Розділ: Політика
Pompeo Quarantines, but Tests Negative for Coronavirus
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is quarantining after an encounter with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, the State Department said Wednesday. Pompeo tested negative. The top U.S. diplomat “is being closely monitored by the department’s medical team,” a spokesperson said. The agency said that “for reasons of privacy,” it would not identify the infected person who came in contact with Pompeo. “The secretary has been tested and is negative,” the spokesperson said, but in accordance with the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “he will be in quarantine.” It was not known how Pompeo encountered someone infected with the virus. On Tuesday, he hosted an indoor State Department holiday party, although The Washington Post reported that only a few dozen of the 900 invited guests — family members of diplomats posted abroad — attended amid health warnings that it could become a superspreader event. Pompeo canceled his planned speech at the gathering. Last week, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey called for Pompeo to cancel the party to avoid “reckless health risk” to department employees and event staff. Even as the first coronavirus vaccinations have started in the United States, the number of new infections continues to surge by tens of thousands a day. More than 16.7 million infections and 304,000 deaths have been recorded in the U.S., more than in any other country, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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By Polityk | 12/17/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Barr Resignation Caps Controversial Term
U.S. Attorney General William Barr abruptly resigned this week, capping a controversial tenure during which he was applauded by Republicans for restoring the rule of law and excoriated by critics for acting more like President Donald Trump’s personal attorney than the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Trump announced Barr’s resignation Monday on Twitter, writing that the 70-year-old attorney general will be stepping down on December 23, a little less than two years after the president tapped him to replace his first, ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Controversy over Barr’s 22 months at the helm of the Justice Department, the second time he has held the position, continued to dog him this week as his Republican supporters and Democratic critics on Capitol Hill reacted to the news of his resignation. FILE – Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 8. 2020.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised him for his commitment to the rule of law, writing in a statement that Barr “stood for the simple but apparently the controversial proposition that the federal government should actually enforce the laws on the books.” “Now, for a second-time attorney general, Barr will leave the Department and the rule of law in this country stronger than he found them,” McConnell wrote. Barr had previously served as attorney general in the administration of the late President George H. W. Bush in the early 1990s.But Democrats, some of whom have previously called for Barr’s impeachment over his alleged disregard for the law, accused him of politicizing the Justice Department and doing the president’s bidding. FILE – Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., appears before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, June 10, 2020.”Whomever Joe Biden chooses as the new Attorney General will have a tremendous amount of work to do to repair the integrity of the Department of Justice,” Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said in a statement.President-elect Biden is expected to announce his attorney general pick, the last of his “Big Four” appointments, in the coming days. When Trump tapped Barr as his second attorney general in December 2019, few foresaw his controversial tenure. Unlike Sessions, Barr was not a politician. As a highly regarded lawyer and veteran of the department, he was widely expected to shield the law enforcement agency from political interference and Trump’s attacks. Paul Rosenzweig, a former Justice Department official now with the R Street Institute, a libertarian and conservative think tank, said he shared that initial view of Barr. “I thought that he would restore integrity to the Department of Justice and like many other lawyers I’m bitterly disappointed,” Rosenzweig said in an interview. “I don’t know whether I misjudged him, or he changed.”Russia investigationBarr’s term took a controversial turn almost from the start as he emerged as one of Trump’s fiercest defenders against what he has called a “bogus” FBI investigation of suspected ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.FILE – Former special counsel Robert Mueller checks pages in the report as he testifies before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on his report on Russian election interference, on Capitol Hill, July 24, 2019.Weeks into his tenure, after Russia investigation special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report to Barr in March 2019, the attorney general quickly sent Congress a brief summary that critics said distorted its contents and concluded that Trump did not obstruct justice. This allowed the president to claim vindication. Barr later released a slightly redacted version of the full report and vigorously denied he had misled lawmakers. The controversy did not stop there. In the months that followed, Barr was denounced for suggesting that the Trump campaign had been spied upon and tapping a prosecutor to probe the Russian investigation. He drew further criticism for interfering in the prosecution of two Trump associates indicted by Mueller — Roger Stone and Michael Flynn — and in June ordering federal agents to disperse protesters outside the White House so Trump could walk across the street for a photo-op. Rosenzweig said Barr’s efforts on behalf of Trump undermined the Justice Department’s post-Watergate tradition of independence and demoralized the agency rank and file. In February 2020, after Barr overruled prosecutors’ recommendation of a lengthy sentence for Stone, more than 1,000 former DOJ officials called for his resignation.’The people’s Justice Department’To restore trust in the Justice Department, what is needed is a return to “the playbook of the past half-century,” former deputy attorney general Donald Ayer, a Republican, wrote in an FILE – President-elect Joe Biden speaks after the Electoral College formally confirmed his election win, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware, Dec. 14, 2020.Biden has said he plans to do just that. In a December 2 interview with CNN, Biden said the Justice Department under his watch will be independent. “I’m not going to be telling them what they have to do and don’t have to do,” Biden said. “I’m not going to be saying, ‘go prosecute A, B or C’, I’m not going to be telling them. That’s not the role, it’s not my Justice Department, it’s the people’s Justice Department.”His attorney general will “have the independent capacity to decide who gets prosecuted who doesn’t,” Biden said. Leading contenders for the top Justice Department job reportedly include outgoing Democratic Senator and longtime Biden friend Doug Jones.Rosenzweig said the future attorney general has their work cut out for them. “He’s got to restore the culture, review what has happened before, change procedures, and institute rules that make it harder, for example for political interference,” Rosenzweig said. “It’s not an easy task.” Support for BarrFILE – FBI Director Christopher Wray listens during a virtual news conference at the Department of Justice, Oct. 28, 2020.Barr’s defenders say the attorney general has stood up for the department’s independence. In February, Barr said in an interview with ABC News he was “not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody … whether it’s Congress, a newspaper editorial board, or the president.” In May, when Trump and Republicans attacked FBI director Christopher Wray over the Russia investigation, Barr expressed confidence in Wray. “He stood up for Chris Wray and said that he thought that Chris Wray was doing a good job,” said John Malcolm, a former federal prosecutor now the vice president of Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation. “I think that Bill Barr was an independent voice.” In the lead-up to the November 3 election, Barr kept the Justice Department out of campaign politics, preventing an investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes from becoming public and resisting pressure from Trump to release a report on special prosecutor John Durham’s findings, Malcolm said. Then on December 1, Barr, contradicting Trump, said in an interview with the Associated Press that he had found no evidence of widespread fraud in the election.
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By Polityk | 12/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden to Pick Former Michigan Gov. Granholm as Energy Secretary
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to pick former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to be secretary of energy in his administration, two people familiar with the decision said Tuesday. Granholm, 61, was Michigan’s first female governor, serving two terms in the battleground state from 2003 to 2011. She worked with Biden, who was vice president under former President Barack Obama, on the 2009 bailout of automobile manufacturers General Motors and Chrysler. A spokesman for Biden’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Granholm did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. While governor, Granholm supported efforts to build advanced battery plants for electric cars in Michigan, despite concerns from some in the auto industry about moving away from gasoline-powered engines. She also pushed through a modest energy standard that required a portion of the state’s energy to be generated by renewable sources. More recently, she has taught at the University of California, Berkeley on subjects including state budgets, clean energy jobs and diversifying the economy. In 2015, she launched the American Jobs Project to focus on promoting state policies to create middle-class jobs in batteries and other forms of advanced energy technology. If confirmed by the Senate, Granholm is expected to play a role in the department’s support of advanced batteries, energy efficiency and electricity generation from renewable and nuclear power as Biden makes curbing climate change one of the pillars of his administration. She would also likely deal with energy ministers in Russia, Saudi Arabia and other oil and gas-producing countries. Granholm would be the second female U.S. energy secretary after Hazel O’Leary served under former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. President Donald Trump’s two energy secretaries spent much of their time on oil and gas politics. Rick Perry, his first, was a former governor of Texas. Trump’s second, Dan Brouillette, was a former lobbyist for Ford Motor Co. and a state energy regulator in Louisiana. Most of the department’s budget goes to modernizing the country’s stockpile of nuclear warheads and to cleaning up nuclear sites. Biden picked Granholm over Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, his former adviser when he was in the Senate, and who served in the Obama administration as deputy secretary of energy. Granholm also beat out Arun Majumdar, the first director of the department’s agency that promotes and funds research and development of advanced energy technologies, and Ernest Moniz, who was energy secretary during the Obama administration.
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By Polityk | 12/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
No Sign of Trump Concession as Top Senate Republican Admits Biden Won
After weeks of silence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, following Monday’s formal vote by the Electoral College that cemented Biden’s victory in the November 3 election. Yet there is still no sign President Donald Trump is willing to accept defeat. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports.
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By Polityk | 12/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Inauguration Stresses Public Health Safety During Ceremonies
President-elect Joe Biden’s Presidential Inaugural Committee announced measures Tuesday to protect public health during an inauguration that will take place in the midst of a coronavirus crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States. The committee said in a statement it is collaborating with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies “to ensure that the inauguration … honors and resembles sacred American traditions while keeping Americans safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19.” On January 20, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take oaths of office at the U.S. Capitol with “vigorous health and safety protocols,” followed by Biden’s inaugural address, the committee said. “The ceremony’s footprint will be extremely limited, and the parade that follows will be reimagined,” it added. President-elect Joe Biden speaks after the Electoral College formally elected him as president, Dec. 14, 2020, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del.The committee is calling on Americans to remain at home as they celebrate the day’s inaugural activities. “The pandemic is continuing to have a significant public health impact across the nation. Americans everywhere must do their part to slow the spread of the virus: wear masks, stay home and limit gatherings. We are asking Americans to participate in inaugural events from home to protect themselves, their families, friends and communities,” said Dr. David Kessler, the committee’s chief medical adviser. President Donald Trump’s presence at the inauguration has yet to be determined. When asked during an interview broadcast Sunday with Fox News if he would attend the ceremony, Trump, still waging an unsuccessful battle to overturn election results, replied, “I don’t want to talk about that.” As it has for months, the U.S. continues to lead the world in coronavirus infections and related deaths. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 16.5 million of the world’s 73 million coronavirus cases were in the U.S., home to more than 301,200 COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.
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By Polityk | 12/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Senate Republican Leader Acknowledges Biden Victory
Six weeks after the U.S. presidential election, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Tuesday that Democrat Joe Biden is the country’s president-elect.McConnell congratulated Biden as President Donald Trump continued his unfounded claims that voter fraud cheated him out of reelection.McConnell, who had refrained from declaring Biden the winner, said in a Senate speech that Biden’s 306-232 victory Monday in the Electoral College made his claim to a four-year term in the White House a reality.“As of this morning, our country has officially a president-elect and a vice president-elect,” McConnell said. “Many millions of us had hoped the presidential election would yield a different result. But our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on January 20. The Electoral College has spoken.”“So today, I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden,” McConnell said. “The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He’s devoted himself to public service for many years. I also want to congratulate the vice president-elect, our colleague from California, Sen. [Kamala] Harris. All Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time.”Trump did not immediately respond to McConnell’s acknowledgment that Biden would become the country’s 46th president.Instead, he said on Twitter, “Tremendous evidence pouring in on voter fraud. There has never been anything like this in our Country!”Twitter tagged Trump’s tweet, saying, “This claim about election fraud is disputed.”Later, White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany deflected questions about the McConnell statement. She said Trump was “still involved in litigation” over the outcome of the election although he and his allies have lost more than 50 lawsuits claiming vote and vote-counting irregularities. Trump has refused to concede his defeat to Biden. FILE – President-elect Joe Biden speaks after the Electoral College formally confirmed his election win, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware, Dec. 14, 2020.After McConnell spoke, Biden said he called him and that they had “a good conversation. I called him to thank him for the congratulations.” Biden said he and McConnell disagree on many issues, but that he’s optimistic they will be able to work together. “We’ve always been straight with one another,” said Biden, who has worked with McConnell for three decades during his days as vice president under former President Barack Obama and as a senator from Delaware. “We agreed we’d get together sooner than later. I’m looking forward to working with him.” The Senate and House of Representatives are set to review and certify the Electoral College outcome on January 6. Trump is holding out one last hope of retaining the presidency, expressing Twitter support for a protest led by Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks contesting Biden’s victories in five states.But Brooks needs a senator to join his protest and so far, no senator has agreed to sign on to his claim that Trump was victorious.Since the November 3 national election, only a small group of Republican lawmakers has acknowledged Biden’s victory. Many Republicans have either stayed mum or voiced support for Trump’s long-shot efforts to upend Biden’s win.But after the Electoral College outcome, several more key Republicans in Washington said Monday that Biden had won the presidency, making Trump the fifth U.S. president in the country’s 244-year history to lose a bid for re-election after a single term in office.In the U.S.’s indirect form of democracy, the Electoral College, with electors from throughout the country, determines the outcome of presidential elections, not the national popular vote, although Biden won it too, by more than 7 million votes over Trump.In 48 of the 50 states, electors pledged to either Biden or Trump cast all their votes in the Electoral College based on the popular vote outcome in their individual states, while the vote in two small states, Maine and Nebraska, was split by congressional districts and their statewide outcomes.Biden addressed the Electoral College verdict in a nationwide address Monday night, saying, “If anyone didn’t know it before, we know it now. What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this: Democracy.”But Biden also attacked Trump’s post-election quest to delegitimize the process, saying “not even an abuse of power” and an “unprecedented assault on our democracy” could derail a peaceful political transition in American leadership.
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By Polityk | 12/16/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden to Campaign for Georgia Democratic Senate Candidates
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will campaign Tuesday in the southern state of Georgia for two Democratic Senate candidates involved in crucial runoff elections next month that will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate during the first two years of Biden’s presidency. Biden is due to appear with the candidates — investigative documentary filmmaker Jon Ossoff and clergyman Raphael Warnock — in Atlanta, the state capital and Georgia’s largest city. The two Democrats face incumbent Republican lawmakers in the January 5 elections — Ossoff against Sen. David Perdue and Warnock facing Sen. Kelly Loeffler. In-Person Voting Begins in Crucial Georgia Senate Runoffs Winners will determine which party holds Senate majorityPolls in the state show both elections are closely contested. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have already campaigned in the state on behalf of Perdue and Loeffler. Republicans currently hold a 50-48 advantage over Democrats in the U.S. Senate that takes office in early January. They need to win at least one of the two Georgia contests to take outright control, which would give the party a majority on all Senate committees and the right to set the chamber’s agenda. Democrats need to win both seats for a 50-50 split, which would give Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote in favor of the Democrats and a majority after Biden and Harris are inaugurated on January 20. Georgia has long been a Republican stronghold, but Democrats have made strong gains in voter registration to turn the state into a political battleground. After the state’s 5 million votes in last month’s presidential contest were counted three times, Biden defeated Trump by more than 11,000 votes. Biden was the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since 1992.
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By Polityk | 12/15/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
‘Democracy Prevailed,’ Biden Declares After Electoral College Vote
“In this battle for the soul of America, democracy prevailed,” President-elect Joe Biden said Monday night, shortly after the Electoral College vote that confirmed his presidency.While urging Americans that now is the time “to unite, to heal,” Biden for the first time bluntly condemned attempts by President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results, calling it an “unprecedented assault on our democracy.”Not even an abuse of power can stop a peaceful transition, Biden said, just hours after members of the Electoral College voted in every state and the District of Columbia.“We the people voted, faith in our institutions held, the integrity of our elections remains intact,” Biden said in a speech held in Wilmington, Delaware.Electors on Monday gave Biden 306 votes to incumbent Trump’s 232, comfortably above the threshold of 270 electoral votes required for election.Biden’s 306 vote total is the same Trump achieved four years ago when he defeated Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton.“At the time, President Trump called his Electoral College tally a landslide,” Biden said. “By his own standards, these numbers represented a clear victory then, and I respectfully suggest they do so now.”The former vice president, speaking in a downtown Wilmington theater, said that “if anyone didn’t know it before, we know it now. What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this: Democracy.”Trump has refused to concede, claiming without evidence that the election was rigged and that Biden would be an illegitimate president.Trump had no comment immediately after Biden’s speech, but on Sunday, he took to Twitter, saying, “Swing States that have found massive VOTER FRAUD, which is all of them, CANNOT LEGALLY CERTIFY these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime.”He retweeted it Monday morning as the Electoral College voting started.Trump’s campaign and supporters have filed dozens of lawsuits, which have been rebuffed by judges.However, on Monday, Senator John Thune, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, said it was “time to move on” and that as soon as Biden crossed the 270-vote threshold in the Electoral College, he would be president-elect, Reuters reported.Electoral College member Pennsylvania State Representative Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) arrives ahead of electors gathering to cast their votes at the at the state capitol complex in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Dec. 14, 2020.Other Republican senators who publicly recognized Biden as president-elect Monday included South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, Ohio’s Rob Portman, Missouri’s Roy Blunt and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.Biden noted Trump’s actions in his speech and added that “respecting the will of the people is at the heart of our democracy — even when we find those results hard to accept. But that’s the obligation of those who have taken on a sworn duty to uphold the Constitution.”The president-elect, with just a small number of staff, journalists and TV cameras in the historic Queen Theater because of COVID-19 precautions, said, “The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know that nothing — not even a pandemic or an abuse of power — can extinguish that flame.”And he added, “Now it is time to turn the page — to unite, to heal.”There is little indication yet that the majority of lawmakers of Trump’s party are receptive to that message. Most Republicans in Congress have yet to recognize Biden’s victory.
The president-elect indicated his preference going forward is to focus on the pandemic, rather than looking back on the contentious election, saying: “There is urgent work in front of all of us. Getting the pandemic under control, to getting the nation vaccinated against this virus. Delivering immediate economic help so badly needed by so many Americans who are hurting today — and then building our economy back better than ever.”
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By Polityk | 12/15/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
‘Democracy Prevailed’: Biden Aims to Unify Divided Nation
President-elect Joe Biden told Americans on Monday that “democracy prevailed” as electors nationwide cast votes affirming his victory in last month’s election, saying the country’s governing principles were “pushed, tested, threatened” but did not crumble. In a speech from his longtime home of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden aimed to guide Americans past the tumult of the campaign and President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat. “If anyone didn’t know it before, we know it now. What beats deep in the hearts of the American people is this: Democracy,” Biden said. “The right to be heard. To have your vote counted. To choose the leaders of this nation. To govern ourselves.” After garnering a record of more than 81 million votes, Biden is trying to build momentum as he prepares to assume the presidency on Jan. 20. That’s been complicated by Trump refusing to concede and instead pursuing baseless legal challenges that have been roundly rejected by judges across the political spectrum, including the justices at the Supreme Court. FILE – Signs by supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump hang outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, Nov. 10, 2020.Though Trump’s actions have threatened core democratic norms, including the peaceful transfer of power, Biden argued that America’s system of government remains intact. “In America, politicians don’t take power — the people grant it to them,” Biden said. “The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know that nothing — not even a pandemic — or an abuse of power — can extinguish that flame.” He also pledged to be “a president for all Americans” who will “work just as hard for those of you who didn’t vote for me, as I will for those who did.” Whether his message of unity will have any effect remains to be seen. Top Republicans have mostly continued to back Trump and his unsubstantiated claims of a rigged election and, even once Biden takes power, are unlikely to give him any of the traditional honeymoon period. FILE – Supporters of President Donald Trump who are wearing attire associated with the Proud Boys attend a rally at Freedom Plaza, December 12, 2020, in Washington.Biden faces a narrowly divided Senate — next month’s runoff elections in Georgia will decide which party controls the chamber — and a thinned Democratic majority in the House as the GOP picked up seats even as Trump lost. But aides are pointing to the president-elect’s strong approval numbers and an electorate worn by the pandemic in their attempt to nudge Republicans to cooperate. Mike Donilon, a senior adviser to Biden, said Americans are looking for Democrats and Republicans to get in sync. “The agenda that the president-elect is putting forward is very much at the forefront of what people want in their lives,” Donilon said. “So, I think the case is going to be that it’s going to be in the interest of the country, it’s going to be in their own self-interest to get on board and not to get in the way.” In making the case for a mandate, Biden’s team points to the president-elect retaking Rust Belt states that helped spring Trump to the White House four years ago as well as wins in Arizona and Georgia — firsts for a Democratic presidential candidate since the 1990s. Biden also won the popular vote by more than 7 million people, powered by strong showings with women, people of color and independents. FILE – A supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump defends the right of a presidential nominee Joe Biden supporter to be at a gathering during a protest about the early results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in Phoenix, Arizona, Nov. 6, 2020.Still, getting the nation to turn away from a contentious election and to governing is perhaps easier said than done. The spotlight on the Electoral College vote process is heightened this year because Trump has refused to concede the election and is pushing forward with baseless allegations of fraud. “We have won so many times, at this point, in so many different ways. We’re just excited to keep on winning,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s deputy chief of staff, shrugging off Trump’s challenges. “(Monday) obviously is a big day as it takes on a little bit more import than maybe traditionally it does.” And after losing dozens of legal challenges on the state and federal level, Trump is expected to push forward with new litigation this week. Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani says he expects five more lawsuits at the state level. Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is set to hold a hearing Wednesday on election irregularities. Johnson has questioned why Congress wasn’t informed that the taxes of Biden’s son Hunter were under federal investigation during Trump’s impeachment trial last year. The president was acquitted in a Senate trial that centered on Trump’s dealings with Ukraine’s president and on whether he abused his office by seeking an investigation into the Bidens. Hunter Biden served on the board of directors of a Ukrainian energy company. The younger Biden said in a statement last week that he just recently learned that he was under investigation. He also said he committed no wrongdoing. O’Malley Dillon downplayed the notion that the investigation could hamper Biden’s ability to pursue his agenda. “The president-elect himself has said this is not about his family or Donald Trump’s family,” she said. “It is about the American people’s families. And I think we’re going to continue to stay focused on the issues that are impacting their daily lives.”
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By Polityk | 12/15/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Crunch Time for COVID-19 Relief as Bipartisan Bills Unveiled
A bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled a detailed COVID-19 aid proposal on Monday in hopes it would serve as a model for its battling leaders to follow as they try to negotiate a final agreement on a new round of virus relief. The dozen or so lawmakers unveiled two bills. One is a $748 billion aid package containing money for struggling businesses, the unemployed, schools and vaccine distribution. The other bill proposes a $160 billion aid package for state and local governments that is favored by Democrats and GOP-sought provisions shielding businesses from COVID-19-related lawsuits. But agreement proved impossible, and most Democrats opposed a compromise on the liability issue forged by GOP Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. The path forward for their proposals — and for COVID-19 aid more generally — remains unclear. Parallel negotiations over virus relief and government funding are proceeding on the leadership level involving House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. And that is where any agreement is likely to be forged. Outstanding issues in the leadership talks include a potential second round of direct payments to individuals, a plan for $300 bonus unemployment benefits, state and local aid, and the GOP-sought liability shield against COVID-19-related lawsuits. FILE – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington.Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she hoped that top Capitol Hill leaders and the administration would use the proposals as the basis for a COVID-19 relief package “that is urgently needed by our struggling families, our hard-hit small businesses, our stressed-out health care providers, our overwhelmed Postal Service, our challenged schools and so many others.” A key trade-off involves aid to states and local governments, a top Pelosi priority, and the liability shield, a top demand of McConnell. The Kentucky Republican has suggested an all-or-nothing approach in which the fate of both ideas is linked to the other — either both are added, or both are dropped. Pelosi is insisting so far that state and local aid be added, demanding that McConnell compromise on his pet provision. Agreement remains elusive. But progress was being reported on another key front as lawmakers cobbled together a year-end catchall funding package that will be the basis for the last significant legislation of the Trump presidency. There is a hoped-for deadline of midnight Friday to deliver the completed package to President Donald Trump, which is when a partial government shutdown would arrive with the expiration of last week’s temporary funding bill. But there is no guarantee that the massive year-end measure will be completed in time. If the talks drag, further temporary bills could be needed. FILE – President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington before boarding Marine One, Dec. 12, 2020.Meanwhile, negotiations on a $1.4 trillion catchall spending bill are “essentially finished,” said a congressional aide participating in the talks. While details are closely held, “the status quo is prevailing.” That means Trump would get another $1.4 billion or so for a final installment to continue construction of his long-sought U.S.-Mexico border wall. Republicans have succeeded in killing a $12 billion plan to break last year’s budget mini-agreement by using accounting maneuvers to pad health care funding for veterans to accommodate big cost increases from expanding access to health care services from private providers. Instead, a different set of moves is being employed to provide for equivalent spending increases for other domestic programs. The post-election lame-duck session is the last chance to wrap up the unfinished work this year, a goal of all involved, though they have been slow until now to forge the often-tricky compromises required to pull the measure together. FILE – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin makes a brief comment as he leaves the Capitol, Sept. 30, 2020, in Washington.Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke Sunday afternoon and are likely to be the crucial pair to watch going down the stretch. Pelosi has not thrown in the towel on her drive to obtain state and local aid, which was part of the almost $2 trillion CARES Act in March. President-elect Joe Biden wants as much COVID-19 relief as possible but has no direct influence on the negotiations. While he will empower Democrats after taking office next year, GOP leaders like McConnell are playing hardball and have forced Pelosi to scale back her demands. And while McConnell supported a $300 per week bonus unemployment benefit this summer, he has pulled back after the November election. Also in the mix is a deal to curb “surprise medical bills,” the astonishingly high fees charged to patients with health insurance when they are treated by a doctor or hospital outside of their insurer’s provider network. It is a particular problem for people getting emergency services and for patients undergoing complex surgeries where another specialist might have to be called in. Although there is agreement among most lawmakers and the White House that patients should not face thousands of dollars in unexpected bills, legislation has been slow to gel. It has been blocked by a lobbying war between consumer groups and insurers on one side, and on the other, doctors and investors in medical practices. The potential compromise would ban surprise bills for emergency room visits and scheduled procedures, but McConnell has yet to endorse the agreement.
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By Polityk | 12/15/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
In-Person Voting Begins in Crucial Georgia Senate Runoffs
In-person early voting begins Monday in the U.S. state of Georgia where two runoff elections will decide which political party holds a majority in the U.S. Senate when a new term begins in January.Democrats are challenging two Republican incumbents after no candidate earned an absolute majority in either race in the November general election.Republicans currently stand to hold a 50 to 48 advantage in the 100-seat Senate. But with a Democrat winning the presidential election, and the vice president wielding a tie-breaker vote in a 50-50 Senate, Democrats could claim a majority by winning both Georgia seats.With Democrats already holding a majority in the House of Representatives, the stakes for both parties are immense in determining the course of U.S. policy in the coming years.In one contest, Democrat Raphael Warnock is trying to unseat Republican Senator Kelly Loefller, while in the other race Democrat Jon Ossoff is challenging Republican Senator David Perdue.Georgia was one of many states that saw huge early voting turnouts in November as people opted to try to avoid large election day crowds amid the coronavirus pandemic.More than half of the roughly five million votes in Georgia were cast before election day, including 125,000 on the first day of early voting.Voters will have until December 31 in some parts of the state to cast early ballots with the runoff election date set for January 5.
For decades a Republican stronghold, Georgia was narrowly won by Joe Biden, a Democrat, in the November 3 presidential election.
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By Polityk | 12/14/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Set to Vaccinate High-Risk Health Care Workers
In the United States, nearly three million doses of the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered this week to states to administer to high-risk health care workers as the nation’s death toll from the disease continues to rise. Michelle Quinn reports.Produced by: Mary Cieslak
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By Polityk | 12/14/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Defiant as US Electors Prepare to Finalize Biden Victory
A day before the U.S. Electoral College meets to formally pick Democrat Joe Biden as America’s next president, Donald Trump continues to deny the results of the November 3 election, buoyed by thousands of supporters who rallied in Washington to back the president’s failed efforts to overturn his defeat at the polls.America’s presidential contests are not complete until constitutionally mandated electors from all 50 states, drawn proportionally to their population and mirroring their representation in Congress, meet to cast their votes. Except in two U.S. states, each state’s electors all vote for the presidential contender who won their state.With all states having certified election results, Biden won 306 electoral votes — 36 more than he needs to become president — compared to Trump’s 232 votes. Absent a court-sanctioned delay, the presidential electors are expected to finalize Biden’s victory Monday.Federal and state courts have rejected dozens of lawsuits by Trump and his allies seeking to overturn or nullify election results in battleground states Biden won by varying margins. Most recently, late Friday the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate results in four states, all but terminating any pathway for Trump to overturn the election outcome through the courts.Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump wave flags outside the D.C. Mayor’s office building during the “Stop the Steal” rally, in Washington, Dec. 12, 2020.Trump nevertheless remains combative and has signaled he is not giving up.“WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT,” the president tweeted Saturday. An hour earlier, he wrote, “I WON THE ELECTION IN A LANDSLIDE.”Trump took to Twitter as thousands of his most ardent supporters gathered in Washington to march and chant for the president to remain in office. Similar demonstrations occurred in several U.S. states where Trump’s legal team has unsuccessfully challenged Biden victories.Supporters of President Donald Trump who are wearing attire associated with the Proud Boys attend a rally at Freedom Plaza, Dec. 12, 2020, in Washington.Sporadic street clashes broke out between Trump backers and opponents. Four people were taken to the hospital with stab wounds and 23 people were arrested, according to Washington’s municipal police department.
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By Polityk | 12/13/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Understanding the US Senate Runoff Elections in Georgia
Two key U.S. Senate races remain undecided from November’s general election. Both are in the southern state of Georgia, where President-elect Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win the state since 1992. The outcome of these runoff elections may determine how much Biden can accomplish with Congress once he is inaugurated as president.What is a runoff election?A runoff election is a second, or follow-up election, in which the top two vote-getters run against each other. Runoff elections occur when no candidate meets a certain threshold of votes to be declared the winner. Georgia election law requires a candidate to win a majority of votes (50%+1) to be elected to office. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, a runoff election of the top two candidates is held.Has Georgia always used a runoff?No. The runoff system was instituted in 1964 after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling that found Georgia’s election system violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because votes cast in small rural counties counted more heavily than votes cast in large urban jurisdictions. A 2007 U.S. Interior Department study said Georgia’s runoff system was proposed to “circumvent” the Black voting bloc.Do other states use runoff elections?Louisiana uses a runoff election system but holds no primary elections. All candidates for local, state and federal office, regardless of party affiliation, are on the same ballot in either October (odd-numbered years) or November (even-numbered years).Who are the candidates in Georgia’s runoffs?In one election, Republican Sen. David Perdue is running against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff. Perdue narrowly missed reaching the majority threshold in November. The other election has Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock challenging Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler. They received the most votes in a field of 20 candidates.When will the runoff elections take place?Both will be held Jan. 5, 2021.What is at stake?The outcome of these elections will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Currently, Republicans hold a 50-48 margin. If they win one of the two seats, they retain control of the 100-seat Senate. Democrats need to win both runoff elections to control the Senate because the U.S. vice president casts a vote in case of a tie. Democrat Kamala Harris will become vice president Jan. 20, 2021.Why are two Senate seats being contested in the same state?Perdue’s six-year term expires this year. Loeffler was selected by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in December 2019 to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Sen. Johnny Isakson. Loeffler and Warnock are competing for the remaining two years of Isakson’s term.What has happened in past runoff elections in Georgia?Democrats last won a statewide runoff election in the state in 1988. Republicans have won the seven runoffs since then.
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By Polityk | 12/12/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Supreme Court Rejects Republican Attack on Biden Victory
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a lawsuit backed by President Donald Trump to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory, ending a desperate attempt to get legal issues that state and federal judges had rejected before the nation’s highest court.In a brief order, the court said Texas does not have the legal right to sue Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin because it “has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections.”Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who have said previously the court does not have the authority to turn away lawsuits between states, said they would have heard Texas’ complaint. But they would not have done as Texas wanted pending resolution of the lawsuit and set aside those four states’ 62 electoral votes for Biden.No dissent from Trump appointeesThree Trump appointees sit on the high court. In his push to get the most recent of his nominees, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, confirmed quickly, Trump said she would be needed for any post-election lawsuits. Barrett appears to have participated in both cases this week. None of the Trump appointees noted a dissent in either case.The court’s order was its second this week rebuffing Republican requests that it get involved in the 2020 election outcome. The justices turned away an appeal from Pennsylvania Republicans on Tuesday.The Electoral College meets Monday to formally elect Biden as the next president.More than half of House Republicans, including their top two leaders, backed the lawsuit in an extraordinary display of the party’s willingness to subvert the will of voters.FILE – Signs by supporters of President Donald Trump hang outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, Nov. 10, 2020.Seventeen Republican attorneys general and 126 members of Congress joined Texas and Trump in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out millions of votes in four battleground states based on unsubstantiated claims of fraud. On Friday, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana signed onto a brief backing the long-shot bid, demonstrating Trump’s remarkable political power even as he spreads false claims that many Democrats and others fear risk deeply damaging democracy.”This lawsuit is an act of flailing GOP desperation, which violates the principles enshrined in our American democracy,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a message to Democrats on Friday.’Hard time’ understanding caseA few Republicans expressed concerns about the case. Many others remained silent.”Texas is a big state, but I don’t know exactly why it has a right to tell four other states how to run their elections. So I’m having a hard time figuring out the basis for that lawsuit,” Republican Senator Lamar Alexander told NBC’s Chuck Todd in an interview for “Meet the Press” that will air Sunday.The lawsuit filed against Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin repeated false, disproven and unsubstantiated accusations about the voting in four states that went for Trump’s Democratic challenger. The case demanded that the high court invalidate the states’ 62 total Electoral College votes. That’s an unprecedented remedy in American history: setting aside the votes of tens of millions of people, under the baseless claim the Republican incumbent lost a chance at a second term because of widespread fraud.FILE – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses reporters on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.Two days after Paxton sued, 17 states filed a motion supporting the lawsuit, and on Thursday six of those states asked to join the case themselves. Trump acted to join the case, tweeting Thursday that “the Supreme Court has a chance to save our country from the greatest election abuse in the history of the United States.” Hours later, Trump held a meeting at the White House, scheduled before the suit was filed, with a dozen Republican attorneys general, including Paxton and several others who backed the effort.Still, some of the top state Republican prosecutors urging the Supreme Court to hear the case acknowledged that the effort was a long shot and were seeking to distance themselves from Trump’s baseless allegations of fraud. North Dakota’s Wayne Stenehjem, among the 17 attorneys general supporting the case, said North Dakota was not alleging voter fraud in the four states at issue.’We’re careful'”We’re careful on that,” said Stenehjem, who noted that his office had received thousands of calls and emails from constituents asking the state to support the suit. “But it’s worth it for the Supreme Court to weigh in and settle it once and for all,” he said.The case has inflamed already high tensions over the election. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said his office staff received two death threats Thursday after he signed onto the brief supporting the case.Officials in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin said the suit was a publicity stunt. More than 20 other attorneys general from states including California and Virginia also filed a brief Thursday urging the court to reject the case.
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By Polityk | 12/12/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Senate Sends Trump Defense Bill He Has Vowed to Veto
The Senate approved a wide-ranging defense policy bill Friday, sending it to President Donald Trump, despite his threat to veto the bill because it does not clamp down on big tech companies he claims were biased during the election.The final vote was 84-13, mirroring a similarly overwhelming margin in the House that, if maintained in both chambers, would be enough to override a potential veto.The Senate vote had been expected Thursday but was delayed after Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky objected to the measure, saying it could limit Trump’s ability to draw down U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Germany.Paul’s actions had raised the specter of a brief government shutdown if a short-term spending bill caught up in the dispute was not approved by midnight Friday, but that possibility faded Friday afternoon.Pay raises, military constructionCongress has approved the bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, for nearly 60 years in a row. The current version affirms 3% pay raises for U.S. troops and authorizes more than $740 billion in military programs and construction.Trump has vowed to veto the bill unless lawmakers impose limits on social media companies he claims were biased against him during the election. Trump has also said he wants Congress to strip out a provision of the bill that allows renaming of military bases that now honor Confederate leaders.Paul said Friday that his main point in filibustering the bill “was to point out that the president should have the prerogative to end a war, not just to start wars.”Paul said that “neoconservatives” such as Representative Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., “are inconsistent in saying they want … to give the commander-in-chief powers to begin war, but then they want to restrain and hamstring a president from ending a war. I think it’s a pretty important principle to discuss, so we did hold things up for a day.”FILE – Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., talks to reporters Jan. 28, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington.Two amendments addressing troop deployment could create “535 commanders-in-chief in Congress,” Paul said, hampering the president’s ability to draw down troops in Afghanistan and Germany. Democrats support the measure because they oppose Trump, Paul said, but the amendment would also apply to future presidents, including President-elect Joe Biden.One amendment, co-sponsored by Cheney and Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, an Afghanistan war veteran, would block troop withdrawals in Afghanistan unless the Pentagon submits interagency reports certifying that the drawdowns would not jeopardize national security. A separate provision pushed by Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney and other lawmakers would limit planned troop withdrawals in Germany.Paul singled out Cheney by name in a floor speech, saying she and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, share a neoconservative belief in “perpetual war.””The philosophy of these people is about war and substantiating war and making sure that it becomes and is perpetual war,” Paul said.Cheney’s replyCheney hit back on Twitter, charging that Paul was “currently holding up passage of the #NDAA, blaming America, and delaying hazardous duty pay to hundreds of thousands of our service members and their families. Inexcusable.”Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a rare break with Trump, urged passage of the measure despite Trump’s threat to veto it. McConnell, R-Ky., said it was important for Congress to continue the long record of passing the National Defense Authorization Act.FILE – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks after the Senate Republican GOP leadership election on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 10, 2020.”This NDAA will unlock more than $740 billion for the training, tools and cutting-edge equipment that our service members and civilian employees need to defend American lives and American interests,” McConnell said. “It will give our troops the 3% pay raise they deserve. It’ll keep our forces ready to deter China and stand strong in the Indo-Pacific.”The Democratic-controlled House overwhelmingly approved the defense bill on Tuesday, defying Trump’s veto threat and setting up a possible showdown with the Republican president in the waning days of his administration.A total of 140 Republicans joined 195 Democrats in backing the bill, which received support from more than 80% of the House — well above the two-thirds support required to override a potential veto.Trump tweeted Tuesday that he would veto “the very weak” defense bill unless it repealed Section 230, a part of the communications code that shields Twitter, Facebook and other tech giants from content liability.The dispute over social media content — a battle cry of conservatives who say the social media giants treat them unfairly — interjected an unrelated but complicated issue into work on the defense bill. It followed Trump’s bid over the summer to sabotage the package with a veto threat over Confederate base names.Shorter holiday breakIf Trump does veto the defense bill, Congress could cut short its Christmas recess to hold override vote.”I think we can override the veto, if in fact he vetoes,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday. “I hope he does not veto. I hope he reconsiders. And I think he will get substantial pressure [from Republicans] that, you know, you don’t want to put the defense bill at risk.”The defense measure guides Pentagon policy and cements decisions about troop levels, new weapons systems and military readiness, military personnel policy and other military goals. Many programs can only go into effect if the bill is approved, including military construction.
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By Polityk | 12/11/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
White House Threatens FDA Chief’s Job Over Vaccine Approval
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Friday pressed Food and Drug Administration chief Stephen Hahn to grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine by the end of the day or face possible firing, two administration officials said.The vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech won a critical endorsement Thursday from an FDA panel of outside advisers, and signoff from the agency — which is expected within days — is the next step needed to get the shots to the public.US On Verge of Launching COVID VaccinationsFood and Drug Administration has approved vaccine by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech The FDA is not required to follow the guidance of its advisory committees, but often does.Meadows spoke to Hahn by telephone on Friday, according to a senior administration official who was familiar with the conversation but was not authorized to discuss private conversations.Hahn disputed characterizations of his conversation with Meadows.The chief of staff also told Hahn his job was in jeopardy if the emergency use authorization was not issued before Saturday, said a second administration official familiar with the conversation.
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By Polityk | 12/11/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Congress at Stalemate on COVID Aid
An emerging $900 billion COVID-19 aid package from a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers all but collapsed Thursday after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republican senators won’t support $160 billion in state and local funds as part of a potential trade-off in the deal.McConnell’s staff conveyed to top negotiators that the Republican leader sees no path to an agreement on a key aspect of the lawmakers’ existing proposal — a slimmed-down version of the liability shield he is seeking for companies and organizations facing potential COVID-19 lawsuits — in exchange for the state and local funds that Democrats want.The majority leader criticized “controversial state bailouts” during a speech in the Senate, as he insists on a more targeted aid package.The hardened stance from McConnell, who does not appear to have enough votes from his Republican majority for a far-reaching compromise, creates a new stalemate over the $900 billion-plus package, despite days of toiling by a bipartisan group of lawmakers to strike compromise.Legislative pile-upsOther legislative pile-ups now threaten Friday’s related business — a must-pass government funding bill. If it doesn’t clear Congress, that would trigger a federal government shutdown on Saturday.McConnell’s staff conveyed to other negotiators it’s “unlikely” the trade-off proposed by the bipartisan group would be acceptable, as COVID aid talks continue, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the talks. A senior Democrat first shared the Republican leader’s views after being granted anonymity to discuss the private conversations, which were first reported by Politico.Deadlines, real and perceived, haven’t been sufficient to drive Washington’s factions to an agreement, despite the U.S. breaking a record-high 3,000 daily COVID fatalities, and hospitals straining at capacity from soaring caseloads nationwide.The House recessed for a few days, with leaders warning members to be prepared to return to Washington to vote on the year-end deals, while the Senate was planning a rare Friday session.The breakdown over the COVID aid package, after days of behind-the-scenes talks by a group of lawmakers fed up with inaction, comes as President Donald Trump has taken the talks in another direction — insisting on a fresh round of $600 stimulus checks for Americans.Sending direct cash payments to households was not included in the bipartisan proposal, but has been embraced by some of the president’s fiercest critics — including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N,Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent who introduced an amendment to include the checks with Trump ally Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.Sanders said the unprecedented moment facing the nation with the pandemic and its economic fallout requires Congress to “take unprecedented action.”Trump’s top negotiator on COVID-19 financial aid, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, reported headway Thursday, before the package from the bipartisan senators’ group fell apart.“I think we’re making a lot of progress,” Mnuchin said.Stop-gap measureA one-week stop-gap measure to prevent a federal shutdown appears to have sapped some urgency from the talks. The short-term government-wide funding bill, approved by the House on Wednesday, needs to clear the Senate before Friday at midnight to avert a partial closure.The next deadline would be Dec. 18, but both House and Senate leaders say they won’t adjourn without passing an aid measure.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Congress would keep working up to or even after Christmas to get an agreement. The new Congress is being sworn in on Jan. 3.“Now if we need more time then we take more time, but we have to have a bill and we cannot go home without it,” Pelosi said. She also gave an upbeat assessment on the talks.The bipartisan lawmakers held another virtual “dinner group” meeting late Thursday to try to prop up the deal. They have been working furiously to try to bridge the stalemate over COVID aid.The $900 billion-plus proposal provides sweeping new funds for vaccines, small businesses, health care providers, schools and families suffering from the virus crisis and the economic shutdowns.A key hold up has been the standoff over more money for the states, that Democrats – and some Republicans – want and the liability shield that is McConnell’s top GOP priority but that most Democrats oppose.The partisan group tried to marry those two provisions as a compromise.McConnell had initially proposed a five-year liability shield from virus lawsuits, retroactive to December 2019, but the bipartisan group was eyeing a scaled-back shield of six months to a year. Labor and civil rights groups oppose any shield, which they say strips essential workers of potential legal recourse as they take risks during the pandemic.Democratic leaders had wanted far more in state and local aid but were accepting of the lower $160 billion.But many Republicans have long viewed the state and local aid as a bailout they would have trouble supporting, despite the pleas for funds coming from governors and mayors nationwide.Late Thursday, Sen. Dick Durbin and other Democrats pitched another liability proposal to the bipartisan group, but it was rejected by Republicans, according to a Senate aide granted anonymity to discuss the private session.The Trump administration is back in the middle of the negotiations with a $916 billion plan. It would send a $600 direct payment to most Americans but eliminate a $300-per-week employment benefit favored by the bipartisan group of Senate negotiators.The White House offer has the endorsement of the top House Republican and apparent backing from McConnell, who had previously favored a $519 billion GOP plan that has already failed twice. But Democrats immediately blasted the plan over the administration’s refusal to back the partial restoration, to $300 per week, of bonus pandemic jobless benefits that lapsed in August.President-elect Joe Biden is pressing for as much pandemic relief as possible, though he’s not directly involved in the talks. McConnell, like Pelosi, says Congress will not adjourn without providing the long-overdue COVID-19 relief.
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By Polityk | 12/11/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Congress at Stalemate on US COVID Aid
An emerging $900 billion COVID-19 aid package from a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers all but collapsed Thursday after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Republican senators won’t support $160 billion in state and local funds as part of a potential trade-off in the deal.McConnell’s staff conveyed to top negotiators that the Republican leader sees no path to an agreement on a key aspect of the lawmakers’ existing proposal — a slimmed-down version of the liability shield he is seeking for companies and organizations facing potential COVID-19 lawsuits — in exchange for the state and local funds that Democrats want.The majority leader criticized “controversial state bailouts” during a speech in the Senate, as he insists on a more targeted aid package.The hardened stance from McConnell, who does not appear to have enough votes from his Republican majority for a far-reaching compromise, creates a new stalemate over the $900 billion-plus package, despite days of toiling by a bipartisan group of lawmakers to strike compromise.Legislative pile-upsOther legislative pile-ups now threaten Friday’s related business — a must-pass government funding bill. If it doesn’t clear Congress, that would trigger a federal government shutdown on Saturday.McConnell’s staff conveyed to other negotiators it’s “unlikely” the trade-off proposed by the bipartisan group would be acceptable, as COVID aid talks continue, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the talks. A senior Democrat first shared the Republican leader’s views after being granted anonymity to discuss the private conversations, which were first reported by Politico.Deadlines, real and perceived, haven’t been sufficient to drive Washington’s factions to an agreement, despite the U.S. breaking a record-high 3,000 daily COVID fatalities, and hospitals straining at capacity from soaring caseloads nationwide.The House recessed for a few days, with leaders warning members to be prepared to return to Washington to vote on the year-end deals, while the Senate was planning a rare Friday session.The breakdown over the COVID aid package, after days of behind-the-scenes talks by a group of lawmakers fed up with inaction, comes as President Donald Trump has taken the talks in another direction — insisting on a fresh round of $600 stimulus checks for Americans.Sending direct cash payments to households was not included in the bipartisan proposal, but has been embraced by some of the president’s fiercest critics — including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N,Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent who introduced an amendment to include the checks with Trump ally Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.Sanders said the unprecedented moment facing the nation with the pandemic and its economic fallout requires Congress to “take unprecedented action.”Trump’s top negotiator on COVID-19 financial aid, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, reported headway Thursday, before the package from the bipartisan senators’ group fell apart.“I think we’re making a lot of progress,” Mnuchin said.Stop-gap measureA one-week stop-gap measure to prevent a federal shutdown appears to have sapped some urgency from the talks. The short-term government-wide funding bill, approved by the House on Wednesday, needs to clear the Senate before Friday at midnight to avert a partial closure.The next deadline would be Dec. 18, but both House and Senate leaders say they won’t adjourn without passing an aid measure.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Congress would keep working up to or even after Christmas to get an agreement. The new Congress is being sworn in on Jan. 3.“Now if we need more time then we take more time, but we have to have a bill and we cannot go home without it,” Pelosi said. She also gave an upbeat assessment on the talks.The bipartisan lawmakers held another virtual “dinner group” meeting late Thursday to try to prop up the deal. They have been working furiously to try to bridge the stalemate over COVID aid.The $900 billion-plus proposal provides sweeping new funds for vaccines, small businesses, health care providers, schools and families suffering from the virus crisis and the economic shutdowns.A key hold up has been the standoff over more money for the states, that Democrats – and some Republicans – want and the liability shield that is McConnell’s top GOP priority but that most Democrats oppose.The partisan group tried to marry those two provisions as a compromise.McConnell had initially proposed a five-year liability shield from virus lawsuits, retroactive to December 2019, but the bipartisan group was eyeing a scaled-back shield of six months to a year. Labor and civil rights groups oppose any shield, which they say strips essential workers of potential legal recourse as they take risks during the pandemic.Democratic leaders had wanted far more in state and local aid but were accepting of the lower $160 billion.But many Republicans have long viewed the state and local aid as a bailout they would have trouble supporting, despite the pleas for funds coming from governors and mayors nationwide.Late Thursday, Sen. Dick Durbin and other Democrats pitched another liability proposal to the bipartisan group, but it was rejected by Republicans, according to a Senate aide granted anonymity to discuss the private session.The Trump administration is back in the middle of the negotiations with a $916 billion plan. It would send a $600 direct payment to most Americans but eliminate a $300-per-week employment benefit favored by the bipartisan group of Senate negotiators.The White House offer has the endorsement of the top House Republican and apparent backing from McConnell, who had previously favored a $519 billion GOP plan that has already failed twice. But Democrats immediately blasted the plan over the administration’s refusal to back the partial restoration, to $300 per week, of bonus pandemic jobless benefits that lapsed in August.President-elect Joe Biden is pressing for as much pandemic relief as possible, though he’s not directly involved in the talks. McConnell, like Pelosi, says Congress will not adjourn without providing the long-overdue COVID-19 relief.
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By Polityk | 12/11/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Persists in Bid to Upend Biden Victory
U.S. President Donald Trump pushed ahead Thursday with his long-shot effort to upend his reelection loss to President-elect Joe Biden, meeting at the White House with Republican state attorneys general who are supporting a lawsuit brought by the state of Texas at the Supreme Court to attempt to invalidate millions of votes in states won by Biden. Several legal experts were dismissive of the lawsuit’s chances of success, but Trump said on Twitter, “The Supreme Court has a chance to save our Country from the greatest Election abuse in the history of the United States.” The Supreme Court has a chance to save our Country from the greatest Election abuse in the history of the United States. 78% of the people feel (know!) the Election was RIGGED.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses reporters on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.If current results stand, Biden will be elected by 306-232 on Monday when the electors meeting in 50 state capitals across the country cast their votes. Congress must review and certify the Electoral College outcome on January 6 in what is normally a routine function. Trump, however, has been calling some Republican lawmakers to gauge whether any might contest the list of electors from states that narrowly supported Biden. If a House member and a senator challenge a state’s results, the whole Congress would vote on whether to certify any individual state’s electors. That would force Republican lawmakers — many of whom have avoided taking a stand on the election for weeks — to acknowledge the voting results or side with Trump’s effort to overturn the outcome. Republican Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama has said he will challenge the Biden victory, but it is unclear whether any senator will join his challenge. FILE – Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., is interviewed on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 22, 2017.Should any challenge in Congress come to a vote, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives would certainly vote against Trump, dooming his last chance at retaining power. If Congress certifies the Electoral College outcome, Biden’s inauguration is set for noon January 20 on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Trump has neither conceded to Biden nor said whether he plans to attend his successor’s swearing-in ceremony. In a brief order Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected a request by Pennsylvania Republicans to overturn Biden’s 81,000-vote victory in that state, marking the first time the country’s top court had weighed in on the election. The ruling was the latest of dozens of legal losses across the country for Trump and his campaign as he tries to stay in office for another four years. Seventeen states, all of which voted for Trump, expressed support for Paxton’s lawsuit in a court filing on Wednesday. Paxton’s suit is based on a collection of claims of voting and vote-counting irregularities that have already been largely rejected in separate cases brought in state and federal courts. But Trump has persisted in his claims. “There is massive evidence of widespread fraud in the four states (plus) mentioned in the Texas suit,” Trump contended on Twitter. “Just look at all of the tapes and affidavits!”There is massive evidence of widespread fraud in the four states (plus) mentioned in the Texas suit. Just look at all of the tapes and affidavits!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2020Trump said, “We will soon be learning about the word ‘courage,’ and saving our Country. I received hundreds of thousands of legal votes more, in all of the Swing States, than did my opponent. ALL Data taken after the vote says that it was impossible for me to lose, unless FIXED!” Paxton claimed that election officials in the four states he sued used the COVID-19 pandemic as an unconstitutional justification to circumvent their state legislatures in setting election rules, “thereby weakening ballot integrity.” Paxton’s complaint asks the court to extend the deadline for the Electoral College vote beyond Monday and to disallow electors from the four states, who are pledged to vote for Biden because he won the popular vote in these states. Paxton asked the Supreme Court to instead allow the state legislatures to appoint electors, presumably ones favoring Trump. The Supreme Court gave the four states until Thursday to respond to Paxton’s suit, but their state attorneys general disparaged Paxton’s legal effort as misguided. “With all due respect, the Texas attorney general is constitutionally, legally and factually wrong about Georgia,” said a spokeswoman for Chris Carr, Georgia’s Republican attorney general. Attorneys General Dana Nessel of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Josh Kaul of Wisconsin — all Democrats — called Paxton’s lawsuit an attempt to “mislead the public and tear at the fabric of our Constitution.” “It’s well past time for the president and our fellow states and elected officials to stop misleading the public about this year’s election and to acknowledge that the results certified in our states reflect the decisions made by the voters in a free, fair and secure election,” they stated. Stephen Vladeck, a constitutional law professor at the University of Texas, said of Paxton’s legal effort on Twitter, “It looks like we have a new leader in the ‘craziest lawsuit filed to purportedly challenge the election’ category.” Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California-Irvine, called Paxton’s suit a “news release masquerading as a lawsuit,” in a blog post explaining his view of why the suit would fail.
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By Polityk | 12/11/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Paul Delays Defense Bill Vote Over Troop Drawdowns
A Senate vote on a wide-ranging defense policy bill was delayed Thursday after Republican Rand Paul objected to the measure, casting the next steps in doubt and raising the slim prospect of a government shutdown if a short-term spending bill caught up in the dispute is not approved by Friday.Paul said on the Senate floor that he opposed a provision in the defense bill that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to draw down U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Germany. His objections threatened another must-pass bill, a one-week spending measure that would keep the government open through December 18. The House has passed the stopgap measure, but a government shutdown would occur if the Senate does not act on it by midnight Friday.Paul said he would drop his objection if GOP leaders allowed a final vote on the National Defense Authorization Act on Monday. Senators from both parties were eager to finish work on the bill this week.Seeking leverageSenator John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said he thought Paul — who has provoked government shutdowns before — was using the time crunch for maximum leverage to remove the provision on troop withdrawals.”I think he’s just trying to figure out ways to derail the bill. And … when you’re in the U.S Senate that’s your prerogative. But most of our people would like to get it done” Thursday, Thune said.”His thing is just to delay this and use all the time, so it pushes the vote on [the defense bill] into next week, which pushes the override vote” on a possible Trump veto into the following week, Thune said of Paul.Paul said he was concerned that the troop amendment “creates 535 commanders-in-chief in Congress” and hampers the president’s ability to deploy troops as he sees fit. Democrats support the measure because they oppose Trump, Paul said, but the amendment would also apply to future presidents, including President-elect Joe Biden.FILE – Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 17, 2019.Paul attacked the author of the troop amendment, Republican Representative Liz Cheney, saying she and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, share a neoconservative belief in “perpetual war.””The philosophy of these people is about war and substantiating war and making sure that it becomes and is perpetual war,” Paul said.Cheney hit back on Twitter, charging that Paul was “currently holding up passage of the #NDAA, blaming America, and delaying hazardous duty pay to hundreds of thousands of our service members and their families. Inexcusable.”The dispute over the defense bill came after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a rare break with Trump, urged passage of the measure, despite Trump’s threat to veto it.McConnell said Thursday that it was important for Congress to continue a nearly 60-year streak of passing the National Defense Authorization Act, which affirms 3% pay raises for U.S. troops and authorizes billions in military programs and construction.Unlocking spending”This NDAA will unlock more than $740 billion for the training, tools and cutting-edge equipment that our service members and civilian employees need to defend American lives and American interests,” McConnell said in a Senate speech ahead of an expected vote Thursday or Friday. “It will give our troops the 3% pay raise they deserve. It’ll keep our forces ready to deter China and stand strong in the Indo-Pacific.”The Democrat-controlled House overwhelmingly approved the defense bill Tuesday, defying Trump’s veto threat and setting up a possible showdown with the Republican president in the waning days of his administration.A total of 140 Republicans joined 195 Democrats in backing the bill, which received support from more than 80% of the House — well above the two-thirds support required to override a potential veto.Trump has vowed to veto the bill unless lawmakers clamp down on social media companies he contends were biased against him during the election. Trump also wants Congress to strip out a provision of the bill that allows renaming of military bases that now honor Confederate leaders.FILE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., responds to a reporter’s question during a press conference in Louisville, Ky., Nov. 4, 2020.McConnell did not address Trump’s veto threat but said the bill “will secure President Trump’s major progress at modernizing our capabilities, our technologies and our strategic nuclear deterrent.”The bill “does not contain every policy that either side would like to pass. But a huge number of crucial policies are included, and a lot of bad ideas were kept out,” McConnell said.Trump tweeted Tuesday that he would veto “the very weak” defense bill unless it repealed Section 230, a part of the communications code that shields Twitter, Facebook and other tech giants from content liability.Votes to overrideIf he does veto the defense bill, Congress could cut short its Christmas recess to hold override votes, senior House members said.”I think we can override the veto, if in fact he vetoes,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday. “I hope he does not veto. I hope he reconsiders. And I think he will get substantial pressure [from Republicans] that, you know, you don’t want to put the defense bill at risk.”The defense measure guides Pentagon policy and cements decisions about troop levels, new weapons systems and military readiness, military personnel policy and other military goals. Many programs can go into effect only if the bill is approved, including military construction.
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By Polityk | 12/11/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Taps More Women of Color for Top Posts
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday announced several more nominees for top spots in his administration, including three women of color. In a statement, the Biden-Harris transition team said it was nominating U.S. Representative Marcia Fudge to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, former United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice as director of the Domestic Policy Council, and House Ways and Means Committee trade lawyer Katherine Tai as United States trade representative. FILE – Rep. Marcia Fudge, left, and then-Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris wave to employees of Zanzibar Soul Fusion restaurant during a campaign event in Cleveland, Oct. 24, 2020.Fudge and Rice are African American, and Tai’s parents are immigrants from Taiwan. Biden also nominated former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack to lead the Agriculture Department, a job Vilsack held for eight years under former President Barack Obama, for whom Biden served as vice president. He tapped Denis McDonough, White House chief of staff under Obama, to be secretary of veteran’s affairs. “This dedicated and distinguished group of public servants will bring the highest level of experience, compassion, and integrity to bear, solving problems and expanding possibilities for the American people in the face of steep challenges,” Biden said in Thursday’s statement, promising they will “hit the ground running on day one.” If confirmed, Fudge would become another high-ranking African American woman in the incoming administration, following Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and United Nations ambassador-designee Linda Thomas-Greenfield. FILE – Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, testifies during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 9, 2014.Biden has been reluctant to nominate his party’s members of Congress to his cabinet, given the Democrats’ narrow majority in the House of Representatives and uncertainty in the Senate. Fudge, a champion of affordable housing and infrastructure investment, is seen as an exception as she represents a safe seat in her district in Ohio. Tai would be the first woman of color in the role of U.S. trade representative if confirmed. Her nomination was pushed by Democratic lawmakers who noted in particular her fluency in Mandarin and her expertise in U.S.-China relations. In tapping Tai, who successfully led Washington’s disputes against Beijing at the World Trade Organization from 2007 to 2014, the Biden team may be signaling an intent to return to a more multilateral approach to advancing U.S. trade interests and confronting China economically. The choice of Rice for a top domestic policy job comes as a surprise given her experience in foreign policy, serving as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013 and as the national security adviser from 2013 to 2017. FILE – Nominated Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks following a cabinet announcement by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, Nov. 24, 2020.However, Democrats were concerned that Republicans might block her nomination to a position that required Senate confirmation. Rice had been a contender to be secretary of state, a position that went to Antony Blinken. Biden on Wednesday announced the selection of another African American, retired Army General Lloyd Austin, to serve as defense secretary. Gender and racial diversity Biden has been facing pressure from activist groups and is eager to show that his administration intends to expand on gender and racial diversity in top appointments. Activists see diverse leadership as especially crucial as the country faces the pandemic and tries to recover economically. “For too long, the United States government has not been representative of the people that it’s intended to serve,” said Sarah Fleisch Fink, vice president for policy and strategy at the National Partnership for Women & Families. Fink said the issues that the U.S. is facing are worst for the people who are most marginalized, including women, people of color, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community. “The pandemic has only exposed that and compounded it,” Fink added. “In order for these communities to experience real change and transformation, they need to be served by people who understand their experiences.” FILE – Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, who has been selected to serve as the chair of President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 equity task force, speaks in a video displayed during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Dec. 8, 2020.Biden chose Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, an expert on health care disparities among racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., as chair of his COVID-19 equity task force. Other female top administration official designees include Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary and Avril Haines as director of national intelligence. FILE – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra speaks during a news conference in Sacramento, California, March 5, 2019.Biden has also named Latinos to his cabinet including California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Alejandro Mayorkas as his nominee for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Activists are calling on Biden to nominate a Black person as attorney general, but he is said to be considering Democratic Senator Doug Jones of Alabama, who lost his bid for reelection in last month’s general election. Jones is a former federal prosecutor who successfully prosecuted two members of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan group for the deadly 1963 bombing of a Black church in Alabama. VOA’s Richard Green contributed to this report.
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By Polityk | 12/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Hunter Biden Tax Probe Examining Chinese Business Dealings
The Justice Department is investigating the finances of President-elect Joe Biden’s son, including scrutinizing some of his Chinese business dealings and other transactions, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The revelations put a renewed spotlight on questions about Hunter Biden’s financial history, which dogged his father’s successful White House campaign and were a frequent target of President Donald Trump and his allies. They also come at a politically delicate time for the president-elect, who is weighing his choice to lead an agency that is actively investigating his son.
The tax investigation was launched in 2018, the year before the elder Biden announced his candidacy for president. Hunter Biden confirmed the existence of the investigation on Wednesday, saying he learned about it for the first time the previous day.
“I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” he said in a statement.
It is unclear which entities or business dealings might be tied up in the probe, though the person with knowledge of the matter said at least some of the focus was on his past work in China. Federal investigators served a round of subpoenas on Tuesday, including one for Hunter Biden, according to another person familiar with the investigation.
Investigators did not reach out until recently because of Justice Department practice against taking overt investigative actions in the run-up to an election, one of the people said. The people familiar with the investigation insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing probe.
Hunter Biden has a history of international affairs and business dealings in a number of countries. Trump and his allies have accused him of profiting off his political connections and have raised unsubstantiated charges of corruption related to his work in Ukraine at the time his father was vice president and leading the Obama administration’s dealings with the Eastern European nation.
Late Wednesday, Trump tweeted a quote from New York Post columnist Miranda Devine claiming, “10% of voters would have changed their vote if they knew about Hunter Biden.”
Biden is actively assembling his Cabinet but has yet to name a nominee to lead the Justice Department. That person could ultimately have oversight of the investigation into the new president’s son if it is still ongoing when Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20.
The transition team said in a statement, “President-elect Biden is deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger.”
The revelations could also add weight to Trump’s broad accusations that Biden was weak on China. Trump took a tough line on China during the campaign as he tried to deflect blame for the coronavirus. Biden has rejected the characterization that he was weak and said that, unlike Trump, he would rebuild global coalitions to check China’s power.
A New Yorker profile on Hunter Biden last year detailed some of his business work in China, including how he accompanied his father on a 2013 trip to Beijing, where he met with a business associate. He also acknowledged having received a diamond from a Chinese energy tycoon interested in liquified natural gas projects.
He downplayed the idea that the gift could have been intended to affect his father’s policy. He told the magazine he gave the diamond to an associate.
“What would they be bribing me for? My dad wasn’t in office,” he said.
Hunter Biden has been caught up in controversies before. While his father was vice president, Hunter joined the Naval Reserve and was discharged after testing positive for cocaine in his system, later revealing a yearslong struggle with addiction.
He also joined the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma in 2014, sparking concerns about the perceptions of a conflict of interest given the elder Biden was deeply involved in U.S. policy toward Ukraine. An investigation by the Republican-led Senate did not identify any policies that were directly affected by Hunter Biden’s work.
In the weeks before the election, Trump supporters used the existence of a laptop they said was connected to Hunter Biden — and the emergence of someone who maintains he had business discussions with him — to raise questions about Joe Biden’s knowledge of his son’s activities in Ukraine and China. The president-elect has said he did not discuss his son’s international business dealings with him and has denied having ever taken money from a foreign country.
The laptop surfaced publicly in October when The New York Post reported on emails that it said had come from Hunter Biden’s laptop and that it said it received from Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer.
A third person familiar with the matter said the tax investigation does not have anything to do with the laptop.
In a CNN interview last week, President-elect Biden addressed the business dealings of his brothers and his son Hunter, pledging that they would avoid any perceived conflicts of interest during his time in office.
“My son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict, where there’s appropriate distance from the presidency and government,” Biden said.
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By Polityk | 12/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Hunter Biden Facing Federal Investigation Over ‘Tax Affairs’
President-elect Joe Biden’s son Hunter said Wednesday that his “tax affairs” are under federal investigation, putting a renewed spotlight on the questions about his financial dealings that dogged his father’s campaign. In a statement released by the president-elect’s transition office, the younger Biden said he learned about the investigation Tuesday. He did not disclose details of the matter. “I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers,” he said in a statement. Hunter Biden has long been a target of President Donald Trump and his allies, who have accused him of profiting off his political connections. Trump and his supporters also raised unsubstantiated charges of corruption related to Hunter Biden’s work in Ukraine at the time his father was vice president and leading the Obama administration’s dealings with the Eastern European nation. The disclosure of the federal investigation led by the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware comes at an awkward moment for the incoming president, who is assembling his Cabinet. His pick for attorney general could have oversight of the investigation into the new president’s son if it is still ongoing when Biden is sworn in on January 20. The transition team said in a statement: “President-elect Biden is deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger.” Hunter Biden’s attorneys did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment.
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By Polityk | 12/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Biden Tells Civil Rights Leaders He’ll Advance Racial Equity
In a meeting with leaders of some of the nation’s top civil rights organizations, President-elect Joe Biden reaffirmed that his administration will prioritize racial justice and assemble a diverse Cabinet that can tackle pressing equity issues.Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond, who will join the Biden administration as a senior adviser, also participated in the nearly two-hour virtual meeting Tuesday with seven civil rights leaders. The talk touched on how racial justice will be a common thread as the Biden administration works to address policing and criminal justice reform, COVID-19, the nation’s racial wealth gap, voting rights and more.The meeting, which was closed to the news media, follows increasing pressure Biden has received to ensure that his Cabinet is diverse and representative of the nation. Black voters were a driving national force pushing the former vice president to victory over President Donald Trump. Other voters of color have also been credited with helping secure Biden’s win in battleground states including Arizona and Nevada.”You cannot move the needle when it comes to racial justice in this country unless you have people at the table at the highest levels who have had lived experiences … and there are Black people qualified for every single position in the government,” National Urban League CEO Marc Morial told reporters after the meeting. “We saw today a passionate Joe Biden and a passionate Kamala Harris. We will judge this administration by the actions it takes and by its results.”‘We must repair the damage’The civil rights leaders said they made clear that Biden’s supporters expect him to deliver on his promises. They said Biden agreed to meet with them regularly to discuss progress on key issues.”I said to him he must not take lightly that he is succeeding the most racist, bigoted administration in memory,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, president and founder of the National Action Network. “It is not even just about going forward. We must repair this damage that has been done by this administration.”Biden has said he wants a diverse Cabinet, and some Black leaders have said he needs to do more to achieve that. Biden announced earlier Tuesday that he had selected retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be the nation’s first Black defense secretary. The Associated Press reported later Tuesday that Biden had also selected Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, as his housing and urban development secretary.Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said they also discussed voting and the importance of support for legislation that will restore the protections of the Voting Rights Act, selecting an attorney general who has a strong civil rights background and diverse judge appointments.”He was very assertive in assuring us that he intends to address issues of racial equity,” Ifill said. “He believes that we will be satisfied by his appointments in terms of racial diversity to the Cabinet, and he expressed his desire to have a robust partnership going forward.”While representation matters, some Black leaders are urging Biden to ensure that all his Cabinet selections can deliver on policies to help Black Americans and people of color.”When we talk to people, I do not think that we have heard from anyone that their primary focus is whether or not Joe Biden is appointing enough Black people in this administration,” said Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of the BlackPAC. “People want relief. People are still suffering, and the election night victory did not change that for them.”‘We want to bring impacted people to the table’Although Tuesday’s meeting with the Biden transition team seemed reserved for leaders of historic civil rights groups, other leaders are also in line for opportunities to lobby the incoming administration.The Rev. William Barber II, who is a co-leader of the Poor People’s Campaign, an effort that centers poverty in the fight for racial justice, said he has been in touch with Biden’s campaign. He was not among the seven leaders in Tuesday’s meeting.Barber told the AP that he wants to hold Biden to a promise the former vice president made this summer about election protection and issues of racial and economic inequality.”It’s not about meeting with me,” Barber said in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s about meeting with us — we want to bring impacted people to the table.”
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By Polityk | 12/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
YouTube Will Remove New Videos That Falsely Claim Fraud Changed US Election Outcome
YouTube said on Wednesday it would start removing content that falsely allege widespread fraud changed the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, in a change to its more hands-off stance on videos making similar claims.
The update, which applies to content uploaded from Wednesday, comes a day after “safe harbor,” a deadline set by U.S. law for states to certify the results of the presidential election.
YouTube said it would start enforcing the policy in line with its approach towards historical U.S. presidential elections.
Online platforms have been under pressure to police misinformation about the election on their sites.
YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc’s Google, was widely seen as taking a more hands-off approach than Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc, which started labeling content with election misinformation. YouTube labels all election-related videos.
After the November election, Reuters identified several YouTube channels making money from ads and memberships that were amplifying debunked accusations about voting fraud.
Last month, a group of Democratic senators asked YouTube to commit to removing content containing false or misleading information about the 2020 election outcome and the upcoming Senate run-off elections in Georgia.
Asked about how the policy would apply to Georgia elections, a YouTube spokeswoman said this policy only applied to the presidential election.
YouTube said in a blog post on Wednesday that since September it had removed over 8,000 channels and thousands of misleading election-related videos for violating its existing policies.
The company said more than 70% of recommendations on election-related topics came from authoritative news sources.
YouTube also said that since Election Day, fact-check information panels had been triggered over 200,000 times on election-related search results
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By Polityk | 12/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
