Democrats

Subterms

    More stories

    • 213 Shares139 Views

      in US Politics

      US could default on debt in July unless Congress raises ceiling, CBO warns – as it happened

      by

      Congress’s budget analysts estimate the United States will exhaust its bank accounts and could default on its obligations for the first time in history sometime between July and September, unless lawmakers agree to increase the debt limit.In a just-released report, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) notes that “the projected exhaustion date is uncertain because the timing and amount of revenue collections and outlays over the intervening months could differ from CBO’s projection.” They point to the amount of tax revenue brought in by the April filing deadline as particularly important in determining when the US government will exhaust its cash on hand.The United States is one of the few countries with a legal limit on how much debt the government can accrue, and that ceiling was hit last month. The Treasury then began taking “extraordinary measures” to allow the government to pay its bills without issuing new debt. The CBO report warns that if tax revenue ends up being less than expected, “the extraordinary measures could be exhausted sooner, and the Treasury could run out of funds before July.”“If the debt limit is not raised or suspended before the extraordinary measures are exhausted, the government would be unable to pay its obligations fully. As a result, the government would have to delay making payments for some activities, default on its debt obligations, or both,” the CBO wrote.The estimate is further out than one given by the Treasury last month, when it announced the debt limit had been reached and the government’s cash could be exhausted in June.In separate forecasts released today, the CBO estimates that economic growth will weaken this year but rebound beginning in 2024, hitting a peak of 2.7% in 2025 before averaging 1.8% from 2028 to 2033. However it warns America is on a trajectory for the national debt to hit more than $46.4tn by 2033, equivalent to 118 percent of GDP and the highest level ever recorded.Nikki Haley officially kicked off her presidential campaign with a South Carolina speech in which she quipped about imposing “mental competency tests” for elderly politicians (think Donald Trump and Joe Biden) and won a few interesting endorsements. Kamala Harris was meanwhile heading to Germany for a meeting with some of Washington’s top allies, while downplaying the impact of the spy balloon saga on the relationship with China. In the afternoon, Congress’s budget analysts were out with sober new reports that estimated when the US government will run out of cash, and warning that the country is on track to hit a level of debt never seen before.Here’s what else happened today:
      The justice department will not charge rightwing congressman Matt Gaetz following his investigation over sex-trafficking allegations.
      Biden is considering a national address about the three still-mysterious UFOs shot down over North America in recent days, and the Chinese spy balloon.
      Democrats were doing all they can to make sure the public doesn’t forget Haley’s ties to Trump, whom she served as United Nations ambassador.
      Despite all the lies, George Santos may run for re-election in 2024.
      House Republicans have issued a new wave of subpoenas, this time targeting America’s biggest tech companies.
      California is hoping to enshrine the right to same-sex marriage in its constitution by repealing a proposition voters approved in 2008 that banned such unions, the Associated Press reports.If the legislature repeals Proposition 8 with the required two-thirds majority vote, the issue will then go to voters, according to the AP. The effort is a response by the state’s Democrats, who dominate control the legislature and governor’s mansion, to conservative US supreme court justice Clarence Thomas’s suggestion last year that its decision allowing same-sex marriage nationwide should be revisited.Thomas’s comment spurred Congress to in December approve the Respect for Marriage act, which protected same-sex and interracial marriage rights nationwide. The legislation doesn’t require states to allow same-sex unions, but instead prevents them from rejecting marriage licenses issued in other states. California’s lawmakers fear that if the supreme court decision is overturned while Proposition 8 remains part of its constitution, same-sex marriage could end up banned in the state.Governor Gavin Newsom supports the effort, as does at least one Republican lawmaker, the AP reports.In the latest move in its investigation campaign against the Biden administration, the House judiciary committee has subpoenaed the leaders of five of America’s biggest tech companies for “documents and communications relating to the federal government’s reported collusion with Big Tech to suppress free speech,” according to a statement.“Congress has an important role in protecting and advancing fundamental free speech principles, including by examining how private actors coordinate with the government to … suppress First Amendment-protected speech. These subpoenas are the first step in holding Big Tech accountable,” said the statement from the committee’s Republican chair Jim Jordan.Jordan noted that his office had attempted to get information from the tech firms last December, before he officially took over as the committee leader, but received no response. In his letters to the CEOs of Meta, Amazon, Google, Alphabet and Microsoft, Jordan wrote, “Big Tech is out to get conservatives, and is increasingly willing to undermine First Amendment values by complying with the Biden Administration’s directives that suppress freedom of speech online.”“This approach undermines fundamental American principles and allows powerful government actors to silence political opponents and stifle opposing viewpoints. Publicly available information suggests that your companies’ treatment of certain speakers and content may stem from government directives or guidance designed to suppress dissenting views.”Those who watched last week’s State of the Union address will remember an unusual moment when Joe Biden engaged with Republican hecklers, and came out with what looked like a promise not to cut Social Security or Medicare in exchange for their votes to raise the debt ceiling.He referred back to that interaction today in his speech before Maryland union members as he accused Republicans of pursuing policies that would drive the national debt higher.Republican say they want “to reduce the deficit, but their plans are going to increase the deficit by $3tn, based on what they introduced so far,” the president said. “So where are they going to cut? They’re gonna cut Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, they’re going to cut Social Security or Medicare, veterans benefits, aid to farmers. At the State of the Union they seemed to say they’re not going to cut Social Security and Medicare. OK, great. I hope that’s true. But how are they going to make these numbers add up?”Then came a pledge familiar to anyone who has heard Biden speak in the past: “If Republicans try to take away people’s healthcare, increase costs for middle class families or push Americans into poverty, I’m going to stop them.”Joe Biden hasn’t made any news yet in his speech before union members, but the Guardian’s Lauren Aratani reported earlier today that his administration is teaming up with Tesla on a step that could help more Americans drive electric cars:The White House is partnering with Tesla to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the US, with the company opening at least 7,500 of its chargers to all electric vehicles (EVs) by the end of 2024, the White House announced Wednesday.Tesla charging stations currently use a certain power connector that require non-Tesla EV to use an adapter. The White House said that Tesla will work to include at least 3,500 new and existing 250 kW superchargers along highways and level 2 destination chargers at locations like hotels and restaurants across the country. Tesla is also planning to double its network of Superchargers.The Biden administration in 2021 set goals of having 50% of new vehicle sales in the country to be EVs and 500,000 EV chargers along highways by 2030. The US currently has around 3m electric vehicles on the road and about 60,000 charging stations across the country.The administration’s goals “have spurred network operators to accelerate the buildout of coast-to-coast EV charging networks”, the White House said in a statement. “Public dollars will supplement private investment by filling gaps, serving rural and hard to reach locations and building capacity in communities.”Tesla to expand supercharger stations to all electric vehicles, White House saysRead moreJoe Biden has just kicked off his speech about the economy at a union hall in Maryland, where he could touch on the new debt limit and economic growth forecasts from the Congressional Budget Office.The White House has said Biden will use the speech to accuse Republicans of wanting to drive the US national debt higher. This blog will keep an eye on the address for any news the president might make.Congress’s budget analysts estimate the United States will exhaust its bank accounts and could default on its obligations for the first time in history sometime between July and September, unless lawmakers agree to increase the debt limit.In a just-released report, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) notes that “the projected exhaustion date is uncertain because the timing and amount of revenue collections and outlays over the intervening months could differ from CBO’s projection.” They point to the amount of tax revenue brought in by the April filing deadline as particularly important in determining when the US government will exhaust its cash on hand.The United States is one of the few countries with a legal limit on how much debt the government can accrue, and that ceiling was hit last month. The Treasury then began taking “extraordinary measures” to allow the government to pay its bills without issuing new debt. The CBO report warns that if tax revenue ends up being less than expected, “the extraordinary measures could be exhausted sooner, and the Treasury could run out of funds before July.”“If the debt limit is not raised or suspended before the extraordinary measures are exhausted, the government would be unable to pay its obligations fully. As a result, the government would have to delay making payments for some activities, default on its debt obligations, or both,” the CBO wrote.The estimate is further out than one given by the Treasury last month, when it announced the debt limit had been reached and the government’s cash could be exhausted in June.In separate forecasts released today, the CBO estimates that economic growth will weaken this year but rebound beginning in 2024, hitting a peak of 2.7% in 2025 before averaging 1.8% from 2028 to 2033. However it warns America is on a trajectory for the national debt to hit more than $46.4tn by 2033, equivalent to 118 percent of GDP and the highest level ever recorded.The Guardian’s Lauren Aratani reports on news out of the White House today that the Biden administration is partnering with Tesla to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure nationwide, Elon Musk’s company agreeing to open at least 7,500 of its chargers to all electric vehicles by the end of next year…Tesla charging stations currently use a certain power connector that require non-Tesla EV to use an adapter. The White House said that Tesla will work to include at least 3,500 new and existing 250 kW superchargers along highways and level 2 destination chargers at locations like hotels and restaurants across the country. Tesla is also planning to double its network of Superchargers.The Biden administration in 2021 set goals of having 50% of new vehicle sales in the country to be EVs and 500,000 EV chargers along highways by 2030. The US currently has around 3m electric vehicles on the road and about 60,000 charging stations across the country.The administration’s goals “have spurred network operators to accelerate the buildout of coast-to-coast EV charging networks”, the White House said in a statement. “Public dollars will supplement private investment by filling gaps, serving rural and hard to reach locations and building capacity in communities.”Along with its partnership with Tesla, the White House is working with other companies, including car manufacturers like General Motors, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, to build out more chargers. The rental car company Hertz is working with BP to bring chargers to locations in major cities. Hertz is planning to make a quarter of its fleet electric by 2024.Funding for the EV charging network expansion comes largely from the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed in 2021.The bill allocates $7.5bn for charging infrastructure, including a $2.5bn community grant program. In September, the White House said all 50 states have plans to build chargers using funding from the bill.Full story:Tesla to expand supercharger stations to all electric vehicles, White House saysRead moreA setback for Donald Trump in New York, where a judge today rejected a gambit that might have delayed the looming trial over the writer E Jean Carroll’s claim the former president raped her in the city in the mid-1990s. The Associated Press has the following report:Donald Trump missed his chance to use his DNA to try to prove he did not rape the writer E Jean Carroll, a federal judge said on Wednesday, clearing a potential roadblock to an April trial.The judge, Lewis A Kaplan, rejected the 11th-hour offer by Trump’s legal team to provide a DNA sample to rebut claims Carroll first made publicly in a 2019 book.Kaplan said lawyers for Trump and Carroll had more than three years to make DNA an issue in the case and both chose not to do so.He said it would almost surely delay the trial scheduled to start on 25 April to reopen the DNA issue four months after the deadline passed to litigate concerns over trial evidence and weeks before trial.Trump’s lawyers did not immediately comment. Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, declined to comment.Carroll’s lawyers have sought Trump’s DNA for three years to compare it with stains found on the dress Carroll wore the day she says Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in late 1995 or early 1996. Analysis of DNA on the dress concluded it did contain traces of an unknown man’s DNA.Trump has denied knowing Carroll, saying repeatedly he never raped her and accusing her of making the claim to stoke sales of her book. She has sued him for defamation and under a New York law which allows alleged victims of sexual assault to sue over alleged crimes outside the usual statute of limitations.Full story:Judge rejects Trump DNA offer in E Jean Carroll rape defamation caseRead moreJamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House oversight committee, has sent a letter to Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law who was Trump’s chief White House adviser, renewing a request for documents related to a $2bn deal with Saudi Arabia Kushner secured shortly after the end of the Trump administration.The benefits to Kushner and Trump of their closeness to Saudi Arabia while in power have been the subject of extensive reporting and speculation, not least given Kushner’s closeness to Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince who US intelligence said was behind the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident resident in the US who wrote for the Washington Post.Raskin writes: “Your efforts to protect the crown prince may have allowed him to maintain his position at the top of the Saudi government and, thus, his ability to deliver significant financial benefits to you and your father-in-law after the end of the Trump administration.“Abdullah Alaoudh, the director for the Gulf at Democracy for the Arab World Now, has stated that ‘[w]ithout the absolute protection of Trump and Kushner, MBS would definitely have fallen’.“President Trump expressed an explicit awareness of the crown prince’s debt: when Secretary [of state Mike] Pompeo embarked on a state visit to the Middle East to visit the crown prince, he wrote that President Trump told him, ‘My Mike, go and have a good time. Tell him he owes us.’”Here’s more about Pompeo’s view of the Khashoggi affair … and the Post’s condemnation of it.Raskin goes on to say Kushner and his investment firm, A Fin Management, LLC (Affinity), have “failed to cooperate with the Committee Democrats’ investigation”, which was launched last summer, when Democrats held the House.What’s Raskin after? “Documents, including communications between Mr Kushner and Saudi government officials, and documents sufficient to show the identity of all foreign investors in Affinity”.When does he want it? “By 1 March 2023.”Will he get it? Seems unlikely.Raskin also noted that though the new Republican oversight chairman, James Comer of Kentucky, had “acknowledg[ed] the unresolved conflicts-of-interests crisis left by the Trump administration”, he had declined to sign the letter to Kushner.The scandal-blasted New York Republican congressman George Santos is reportedly contemplating running for re-election in 2024, despite being at the centre of an extraordinary rolling political controversy since his election last November.CNN reported the change in Santos’s thinking today.Yesterday, Santos tweeted his defiance, writing: “Let me be very clear, I’m not leaving, I’m not hiding and I am NOT backing down. I will continue to work for New York’s third district and no amount of Twitter trolling will stop me. I’m looking forward to getting what needs to be done, DONE!”Santos’s résumé has been shown to be largely made up, his claims about family heritage debunked, his past scoured for alleged criminal behaviour and his campaign finances investigated amid questions over missing money and the source of his personal wealth.Santos’s very identity has been questioned, given past activities under a different name, Anthony Devolder.Republicans have joined Democrats in calling for Santos to resign but though he has admitted embellishing his résumé he denies wrongdoing.Republican leaders have stuck by him. Santos supported the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, through 15 rounds of voting for the position. McCarthy must now work with a very slim majority, making Santos’s seat all the more valuable.Santos has raised sufficient funds to have to announce whether he will run again by a deadline in mid-March. Two other New York Republican freshmen told CNN Santos would lose a primary if he chose to contest it.“George Santos will not be on any ticket in 2024,” said Marc Molinaro, adding that he would support a resolution to expel Santos from Congress if it made it to a vote.Democrats have introduced such a resolution but only five members of the House have ever been expelled – three for fighting for the Confederacy in the civil war.Anthony D’Esposito, who represents a neighbouring district, told CNN: “I am confident that George Santos will not be on any ticket come 2024. I am confident that we’ll do everything in our power to make sure we have the right candidate, the honest candidate, the truthful candidate, and the one who was honest about his entire being.”Two anonymous but senior Republicans, meanwhile, pointed to hard political realities.One, asked about House ethics investigations said: “I think he’ll be indicted before we get to him.”Another, described as a “senior GOP member”, pointed to the party’s need to avoid a new election in a district Joe Biden won with ease.“We don’t want a special,” he said.Nikki Haley officially kicked off her presidential campaign with a South Carolina speech in which she quipped about imposing “mental competency tests” for elderly politicians (think Donald Trump and Joe Biden) and won a few interesting endorsements. Kamala Harris was meanwhile heading to Germany for a meeting with some of Washington’s top allies, while downplaying the impact of the spy balloon saga on the relationship with China. Later this afternoon, Biden will launch a counterattack against the GOP and their demands for spending cuts with a speech intended to convince voters that Republicans are the real money wasters.Here’s what else has happened today so far:
      The justice department will not charge rightwing congressman Matt Gaetz following his investigation over sex-trafficking allegations.
      Biden is considering a national address about the three still-mysterious UFOs shot down over North America in recent days, and the Chinese spy balloon.
      Democrats were doing all they can to make sure the public doesn’t forget Haley’s ties to Trump, whom she served as United Nations ambassador.
      The justice department will not charge rightwing congressman Matt Gaetz after investigating him on sex trafficking allegations, CNN reports:BREAKING: DOJ formally decides not to charge Congressman Matt Gaetz in sex-trafficking probe. Prosecutors have been informing witnesses today of final decision by DOJ leadership after investigators recommended not moving forward back in the fall. More to come on @CNN— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCNN) February 15, 2023
      Federal agents had been looking into whether the Republican representing part of northwestern Florida in the House of Representatives paid a 17-year-old girl for sex. In December, an ex-tax collector and friend of Gaetz whose arrest sparked the investigation of the congressman was sentenced to 11 years in jail for offenses including the sex trafficking of a minor.As the Guardian’s Lauren Gambino reports, Nikki Haley would like to see “mental competency tests” implemented for politicians of a certain age:Haley just vowed that in her America she would make voter ID the law of the land, institute term limits for Congress and implement “mental competency tests” for politicians over 75— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) February 15, 2023
      Who could she be referring to? Likely Joe Biden, who is 80, but perhaps also Donald Trump, who is 76.At her presidential campaign launch event in South Carolina, Nikki Haley has received the endorsement of Cindy Warmbier, whose son Otto died after his release from a North Korean prison, the Washington Post reports:Cindy Warmbier, mother of Otto Warmbier (who died after being released from North Korean prison), is speaking now. She calls Haley “a glimmer of light” during the darkest period of her life.— Dylan Wells (@dylanewells) February 15, 2023
      Donald Trump succeeded in getting Otto Warmbier returned to the United States in 2017. The then president later implied that he didn’t think North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un knew about Warmbier’s torture while in custody – a comment that his family rebuked. More

    • 138 Shares159 Views

      in US Politics

      California senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, announces she will not seek re-election

      by

      California senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, announces she will not seek re-electionFeinstein, who has sat in US Senate since 1992, sets off race among Democrats to succeed to vacant seat Dianne Feinstein , the 89-year-old senator from California who has served in the chamber for three decades, said she will not seek re-election in 2024.“I am announcing today I will not run for re-election in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,” Feinstein said in a statement.Senate musical chairs: California prepares for political battle over Feinstein vacancyRead moreHer announcement has been long anticipated and comes after several fellow Democrats have already announced plans to run for her seat. The news also comes after years of speculation about the senator’s mental fitness and concerns that Feinstein, who would be 91 by election day, was experiencing memory problems.In a statement on Tuesday, Feinstein said she will spend the remainder of her term prioritizing legislation to mitigate the effects of severe wildfire and drought in the west, improve access to healthcare and combat gun violence.She will also focus on “promoting economic growth – especially to position California for what I believe will be the century of the Pacific”, she said. “And I will use my seniority on the appropriations committee to ensure California gets its fair share of funding.”Fellow California Democrats are already fighting over the rare Senate opening Feinstein’s retirement will create. Among the candidates are Katie Porter – the young, southern California representative known for wielding a whiteboard at House hearings – and Adam Schiff, a liberal darling who led the first impeachment of Donald Trump. Representative Barbara Lee has also reportedly told colleagues she is running.Still others are expected to launch their candidacy following Feinstein’s announcement. Schiff, who earned the endorsement of the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, made sure to note that he had first consulted with Feinstein. And Pelosi noted that Feinstein would have retained her support had she chosen to seek re-election.Feinstein has had a long career in politics, starting in 1960 as a member of the California women’s parole board. She was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors in 1969 and became mayor in 1978 following the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk.She was the first woman in the city’s history to hold the position and faced sexism from colleagues and the media throughout her career. She became known for her moderate, centrist politics, winning her Senate seat in 1992.“Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will improve lives. Each of us was sent here to solve problems,” she said. “That’s what I’ve done for the last 30 years, and that’s what I plan to do for the next two years.”TopicsDianne FeinsteinDemocratsUS politicsUS SenateCalifornianewsReuse this content More

    • 138 Shares109 Views

      in US Politics

      Biden administration forming team to study unidentified aerial objects – live

      by

      The White House will have its experts sit down to try and understand the unknown objects discovered flying over North America, John Kirby announces.“The president, through his national security adviser, has today directed an interagency team to study the broader policy implications for detection, analysis, and disposition of unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks,” the national security council spokesman said.Justin Trudeau calls UFO ‘a very serious situation we are taking incredibly seriously’The Toronto Star has more details from Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s public comments on the mysterious UFO shot down over Canada this weekend.“This is a very serious situation that we are taking incredibly seriously,” Trudeau said, emphasizing “the importance of defending our territorial integrity, our sovereignty”.The UFO shot down over the Yukon territory this weekend “marked the first time the North American Aerospace Defence Command, Norad for short, fired at an object over the continent”, the Toronto Star reported.Sat down with Premier @RanjPillai1 in Whitehorse today. We spoke about the work we’re doing to improve health care, advance reconciliation, grow our critical minerals sector, and create good jobs. We also spoke about how we’ll continue to protect our airspace here in Yukon. pic.twitter.com/3mOxDLiLpn— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 13, 2023
      ‘So many briefings, so little time’: senators will get classified briefing on UFOsAre you curious about recent developments on UFOs and Chinese spy balloons? Do repeated statements from White House officials that there is “no indication of aliens” in these UFO encounters leave you with questions?You’re not the only one. But members of the US Senate may get a few additional answers on these airborne mystery objects, in a classified briefing about UFOs on Tuesday, and a broader briefing about China on Wednesday.New: There will be a 10am all-senators classified briefed on the unidentified objects, a Schumer spox says.— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) February 13, 2023
      So many briefings, so little time https://t.co/5XAWS2fsS9— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) February 13, 2023
      Trump team insults Biden in response to claim they missed Chinese spy balloons This is Lois Beckett, picking up today’s live politics and UFO coverage from Los Angeles, one of the US cities most vulnerable to alien attacks, at least according to our film industry.During a briefing this afternoon, John Kirby, a Biden administration national security council spokesperson, said that a Chinese spy balloon program was active during the Trump administration, “but they did not detect it.”Donald Trump and several of his national security officials, including John Bolton, have previously denied that assertion, with Bolton claiming that he never heard of any such incident and could “say with 100% certainty” they had not taken place, Axios reported. The former Trump national security advisor challenged the Biden administration to present any “specific examples” of Trump-era Chinese spy balloons to congress.A reporter from the Washington Examiner provided a new response to Kirby’s remarks from a Trump campaign spokesperson today:NEW: The Trump campaign took issue with John Kirby’s claims that the previous administration was unable to detect multiple Chinese spy objects between 2017-2020Spox Steven Cheung (@CaliforniaPanda): https://t.co/TJNjsiVs60 pic.twitter.com/Tz0H3WOLwa— Christian Datoc (@TocRadio) February 13, 2023
      In the Senate, top Republican Mitch McConnell is criticizing the Biden administration for not being transparent about what American fighter jets encountered in the skies over the United States and Canada:McConnell from Senate floor on the U.S. shooting down of several unidentified flying objects this month: “President Biden owes the American people some answers. What are we shooting down? Where did they come from?” https://t.co/spP8kYjpar pic.twitter.com/Tkjy19mGer— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) February 13, 2023
      Keep in mind that Republicans also attacked Biden for waiting until the Chinese spy balloon discovered earlier in February was over the Atlantic before shooting it down. Then, the White House argued that if it was blown up over land, it could harm people or property below. It appears the UFOs were shot down as they were discovered.The Guardian’s Lois Beckett is taking over this blog from here on out, and will keep you updated on the latest UFO news for the remainder of the day.When it came time to fire architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton after several allegations of misconduct, Joe Biden’s White House didn’t beat around the bush.Here’s the letter sent to Blanton and obtained by Politico:New: Letter sent to Architect of the Capitol Blanton informing him of his termination, obtained by POLITICO. pic.twitter.com/iuI47Rnhv9— Jordain Carney (@jordainc) February 13, 2023
      No debris from the three UFOs shot down over the weekend has been recovered, defense secretary Lloyd Austin says, as reported by CNBC:Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the US has not yet recovered any debris from the three UFOs American fighters shot down over the weekend. He says the DoD is working with the FAA, the FBI, NASA, and others “to work through what we might be seeing.”— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) February 13, 2023
      One was shot down over Lake Huron, which separates the United States and Canada, another over Canada’s Yukon territory and a third over the US state of Alaska.Joe Biden has now fired Brett Blanton, the architect of the Capitol, the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the US Capitol complex in Washington, DC..@POTUS has removed Mr. Brett Blanton from his position as Architect of the Capitol. Read Ranking Member @RepJoeMorelle ‘s statement here➡️https://t.co/tA2bsZemhq— Committee on House Admn. Democrats (@HouseAdm_Dems) February 13, 2023
      House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had earlier led Republican calls Blanton’s resignation as the head of the agency.New York congressman and Democrat Joe Morelle, ranking member on the Committee on House Administration, just tweeted out this statemement:“After being given the opportunity to respond to numerous allegations of legal, ethical, and administrative violations, and failing to directly respond, the president has removed Mr Brett Blanton from his position – a decision I firmly stand behind. President Biden did the right thing and heeded my call for action. I look forward to working with my colleagues to begin a search for a new Architect immediately.”Blanton has faced a number of allegations of wrongdoing, which grew worse last week when he admitted to lawmakers that he avoided going to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, during the insurrection by extremist supporters of Donald Trump, who wanted to try to overturn the-then president’s loss to Biden in the 2020 election.He’s departing seven years before his job term is up and Politico notes that: “He faced a crescendo of criticism following a heated oversight hearing last week that centered on an internal watchdog report that catalogued his broad misuse of department resources.”Kirby says the shot down objects had no propulsion or communicationsOne of the most interesting things that came out of the briefing was a few hints at what the most recently shot down objects were like. Or more accurately, what they were not doing – which was apparently communicating with anything or moving under their own power.“These objects were not being maneuvered. They did not appear to have any self propulsion. So the likely hypothesis is, they were being moved by the prevailing winds,” Kirby said.Its a start…The White House press briefing has finished, but here’s one moment with John Kirby that’s not to be missed, and which likely will be satirized for days to come:”I don’t think the American people need to worry about aliens” — John Kirby pic.twitter.com/7WqdxkBlz9— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 13, 2023
      China is a talking point as much as ever in Washington these days, but John Kirby said Joe Biden has no plans to talk to Xi Jinping.“I don’t have a call to talk about today,” the national security council spokesman said.However, he noted the two men met at the G20 summit in Indonesia in November, and downplayed the impact of the cancelation of secretary of state’s Antony Blinken’s planned trip to Beijing after the spy balloon was discovered over the United States.“People shouldn’t take away from this that all communication has been severed between the United States and China, that Beijing and Washington aren’t talking,” Kirby said. “We still have an embassy there. We still have an ability through secretary Blinken’s good offices to communicate with senior Chinese leaders. Unfortunately, the Chinese military is not interested in talking to secretary of defense (Lloyd) Austin, but there are still ways to communicate and the president would tell you that now’s exactly the time to at least preserve some of those lines of communication, so that we can avoid miscalculation or set back the relationship.”The navy is in the process of recovering the Chinese surveillance balloon downed off South Carolina’s coast, but finding its remains may take a while.“It could take a long time, given the sea state and weather conditions and the degree to which … we have to protect the safety of the divers,” national security council spokesman John Kirby said.Divers have already made some progress, he said. “They were able to take things off the surface, like, the next day, actually, that afternoon, some of the balloon fabric. And in the day since they have been able to recover some, not all, of the payload that sank to the bottom of the Atlantic. It’s in about 45 feet of water. Weather conditions are pretty tough off the coast right now. Today, for instance, they have not been able to get into the water and dive on it. But over the course of the weekend, they were able to raise some of the debris, including some of the electronics and some of the structure.”The White House will have its experts sit down to try and understand the unknown objects discovered flying over North America, John Kirby announces.“The president, through his national security adviser, has today directed an interagency team to study the broader policy implications for detection, analysis, and disposition of unidentified aerial objects that pose either safety or security risks,” the national security council spokesman said.Then he gets into the shootdowns this weekend, and why the public still doesn’t know what the fighter jets encountered.“We have no specific reason to suspect that they were conducting surveillance of any kind, (but) we couldn’t rule that out,” Kirby said. “Efforts are actively under way right now at all sites to find what is left of those objects so that we can better understand and communicate with the American people what they are. I think it’s important to remind you objects in Alaska and Canada are in pretty remote terrain, ice and wilderness, all of that making it difficult to find them in winter weather. The object over Lake Huron now lies in what is probably very deep water.”Kirby said, “There are no active tracks today, but the professionals at NORAD will continue to do their important work.” More

    • 138 Shares199 Views

      in US Politics

      Biden appeals to governors for ‘less partisanship’ to help rebuild economy

      by

      Biden appeals to governors for ‘less partisanship’ to help rebuild economy President says at White House dinner that passage of infrastructure laws is evidence of ‘some bipartisan progress’ Joe Biden appealed to Republican and Democratic governors on Saturday to continue working across political divides to improve Americans’ lives and rebuild the economy after the hardships brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.Speaking at a black-tie dinner at the White House, the president told 31 governors that the passage of laws on investing in infrastructure and domestic manufacture of semiconductors was evidence of “some bipartisan progress” among Republicans and Democrats. Vice-President Kamala Harris was also in attendance.“I hope we’re going to get a little bit – I’m going to try – a little bit less partisan and work on things that we can really get done to change people’s lives,” Biden said after governor meetings in Washington this week.Biden said he was still “ready to fight, as you all are”, and though Republicans and Democrats would not always agree, it made a difference when they worked together.Republican governor Spencer Cox of Utah, vice-chairperson of the National Governors Association, said it was “very symbolic” to have Republicans and Democrats “breaking bread together” at the White House.Cox added that he believed the majority of Americans wanted to see more collaboration across the political aisle.“This is what is missing in our country,” he said, adding that “it’s hard to hate up close”.Notably absent from the dinner was Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican who has challenged Biden’s agenda on a wide range of fronts, from gun safety to LGBTQ+ rights.Country music singer Brad Paisley played guitar and performed his song “American Saturday Night” after the dinner, telling the crowd he had swapped out the second line of the song “because it mentioned Russia and I don’t do that any more”. Russia’s military invaded Ukraine last year, and Biden’s administration has provided more than $30bn in security aid to Ukraine’s defenders.Instead, Paisley sang: “She’s got Brazilian leather boots on the pedal of a German car. There’s a Ukrainian flag hanging up behind the bar.”Biden’s remarks echoed his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday, when he challenged Republicans to help to unite the country.The bipartisan laws passed last year were game-changers for the US economy, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday after the series of governor meetings at the White House.Murphy, who is chairperson of the National Governors Association, said states’ ability to work together on other issues, such as mental health, disproved the “narrative that politics has gotten completely divisive” and called the group a “beacon of bipartisan reality”.He said the association had appealed to lawmakers and the White House to end a dispute over raising the $31.4tn statutory debt ceiling before the Treasury department runs out of funds to pay US debts.Republicans want spending concessions from Biden, who has said he will not negotiate over raising the limit.Murphy said he left the meetings “more optimistic” about both sides’ willingness to negotiate while preserving social security, medicare and defense spending.TopicsJoe BidenUS politicsBiden administrationDemocratsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

    • 200 Shares159 Views

      in US Politics

      Biden’s on a winning streak and up for a fight: so why are voters so negative?

      by

      Biden’s on a winning streak and up for a fight: so why are voters so negative? The president sparred with Republicans at the State of the Union and has won legislative victories but polls show little enthusiasm for a re-election bidIt was the moment that America’s State of the Union address, once a staid affair punctured only by applause, turned into a verbal brawl more akin to Britain’s House of Commons.Joe Biden accused some Republicans of wanting to “take the economy hostage” and slash social welfare entitlements. “Booo!”, “No!” and “Liar!” came the response. US presidents typically ignore hecklers but Biden chose to take them on.Feisty Biden offers bipartisan vision while still triggering RepublicansRead more“So, folks, as we all apparently agree, social security and Medicare is off the books now, right?” he sparred. “They’re not to be touched? All right. All right. We got unanimity!” He gave Republicans an offer they could not refuse: to rise from their seats and stand in support of the elderly.At a stroke, the combative Biden had bested his opponents and at least partially assuaged doubts that, at the age of 80, he has the fight and fortitude for a gruelling re-election campaign next year. It was an important victory at a moment when opinion polls show that even most fellow Democrats hunger for a new generation of leaders.John Zogby, an author and pollster, said: “Like Muhammad Ali, he floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.”Even so, one speech will not be enough to solve the continuing political puzzle of the two Joe Bidens. One is the Biden visibly energised by Republican jeers who found a way to squash them without smugness; the Biden who rallied the west to support Ukraine and helped Democrats defy history in the midterm elections; the Biden who reeled off the most consequential list of legislative accomplishments since President Lyndon Johnson more than half a century ago.But the other Biden has not gone away. He is the one who began his lengthy State of the Union address – which drew the second smallest audience TV audience in at least 30 years – somewhat lethargically, describing Chuck Schumer as Senate minority leader when he should have said majority and saying relatively little about abortion rights. This is the Biden who presided over soaring food and petrol prices, bungled America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and left classified documents in his garage.A survey in late January by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 37% of Democrats say they want Biden to seek a second term, down from 52% in the weeks before last year’s midterm elections. Overall, 41% approve of how Biden is handling his job as president and only 22% say he should run again.Among Democrats aged 45 and over, 49% say Biden should run for re-election, nearly as many as the 58% who said that in October. But among those under age 45, just 23% now say he should run for re-election, after 45% said that before the midterms.Interviews with poll respondents suggest that many voters believe the president’s age is a liability, with people focused on his coughing, gait and gaffes and the possibility that the world’s most stressful job would be better suited for someone younger.A separate Washington Post-ABC Newspoll showed that 62% of Americans think Biden has accomplished “not very much” or “little or nothing” during his presidency, while 36% say he has accomplished “a great deal” or “a good amount”. Some 60% say he has not made progress creating more good jobs in their community, even though he has overseen the fastest pace of job growth in US history and unemployment sits at its lowest level since 1969.The disconnect might feel like a kick in the teeth for Biden after notching four big legislative victories with coronavirus relief, a bipartisan infrastructure law, legislation boosting domestic production of computer chips and tax and spending measures that help to address the climate crisis and improve the government’s ability to enforce the tax code.The gap between perception and reality is hard to explain. The chaos of the Donald Trump years, a pandemic that killed more than a million Americans and an ongoing reckoning over racial justice have inevitably left the nation disoriented. But some critics argue that the White House is failing to communicate its achievements.Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said: “The messaging by the administration has been lacklustre. It has not been well coordinated. It has not been well reinforced by agency heads and cabinet members who can take that work that they’re doing out to the country.”Steele pointed to the $1.2tn infrastructure bill, signed by Biden in late 2021, as an example. “Everybody’s jumping up and down but what they did not explain to the country was, now we’ve got to go put in place the regulations that would correspond to the allocation of those dollars … That part of the conversation never happened so voters are sitting there going, ‘Well, I don’t see any impact from this. They’re not doing anything in my community.”The misstep cost Democrats control of the House of Representatives, Steele added. “I’m now watching commercials of the president delivering on his promises and I would say, yeah, that’s probably about four or five months late.”There have been frustrations for Biden over police reform and votings rights, which could potentially cause disillusionment among Black voters. In his address, he continued to urge reform but did not explicitly call for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to pass.But activists argue that he should call out Republicans and make clear that they are the ones standing in the way.Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, an advocacy group, said: “There’s a reason why we don’t have those pieces of legislation and it’s not President Biden. But if he doesn’t tell a story for people about why we didn’t win those things, who stood in the way of those things, who is profiting from preventing those things, he will be blamed by people.”Biden’s defenders argue that there has been a concerted effort to sell his agenda and accomplishments. A day after his State of the Union address he travelled to Wisconsin, and a day after that he went to Florida, while other top officials are crisscrossing the country to spread the message. It can be effective at a local level but struggles to compete with eye-catching national headlines like the flight of a Chinese spy balloon. Some argue there is no substitute for concrete results that affect people’s everyday lives.Elaine Kamarck, a former official in the Bill Clinton administration, said: “You’ve got to see things happening. You have to see the bridges being built. You have to see the tunnels being fixed. You have to see the airports. That’s the reality. The challenge is to make this real. This is a problem of political timing, which in the term of a president is very short but often getting big things done takes a long time.”Kamarck, now a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington, added: “He’s got to get something on the books. He’s got to get something going. He can say it till the cows come home but if there’s no reality on the ground it won’t matter.”Biden’s biggest first-term legislative accomplishments are almost certainly behind him. He must now work with an aggressive Republican majority in the House that wants to cut spending in return for lifting the government’s legal borrowing authority, as well as launching myriad investigations into the pandemic response, Afghanistan withdrawal and business dealings of the president’s son, Hunter Biden.He also faces nagging doubts within his own party. Having first been elected to the Senate from Delaware in 1972, he has been on the national political stage for more than half a century and is the oldest US president in history. His verbal stumbles – he recently called Congressman Don Beyer by the name “Doug” four times – receive more scrutiny than ever.Biden could face another election against Trump, a twice impeached former president who instigated a violent coup attempt on 6 January 2021. Yet in a hypothetical rematch, 48% of registered voters said they would favor Trump compared with 45% who prefer Biden, according to the Washington Post-ABC News poll.Julián Castro, a former housing secretary under President Barack Obama, noted that this finding undermines the general consensus that Democrats are content with Biden taking on Trump. “Two years is forever and it’s just one poll, but if he’s faring this poorly after a string of wins, that should be worrisome,” he tweeted.But Biden, who has not yet officially announced he is running, benefits from a lack of obvious successor. His vice-president, Kamala Harris, has endured similarly low approval ratings and is yet to distinguish herself as the automatic choice. The transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, is still only 41 and a promising generation of Democratic governors are widely perceived as not yet ready.Steele, who served as lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007, said: “The question I ask those Democrats who like to wax poetically about Biden not being their nominee is this: tell me which Democratic governor or former senator or current elected official is going to challenge an incumbent United States president.“Every time we’ve seen that happen – which is in our lifetime has only been twice – it has not ended spectacularly well for the challenger, so I don’t know what the hell they’re thinking. This is the horse that got you through the storm. This is the horse you’re going to need to ride into the sunset and that’s just how it is.”Joe Biden has steadied the nation – why don’t his polling numbers reflect this? | Robert ReichRead moreMany Republicans acknowledge that Biden had a good night at the State of the Union and quelled doubts about his age. But they believe that he could be vulnerable in the 2024 election if he faces a candidate promising generational change and who does not carry Trump’s political and legal baggage. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and Nikki Haley, the ex-governor of South Carolina, are among potential contenders.Ed Rogers, a political consultant who worked in the administration of Ronald Reagan, the oldest man to serve as president until Trump, said: “There would be all this talk about Reagan’s losing it, Reagan’s out of it, Reagan’s not mentally hitting on all cylinders – and then Reagan would do something and people would observe for themselves and it would clear the bar and calm that talk for a while.“Biden certainly did that. The speech was well delivered … It’s not like people see their lives improving because Biden says it is or people are not fearful of crime, the future, the state of the schools because Biden says they’re OK. That’s part of what’s not good about the Biden administration. The speech was a net plus. It wasn’t transformative for the Biden political condition.”Rogers reckons Biden will win the Democratic nomination for 2024 and is well placed in the general election – but nothing is guaranteed. “We re-elect 75% of our presidents. If you had to bet today, you’d bet on the incumbent. But if it’s not Trump, if somebody showed up as an energetic change candidate, Biden could be beat.”TopicsJoe BidenThe ObserverUS elections 2024US politicsDemocratsState of the Union addressfeaturesReuse this content More

    • 113 Shares149 Views

      in US Politics

      US senator John Fetterman discharged from Washington DC hospital

      by

      US senator John Fetterman discharged from Washington DC hospital Senator from Pennsylvania was admitted after feeling light-headed but tests confirmed he did not suffer a second stroke John Fetterman was discharged from George Washington University Hospital on Friday, his staff said, two days after the US senator was admitted to the Washington DC facility because he was feeling light-headed.US congresswoman poured coffee over attacker to deter him, chief of staff saysRead moreFetterman, 53, suffered a stroke last year. Tests showed he did not suffer a second stroke during the latest incident, the hospital said.“In addition to the CT, CTA, and MRI tests ruling out a stroke, his EEG test results came back normal, with no evidence of seizures,” the senator’s office said in a written statement. “John is looking forward to spending some time with his family and returning to the Senate on Monday.”Fetterman had a stroke last year while campaigning for one of Pennsylvania’s two Senate seats.It initially left lingering problems with his speech and hearing that sometimes caused verbal miscues, but Fetterman’s doctor said the politician could serve in office with no restrictions as long as he followed recovery instructions.Fetterman, in a statement on his recovery last year, said he had been diagnosed with a heart condition years earlier but had stopped taking his medication, avoided going to the doctor and ignored warning signs.TopicsUS SenateDemocratsPennsylvaniaUS politicsReuse this content More

    • 125 Shares99 Views

      in US Politics

      US confirms ‘high-altitude object’ taken down over Alaska – live

      by

      John Kirby confirmed that a second “high-altitude object” was taken down over Alaska, during today’s press briefing.Kirby confirmed that the Department of Defense was tracking the flying object, which could be a second balloon, and that the object posed a “reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight”.Kirby said that Biden ordered the military to “down” the object within the last hour.Biden administration to end national Covid emergency in MayThe Biden administration confirmed in a statement on Friday it anticipates ending the national Covid emergency on 11 May. The proclamation had been in place since the president declared a national emergency concerning the Covid-19 pandemic on 13 March 2020.“Today, we are in a different phase of the response to that pandemic than we were in March of 2020, and my Administration is planning for an end to the national emergency, but an orderly transition is critical to the health and safety of the Nation,” Biden said in the statement.Experts have expressed concern that once it is lifted Americans will have less access to the Covid treatments, vaccines, and tests that have been made more widely available under the state of emergency.Once the order is lifted most Americans will still be able to get vaccines at no cost but fewer free tests will be available. See our full story on what health experts are saying about the end of the national state of emergency here.Family of Tyre Nichols urges the United Nations to condemn his killingAttorneys for the family of Tyre Nichols, the man who was fatally beaten by Memphis police last month, have filed an urgent appeal before the United Nations asking it to condemn the killing.Civil rights attorney and international legal counsel Jasmine Rand and Yetunde Asika released the following statement on behalf of the family:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Today, we filed an Urgent Appeal before the United Nations asking it to condemn the tragic killing of Tyre Nichols, to demand transparency from the police department, and to demand that Officer Preston Hemphill and all officers that participated in the incident are criminally charged. The video evidence shows that all who were involved in Tyre’s death committed reprehensible acts that require international condemnation.The family has also urged the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, reform legislation introduced by Democrats that is stuck on Capitol Hill, and made an appearance at Joe Biden’s State of the Union address to the nation on Tuesday night.Hello readers, Kari Paul here on the West Coast taking over the blog for the next couple hours. Stand by for updates.Here’s more information on Biden’s upcoming trip to Poland, from a statement released by the White House..css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}From February 20th – 22nd, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will travel to Poland. He will meet with President Andrzej Duda of Poland to discuss our bilateral cooperation as well as our collective efforts to support Ukraine and bolster NATO’s deterrence.
      He will also meet with the leaders of the Bucharest Nine (B9), a group of our eastern flank NATO Allies, to reaffirm the United States’ unwavering support for the security of the Alliance.
      In addition, President Biden will deliver remarks ahead of the one year anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, addressing how the United States has rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and democracy, and how we will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes.The FAA closed off an area near Deadhorse, Alaska, in the state’s northern area, as the US military took action against a high-altitude object.From CNN correspondent Jim Sciutto:The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary flight restriction Friday in the area around Deadhorse, Alaska, as the military took action against a high-altitude object. The notice tells aircraft to clear airspace the FAA classifies as National Defense Airspace.— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 10, 2023
      The Pentagon is now providing more information about the high-altitude object that was shot over US territorial water in Alaska.The object was shot at 1.45 pm eastern time and was at around 40,000ft, said a spokesperson during a Pentagon briefing.A Pentagon spokesperson added that an F22 fighter aircraft assigned to NORTHCOM shot down the “high altitude airborne object”.Pentagon spokesman BGen Pat Ryder: U.S. fighter aircraft assigned to NORTHCOM took down a “high altitude airborne object” over US territorial water in Alaska.— Jennifer Hlad (@jhlad) February 10, 2023
      The Pentagon reiterated that it is unsure about the origin of the object, but is hoping to learn more after assessing any recovered debris.Unidentified object shot down over Alaska by US military, White House saysRead moreThe FBI has removed at least one additional classified document from Mike Pence’s Indiana residence after a five hour search.Pence’s team tweeted about the search and discovery, noting that the search did not require a warrant and was “thorough”.At least one document marked ‘classified’ was removed from Pence’s residence and six additional pages that did not include the marking.Pence has “directed his legal team to continue its cooperation with appropriate authorities and to be fully transparent through the conclusion of the matter,” noted Pence advisor Devin O’Malley.From CBS correspondent Robert Costa:New statement from Pence adviser Devin O’Malley: “Following the discovery and disclosure of a small number of potentially classified documents that had inadvertently been transported to his home in Indiana, Vice President Pence and his legal team have fully cooperated… “— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 10, 2023
      “… with the appropriate authorities and agreed to a consensual search of his residence that took place today. The Department of Justice completed a thorough and unrestricted search of five hours and removed one document with classified markings and six additional pages… “— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 10, 2023
      “…. without such markings that were not discovered in the initial review by the vice president’s counsel.”— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 10, 2023
      “The vice president has directed his legal team to continue its cooperation with appropriate authorities and to be fully transparent through the conclusion of this matter.”— Robert Costa (@costareports) February 10, 2023
      The knowledge about the object came last evening, said Kirby.Kirby misspoke at one point, calling the object a balloon. Kirby quickly clarified that officials are not sure of what the object is and that the object’s debris could help get more knowledge on what the object was.In response to questions about if the US has spoken to Chinese officials about the recently discovered object, Kirby said: “We don’t know who owns this object.”Kirby noted that a pilot assessment of the object, prior to it being shot down, found that the object was unmanned.Kirby also added that the the object was at 40,000 ft, noting that the object could have posed a threat to civilian aircrafts.Kirby also said that the object did not appear to have maneuvering capabilities, compared to the Chinese surveillance balloon, and was largely steered by the wind.Unlike the object that was shot down, the Chinese surveillance balloon was on a flight path that took it over sensitive military sites, added Kirby.More details are emerging on the high-altitude object that was taken down within the last hour.Kirby confirmed that Biden ordered the object be taken down at the advice of Pentagon leaders and that a fighter aircraft was used for the operation.The object is being called an “object” as officials are unsure of who owns it. Kirby added that officials are unsure if the object is state owned or private owned, and that the purpose of the object has not been determined.Kirby also noted that the object is “much smaller” than the Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down last week.The object that was taken down within the house is “roughly the size of a car”, said Kirby.John Kirby confirmed that a second “high-altitude object” was taken down over Alaska, during today’s press briefing.Kirby confirmed that the Department of Defense was tracking the flying object, which could be a second balloon, and that the object posed a “reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight”.Kirby said that Biden ordered the military to “down” the object within the last hour.The White House press briefing with press security Karine Jean-Pierre has begun.The briefing opened up with an announcement that Biden will travel to Poland on 20 February to 22 February to meet with Poland president Andrzej Duda and discuss the situation in Ukraine.John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National security council in the White House, is giving remarks ahead of Biden’s visit with Brazil president Lula.Kibry also announced that the US plans to increase aid to support those impacted by the deadly earthquake in Syria and Turkey.Kate Bedingfield, the White House Communications director, will leave her job at the end of February, reported the White House earlier today.In a statement, the White House confirmed Bedingfield’s departure and said that Ben LaBolt will succeed her as Communications director.Biden commented on Bedingfield’s departure in the statement:.css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}Since my time as Vice President, Kate has been a loyal and trusted adviser, through thick and thin…She was a critical strategic voice from the very first day of my presidential campaign in 2019 and has been a key part of advancing my agenda in the White House.
      The country is better off as a result of her hard work and I’m so grateful to her – and to her husband and two young children – for giving so much. Ben has big shoes to fill.Trump has received his 5th Senate endorsement ahead of his 2024 presidential run. Republican senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma endorsed the former president on Friday, calling Trump “the strongest president of my lifetime” in a statement.“Not only am I proud to endorse President Trump, I’m proud to call him my friend,” said Mullin.#NEWS: I’m proud to endorse the strongest president of my lifetime, Donald J. Trump, for a second term in 2024. 🇺🇸Full statement: ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xXFH61XCvh— Markwayne Mullin (@MarkwayneMullin) February 10, 2023
      Mullin was elected to the Senate through a special election and received Trump’s endorsement, reported NBC News.Four other senators have endorsed Trump, including Ohio senator JD Vance, Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville, and South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has agreed to apologize and pay $3.3m in taxpayer money to four former staffers who accused him of corruption in 2020, igniting an ongoing FBI investigation of the three-term Republican.Under terms of a preliminary lawsuit settlement filed Friday, Paxton made no admission of wrongdoing to accusations of bribery and abuse of office, which he has denied for years and called politically motivated, the Associated Press writes.But Paxton did commit to making a remarkable public apology toward some of his formerly trusted advisers whom he fired or forced out after they reported him to the FBI. He called them “rogue employees” after they accused Paxton of misusing his office to help one of his campaign contributors, who also employed a woman with whom the attorney general acknowledged having an extramarital affair.Both sides signed a mediated agreement that was filed in the Texas Supreme Court and will be followed by a longer, formalized settlement.“Attorney General Ken Paxton accepts that plaintiffs acted in a manner that they thought was right and apologizes for referring to them as ‘rogue employees,’” the final settlement must state, according to court records.In all, eight members of Paxton’s senior staff joined in the extraordinary revolt in 2020, and they either resigned or were fired. The attorney general said he settled with the four who sued under Texas’ whistleblower law to put to rest “this unfortunate sideshow.”“I have chosen this path to save taxpayer dollars and ensure my third term as attorney general is unburdened by unnecessary distractions,” Paxton said in a statement.The $3.3 million payout would not come from Paxton’s own pocket but from state funds, which means it would still require approval by the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature.Settlement of the case, which Paxton’s office fought in court for years, means he will avoid sitting for a civil deposition at a time when a corruption investigation by federal agents and prosecutors remains open. In turn, the attorney general’s office agreed to remove an October 2020 news release from its website that decries Paxton’s accusers and to issue the statement of contrition to former staffers David Maxwell, Ryan Vassar, Mark Penley and James Blake Brickman.Hello again, it’s been a lively day so far with developing and breaking news mainly revolving around former US vice president Mike Pence. Ordinary business is going on at the White House, with Joe Biden meeting US state governors and preparing this afternoon to receive Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva (AKA Lula) to the White House. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is due to brief the media at 1.30pm ET.Here’s where things stand:
      It appears Joe Biden will not do the traditional presidential TV interview with the company airing the Super Bowl, the climax to the football season, given that this year it’s Fox. Who snubbed whom? The politics and media chatterverse is abuzz.
      The FBI is searching former VP Mike Pence’s Indiana home for any more classified documents, after Donald Trump’s former sidekick and possible 2024 rival for the Republican presidential nomination previously acknowledged that he had some classified docs at home. Biden’s in similar bind, whereas Trump is under criminal investigation for something on a much larger scale – boxes of secret government documents hoarded at Mar-a-Lago that he refused to hand over.
      Jill Biden has cancelled her events for the day, with a White House official reporting that Biden is not feeling well but has tested negative for Covid. Let’s hope the first lady is shipshape by Sunday, as she’s a big Philadelphia Eagles fan, apparently, as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
      Donald Trump and writer E Jean Carroll have jointly filed a plan for the April civil trial in the case where Carroll is suing Trump for rape and defamation.
      Mike Pence and his legal team are weighing the subpoena issued to the former-veep by special counsel Jack Smith who is, on the request of the Department of Justice, investigating Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol by thousands of the-then president’s most extreme supporters who wanted Pence to block the Congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
      It looks as though Joe Biden won’t be doing the traditional presidential pre-Super Bowl TV interview.The President was looking forward to an interview with Fox Soul to discuss the Super Bowl, the State of the Union, and critical issues impacting the everyday lives of Black Americans. We’ve been informed that Fox Corp has asked for the interview to be cancelled.— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) February 10, 2023
      There has been much chatter about the annual interview between the US president and the channel airing the Super Bowl. Fox is broadcasting the Super Bowl, so some people had assumed the interview would be with Fox News, likely Brett Baier.But now the White House press secretary has tweeted that Biden will not be doing an interview – and it looks like it was supposed to be with Fox Soul, a Fox streaming service.Last night and this morning, various outlets were abuzz with chatter about how the US president had been “ghosting” Fox News, as, if the traditional interview was going ahead they would have been making arrangements ages ago, but were experiencing radio silence. Variety magazine did a story yesterday afternoon, headlined “Fox news believes interview with President Biden won’t take place.”CNN’s Reliable Sources news letter chimed in, quoting “a source at Fox News” who told the outlet that they had “not heard back on whether Biden will grant it the traditional pre-Super Bowl interview, and that at this point the outlet is proceeding as if it is not going to take place. ‘We don’t have a formal no, but we are operating like it’s not happening’,” the source explained to CNN, which goes on: “Bret Baier first hinted at the possibility of a potential Biden rebuff during State of the Union coverage on Tuesday, telling viewers that Biden had yet to commit to an interview. At the time, he had signaled that he hoped the White House would ultimately agree to a sit-down.“Biden has sat down for at least two interviews this week, one with PBS NewsHour and another with Telemundo, which would make the possible snub all the more notable. It goes without saying that Biden has had a frosty relationship with Fox News … If Biden were to agree to an interview with Fox News, it would almost certainly be conducted by Baier.”We’ll no doubt hear more from Jean-Pierre at the White House press briefing due at 1.30pm. Fox Soul is the Fox Corp-owned streaming service geared towards a Black audience, and we assume if the interview had gone ahead it would be with a Black anchor, not Baier. Eagerly awaiting clarifying details!Biden and Harris are currently in a meeting with several governors as apart of the annual National Governors Association meeting, which includes a bipartisan group of governors.⁦@POTUS⁩ arrives at a gathering of state governors from around the nation – not including the governors of Florida, Texas or indeed Arkansas (whose governor says Biden’s Democrats are all “crazy”) pic.twitter.com/0TWSPgbjyh— Sebastian Smith (@SebastianAFP) February 10, 2023
      In meeting with governors, Biden is pressing what the infrastructure bill, CHIPS act and other priorities have meant for states — lots of money for improvements.— Elizabeth Crisp 🦩 (@elizabethcrisp) February 10, 2023
      A stream of the meeting is available here. More

    • 163 Shares199 Views

      in US Politics

      US congresswoman poured coffee over attacker to deter him, chief of staff says

      by

      US congresswoman poured coffee over attacker to deter him, chief of staff saysMan, 26, arrested after attack in elevator in Angie Craig’s Washington apartment building early on Thursday morning Angie Craig, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota who was assaulted in her Washington apartment, reportedly deterred her attacker by pouring hot coffee over him, it emerged on Friday.“Representative Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically OK,” her chief of staff, Nick Coe, said in a statement on Thursday.George Santos: puppy theft charge news follows Romney’s ‘sick puppy’ barbRead moreCoe said Craig called 911 and the attacker fled the scene. He said there was “no evidence” that the incident was politically motivated.Craig was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018. She became the first openly gay person elected to Congress from Minnesota.District of Columbia police said on Thursday night that they had arrested a suspect. The police report noted that Craig tossed hot coffee at her assailant.Craig was assaulted in the elevator in her Washington apartment building around 7.10am on Thursday, police said, but the assailant fled when she defended herself.Craig suffered bruises while escaping serious injury in the attack, which did not appear to be politically motivated, Coe had said in a statement.Washington’s Metropolitan police department said it had arrested 26-year-old Kendrick Hamlin, of no fixed address, and charged him with simple assault.Craig, 50, is in her third term in the House and later headed for Capitol Hill to vote.The police said Craig told them that she initially saw the stranger in her building and said good morning before she entered the elevator and the man followed her in. He apparently began randomly doing push-ups. She told the police he was “acting erratic as if he was under the influence of an unknown substance”.However, he then punched Craig on the chin and grabbed her by her neck, the police noted. She told them that she managed to throw her coffee on him and he then fled.Law enforcement who responded to her emergency call searched the building and the parking garage and asked for tips from the public, offering a potential $1,000 reward and, a few hours later, apprehended the suspect.To give you a sense of how strong @AngieCraigMN is, she went straight to the Hill this morning and attended a meeting in the Senate with the Governor and me and several members of our delegation about legislation for the people of her district. No one messes with Angie. https://t.co/D7TizOeTQ9— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 9, 2023
      Senator Amy Klobuchar, a fellow Minnesota Democrat, tweeted: “To give you a sense of how strong Angie Craig is, she went straight to the Hill this morning and attended a meeting in the Senate with the Governor and me and several members of our delegation about legislation for the people of her district. No one messes with Angie.”Hakeem Jeffries, House leader of the Democrats, said his caucus was “horrified” by Craig’s assault.TopicsUS CongressDemocratsHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsnewsReuse this content More