Congress Goes On Vacation Days Away From Financial Meltdown

'We have still fundamental disagreements that we have yet to resolve'

'This man right now is having a stare down with me': Judge in Waukesha Christmas parade massacre trial says suspect 'makes me scared,' calls for break



The judge in the Waukesha Christmas parade massacre trial called for a break in Friday's proceedings, saying suspect Darrell Brooks was staring her down, pounding his fist, and making her afraid, WLUK-TV reported.

What are the details?

Brooks — who is representing himself — continually interrupted prosecuting attorneys, and Judge Jennifer Dorow ran out of patience, the station said.

"I need to take a break," Dorow said. "This man right now is having a stare down with me. It's very disrespectful. He pounded his fist. Frankly, it makes me scared. And we're taking a break."

Darrell Brooks trial: He 'makes me scared,' judge says after another outburst, stare down youtu.be

Just prior to Dorow's announcement of the break, a prosecuting attorney was trying to speak and Brooks continually interrupted her.

"One more interruption, and you're gonna be removed to the next courtroom," Dorow told Brooks.

"That's what you wanna do anyway," Brooks replied.

"It's not what I wanna do," the judge replied, again warning Brooks to refrain from interrupting.

When the attorney spoke of Brooks' "seven prior criminal convictions," Brooks apparently pounded his fist on a table. Afterward a camera focused on Brooks, who was staring angrily at the judge.

'This court ain't got no integrity!'

Dorow also said Brooks was purposely disrupting the proceedings to draw out the trial, WLUK reported, and Brooks replied that he felt extremely disrespected by that.

Interestingly when Brooks asked one of his witnesses — a parade attendee — if he saw who was driving the red SUV through the parade, the man replied, "Yeah, you're standing right there," the station said.

When Dorow said Brooks was trying to cast doubt on the integrity of the court, Brooks shouted, "This court ain't got no integrity!" WLUK reported.

Anything else?

The parade massacre took place November 21, 2021, when the driver of a red Ford Escape plowed through the crowd on the parade route, killing six and injuring nearly 50. Among those badly hurt were 18 children. Among those killed was 8-year-old Jackson Sparks, who had been marching in the parade with his baseball team.

If convicted for any of the six murder charges against him, Brooks would get life in prison, WLUK said, adding that he faces 70 other charges as well.

Rep. Rob Wittman calls on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to cancel August recess



Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) is calling upon House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-C.A.) to cancel the congressional chamber's upcoming August recess, arguing that lawmakers should not leave town before completing the American people's business.

"With less than two weeks in session before Congress takes our taxpayer funded recess, the full House has yet to even complete one of the 12 Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations bills that fund the government. As I did in an earlier letter on June 9, I again encourage you to cancel the August district work period and keep members in Washington, D.C., as long as it takes to complete the work of the people," Wittman wrote in his latest letter to Pelosi.

"With so much work left to be done, it boggles the mind as to why anyone would feel justified in taking a month off," he wrote.

Wittman's new letter comes after he sent a similar letter to Pelosi last month.

"I appreciate that district work periods allow members to visit with constituents back in their respective communities, but it has become a habit for Congress to abandon a long 'to do' list in the rush to get out of town," he noted in the June letter. "But Congress has not done its job. Our constituents expect us to stay and complete the work of the American people. The American people expect Congress to work diligently to pass critical national priorities and fund the government through regular order."

Congressman Wittman has served as the representative for Virginia's 1st Congressional District since 2007.

The lawmaker has previously raised these concerns in past years, including when his own party held the House majority. He has also pushed pieces of legislation to tackle these issues.

"We need to know where our money is going and work through our funding packages in a responsible, thoughtful, deliberate way through regular order – not rushed through at the last minute," Wittman said in a statement. "Returning to regular order — moving spending bills through the committee process and the floor where we read, debate, and vote on them — will go a long way towards bringing transparency back to the budget and appropriations process."