
House GOP revolt against Trump sets up tough Senate battle on January 6 probe
CNN
Thirty-five House Republicans chose the truth and American democracy over Donald Trump's personality cult. Now their Senate colleagues face the same battle of conscience over the effort to investigate the Capitol insurrection.
The House of Representatives voted to establish an independent, bipartisan commission on Wednesday, but the bill still has a cliffhanger path ahead as supporters seek votes of 10 Republican senators needed to usher it into law. It remains an open, if perplexing, question if Republican senators will stand in the way of an investigation into an armed attack that sent them fleeing for safety. The revolt of 35 House Republicans against their leader, California Rep. Kevin McCarthy -- who pushed strongly for the bill's defeat -- represents the strongest rebuke yet of the former President from his own party ranks, far more than the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the Capitol mob scene. The surprising size of the Republican vote for the commission may indicate the politics of the issue are not yet set in stone and could give some Republicans pause as they consider their position on investigating the insurrection.
The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries formally signed a long-sought landmark free trade agreement on Saturday, capping more than a quarter-century of torturous negotiations to strengthen commercial ties in the face of rising protectionism and trade tensions around the world.

Judge restricts federal response to Minnesota protests amid outrage over immigration agents’ tactics
Immigration agents carrying out a sweeping operation in Minnesota can’t deploy certain crowd-control measures against peaceful protesters or arrest them, a federal judge ruled Friday. The order follows widespread outrage over a fatal shooting, reports of US citizens getting detained and Minnesotans getting asked for documents for no clear reason.

The smell of wet grass from the recent atmospheric river rains, mud and gasoline wafts through the warm Southern California air as Alec Derpetrossian works the chainsaw with a foreman, Randy Magaña, who helps him guide where to put the blade. Derpetrossian is still learning how to adequately use the large tool.










