1 Day 2: Still no House speaker
After two long days of clashes and deadlock, Republicans on Wednesday said there were some signs of progress in the grueling process to seat the Speaker to lead their new majority in the new Congress. In six votes over two days, a group of roughly 20 conservative firebrands has blocked the bid by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to lead the lower chamber into a crucial 2024 presidential election. Yet key members of the McCarthy resistance indicated Wednesday afternoon that the marathon talks aimed at reaching some agreement were finally bearing fruit. Those voices emphasized that they’re not ready to support McCarthy just yet. But the signs of forward movement mark a sharp shift from the entrenched stalemate between the sides that had practically defined the talks over the last several weeks.
2 California Gov Declares State Of Emergency Due To Flooding
California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency as a bomb cyclone and an atmospheric river merge over the state. Mandatory evacuation orders were in effect for several cities in Northern California as well. The storm is expected to bring many inches of rain, along with high winds and it comes on the heels of historic amounts of rainfall in Northern California. The rain in San Francisco received a nearly record amount of rain with 5.46 and is expected to deal with waves up to 20 to 30 feet tall along the coast. How does declaring a state of emergency actually help? It authorizes the mobilization of the state's National Guard and puts the State Operations Center at its “highest level of readiness.” As for when this will end, California is expected to deal with heavy rain for the next 10 days.
3 Infamous College Scammer Sentenced to 3.5 Years
The man behind the infamous college admissions scam known as “Operation Varsity Blues” has been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. Along with this sentence, William "Rick" Singer was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release and forfeiture of over $10 million. If this case rings a bell, it’s because some celebrities were involved. The criminal case was made public four years ago when over 50 people were charged, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. How did Singer do it? He owned a college business, as well as a charity connected to it. Because of these businesses, Singer was able to get kids of wealthy parents into the universities of their choice. Most of the scheme consisted of cheating on standardized tests and bribing college coaches into getting those kids in as athletic recruits. Singer is due to report to prison on February 27.