Hundreds of AT&T workers reportedly laid off

A telecommunications giant that touted bonuses connected with a tax overhaul law is also laying off hundreds of workers, according to news reports.

Dallas-based AT&T is laying off hundreds of workers, according to news reports. Citing anonymous sources, the Chicago Tribune said about 600 workers from retail sales clerks to satellite technicians were notified of the layoffs last week.

Marty Richter of AT&T said the company is adding employees where there's high customer demand and adjusting its workforce under services in decline. The company refused to identify numbers and locations.

"Many of the affected employees have a job offer guarantee that ensures they'll be offered another job with the company," Richter said in a statement.


https://www.google.com/amp/amp.wcvb.com/article/hundreds-of-atandt-workers-reportedly-laid-off/14489142

Alabama to certify Democrat Jones winner of Senate election

(Reuters) - Democrat Doug Jones’ surprise victory over Republican Roy Moore in this month’s special U.S. Senate election will be certified on Dec. 28, Alabama state officials said on Friday.

Jones will be the first Democrat sent to the Senate from Republican stronghold Alabama in a quarter century. When he takes office, Republicans’ majority in the chamber will narrow to 51 of the 100 seats.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Attorney General Steve Marshall and Secretary of State John Merrill will meet to certify Jones’ win, Merrill’s office said in a statement. Jones’ margin of victory was 1.5 percentage points.

Moore has not conceded defeat in the Dec. 12 vote, despite being urged by President Donald Trump to do so. Calls and emails to Moore’s campaign spokeswomen were not immediately returned on Friday.



https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-senate/alabama-to-certify-democrat-jones-winner-of-senate-election-idUSKBN1EG2C1

Tweet of 2017

Political scientist identifies the 21 seats most likely to flip from red to blue.

Cochran Expected to Resign Next Year

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, “hasn’t presided over a hearing since early September. The Mississippi Republican has not given a speech on the Senate floor all year, and he’s introduced only two bills during that time, both of them minor,” Politico reports.

“The 80-year-old’s feeble performance has fueled expectations — among senators and aides who’ve witnessed his physical and mental decline firsthand — that Cochran will step down from the Appropriations chairmanship early next year, or resign from the Senate altogether.”

Said one GOP senator: “The understanding is that he will leave after Jan. 1, That’s what most of us believe will happen.”


https://politicalwire.com/2017/12/21/cochran-expected-resign-next-year/

Field For Next San Francisco Mayor Starting to Take Shape

As San Francisco continues to mourn the death of Mayor Ed Lee, the city is also beginning the political process of figuring out who might succeed him in office.

The field of candidates is starting to take shape, with at least six people already filing paperwork, according to the city's website.
On Wednesday, Supervisor Jane Kim pulled nominating papers for the June election.

On Monday, Angela Alioto formally announced her candidacy and said she is preparing to file later this week. Many more are sure to follow, possibly including Acting Mayor London Breed.

Former state Sen. Mark Leno already has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for a mayoral run, and while he wasn’t expecting to run so soon, he’s in.

Assemblyman David Chiu is weighing a run, and City Attorney Dennis Herrera is reportedly courting money and support.
As for the Board of Supervisors, several have been rumored as candidates, including Mark Farrell, who calls it a "family decision."



https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/california/Field-For-Next-San-Francisco-Mayor-Starting-to-Take-Shape-465310713.html

If this is true, will they ask Paul Ryan to resign?

TN Dem comes JUST short of flipping 72% Trump State Senate district

Dem appears to win recount in key Virginia race by single vote. House of Delegates now 50-50.

Virginia Democrats have claimed at least half the seats in the state House of Delegates after a recount on Tuesday, giving the party a seat at the table in the lower chamber for the first time in two decades.

In a recount Tuesday, Shelly Simonds (D) gained a net of 11 votes, enough to hand her victory over incumbent Del. David Yancey (R) by a single vote. Simonds' win in the 94th district, which covers part of Newport News city, makes hers the 16th Republican-held seat that Democrats picked up in last month's elections.

The new result will leave the House of Delegates split at 50-50, erasing Republicans’ slim 51-49 margin after the November elections, with one recount pending.


In that recount, in the 28th district, Republican Bob Thomas leads Democrat Joshua Cole by 82 votes. The contest was marred by an error that handed a small handful of voters ballots from the wrong district, and Democrats have threatened legal action.

Democrats won all three state executive offices in November, by wider than expected margins.


http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/365664-dem-appears-to-win-recount-in-key-virginia-house-race-by-single-vote


https://twitter.com/TheDLCC/status/943221823075954691

Sessions begins to turn against the FBI

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who oversees the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Friday offered a tepid endorsement of the nation’s leading law enforcement agency, which has been under attack by President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

Trump said earlier this month that the FBI’s reputation was in “tatters” after news came to light that an FBI agent on a team investigating links between Russia and Trump’s election campaign had exchanged anti-Trump text messages with an FBI lawyer.

Sessions on Friday defended the bureau, which is part of the Department of Justice that he leads, but it was not an enthusiastic endorsement.

“I don’t share the view that the FBI is not functioning at a high level all over the country,” he told a news conference.

Sessions’ comments came at a time when former FBI director Robert Mueller is leading an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-fbi/attorney-general-sessions-has-lukewarm-praise-for-fbi-after-trump-attack-idUSKBN1E92P2