Failure of bank last weak sparked fears of financial crisis, as US government announces plans to stabilize situation
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Continue reading...Senior US lawmaker confident Virginia Class nuclear vessels can be delivered and concerns about joint crewing are ‘overhyped’
Australia buying up to five secondhand Virginia class nuclear submarines would not amount to the US “foisting off clunkers” on to its ally, a senior US lawmaker has said.
On Sunday congressman Joe Courtney, the ranking member of the house seapower subcommittee and the second highest ranking Democrat on the armed services committee, also sought to reassure Australia that concern about joint crewing of nuclear submarines was “overhyped”.
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Continue reading...Joe Biden continues his attacks on the GOP’s far right wing. Following his remarks earlier on this month’s strong jobs figures, he’s taken to Twitter.
“Extreme Maga [Make America Great Again] House Republicans are showing us what they value: tax breaks for the rich. They demand the biggest Medicare benefits cut in decades, ship jobs overseas, defund law enforcement, devastate our national and border security. It’s a gut punch to the middle class,” the US president tweeted earlier this afternoon.
Continue reading...Investigators are looking at invoking an exception that can bypass attorney-client privilege if legal advice is used for furthering crime
Federal prosecutors involved in the criminal investigation of Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents argued to a US judge on Thursday that one of the former US president’s lawyers should answer more questions before a grand jury over objections of attorney-client privilege.
US prosecutors have been seeking to invoke the so-called crime-fraud exception that allows them to compel testimony about communications between an attorney and a client when they have evidence to suggest legal advice was used in furtherance of a crime.
Continue reading...Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau stand to benefit as White House warns of Beijing’s intent and ability to ‘reshape the international order’
Alarmed by China’s success in wooing Pacific island nations, the Biden administration is proposing to spend billions from its federal budget to keep three of those countries in the US orbit.
President Joe Biden’s spending plan, released on Thursday, includes more than $7.1bn in funding for the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. The money is included in the $63.1bn request for the state department and the US Agency for International Development.
Continue reading...Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw said, “We are committed to the legislative intent to make rail safer,” without specifically indicating whether he would commit to supporting the bipartisan Railway Safety Act.
“We can always get better and that is my intent to continue to invest and continue to improve” in industry safety standards, he added.
Continue reading...Proposal will creating ‘a little bit more breathing room’ for American families, Biden says – but Republicans dismiss his plans
Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled his budget, a sprawling policy vision that the president says reflects his commitment to building a fairer economy while drawing a sharp contrast to Republicans who are demanding steep cuts to federal spending programs.
Biden formally introduced his spending plan, which he has described as a “blue-collar blueprint”, in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that helped lift him to the White House in 2020. It was an unusually high-profile rollout for a budget proposal that is often greeted with a resounding thud on Capitol Hill.
Continue reading...Press secretary criticizes Fox News host for depicting security footage as what he described as ‘peaceful chaos’
House Republicans convened their first hearing on what the committee chairman called the Biden’s administration’s “disastrous” withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Opening the House foreign affairs committee hearing earlier, the Texas congressman Michael McCaul called for a moment of silence for 13 US service members killed in a terrorist attack near the Kabul airport during the evacuation. More than 100 Afghan civilians were also killed in the attack.
“What happened in Afghanistan was a systemic breakdown of the federal government at every level,” McCaul said, vowing to hold to account officials responsible for what he said was the “abdication of the most basic duties of the United States government to protect Americans and leave no one behind”.
For nearly two weeks in August 2021, the world watched as harrowing scenes played out live on television, including desperate Afghans clinging to the underside of a US transport plane, after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.
In the chaos, McCaul said, the US left more than “1,000 American citizens” in Afghanistan as well as “almost 200,000” Afghan allies. To those “left behind,” the Republican chair said he was committed to getting them “the hell out of there”.
The ranking Democrat, Gregory Meeks of New York, said Joe Biden made the “right decision” to end a 20-year war which extracted a “great cost” on the nation.
Meeks acknowledged that “mistakes” were made during the evacuation but noted it was Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, who struck a deal with the Taliban for US forces to leave Afghanistan by May 2021.
To that end, Meeks urged the committee to use this opportunity to understand what went wrong, rather than to “score political points”.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has also announced that the Department of Justice (DoJ) will conduct a federal review of the Memphis police department in Tennessee, in particular its use of force, where resident Tyre Nichols died in hospital a few days after being brutally beaten and left for dead by a group of now ex-officers earlier this year.
In the wake of Tyre Nichols’s tragic death, the Justice Department has heard from police chiefs across the country who are assessing the use of specialized units and, where used, appropriate management, oversight and accountability for such units. The COPS Office [Community Oriented Policing Services] guide on specialized units will be a critical resource for law enforcement, mayors and community members committed to effective community policing that respects the dignity of community members and keeps people safe.”
Continue reading...Senate majority leader accuses host Tucker Carlson of ‘manipulating’ images of Capitol attack provided by House speaker Kevin McCarthy
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Democrats in Florida’s Republican-dominated House and Senate face a bruising legislative session, which began this morning. Outnumbered by a Republican supermajority in both chambers, the best the party’s members will be able to do on many pieces of legislation is to offer dissent.
Still, they’re as upbeat as they can be, and some are saying it with flowers. Here’s first-term state representative Christine Hunschofsky’s view as she prepares to do battle: caffeine, a desk fan and a colorful array of petals.
Continue reading...The president spoke in Selma at the site of ‘Bloody Sunday’ that led to passage of historic voting rights legislation nearly 60 years ago
Joe Biden paid tribute to the heroes of the “Bloody Sunday” civil rights march nearly 60 years ago and used its annual commemoration to warn of an ongoing threat to US democracy from election deniers and the erosion of voting rights.
The US president joined thousands of people in Selma, Alabama to mark the movement that led to the passage of landmark voting rights legislation shortly after peaceful marchers were brutally attacked by law enforcement on a bridge though town.
Continue reading...German chancellor’s working visit to the White House focuses on continuing support for Kyiv
Joe Biden has hailed Olaf Scholz for Germany’s “critical military support” for Ukraine, acknowledging in a White House meeting that, in the face of stiff domestic political resistance, such backing had been “very difficult” for the chancellor.
The meeting of the US and German leaders on Friday comes shortly after the first anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and at a time when both are facing political challenges to their efforts to maintain the flow of military and economic support to Kyiv.
Continue reading...2024 contender points out in speech the party has lost popular vote in seven of last eight presidential elections
Politico has the scoop on a policy proposal of sorts from Donald Trump, in his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
The former president, who of course made his name in real estate, wants to hold a contest to design and build “up to 10 new ‘Freedom Cities’, built from the ground up on federal land”.
… an investment in the development of vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicles; the creation of ‘hives of industry’ sparked by cutting off imports from China; and a population surge sparked by ‘baby bonuses’ to encourage would-be-parents to get on with procreation.
It is all, his team says, part of a larger nationwide beautification campaign meant to inspire forward-looking visions of America’s future.
Continue reading...Subcommittee will look into alleged campaign violations and sexual misconduct by Republican who admitted to lying
The question of Joe Biden‘s 2024 plans hangs over the issues conference, as Democrats wait to see when the president will officially announce his reelection campaign.
Biden declined to make those plans official last night as he spoke at the conference, but repeatedly expressed the need to “finish the job that needs to be done”.
Continue reading...The president celebrated in a speech his party’s successes so far in his first term while House Democrats eye regaining the chamber
Joe Biden delivered a rallying cry to fellow Democrats on Wednesday, offering a glimpse of the president’s likely re-election message as he prepares to officially announce his plans for 2024.
Speaking at House Democrats’ annual issues conference in Baltimore, Maryland, Biden celebrated Democrats’ legislative accomplishments over his first two years in office but told his allies that they still have more work to do.
Continue reading...Report on mysterious health ailment that affected US government workers clashes with conclusion by panel of scientists last year
A review by US intelligence agencies could not conclude that a foreign adversary was behind “Havana syndrome,” a mysterious health ailment that affected US government workers overseas, the Washington Post reports.
The determination in a report authored by seven intelligence agencies clashes with a conclusion reached by a panel of expert scientists last year, which found pulsed electromagnetic energy and ultrasound could be behind the mysterious symptoms that include headaches, nausea and ringing in the ears – which in some cases has grown debilitating for those affected.
Seven intelligence agencies participated in the review of approximately 1,000 cases of “anomalous health incidents,” the term the government uses to describe a constellation of physical symptoms including ringing in the ears followed by pressure in the head and nausea, headaches and acute discomfort.
Five of those agencies determined it was “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for the symptoms, either as the result of purposeful actions — such as a directed energy weapon — or as the byproduct of some other activity, including electronic surveillance that unintentionally could have made people sick, the officials said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the findings of the assessment, which had not yet been made public.
Continue reading...President calls Su, who is still to be confirmed by the Senate, ‘the American dream’ as he picks her to lead US labor department
Calling her “the American dream”, Joe Biden on Wednesday introduced his nominee to lead the US labor department, Julie Su, who if confirmed will become the first Asian American cabinet secretary in his administration.
“Julie is the American dream,” the president said in a White House ceremony.
Continue reading...Signature policy at risk as conservatives argue president does not have authority to lessen debt burden
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Joe Biden’s plan to provide some student debt relief to tens of millions of Americans will be before the supreme court today, which will hear two cases brought by conservatives challenging the proposal. There’s no telling how the court – which is composed of six conservative justices and three liberals – will rule on the petitions, which argue the president does not have the legal authority to provide relief. But a ruling striking the program down or limiting it would be a major loss for the White House. We may get a sense of which way the justices are leaning in today’s oral arguments.
Here’s what else is going on today:
Republicans in the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would bar retirement funds from sustainable investing.
The House select committee on competition with the Chinese Communist party will hold its first hearing during the primetime TV hour, at 7 pm eastern time.
Biden is heading to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he’ll speak about his efforts to lower healthcare costs.
Continue reading...Self-help author who brought quirky spiritualism to the 2020 presidential race becomes first Democrat to challenge Biden
Bestselling self-help author Marianne Williamson, who brought quirky spiritualism to the 2020 presidential race, has announced she’s running for the White House again, becoming the first major Democrat to challenge Joe Biden for his party’s nomination in 2024.
Williamson, 70, pulled out of the 2020 presidential election in early January of that year, after failing to gain much traction with primary voters. She then endorsed Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination and he ended up coming in second to Biden, who had been trailing him badly but surged ahead after a crucial win in South Carolina.
Continue reading...Democrats and Republicans in Senate and House have pledged to hold hearings on crash that has sparked major pollution fears
Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has made a surprise visit to Kyiv, where she’s underscoring Washington’s continued support for Ukraine one year after Russia invaded.
We at the Guardian have a separate live blog with all the latest Ukraine news, which you can follow along here.
Continue reading...Comments from French president come after Joe Biden said it was ‘not rational’ for Beijing to be negotiating a peace deal
Ukraine has issued a postage stamp with a reproduction of a Banksy mural, of a boy defeating a grown man in judo, to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
It was painted by the British street artist on a demolished wall in the town of Borodianka, north-west of Kyiv, where many buildings were reduced to rubble by Russian aircraft at the start of the invasion.
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