Category Archives: Democrats

New York senators urge Cuomo to resign after governor refuses to quit

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Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand release joint statement after governor addresses media

New York’s two US senators, Chuck Schumer, who is also the Senate majority leader, and Kirsten Gillibrand, joined national and state representatives late Friday afternoon in calling for Governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation.

Cuomo had earlier again refused to resign after a group of New York’s most powerful and prominent Democrats in the House of Representatives joined calls for the governor to step down over the multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him, and scrutiny over his administration’s misreporting of Covid-19 deaths among nursing home residents.”

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Former Pentagon chief blames Trump’s speech for inciting Capitol attack – live

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It’s been a busy day in Washington ahead of Biden’s prime-time address this evening. Before we hand over the reigns to Maanvi Singh in California, here’s a look back at what happened on this unusually warm spring day in the nation’s capital.

In an astonishing piece of attempted backside-covering, former acting defense secretary under the outgoing Donald Trump, Chris Miller, tried to explain in an interview with Vice that the delay in National Guard troops deploying to the US Capitol on the afternoon of 6 January to help overwhelmed police was basically because “it’s complicated”.

Miller said: “It’s not like a video game” ie going up and down the chains of government and command to deploy troops is a complex process.

Chris Miller translator: " Hey, I had to take orders from the White House on this." https://t.co/ihRrvlvjGc

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House will vote Wednesday morning on $1.9tn Covid relief bill – as it happened

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By Jessica Goodheart for Capital and Main:

Sara Fearrington, a North Carolina waitress, joined the Fight for $15 campaign two years ago. A server at a Durham Waffle House, her take-home pay fluctuates between $350 and $450 a week, leaving her struggling to pay bills every month. She voted for Joe Biden, who had pledged to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. It was the first time Fearrington, who is 44, had ever voted in a presidential election.

Related: Senate minimum wage battle could play out in midterm elections

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Cuomo suffers major blow as top New York Democrats say governor must go

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Senate leader and assembly speaker weigh in but Cuomo says quitting over sexual harassment claims would be ‘anti-democratic’

Andrew Cuomo suffered a major blow on Sunday in his attempt to stay as governor of New York in the face of allegations of sexual harassment and workplace bullying and a scandal over nursing home deaths under Covid. The majority leader of the state senate and the speaker of the assembly, two of the most powerful Democrats in New York, said it was time for Cuomo to go.

Related: The New York attorney general holding Trump and Cuomo accountable

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Biden hails Senate passage of ‘desperately needed’ $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill – video

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Joe Biden has hailed the passage of the American Rescue plan by an exhausted Senate. Lawmakers narrowly approved the bill on Saturday as the US president and his Democratic allies notched a victory they called crucial for hoisting the country out of the pandemic and economic doldrums

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Biden hails ‘giant step’ as Senate passes $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill

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  • Republican opposition holds through marathon ‘vote-a-rama’
  • Speaker Pelosi has said measure should be law by 14 March

Joe Biden hailed “one more giant step forward on delivering on that promise that help is on the way”, after Democrats took a critical step towards a first major legislative victory since assuming control of Congress and the White House, with a party-line vote in the Senate to approve a $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill.

Related: Biden urged to 'go big' on New Deal-like economic plan – but can he bridge left-right gap?

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Sanders’ minimum-wage effort looks doomed as Covid relief votes go through night

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Biden’s $1.9tn relief package struggles through Senate but majority leaders vows passage ‘however long it takes’

A fiery speech and last-ditch effort by Bernie Sanders to secure a place for a federal minimum wage hike in the $1.9tn coronavirus relief package appeared as good as doomed on Friday, following a day that saw the flagship legislation hit grinding delays in the Senate.

Senate leaders and moderate Democratic senator Joe Manchin struck a deal late on Friday over emergency jobless benefits, breaking a nine-hour logjam.

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Andrew Cuomo apologises over harassment allegations but refuses to resign – video

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Andrew Cuomo made clear that he would not quit in the wake of multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him. ‘I’m not going to resign,’ the New York governor said at his press conference. ‘I’m going to do the job the people of the state elected me to do.’

The Democrat apologised for engaging in behaviour that made anyone feel uncomfortable, but insisted he had never touched anyone inappropriately. A number of lawmakers of both parties have called on the Democratic governor to resign as the state attorney general investigates the allegations against him.

‘I’m sorry for whatever pain I caused anyone. I never intended it, and I will be the better for this experience,’ Cuomo said.

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Scramble on to replace Neera Tanden after nomination met perfect storm

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Joe Biden’s nominee for budget director faced Republican opposition over old tweets but had also clashed with progressives

Neera Tanden’s decision to withdraw from consideration to serve as Joe Biden’s budget director marks the first major loss for the still young Biden administration, and sets off a scramble between various political factions to push through a new nominee.

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Neera Tanden withdraws from nomination to direct budget office – live

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Tanden’s letter to Biden requesting her withdrawal said:

Dear President Biden,

I am writing to you to withdraw my nomination for Director of the Office of Management and Budget. It has been an honor of a lifetime to be considered for this role and for the faith placed in me.

The withdrawal marks the first cabinet nominee by Biden to fail to get confirmation.

“I have accepted Neera Tanden’s request to withdraw her name from nomination for Director of the Office of Management and Budget,” Biden said in a statement. “I have the utmost respect for her record of accomplishment, her experience and her counsel, and I look forward to having her serve in a role in my Administration. She will bring valuable perspective and insight to our work.”

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Cuomo faces new calls to resign as harassment investigation looms

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  • Three women publicly accuse the governor of sexual harassment
  • Former state legislative employees accuse Cuomo of ‘gaslighting’
  • US politics – live coverage

A collective of former New York state legislative employees on Monday denounced Andrew Cuomo’s apology for his past behaviour, after the governor was accused of sexually harassing multiple women, and called for his removal or resignation.

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House approves $1.9tn Covid aid bill despite minimum wage setback

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Relief bill represents Biden first big legislative win but wage hike proposal to be removed from Senate version

The US House of Representatives has passed Joe Biden’s $1.9tn coronavirus aid bill in his first major legislative victory.

Related: Criticism builds over Biden's failure to lift Trump sanctions on ICC prosecutors

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Biden urged to back water justice bill to reverse decades of underinvestment

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Water Act proposes injection of federal dollars to overhaul ageing infrastructure, create jobs and address inequalities

Democratic lawmakers and advocates are urging Joe Biden to back legislation proposing unprecedented investment in America’s ailing water infrastructure amid the country’s worst crisis in decades that has left millions of people without access to clean, safe, affordable water.

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Manhattan district attorney reportedly subpoenas Bannon’s financial records – live

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Joe Biden is meeting with a bipartisan group of Congress members to discuss improving US supply chains to better prepare for future crises.

“The last year has shown some of the vulnerability we have with some of the supply chains, including the PPE we needed badly but had to go abroad to get,” Biden told reporters at the start of the meeting.

Biden, meeting in Oval with members of Congress about supply chain problems, including a shortage of computer chips for the autos industry, says it’s causing some production lines to slow down and “people might be laid off.” pic.twitter.com/nHNN2CofN5

Congresswoman Deb Haaland, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the interior department, faced more pointed questions from Republicans during her second confirmation hearing today.

Republican Senator John Barrasso pressed Haaland, who would be the first Native American cabinet secretary if confirmed, on her past statements against fracking on public lands.

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Key Biden aide said pandemic was ‘best thing that ever happened to him’, book says

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  • Anita Dunn said privately what aides ‘would never say in public’
  • Cautious campaigning won Covid battle with Trump
  • US politics – live coverage

A senior adviser to Democrat Joe Biden in his campaign for president believed “Covid is the best thing that ever happened to him”, a new book reports.

Related: Ruling on Trump tax records could be costliest defeat of his losing streak

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Texas storm: political tensions boil over as vast power outages continue – live

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More details on Cancun-gate: Ted Cruz’s office reportedly contacted the Houston Police Department to request security assistance at the airport yesterday.

The HPD told ABC News that its officers “monitored his movements through the terminal.” Cruz then boarded a flight to Cancun, as his state deals with a winter storm and widespread blackouts.

JUST IN from @houstonpolice, via @emcabcnewsprod:

"Cruz’s staff contacted HPD personnel at IAH on Wednesday ... and requested assistance upon the Senator’s arrival at the airport."

"HPD officers monitored his movements through the terminal."

In case you missed it this morning: the number of initial weekly jobless claims in the US rose to 861,000 last week, the labor department announced.

The number represents an increase of 13,000 from the previous week, the latest sign that the US economy continues to suffer as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Biden’s offer to work with Republicans faces first real test on Covid relief

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Analysis: The president stressed a willingness to work with Republicans – but some say his outreach has its limits

Joe Biden and his team have promised to extend the bipartisan olive branch like no previous administration in a move that on the surface appears to match the new president’s long political history of seeking support from Republicans.

Since taking office, the Biden administration has stressed a willingness to work with Republicans on its major initiatives like a Covid relief bill. Behind the scenes, it has initiated a broad push to reach out to as many congressional offices as possible, getting in contact with both former and current Republican lawmakers and their staffs, and hosting a high-visibility meeting between almost a dozen Republican senators and Biden himself.

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Rush Limbaugh dies after suffering from lung cancer – US politics live

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Joe Biden had an hour-long conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu today, the Israeli prime minister said.

In a tweet, Netanyahu’s office shared a photo of the prime minister on the phone with Biden. Netanyahu said the conversation was friendly, and the two leaders committed to strengthening the alliance between their nations.

ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו שוחח הערב עם נשיא ארה"ב ג'ו ביידן.

השיחה הייתה ידידותית וחמה ביותר ונמשכה כשעה. שני המנהיגים ציינו את הקשר האישי רב השנים ביניהם ואמרו שיפעלו יחד להמשך חיזוק הברית האיתנה בין ישראל לארה"ב pic.twitter.com/8LolsBhi0r

Related: Call me maybe? Disquiet in Israel that Biden has yet to phone Netanyahu

Jill Biden will soon sit down with Kelly Clarkson for her first solo television interview since Joe Biden was sworn in, the first lady’s office announced today.

A spokesperson for Jill Biden said the interview will be aired next Thursday, on “The Kelly Clarkson Show: White House Edition with the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden”.

NEW! @FLOTUS will sit down with @KellyClarkson for her FIRST solo TV interview, when @KellyClarksonTV comes to the White House! “The Kelly Clarkson Show: White House Edition with the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden” will air Thursday, Feb. 25 #kellyoke

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Trump and Giuliani sued by Democratic congressman over deadly Capitol riot – live

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The White House briefing has now concluded. Here’s where the day stands so far:

White House press secretary Jen Psaki would not say when specifically Joe Biden will address a joint session of Congress for the first time as president.

Biden said last month that he would lay out his Build Back Better plan in a February address to Congress.

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US lawmakers call for 9/11-style commission to investigate Capitol riot

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Democrats and Republicans both voice support for panel to ‘make sure it never happens again’

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have issued fresh calls for a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate why government officials and law enforcement failed to stop the attack on the US Capitol in January, following Donald Trump’s acquittal in his impeachment on charges that he incited the insurrection.

The commission would be modeled after a panel created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, which reviewed what caused the atrocity and laid out recommendations on how to foresee and prevent any future incursions.

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