Category Archives: Democrats

Neera Tanden withdraws from nomination to direct budget office – live

Posted on by

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.”

Continue reading...

Cuomo faces new calls to resign as harassment investigation looms

Posted on by
  • 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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by
  • 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

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Democrats defend decision not to call witnesses as tactic under scrutiny

Posted on by

‘We needed more senators with spines,’ said Stacey Plaskett after vote to convict fell short of two-thirds majority needed

Democrats defended their prosecution of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Sunday and hinted at the possibility of criminal charges, after failing to convince enough senators the former president was guilty of inciting the deadly Capitol attack.

Related: Boris Johnson calls Trump impeachment over Capitol attack 'kerfuffle'

Continue reading...

Failure to convict Trump in impeachment trial will live as a ‘vote of infamy’, says Schumer – video

Posted on by

The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, decried the decision to acquit Donald Trump of inciting a riot at the US Capitol on 6 January. House Democrats, who voted a month ago to charge Trump with ‘incitement of insurrection’, needed two thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes, to convict him. Only seven Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in voting to convict Trump.

The Democrats argued in the short trial that Trump caused the violent attack by repeating for months the false claims that the election was stolen from him, and then telling his supporters gathered near the White House that morning to ‘fight like hell’ to overturn his defeat. Five people died when they then laid siege to the Capitol.

Continue reading...

Five Republicans join vote for witnesses in Trump Senate trial – video

Posted on by

Five Senate Republicans voted with the Democrats on Saturday, that the Senate should call witnesses in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

Before the 55-45 vote, Trump’s impeachment lawyer Michael van der Veen warned senators that if Democrats wished to call a witness, he would ask for at least 100 witnesses and insist they give depositions in person in his office in Philadelphia – a threat that prompted laughter from the chamber.

Continue reading...

Trump impeachment trial day three: Democrats rest their case – video highlights

Posted on by

House impeachment managers concluded their case against Donald Trump on Thursday by saying that the deadly Capitol assault he stands accused of inciting was the culmination of a presidency beset by lies and violent rhetoric. They also said he would remain a threat to US democracy if not convicted and barred from holding future office

Continue reading...

Analysis: Democrats use Trump impeachment to show sometimes symbolism is the point

Posted on by

Analysis: faith in the US has been shaken and the impeachment trial is a test of accountability before a global audience

The Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin stood at the lectern, faced 100 senators and removed his black face mask to begin the historic second impeachment trial of former president Donald John Trump.

Continue reading...

‘Trump’s guilt is obvious’, impeachment managers say in new legal brief – live

Posted on by

The election arm of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has brought out its final report on the US presidential election, concluding that it was well organised under the circumstances and there was no significant fraud.

The report also found that Donald Trump’s rhetoric and refusal to accept defeat undermined public faith in democratic institutions, and warned the US has long-term problems with providing equal voting rights for all.

Related: 'Jim Crow relic': Senate filibuster stands in way of Democratic voting rights push

Here’s where the day stands so far:

Continue reading...

Trump prosecutors pitch to the public in made-for-TV impeachment trial

Posted on by

Democrats hope harrowing audio and video from Capitol attack will make plain what no legal argument might deny

The lethal Capitol invasion by Donald Trump supporters that is at the heart of the former president’s second impeachment trial happened more than a month ago. But Democrats leading the prosecution of Trump are counting on an element of surprise.

Surprise, the impeachment prosecutors are calculating, because while most Americans understand the broad outlines of what happened during the 6 January attack on the Capitol, relatively few have come to grips with the shocking audio and video footage from that day – portraying a cauldron of violence, vandalism, bloodlust and fear.

Continue reading...

Democrats to open Trump impeachment trial by recounting Capitol attack

Posted on by

Impeachment managers will present scene in harrowing detail using video and audio recordings

House impeachment managers will open their prosecution of Donald Trump for “incitement of insurrection” by recounting the deadly assault on the US Capitol in harrowing and cinematic detail, rekindling for senators the chaos and trauma they experienced on 6 January.

Related: Donald Trump impeachment trial: what you need to know

Continue reading...

Congress is ‘better poised than ever’ to pass paid family leave bill, lawmakers say

Posted on by

Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand and Rosa DeLauro first introduced the Family Act in 2013, but it has failed to gain sufficient support

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has said US Congress is in a “unique moment” and “better poised than ever” to pass a paid family and medical leave bill that would make the benefit permanently accessible to all American workers for the first time, as she and congresswoman Rosa DeLauro reintroduced the legislation on Friday.

Currently, the US is the only industrialised nation in the world not to have a national paid family and medical leave policy.

Continue reading...