China's cities are running out of money to pay huge COVID lockdown bills, report says
China's local governments are spending much more than they are taking in, CNN reported, as they conduct mass testing and lockdowns.Data from China's Ministry of Finance reported by CNN showed that local governments in China spent considerably more than they brought in between January and October: to the tune of more than $1.65 trillion.
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images - Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent.
- It changes the balance of power in the Senate, though Sinema sought to downplay the extent.
- The Democrats believed they had enhanced their majority in the Senate after the Georgia runoff win.
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Who is Catherine Cortez Masto? The first Latina senator fought off a Trump-backed opponent to keep Democratic control of the Senate.
- Catherine Cortez Masto, the incumbent Democratic senator from Nevada, won her midterm Saturday.
- Cortez Masto made history in 2016 as the nation's first Latina senator.
- The former prosecutor was also the first woman elected to represent Nevada in the Senate.
Catherine Cortez Masto, the incumbent Democratic senator from Nevada, was declared the winner of her midterm election against GOP challenger Adam Laxalt on Saturday.
Kyrsten Sinema's bombshell split from the Democratic Party could be more about sidestepping a tough 2024 primary than a principled stand against partisanship
In a Friday statement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made clear that Democrats' new 51-49 majority would functionally remain in place.That means her decision may be as much about side-stepping what was expected to be a tough Senate primary campaign in 2024 as it is a principled stand against partisan politics. And while it changes the Democratic vote margin on paper, it's unlikely to significantly shift the balance of power in the Senate in the wake of the party's midterm victories.
The former prosecutor made history in 2016, becoming the first Latina ever elected to the US Senate. Cortez Masto was also the first woman elected to represent Nevada.
With her victory, Cortez Masto secured Democratic control of the Senate for the next two years during a contentious election cycle.
Here's a look at her life, early career, and time in Congress.
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Cortez Masto was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her father was also an attorney and she received a law degree from Gonzaga School of Law in 1990, going on to serve in the US Court of Appeals and as a prosecutor during her early career.
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Cortez Masto went on to serve two terms as the Nevada state attorney general, winning her elections in 2006 and 2010. Under her leadership, the office investigated Bank of America for unfair business practices and reversed its defense of the state's gay marriage ban.
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As Attorney General, Cortez Masto focused on issues impacting seniors, women, and children. She passed the reform of Nevada's guardianship laws and helped pass a law to make sex trafficking a crime at the state level.
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Cortez Masto made history in 2016 when she became the first Latina in the US Senate. She was also the first woman elected to represent Nevada, supported by then-Vice President Joe Biden on the campaign trail.
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As a Senator, Cortez Masto serves on the Finance Committee, the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Indian Affairs Committee.
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Chuck Schumer named Cortez Masto Chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2018, where she develops strategies to elect Democrats to the United States Senate.
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Cortez Masto was preparing to speak on the Senate floor when the Capitol was breached on January 6, 2021, and voted twice to impeach then-President Donald Trump.
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Only days ago, the mood among Democrats was jubilant.
Can Kyrsten Sinema be Recalled in Arizona After Democrat Defection?
A number of social media users are calling for the Senator to be removed from office early after announcing she will be registering as an independent.Sinema, who, as things stand, would next have to seek re-election to the Senate in 2024, confirmed she will be switching her allegiances in an opinion piece for Arizona Central, as well as videos on social media.
The victory of incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock in the Georgia runoff strengthened their position in the Senate, giving them a precious 51-49 outright majority.
But Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's announcement early Friday that she is leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent soured that victory, and again altered the balance of power.
For the first two years of President Joe Biden's term in office, the Democrats had the narrowest of majorities in the 50-50 divided Senate owing to Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaker vote.
With the balance of power on a knife-edge, centrist Democrats Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia wielded outsized influence, with the power to force sweeping changes to legislation under threat of withholding their support.
They could even torpedo bills outright. The party needed the support of all 50 of senators to pass legislation. Though that group already included two independents — Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Angus King — it was signed-up Democrats, Sinema and Manchin, who caused the most trouble.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocks Kyrsten Sinema's announcement to leave the Democratic Party and register as an independent: 'She lays out no goals for Arizonans'
Sinema's party switch comes as she's up for re-election in Arizona in 2024 in what's likely to become a competitive race."Not once in this long soliloquy does Sinema offer a single concrete value or policy she believes in," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter in response to a two-minute long video Sinema posted on Friday morning laying out her decision.
The two senators, sometimes individually and sometimes together, refused to back key Democratic initiatives on the economy, climate change, corporate taxation, and gun control, frustrating the party and blocking Biden's drive to enact core election pledges.
Both Manchin and Sinema opposed reforming the filibuster rule, which would've enabled the Democrats to sidestep GOP opposition and pass voting rights reform with a simple majority vote.
With Warnock's victory Tuesday, the Democrats appeared to have enhanced their position in the Senate by one seat, giving them crucial breathing space, and mitigating Manchin and Sinema's influence.
But with Sinema's announcement, the Democratic majority in the Senate has been cut back, and Manchin's influence apparently enhanced.
But there are key differences between the situation now and that which existed for Democrats before the midterms, and Sinema herself insisted that the likelihood of sweeping change in the wake of her shift was low.
The overall balance of power in Congress shifted in the midterm election, with the Republicans now narrowly controlling the House. This means that chamber can now block the White House's legislative packages, regardless of dynamics in the Senate, meaning that a renegade senator is now only one of several potential holdups.
Sinema's new position is ambiguous. In an interview with Politico explaining the move, she said she would vote in a similar way to before and would not coordinate either with Republicans or Democrats (King and Sanders do coordinate with Democrats even though they are independent).
Sinema also said she wanted to keep her committee seats, which relies on maintaining ties with Democrats.
"Becoming an independent won't change my work in the Senate; my service to Arizona remains the same," she said in an op-ed announcing her departure from the Democratic Party.
Did Kyrsten Sinema Betray Her Volunteers? .
Conversations with her former canvassers reveal anger and disappointment with the newly independent senator from Arizona.So far, both the White House and Sinema’s Senate colleagues have been conciliatory, praising her legislative skill and acting as if little will change following her switch. (Sinema will still caucus with the Democrats.) Although her influence will diminish in a forthcoming 51–49 chamber, Democrats can ill afford to make Sinema a pariah.
China's local governments are spending much more than they are taking in, CNN reported, as they conduct mass testing and lockdowns.Data from China's Ministry of Finance reported by CNN showed that local governments in China spent considerably more than they brought in between January and October: to the tune of more than $1.65 trillion. 
In a Friday statement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made clear that Democrats' new 51-49 majority would functionally remain in place.That means her decision may be as much about side-stepping what was expected to be a tough Senate primary campaign in 2024 as it is a principled stand against partisan politics. And while it changes the Democratic vote margin on paper, it's unlikely to significantly shift the balance of power in the Senate in the wake of the party's midterm victories. 
A number of social media users are calling for the Senator to be removed from office early after announcing she will be registering as an independent.Sinema, who, as things stand, would next have to seek re-election to the Senate in 2024, confirmed she will be switching her allegiances in an opinion piece for Arizona Central, as well as videos on social media. 
Sinema's party switch comes as she's up for re-election in Arizona in 2024 in what's likely to become a competitive race."Not once in this long soliloquy does Sinema offer a single concrete value or policy she believes in," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter in response to a two-minute long video Sinema posted on Friday morning laying out her decision. 
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