5 Stories to Watch Next Week | January 9, 2020

5 Stories to Watch Next Week Unrest Continues as Congress Certifies Biden Victory Following violent unrest at the US Capitol on Wednesday, Congress certified the Electoral College votes and completed the procedural formalities of acknowledging a Joe Biden victory in the 2020 presidential contest. Since Democrats appear to have won both Georgia Senate runoff elections, the Democratic Party will control both chambers of Congress and the White House for the next two years. Watch next week to see whether President Trump continues to challenge the results of the presidential race. Also look out for indications from Republican leaders of how they intend to engineer a Republican comeback in Congress. New York Congressional Race Remains Undecided as New Congress Sworn In In the nation’s final undecided congressional race, incumbent Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-NY) trails Republican challenger Claudia Tenney by a mere 29 votes. Meanwhile, a state judge, Scott DelConte, in upstate New York is reviewing 2,500 challenged ballots in a judicial process that could conclude next week and decide the race. The House seat of the 22nd Congressional District of New York currently remains vacant, even as the new House of Representatives was sworn in. A Republican victory in this race would narrow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) majority in the House. Watch next week to find out whether a winner is determined in the race. If the Republican is victorious, look to find out if the Democratic incumbent asks the House to review the race itself. Supreme Court to Hear Landmark Immigration Case Regarding Asylum Requirements The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Pham v. Guzman Chavez, a landmark asylum case, on Monday. The case deals with the issue of whether noncitizens with pending asylum cases in immigration courts can be released on bond to avoid detention before a final decision is rendered in their case. The US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government must allow a bond hearing to determine whether someone is a flight risk and release them from custody if they are not. Watch out next week to see whether the conservative justices signal support for the due process concerns raised by the plaintiffs or whether they defer to the Trump administration’s policy on asylum issues. Also look to find out whether the incoming Biden administration reverses the policy in question, rendering the case moot. New York Stock Exchange to Delist Chinese Telecom Stocks The New York Stock Exchange will move forward with delisting three Chinese telecommunications companies — China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp., and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. — in accordance with an executive order signed by President Trump. The order seeks to ban trading in the securities of companies that the Trump administration says have connections to the Chinese military. The exchange attempted to backtrack its decision to delist the concerned stocks earlier this week. However, following sharp criticism from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who accused the exchange of serving Chinese interests, the exchange decided to proceed with the delisting. Watch next week to follow the impact this decision will have on the stock prices of the aforementioned telecommunication companies. Also look to find out if the Chinese Communist Party chooses to retaliate in order to secure its economic interests. EU Authorizes Moderna COVID Vaccine for Rollout This week, the European Union authorized the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Moderna. The European Medicines Agency granted conditional marketing authorization to the vaccine for distribution across the bloc. This is the second COVID-19 vaccine that the EU has approved for use. The EU has purchased 160 million doses of the vaccine, allowing the body to vaccinate nearly one-fifth of its citizens. As part of its contract, Moderna has promised to deliver all of its doses between now and Sept. 2021. Watch next week to see how the EU chooses to prioritize the doses between various demographic groups given the limited quantity of the vaccine. Also look to find out if individual European nations are able to roll out the vaccine smoothly along with the Pfizer vaccine, which is also in circulation. Newt's Latest Podcasts: On Sale Now: