February 14 top stories
It is February 14. Happy Valentine’s Day! Here are today’s top stories.
Winter storm hits the Northeast
A powerful winter storm hit areas from eastern Pennsylvania to Massachusetts Monday into Tuesday. The storm was forecast to bring heavy snow, gusty winds and moderate coastal flooding.
One man has died, and millions were under weather alerts after the northeastern parts of the United States were hit by one of the worst snow storms in two years.
Hundreds of schools were shut across states and others moved to online classes. 1,400 flights were delayed or canceled and people were asked to stay off the roads because of treacherous conditions.
More than 140,000 people were without power in Pennsylvania, 12,000 had also lost power in New Jersey, and nearly 5,000 in New York.
Places like Connecticut and Rhode Island recorded more than a foot of snow, according to the National Weather Service.
Winter storm warnings have since lifted for most of New York. During the day New York City remained under a Travel Advisory as temperatures dropped and snow melted, leading to the possibility of icy roads.
Rideshare workers plan Valentine’s Day strike
A group of drivers from Uber, Lyft and DoorDash are planning to go on strike on Valentine’s Day to demand better pay and safer working conditions.
“We expect thousands of rideshare drivers to participate in this in cities across the country,” Rachel Gumpert, a spokesperson for the coalition Justice for App Workers.
The coalition said the striking workers will not provide rides to and from airports in 10 U.S. cities from 11am to 1pm on Wednesday.
According to a news release from Justice for App Workers, “While Silicon Valley and Wall Street take an ever-increasing cut of driver earnings, they are raising rates on passengers, and expecting consumers and workers alike to accept their increasing corporate greed.”
What do Uber and Lyft drivers make? An average Lyft drivers’ gross hourly pay was $21.44 and an Uber driver’s hourly rate pay was $18.80.
In response, Uber said in a statement that strikes “have rarely had any impact on trips, prices or driver availability.”
Lyft said in a statement that the company is “constantly working to improve the driver experience, which is why just this month we released a series of new offers and commitments aimed at increasing driver pay and transparency.”
Dems flip Santos’ House seat in NY
On Tuesday, Democrat Tom Suozzi won a special election and defeated Republican Mazi Pilip to take the seat that was left vacant when George Santos, also a Republican, was expelled from Congress.
Suozzi’s win will likely reassure Democrats that they can perform well in suburban communities across the nation, which will be critical to the party’s efforts to retake control of the U.S. House and re-elect President Biden.
The result will further narrow the GOP’s already thin House majority and President Biden’s party a boost. The House has 219 Republicans and 213 Democrats after this victory.
There are three seats vacated by Republicans CA-Kevin McCarthy, OH-Bill Johnson and Democrat NY-Brian Higgins in the U.S. House. Three special elections are scheduled to fill in seats for New York’s 26th Congressional District on April 30, California’s 20th Congressional District on May 21 and Ohio’s 6th Congressional District on June 11.
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House GOP impeaches Mayorkas in historic vote
Alejandro Mayorkas has been impeached in the House’s second attempt vote but is likely to be acquitted in the Senate as Biden calls the move unconstitutional. The first attempt to impeach Mayorkas on February 6 failed. Tuesday’s vote was narrowly passed by 214 to 213.
This is the first time in about 150 years that a cabinet secretary has been impeached. Mayorkas has been accused of “willfully refusing” to enforce border laws and a “breach of the public trust.” The charges against him will likely be rejected by the Democratic-majority Senate.
What happens next? For now, Mayorkas continues to retain his position as the impeachment is largely symbolic. Mayorkas will likely be acquitted by the Democratic-controlled Senate, with a 51-49 majority. A two-thirds majority in the Senate is required to convict someone. On the other hand, impeachment by the House demands a simple majority.
The Senate is expected to receive the articles of impeachment from the House after resuming its session on February 26. The Senate could vote to dismiss the articles, dissolve the trial or refer the articles to a committee.
Mayorkas has said that in case of a trial, he is ready to defend himself in the Senate and that until then, he is focusing on his job.
Alex has a news story to share about Trump’s request for the Supreme Court to rule on immunity.
Trump takes presidential immunity fight to the Supreme Court
Thanks, Callie.
On Monday morning, Donald Trump’s legal team asked the Supreme Court to block his criminal trial on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. This is the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Trump’s legal team previously argued before lower-level federal courts that Trump couldn’t be charged with crimes because he had presidential immunity, and that his actions were within his official duties as president. Trump’s team expressed concern that if the courts didn’t accept the immunity argument, it would mean that future presidents could be threatened with criminal charges after their terms. That would mean future presidents would face trials and jail time. They said that’s why immunity is important.
But earlier this month, a high-level federal court, the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C., did not accept Trump’s argument about immunity. The court said they couldn’t imagine a future where any president, after they finished their terms, could simply walk away even if they committed crimes. Without accountability. Or a scenario where a president could do something to change a certain election’s results, such as stuffing ballots, and still get immunity. So the D.C. court said “no.”
That meant Trump’s trial was moving forward. But now, Trump’s legal team has asked the Supreme Court to please intervene and overrule the lower court in favor of Trump. They want to see this trial gone.
So this means the U.S. Supreme Court will have to, once again, make a huge decision that will impact the 2024 election. They recently sided with Trump when Colorado tried to remove Trump’s name from the ballot. The Supreme Court said this couldn’t be done. Now they will have to decide whether the trial can proceed or side with Trump in blocking Jack Smith’s investigation and charges. We’ll see what happens.
Thanks for that story. That is all the news stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
Winter storm hits the Northeast:
Rideshare workers plan Valentine’s Day strike:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/14/strike-uber-lyft-doordash-protest-valentines-day/
Dems flip Santos’ House seat in NY:
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/14/1231301104/new-york-special-election-results-santos-suozzi-pilip
https://ballotpedia.org/Special_elections_to_the_118th_United_States_Congress_(2023-2024)
House GOP impeaches Mayorkas in historic vote:
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/02/13/congress/mayorkas-impeached-house-gop-00141296
Trump takes presidential immunity fight to the Supreme Court:
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/12/trump-supreme-court-appeal-immunity