Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday called on U.S. leaders to renew their commitment to combating gun violence following a school shooting in Wisconsin that claimed the lives of a teacher and a teenage student.
Speaking in Prince George’s County, Md., Harris delivered her most extensive public remarks since conceding the election to President-elect Donald Trump. She urged leaders to urgently seek solutions to the ongoing crisis.
“It’s another school shooting, another community being torn apart by gun violence. Our nation mourned for those who were killed and for those who were injured,” Harris said. “We as a nation must renew our commitment to end the horror of gun violence, both mass shootings and every gun violence that touches so many communities in our nation.”
The current administration implemented some changes to gun laws but stopped short of enacting a ban on military-style “assault” weapons or requiring universal background checks for all firearm sales.
During the campaign, Harris advocated for these measures, though the issue was often overshadowed by debates over abortion access and other topics. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump focused on price inflation and illegal immigration, key themes that helped pave the way for his victory, the Washington Times reported.
President Joe Biden and Harris abruptly canceled plans to travel this week, which has led to some speculation online.
The White House schedule showed that Harris was supposed to land at Los Angeles International Airport around 11:35 p.m. Thursday, Newsweek reported. She will “not travel to Los Angeles, CA, and will remain in Washington, D.C.” according to her office.
Biden, meanwhile, has canceled plans to travel to Delaware for the holidays, at least temporarily.
It’s unclear if the prospect of a partial government shutdown as Congress tries to agree on a funding measure affected their decision to remain in Washington.
Vice President-elect JD Vance met with Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans on Thursday night, hours after the spending deal failed in the House of Representatives.
Vance was in Johnson’s office along with a handful of Republican lawmakers to discuss government funding and Friday’s looming shutdown deadline. It’s unclear as of Friday morning what Republicans will do or if a shutdown is inevitable.
When Vance was walking down the hallway, a reporter asked, “Mr. Vance, will you accept any deal that does not include a debt limit increase?”
Vance shot back, “Look, I’ll say one thing. The Democrats just voted to shut down the government, even though we had a clean CR, because they didn’t want to give the president negotiating leverage during his first term — during the first year of his new term. And number two, because they would rather shut down the government and fight for global censorship bullsh*t. They’ve asked for a shutdown and I think that’s exactly what they’re going to [do].”
Vance then walked away as several reporters continued to shout questions at him about the spending bill and what Republicans were planning to do next.
Late Thursday, a trimmed-down spending bill that was backed by President-elect Trump was shot down by the House 174-235. The measure required a two-thirds majority in order to change a rule so that the measure could bypass committees.
With the deadline at the end of Friday, Congress is approaching the prospect of a partial shutdown. Thirty-eight Republicans defied Trump and voted against the plan, while two Democrats joined most Republicans in supporting it.
After GOP hardliners led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy rebelled against an early bipartisan agreement that would have delayed the federal funding deadline until March 14 and contained several irrelevant policy riders, the much slimmer legislation was hurriedly crafted on Thursday.
House lawmakers are scheduled to vote again on a funding measure Friday morning.
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