The Excerpt podcast: Candidates get set for fourth Republican primary debate

On today's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Four candidates qualify for the fourth Republican primary debate. USA TODAY Congress, Campaigns and Democracy Reporter Ken Tran has the latest as House Republicans prepare to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Sen. Tommy Tuberville's blockade on military promotions has come to an end. USA TODAY Money Reporter Bailey Schulz looks at some of the industries laying off workers, and what employees can do to prepare. President Joe Biden promised to reform Title IX. But students are tired of waiting.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Wednesday, December 6th, 2023. This is The Excerpt.

Today, a look ahead to tonight's Republican presidential debate. Plus, the latest from House Republicans push to authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. And layoff season has arrived.

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The fourth Republican primary debate is set for tonight in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, following just weeks before the New Hampshire primary and Iowa caucus next month. And only four candidates will take the stage at the University of Alabama. The Republican National Committee announced yesterday that former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy qualified for the debate. To do so, GOP candidates must have polled at least 6% in two national polls, or 6% in one national poll and one poll from two separate early-voting states recognized by the RNC. They must have also had a minimum of 80,000 unique donors and have signed a beat Biden pledge, agreeing to support the eventual Republican 2024 nominee.

There are some familiar faces missing on stage, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott participated in the third debate last month, but dropped out of the race shortly after. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum suspended his campaign this week. And former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson only qualified for the first debate and did not make the stage this time around. GOP front-runner Donald Trump will skip the debate as he has with the previous three. He's expected to host a fundraiser in Florida, according to NBC News. You can follow along with the debate on usatoday.com. And be sure to tune into The Excerpt tomorrow morning for National Political Correspondent David Jackson's analysis of the event.

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House Republicans are preparing to hold a vote next week to formally authorize their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. I caught up with USA Today Congress, Campaigns, and Democracy reporter Ken Tran for more. Ken, always good to have you on.

Ken Tran:

Thank you for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Ken, House Republicans are getting set to vote to formally authorize the impeachment probe into President Joe Biden. Ken, what are they looking into here and what does this formal authorization actually mean?

Ken Tran:

So House Republicans have been investigating since September in an impeachment inquiry into allegations that President Joe Biden financially and personally benefited from his family's foreign business dealings. While they have found evidence that has already been out there already, that Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's son, for example, has made millions from doing business overseas. They haven't produced any evidence so far saying that President Joe Biden was directly involved in any of these dealings. They're aiming to formally authorize the impeachment inquiry on the House floor to give it more legal standing and stronger legitimacy in court because investigators have issued subpoenas, but the White House has scoffed at them saying, "You've not opened this impeachment inquiry without a floor vote." Therefore, it's not really considered an inquiry and they can basically defy it.

Taylor Wilson:

Ken, are all House Republicans on board with this probe? We know it's a pretty fractured chamber to say the least.

Ken Tran:

Sure. So that's the delicate balancing act that House Speaker Mike Johnson has to approach here with bringing it to the floor is that they have a very narrow majority, they can only afford to lose three votes. If there's any members that are skeptical of it more than three, that means that they can't authorize the floor vote. Some members like Colorado Republican Ken Buck said he's still a lean no in the inquiry, but lean no means he could still be convinced. Other members, particularly moderate vulnerable members from the 18 districts, Joe Biden won in the 2020 election, most of them have been warming up to the idea of an inquiry and say that the inquiry is going to give them stronger legal standing in court to get whatever information they're looking for.

Taylor Wilson:

Ken, how has the White House responded to this impeachment inquiry and the conversation around it?

Ken Tran:

So while the White House has ignored some of the subpoenas, the White House has said that we have cooperated, we've offered witnesses to you, we've testified, and that they say that there is clear evidence showing that the president hasn't financially benefited from these deals. A lot of, for example, what the Oversight Committee has been releasing led by Chairman James Comer, they've been releasing and touting some direct payments. They say from Hunter Biden to Joe Biden in 2019 pointing to recurring payments of a little more than $1,000. But on further examination and what we've seen from public records, those payments were just for a car repayment when the president during his time as a private citizen helped his son finance a car.

Taylor Wilson:

And Ken, we know that former president Donald Trump was impeached twice. Does that seem to be playing a factor in Republicans' push here?

Ken Tran:

For some Republicans, absolutely. Congressman Troy Nehls, Republican from Texas. He is one of Trump's most vocal and outspoken supporters on the Hill. He told me that while he believes the allegations that President Joe Biden is corrupt, he's taken bribes for example, he's also said that part of his motivation is to impeach Biden at the end of all this and give Trump what he said, a little bit of ammo to fire back. Say if Biden says in a debate, if Trump is the nominee that you've been impeached twice, he wants Trump to be able to say it back, you've been impeached once.

Taylor Wilson:

And so we expect this authorization for the probe to come next week. Ken, what's the timeline looking like for this in the coming days and weeks?

Ken Tran:

Authorized next week? Whether or not they would draft articles are still unclear articles of impeachment to begin the formal process. House Republicans still contend that this is merely just an investigation. They haven't pre-judged any facts. Chair of the Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan, one of the GOP investigators leading the probe told reporters on Monday in a little briefing that he anticipates that if they do come to a decision, that decision with articles of impeachment with specific charges will come in the first half of 2024.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Ken Tran covers Capitol Hill for USA TODAY. Thanks as always, Ken.

Ken Tran:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville's blockade on military promotions has come to an end. The Alabama lawmaker has been protesting a Pentagon policy on abortion since February. Depending on the case, the Pentagon gives service members time off and pays for travel to have an abortion. The policy was put into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade last year. But Tuberville told reporters yesterday that he'll be lifting holds on military promotions for nominees three stars and below. His 10-month blockade has prevented more than 400 military jobs from being filled. Just hours after his announcement, the Senate voted to confirm as many positions though 11 four-star nominees still have their confirmations pending. Tuberville said now looking to Republicans in the House to rescind the Pentagon abortion policy in the annual Defense Spending Bill.

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It's December, which means the arrival of winter and the holidays for many, but it's also layoff season. I spoke with USA TODAY Money reporter Bailey Schulz about what employees can do to prepare. Bailey, thanks for hopping on.

Bailey Schulz:

Yeah, no, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Bailey, let's just start here. Why does some refer to this time of year as layoff season?

Bailey Schulz:

Yeah, so this is sort of a cyclical pattern where we usually do tend to see layoffs sort of tick up around the December, January months. Companies are looking toward fiscal year-end. They're looking at maybe for ways to improve their balance sheets. And so as they're figuring out ways to restructure and improve operations, unfortunately sometimes that does lead to layoffs.

Taylor Wilson:

And which companies have we already seen layoff workers in recent days?

Bailey Schulz:

So there have been a few different industries that have been impacted in recent days, so far in 2023. Tech is a big one where we saw this last year as well, after doing a lot of hiring in the midst of the pandemic, we are now seeing a lot of companies cut back on their staffing at this point. Just this past week or so, we saw layoffs from Spotify. They said that they plan to lay off about 17% of their workforce. That's about 1500 jobs. And then cloud computing company, Twilio said that they would lay off about 5%. And that's just a couple of examples from recent days.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. So you mentioned the tech industry. Is that the main industry we should be keeping an eye on?

Bailey Schulz:

Yeah. So tech has been one of the more prominent industries that have been conducting layoffs lately. We're also seeing quite a bit of layoffs in media, in that industry as well. And then so far in 2023, there was a recent report that listed some of the more prevalent industries that have connected layoffs and that includes retail, healthcare and products manufacturers, and then financial firms is another.

Taylor Wilson:

And Bailey, what does the hiring job market look like right now and what's the expectation in the coming weeks for folks who might get laid off?

Bailey Schulz:

Labor market overall is still pretty strong. So that's something to keep in mind, where I'd one of the sources I interviewed for the story say like, "Don't freak out, the sky is not falling." The first nine months of the year saw about 13 million layoffs in discharges across the country according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And that's up slightly from 21/22, but that's still below 2019 levels when it was around 16 million. Keep that in mind, but also know that there are some signs of things starting to pull down as far as the labor market where continued jobless claims have been rising. And so we're getting different signals from statistics at this point, but overall, still a strong labor market.

Taylor Wilson:

Bailey, what advice do experts give employees in this moment to stay prepared?

Bailey Schulz:

The advice that I got for people at this time of year was this is a good time to network. If you know someone at a company that you're applying for, your odds of being hiring tend to be a little better. And so yeah, always a good idea to have those connections in place. And then another bit of advice was this is a good time of year to take a look at your resume, maybe update it, take a look at job postings, and see what's surround. Never a bad idea, just keep your eye open.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Bailey Schulz covers money for USA TODAY. Thank you, Bailey.

Bailey Schulz:

Yeah, thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Students and Title IX Reform advocates rallied in front of the White House yesterday demanding immediate action from the Biden administration to reform the law. The 1972 legislation prohibits sex-based discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. Under the Donald Trump administration, those accused of sexual misconduct were better shielded from consequences. That's something President Joe Biden promised a reform while running for president. His administration proposed an overhaul of the rule, introducing guidance last June that would provide stronger support for transgender and non-binary students, as well as victims of sexual assault. Earlier this year, the Education Department said it expected to complete them by October. That month has come and gone without final versions of the rules. That's left an increasingly vocal number of students and advocates frustrated at the regulatory gridlock, especially as a likely rematch between Trump and Biden looms. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.

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And today is National Miners Day and the time to recognize the skill and dedication that workers and mines put in year-round. The date marks the anniversary of the worst mining accident in American history when 362 people died in West Virginia in 1907. Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And if you use a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.