Al Franken and Trent Franks both announced their resignations, the government stays funded for now and more
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Three weeks after Leeann Tweeden became the first woman to accuse Sen. Al Franken of inappropriately touching her, the Minnesota Democrat announced he would resign from the seat he’s held since 2009 “in the coming weeks.” Tweeden was just the first of more than a dozen women to accuse Franken of sexual misconduct.
In his resignation speech, Franken insisted that some of the allegations weren’t true and that, in other cases, he remembered the incidents differently.
Still, he knew he had to go. And he made sure that his exit included a couple knocks against President Trump and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.
“I, of all people, am aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party,” he said.
Also on Capitol Hill: Rep. Trent Franks also announced Thursday he would resign, as the House Ethics Committee said it was investigating him for potential sexual harassment. The Arizona Republican, whose twins were born via surrogate, said he discussed surrogacy with two former female staffers.
Also ALSO on the Hill: That House Ethics Committee was apparently really busy, because it announced that it was investigating Rep. Blake Farenthold, the Texas Republican who used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit a few years ago.
Congress on Thursday approved a spending bill that ensures the federal government will stay open through Dec. 22 (that will become official once President Trump signs the bill). But that doesn’t mean we’ve completely avoided a government shutdown.
Negotiations for a long-term funding bill are underway. One issue that could threaten to derail talks: the fate of the nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. With Trump’s reversal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Actions program earlier this year, their futures are currently up in the air.
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