The Daily Signal - Government Shutdown Avoided, Case to Disqualify Fani Willis, SCOTUS To Hear Trump Immunity Case | March 1

Starting point is 00:00:02 I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Friday, March 1st. Here are today's headlines. As we head into the weekend, there will not be a partial government shutdown after both the House and Senate voted to pass a continuing resolution on Thursday, and President Biden signed it. The House vote was 320 to 99, while the Senate vote was 77 to 13. There were 10 senators that didn't vote. Tennessee Republican representative, 10 Burchett was one of the 97 House Republicans to vote against that continuing resolution. Now, Burchett said that he voted against it because I understand the political expediency of the situation,

Starting point is 00:00:56 but it still doesn't sit well with me unless we completely close our southern border. I'm not interested in moving forward with more short-term funding. We need to pass a budget like the state of Tennessee, and the rest of America does. On the other side, President Biden issued a statement on Thursday, saying this bipartisan agreement prevents a damaging shutdown and allows more time for Congress to work toward full-year funding bills. That's good news for the American people,

Starting point is 00:01:29 but I want to be clear, this is a short-term fix, not a long-term solution, according to the president. While Biden continued and said in the days ahead, Congress must do its job and pass full-year funding bills that deliver for the American people. And House Republicans must act on the bipartisan national security supplemental, which already passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support, and would pass the House if it was brought to a vote. The continuing resolution, as NBC News reports, is part of a broader bipartisan spending bills

Starting point is 00:02:07 congressional leaders announced Wednesday that includes six of the 12 spending bills that fund federal agencies. Biden signed the continuing resolution into law today ahead of tonight's deadline. The new deadlines for government funding are March 8th and March 22nd. So stay tuned. Those deadlines will be here before we know it. The Supreme Court agreed this week to hear former President Donald Trump's immunity case. According to an unsigned, order released Wednesday, the Supreme Court justices will look at the question of whether and if, so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office? The order also notes

Starting point is 00:02:56 that oral arguments will be held during the week of April 22nd. Trump reacted to the news on true social on Wednesday, saying without presidential immunity, a president will not be able to properly function or make decisions in the best interest of the United States of America. Trump went on to say presidents will always be concerned and even paralyzed by the prospect of wrongful prosecution and retaliation after they leave office. This could actually lead to the extortion and blackmail of a president, according to Trump. Reuters reports that the justices put on hold the criminal case being pursued by special counsel Jack Smith and will review a lower court's rejection of Trump's claim of immunity from prosecution because he was president when he took actions aimed at reversing President Joe Biden's election victory over him.

Starting point is 00:03:54 We'll keep you all posted as we continue to learn more about oral arguments, so stay tuned. attorneys made closing arguments this afternoon in the case that will determine whether Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis is disqualified from her case against Trump. Remember that Willis brought a case against the former president accusing him of election interference in the state of Georgia following the 2020 election. But legal issues arose for Willis after she filed the case. Willis hired Nathan Wade to be the lead prosecutor in the case, but allegation, have been made that Willis had a personal romantic relationship with Wade before she hired him. Willis and Wade say their romantic relationship began after Willis hired Wade as the lead prosecutor on the Trump case, but a former friend and coworker of Willis gave testimony that contradicts

Starting point is 00:04:52 that. Trump's lawyers have been trying to prove that Willis and Wade's romantic relationship began before Willis hired Wade on that case. And today, the judge heard closing arguments from Trump's attorneys and from the attorneys defending Willis. Willis did take the stand earlier in the case and continued to argue that her relationship began with Wade after she hired him. Willis has said she is not the guilty party in this case. This was Willis in court about a week ago, per David Gray. You're confused. You think I'm on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020.

Starting point is 00:05:30 I'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial. The judge is expected to make his final ruling in the case within the next few weeks that will determine whether Willis can stay on this case against Trump or not. If the judge removes her, it will at the very least delay the case significantly. The Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill in response to the tragic murder of Lake and Riley. Lake and Riley is the University of Georgia nursing student who was killed while out on a run at the end of February. The lead suspect in her murder is an illegal alien from Venezuela who had been arrested in New York on charges of child endangerment, but he was released before immigration and customs enforcement, or ICE, could ask local law enforcement to hold him. Riley's death has caused a lot of outrage over America's open borders, and so in response,

Starting point is 00:06:27 The Georgia House passed a bill Thursday called the Georgia Criminal Alien Track and Report Act. If it becomes law, the bill will require local and state law enforcement to tell federal authorities if they arrest someone who doesn't have legal immigration status. Local governments could lose state funding if they don't report the arrests of illegal aliens to federal authorities. On the second offense, they will face a misdemeanor charge. While Republicans are backing the bill as an important public safety measure, some Democrats are raising concerns. Democrat Representative Pedro Morin is Georgia's longest-serving Latino legislator. He said he is concerned that the bill will encourage racial profiling.

Starting point is 00:07:13 The bill now heads over to the Georgia Senate for consideration. Republicans do hold the majority in the Georgia Senate, so the bill is likely to pass. For more on this, be sure to check out Tyler O'Neill's full report in today, show notes. And finally, today, a funeral was held in Moscow for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny two weeks after he died in an Arctic penal colony. Navalny was a harsh critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he was reportedly poisoned with a military nerve agent while on a business trip in Russia in 2020, an attempt on his life that he blamed directly on Putin and spent his final years behind bars as the Russian leader reshaped the country to rally behind his war in

Starting point is 00:08:04 Ukraine. That's according to reporting from NBC News. NBC News also reports that thousands of people turned out for Navalny's funeral today. OVD Info, which describes itself as an independent human rights, defense, and media group said that police on Friday arrested at least 67 people and said it knew of at least 67 arrests in 16 towns, including six arrests in Moscow where Navalny's funeral was held, drawing large crowds. That's according to reporting from the AFP. Last Thursday, President Biden met with Navalny's daughter and his wife in San Francisco. A White House readout of their meeting says the president emphasized that Alexei's legacy will carry on through people across Russia and around the world mourning his loss,

Starting point is 00:08:53 and fighting for freedom, democracy, and human rights. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for being with us this Friday afternoon on the Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't had the chance, make sure that you check out our morning show. Every weekday morning, we bring you an exclusive interview with a lawmaker, expert, and a leading conservative voice. On Monday morning, the Daily Signal's Tyler O'Neill is sitting down with Alexander Geyser. Also take a minute to subscribe to The Daily Situ. Podcast wherever you like to listen and leave us a five-star rating and review.

Starting point is 00:09:28 You have a little extra time this weekend. We love hearing your feedback. Thanks again for being with us today. Have an excellent weekend. We will see you right back here Monday. The Daily Signal Podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Luey and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras.

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The Daily Signal - Government Shutdown Avoided, Case to Disqualify Fani Willis, SCOTUS To Hear Trump Immunity Case | March 1

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