US Politics

Texas governor’s plans to bus migrants to Capitol met with bipartisan criticismRepublican Greg Abbott’s botched new policy is in response to Biden’s decision to rescind hardline Trump-era immigration policy Plans announced by Texas governor Greg Abbott that attempt to send undocumented migrants away from the southern border on buses to Washington were met with bipartisan criticism on Wednesday.Abbott, a Republican, told reporters that the state would respond to the Biden administration’s decision to rescind a hardline Trump-era immigration policy by placing state troopers in riot gear at the border and then putting migrants on buses bound for DC.But shortly after his press conference announcing the new policy, the governor issued a release that significantly softened the plan, clarifying that any transportation out of the state would be done voluntarily and only after an individual had been processed by the Department of Homeland security for release into the US.The plans also includes measures to begin “enhanced safety inspections” of commercial vehicles coming across the Texas border with Mexico, which the governor acknowledged would “dramatically slow” traffic at the border.The botched announcement came after the Biden administration last week said it would rescind Title 42 restrictions at the southern border. The policy, introduced by the Trump administration, allowed border officials the power to remove undocumented migrants under public health guidance before they could claim asylum. 1.7 million people had been removed from the US under the program, the majority under the Biden administration.The Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] announced the policy would end on 23 May as the White House plans for an increase in irregular arrivals at the border.On Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans condemned Abbott’s announcement.Beto O’Rourke, the former Democratic US congressman, who is running for Texas governor this year as Abbott faces re-election, described the announcement as a “political stunt”.“If Abbott focused on solutions instead of stunts, then Texas could have made some real progress on this issue over the last seven years,” O’Rourke said in a statement.In a statement reported by the Texas Tribune, ACLU of Texas staff attorney Kate Huddleston said: “Any forcible busing of migrants across the country would be outrageous and blatantly unconstitutional. Given that Abbott cannot dictate where people are sent, he has already backpedaled on this heinous plan, announcing that it will be only voluntary.”Meanwhile, Texas Republican state representative Matt Schaefer called the announcement “a gimmick” in a post on social media.TopicsTexasUS immigrationRepublicansUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Is the world’s most important climate legislation about to die in US Congress?Daniel SherrellPassage of the bill would probably spell the difference between the US meeting its climate goals and blowing right past them On April 23, the day after Earth Day, a big tent coalition—climate activists, union workers, civil rights leaders, and increasingly desperate young people—will be gathering outside the White House. If you live on the eastern seaboard and are free that Saturday, you should sign up and join them. Here’s why:Tucked beneath the headlines on Covid and Ukraine, the most important climate legislation in US history – and thus, arguably, in world history – is still stuck in Congressional purgatory. You’d be forgiven if you weren’t fully aware. It is not trending on Twitter. President Biden has mostly stopped talking about it. The enormous moral stakes have been brutally ablated by a broken, farcical, and, above all, extremely boring legislative kludge known as budget reconciliation. The months-long saga has turned Biden’s original “Build Back Better” plan into the juridical equivalent of a Warhol soup can – a ubiquitous token evacuated of any original meaning. That the public has largely failed to track the world-historical implications of this process is an indictment of the way climate information gets filtered down to ordinary people: in dollar figures no one understands, in line graphs published by obscure wonks on Twitter, in front page headlines that exhaust the emotive potential of journalistic prose. Connecting any of this to, for example, insurance premiums in Miami Beach, or the fate of the world’s remaining sea turtles, or the prospect of your own grandchildren spending the bulk of their crypto-wages on potable drinking water requires an almost mimetic leap of imagination. And yet, the stakes remain what they are. Passage of the bill’s half-trillion dollars-worth of clean energy investments would likely spell the difference between the world’s largest economy meeting its climate goals and blowing right past them. It is not an exaggeration to say that in that balance—between 2 and 3 degrees Celsius of warming, between a government responsive to and avoidant of the greatest crisis of the 21st century – hang millions of human lives. The potential impact rivals that of nuclear war, except in this case the default is catastrophe. The fossil fuel industry has already fired its ICBM at the heart of our coastal cities. It’s up to the Democrats now to turn it around.And turn it around they still might. Joe Manchin, of his own volition, has returned to the bargaining table with a proposal that could retain most of the original climate investments from Build Back Better and potentially leave room for some investment in low-emission home and health care work. Biden and Schumer must stop at nothing to hold him to his word and land the deal. If they do, they could reverse the narrative of Biden’s presidency overnight. Not only would Biden finally be able to declare victory on his signature policy agenda, he would be offering a direct rejoinder to the crisis in Ukraine, pointing global energy markets toward wind and solar and undercutting fossil-fueled autocrats like Vladimir Putin. For a war-time president, the combination of crisis-response and long-term vision would earn him a place next to Churchill in the history textbooks. To be clear, I am profoundly angry that it’s all come to this. That not a single one of the Republican cowards who claim concern over climate change – Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham – is even considering voting for the bill. That it’s fate will be determined by a man who makes money hand over fist pumping carbon into the atmosphere. That President Biden had to dispatch the head of the National Economic Council to go zip-lining with Manchin in West Virginia last weekend. That the fate of organized human civilization would at least partially depend on two grown men donning intricate safety harnesses and skimming across a river gorge (though I’ll admit that, compared to your typical round of golf, there was something weird and almost endearing about this particular political mating ritual). All of which is to say: I won’t let my indignation die. I won’t succumb to the Stockholm Syndrome of the Beltway pundit, who would tell my generation that this is just how Washington works. The point is that Washington doesn’t work. Washington is broken. This process is proof.But to refuse cynicism is not to refuse strategy. That’s why, on April 23, thousands of people will be showing up in front of the White House – and in key Senate swing states – to make one last play at redemption. That’s why, at the risk of repeating myself, you really should join them. Democrats still have a chance to deliver big on climate. If they fail, we’ll lose far, far more than the midterms. We cannot allow them to fail.
Daniel Sherrell is the author of Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World (Penguin Books) and a climate activist
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Police determine at least five people fired shots in Sacramento shootingThree people have been arrested since the early Sunday violence unfolded but the motive is still unknown Police have said at least five people fired weapons in a weekend shooting in Sacramento, California, that killed six people and injured a dozen others and prompted calls for lawmakers to address the scourge of gun violence in the US.Officials said on Wednesday that while the motive was still unknown, investigators think “ gang violence is at the center of this tragedy” and that “gangs and gang violence are inseparable from the events that drove these shootings”.Police have made three arrests since the violence that unfolded around 2am on Sunday morning. Smiley Martin, who was also injured in the shooting, has been charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of a machine gun, while officials have charged his brother Dandrae Martin with assault and illegal firearm possession offenses.‘Slow violence that drives death’: a California port city’s struggle with pollution and shootingsRead moreDaviyonne Dawson faces charges of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. The 31-year-old was reportedly seen carrying a weapon in the area, but police say he was not charged for the shooting and officials don’t believe the gun was used in the incident. Dawson has posted a $500,000 bail and is no longer in jail.Law enforcement sources told the LA Times on Wednesday that the incident looked to be a shootout between “rivals” and that bystanders were caught in the crossfire of more than 100 shots. The shooting took place as bars in the areas closed and patrons headed to the streets. Police have confirmed they are investigating whether the incident could be connected to a street fight that broke out before gunfire erupted.No one has been charged with homicide in connection with the shooting as detectives continue with a complex investigation that includes hundreds of pieces of physical evidence, video footage, photos and dozens of witnesses.Authorities think the Martins had stolen guns. Investigators are trying to determine if a stolen handgun, which was converted to a weapon capable of automatic gunfire, found at the crime scene was connected to the shooting.Mass gun violence has shaken the region in recent weeks, raising questions about what can be done to stop the proliferation of illegal firearms in California. Less than six weeks ago, a man shot himself in a Sacramento suburb after killing his three daughters, ages nine, 10 and 13, with a ghost gun, a firearm without a serial number that is typically purchased online and assembled at home.California already has some of the nation’s strictest firearms rules, but has yet to find a way to deter those willing to skirt the laws with stolen or homemade and increasingly prevalent ghost guns.‘Never tried before’: California lawmakers use Texas tactics in bid to tackle ‘ghost guns’Read moreGavin Newsom, California’s governor, has proposed a law that would allow citizens to sue anyone who distributes illegal assault weapons, parts that can be used to build weapons, guns without serial numbers, or .50 caliber rifles. Under the measure, which is patterned after a controversial Texas bill aimed at abortions, those who sue would be awarded at least $10,000 in civil damages for each weapon, plus attorneys fees.“California leads the nation in enacting robust gun laws … and we’re still seeing this unprecedented level of gun violence,” said Robert Hertzberg, the Democratic state senator who is carrying the bill, to a senate committee. “There’s still much to be done, and we need to be creative.”But experts and analysts have raised questions about the effectiveness of the proposed law, warning that it would encourage civil actions to punish crimes and that is so broadly written it could ensnare, for instance, “a taxi driver that takes a person to a gun shop”.The bill is patterned after a similar Texas law allowing citizens to go after those who provide or assist in providing abortions. And even if it becomes law, it will automatically be invalidated if the Texas law is eventually ruled unconstitutional.Meanwhile, it emerged that one of the men arrested in connection with the shooting was recently released from a California prison, a few years into a 10-year sentence.Smiley Martin, 27, was released from prison on probation in February after serving his term for punching a girlfriend, dragging her from her home by her hair and whipping her with a belt, prosecutors said. An earlier parole bid was rejected after prosecutors said he posed “a significant, unreasonable risk of safety to the community”.Dandrae Martin, 26, who was held without bail, was freed from an Arizona prison in 2020 after serving just over 18 months for violating probation in separate cases involving a felony conviction for aggravated assault in 2016 and a conviction on a marijuana charge in 2018.Small memorials with candles, balloons and flowers remained near the crime scene on the outskirts of the city’s main entertainment district honoring the six people killed. Officials identified the dead as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21; Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and De’vazia Turner, 29.Alexander, an aspiring social worker, was just shy of her 22nd birthday. “She was a strong-willed person in the prime of her life and she was killed in a senseless shooting,” her father, John Alexander, told the Sacramento Bee. “She was down there with her sister, trying to have a good time.”Melinda Davis was a “very sassy lady”, a friend told the newspaper, and lived on the streets of Sacramento near the site of the shooting.Described by relatives as the life of the party, Harris was a frequent presence at the London nightclub, near the shooting scene. His mother called him a “very vivacious young man” who was always smiling.Hoye-Lucchesi was born and raised in Sacramento and his survivors include his mother, his girlfriend and six young children, KCRA 3 reported.A friend told KXTV-TV that Martinez-Andrade, who was killed in front of her best friend, “brought light to the room”.Turner, who grew up playing football in Sacramento, had four young children and worked out with his father five days a week.TopicsCaliforniaGun crimeUS crimeUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

MyPillow CEO sued for defamation by former Dominion Voting employeeSuit alleges Mike Lindell and his media platform targeted Eric Coomer as part of his ‘efforts to undermine faith in US democracy’ The CEO of bedding company MyPillow, Mike Lindell, has been sued for defamation by a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems.Eric Coomer, the former employee of the voting machines company that became embroiled in Donald Trump’s false claims that he was denied victory at the 2020 election because of widespread voter fraud, has filed a court complaint against Lindell, Insider reported.The suit alleges that Lindell and his media platform Frankspeech, targeted Coomer as part of his “efforts to undermine faith in American democracy and enrich himself in the process”.Lindell, a Trump supporter, conservative activist and conspiracy theorist, was handed the lawsuit while at a political rally he hosted in Denver, Colorado.“What’s this?” Lindell said upon receiving the envelope.“It’s for you,” the messenger said.As Mike Lindell walks away from his “election integrity” speech on the steps of the CO Capitol today, he gets served with Eric Coomer’s (Dominion Security) defamation lawsuit. “What is this?” “It’s for you.” From @Marshall9News pic.twitter.com/F9Aq3qHdfl— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) April 5, 2022
In the lawsuit, Coomer, Dominion’s former director of product strategy and security, said Lindell “has publicly accused [him] of being a ‘traitor to the United States’…[and] has claimed, without evidence, that Dr Coomer committed treason and that he should turn himself in to the authorities.”The complaint went on to accuse Lindell of publishing numerous false statements, defamatory interviews and other “dishonest content maligning Dr Coomer” on Frankspeech, often along with a sales pitch for MyPillow products.“Despite defendants’ baseless claims of election fraud being disproven by credible authorities across political parties, they persist in their campaign to profit from the ‘Big Lie’ [that Joe Biden didn’t win] by destroying the lives of private individuals like Dr Coomer,” the filing said.“They have not acknowledged the harm they have caused, nor have they retracted any of their false statements,” it added.According to the complaint, Coomer’s reputation has been “irreparably tarnished” and he is no longer able to work in the election industry “on account of the unwarranted distrust inspired by defendants’ lies.”Instead, Coomer now receives frequent death threats and bears the “burden of being made the face of an imagined criminal conspiracy of unprecedented scope in American history”, the complaint said.In a statement to Insider in response to the lawsuit, Lindell said: “MyPillow and Frankspeech didn’t do nothing. I don’t even know if I’ve ever mentioned Eric Coomer … They’re trying to cancel Frankspeech, your favorite show!”Last year, Lindell appeared on Frankspeech, accusing Coomer by name of voter fraud and urging him to surrender himself to authorities.TopicsUS elections 2020US politicsnewsReuse this content More

Biden extends pause on federal student loan payments to end of AugustNearly 37 million borrowers have been affected by the pause, with a delay of $195bn of payments since start of pandemic Joe Biden announced the pause on federal student loan collections in the US will be extended until 31 August.The pause on federal student loans first started at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 under the Trump administration. This is the seventh time the pause has seen an extension since then.“We are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused,” Biden said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that data from the Federal Reserve suggested that if collections were to resume, “millions of student loan borrowers would face significant economic hardship, and delinquencies and defaults could threaten Americans’ financial stability”.Nearly 37 million borrowers have been affected by the pause, with a delay of $195bn of payments since the start of the pandemic, according to the Federal Reserve of New York.In addition to the extension, the White House announced that borrowers who have defaulted or are delinquent on their loans will get a “fresh start” on their payments once collection resumes. Consequences experienced by borrowers who have defaulted on their student loans include having tax refunds withheld, wage garnishment and diminished social security benefits.“During the pause, we will continue our preparations to give borrowers a fresh start and to ensure that all borrowers have access to repayment plans that meet their financial situations and needs,” the education secretary, Miguel Cardona, said in a statement.Advocates for those with student debt, who have been pushing the Biden administration to extend the pause for weeks, praised the continuation of the pause but noted that the five-month extension was too short for borrowers and for the Department of Education to get ready to restart collections.“The pause is a temporary measure that should be in service of a long-term fix, or borrowers may be back in the same crunch four months from now,” Abby Shafroth, interim director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Loan Borrower Assistance Project, said in a statement.The announcement of the extension also comes off the back of a rally held in Washington DC on Monday urging Biden to cancel student debt outright. Calls for Biden to cancel student loans have gained momentum over the course of the pandemic. At the end of March, dozens of Democratic lawmakers signed a letter asking Biden to extend the pause until at least the end of the year and “provide meaningful student debt cancellation”.Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who signed the letter, tweeted on Tuesday that extensions could be read as “savvy politics” but still leave borrowers with instability.“I don’t think those folks understand the panic and disorder it causes people to get so close to these deadlines just to extend the uncertainty,” she tweeted.I think some folks read these extensions as savvy politics, but I don’t think those folks understand the panic and disorder it causes people to get so close to these deadlines just to extend the uncertainty. It doesn’t have the affect people think it does.We should cancel them. https://t.co/ZvkGRwliLT— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 5, 2022
The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, who also signed the letter, said that the extension was “a very good thing” but added that Biden should move forward with broader debt cancellation.“The president should go further and forgive $50,000 in student loans permanently. It’s a huge burden on so many people,” Schumer told reporters on Wednesday.As a candidate for president, Biden supported the idea of cancelling at least $10,000 of student loans per person. Since entering office, Biden has been mum on any plans to cancel student debt.Last month, Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, suggested that the administration was considering policies that go beyond a pause extension saying: “The question whether or not there’s some executive action on student debt forgiveness when payments resume is a decision we’re going to take before payments resume.”TopicsUS educationBiden administrationHigher educationUS politicsJoe BidennewsReuse this content More

US disrupts global ‘botnet’ controlled by Russian military intelligence, DoJ saysAttorney general also announces charges against Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev for sanctions violations The US has disrupted a global “botnet” controlled by Russia’s military intelligence agency, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Wednesday.A botnet is a network of hijacked computers used to carry out cyberattacks. “The Russian government has recently used similar infrastructure to attack Ukrainian targets,” Garland told reporters at the justice department.“Fortunately, we were able to disrupt this botnet before it could be used. Thanks to our close work with international partners, we were able to detect the infection of thousands of network hardware devices.“We were then able to disable the GRU’s [the military intelligence agency] control over those devices before the botnet could be weaponised.”The attorney general also announced charges against Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev for sanctions violations. He said the billionaire had been previously identified as a source of financing for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea and providing support for the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.“After being sanctioned by the United States, Malofeyev attempted to evade the sanctions by using co-conspirators to surreptitiously acquire and run media outlets across Europe,” Garland said.The indictment is the first of a Russian oligarch in the US since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.In a related move, a federal court in the southern district of New York unsealed a criminal indictment against TV producer John Hanick, 71, a US citizen charged with violations of sanctions and false statements because of his work for Malofeyev over several years.Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general of the justice department’s national security division, said: “The defendant Hanick knowingly chose to help Malofeyev spread his destabilizing messages by establishing, or attempting to establish, TV networks in Russia, Bulgaria and Greece, in violation of those sanctions.”Last month Garland, who is America’s top law enforcement official, announced the launch of Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.He vowed on Wednesday: “Our message to those who continue to enable the Russian regime through their criminal conduct is this: it does not matter how far you sail your yacht, it does not matter how well you conceal your assets, it does not matter how cleverly you write your malware or hide your online activity.“The justice department will use every available tool to find you, disrupt your plots and hold you accountable.”Garland, whose grandparents fled antisemitism at the border of western Russia and eastern Europe more than a century ago, acknowledged horrific images that emerged from Bucha in Ukraine his week. “We have seen the dead bodies of civilians, some with bound hands, scattered in the streets. We have seen the mass graves. We have seen the bombed hospital, theatre and residential apartment buildings.“The world sees what is happening in Ukraine. The justice department sees what is happening in Ukraine. This department has a long history of helping to hold accountable those who perpetrate war crimes.”He noted that one of his predecessors, Attorney General Robert Jackson, later served as a chief American prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials after the second world war. “Today, we are assisting international efforts to identify and hold accountable those responsible for atrocities in Ukraine and we will continue to do so.”TopicsMerrick GarlandFBIRussiaUkraineEuropeUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

Republican congressman Bob Gibbs retires, blaming redistricting ‘circus’Six-term lawmaker from Ohio’s Amish country exits primary race that would have put him up against Trump-backed Max Miller Republican congressman Bob Gibbs announced his sudden retirement on Wednesday, declaring himself a casualty of “the circus” over Ohio’s still-unresolved congressional map.The six-term congressman from Amish country exits a primary race in north-eastern Ohio that, under new temporary maps, would have put him up against the Trump-backed Republican Max Miller.Early voting is already under way.US rightwing figures in step with Kremlin over Ukraine disinformation, experts sayRead moreMiller was initially recruited to defeat Anthony Gonzalez, who joined a handful of fellow Republicans who voted in favor of the former Republican president’s impeachment. Gonzalez has since retired.In a statement, Gibbs said “almost 90% of the electorate” in the new seventh congressional district where he would be required to run is new, with nearly two-thirds drawn in from another district “foreign to any expectations or connection” to the district he now serves.Trump weighed in to congratulate Gibbs on “a wonderful and accomplished career”. He called Gibbs a strong ally of his America first” agenda and the fight against “the Radical Left”.“Thank you for your service, Bob – a job well done!” Trump said in a statement.Calling the decision to retire difficult, Gibbs called it irresponsible “to effectively confirm the congressional map for this election cycle seven days before voting begins”.He appeared to be referencing a 30 March procedural ruling by the Ohio supreme court, which extended the briefing schedule for the legal challenge to Ohio’s congressional map well past this year’s primary.However, congressional districts for 2022 elections had actually been set since 2 March. That was when the Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, the state’s elections chief, ordered county boards of elections to reflect the Ohio Redistricting Commission’s second congressional map on ballots.Gibbs said he believed Ohio’s prospects were bright “despite the circus redistricting has become”.“These long, drawn-out processes, in which the Ohio supreme court can take weeks and months to deliberate while demanding responses and filings from litigants within days, is detrimental to the state and does not serve the people of Ohio,” he said.The high court’s bipartisan majority, comprising the Republican chief justice, Maureen O’Connor, and three Democrats, has been engaged in a protracted back-and-forth with the Republican-controlled redistricting commission for months.In response to lawsuits brought by voting rights and Democratic groups, justices have tossed four plans and counting for legislative and congressional lines, declaring each an unconstitutional gerrymander that unduly favors Republicans.Their face-off continues to escalate.As justices consider a request to hold mapmakers in contempt for their repeated failure to craft lines that meet constitutional muster, Republicans who control the state legislature are thinking hard about bringing impeachment proceedings against O’Connor.Gibbs is the 17th House Republican to say he won’t seek re-election, compared with 30 Democrats. His term runs through January 2023.TopicsRepublicansUS politicsOhionewsReuse this content More