Розділ: Політика
Biden to Sign Order Promoting Government Purchase of US Goods
U.S. President Joe Biden is signing an order Monday strengthening the national government’s commitment to buy American-made goods at a time when the world’s largest economy is slowing because of the coronavirus pandemic.While all U.S. leaders have committed the government to Buy American programs, the White House said Biden’s order would “close loopholes that allow companies to offshore production and jobs while still qualifying for domestic preferences.”The White House said the Biden order “will ensure that the federal government is investing taxpayer dollars in American businesses—both small and large,” including from entrepreneurs and businesses owned by minorities.“The dollars the federal government spends on goods and services are a powerful tool to support American workers and manufacturers,” the White House said, with contracting alone accounting for nearly $600 billion in federal spending.The White House said Biden’s order would direct federal agencies to close loopholes in the definition of American products to make certain they have been sufficiently manufactured in the United States to qualify as an American-made product.It said Biden would name an official in the Office of Management and Budget to oversee the government’s Buy American plan and increase oversight of waivers that in the past have been granted to domestic preference laws.“This order is deeply intertwined with the President’s commitment to invest in American manufacturing, including clean energy and critical supply chains, grow good-paying, union jobs, and advance racial equity,” the White House said.Biden’s Buy America order is the latest in a string of executive orders he has signed in his first five days in office since assuming power last Wednesday from former President Donald Trump.Biden has overturned an array of Trump policies, including announcing U.S. intentions to rejoin the international Paris climate change accord and stay in the World Health Organization, lifting the ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. armed forces and halting funding for construction of Trump’s wall along the Mexican border.In addition, Biden has sought to ramp up production of vaccines to curb the spread of the coronavirus and ordered people to wear face masks while on federal property and while using mass transportation.
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By Polityk | 01/26/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Dr. Jill Biden Steps Into First Lady Role
Jill Biden, the wife of recently inaugurated President Joe Biden, has made it clear that education policy will be a priority for her in the White House. Jill Biden is familiar with life in Washington as her husband spent 36 years in the U.S. Senate and eight years as vice president under Barack Obama. VOA’s Esha Sarai and Carolyn Presutti bring us more about the new U.S. first lady in this profile.Video editors: Marcus Harton, Esha Sarai
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By Polityk | 01/25/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
US House to Deliver Impeachment Articles to Senate
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to officially send its articles of impeachment to the Senate on Monday, charging former President Donald Trump with inciting insurrection in connection with the storming of the Capitol by a mob of his supporters earlier this month.The trial in the Senate is set to begin the week of February 8 after Democrats and Republicans agreed to a short delay in order to give both the lawmakers who will serve as prosecutors and Trump’s defense team time to prepare. The extra time will also allow the Senate a chance to confirm some of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
FILE – Pro-Trump protesters storm the U.S. Capitol to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.”There is no evidence this election was stolen,” Romney said.One of the House Democratic impeachment managers who will present the case in the Senate against Trump, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, told CNN that they will “put together a case that is so compelling” to confront “the big lie” that Trump had been cheated out of reelection.She called Trump’s incitement of insurrection “an extraordinary, heinous crime. The American public saw what happened.””This was a terrifying moment … incited by the president,” she said. “This cannot go unanswered.”
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By Polityk | 01/25/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Two Key Republicans at Odds Over Trump Impeachment Trial
Two key U.S. Republican senators — Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney — disagreed sharply Sunday about the merits of the upcoming Senate impeachment trial of former Republican President Donald Trump, who is accused of inciting insurrection in the storming of the U.S. Capitol by hundreds of his supporters on January 6.At a rally near the White House that day, Trump urged supporters to march to the Capitol to fight for him in confronting lawmakers as they debated whether to certify the Electoral College vote showing he had lost reelection to President Joe Biden. Biden was inaugurated last week as the country’s 46th president.Rubio, a Florida lawmaker, told the “Fox News Sunday” show that Trump “bears responsibility for some of what happened.” But Rubio said he opposes the Senate trial after the House of Representatives impeached Trump.FILE – Republican Senator Marco Rubio speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 19, 2021.The mayhem left five people dead, including a police officer whose death is being investigated as a homicide. Trump supporters — roughly 800, according to officials — rampaged past authorities, ransacked some congressional offices and scuffled with police before order was restored and lawmakers in the early hours of January 7 officially declared Biden the winner.
“We’re just going to jump right back into what we’ve been going through for the last five years and bring it up with a trial and it’s going to be bad for the country,” he said. “It really is.”“This is not a criminal trial,” Rubio said. “This is a political process and would fuel these divisions that have paralyzed the country.” Romney, a senator from Utah and the losing Republican presidential candidate in 2012, told CNN, “I believe incitement to insurrection is an impeachable offense. If not, what is?”Romney said he believes Trump was “complicit in an unprecedented attack on our democracy.”FILE – Supporters of then-U.S. President Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.At the rally before hundreds of his supporters walked 16 blocks to the Capitol, Trump repeated weeks of unfounded complaints that he had been cheated out of reelection by fraudulent votes and vote-counting even though he had lost 60 court challenges to the outcome, including in rulings by some judges he had appointed.“There is no evidence this election was stolen,” Romney said.FILE – Republican Senator Mitt Romney speaks with members of the media on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 16, 2020.The Senate trial starts the week of February 8. A two-thirds majority in the Senate would be required to convict Trump. With the Senate politically divided between 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats, 17 Republicans would have to turn against Trump for a conviction, assuming all Democrats vote as a bloc against the former president.If he is convicted, a separate, simply-majority vote could bar Trump from holding federal office again.Already, Trump stands as the only U.S. president in the country’s 245-year history to be impeached twice. The House impeached him in late 2019, accusing him of trying to enlist Ukraine to dig up dirt against Biden ahead of the November election, but the Senate acquitted him last February.Romney was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump in his first impeachment trial, but several Republicans have said they are open to convicting him of inciting insurrection after the January 6 melee that forced lawmakers to scramble for their safety as the rioters rushed into the halls of Congress. One of the House Democratic impeachment managers who will present the case in the Senate against Trump, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, told CNN that they will “put together a case that is so compelling” to confront “the big lie” that Trump had been cheated out of reelection.She called Trump’s incitement of insurrection “an extraordinary, heinous crime. The American public saw what happened.”“This was a terrifying moment … incited by the president,” she said. “This cannot go unanswered.”
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By Polityk | 01/25/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democrats Start Reining in Expectations for Immigration Bill
It’s taken only days for Democrats gauging how far President Joe Biden’s bold immigration proposal can go in Congress to acknowledge that if anything emerges, it will likely be significantly more modest.As they brace to tackle a politically flammable issue that’s resisted major congressional action since the 1980s, Democrats are using words like “aspirational” to describe Biden’s plan and “herculean” to express the effort they’ll need to prevail.A cautious note came from the White House on Friday when press secretary Jen Psaki said the new administration views Biden’s plan as a “first step” it hopes will be “the basis” of discussions in Congress. Democrats’ measured tones underscore the fragile road they face on a paramount issue for their minority voters, progressives and activists.Immigration proponents advocating an all-out fight say Democrats’ new hold on the White House and Congress provides a major edge, but they concede they may have to accept less than total victory. Paving a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally, the centerpiece of Biden’s plan, is “the stake at the summit of the mountain,” Frank Sharry, executive director of the pro-immigration group America’s Voice, said in an interview. He said proponents might have to accept “stepping stones” along the way.Immigration reduction aidThe citizenship process in Biden’s plan would take as little as three years for some people, eight years for others. It would make it easier for certain workers to stay in the U.S. temporarily or permanently, provide development aid to Central American nations in hopes of reducing immigration and move toward bolstering border screening technology.FILE – Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a news conference about the “Dream Act” on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec, 18, 2010.No. 2 Senate Democratic leader Richard Durbin of Illinois said in an interview this week that the likeliest package to emerge would start with creating a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers. They are an estimated 1 million immigrants who’ve lived in the U.S. most of their lives after being brought here illegally as children.More than 600,000 of them have temporary permission to live in the U.S. under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. Former President Barack Obama created that program administratively, and Durbin and others want to protect it by enacting it into law.Durbin, who called Biden’s plan “aspirational,” said he’d push for as many other elements as possible, including more visas for agricultural workers and others.’Political reality'”We understand the political reality of a 50-50 Senate, that any changes in immigration will require cooperation between the parties,” said Durbin, who is on track to become Senate Judiciary Committee chairman. He said Senate legislation likely “will not reach the same levels” as Biden’s proposal. The Senate is split evenly between the two parties, with Vice President Kamala Harris tipping the chamber to Democrats with her tiebreaking vote. Even so, passing major legislation requires 60 votes to overcome filibusters, or endless procedural delays. That means 10 Republicans must join all 50 Democrats to enact an immigration measure, a tall order.FILE – Ifeoma Eh, a citizen candidate from Nigeria, stands with others socially distanced and wearing protective face masks, during a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization ceremony in New York, July 22, 2020.”Passing immigration reform through the Senate, particularly, is a herculean task,” said Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who will also play a lead role in the battle. He said Democrats “will get it done” but the effort will require negotiation.Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who’s worked with Democrats on past immigration efforts, said “comprehensive immigration is going to be a tough sale” this year.”I think the space in a 50-50 Senate will be some kind of DACA deal,” he said.Illustrating the bargaining ahead, Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, a moderate who’s sought earlier immigration compromises, praised parts of Biden’s plan but said she wanted changes, including more visas for the foreign workers her state’s tourism industry uses heavily.Biden’s other prioritiesDemocrats’ hurdles are formidable. They have razor-thin majorities in a House and Senate where Republican support for easing immigration restrictions is usually scant. Acrid partisan relationships were intensified by former President Donald Trump’s clamorous tenure. Biden will have to spend plenty of political capital and time on earlier, higher-priority bills battling the pandemic and bolstering the economy, leaving his future clout uncertain.Democrats also must resolve tactical differences. Sharry said immigration groups prefer that Democrats push for the strongest possible bill without concessions to Republicans’ demands, like boosting border security spending. He said hopes for a bipartisan breakthrough are “a fool’s errand” because the GOP has largely opposed immigration overhauls for so long.But prevailing without GOP votes would mean virtual unanimity among congressional Democrats, a huge challenge. It would also mean Democrats would have to eliminate the Senate filibuster, which they may not have the votes to do, or concoct other procedural routes around the 60-vote hurdle.”I’m going to start negotiating” with Republicans, Durbin said. He added that a bipartisan bill would be better “if we can do it” because it would improve chances for passage.Democrats already face attacks from Republicans, eyeing next year’s elections, on an issue that helped power Trump’s 2016 victory by fortifying his support from many white voters.FILE – House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., gives his assessment of the GOP’s performance in the general election as he speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 4, 2020.House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Biden’s proposal would “prioritize help for illegal immigrants and not our fellow citizens.” Senator Rick Scott, R-Fla., who heads the Senate Republican campaign committee, said the measure would hurt “hardworking Americans and the millions of immigrants working their way through the legal immigration process.”Democrats say such allegations are false but say it’s difficult to compose crisp, sound-bite responses on the complex issue. It requires having “an adult conversation” with voters, Representative Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., said in an interview.”Yeah, this is about people, but it’s about the economy,” too, said Spanberger, a moderate from a district where farms and technology firms hire many immigrants. “In central Virginia, we rely on immigration. And you may not like that, but we do.”
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By Polityk | 01/24/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Iran’s Domestic, Diaspora Critics Differ on How Biden Should Counter Tehran’s Behavior
Prominent Iran-based and Iranian diaspora critics of Tehran’s Islamist rulers have differing expectations about how far U.S. President Joe Biden will go to implement his promised new approach to dealing with Iran’s objectionable behavior.Biden, who took office on Wednesday, has vowed to use diplomacy in coordination with U.S. allies to try to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 deal in which world powers offered Iranian leaders sanctions relief in return for curbs on nuclear activities that could be diverted into weapons production.Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, saying it was not tough enough on Iran, and unilaterally tightened U.S. sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran into scrapping its nuclear program and other activities deemed a threat to the U.S. and its allies. Tehran has vowed to defy what Trump called his “maximum pressure” policy and has denied seeking nuclear weapons.The Biden administration has said Iran must stop the escalating series of JCPOA violations that it began in retaliation for the 2018 pullout and return to compliance before the U.S. also returns to the deal. Tehran has said Washington should make the first move by easing sanctions. Other world powers, including U.S. allies in Europe, have called on both the U.S. and Iran to fully recommit to the 2015 agreement.Some of Tehran’s Iran-based and Iranian diaspora critics who appeared in VOA Persian’s TV coverage of Biden’s Wednesday inauguration said they expect him to be more aligned with European powers than was Trump in responding to Iran’s nuclear deal violations.Ali Vaez, an Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Biden is likely to take the initiative by signing an executive order rescinding Trump’s 2018 nuclear deal pullout.FILE – US President Donald Trump holds up a proclamation declaring his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement after signing it in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, May 8, 2018.“We can expect Iran to do the same and start the process of returning to its full compliance under the JCPOA,” Vaez said. “Eventually, the JCPOA’s joint commission can set a two- to three-month timeline for both sides to take steps to return to their commitments, for example by Iran sending its enriched uranium stockpile overseas and the U.S. restoring access to some of Iran’s blocked bank accounts on the same day,” he added.Ghasem Sholeh-Saadi, a Tehran University law professor and former Iranian lawmaker, said he expects Biden to usher in a “remarkable” change in U.S. coordination with its European allies on Iran.“Biden has the international credibility to be able to form a significant coalition against Iran if he wants to pursue that path,” Sholeh-Saadi said.Other Iranian diaspora commentators said they expect Biden to build on, rather than abandon, Trump’s maximum pressure policy toward Tehran.Abbas Milani, director of Iran studies at Stanford University, said the escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions in the years since the JCPOA was signed makes it impossible to return to the deal.“I don’t see President Biden and his team returning to an agreement from which Iran has effectively withdrawn,” Milani said.Bijan Kian, who worked with Trump’s 2016 presidential transition team on intelligence issues said he expects Biden to negotiate any new deal to stop objectionable Iranian behavior from a position of strength built by the Trump administration. Under such an agreement, Iran’s ruling clerics would have a “very tough road ahead,” he said.FILE – Iranian protesters gather around a fire during a demonstration against an increase in gasoline prices in the capital Tehran, Nov. 16, 2019.Iranian diaspora rights activists also differed in how they said Biden should respond to Iran’s suppression of anti-government protests and its imprisonment and executions of dissidents in recent years.Amir Hossein Etemadi, a Washington-based member of pro-democracy group Iran Revival (Farashgard), said the Biden administration should support Iranians’ desire for democracy in the same way that he believes the Trump administration did. Biden “must stand with the Iranian people against their government, because Iranians are peace-loving and seek friendship with the U.S.,” he said.Roya Boroumand, co-founder of the rights group Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, said Biden should go further than Trump in helping the Iranian people to raise their voices.She said the Trump administration erred by not including its calls for Iran to stop domestic repression of dissent as one of multiple U.S. conditions for ending “maximum pressure” against Tehran. Most of those conditions involved Iran stopping its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and ending its support for Islamist militants who have fought the U.S. and its allies in the region.“Trump’s approach conveyed a bad message to the Iranian regime that changes in its foreign policy would be enough to remove the maximum pressure,” Boroumand said. “It also enabled Iranians who have no respect for human rights to tell others that the U.S. also disregards human rights and uses them just to promote political agendas.”This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service.
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By Polityk | 01/24/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Iran’s Domestic, Diaspora Critics Differ on How Biden May Counter Tehran’s Objectionable Behavior
Prominent Iran-based and Iranian diaspora critics of Tehran’s Islamist rulers have differing expectations about how far U.S. President Joe Biden will go to implement his promised new approach to dealing with Iran’s objectionable behavior.Biden, who took office on Wednesday, has vowed to use diplomacy in coordination with U.S. allies to try to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 deal in which world powers offered Iranian leaders sanctions relief in return for curbs on nuclear activities that could be diverted into weapons production.Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, saying it was not tough enough on Iran, and unilaterally tightened U.S. sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran into scrapping its nuclear program and other activities deemed a threat to the U.S. and its allies. Tehran has vowed to defy what Trump called his “maximum pressure” policy and has denied seeking nuclear weapons.The Biden administration has said Iran must stop the escalating series of JCPOA violations that it began in retaliation for the 2018 pullout and return to compliance before the U.S. also returns to the deal. Tehran has said Washington should make the first move by easing sanctions. Other world powers, including U.S. allies in Europe, have called on both the U.S. and Iran to fully recommit to the 2015 agreement.Some of Tehran’s Iran-based and Iranian diaspora critics who appeared in VOA Persian’s TV coverage of Biden’s Wednesday inauguration said they expect him to be more aligned with European powers than was Trump in responding to Iran’s nuclear deal violations.Ali Vaez, an Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Biden is likely to take the initiative by signing an executive order rescinding Trump’s 2018 nuclear deal pullout.FILE – US President Donald Trump holds up a proclamation declaring his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement after signing it in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, May 8, 2018.“We can expect Iran to do the same and start the process of returning to its full compliance under the JCPOA,” Vaez said. “Eventually, the JCPOA’s joint commission can set a two- to three-month timeline for both sides to take steps to return to their commitments, for example by Iran sending its enriched uranium stockpile overseas and the U.S. restoring access to some of Iran’s blocked bank accounts on the same day,” he added.Ghasem Sholeh-Saadi, a Tehran University law professor and former Iranian lawmaker, said he expects Biden to usher in a “remarkable” change in U.S. coordination with its European allies on Iran.“Biden has the international credibility to be able to form a significant coalition against Iran if he wants to pursue that path,” Sholeh-Saadi said.Other Iranian diaspora commentators said they expect Biden to build on, rather than abandon, Trump’s maximum pressure policy toward Tehran.Abbas Milani, director of Iran studies at Stanford University, said the escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions in the years since the JCPOA was signed makes it impossible to return to the deal.“I don’t see President Biden and his team returning to an agreement from which Iran has effectively withdrawn,” Milani said.Bijan Kian, who worked with Trump’s 2016 presidential transition team on intelligence issues said he expects Biden to negotiate any new deal to stop objectionable Iranian behavior from a position of strength built by the Trump administration. Under such an agreement, Iran’s ruling clerics would have a “very tough road ahead,” he said.Iranian diaspora rights activists also differed in how they said Biden should respond to Iran’s suppression of antigovernment protests and its imprisonment and executions of dissidents in recent years.Amir Hossein Etemadi, a Washington-based member of pro-democracy group Iran Revival (Farashgard), said the Biden administration should support Iranians’ desire for democracy in the same way that he believes the Trump administration did. Biden “must stand with the Iranian people against their government, because Iranians are peace-loving and seek friendship with the U.S.,” he said.Roya Boroumand, co-founder of the rights group Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, said Biden should go further than Trump in helping the Iranian people to raise their voices.She said the Trump administration erred by not including its calls for Iran to stop domestic repression of dissent as one of multiple U.S. conditions for ending “maximum pressure” against Tehran. Most of those conditions involved Iran stopping its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and ending its support for Islamist militants who have fought the U.S. and its allies in the region.“Trump’s approach conveyed a bad message to the Iranian regime that changes in its foreign policy would be enough to remove the maximum pressure,” Boroumand said. “It also enabled Iranians who have no respect for human rights to tell others that the U.S. also disregards human rights and uses them just to promote political agendas.”This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service.
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By Polityk | 01/23/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump’s Impeachment Article Heads to Senate
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to send an article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday, accusing the former president of inciting an insurrection during the Jan. 6 mob storming of the Capitol. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story on why Democrats are still keen to pursue impeachment even with Trump no longer in power.
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By Polityk | 01/23/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Texas Sues Biden Administration Over Halt to Deportations
Texas on Friday moved to stop President Joe Biden from allowing a 100-day moratorium on deportations, bringing one of the first lawsuits against his new administration.The lawsuit seeks a halt to the deportation moratorium “for certain noncitizens” that was to begin Friday. Biden has signed a raft of executive orders, including one revoking former President Donald Trump’s mandate that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation.Texas claims the moratorium violates an agreement, signed in the waning weeks of Trump’s presidency, that required the federal government to run changes in immigration enforcement past the state first. BuzzFeed News first reported the Trump administration signing similar agreements with Republican leaders in several states. Legal scholars have expressed doubt that the agreements will be enforceable in court.”Failure to properly enforce the law will directly and immediately endanger our citizens and law enforcement personnel,” Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.The Department of Homeland Security referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond.The lawsuit, which repeatedly cites Texas’ agreement with the Trump administration, was filed before U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee, in the Southern District of Texas.Biden’s actionsSince taking office Wednesday, Biden has shown intent to unwind many of Trump’s immigration crackdowns. His first steps included stopping construction of a border wall with Mexico and lifting a travel ban on people from several predominantly Muslim countries.Biden also says he will push to give legal status and a path to citizenship to anyone in the United States before January 1, an estimated 11 million people.Texas shares more than 1,200 miles of border with Mexico, which the state’s Republican leaders say makes the state particularly invested in the nation’s immigration policies. It also received thousands of refugees annually before Trump virtually ended admissions.FILE – People rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Nov. 12, 2019.The state is leading a fight to overturn the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program former President Barack Obama instituted in 2012 that confers limited protections on immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Friday’s lawsuit echoes many of the same arguments Texas is making against DACA — for instance, that immigrants without authorization drain educational and health care resources. Supporters of immigrant protections say those arguments are flawed and that immigrants help the state’s economy and health care sector, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.In bringing one of the first lawsuits against the Biden administration, Paxton is eager to be seen as a champion for Republicans — not just as Democrats reclaim power in Washington, but as his own career is under dark clouds.The FBI is investigating Paxton, who was a loyal Trump ally, over accusations by top former aides that he abused his office at the service of a donor. Separately, Paxton has pleaded not guilty in state court to felony fraud charges in a five-year-old case.
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By Polityk | 01/23/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Impeachment Charge Against Trump to Be Sent to Senate Monday
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday will send an article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate, Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday, beginning a trial at which the former president could be convicted of inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.”There will be a trial,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “It will be a full trial. It will be a fair trial.”Democrats rejected Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s request to delay Trump’s impeachment trial until next month on the ground that Trump’s legal team needs more time to develop a defense strategy.Trump is the first U.S. president to be impeached twice and the first to go on trial after leaving office. Schumer did not say when Trump’s second impeachment trial would begin, but if he is convicted of the single charge of incitement of insurrection, he could be barred from holding federal office again.GOP reservationsA conviction would require at least 17 Republican Senate votes, but to date only a handful of Republicans have indicated they would consider convicting Trump, and most have questioned the legality of trying a president after his term has ended. Republicans also have complained a trial would be divisive and distract the new Biden administration.As preparations for the trial continue, Schumer and McConnell, the Senate’s majority leader until Democrats narrowly won control earlier this month, are vying for advantage in the evenly divided Senate, where Democrats now have an edge because of Vice President Kamala Harris’ tiebreaking vote.Shortly before the January 6 insurrection that resulted in the deaths of five people, Trump told thousands of supporters at a rally near the White House to “fight like hell” against his election loss, which Congress was in the process of formally certifying.Thousands of his supporters marched to the Capitol and hundreds of them broke in, delaying the certification of the results. A Capitol Police officer was among those who died in the rioting. The House impeached Trump one week later, with the support of 10 Republicans who joined Democrats in voting to impeach.
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By Polityk | 01/23/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Senate Confirms Biden’s Choice for Secretary of Defense
U.S. President Joe Biden got a needed boost early Friday, with lawmakers giving final approval to his secretary of defense, who becomes only the second Cabinet member to be confirmed the administration seeks to push back against key adversaries, including Russia.The Senate voted 93–2 to confirm retired General Lloyd Austin, making him the first African American to lead the Department of Defense.“It’s an honor and a privilege to serve as our country’s 28th Secretary of Defense, and I’m especially proud to be the first African American to hold the position. Let’s get to work,” tweeted Austin Friday.It’s an honor and a privilege to serve as our country’s 28th Secretary of Defense, and I’m especially proud to be the first African American to hold the position. Let’s get to work. White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Jan. 21, 2021.White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also confirmed Thursday that Biden is asking the intelligence community for assessments on suspect Russian actions, including the SolarWinds cyberhack, interference in November’s presidential election, the use of chemical weapons against opposition leader Alexei Navalny and alleged bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.The newly confirmed Austin will likely have to confront other pressing concerns, including Chinese and Iranian aggression, as well as what direction to take in conflict zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, where former president Donald Trump oversaw recently concluded troop drawdowns.With Friday’s vote in the Senate, Austin becomes just the second member of the new U.S. security team to be confirmed.Nominee for Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee during a confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 19, 2021.Lawmakers confirmed Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines late Wednesday.Haines, the first woman to lead the U.S. intelligence committee was sworn in early Thursday and proceeded to take part in the president’s daily intelligence briefing.In a statement Thursday, she said the work of the country’s intelligence agencies “has never been more vital to our nation’s security or prosperity.”NEW: Avril Haines takes the reins at @ODNIgov”Serving in this role is the honor of a lifetime” she says in statement, calling the intel community “the very best this country has to offer…patriots of extraordinary talent & expertise, who work tirelessly to protect our nation” https://t.co/yHZSiaVtot— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) January 21, 2021Despite the confirmation of Haines and Austin, additional critical positions – at the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and at the Central Intelligence Agency, remain unfilled.The Senate is also expected to move on other key nominees, such as former Ambassador William Burns, tapped to run the Central Intelligence Agency.“Even as power changes hands from one administration to the other, the work of keeping our nation safe must not be paused or be disrupted,” new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told fellow lawmakers late Thursday, urging them to move with haste.“Foreign adversaries will seek to exploit this period of transition, and we cannot allow America’s military, intelligence and national security policy to be disrupted by staffing delays,” he said.
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By Polityk | 01/23/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Focuses on Families Hard Hit by Pandemic on 2nd Full Day in Office
U.S. president Joe Biden is expected to sign at least two executive orders Friday aimed at providing financial and food security to families impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The newly inaugurated president will order the Department of Agriculture to expand benefits in the country’s food program in one of the orders. Many people who have been laid off from their jobs because of the pandemic have sought help finding food.In addition, the new president is seeking a 15% increase in a school meals program that began after the pandemic. Biden officials say the increase in the school-based program could result in a family with three children receiving more than $100 in extra benefits every two months. Pandemic stimulus checks
An executive order on pandemic stimulus checks seeks to deliver the checks to people who are eligible to receive them but have not.”Many Americans faced challenges receiving the first round of direct payments and as many as eight million eligible households did not receive the payments issued in March,” a White House fact sheet said. Also Friday, Biden will have his first conversation with a foreign leader. The president is scheduled to have a telephone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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By Polityk | 01/22/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
DC Diplomatic Corps Among Few Invited to Witness Biden Inauguration
Despite the health and security concerns that kept the usual large crowds away from this week’s swearing-in of a new American president, one Washington community was well represented at the solemn ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol – the diplomatic corps.For many of them, the ceremony was a moving reaffirmation of the strength and durability of American democracy just 14 days after an insurrection that had shaken both the nation and its allies around the world.“There are 190 ambassadors in Washington, I would say there were at least 180 ambassadors there,” Daniel Mulhall, Ireland’s ambassador in the United States, told VOA in a phone interview. “I can’t imagine anybody [who’s invited] not being there, except somebody being sick or something.”Mulhall said he and the other ambassadors were seated directly in front of the Capitol where President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in. “We had a very good view,” he said. “I certainly was quite moved by the ceremony, by the president’s speech.“I kept thinking about his great-great-grandparents were born in Ireland and all of them left Ireland, in circumstances of difficulty and deprivation; and to think of their descendant becoming U.S. president was quite moving,” Mulhall said.”I see the story of the Blewitts & the Finnegans, brought to light by their great-great grandson’s extraordinary success, as emblematic of the larger saga of Irish immigrants in America.”Amb @DanMulhall’s blog on fellow poetry lover President @JoeBiden?https://t.co/VJhNVGrTnDpic.twitter.com/0NTguqRYJu— Embassy of Ireland USA (@IrelandEmbUSA) January 20, 2021The ambassador added that an Irish violinist had played a passage written by an Irish composer during a Mass attended by Biden, family members and other luminaries at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle hours before the swearing-in. The day before, Mulhall had met with the violinist and recorded a duet of poetry reading, accompanied by music, for the incoming president. Irish violinist Patricia Treacy came to the Embassy yesterday and we recorded this W.B. #Yeats poem, ‘Down by the Sally Gardens’ which we dedicate to President @JoeBiden, a fan of Yeats’s work. Patricia will play the violin at today’s #inauguration. @culture_irelandpic.twitter.com/UvBb2Yas4V— Daniel Mulhall (@DanMulhall) January 20, 2021Martin Weiss represents Austria in Washington. Sitting right before the U.S. Capitol, he said, he was struck by the fact that this celebration of democracy was taking place on the very spot where, two weeks earlier, a riotous mob had attempted to force Congress to overturn the result of the November election. One “can’t just forget what happened on January 6th; we all have the pictures in the back of our heads … We’ve seen the Capitol – just weeks ago, it looked very different on that day.”He observed that many speakers spoke of the tragedy and violence that took place, “but then they moved on – in a very American spirit.”“I was and am deeply moved by the United States of America and the determination of the American people,” said André Haspels, Netherlands’ ambassador, in a written response to questions from VOA. He said he was “impressed by the speed at which the government was able to adapt and produce a ceremony that served to unite the nation as the country makes its way forward.”Haspels described the U.S. Capitol as “a global symbol of democratic norms and values” and remarked that the resilience displayed by all three branches of the American government – the legislative, judicial and executive – at Wednesday’s event “should serve as notice that American democracy is strong.”Two weeks ago, America’s democracy was shaken to its core. But today, the US will show its resilience once more. It’s good to attend today’s ceremony at the Capitol, which is and will always be a worldwide symbol of democratic norms and values. #InaugurationDaypic.twitter.com/UdV8IrPGDG— André Haspels (@NLAmbassadorUSA) January 20, 2021Weiss added that he was heartened by the unity and bipartisanship at the swearing-in ceremony, led by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar and Republican Senator Roy Blunt. “After January 6th, who would have thought this was even possible?” Weiss reflected.“After such a celebratory moment, you get down to the nitty-gritty of politics, then things often get a very different tone; but this is a moment where you have speakers from the Republican party and the Democratic party, you kind of tie it all together for a moment. I think that’s so important that you see this is possible.”Envoys from around the world posted images of themselves in front of the U.S. Capitol taken on Inauguration Day.Pleasure to attend the historic ceremony ! https://t.co/TweqATUBJV— Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) January 20, 2021Honored to represent the people and government of Taiwan here at the inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris. pic.twitter.com/KSatj8vIln— Bi-khim Hsiao 蕭美琴 (@bikhim) January 20, 2021Very honored to be attending the inauguration of @JoeBiden as President of the United States. I’m excited to work with his administration to advance a broad and dynamic Brazil-U.S. agenda. @KamalaHarris@ABlinken@Cartajuanero@JohnKerrypic.twitter.com/K53HOS1iiy— Nestor Forster Jr. (@BRAmbassadorUS) January 20, 2021“To witness history and the transfer of American power in the heart of democracy is a privilege,” Haspels said.Ambassadors from nearly 200 countries with missions in Washington didn’t receive their invitations to attend the event until last week. Weiss said he wouldn’t have been surprised if diplomats had been advised that they would have to participate in the event virtually, as has been the case with so many events over the past year. “In corona time, nothing is taken for granted,” he said. “I think that was a conscious choice, to include the diplomatic corps,” Weiss said, adding that he viewed the invitation from the State Department’s Office of Protocol as a diplomatic signal that “America is open for international business, for international relations.”The presence of American-born-and-raised global pop culture icons, as well as the country’s youthful energy and talent, were also on display at the inauguration and it did not go unnoticed by the envoys.Haspels said he enjoyed Lady Gaga’s rendition of the national anthem, and “a moment that resonated with me was the extraordinary poem read by the youth laureate poet, Ms. Amanda Gorman.” Weiss said he thought “the star power” helped to “bring everyone in” and that it was nice to “not have politicians among politicians speaking political language.” “All in all, it was a beautiful event,” he said, and a “positive and uplifting moment” for those who were there.And – what was a dignified ceremony with many striking moments and a touching speech by President Biden – has come to an end. A true honor to represent Austria on this important day.#Inauguration2021pic.twitter.com/u7xQNC7uVm— Martin Weiss (@martinoweiss) January 20, 2021
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By Polityk | 01/22/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Cesar Chavez’s Son Happy Dad’s Bust is in Biden Oval Office
Paul Chavez had no idea where a sculpture of his father, Latino American civil rights and labor leader Cesar Chavez, would end up in the White House.He agreed just this week to lend the bronze bust to President Joe Biden and hustled to get it wrapped up and shipped across the country from California. It was an utter surprise Wednesday when he saw Biden at his desk in the Oval Office, with the bust of the late Cesar Chavez right behind the president.“We’re still smiling cheek to cheek,” Paul Chavez said in an interview Thursday.Biden pressed themes of unity and inclusivity and advocacy for racial justice during the campaign, and Chavez said Biden appeared to be trying to convey that through a series of quick decorative changes he’s made to the world’s most powerful office.Chavez said the prominent placement of his father’s likeness in the White House sends the message that it’s a “new day” following the tenure of Donald Trump and the anti-immigrant policies that he and his advisers pushed. Chavez, who is president and chairman of the board of directors of the foundation named for his father, predicted that “the contributions of working people, of immigrants, of Latinos … will be taken into account” in the new administration.Whenever Biden is seen at his desk, Chavez, a farm worker advocate, will be there, too.Clinton-era rug, drapesBiden revealed his Oval Office touch-up Wednesday as he signed a raft of executive orders and other actions in his first hours as the nation’s 46th president.The most visually striking change is Biden’s choice of a deep blue rug, with the presidential seal in the middle, that was last used by President Bill Clinton, to replace a light-colored rug laid down by Trump. Biden is also using Clinton’s deep gold draperies.Busts of civil rights activists Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are also on display, along with a sculpture of President Harry Truman. Biden removed a bust of Winston Churchill, the former British prime minister.On the wall across from Biden’s desk is a portrait collage of predecessors George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt, along with Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father and former treasury secretary.No longer on display is a portrait of President Andrew Jackson, a Trump favorite who signed the Indian Removal Act that forced tens of thousands of Native Americans out of their homeland.Red button goneBiden is keeping the Resolute desk, so named because it was built using oak from the British Arctic exploration ship HMS Resolute. But he got rid of the red button that Trump had on the desk and would push to have a butler bring him a Diet Coke, his beverage of choice.All presidents tweak the Oval Office decor at the start of their terms to reflect their personal tastes or to telegraph broader messages to the public.The White House maintains a vast collection of furniture, paintings and other artifacts that they can choose from. Presidents are also allowed to borrow items from the Smithsonian and other museums. The White House curator oversees everything, and the makeover is carried out in the hours after the outgoing president leaves the mansion and before the new president arrives.Biden also replaced a row of military service flags Trump used to decorate the office with a single American flag and a flag with the presidential seal, both positioned behind his desk.He also chose a tufted, dark brown leather chair instead of keeping the reddish-brown desk chair Trump used.
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By Polityk | 01/22/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
46th US President Makes Immediate Changes to Policy, Rules
President Joe Biden has taken over as America’s leader at a time of sickness, acrimony and division. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti introduces us to the 78-year-old man who will guide the United States for the next four years.
Camera: Carolyn Presutti
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By Polityk | 01/22/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
With Control of the White House and Congress, Democrats Have 2 Years to Enact Change
The United States returns to a unified government this week as Joe Biden becomes the 46th president and Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate. With the U.S. House continuing under the Democratic party leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Biden has an opportunity to enact big legislative changes. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports.
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By Polityk | 01/22/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
7 Senate Democrats Ask Ethics Panel to Investigate Cruz, Hawley
Seven Democratic senators asked the Senate Ethics Committee on Thursday to investigate the actions of Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley “to fully understand their role” in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.Thousands had gathered that day as Congress voted to formally certify Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in November. Hawley and Cruz led objections in the Senate to Biden’s victory, despite the widespread recognition that the effort would fail.In the end, Congress certified Biden’s Electoral College victory, but not before thousands marched to the Capitol at Trump’s urging, overwhelmed security and interrupted the proceedings. In the end, the violence led to five deaths, injured dozens of police officers and caused extensive damage to the Capitol.The Democratic senators said the question for the Senate to determine was not whether Cruz and Hawley had the right to object, but whether the senators failed to put loyalty “to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party or government department.” They also said the investigation should determine whether Cruz, of Texas, and Hawley, of Missouri, engaged in “improper conduct reflecting on the Senate.””Until then, a cloud of uncertainty will hang over them and over this body,” the Democratic senators wrote in a letter to the leaders of the Senate Ethics Committee.’Set the stage’ for violenceThe Democratic senators said Cruz and Hawley announced their intentions to object, even though they knew that claims of election fraud were baseless and had led to threats of violence.”Their actions lend credence to the insurrectionists’ cause and set the stage for future violence. And both senators used their objections for political fundraising,” the Democratic senators said in their letter.Cruz and Hawley have condemned the violence on January 6. Cruz called it a “despicable act of terrorism.” Hawley said those who attacked police and broke the law must be prosecuted.Cruz helped force a vote on Biden’s victory in Arizona, while Hawley helped force one on Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania.”Joe Biden and the Democrats talk about unity but are brazenly trying to silence dissent,” Hawley said in a prepared statement. “This latest effort is a flagrant abuse of the Senate ethics process and a flagrant attempt to exact partisan revenge.”The Senate Democrats requesting the investigation are Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.
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By Polityk | 01/22/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
McConnell Seeks to Push Impeachment Trial to February
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is proposing to push back the start of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial by a week or more to give Trump time to review the case.House Democrats who voted to impeach Trump last week after he was accused of inciting the January 6 Capitol riots have signaled they want a quick trial as President Joe Biden begins his term, saying a full reckoning is necessary before the country and Congress can move on.But McConnell told his fellow GOP senators on a call Thursday that a short delay would give Trump time to prepare and stand up his legal team, ensuring due process.Indiana Senator Mike Braun said after the call that the trial might not begin “until sometime mid-February.” He said that was “due to the fact that the process as it occurred in the House evolved so quickly, and that it is not in line with the time you need to prepare for a defense in a Senate trial.”The timing will be set by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who can trigger the start of the trial when she sends the House charges for “incitement of insurrection” to the Senate, and also by McConnell and new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who are in negotiations over how to set up a 50-50 partisan divide in the Senate and the short-term agenda.Some input for GOPSchumer is in charge of the Senate, assuming the majority leader post after Democrats won two new Senate seats in Georgia and Vice President Kamala Harris was sworn in Wednesday. But with such a narrow divide, Republicans will have some say over the trial’s procedure.Democrats hope to conduct the proceedings while also passing legislation that is a priority for Biden, including coronavirus relief, but they would need some cooperation from Senate Republicans to do that.Schumer told reporters Thursday that he was still negotiating with McConnell on how to conduct the trial. “But make no mistake about it — there will be a trial. There will be a vote, up or down, on whether to convict the president.”Pelosi could send the article to the Senate as soon as Friday. Democrats say the proceedings should move quickly because they were all witnesses to the siege, many of them fleeing for safety as the rioters descended on the Capitol.FILE – U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., presides over the vote to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, a week after his supporters stormed the Capitol, on the House floor in Washington, Jan. 13, 2021.”It will be soon. I don’t think it will be long, but we must do it,” Pelosi said Thursday. She said Trump doesn’t deserve a “get-out-of-jail card” in his historic second impeachment just because he has left office and Biden and others are calling for national unity.Without the White House counsel’s office to defend him — as it did in his first trial last year — Trump’s allies have been searching for lawyers to argue his case. Members of his past legal teams have indicated they do not plan to join the effort, but South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham told GOP colleagues on Thursday that Trump was hiring South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers, according to a person familiar with the call who was granted anonymity to discuss it. Bowers did not immediately respond to a message Thursday.Legal team expected ‘pretty soon’Members of Trump’s defense team are expected to be announced soon, the person familiar with Graham’s comments said.Graham would not answer questions about Trump’s representation on Capitol Hill on Thursday. But he told reporters that “I think he’s going to get a legal team here pretty soon.”Prosecuting the House case will be Pelosi’s nine impeachment managers, who have been regularly meeting to discuss strategy. Pelosi said she would talk to them “in the next few days” about when the Senate might be ready for a trial, indicating the decision could stretch into next week.Trump told thousands of supporters to “fight like hell” against the election results that Congress was certifying on January 6 just before an angry mob invaded the Capitol and interrupted the count. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in the mayhem, and the House impeached the outgoing president a week later with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in support.Pelosi said it would be “harmful to unity” to forget that “people died here on January 6, the attempt to undermine our election, to undermine our democracy, to dishonor our Constitution.”
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By Polityk | 01/22/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
On First Full Day, Biden Takes Aggressive Steps to Ramp Up COVID Fight
New U.S. President Joe Biden is moving aggressively Thursday to ramp up the national government’s fight to curb the coronavirus pandemic by signing 10 orders to increase production of vaccines and medical equipment, while attempting to safely reopen schools and businesses. Biden is moving to markedly increase coronavirus testing and, at the same time, trying to open 100 federally supported community vaccination centers around the country within the next month. Sixteen million Americans have been inoculated so far, fewer than the 20 million health officials in the administration of former President Donald Trump had promised to have vaccinated by the end of December. The White House said Biden’s orders, buttressed by his request to Congress for $1.9 trillion in new coronavirus relief aid, “will help keep workers safe and healthy, get more Americans back to work, and ultimately reduce the spread of the virus.” The pandemic has already killed more than 406,000 Americans and infected 24.4 million, with both figures higher than in any other country, according to Johns Hopkins University. “We need to ask average Americans to do their part,” said Jeff Zients, the White House official directing the national coronavirus response. “Defeating the virus requires a coordinated nationwide effort.” Biden officials say a lack of cooperation from the Trump administration during the transition hindered their ability to understand their predecessors’ plans for vaccine distribution. However outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar defended his agency’s work on the transition earlier this month, saying it had held more than 300 meetings with President-Elect Biden’s transition team since late November. State governments, meanwhile, have complained they are not getting enough doses even as the national government has expanded the categories of people eligible for the shots. “We are entering what may well be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus,” Biden said in his inauguration address, before pausing for a moment of silence in memory of those who have died from COVID-19. FILE – This undated file photo provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows CDC’s laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus.CDC Initiative
The White House said that starting next month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will launch a federal program to make vaccines available to local pharmacies. Currently, most shots have been administered at local government centers or given to the elderly at nursing homes. The Biden effort to have the national government take greater command of the fight against the virus marks a distinct change from Trump’s decision to cede control to governors in the country’s 50 states. That led to widely varying decisions on school and business closings and restrictions and whether to require people to wear face masks. The White House said Biden would order the U.S. Education and Health and Human Services departments to “provide guidance on safe reopening and operating for schools, childcare providers, and institutions of higher education.” It said “science will be paramount” in decision-making and that federal agencies will collect data about the closing and reopening of schools so that officials can better understand the impact on families with low-incomes, students of color, English-language learners, students with disabilities and others. FILE – United Airlines agent helps a customer check-in for his flight at O’Hare International Airport ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Chicago, Illinois.Mask mandates for travelers
To protect travelers, Biden plans to require mask-wearing in airports, on certain types of public transportation, including many trains, airplanes, maritime vessels, and intercity buses. On Wednesday, after assuming power, he also ordered mandatory face mask wearing on U.S. government property. Under one of the Thursday orders, international travelers headed to the U.S. will be required to produce proof of a negative COVID-19 test and to comply with U.S. regulations on self-isolation and self-quarantine upon arrival. Biden’s new orders, on his first full day in office, come after he told the World Health Organization hours after his inauguration that he would reverse Trump’s withdrawal from the agency. “America’s withdrawal from the world stage and retreat from the World Health Organization has impeded progress on the global COVID-19 response and left the United States and the world more vulnerable to future pandemics,” the White House said.
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By Polityk | 01/22/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden to Discuss Coronavirus Response Efforts
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are putting a large focus of their first full day in office on the federal government’s response to the coronavirus.Biden is scheduled to speak Thursday about the administration’s plans and to sign executive orders and other actions related to combating COVID-19.Both Biden and Harris are then due to be briefed by their coronavirus team, including information about the current state of vaccination programs being carried out throughout the country.Biden set a goal of boosting vaccinations at the start of his term to amass 100 million doses given in the first 100 days.Vaccinations in the United States began in mid-December with a focus on frontline health care workers and those living in long-term care facilities. As of Wednesday morning, 16.5 million doses had been administered, according to data from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention. The two vaccines given emergency approval in the United States each require a two-shot regimen.Biden and his wife, Jill, along with Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, are starting Thursday by participating in a virtual Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service hosted by the Washington National Cathedral.Biden was sworn in Wednesday as the 46th U.S. president and called on Americans to unite in support of each other in what he called “a winter of peril and significant possibilities.”At 78, Biden became the country’s oldest leader after serving 36 years as a U.S. senator and eight as vice president. He took the presidential oath of office on the steps of the Capitol on a chilly, wind-swept day.Shortly before, Harris, a former senator from California, was sworn in as vice president, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the country’s history. She is of Black and Indian heritage.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 12 MB480p | 17 MB540p | 23 MB720p | 48 MB1080p | 92 MBOriginal | 104 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioIn his inaugural address, Biden promised to be the president of all Americans, not just those who voted for him in his November election victory over former President Donald Trump.Trump became the first president in 152 years to skip his successor’s inauguration and instead left Washington before the ceremony to head to his Florida mansion as his term ended.“To all those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart. If you still disagree, so be it. That’s democracy,” Biden said.But he said, “We must end this uncivil war” pitting Americans against each other.“We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors,” he said. “We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.”He also pledged to be honest with the country as it faces a soaring number of coronavirus infections, a death toll that has topped 400,000 and a battered economy that has brought financial pain to millions of Americans.Biden promised “to defend the truth and defeat the lies.” He did not mention Trump in his address or the former president’s baseless contention that rampant fraud cost him another four-year term in the White House.“The will of the people has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded,” Biden said. “We’ve learned again that democracy is precious, and democracy is fragile. At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”“This is America’s day,” he said. “This is democracy’s day. A day in history and hope, of renewal and resolve.”Hours after his inauguration, Biden, who served eight years as vice president under former President Barack Obama, signed a number of executive orders and other presidential actions.Among them were reengaging with the World Health Organization, rejoining the Paris climate agreement, reversing Trump’s ban on entry to the United States from several primarily Muslim countries, launching a government effort to advance racial equity in the United States, boosting protections for people who entered the country illegally as minors and challenging Americans to do “their patriotic duty” by wearing masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus.Arriving at the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon, Biden said that Trump had left him a “very generous letter.” Biden refused to give more details, indicating that the letter was “private.”Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 10 MB480p | 15 MB540p | 20 MB720p | 47 MB1080p | 85 MBOriginal | 93 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioLater in the afternoon, press secretary Jen Psaki held the administration’s first press briefing, emphasizing that the administration respected a free press and was committed to being transparent.In response to a question on how Biden planned to restore the U.S. reputation globally, Psaki said “his priority is first rebuilding our partnerships and alliances around the world.”The morning’s swearing-in ceremonies were witnessed by three former presidents — Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — and former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton.Normally, U.S. presidential inaugurations draw thousands of well-wishers, but not this time. Access to the National Mall in front of the Capitol was sharply restricted both for security reasons and the fear that letting people jam together would add to the soaring number of coronavirus infections in the United States. Instead of people on the Mall, thousands of red, white and blue American flags whipped in the wind.The usual throng of Washington dignitaries witnessing a presidential inauguration was sharply limited in the seats behind Biden and Harris. Chairs for some of the invited guests were widely spaced in line with coronavirus restrictions recommended by health authorities, and those attending all wore face masks.The ceremony was conducted amid extraordinary security, with tall metal fencing topped by razor wire surrounding the inauguration site after intelligence reports warned that Trump supporters angered by the congressionally certified outcome of the ex-president’s defeat could attempt to disrupt the ceremony.But the day’s events at the Capitol were peaceful.The inauguration took place two weeks to the day after thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.A week ago, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for inciting insurrection by urging thousands of his supporters at a Jan. 6 rally to walk to the Capitol to confront lawmakers. Even though his term has ended, Trump is facing a Senate impeachment trial in the coming days.The Bidens and Harris and her husband began Wednesday attending a church service at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington. At Biden’s invitation, they were joined by a bipartisan group of congressional leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.By the time the service started, Trump had left the White House. Outgoing Vice President Mike Pence skipped the Trump sendoff but attended Biden’s inauguration with his wife Karen and exchanged pleasantries with Harris and Emhoff.After the inauguration ceremony, Biden and Harris headed to Arlington National Cemetery, just outside Washington, to take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Bush, Clinton and Obama also participated.Wednesday evening, which is typically filled with extravagant balls on Inauguration Day, instead featured a television special called Celebrating America with musical performances from John Legend, Katy Perry, the Foo Fighters and Justin Timberlake.Biden addressed the event as well, telling Americans, “I will give my all to you.”“This is a great nation,” he said. “We’re a good people. And to overcome the challenges in front of us requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy, unity. It requires us to come together in common love that defines us as Americans, opportunity, liberty, dignity and respect, and to unite against common foes, hate, violence, disease and hopelessness. America’s story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us, on we the people.”Wednesday also brought demonstrations by protesters carrying anti-Biden and anti-police signs in the northwestern city of Portland, Oregon. Some in the group vandalized a Democratic Party office and other buildings. Federal law enforcement officers used tear gas to try to disperse the protesters.
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By Polityk | 01/21/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Latin American Leaders Congratulate Biden, Harris
Latin American leaders from Peru, Venezuela and Colombia are extending congratulations to U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.Colombian President Ivan Duque described Biden’s inaugural speech as transcending, saying his call for unity among the people of the United States and his call for the construction of common goals in the midst of differences has important repercussions in the world.Duque also said the 200-year-old diplomatic relationship between the United States and Colombia continues to strengthen toward common goals.Peruvian President Francisco Sagest said, his country is optimistic about a future of greater cooperation, investment, and trade with the United States.Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro wished Biden luck with a direct appeal to change the U.S. policies toward Venezuela.Biden has not commented publicly on U.S. policy toward Venezuela since taking office Wednesday, but his nominee for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, showed support for Maduro’s rival, Juan Guaido during his Senate confirmation hearing, according to ABC news.The U.S. and several western nations have favored opposition leader Guaido as Venezuela’s recognized leader, following the disputed 2018 presidential elections.
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By Polityk | 01/21/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Former Vice President Joe Biden Sworn in as America’s 46th President
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, taking the oath of office on the steps of a heavily locked-down U.S. Capitol just two weeks after pro-Trump protesters breached the seat of congressional power. As VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, former president Donald Trump’s refusal to participate in the ceremony as well as restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus made it an inauguration unlike any other in American history.
Producers: Katherine Gypson and Jesse Oni
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By Polityk | 01/21/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Hollywood on the Potomac: A-List Turns out for Biden-Harris
A full-throated, supremely confident Lady Gaga belted out the national anthem at President Joe Biden’s inauguration in a very Gaga way — with flamboyance, fashion and passion.The Grammy winner wore a huge dove-shaped brooch and an impressively billowing red sculpted skirt as she sang into a golden microphone, delivering an emotional and powerful rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner. She was followed at Wednesday’s ceremony by Jennifer Lopez, dressed all in white, who threw a line of Spanish into her medley of This Land is Your Land and America the Beautiful — a pointed nod to multiculturalism, just two weeks after white supremacists and other violent rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to undermine the peaceful transfer of power.And country star Garth Brooks, doffing his black cowboy hat, sang a gospel-tinged, soulful a capella rendition of Amazing Grace, his eyes closed for much of the song. He asked the audience to sing a verse with him: “Not just the people here, but the people at home, to work as one united.”The three superstars were among a slew of glittery celebrities descending on Washington — virtually or in person — to welcome the new administration of Biden and Kamala Harris, a duo popular in Hollywood, where former President Donald Trump was decidedly not. While stars mostly eschewed Trump’s inauguration four years ago, the A-list was back for Biden.Brooks was careful to call his decision to perform on Wednesday nonpolitical, and in the spirit of unity. He had performed during the inaugural celebration for Barack Obama in 2009 but turned down a chance to perform for Trump in 2017, citing a scheduling conflict.Fireworks display over the National Mall at the conclusion of the Celebrating America event at the Lincoln Memorial after the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2021.Gaga went on Twitter later to explain that the giant brooch accompanying her Schiaparelli haute couture outfit was “a dove carrying an olive branch. May we all make peace with each other.” Lopez was in all-white Chanel, and Brooks kept it real in jeans, an open-collared black shirt and blazer.While the podium was full of high-wattage star power, there was little question that a new star had also emerged: 22-year-old poet Amanda Gorman, whose poise and urgency as she recited The Hill We Climb enthralled a global audience.None other than Bruce Springsteen launched the evening’s entertainment: Celebrating America, a 90-minute, multinetwork broadcast hosted by Tom Hanks that took the place of the usual official inaugural balls, with Biden and Harris watching along and giving brief remarks. Alone with his guitar, The Boss sang his Land of Hope and Dreams in front of the Lincoln Memorial. “I will provide for you, and I’ll stand by your side,” he sang. “You’ll need a good companion, for this part of the ride.”Hanks, also at the Lincoln Memorial, spoke of “deep divisions and a troubling rancor in our land” over the past few years. “But tonight we ponder the United States of America, the practice of our democracy, the foundations of our republic, the integrity of our Constitution, the hope and dreams we all share for a more perfect union,” he said.Jon Bon Jovi contributed a rendition of Here Comes the Sun from Miami, and Ant Clemons and Justin Timberlake performed Better Days from Memphis. John Legend sang Feeling Good in Washington; Foo Fighters sang Times Like These in honor of teachers, and Demi Lovato performed Lovely Day along with doctors and nurses in Los Angeles.A starry collection of Broadway’s most prominent musical actors collaborated on a medley of Seasons of Love from the show Rent and Let the Sun Shine In from Hair, among them Christopher Jackson, Reéne Elise Goldsberry, Laura Benanti, Betty Buckley and Javier Muñoz. Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda recited from The Cure at Troy by Irish poet Seamus Heaney.In this image from video, Katy Perry performs during the Celebrating America event on Jan. 20, 2021, following the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.Reciting excerpts of notable inaugural addresses from history were basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, labor leader Dolores Huerta and Kim Ng, the first female general manager in Major League Baseball history. Peppering musical performances among stories of ordinary Americans and their contributions, the show included tributes to a UPS driver, a kindergarten teacher and Sandra Lindsay, the first in New York to receive the COVID-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial.The proceedings ended with a lavish fireworks show in the Washington night sky, watched by Biden (at the White House) and Harris (at the Lincoln Memorial) and their families to — what else? — Firework, performed by Katy Perry.The history of celebrities performing at inaugurations dates back to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s third inauguration in 1941, when a gala celebration the evening before saw performances from Irving Berlin, Mickey Rooney and Charlie Chaplin, says Lina Mann of the White House Historical Association. “Chaplin performed his monologue from The Great Dictator,” Mann notes.The celebrity component only increased over time, and one of the starriest inaugurations was that of John F. Kennedy in 1961. That celebration, hosted by Frank Sinatra, drew Harry Belafonte, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Gene Kelly, Ethel Merman, Laurence Olivier, Sidney Poitier and other celebrities.Fast forward to the first Obama inauguration in 2009, where Aretha Franklin sang My Country, ‘Tis of Thee at the swearing-in, and the new president and his wife, Michelle, were serenaded by Beyoncé singing At Last at an inaugural ball.
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By Polityk | 01/21/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
On Day 1, Biden Dismantles Some of Trump’s Immigration Orders
President Joe Biden signed wide-ranging executive orders Wednesday to end travel restrictions from predominantly Muslim and African countries, initiate a halt to border wall funding and strengthen protections for immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. The orders dismantled major portions of former President Donald Trump’s restrictive immigration policies.Travel restrictionsThe Biden-Harris White House reversed proclamations that barred most people from several majority Muslim and African countries to travel to the U.S. In a conference call with reporters, Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, described Trump’s policy as “nothing less than a stain on our nation” and “rooted in xenophobia and religious animus.” The former Trump White House had defended the proclamations as needed to keep America safe.Though the order says it will provide relief for families that were separated by Trump’s travel restrictions, it also calls for strengthening screening and vetting for travelers by “enhancing information sharing with foreign governments.”FILE – In this June 18, 2020, photo, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals students celebrate in front of the Supreme Court in Washington after it rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for young immigrants.DACABiden is “preserving and fortifying” the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has protected from deportation hundreds of thousands of migrants brought illegally to the United States as minors. In his proclamation, Biden called on Congress to pass legislation that gives DACA recipients permanent legal status and a path to U.S. citizenship.DACA was created by the former Obama administration in 2012 and was repeatedly targeted for termination by the Trump administration. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately preserved the program, ruling that the Trump administration had improperly sought to dismantle it.There are about 700,000 people enrolled in DACA, which still faces legal challenges.Border wallBiden has ended the national emergency declaration Trump issued to fast-track wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border. Although Congress appropriated additional wall funding late last year, the Biden administration is expected to review construction contracts and move to halt additional border barriers.President Joe Biden gets set to sign executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, after his inauguration as the 46th U.S. president, Jan. 20, 2021.DeportationsThe new administration has paused deportations of undocumented immigrants while the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reviews enforcement priorities.Welcomed today at @DHSgov HQ as Acting Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security until Mr. Mayorkas is confirmed. Thank you to the men and women across the Department for your commitment to the DHS mission! pic.twitter.com/EOJumELq7T— David P. Pekoske (@TSA_Pekoske) January 20, 2021Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s pick to be DHS secretary, appeared for a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday. Mayorkas pledged to follow U.S. immigration law in deciding whether migrants and the undocumented remain in the country.Biden’s Homeland Security Nominee Vows to Follow US Immigration LawIf confirmed, Mayorkas would be the first Latino and first immigrant to lead that Department of Homeland SecurityCensusBiden also revoked a plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count used to decide each state’s representation in the House of Representatives. The new administration says it wants the Census Bureau to have the necessary time to complete “an accurate population count.”US Census Director Resigns Amid Accusations of Rushing Out DataWhistleblowers allege some Census Bureau political appointees were pushing for early release of data on undocumented immigrants in order to please President TrumpIn 2018, Trump sought to include a citizenship question in the census questionnaire but was blocked by the Supreme Court. Last year, however, the high court dismissed a challenge to the former administration’s plan to exclude the undocumented from the census tally used for congressional apportionment.Immigration legislationBiden has also unveiled a proposed eight-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Senator Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, has agreed to introduce the bill in Congress.4/ This plan is not only about fixing our broken immigration system but building a better one that reunites families, brings the undocumented community out of the shadows and on a path to citizenship.— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) January 20, 2021The legislation would make millions of undocumented immigrants eligible for permanent U.S. residency after five years and eligible to seek citizenship three years later. The timeline would be accelerated for DACA recipients and those with Temporary Protective Status for fleeing armed conflict or natural disasters. Applicants would have to have entered the United States before January 1 of this year.
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By Polityk | 01/21/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
Undocumented Immigrants Cheering Possible Citizenship Path Under Biden
Undocumented immigrants cheered President Joe Biden’s plan to provide a path to U.S. citizenship for about 11 million people without legal status, mixing hope with guarded optimism Wednesday amid a seismic shift in how the U.S. government views and treats them.The newly inaugurated president moved to reverse four years of harsh restrictions and mass deportation with a plan for sweeping legislation on citizenship. Biden also issued executive orders reversing some of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, such as halting work on a U.S.-Mexico border wall and lifting a travel ban on people from several predominantly Muslim countries. He also ordered his Cabinet to work to keep deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of people brought to the U.S. as children.”This sets a new narrative, moving us away from being seen as criminals and people on the public charge to opening the door for us to eventually become Americans,” said Yanira Arias, a Salvadoran immigrant with Temporary Protected Status who lives in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.’More hopeful future’Arias is among about 400,000 people given the designation after fleeing violence or natural disasters.”It sets a more hopeful future for immigrants in the U.S., but it all depends on the Congress, especially the Senate,” Arias, a national campaign manager for the immigrant advocacy group Alianza Americas, said of the citizenship effort.Success of the legislation is far from certain in a divided Congress, where opposition is expected to be tough. The most recent immigration reform attempts on a similar scale failed — in 2007 under then-President George W. Bush and in 2013 under then-President Barack Obama.Ofelia Aguilar watches the swearing in of Joe Biden as U.S. president, Jan. 20, 2021, in Homestead, Fla. Immigrants cheered Biden’s plan to provide 11 million people without legal U.S. status a path to citizenship.Ofelia Aguilar, who watched Biden’s inaugural address on TV with four other female farmworkers in agricultural Homestead, Florida, said she nevertheless felt positive about prospects for immigration reform.”I am hopeful that he’ll give us legal status,” said Aguilar, who was pregnant and alone when she came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1993. She worked in the fields for years before starting her own business farming jicama root.”Hope has opened!” Aguilar cried out after Biden was sworn in. “So many people have suffered.”No results to dateSome of the farmworkers at the backyard gathering about 56 kilometers (35 miles) south of Miami said they were disappointed Biden didn’t mention immigration reforms in his speech.”I only have hope in God, not in presidents,” said Sofía Hernández, an agricultural worker who has lived in the U.S. without legal status since 1989. “So many have said they are going to do things, and I don’t see any results.”Hernandez came from Mexico, seeking economic opportunity. Her three children were born in the U.S., and she regularly sent money to her family back home before her parents died.”My dream is to go and see my family and come back to stay with my children,” Hernandez said.Graciela Uraga, left, a cleaning lady, and Blanca Cedillos, a nanny, react as they watch Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration from the Workers Justice Center, an immigrant rights center, Jan. 20, 2021, in Brooklyn, N.Y.In New York, Blanca Cedillos said she also was disappointed Biden did not mention immigration during the speech she watched with a half-dozen other masked immigrants at the Workers Justice Project.”I was hoping he would say something,” said Cedillos, a Salvadoran who lost her job as a nanny during the coronavirus pandemic and now gets by with a few housecleaning jobs and a weekly food box from the nonprofit that offers services to immigrants.Cedillos has lived in the U.S. without authorization for 18 years and hopes to eventually visit her four children in Central America, then return legally to the U.S.”I have told them that that trip may happen now — hopefully, if this new president gives me the opportunity,” she said.Guatemalan construction worker Gustavo Ajché, who came to the U.S. in 2004, watched the Spanish language broadcast with Cedillos.Gustavo Ajche, 38, who has three jobs, gestures after watching Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration on TV at the offices of the Workers Justice Center, Jan. 20, 2021, in Brooklyn, N.Y.”I don’t want to get too excited because I might get frustrated afterward, like has happened in the past,” Ajché said. “I have been here many years. I have paid my taxes. I am hoping something will be done.”In Phoenix, Tony Valdovinos, a local campaign consultant who was brought to the U.S. from Mexico as a small child, said he isn’t celebrating yet.He’s among those who have benefited from the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which protects immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation.”It’s hard to put your heart into it when these things have failed in the past,” Valdovinos said. “We’ve been beaten down so much.”Prior disappointmentMaria Rodriguez, executive director of the Florida Immigration Coalition in Miami, said she feels much the same way.”I’m so happy and relieved, but we are still afraid of getting our hearts broken again,” she said. “We’ve been through this so many times, but we really need to bring through a solution that goes forward.”Los Angeles janitor Anabella Aguirre wants that solution not only for herself, but for her two daughters, both DACA recipients now starting their careers.”Like thousands of mothers and fathers, I want for my daughters to have something better in this country,” Aguirre said. “We hope that today, this dawn, brings hope.”
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By Polityk | 01/21/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
European, Other World Leaders Welcome Joe Biden
There were words of welcome Wednesday from across the world for Joe Biden as he was sworn in as America’s 46th president. They were mixed with parting shots from some leaders aimed at his predecessor, Donald Trump, who left Washington hours before the swearing-in.
As the inauguration has been atypical — with no crowds and the Capitol guarded by thousands of National Guardsmen — so, too, the reaction has been out of the ordinary from overseas leaders.
Some European leaders who had tempestuous relations with Donald Trump did not hold back on their relief at seeing President Biden installed.
“Once again, after four long years, Europe has a friend in the White House,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday.
“This new dawn in America is the moment we’ve been waiting for so long. Europe is ready for a new start with our oldest and most trusted partner,” she told European lawmakers in Brussels. She said she hoped Biden would be able to repair divisions in the United States and that his inauguration would be “a message of hope for a world that is waiting for the U.S. to be back in the circle of like-minded states.”European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen addresses European lawmakers during a plenary session on the inauguration of the new U.S. president and the current political situation, at the European Parliament in Brussels, Jan. 20, 20 Europe welcomes Biden
German President Frank Walter Steinmeier called Wednesday “a good day for democracy.”
“I am relieved that Joe Biden is sworn in as president today and coming into the White House. I know that this feeling is shared by many people in Germany,” he said in a statement.
Steinmeier praised the strength and endurance of American democracy, saying, “In the United States, (democracy) held up against a lot of pressure. Despite internal hostility, America’s institutions have proven strong — election workers, governors, judiciary and Congress.”
Other European leaders avoided referring to past difficulties and appeared to be trying to make sure they are seen as good allies for the incoming administration.
“In our fight against COVID and across climate change, defense, security and in promoting and defending democracy, our goals are the same and our nations will work hand in hand to achieve them,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.
Johnson told the House of Commons he looked forward to welcoming the new U.S. president to Britain later this year for a G-7 summit of the world’s leading nations and for a climate conference to be held in Glasgow.
Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, was also focused on the future.
“We are looking forward to the Biden presidency, with which we will start working immediately in view of our presidency of the G-20,” he told Italian lawmakers on Tuesday. “We have a strong common agenda, ranging from the effective multilateralism that we both want to see, to climate change, green and digital transition and social inclusion.”
But Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez did not mince his words about what he thinks Biden’s election win means.
“The (election) victory of Biden represents the victory of democracy over the ultra-right and its three methods, the massive deception, the national division and the abuse, even violent, of democratic institutions,” he said at a public event. “Five years ago, we thought Trump was a bad joke, but five years later, we realized he jeopardized nothing less than the world’s most powerful democracy.”
The Trump administration and EU leaders clashed on several issues, including international trade and climate change, a reflection of deeply different world views. FILE – A NATO and a US flag flutter in the wind outside NATO headquarters in Brussels.Reaffirming NATO ties
Trump upbraided Europeans for not spending enough on their defense, an issue that’s also likely to be raised by the Biden administration, but probably more diplomatically. At times, Trump painted Europe as a foe and sometimes questioned the value of NATO, a clear break with traditional transatlantic relations since World War II.
Trump’s combative style, as well, was very different from what Europeans have experienced from other post-WWII American leaders.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted congratulations to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, adding: “Today is the start of a new chapter for the transatlantic Alliance. … A strong NATO is good for both North America and Europe.”I congratulate President @JoeBiden on his #InaugurationDay. A strong #NATO is good for both North America & Europe, as none of us can tackle the challenges we face alone. Today is the start of a new chapter & I look forward to our close cooperation! https://t.co/cUB90k7XaW— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) January 20, 2021Biden is widely seen as the most pro-Atlanticist American president since George H.W. Bush.
Two years ago, at a security conference in Munich, European leaders were tugging at Biden’s sleeves in the margins urging him to run for office. After enduring a rough-and-tough “America First” speech from then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, their nerves were soothed by Biden, when he quipped in his address: “This too shall pass. We will be back.”
Policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic say they are now determined to repair frayed relations and to steady democracies roiled by unprecedented domestic political turmoil and challenged by authoritarian powers.
Asia reacts to President Biden
Strengthening democracy, though, was not in the mind of China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, who told a press briefing Wednesday: “In the past four years, the U.S. administration has made fundamental mistakes in its strategic perception of China … interfering in China’s internal affairs, suppressing and smearing China, and causing serious damage to China-U.S. relations.”
She said China’s leaders hope that the Biden administration will “meet China halfway and, in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, push China-U.S. relations back to the right track of healthy and stable development as soon as possible.”
Also, in Asia, around 100 Japanese supporters of Trump took to the streets of Tokyo Wednesday, waving American and Japanese flags and unfurling banners with false claims that Trump was “the true winner” of last November’s presidential election.
“We wanted to show that many people in Japan are supporting President Trump,” the organizer, Naota Kobayashi, told Reuters. “We all chanted together so that our voice can fly over the Pacific Ocean and reach the U.S.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani focused on the 2015 nuclear deal, from which Trump withdrew the United States, saying he hoped Biden would reenter the pact and lift American sanctions imposed on Iran.
“The ball is in the U.S. court now. If Washington returns to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, we will also fully respect our commitments under the pact,” Rouhani said in a televised Cabinet meeting.
US-Russia ties
Reaction from Russian officials has been muted. Ahead of the inauguration, Russian leader Vladimir Putin remained silent, but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing that he did not foresee a change in American-Russia relations.
“Nothing will change for Russia. Russia will continue to live just the way it has lived for hundreds of years, seeking good relations with the U.S.,” he told reporters. “Whether Washington has reciprocal political will for that will depend on Mr. Biden and his team.”
The Kremlin-controlled daily Izvestia newspaper noted “the prospects for Russian-U.S. relations under the new U.S. leader do not encourage optimism so far.”
But Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s final leader, called for Moscow and Washington to repair strained ties.
“The current condition of relations between Russia and the United States is of great concern,” Gorbachev told state-run news agency TASS. “But this also means that something has to be done about it in order to normalize relations. We cannot fence ourselves off from each other.”
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By Polityk | 01/21/2021 | Повідомлення, Політика
