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...Japanese company Denka, along with US chemicals giant DuPont, have operated the plant that produces cancer-causing chloroprene
The US justice department has sued the two petrochemical giants behind a facility in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” responsible for the highest cancer risk rates caused by air pollution in the US in a major federal lawsuit that seeks to substantially curb the plant’s emissions.
Unveiled on Tuesday, the lawsuit alleges emissions at the Pontchartrain Works facility in Reserve, Louisiana, violate the Clean Air Act and “present an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and welfare”.
Continue reading...Section 702 cast as an essential tool to gather intelligence about terrorists and other foreign targets located overseas
The Biden administration has formally urged Congress to reauthorize a high-profile warrantless surveillance program, warning in a letter to top lawmakers that allowing the provision to expire could sharply limit the intelligence on foreign threats and targets the government collects.
The law – named section 702 – allows the US government to collect the communications of targeted foreigners abroad by compelling service providers like Google to produce copies of messages and internet data, or networks like Verizon to intercept and turn over phone call and message data.
Continue reading...Advent of Israel’s most right-wing government, and spiralling violence, expose dangers of light-touch diplomacy
With an in-tray bulging with the war in Ukraine, the Chinese threat to Taiwan and the potential collapse of the Iran nuclear deal, the US state department has tried to avert its gaze from the clouds gathering over Israel and Palestine, but has now found it impossible to do so.
Since John Kerry, as secretary of state, expended diplomatic muscle trying to revive the Middle East peace process in the final year of the Obama administration, US Democrats have gently welcomed the rapprochement symbolised by the Abraham accords, but have not done much else. However, the advent of the most rightwing government in Israel’s history, and violence spiralling out of control, have shown the dangers of light-touch diplomacy.
Continue reading...Updated finding a departure from previous studies on how the virus emerged and comes with ‘low confidence’
The virus which drove the Covid-19 pandemic most likely emerged from a laboratory leak but not as part of a weapons program, according to an updated and classified 2021 US energy department study provided to the White House and senior American lawmakers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
The department’s finding – a departure from previous studies on how the virus emerged – came in an update to a document from the office of National Intelligence director Avril Haines. It follows an FBI finding, issued with “moderate confidence”, that the virus spread after leaking out of a Chinese laboratory.
Continue reading...Country’s capacity to generate renewable energy shot up last year, producing enough electricity to power 64m households
A new report by Climate Central shows how US capacity to generate renewable energy shot up last year – and surprisingly, red states lead the nation in solar and wind power production.
National wind and solar capacity grew 16% compared to 2021. All told, renewables generated enough electricity to power 64m American households. The report comes as the Biden administration starts to make billions of dollars available for renewable energy projects. The administration has committed to decarbonizing the grid completely by 2030 and getting the US to net zero emissions by mid-century.
Continue reading...Administration’s most aggressive plan yet would bar most migrants who hadn’t sought protection in other countries first
The United States could bar tens of thousands of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border from claiming asylum under a proposal unveiled on Tuesday that would be the most wide-ranging attempt yet by Joe Biden’s administration to deter unauthorized crossings.
Under the new rules, the US would generally deny asylum to migrants who show up at the US southern border without first seeking protection in a country they passed through, mirroring an attempt by the Trump administration that never took effect because it was blocked in court.
Continue reading...Visit to Ukraine is a defining moment for the US president but foreign policy does not necessarily win elections
John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan had their speeches in Berlin. Joe Biden now has Kyiv, a moment to define his presidency and its era.
There was no one phrase in Biden’s remarks in Kyiv to match Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” in 1963 or Reagan’s “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall” in 1987, but the trip itself was the statement. As the White House underlined repeatedly on Monday, there was no precedent in modern times. Visits to the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq were different, as the US military ran security in those countries.
Continue reading...US president pledges $500m in help for Ukraine while west prepares next phase of sanctions against Russia
Joe Biden has promised further military aid for Ukraine worth $500m (£415m) during his unannounced visit to Kyiv, as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss ways to accelerate the provision of ammunition.
The US president also said additional sanctions would be announced this week against Russia’s elite and companies trying to evade existing sanctions in order to “back the Russian war machine”.
Continue reading...UN ambassador says US must ensure Ukrainians ‘have the training necessary … to use weapons systems we provide’
The US ambassador to the United Nations indicated on Sunday that the White House could reverse its refusal to supply F-16 jets to Ukraine.
“We’re still having discussions on the ground with the Ukrainians,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield told CNN’s State of the Union, adding that Washington was working “very closely and directly” with Kyiv to identify “what their needs are and when they need them”.
Continue reading...The justice department is looking into how classified documents came to be found in Joe Biden’s home and former office
The FBI searched the University of Delaware in recent weeks for classified documents as part of its investigation into the potential mishandling of sensitive government records by Joe Biden.
The search, first reported by CNN, was confirmed to the Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person would not say whether anything was found.
Continue reading...Historic federal debt default could occur before July, cautions non-partisan agency
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Wednesday said the US treasury department will exhaust its ability to pay all its bills sometime between July and September, unless the current $31.4tn cap on borrowing is raised or suspended.
In a report issued alongside its annual budget outlook, the non-partisan CBO cautioned that a historic federal debt default could occur before July if revenue flowing into the treasury in April – when most Americans typically submit annual income tax filings – lags expectations.
Continue reading...Professor says his selection was dropped for describing Israel as an ‘apartheid state’ and accusing Jeffries of being ‘bought’ by Aipac
The Biden administration has withdrawn the nomination of a leading law professor to an international human rights post, for describing Israel as an “apartheid state” and accusing the top Democrat in Congress of being “bought” by pro-Israel groups.
James Cavallaro, of Wesleyan and Yale universities, said he was told by the US state department on Tuesday it had dropped his selection to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) “due to my statements denouncing apartheid in Israel/Palestine”.
Continue reading...President says at White House dinner that passage of infrastructure laws is evidence of ‘some bipartisan progress’
Joe Biden appealed to Republican and Democratic governors on Saturday to continue working across political divides to improve Americans’ lives and rebuild the economy after the hardships brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking at a black-tie dinner at the White House, the president told 31 governors that the passage of laws on investing in infrastructure and domestic manufacture of semiconductors was evidence of “some bipartisan progress” among Republicans and Democrats. Vice-President Kamala Harris was also in attendance.
Continue reading...Federal scientists would largely be barred from publicly discussing research, which could have a ‘chilling effect’, experts say
The Biden administration has proposed what some critics label a “gag order” on federal scientists in the US that would largely bar them from publicly discussing their research, and could effectively prohibit them from taking part in controversial studies on issues like the climate crisis, chemical pollution and biosafety.
The rule would have a “chilling effect” on the nation’s scientific discourse, and a similar policy has already been used to censor scientists, said Jeff Ruch, Pacific director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer), a non-profit that protects federal researchers.
Continue reading...President hopes to combat widespread sense of pessimism and to tout his accomplishments from first two years in office
Joe Biden called on Republicans to help him to “finish the job” of rebuilding the economy and restoring faith in American democracy in his second State of the Union address on Tuesday night, as he made an unfettered call to action on police reform, gun control and the climate crisis.
Addressing a divided Congress for the first time, an optimistic Biden made the case that the nation was stronger and more stable than when he assumed office two years ago.
Continue reading...Republican extremist appears to reference Chinese surveillance dirigible by parading halls of Congress with white balloon
Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to tee up a State of the Union stunt on Tuesday, patrolling the halls of Congress with a large white balloon in reference to Republican criticism of Joe Biden over his handling of a flight over US territory by a Chinese surveillance dirigible.
“Just an innocent white balloon everybody,” the Georgia extremist said, hours before Biden’s address to Congress, attempting to keep aloft the balloon saga which ended when it was shot down off the Carolinas on Saturday.
Continue reading...Pete Buttigieg says president ‘considered safety of American people’ but Marco Rubio criticizes eight-day wait
The US transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, rejected Republican criticism of Joe Biden over the eight-day wait to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon which flew over military sites.
“The president gave instructions to have it shot down in a way that was safe,” Buttigieg told CNN’s State of the Union, of the operation off the Carolina coast on Saturday.
Associated Press contributed to this report
Continue reading...Secretary of state calls the incident in US airspace a ‘clear violation of US sovereignty and international law’
A second Chinese spy balloon was reportedly flying over Latin America, according to the Pentagon, in comments that came as the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, postponed a visit to China after the intrusion of a separate high-altitude Chinese balloon into US airspace.
“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America,” Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said, a day after the first craft was spotted over US skies. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.”
Continue reading...Senior state officials have commented on the postponement of Blinken’s trip to China after a Chinese spy balloon was discovered over the US yesterday, noting that conditions were no longer right for Blinken’s travel.
From Reuters’ reporter Hümeyra Pamuk:
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