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Senate's bipartisan $1T infrastructure bill could double US spending
Senate's Bipartisan $1T Infrastructure Bill Will Double US Spending | US Politics :60 | GZERO Media

Senate's bipartisan $1T infrastructure bill could double US spending

Get insights on the latest news in US politics from Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington:

The Senate passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill this week. What do we know about that?

Infrastructure week is finally here, after many years of fits and starts on pressing a bipartisan infrastructure bill. The Senate moved one out of the chamber this week, as well as making progress on President Biden's $3.5 trillion follow-up spending plan. What's in the infrastructure bill? While it's a whole bunch of money for roads, bridges, tunnels, water projects, broadband deployment, airports, ports, all types of physical infrastructure, and it was done on a bipartisan basis.

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Progress on infrastructure bill despite Senate vote against it
Progress on Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Despite Senate Vote | US Politics :60s | GZERO Media

Progress on infrastructure bill despite Senate vote against it

Get insights on the latest news in US politics from Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi barred two Republican members from serving on the Jan. 6 commission. What's going on?

Well, the Jan. 6 commission was designed to be a bipartisan commission, taking input from members from Democrats and Republicans. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had the opportunity to make recommendations but the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, could always veto those recommendations. In this case, she did, saying no to two members, Jim Banks and Jim Jordan, both of whom are strongly aligned with President Trump and who voted against certifying the election results in 2020. The Republicans for the most part see the Jan. 6 commission as an opportunity to score political points against them, and the Democrats say this is going to be a fair, non-biased, and nonpartisan investigation into what happened on Jan. 6, starting with a hearing next week with some of the police officers who were involved in the battle with the protesters inside the Capitol.

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Biden's vaccine diplomacy and US global leadership; US-China bill gets bipartisan support
TITLE PLACEHOLDER | US Politics In :60 | GZERO Media

Biden's vaccine diplomacy and US global leadership; US-China bill gets bipartisan support

Get insights on the latest news in US politics from Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington:

What's the significance of the US-China bill, competition bill that passed the Senate earlier this week?

Well, the bill is a major investment in American technology, research and development, semiconductor manufacturing, and it's designed to push back on the China Made in 2025 push that lawmakers have become increasingly worried about in recent years. The opinion in Washington has shifted from seeing China as a strategic competitor to a strategic rival. And you're seeing what's now likely to be one of the only bipartisan bills in Congress now pushing back on that. Significant money for semiconductors in this bill, even though some of it was set aside for automotive purposes. That money's not going to come online fast enough to really make a difference to the current global semiconductor shortage, but it will help build up US long-term spending capacity and manufacturing capacity in semiconductors.

Other aspects of the bill, banned the application TikTok from going on government devices out of security concerns, created new sanctions authorities around Xinjiang and Hong Kong for human rights abuses, and mandated a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, which is probably going to happen anyway once the Biden administration is able to align with its allies. Let the athletes play. Don't let any high level delegations go. This is probably the only bipartisan bill to happen this year, yet still, half of Senate Republicans voted against it because they were opposed to the kind of industrial policy they think this represents, but it does show the area where there's bipartisan agreement in a city that's very, very divided right now. China is the bad guy and Congress is moving in that direction.

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Gabriella Turrisi

What We’re Watching: China’s vaccination blitz, Nicaraguan opposition crackdown, Dems/GOP vs China

China goes big on vaccination: China is now vaccinating about 20 million people a day against COVID, accounting for more than half of the world's daily shots. Following a sluggish initial rollout, Chinese vaccine makers have scaled up production in recent months. That's good news for the world, particularly for developing countries that rely on vaccines distributed through the COVAX global facility, which now includes China's WHO-approved Sinopharm and Sinovac jabs. It's also good news for China's government, which for months has struggled to make its production capacity match its ambitious vaccine diplomacy program (though it has already supplied a whopping 350 million doses to more than 75 countries). And finally, it's good news for the Chinese people, who can travel without restrictions, both inside and outside China, once they're vaccinated. It's not good news for India, which earlier this year had a window of opportunity to compete with the Chinese on doling out jabs to low-income countries but then had to suspend exports in order to address its own COVID crisis.

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Congress after the attempt to overthrow democracy: Democratic Senator Chris Murphy
Congress After The Attempt To Overthrow Democracy | Democratic Senator Chris Murphy | GZERO World

Congress after the attempt to overthrow democracy: Democratic Senator Chris Murphy

Two-term Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut joins Ian Bremmer to talk about his harrowing experience during the Capitol riots of January 6, why he thinks an impeachment trial is still valuable even if Republican support for a conviction looks increasingly unlikely, if he believes President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus package will pass both chambers, and how he thinks US-China foreign policy should change under the new administration.

Watch this extended interview from the recent episode of GZERO World: After the insurrection: will Congress find common ground?

The worst time to enter Congress: Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace
The Worst Time To Enter Congress | Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace | GZERO World

The worst time to enter Congress: Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace

Freshman Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina joined Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to recount her harrowing experience on Capitol Hill during the January 6 riots and to explain why she did not support impeaching a president she strongly condemned. She'll also discuss where she thinks Democrats and Republicans in Congress can come together in 2021.This is an extended interview from the recent GZERO World episode: After the insurrection: will Congress find common ground?

Mace referenced Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's account of the January 6 riots in a tweet on February 4. In late January, she told Ian Bremmer about her own experience on Capitol Hill that day. "I started to make my way back to my office, but I was unable to get to my building because of threats at the Capitol. In fact, there was a pipe bomb that was found just steps away from the Cannon Office building at C and First Street. And looking back at it now, I walked by a pipe bomb where that was to get into my office that day."

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Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace on the chances for bipartisanship in Congress
Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace on the Chances for Bipartisanship in Congress | GZERO World

Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace on the chances for bipartisanship in Congress

Freshman Republican Representative Nancy Mace has only been in Congress for a few weeks, but she already has big plans. "It's my hope, because I've been such a strong voice, a new voice for the Republican party over the last few weeks, that I can use some of that capital to find ways to work together. And I think that there are small ways that we can make a big difference in this country for everybody." The South Carolina former businesswoman spoke to Ian Bremmer on GZERO World in the days leading up to a Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. This episode of GZERO World also features an interview with Senate Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

After the insurrection: will Congress find common ground?
After The Insurrection: Will Congress Find Common Ground? | Sen. Murphy & Rep. Mace | GZERO WORLD

After the insurrection: will Congress find common ground?

Can Democrats and Republicans agree on anything? Ian Bremmer talks to two very different lawmakers from each chamber Congress: two-term Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy and freshman Republican South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace. The guests give a vivid account of their experience at the Capitol during the January 6 riots and make a case for- or-against impeaching former President Trump. They'll also weigh in on President Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus package and where exactly Republicans and Democrats might be able to work together in 2021.

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