout, Byron Donalds of Florida, who was repeatedly nominated as an alternative candidate for speaker, switched Friday too, voting for McCarthy.Trump may have played a role in swaying some holdouts — calling into a meeting of Republican freshmen the night before, and calling other members ahead of voting. He had urged Republicans to wrap up their public dispute.As Republican Mike Garcia nominated McCarthy on Friday, he also thanked the U.S. Capitol Police who were given a standing ovation for protecting lawmakers and the legislative seat of democracy on Jan. 6.But in nominating the Democratic leader Jeffries, Democrat Jim Clyburn recalled the horror of that day and told his colleagues, “The eyes of the country are on us today.”Electing a speaker is normally an easy, joyous task for a party that has just won majority control. But not this time: About 200 Republicans were stymied by 20 far-right colleagues who said McCarthy was not conservative enough.The House adjourned Friday until late in the night, giving time for last-minute negotiations and allowing two absent Republican colleagues to return to Washington.Newly elected Wesley Hunt of Texas arrived to vote for McCarthy — to applause, days after his wife had given birth — as did Ken Buck of Colorado.The disorganized start to the new Congress pointed to difficulties ahead with Republicans now in control of the House, much the way that some past Republican speakers, including John Boehner, had trouble leading a rebellious right flank. The result: government shutdowns, standoffs and Boehner’s early retirement when conservatives threatened to oust him.The agreement McCarthy presented to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-mccarthy-hard-right-foes-5edc1d9468e606a3f1230e98702d9a23">the holdouts</a>&nbsp;from the Freedom Caucus and others centers around rules changes they have been seeking for months. Those changes would shrink the power of the speaker’s office and give rank-and-file lawmakers more influence in drafting and passing legislation.At the core of the emerging deal was the reinstatement of a House rule that would allow a single lawmaker to make a motion to “vacate the chair,” essentially calling a vote to oust the speaker. McCarthy had resisted allowing a return to the longstanding rule that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi had done away with, because it had been held over the head of Boehner. But it appears McCarthy had no other choice.Other wins for the holdouts are more obscure and include provisions in the proposed deal to expand the number of seats available on the House Rules Committee; to mandate 72 hours for bills to be posted before votes; and to promise to try for a constitutional amendment that would impose federal limits on the number of terms a person could serve in the House and Senate.Before Friday's ballots, Democratic leader Jeffries of New York had won the most votes on every ballot but also remained short of a majority. McCarthy had run second, gaining no ground.The longest fight for the gavel started in late 1855 and dragged on for two months, with 133 ballots, during debates over slavery in the run-up to the Civil War.

McCarthy elected House speaker in rowdy post-midnight vote

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will send Ukraine nearly $3 billion in military aid, in a massive new package that will for the first time include&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-russia-ukraine-war-military-technology-united-states-government-82159048384ffdf2355736d0a0513544">several dozen Bradley fighting vehicles,</a>&nbsp;U.S. officials said Thursday, in the Biden administration's latest step to send&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-80ae774f3b7cbb3e1b88d1b728961079">increasingly lethal and powerful weapons</a>&nbsp;to help&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">Ukraine beat back Russian forces.</a>

The aid — totaling about $2.85 billion — is the largest in a series of packages of military equipment that the Pentagon has pulled from its stockpiles to send to Ukraine. It is aimed at getting as much to the Ukrainian forces as possible during the winter months, before spring sets in and an expected increase in fighting begins.

An announcement is expected Friday, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the package have not been publicly announced.

President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/01/05/joint-press-statement-following-a-call-between-the-president-joe-biden-and-the-chancellor-of-the-federal-republic-of-germany-olaf-scholz/">joint statement </a>Thursday that the U.S. would provide Bradleys to Ukraine while Germany would provide Marder armored personnel carriers. The statement did not reveal the number of vehicles the countries intended to supply.

The Bradley fighting vehicles are medium-armored combat vehicles that can serve as a fortified troop carrier on the battlefield. It has tracks rather than wheels, but is lighter and more agile than a tank. It can carry about 10 personnel, and is seen as a critical way to move troops safely into battle.

Also included in the aid package will be HUMVEES, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, and a large amount of missiles and other ammunition, according to U.S. officials.

The aid comes on the heels of Ukrainian&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-biden-68c65b3274e552f36f16853f24fedbb9">President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's dramatic visit</a>&nbsp;to Washington last month, when he slipped secretly out of his war-torn nation for the first time to thank America and predict that 2023 would be a “turning point” in the conflict. In urging more support for his country's war effort, he told Congress, “Your money is not charity,” and instead is ”an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have pressed Western leaders to provide more advanced weapons, including armored vehicles and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-patriot-missile-system-explainer-b16125509161de8a7a3b4c38022534c7">Patriot missile batteries.</a>&nbsp;The $1.85 billion aid package last month included for the first time a Patriot battery, the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to Ukraine in the war effort. It also provided an undisclosed number of Joint Direct Attack Munitions kits, to modify massive bombs by adding tail fins and precision navigation systems so they can be guided to a target.

The German government in a statement Thursday announced it would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-olaf-scholz-germany-84fc07af2356d8d02adec2e987d06c0a">also provide Ukraine with a Patriot missile battery.</a>

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will send Ukraine nearly $3 billion in military aid, in a massive new package that will for the first time include&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-russia-ukraine-war-military-technology-united-states-government-82159048384ffdf2355736d0a0513544">several dozen Bradley fighting vehicles,</a>&nbsp;U.S. officials said Thursday, in the Biden administration's latest step to send&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-80ae774f3b7cbb3e1b88d1b728961079">increasingly lethal and powerful weapons</a>&nbsp;to help&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine">Ukraine beat back Russian forces.</a>The aid — totaling about $2.85 billion — is the largest in a series of packages of military equipment that the Pentagon has pulled from its stockpiles to send to Ukraine. It is aimed at getting as much to the Ukrainian forces as possible during the winter months, before spring sets in and an expected increase in fighting begins.An announcement is expected Friday, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the package have not been publicly announced.President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/01/05/joint-press-statement-following-a-call-between-the-president-joe-biden-and-the-chancellor-of-the-federal-republic-of-germany-olaf-scholz/">joint statement </a>Thursday that the U.S. would provide Bradleys to Ukraine while Germany would provide Marder armored personnel carriers. The statement did not reveal the number of vehicles the countries intended to supply.The Bradley fighting vehicles are medium-armored combat vehicles that can serve as a fortified troop carrier on the battlefield. It has tracks rather than wheels, but is lighter and more agile than a tank. It can carry about 10 personnel, and is seen as a critical way to move troops safely into battle.Also included in the aid package will be HUMVEES, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, and a large amount of missiles and other ammunition, according to U.S. officials.The aid comes on the heels of Ukrainian&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/zelenskyy-biden-68c65b3274e552f36f16853f24fedbb9">President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's dramatic visit</a>&nbsp;to Washington last month, when he slipped secretly out of his war-torn nation for the first time to thank America and predict that 2023 would be a “turning point” in the conflict. In urging more support for his country's war effort, he told Congress, “Your money is not charity,” and instead is ”an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have pressed Western leaders to provide more advanced weapons, including armored vehicles and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-patriot-missile-system-explainer-b16125509161de8a7a3b4c38022534c7">Patriot missile batteries.</a>&nbsp;The $1.85 billion aid package last month included for the first time a Patriot battery, the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to Ukraine in the war effort. It also provided an undisclosed number of Joint Direct Attack Munitions kits, to modify massive bombs by adding tail fins and precision navigation systems so they can be guided to a target.The German government in a statement Thursday announced it would&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-olaf-scholz-germany-84fc07af2356d8d02adec2e987d06c0a">also provide Ukraine with a Patriot missile battery.</a>

US sending Ukraine nearly $3 billion in new military aid package

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden conferred high honors Friday on those who stood against the Jan. 6 Capitol mob two years ago and the menacing effort in state after state to upend the election, declaring “America is a land of laws, not chaos,” even as disarray rendered Congress dysfunctional for a fourth straight day.

(Click below to watch the honor ceremony)

Democrats at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue commemorated the police officers attacked that day and the local election workers and state officials who faced fierce intimidation from supporters of former President Donald Trump, who fought to keep him in office after his defeat.

“Our democracy held,” Biden said in awarding Presidential Citizens Medals to about a dozen recipients from across the country in the White House East Room. "We the people did not flinch."

Yet democracy's vulnerability was equally on display at the Capitol as Republicans struggled to break their stalemate over the next House speaker, leaving that chamber in limbo for what should have been the first week under a GOP majority.

A resolution to the immediate crisis may be near as GOP leadership continued negotiations to appease its hard-right flank. Rep. Kevin McCarthy flipped more than a dozen colleagues to support him in his quest to lead the chamber, finally showing progress but still short of a majority.

Hours earlier, lawmakers held a moment of silence to commemorate the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the building that drew mostly Democrats, with brief remarks from Democratic leaders past and incoming — Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries — and none from the GOP.

The event was focused on the Capitol Police officers who protected the building that day and families of law enforcement officers who died after the riot. Jeffries said 140 officers were seriously injured and “many more will forever be scarred by the bloodthirsty violence of the insurrectionist mob. We stand here today with our democracy intact because of those officers.”

At the White House ceremony, Biden described the violence in evocative and at times graphic detail — the officer speared by a flagpole flying the American flag, the beatings, the bloodshed and racist screams from rioters who professed to be pro-law enforcement as they overran police and hunted for lawmakers.

“Sick insurrectionists,” he said. “We must say clearly with a united voice that there is no place ... for voter intimidation or election violence."

Although the horrors of that day came down on members of both parties, it is being remembered in a largely polarized fashion now, like other aspects of political life in a divided country.

Biden, in his afternoon remarks, played up the heroism of the honorees, whether in the face of the violent Capitol mob or the horde of Trump-inspired agitators who threatened election workers or otherwise sought to overturn the results.

But he couldn't ignore warning signs that it could happen again.

In the midterms, candidates who denied the outcome of 2020’s free and fair election were defeated for many pivotal statewide positions overseeing elections in battleground states, as were a number of election deniers seeking seats in Congress.

Yet many of the lawmakers who brought baseless claims of election fraud or excused the violence on Jan. 6 continue to serve and are newly empowered.

Trump’s 2024 candidacy has been slow off the starting blocks, but his war chest is full and some would-be rivals for the Republican presidential nomination have channeled his false claims about the 2020 race.

As well, several lawmakers who echoed his lies about a stolen election at the time are central in the effort to derail McCarthy’s ascension to speaker — unswayed by Trump’s appeals from afar to support him and end the fight.

The protracted struggle leaves the House leaderless, unable to pass bills and powerless to do much more than hold vote after vote for speaker until a majority is reached. Everything from national security briefings to helping their constituents navigate the federal bureaucracy is on pause because the members-elect can’t yet take their oath of office.

Some Democrats see a throughline from Jan. 6.

The chaos of the speaker’s election “is about destruction of an institution in a different way,” said Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, one of the lawmakers who fled the rioters two years ago.

Then, the insurrectionists trapped some lawmakers in the House chamber but never breached it. They held up national business for hours that day.

Now some have felt trapped in the same chamber by the repeated, fruitless votes for speaker and House business is held up for this week and perhaps longer.

“The stream of continuity here is extremism, elements of Trumpism, norms don’t matter,” says Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois. “It’s not about governing, it’s about pontificating and advocating an extremist point of view.”

Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire said, “It is a very small minority who want to throw this institution into chaos.”

At least nine people who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, died during or after the rioting, including a woman who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into the House chamber and three other Trump supporters whom authorities said suffered medical emergencies.

Two officers, Howard Liebengood of the Capitol Police and Jeffrey Smith of the Metropolitan Police, were at the Capitol that Jan. 6 and died by suicide in the days following the attack. Biden honored both Friday with posthumous medals.

A third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and died after engaging with the protesters. A medical examiner later determined he died of natural causes.

The Metropolitan Police announced months later that two more of their officers who had responded to the insurrection, Kyle DeFreytag and Gunther Hashida, had also died by suicide.

On Capitol Hill, the mostly Democratic lawmakers held a 140-second moment of silence in honor of those officers as some of their families said their names and a bell was rung in their honor.

“I wish we didn’t have to be here,” said Ken Sicknick, brother of Brian Sicknick, after the ceremony.

After the unsatisfying midterm election for Trump allies, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack wrapped up its work with a recommendation to the Justice Department to prosecute the former president. A special counsel and ultimately Attorney General Merrick Garland will now decide whether to indict him.

While the congressional investigations have ended, the criminal cases are still very much continuing, both for the 950 arrested and charged in the violent attack and for Trump and his associates who remain under investigation. The second seditious conspiracy trial begins this week, for members of the far-right Proud Boys.

In a measured but significant step, Congress in December amended the Electoral Count Act to limit the role of the vice president in counting electoral votes, to make it harder for individual lawmakers to mount objections to properly certified election results and to eliminate “fake electors” like those deployed by Trump allies in a bid to overturn his defeat to Biden.

After all that, Biden, who made it a tentpole of his agenda to prove to the world that democracies can deliver for their citizens, said he hoped that this was “the first time we’re really getting through the whole issue relating to Jan. 6. Things are settling out.”

But then came the fight for speaker, rare in the annals of Congress.

“And now, for the first time in 100 years, we can’t move?” Biden said earlier this week. “It’s not a good look. It’s not a good thing.”

“Look,” he went on, “how do you think it looks to the rest of the world?”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden conferred high honors Friday on those who stood against the Jan. 6 Capitol mob two years ago and the menacing effort in state after state to upend the election, declaring “America is a land of laws, not chaos,” even as disarray rendered Congress dysfunctional for a fourth straight day.(Click below to watch the honor ceremony)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F717552403405632%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=66" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>Democrats at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue commemorated the police officers attacked that day and the local election workers and state officials who faced fierce intimidation from supporters of former President Donald Trump, who fought to keep him in office after his defeat.“Our democracy held,” Biden said in awarding Presidential Citizens Medals to about a dozen recipients from across the country in the White House East Room. "We the people did not flinch."Yet democracy's vulnerability was equally on display at the Capitol as Republicans struggled to break their stalemate over the next House speaker, leaving that chamber in limbo for what should have been the first week under a GOP majority.A resolution to the immediate crisis may be near as GOP leadership continued negotiations to appease its hard-right flank. Rep. Kevin McCarthy flipped more than a dozen colleagues to support him in his quest to lead the chamber, finally showing progress but still short of a majority.Hours earlier, lawmakers held a moment of silence to commemorate the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the building that drew mostly Democrats, with brief remarks from Democratic leaders past and incoming — Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Hakeem Jeffries — and none from the GOP.The event was focused on the Capitol Police officers who protected the building that day and families of law enforcement officers who died after the riot. Jeffries said 140 officers were seriously injured and “many more will forever be scarred by the bloodthirsty violence of the insurrectionist mob. We stand here today with our democracy intact because of those officers.”At the White House ceremony, Biden described the violence in evocative and at times graphic detail — the officer speared by a flagpole flying the American flag, the beatings, the bloodshed and racist screams from rioters who professed to be pro-law enforcement as they overran police and hunted for lawmakers.“Sick insurrectionists,” he said. “We must say clearly with a united voice that there is no place ... for voter intimidation or election violence."Although the horrors of that day came down on members of both parties, it is being remembered in a largely polarized fashion now, like other aspects of political life in a divided country.Biden, in his afternoon remarks, played up the heroism of the honorees, whether in the face of the violent Capitol mob or the horde of Trump-inspired agitators who threatened election workers or otherwise sought to overturn the results.But he couldn't ignore warning signs that it could happen again.In the midterms, candidates who denied the outcome of 2020’s free and fair election were defeated for many pivotal statewide positions overseeing elections in battleground states, as were a number of election deniers seeking seats in Congress.Yet many of the lawmakers who brought baseless claims of election fraud or excused the violence on Jan. 6 continue to serve and are newly empowered.Trump’s 2024 candidacy has been slow off the starting blocks, but his war chest is full and some would-be rivals for the Republican presidential nomination have channeled his false claims about the 2020 race.As well, several lawmakers who echoed his lies about a stolen election at the time are central in the effort to derail McCarthy’s ascension to speaker — unswayed by Trump’s appeals from afar to support him and end the fight.The protracted struggle leaves the House leaderless, unable to pass bills and powerless to do much more than hold vote after vote for speaker until a majority is reached. Everything from national security briefings to helping their constituents navigate the federal bureaucracy is on pause because the members-elect can’t yet take their oath of office.Some Democrats see a throughline from Jan. 6.The chaos of the speaker’s election “is about destruction of an institution in a different way,” said Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, one of the lawmakers who fled the rioters two years ago.Then, the insurrectionists trapped some lawmakers in the House chamber but never breached it. They held up national business for hours that day.Now some have felt trapped in the same chamber by the repeated, fruitless votes for speaker and House business is held up for this week and perhaps longer.“The stream of continuity here is extremism, elements of Trumpism, norms don’t matter,” says Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois. “It’s not about governing, it’s about pontificating and advocating an extremist point of view.”Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire said, “It is a very small minority who want to throw this institution into chaos.”At least nine people who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, died during or after the rioting, including a woman who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into the House chamber and three other Trump supporters whom authorities said suffered medical emergencies.Two officers, Howard Liebengood of the Capitol Police and Jeffrey Smith of the Metropolitan Police, were at the Capitol that Jan. 6 and died by suicide in the days following the attack. Biden honored both Friday with posthumous medals.A third officer, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, collapsed and died after engaging with the protesters. A medical examiner later determined he died of natural causes.The Metropolitan Police announced months later that two more of their officers who had responded to the insurrection, Kyle DeFreytag and Gunther Hashida, had also died by suicide.On Capitol Hill, the mostly Democratic lawmakers held a 140-second moment of silence in honor of those officers as some of their families said their names and a bell was rung in their honor.“I wish we didn’t have to be here,” said Ken Sicknick, brother of Brian Sicknick, after the ceremony.After the unsatisfying midterm election for Trump allies, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack wrapped up its work with a recommendation to the Justice Department to prosecute the former president. A special counsel and ultimately Attorney General Merrick Garland will now decide whether to indict him.While the congressional investigations have ended, the criminal cases are still very much continuing, both for the 950 arrested and charged in the violent attack and for Trump and his associates who remain under investigation. The second seditious conspiracy trial begins this week, for members of the far-right Proud Boys.In a measured but significant step, Congress in December amended the Electoral Count Act to limit the role of the vice president in counting electoral votes, to make it harder for individual lawmakers to mount objections to properly certified election results and to eliminate “fake electors” like those deployed by Trump allies in a bid to overturn his defeat to Biden.After all that, Biden, who made it a tentpole of his agenda to prove to the world that democracies can deliver for their citizens, said he hoped that this was “the first time we’re really getting through the whole issue relating to Jan. 6. Things are settling out.”But then came the fight for speaker, rare in the annals of Congress.“And now, for the first time in 100 years, we can’t move?” Biden said earlier this week. “It’s not a good look. It’s not a good thing.”“Look,” he went on, “how do you think it looks to the rest of the world?”

🎥Jan. 6 remembrance led by Dems; GOP wrestles with its rebels

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/05/backers-of-nebraska-consumption-tax-amend-proposal-launch-petition-drive-for-2024-ballot/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — Backers of a dramatic change in state taxation announced 
changes to their proposal on Thursday as they launched a petition drive 
to place a “consumption” tax plan before Nebraska voters in 2024.

Speakers at a press conference said that a tax on consumption would 
fix the state’s “broken” tax system, reduce cost by eliminating property
 tax-related offices, and make Nebraska a more attractive place to live.

“Our state has operated under a broken tax system since 1967,” said 
State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, a leading proponent, referring to 
when the state first approved state sales and income taxes.

The head of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, said that 
while the organization would look at the new changes in the proposal, a 
consumption tax has been clearly “unacceptable and dangerous” in the 
past.

“This falls into the category of if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Bryon Slone, the chamber’s president.

He said that a tax rate of 12-20% on purchases would 
probably be necessary to duplicate current tax revenues, which would 
force consumers out of state and make Nebraska uncompetitive.

Erdman said recent tax relief steps taken by the State Legislature 
have only slowed the growth in property taxes and that a dramatic change
 is needed.

“We keep putting a Band-Aid on an amputation,” Erdman said.

The consumption tax idea, which has failed to advance in past years, 
would eliminate state income, sales and inheritance taxes, as well as 
the current state aid to K-12 education program, and replace it with a 
tax paid on all retail purchases.

Purchases of farm and business equipment would remain exempt, and 
excise taxes on gas would remain, Erdman said. But, he said, a 
complicated “pre-bate” for low-income families has been dropped from the
 plan and replaced with a tax exemption on groceries.

The senator said that among the issues yet to be worked out are how 
to distribute consumption tax proceeds to local governments and schools 
and what to do about millions of dollars of state business tax 
incentives that have not yet been redeemed.

Slone said “the math” surrounding the revenue generated by a 
consumption tax hasn’t worked out in the past and would leave the state 
short of funds to operate schools and build roads. That, in turn, would 
force a higher tax rate than border states.

The Platte Institute, an Omaha-based think tank, has been pushing to 
expand the state’s sales tax base by eliminating exemptions on several 
items. The organization supports major changes in the state’s tax system
 and state aid formula.

But its chief executive officer, Jim Vokal, said a consumption tax 
“goes too far and has many unanswered questions and negative 
consequences.”

Backers of the consumption tax disputed that, saying that their idea 
has been fully vetted and that a tax rate of 7.5% or less would be 
necessary. Erdman said Nebraskans would prefer to pay a one-time, 7.5% 
consumption tax on a new car, rather than pay the current sales tax rate
 and, for years after, pay yearly motor vehicle taxes.

On Thursday, Erdman introduced Legislative Bill 79. The measure, 
billed as the “Nebraska EPIC Option Consumption Tax Act,” explains the 
“nuts and bolts” of the proposal, the senator said. He also introduced 
two proposed constitutional amendments to eliminate state sales and 
income taxes and replace them with a consumption tax.

Because it’s unlikely the Legislature will advance the proposals, the
 EPIC group (which stands for “eliminate property, income and corporate 
taxes”) launched a petition drive on Thursday to put the issue on the 
2024 ballot.

Paul Van Behren, retired veterinarian from Fremont, said COVID-19 led
 to the failure of an effort to get the consumption tax idea on the 
ballot in 2022.

Van Behren and Erdman were also involved in an unsuccessful initiative petition drive in 2018 for another tax reform idea.

Co-sponsoring this year’s proposal on the consumption tax are State 
Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, Robert Clements of Elmwood, Steve Halloran of
 Hastings, Mike McDonnell of Omaha and Dave Murman of Glenvil.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673034858295.png" alt="Craig Bohls, a Palmyra farmer, was the first signer Thursday on a petition drive to allow Nebraskans to vote on a consumption tax in 2024. State Sen. Steve Erdman, a leading proponent, at left, looks on. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Craig Bohls, a Palmyra farmer, was the first signer Thursday on a petition drive to allow Nebraskans to vote on a consumption tax in 2024. State Sen. Steve Erdman, a leading proponent, at left, looks on. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/05/backers-of-nebraska-consumption-tax-amend-proposal-launch-petition-drive-for-2024-ballot/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — Backers of a dramatic change in state taxation announced 
changes to their proposal on Thursday as they launched a petition drive 
to place a “consumption” tax plan before Nebraska voters in 2024.Speakers at a press conference said that a tax on consumption would 
fix the state’s “broken” tax system, reduce cost by eliminating property
 tax-related offices, and make Nebraska a more attractive place to live.<h2>‘Broken’ since 1967</h2>“Our state has operated under a broken tax system since 1967,” said 
State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, a leading proponent, referring to 
when the state first approved state sales and income taxes.The head of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, said that 
while the organization would look at the new changes in the proposal, a 
consumption tax has been clearly “unacceptable and dangerous” in the 
past.“This falls into the category of if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Bryon Slone, the chamber’s president.<h2>Worries state would be uncompetitive</h2>He said that a tax rate of 12-20% on purchases would 
probably be necessary to duplicate current tax revenues, which would 
force consumers out of state and make Nebraska uncompetitive.Erdman said recent tax relief steps taken by the State Legislature 
have only slowed the growth in property taxes and that a dramatic change
 is needed.“We keep putting a Band-Aid on an amputation,” Erdman said.The consumption tax idea, which has failed to advance in past years, 
would eliminate state income, sales and inheritance taxes, as well as 
the current state aid to K-12 education program, and replace it with a 
tax paid on all retail purchases.Purchases of farm and business equipment would remain exempt, and 
excise taxes on gas would remain, Erdman said. But, he said, a 
complicated “pre-bate” for low-income families has been dropped from the
 plan and replaced with a tax exemption on groceries.<h2>Some things yet to be worked out</h2>The senator said that among the issues yet to be worked out are how 
to distribute consumption tax proceeds to local governments and schools 
and what to do about millions of dollars of state business tax 
incentives that have not yet been redeemed.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673034958365.jpeg" alt="Bryan Slone, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Bryan Slone, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Slone said “the math” surrounding the revenue generated by a 
consumption tax hasn’t worked out in the past and would leave the state 
short of funds to operate schools and build roads. That, in turn, would 
force a higher tax rate than border states.The Platte Institute, an Omaha-based think tank, has been pushing to 
expand the state’s sales tax base by eliminating exemptions on several 
items. The organization supports major changes in the state’s tax system
 and state aid formula.But its chief executive officer, Jim Vokal, said a consumption tax 
“goes too far and has many unanswered questions and negative 
consequences.”<h2>Tax rate of 7.5%</h2>Backers of the consumption tax disputed that, saying that their idea 
has been fully vetted and that a tax rate of 7.5% or less would be 
necessary. Erdman said Nebraskans would prefer to pay a one-time, 7.5% 
consumption tax on a new car, rather than pay the current sales tax rate
 and, for years after, pay yearly motor vehicle taxes.On Thursday, Erdman introduced Legislative Bill 79. The measure, 
billed as the “Nebraska EPIC Option Consumption Tax Act,” explains the 
“nuts and bolts” of the proposal, the senator said. He also introduced 
two proposed constitutional amendments to eliminate state sales and 
income taxes and replace them with a consumption tax.Because it’s unlikely the Legislature will advance the proposals, the
 EPIC group (which stands for “eliminate property, income and corporate 
taxes”) launched a petition drive on Thursday to put the issue on the 
2024 ballot.<h2>COVID foiled petition drive</h2>Paul Van Behren, retired veterinarian from Fremont, said COVID-19 led
 to the failure of an effort to get the consumption tax idea on the 
ballot in 2022.Van Behren and Erdman were also involved in an unsuccessful initiative petition drive in 2018 for another tax reform idea.Co-sponsoring this year’s proposal on the consumption tax are State 
Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, Robert Clements of Elmwood, Steve Halloran of
 Hastings, Mike McDonnell of Omaha and Dave Murman of Glenvil.

Neb. consumption tax backers launch petition drive for '24 ballot

Filibuster stopped bill last year after amendment confusion

By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/05/nebraska-sen-tom-brewer-offers-a-cleaner-permitless-concealed-carry-bill/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN
 — On a day loaded with bill introductions, none packed more heat than 
Nebraska State Sen. Tom Brewer’s simplified new attempt to allow 
concealed carry of a handgun without a permit.

Brewer, of Gordon, said Thursday that
 the more conservative bent of new GOP members in the Legislature, 
including some who replaced political moderates, gives his Legislative 
Bill 77 a better chance.

He expects continued opposition from 
the police unions in Omaha and Lincoln, who expressed concerns last year
 about the bill’s impact on law enforcement and officer safety.

Others opposed Brewer’s previous bill
 because, like this one, it removed the requirement that a person must 
receive state-approved training before carrying a concealed firearm.&nbsp;

That bill fell two votes short last 
year of overcoming a Democratic-led filibuster, even though Brewer tried
 to appease the police unions’ concerns.&nbsp;

This time, Brewer said, he’s offering a simpler, less complicated bill..

“We kept the bill clean,” Brewer 
said. “Amendments last year confused folks. There were some who didn’t 
know where to be and either sat on the fence, didn’t commit or voted 
against it.”

Brewer said he and his staff have 
worked with judges since then to clean up the bill. He continues to 
speak with law enforcement officers across Nebraska about it, but he 
expects a fight with the city unions.

“I don’t think there’s anything we 
can do to get them there,” Brewer said. “But if Missouri can do it and 
Kansas City and St. Louis do fine, what is unique about Lincoln or 
Omaha?”

Sgt. Anthony Conner of the Omaha 
Police Officers Association said the union was still reviewing the new 
bill “through the lenses of public safety and officer safety.”

He said it was premature for the 
union to take an official position for or against this bill until 
leaders have spoken with the “experts in Omaha that fight to curb 
violent gangs.”

At least 25 other states have passed 
similar bills. They, too, eliminated the requirement for a permit and 
training to carry a concealed handgun.&nbsp;

Brewer’s bill would override local 
ordinances restricting how and where people can carry weapons. And it 
would avoid the current criminal background check during the permitting 
process.

Local advocates against gun violence 
say they are ready to confront Brewer’s bill with facts that show higher
 rates of injury and death in states with permitless concealed carry.

Melody Vaccaro of Nebraskans Against 
Gun Violence said she hopes Brewer wants to make the comparisons he and 
other supporters made last year with Missouri, Idaho and Montana.

“They have some of the worst gun 
violence rates in the country,” she said. “It turns out when people have
 guns everywhere they go, lives end, whether through homicide, accident 
or suicide.”

She said state lawmakers need to 
consider the risks of increased gun violence, particularly to vulnerable
 populations already coping with disproportionate levels of gun 
violence.

Gun-rights advocates, including 
Brewer, argued last year that giving more law-abiding people legal 
access to guns would make more criminals think twice about committing 
violent crimes.

The bill would leave in place some 
restrictions on where people can carry concealed firearms, including 
courthouses, sheriff’s offices and schools, with some exceptions for 
security staff.&nbsp;

It would override local ordinances 
restricting how and where people can carry weapons. And it would avoid 
the current criminal background check during the permitting process.

It would also leave in place the 
state’s existing concealed carry permitting structure for people who 
want to seek a permit so they can carry a concealed weapon in a state 
that reciprocates.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673034689578.png" alt="State Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon (Courtesy of Unicameral Information Office)" />
 <figcaption>State Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon (Courtesy of Unicameral Information Office)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Filibuster stopped bill last year after amendment confusion</h2>By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/01/05/nebraska-sen-tom-brewer-offers-a-cleaner-permitless-concealed-carry-bill/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN
 — On a day loaded with bill introductions, none packed more heat than 
Nebraska State Sen. Tom Brewer’s simplified new attempt to allow 
concealed carry of a handgun without a permit.Brewer, of Gordon, said Thursday that
 the more conservative bent of new GOP members in the Legislature, 
including some who replaced political moderates, gives his Legislative 
Bill 77 a better chance.He expects continued opposition from 
the police unions in Omaha and Lincoln, who expressed concerns last year
 about the bill’s impact on law enforcement and officer safety.Others opposed Brewer’s previous bill
 because, like this one, it removed the requirement that a person must 
receive state-approved training before carrying a concealed firearm.&nbsp;That bill fell two votes short last 
year of overcoming a Democratic-led filibuster, even though Brewer tried
 to appease the police unions’ concerns.&nbsp;This time, Brewer said, he’s offering a simpler, less complicated bill..“We kept the bill clean,” Brewer 
said. “Amendments last year confused folks. There were some who didn’t 
know where to be and either sat on the fence, didn’t commit or voted 
against it.”Brewer said he and his staff have 
worked with judges since then to clean up the bill. He continues to 
speak with law enforcement officers across Nebraska about it, but he 
expects a fight with the city unions.“I don’t think there’s anything we 
can do to get them there,” Brewer said. “But if Missouri can do it and 
Kansas City and St. Louis do fine, what is unique about Lincoln or 
Omaha?”Sgt. Anthony Conner of the Omaha 
Police Officers Association said the union was still reviewing the new 
bill “through the lenses of public safety and officer safety.”He said it was premature for the 
union to take an official position for or against this bill until 
leaders have spoken with the “experts in Omaha that fight to curb 
violent gangs.”At least 25 other states have passed 
similar bills. They, too, eliminated the requirement for a permit and 
training to carry a concealed handgun.&nbsp;Brewer’s bill would override local 
ordinances restricting how and where people can carry weapons. And it 
would avoid the current criminal background check during the permitting 
process.Local advocates against gun violence 
say they are ready to confront Brewer’s bill with facts that show higher
 rates of injury and death in states with permitless concealed carry.Melody Vaccaro of Nebraskans Against 
Gun Violence said she hopes Brewer wants to make the comparisons he and 
other supporters made last year with Missouri, Idaho and Montana.“They have some of the worst gun 
violence rates in the country,” she said. “It turns out when people have
 guns everywhere they go, lives end, whether through homicide, accident 
or suicide.”She said state lawmakers need to 
consider the risks of increased gun violence, particularly to vulnerable
 populations already coping with disproportionate levels of gun 
violence.Gun-rights advocates, including 
Brewer, argued last year that giving more law-abiding people legal 
access to guns would make more criminals think twice about committing 
violent crimes.The bill would leave in place some 
restrictions on where people can carry concealed firearms, including 
courthouses, sheriff’s offices and schools, with some exceptions for 
security staff.&nbsp;It would override local ordinances 
restricting how and where people can carry weapons. And it would avoid 
the current criminal background check during the permitting process.It would also leave in place the 
state’s existing concealed carry permitting structure for people who 
want to seek a permit so they can carry a concealed weapon in a state 
that reciprocates.His bill has 25 co-sponsors.&nbsp;

Neb. senator offers a ‘cleaner’ permitless concealed carry bill

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/omaha-man-to-lose-house-pickup-and-400k-as-part-of-federal-drug-sentence/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — An Omaha man arrested 
for placing a fake bomb at the Douglas County Courthouse will forfeit 
his home, his pickup and $400,000 in drug trafficking proceeds as part 
of his sentence.

On Thursday, Thomas J. Trouba, 28, of Omaha, was sentenced to 10 
years in prison in federal court for conspiracy to distribute and 
possess with intent to distribute marijuana, THC products and the drug 
ecstacy.

After Trouba was arrested in September 2020 for placing the fake 
bomb, an investigator saw Trouba and a woman removing large totes and 
bags from his residence and place them in a pickup.

When the pickup was searched later, several hundred thousand dollars 
was found, along with multi-pound quantities of raw marijuana, marijuana
 edibles and various substances, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office
 in Omaha.

When the homes of Trouba and his female companion were searched, more money and drugs were found.

U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher sentenced Trouba to prison and 
ordered the forfeiture of his residence and pickup for facilitating the 
drug offenses.

The case was investigated by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/omaha-man-to-lose-house-pickup-and-400k-as-part-of-federal-drug-sentence/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — An Omaha man arrested 
for placing a fake bomb at the Douglas County Courthouse will forfeit 
his home, his pickup and $400,000 in drug trafficking proceeds as part 
of his sentence.On Thursday, Thomas J. Trouba, 28, of Omaha, was sentenced to 10 
years in prison in federal court for conspiracy to distribute and 
possess with intent to distribute marijuana, THC products and the drug 
ecstacy.After Trouba was arrested in September 2020 for placing the fake 
bomb, an investigator saw Trouba and a woman removing large totes and 
bags from his residence and place them in a pickup.When the pickup was searched later, several hundred thousand dollars 
was found, along with multi-pound quantities of raw marijuana, marijuana
 edibles and various substances, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office
 in Omaha.When the homes of Trouba and his female companion were searched, more money and drugs were found.U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher sentenced Trouba to prison and 
ordered the forfeiture of his residence and pickup for facilitating the 
drug offenses.The case was investigated by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.Cover image courtesy Pixabay