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      Democratic Senator Joe Manchin ‘thinking seriously’ about leaving party

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      The West Virginia senator Joe Manchin is “thinking seriously” about abandoning the Democratic party to run as an independent for Congress or as a third-party candidate for president.“I’m thinking seriously,” Manchin, 75, told a West Virginia radio host on Thursday. “I have to have peace of mind, basically. The brand has become so bad, the ‘D’ brand and ‘R’ brand. In West Virginia, the ‘D’ brand because it’s [the] national brand. It’s not the Democrats in West Virginia, it’s the Democrats in Washington.“You’ve heard me say a million times I’m not a Washington Democrat.”Over the past two years, Democrats and progressives have perhaps called Manchin a million names – “modern-day villain” among them – mainly because the fossil fuel-aligned senator has wielded tremendous power over domestic legislation including efforts to combat the climate crisis and protect voting rights.Democrats hold the Senate by 51-49. Of those 51 senators, three – Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Angus King of Maine and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona – are independents already.Sinema became an independent last year. Her future looks in doubt, with a gathering challenge from the Democratic congressman Ruben Gallego. But Democrats fear what might happen if both Sinema and Gallego contest Sinema’s seat: a split vote handing a win to a Republican extremist, potentially Kari Lake.In West Virginia, Manchin is a long way behind the current Republican governor, Jim Justice – himself a former Democrat – in polling regarding the Senate race next year.Manchin was governor of West Virginia between 2005 and 2010, years in which the formerly Democratic state turned sharply right.On Thursday, he told Hoppy Kercheval, host of Talkline on West Virginia Metro News: “I haven’t made any decisions whatsoever on any of my political direction. I want to make sure that my voice is truly an independent voice. When I do speak, I want to be able to speak honestly about basically the extremes of the Democrat and Republican party that’s harming our nation.”Manchin could also run as an independent candidate for president, backed by the campaign group No Labels, an outcome feared and derided by pundits who think such an effort will split the vote and return Donald Trump to the White House.Manchin has long flirted with No Labels. He told Kercheval: “When I get ready to make a decision, I’ll come see you. You just can’t tell how this is going to break. If come January and February of next year these are still the main contenders, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, that’s a whole other scenario.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe president, 80, and his 77-year-old, 78-times charged rival are historically unpopular.“If they are not” the candidates, Manchin said, “that changes the game completely. The bottom line is, ‘Will the middle speak up? Does the middle have a voice?’”Saying “moderate, centrist Republicans” feel they “don’t have a voice anymore”, Manchin said “the Democratic party that I grew up with was … socially compassionate and fiscally responsible … so if we can create a movement that people understand, we could have a voice.“We could make a big, big splash, and maybe bring the traditional parties … [back to] what they used to be.” More

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      US third-party group mulls 2024 ticket – but would it merely help Trump?

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      On a small stage in New Hampshire this week, West Virginia senator Joe Manchin and former Republican Governor Jon Huntsman sat together extolling the virtues of bipartisanship and talking very much like running mates. They were there on behalf of the centrist political advocacy organization No Labels, which is considering fielding a third-party ticket in the 2024 presidential election, and had enlisted the two men to debut its 67-page policy manifesto.Early on in the evening, the moderator asked the question looming over the event: were Manchin and Huntsman running for president? After a smattering of applause died down, Manchin deflected, saying they were simply there to “explain to you that we need options”. But Manchin’s refusal to announce whether he will seek re-election for the US Senate next year, and his presence at the town hall, has drawn speculation that he and No Labels may combine to upend the 2024 election.No Labels has been around since 2010, largely promoting centrist policies and occasionally working to elect moderate Democrats to Congress. Its recent ambitions are far grander, as it plans to raise $70m, get on the ballot in every state across the country, and build a third-party ticket for the presidency. The group has become a specter looming over the 2024 election for Democrats, with polls showing that a centrist third-party candidate would draw votes away from Joe Biden and tilt the race toward Donald Trump.The growing prominence of No Labels and its potential to run a third-party candidate has resulted in backlash from Democrats and more centrist Republicans as a result. Democratic representatives and political organizations such as MoveOn have mobilized to oppose the group, including holding briefings for congressional staffers on the risk of a third-party ticket. Democratic and Republican strategists additionally commissioned a poll that showed how an independent centrist candidate would act as a spoiler against Biden.But efforts to show that No Labels could take a significant portion of the vote and effectively hand Trump the presidency have only emboldened the group. No Labels’ chief pollster told Axios that the recent survey – which showed a moderate independent candidate would receive around 20% of the vote and shift the election to Trump – was proof that their strategy was sound and that they had a viable chance at the presidency.“The people who are spearheading this are not doing it cynically. They have convinced themselves that this is a unique historical moment and they intend to seize it,” said William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who co-founded No Labels in 2010 before leaving it earlier this year.Galston disagreed with the group’s decision in 2022 to focus on fielding a third-party candidate, he said, and after a year of offering arguments against the shift decided to quit the organization in April of this year. Although he still supports the group, he sees its current mission as misguided and has spoken out about how it’s likely to benefit Trump’s presidential hopes.“I could not go along with the formation of an independent ticket,” Galston said. “I saw no equivalence between Donald Trump and Joe Biden and feared that this ticket would, on net, draw support away from Biden’s candidacy.”No Labels, and its potential candidate Manchin, reject the notion that they will act as spoilers. The group has claimed it will not go ahead with its plans if it appears to shift the election to one party, though has been vague on its criteria for such a decision, and Manchin on Monday told the audience in New Hampshire that “if I get in a race I’m gonna win”.Undisclosed donorsAs No Labels moves forward with its fundraising and attempts to get on nationwide ballots, it has faced increased scrutiny over who exactly is backing their efforts. The group refuses to disclose its donors, which it is not obligated to do, but a Mother Jones investigation identified dozens of wealthy contributors affiliated with No Labels.Although it includes several major Democratic donors, many of the contributors favor conservative causes and Republican candidates. A separate investigation from The New Republic found that conservative billionaire Harlan Crow, most recently known for his close ties with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, donated $130,000 to the group between 2019 and 2021.No Labels officials have cited privacy concerns as the reason that the group will not release its donors, while chief executive Nancy Jacobson told NBC News this week that there is “nothing nefarious” about its fundraising. Galston brought up to Jacobson in the early days of the group’s operations that a lack of transparency might become an issue, he said, but she told him “in no uncertain terms” that was how things would be run.Jacobson and No Labels did not respond to a request for comment on this article.It is unclear just how much of its $70m goal No Labels has raised, although previous years and Jacobson’s status as veteran fundraiser show that it is able to draw large sums. No Labels’ 2021 tax forms, the most recent year publicly available, state that it took in just over $11.3m in revenue that year. The organization’s highest paid staffer was former political commentator Mark Halperin, according to the 2021 tax form, who made around $257,000 as No Labels chief strategist. The organization hired Halperin despite allegations from multiple women of sexual harassment and assault against the once-prominent journalist. Halperin, who has previously apologized for some of the harassment allegations against him while denying other allegations including physical assault, left No Labels in March of this year. He could not be reached for comment.The tax forms also show that No Labels paid top Democrat-run consulting firms for their advocacy and communications work. It gave around $946,000 in compensation to communications firm Rational 360 in 2021. Rational 360 did not respond to a request for comment on this article.The group has faced criticism from Democrats before, including when it endorsed an anti-LGBT, anti-abortion Illinois Congressman during the 2018 midterms. A Super PAC tied to No Labels spent aabout $1m backing the campaign, according to the Intercept. But previous backlash against the group is nothing compared to what it currently faces, with growing concern among Democrats that No Labels has the potential to lose them the White House.“It’s pretty clear that a No Labels candidate would help re-elect Donald Trump,” Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen told the Hill.No Labels has given itself until Super Tuesday – when a large number of states hold primaries in early March of next year – as a deadline for announcing whether or not it will run a third party. The group’s national co-chair Pat McRory stated on Monday that if Biden and Trump are the likely match-up by then and the group sees a path to victory, it will run a candidate. More

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      Manchin appearance with third-party group fuels speculation over 2024 run

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      The West Virginia senator Joe Manchin, who for years has held an outsized degree of power within the Democratic party, is set to appear on Monday at an event held by a political group exploring a third-party presidential bid. Manchin’s appearance has fueled speculation that he is considering a run for the presidency, a scenario that has alarmed Democrats as it could weaken President Joe Biden’s candidacy.Manchin will appear at the group No Labels’ town hall meeting on Monday night, alongside Republican former Utah governor Jon Huntsman. They will co-headline the organization’s “commonsense” policy platform release, the first in a series of events that the group says it will hold as the 2024 presidential election takes shape.Manchin, a 75-year-old senator who is facing re-election next year, has not ruled out running for the presidency instead of seeking another term in the Senate. If he does run as part of a bipartisan and centrist ticket, polling shows that it would likely be doomed to fail while sapping voters away from Biden. Democratic groups have been working to quell attempts at running third-party spoiler candidates, warning that it could hand Trump the presidency.“It’s pretty clear that a No Labels candidate would help re-elect Donald Trump, and I hope anybody who considers it recognizes that that’s a very possible outcome,” Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen told the Hill.Manchin is in a familiar position as a potential spoiler to Biden’s ambitions. As one of the most conservative Democrats and a key swing vote in the Senate, Manchin has blocked action on climate change, repeatedly criticized Biden’s policies, and derailed the administration’s efforts to pass major legislation.No Labels sees Manchin as a potential candidate for its centrist platform, and the senator joined in at least one conference call with the group, according to Politico. Although No Labels has stated it will not field a candidate if their platform does not gain traction or if it appears it would swing the vote in favor of one party, the group has been actively fundraising and is seeking to get on ballots across the country.Manchin also praised No Labels during an interview last month on Fox News, in which the senator deflected questions about a potential third-party candidacy and said he was “not ruling anything out”.While No Labels has heavily promoted its vision of centrist governance – “America must strike a balance between protecting women’s rights to control their own reproductive health and our society’s responsibility to protect human life” is one example from its policy booklet – but it has been silent about who is funding their efforts. A Mother Jones investigation last month found dozens of wealthy contributors that included many who backed conservative and Republican causes. Another investigation from The New Republic found that Harlan Crow, the conservative billionaire and supporter of the supreme court justice Clarence Thomas, donated over $130,000 to the group.Polling shows that a third-party candidate would most likely be a threat to Democrats. Several surveys over the past few months show that in a contest between Biden and Trump, the presence of a third party candidate – including Manchin or the progressive activist Cornel West – shifts vote percentages toward Republicans. A poll commissioned by Democratic and Republican strategists this month showed that the presence of a “moderate, independent third-party candidate” would gain around 20% of the vote and result in an electoral victory for Trump. More

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      White House condemns Robert Kennedy Jr’s Covid claims as ‘vile’ – live

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      From 2h agoWhite House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has taken the chance to condemn remarks made by presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy Jr after a video surfaced of him making false claims that Covid-19 was “ethnically targeted” to attack certain ethnic groups.Kennedy, the infamous conspiracy theorist, famous scion and rogue candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination hit the headlines at the weekend after it emerged that he said at a press event in New York City last week that the coronavirus is a genetically engineered bioweapon that may have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, the New York Post reported at the weekend.Kennedy is garnering loud and swift criticism, including from members of his own family. The White House was asked about it during the press briefing today and Jean-Pierry called Kennedy’s remarks not just “false” but also “vile”.The briefing is ongoing. Oh! It just wrapped up.Close Kennedy family members weighing in reflects the growing outrage at Democratic presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy Jr’s words, which he tried to disavow on Monday in a statement sent to the Guardian by his campaign staff.The statement reads:
      The New York Post story is mistaken. I have never, ever suggested that the Covid-19 virus was engineered to ‘spare Jews,’ and I unequivocally reject this disgusting and outlandish conspiracy theory.
      New York Post reporter Jon Levine exploited this off-the-record conversation to smear me as an antisemite. This cynical maneuver is consistent with the mainstream media playbook to discredit me as a crank – and by association, to discredit revelations of genuine corruption and collusion.
      Separate messages sent to the Guardian purportedly from Kennedy’s personal email address cite Wikipedia links to press articles about the plausibility of ethnically-targeted bioweapons.“The study is solid, and not at all controversial,” one of the messages says of a research paper by the British Medical Association, reported by the Guardian in 2004, that “rogue scientists” could develop bioweapons designed to target certain ethnic groups based on their genetic differences.An Iowa judge has temporarily blocked the state’s new abortion ban from taking effect on Monday, just days after Governor Kim Reynolds signed the measure into law.Polk County District Court Judge Joseph Seidlin ruled that a lawsuit by abortion providers is likely to succeed, and the temporary injunction will remain in place for the duration of the lawsuit.The move restores access to abortion in Iowa for up to 20 weeks of pregnancy while the courts assess the new law’s constitutionality.Last week, Iowa lawmakers passed a six-week ban on abortion in a rare special legislative session, called by Governor Reynolds, who signed the bill on Friday afternoon.The law would ban almost all abortions once cardiac activity can be detected, which is usually six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. Prior to the law, abortion was legal in the state up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is speaking at an event hosted by the moderate group No Labels, fueling speculation that he could run on a third-party ticket for the presidency.Manchin has not declared whether he will run, but it’s difficult to see how his flirtation with No Labels would amount to a serious candidacy, according to a Vox report.
      It’s true that many Democrats don’t want Biden to run again, and many Republicans say the same of Trump, who is the current GOP frontrunner. But while 2024 may shape up to be the rematch no one asked for, third-party candidates don’t have a successful track record in the US, and there’s no indication a third-party candidate would be able to launch a credible challenge to either party’s nominee this time. If Manchin or another third-party candidate runs, they would probably lose badly.
      They might, however, get enough support among moderates to derail Biden in states that he narrowly won in 2020, despite No Labels co-chair Joe Lieberman’s assurances that his group is not looking to get in the race for a “spoiler.”
      The White House’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, described Robert F Kennedy’s comments that Covid-19 was “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people as false” and “vile”.“The claims made on that tape is false,” she said during a press briefing earlier this afternoon.
      It is vile, and they put our fellow Americans in danger.
      She declined to discuss Kennedy directly, citing the legal constraints on the administration’s ability to address campaign matters. But she warned that the presidential candidate’s remarks amounted to encouraging racist theories around the virus.
      If you think about the racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories that come out of saying those type of things, it’s an attack on our fellow citizens.
      And so it’s important that we essentially speak out when we hear those claims more broadly.
      She also cited a statement from the American Jewish Committee that called Kennedy’s claims “deeply offensive” and reflective of “some of the most abhorrent antisemitic conspiracy theories throughout history.” Jean-Pierre added:
      This is something that this president, and this whole administration, is going to stand against.
      Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, who is due to speak at this evening’s No Labels event in New Hampshire, has insisted it is “not a campaign”.Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds dodged a question about whether she would be Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s running mate if he won the Republican presidential primary.DeSantis, at a fundraising event on Saturday, told reporters that he would consider Reynolds as a pick for vice president if he won the GOP nomination.Asked about DeSantis’s comments, Reynolds told Fox’s Ainsley Earhardt:
      I appreciate the comments. But look, I’m so focused. We are implementing a boldest universal school choice plan in the country. I just called a special session last week. This last week we passed the fetal heartbeat bill, and I actually cut state government and I cut 21 agencies from my Cabinet and we’re implementing our alignment bill.
      She added:
      So I’m busy working on being governor of the great state of Iowa and I’m already working on cutting taxes again next year. So that’s my focus right now.
      Donald Trump last week expressed his frustration with Reynolds for declining to endorse a candidate early in the race. In a post to Truth Social, Trump wrote:
      I opened up the Governor position for Kim Reynolds, & when she fell behind, I ENDORSED her, did big Rallies, & she won. Now, she wants to remain ‘NEUTRAL.’ I don’t invite her to events! DeSanctus down 45 points!
      DeSantis, speaking on Saturday, also dismissed Trump’s criticism of Reynolds, saying:
      I thought the attacks on her were totally, totally out of hand and totally unnecessary.
      Joe Kennedy III, a former congressman from Massachusetts and nephew of Robert F Kennedy Jr, has publicly distanced himself from his uncle’s latest comments.Robert F Kennedy’s sister, Kerry Kennedy, has also sharply criticised his remarks about Covid.A leading environmental group has hit out at US climate envoy John Kerry over comments he made rejecting calls for the US to pay climate reparations to developing countries affected by climate-change fueled disasters.On Friday, at a congressional hearing on the state department’s climate agenda, Kerry said that “under no circumstances” would the US meet reparations demands. However, the US has previously committed to contributing to a “loss and damages” fund for developing countries that does not involve statements of liability.“We are disappointed and angered by this news, but not surprised, because John Kerry’s words are just the latest example of Kerry and the US refusing to back up their vague claims for US support in global climate progress with real, substantive action,” said Jeff Ordower, North America director of the climate advocacy group 350.0rg.Ordower added that Kerry and president Biden “have tried to walk a tightrope of limited culpability: they talk a big game about “interconnected nations” and “the need for a fossil fuel phasedown,” but shied away “when it comes to “put their words into practice.”The criticism comes as Kerry met with Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua in Beijing to urge joint action to cut methane emissions and coal-fired power.“In the next three days we hope we can begin taking some big steps that will send a signal to the world about the serious purpose of China and the United States to address a common risk, threat, challenge to all of humanity created by humans themselves,” Kerry said, according to Reuters.“It is toxic for both Chinese and for Americans and for people in every country on the planet.”The US climate envoy’s comments came as temperature records in the US, Europe and China are coming close to being broken this week, alongside intense rain and flooding in other areas that are collectively pushing climate change issue to the top of the global political agenda.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has taken the chance to condemn remarks made by presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy Jr after a video surfaced of him making false claims that Covid-19 was “ethnically targeted” to attack certain ethnic groups.Kennedy, the infamous conspiracy theorist, famous scion and rogue candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination hit the headlines at the weekend after it emerged that he said at a press event in New York City last week that the coronavirus is a genetically engineered bioweapon that may have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, the New York Post reported at the weekend.Kennedy is garnering loud and swift criticism, including from members of his own family. The White House was asked about it during the press briefing today and Jean-Pierry called Kennedy’s remarks not just “false” but also “vile”.The briefing is ongoing. Oh! It just wrapped up.The US is not in a position to attribute the overnight attack that damaged the road bridge linking Crimea to southern Russia, the White House has stated on Monday.The White House daily media briefing is still underway and press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is taking questions now. But a little earlier, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was at the podium and his part of the briefing mainly focused on foreign policy and overseas news.Kirby was not prepared to commit to naming the perpetrator of the attack on the bridge. We’ve been covering this topic in our Ukraine war live blog, but that is closing now. It will be back on Tuesday.Russian president Vladimir Putin has attributed the overnight attack to Ukraine and said that his forces are preparing a response.You can read the Guardian’s full report on this topic here.Robert F Kennedy’s sister is among those who have sharply criticised his remarks about Covid.Kerry Kennedy wrote on Twitter: “I strongly condemn my brother’s deplorable and untruthful remarks last week about Covid being engineered for ethnic targeting.”Democrats were quick to distance themselves from presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy Jr after a video surfaced of him making false claims that Covid-19 was “ethnically targeted” to attack certain ethnic groups.Kennedy’s comments included “reprehensible anti-semitic and anti-Asian comments aimed at perpetuating harmful and debunked racist tropes, the Democratic congressional campaign committee said in a statement. The Democratic presidential candidate’s attempt to repurpose fringe-right conspiracy theories is not new for his candidacy, the Washington Post reported. The paper compares Kennedy’s remarks to how Donald Trump offered a conspiratorial right-wing worldview to Republican primary voters in 2015.
      It’s not surprising that the party’s institutions and leaders would take this tack; the Democratic Party is keenly attuned to racist stereotypes and antisemitism. But it is also not much of a burden. Kennedy’s support in the primary is not particularly robust relative to the incumbent president, and his long-standing conspiratorial rhetoric has not been effective at building a constituency. The party is certainly eager that it doesn’t.
      Compare the response here with the Republican Party’s response to Donald Trump in 2015. The chairman of the party then, Reince Priebus, didn’t excoriate Trump’s repeated rhetoric about criminal immigrants on social media. The party doesn’t appear to have done so either […] For the GOP, Trump’s controversial comments were already accepted by a large segment of its base, which is why his candidacy quickly gained traction.
      There is an interesting question inherent to the Kennedy situation for the Democratic Party: How accountable is it for the espoused views of one of its candidates for the presidential nomination? What is it about Kennedy that demands a response at all? Is it his name? Because he’s getting more than zero percent in polls? Is it simply that Kennedy affords Democrats an opportunity to reinforce who they are relative to what he presents?
      West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who is set to headline the No Labels event in New Hampshire later today, is arguably the most conservative Democratic senator.Manchin has not declared yet whether he will run for reelection to his Senate seat. He has told reporters that he will wait until late this year before announcing whether he will run.Should Manchin seek another term, he would face a serious challenge from Governor Jim Justice, who is seeking the Republican nomination in the Senate race. West Virginia has been leaning heavily Republican, having overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020.Manchin has at times complicated legislative initiatives being pushed by his party leaders, Reuters reported. But Democratic leaders have treaded softly as Manchin also has been key to the party holding on to its Senate majority.Democratic presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr faced widespread criticism over the weekend after a video surfaced of him making false claims that Covid-19 was “ethnically targeted” to attack certain ethnic groups while sparing Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.The New York Post on Saturday originally published a clip of Kennedy’s conspiracy theory comments, made during a recent dinner in New York City. In the recording, Kennedy can be heard making a series of false and misleading claims, including saying:
      Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.
      Kennedy is also heard saying:
      We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact.
      Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said Kennedy’s comments are “deeply offensive and incredibly dangerous” in a tweet on Saturday.The Anti-Defamation League told multiple outlets that Kennedy’s comment “feeds into sinophobic and antisemitic conspiracy theories about Covid-19 that we have seen evolve over the last three years.”Democratic national committee chair Jaime Harrison condemned Kennedy’s remarks and said they do not reflect the views of the party.Joe Biden has invited Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to Washington for an official visit, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.The two leaders shared a “long and warm” conversation where they discussed curbing threats from Iran and its proxies and strengthening the alliance between the two countries, the Israeli statement said.The invitation comes more than seven months after Netanyahu was sworn in as prime minister. The delay was viewed as a major snub from Biden, as most Israeli prime ministers had already received an invitation to the White House this far into their terms.The phone call between the two leaders took place as Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, is traveling to Washington for meetings with Biden and to address a joint address to Congress.Ohio secretary of state Frank LaRose formally announced his candidacy for US Senate today, becoming the third prominent Republican hoping to challenge Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in 2024.“It’s official: I’m running,” LaRose said on Twitter.
      I’m on a mission to give back to the state that has given me so much. To continue to serve the country I love and fight to protect the values we share. That’s why I’m running to serve as your next United States senator.
      LaRose, Ohio’s secretary of state since 2019, is the third major candidate to jump into the primary to take on Brown. He follows Bernie Moreno, a businessman running with Donald Trump’s encouragement, and state senator Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team.Ohio’s Senate race looks to be one of the most competitive in the country next year, alongside races in Arizona, Montana and West Virginia. The state backed Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections.New York mayor Eric Adams has appointed Edward Caban as the first Hispanic officer to lead the city’s police department in its 178-year history.Adams announced the appointment of Caban, 55, in a morning news conference outside the 40th Precinct in the South Bronx, where Caban began his career as an officer in 1991.Caban had been instrumental to the NYPD’s efforts to decrease crime after the Covid-19 pandemic, Mayor Adams said, noting that major crimes are down across the city this summer. He added:
      Commissioner Caban is truly one of New York’s finest, a leader who understands the importance of both safety and justice.
      Caban stepped in as acting police chief after the surprise resignation of Keechant Sewell, the first woman to lead the department, last month.Florida governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has reduced campaign staff as his campaign has struggled to meet fundraising goals.Fewer than 10 staffers were laid off, according to an anonymous staffer, reported Politico. The staffers were involved in event planning and may be picked up by the pro-DeSantis super Pac Never Back Down. Two senior campaign advisers, Dave Abrams and Tucker Obenshain, left the campaign this past week to assist a pro-DeSantis nonprofit group.Sources within the campaign reported an internal assessment that the campaign hired too many staffers too early.“They never should have brought so many people on; the burn rate was way too high,” said one Republican source familiar with the campaign’s thought process to NBC News. “People warned the campaign manager but she wanted to hear none of it.”More shake-ups within the campaign are expected in the coming weeks after two months on the presidential campaign, with DeSantis still lagging substantially in second place behind former president Donald Trump.Even in DeSantis’s home state of Florida, Trump still has a 20-point lead over the governor, according to a recent Florida Atlantic University poll. More

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      ‘An egregious act’: debt ceiling deal imperils the environment, critics say

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      The deal to raise the US debt ceiling will have significant ramifications for the climate and nature, by fast-tracking a controversial gas pipeline in West Virginia and limiting the scope of environmental reviews for future developments, environmentalists have warned.The agreement struck between Joe Biden and Republicans who control the House of Representatives states the Mountain Valley pipeline is “required in the national interest” and should be issued its necessary permits within 21 days and be shielded from legal challenge by those who object to it.Environmentalists reacted in outrage at the deal, arguing the 300-mile (480km) pipeline, which will bring fracked gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia, will endanger hundreds of waterways, threaten landscapes including the nearby Appalachian trail and worsen the climate crisis.“Singling out the Mountain Valley pipeline for approval in a vote about our nation’s credit limit is an egregious act,” said Peter Anderson, Virginia policy director at Appalachian Voices, a campaign group that has charted hundreds of environmental violations by the project across the two states.“By attempting to suspend the rules for a pipeline company that has repeatedly polluted communities’ water and flouted the conditions in its permits, the president and Congress would deny basic legal protections, procedural fairness and environmental justice to communities along the pipeline’s path.”The pipeline was recently provided a key approval by the federal government to go through a stretch of forest but is currently stymied by court action that has dogged it for years. Mountain Valley has just 20 miles (30km) left to complete but is several years behind schedule due to opposition from green groups and nearby residents who risk having their land taken for the project.However, Joe Manchin, the West Virginia senator, coal baron and the Senate’s leading beneficiary of campaign donations from gas pipeline interests, has vigorously lobbied for the pipeline’s construction and appears to have prevailed in his quest. Manchin, a centrist Democrat, is considered a valued swing vote in an evenly divided Senate.“I am pleased speaker [Kevin] McCarthy and his leadership team see the tremendous value in completing the [Mountain Valley pipeline] to increase domestic energy production and drive down costs across America and especially in West Virginia,” Manchin said in a statement that did not mention Biden. “I am proud to have fought for this critical project and to have secured the bipartisan support necessary to get it across the finish line.”The White House has framed the debt ceiling deal as one that has protected Biden’s key climate achievements, such as the numerous provisions for clean energy support in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, which Republicans were keen to strip away in negotiations.But the agreement does not include any measures to accelerate the expansion of electricity transmission, a crucial factor in whether the shift to renewables will actually materialize, while acceding to Republican demands to curtail the environmental reviews of developments such as oil and gas pipelines.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionUnder the deal, reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, the US’s first national environmental law, will be limited to just two years for federal projects.Environmental groups, already angered by Biden’s ongoing embrace of large fossil fuel projects, such as the recently approved Willow oil drilling operation in Alaska, said these provisions mean that Democrats should block the debt deal when it is voted upon in Congress this week.“President Biden made a colossal error in negotiating a deal that sacrifices the climate and working families,” said Jean Su, energy justice program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Congress should reject these poison pills and pass a clean debt ceiling bill.” More

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      Joe Manchin says he doesn’t intend to leave Democratic party for now

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      Joe Manchin says he doesn’t intend to leave Democratic party for nowRemarks comes after fellow centrist Kyrsten Sinema announced she was leaving party and becoming an independent The centrist Democratic senator Joe Manchin does not intend to change his party affiliation – at least for now, he said Sunday.Manchin’s remarks on CBS’s Face the Nation came after fellow centrist senator Kyrsten Sinema sent shock waves through Congress by announcing that she was leaving the Democratic party and listing herself as an independent.“I’ll let you know later what I decide to do, but right now, I have no intentions of changing anything,” Manchin told host Margaret Brennan, who had asked the West Virginian if there was any political advantage to becoming an independent like Sinema.”Do you see an advantage in this environment to becoming unaffiliated, to becoming an independent?” @margbrennan asks Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.”I’ll let you know later what I decide to do, but right now I have no intentions of changing anything,” Manchin says. pic.twitter.com/smbJCuTpl1— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 18, 2022
      Sinema declared her defection right after Democratic Georgia incumbent Raphael Warnock staved off a challenge for his seat on 6 December, a result that left the party thinking it had a clear one-seat majority in the Senate.Like Sinema, Manchin has at times torpedoed the ambitions of the Joe Biden White House and other progressives, occasionally voting against his party’s interests in a chamber that has been split 50-50 during the last two years, with Vice-President Kamala Harris breaking ties in the Democrats’ favor. Notably, in July, the millionaire coal-trading company founder killed off sweeping climate change legislation staunchly opposed by Republicans before later helping push through a less ambitious bill.Manchin more recently tried to force through legislation that would weaken environmental protections while fast-tracking energy projects, but his effort to salvage his so-called “dirty deal” – which had failed once earlier – was unsuccessful.Manchin spent some of his appearance on Brennan’s show Sunday criticizing the concept of congressional partisanship.“I really don’t much validity in the identity of being a Republican or Democrat,” Manchin said. “I think we’re all Americans.”But then he took aim at Republicans who didn’t support his attempt to save his dirty deal by attaching it to the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual appropriations bill.“Only seven Republicans voted for something that all 50 had supported before,” Manchin said to Brennan on Sunday. “So you tell me if it’s about policy or is it about politics.”The impact of Sinema’s abandonment of the Democratic party remains to be seen. She has said she doesn’t intend to caucus with Republicans, which could frustrate their hopes of overcoming the majority which Democrats hold with the cooperation of other independents like Bernie Sanders and Angus King.Sinema, of Arizona, and Manchin are up for re-election in 2024, when the next presidential race is set to be held. Manchin’s state is conservative, having sided with the Republican candidate in the last four presidential elections.TopicsJoe ManchinUS politicsDemocratsUS SenateUS CongressnewsReuse this content More

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      Democrats ditch Manchin’s ‘dirty deal’ after opposition from climate activists

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      Democrats ditch Manchin’s ‘dirty deal’ after opposition from climate activistsSenator had proposed to attach energy bill to appropriations legislation but plan fails amid criticism of party leadership A last-ditch effort to force through legislation that would weaken environmental protections and fast-track energy projects has failed.Joe Manchin, the fossil fuel-friendly senator from West Virginia, had attempted to latch the controversial deregulation and permitting reforms to a must-pass defense bill – after failing to get his so-called “dirty deal” passed earlier this year.The proposal to attach his bill to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual appropriations bill that will be voted on later this week, was reportedly supported by Joe Biden and House leader Nancy Pelosi.But progressive lawmakers and hundreds of climate, public health and youth groups opposed the move to pass such consequential reforms without proper scrutiny. Manchin’s legislation would weaken environmental safeguards and expedite permits to construct pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure while restricting public input and legal challenges.On Tuesday, more than 750 organizations sent a letter to the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and congressional leadership opposing what they call a “cruel and direct attack on environmental justice communities”. Attaching the “dirty deal” to the NDAA, which would have been one of Pelosi’s final acts as speaker, threatened her legacy and the party’s climate credibility, the groups said.The deal was ditched – for now at least – amid mounting criticism aimed at the Democratic leadership.How fossil fuel firms use Black leaders to ‘deceive’ their communitiesRead moreEnvironmental groups welcomed the news, but warned the fossil fuel industry would not give up.Ariel Moger, government and political affairs director at Friends of the Earth, said: “Manchin’s efforts to tie his dirty deal to any must-pass legislation he can get his hands on are undemocratic and potentially devastating for the planet. With momentum on the side of frontline communities, the fight will continue until the bill dies at the end of this Congress.”Jeff Ordower, 350.org’s North America director, said: “Senator Manchin cannot get away with last-ditch efforts to push forward his fossil fuel fast tracking bill. The industry will keep trying these secretive, last minute efforts to push forward dirty deals, so we will continue to be alert and we won’t let up the fight.”Manchin, who receives more campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry than any other lawmaker, warned of dire consequences for America’s energy security. He said: “The American people will pay the steepest price for Washington once again failing to put common sense policy ahead of toxic tribal politics. This is why the American people hate politics in Washington.”Manchin’s bill, described by environmentalists as a “fossil fuel wishlist”, was first attached as a side deal to Biden’s historic climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, but was eventually thwarted after widespread opposition from progressive Democrats and civil society groups. It included limits on legal challenges to new energy projects including the 303-mile Mountain Valley gas pipeline across the Appalachian mountains that has been stalled by concerned communities and environmental groups in West Virginia and Virginia.He and other proponents have said that fast-track permitting is needed for a rapid transition to renewables and in order to modernize the country’s outdated power transmission systems.But Jeff Merkley, the Democratic senator representing Oregon, said Manchin’s deal was a dirty one, and had nothing to do with renewables. “This [bill] will give a whole lot more impetus to fossil fuels and run over the top of ordinary people raising concerns, that’s why it’s a dirty deal. This is a real travesty in terms of legislative deliberation, and in terms of environmental justice.”On Tuesday, Rashida Tlaib, the Democratic congresswoman from Michigan, had called on her colleagues to stand up against the fossil fuel industry and the undemocratic manner in which leadership was trying to push through the bill without scrutiny. She said: “It’s outrageous enough that Congress wants to spend another $847bn on our military-industrial complex, the largest annual military budget in history; we cannot allow them to then ram through Manchin’s dirty deal in the process.”The NDAA is considered a must-pass bill because it authorizes pay increases and compensation for harmed troops, as well as establishing the following year’s personnel, arms purchasing and geopolitical policies.Environmental and climate justice groups warned Democrats that frontline communities would not forget and would hold them accountable in 2024 if the deregulation bill was pushed through.“To think that this is happening at the hands of Democrats, and their very last action of power is going to be to hurt our communities and strip our voice is really hurtful. I feel betrayed,” said Maria Lopez Nunez, deputy director of the New Jersey-based Ironbound Community Corporation and member of the White House environmental justice advisory council.“For any Democrat that’s listening, if you’re playing along to this charade, our community will call you out and we will hold you accountable.”On Wednesday, Manchin launched yet another bid to garner Republican support for his bill in the Senate, in hope of getting it through as an appendage to the NDAA. It seems likely to fail.“Nobody wants Manchin’s filthy lump of coal, no matter how many ways he tries to polish it,” said Jean Su, energy justice program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer need to see this dirty deal for what it is and leave it as a failed footnote in the 2022 history books.” TopicsJoe ManchinFossil fuelsDemocratsUS CongressUS politicsnewsReuse this content More