Sexual harassment ruled the weekend’s news as a top House Democratic lawmaker stepped down from a prominent position, a Democratic senator promised to return to work chastened after accusations against himself, and Republican continued to deal with allegations against Roy Moore in Alabama.
The most significant movement came on the House Judiciary Committee, where longtime lawmaker and top Democrat on the committee, Rep. John Conyers, said he would be stepping down from his role as ranking member while the investigation into sexual harassment allegations against him is ongoing.
The announcement came hours after Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi refused to call for Conyers to resign and said the “icon” deserved due process.
Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier, who has been on the forefront of pushing for change to Congress’ sexual harassment policies, refused to call on Conyers to resign and instead she doesn’t ‘think we know’ if Conyers is guilty.
Pelosi also said the sexual harassment controversy in Congress is “giving cover” to Republicans as they pursue their tax reform plan.
In the Senate, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said he was embarrassed by accusations of sexual misconduct but would nonetheless return to work on Monday to try and win back the public’s trust.
Democratic candidate Doug Jones accused Republican candidate Roy Moore of staying “under wraps” since sexual assault allegations against him broke earlier this month, including that he groped a 14-year-old girl when he was 32.
Trump tore into Jones — without mentioning Moore — and called him a “disaster” who would be a “puppet” of Chuck Schumer and Pelosi if he went to the Senate.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott wouldn’t weigh in on whether Trump should campaign for Moore after the allegations, but reiterated his call for Moore to step out of the race.
The senior senator from the Palmetto State, Sen. Lindsey Graham, was a little more direct when he called Trump’s decision to stand with Moore a “mistake” and said he was throwing a “lifeline” to a candidate who would otherwise be toast.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune said Moore should step aside in the race because if he’s elected he’ll almost immediately be put under a Senate Ethics Committee investigation, which would only distract from the Senate GOP’s agenda.
Former 2016 presidential candidate Carly Fiorina said Trump was only standing with Moore because he’d represent another vote for his agenda in the Senate, not out of any sort of moral standing.
Fiorina added she, along with every woman she knows, has been sexually harassed.
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake called for Republicans to stop supporting Moore because doing so reeked of “political tribalism at its worst.’
Meanwhile, former basketball star Charles Barkley — an Alabama native — believes Moore should have dropped out of the race before the allegations were even reported due to his association with Steve Bannon.
And, not to be outdone, President Trump is reportedly suggesting to allies that the “Access Hollywood” tape — in which Trump described sexually assaulting women because he’s a celebrity and he could — is fake and it’s not him on the tape.
Trump’s election actually empowered many women to come forward with their allegations, Pelosi said.
In the media sphere, multiple universities pulled journalism awards that had been bestowed on Charlie Rose, the former CBS journalist who was fired last week after multiple sexual misconduct allegations.
In policy news, the Congressional Budget Office said the Senate’s tax reform plan would cost the government about $1.4 trillion. The analysis said experts need more time to see if the plan would grow the economy, as Republicans say it will
The White House said it was confident in its legal reasoning behind appointing Mick Mulvaney, currently the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to the post of acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Trump sent a message to outgoing director Richard Cordray, expected to run for governor in Ohio: Don’t let the door hit you in the kiester on the way out.
Thune backed the White House’s reasoning and expected to see Mulvaney in the role come Monday.
And, just to complicate matters a bit more, Leandra English — the deputy director of the agency who was set to take over the reins of the bureau before Trump named Mulvaney to the post — filed suit Sunday night to block Mulvaney’s appointment.
The president’s first wife, Ivana Trump, speculated her ex-husband wouldn’t run for a second term because he must be “freaking exhausted” and misses his old life.
Trump tweeted several more messages during the weekend, continuing his feud with CNN by attacking CNN International, the company’s international broadcast. As he flew back to Washington, Trump slammed Democrats for focusing on “Russia, Russia, Russia” instead of economic growth. He announced his return to the city with a push for tax reform, urging Senate Republicans to move quickly on the bill
He also spent a couple more days on the golf course after being spotted golfing with the legendary Jack Nicklaus in Florida and then heading to the course again on Sunday.
Scott also jumped to Trump’s defense when asked if he felt the president singled out black people for criticism. Scott said he believes the president is willing to fight with his critics regardless of race.
He also promoted part of Trump’s agenda, promising tax reform would help love income families by increasing their refund.
Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel warned the stock market could take a turn for the worse if tax reform doesn’t become law.
Graham wants Trump to push for a fix to DACA to be inside the government funding bill Congress must pass before the end of the year in order to avoid a government shutdown.
TransCanada, the company that runs the Keystone pipeline, reported 44,000 gallons of oil had been recovered from an oil spill from the pipeline earlier this month.
Former President George H.W. Bush became the longest-ever living president when he turned 93 on Saturday.
Corey Lewandowski backed his former boss, Trump, to be Time’s Person of the Year after Trump got in a spat with the magazine Friday night by claiming he turned the honor down.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly turned down security briefings from a top aide who was later pushed out of the State Department, according to a report.
The palace intrigue inside the White House kicked up yet again this week. Reports indicate Jared Kushner’s role inside the White House is shrinking because of chief of staff John Kelly’s influence. However, Kushner said he’s happy in Washington and he doesn’t plan on leaving the White House any time soon.
On the other side of the Kushner-Trump family, Kushner’s wife Ivanka Trump reportedly ruffled her father’s feathers when she condemned Moore by saying there’s a special place in hell for child molesters.
Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen warned national security adviser H.R. McMaster and White House chief of staff John Kelly against allowing themselves to contribute to the politicization of the military since he believed both men — the former an active duty Army general and the latter a retired Marine general — are getting too involved in politics.
In sad news from abroad, the U.S. Navy identified the three sailors who died during a plane crash in the Philippine Sea.
A man was pulled over by police after trying to cut into Trump’s motorcade Saturday while it was driving back from his Florida golf club to Mar-a-Lago.
Environmentalist billionaire Tom Steyer pledged to continue his push to impeach Trump because the American people want the president to leave office and is an “urgent threat.”
Another liberal, Susan Sarandon, doesn’t regret voting and campaigning for Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the 2016 election because she still feels Hillary Clinton was “very, very dangerous.”
The New York Times hit back at criticism of a piece the paper published on Saturday about an Ohio Nazi-sympathizer by saying the goal of the piece wasn’t to normalize white nationalists but to show how normal their beliefs have become.
Time Inc., which includes Time Magazine, will be sold to Meredith Corporation and the sale is partly financed by the Koch Brothers. The company has explicitly stated the Kochs would not have any say in editorial matters.
A new story in Vanity Fair purports first lady Melania Trump really, really did not want to become first lady and never thought her husband would win the 2016 election.
And, finally, the FBI received a record amount of background check requests for new guns on Black Friday, topping the record that was previously set last year on Black Friday.
