Category Archives: Biden administration

President-elect Joe Biden will announce cabinet picks Tuesday

Posted on by

Scaled-down inauguration celebration expected because of risks of spreading coronavirus, says incoming White House chief of staff

US president-elect Joe Biden will announce the first names chosen for his cabinet on Tuesday, the incoming White House chief of staff said – and is expecting a scaled-down inauguration celebration because of the risks of spreading coronavirus.

In a sign that his transition team is pressing ahead swiftly – despite Donald Trump’s failure to concede the election and ongoing attempts to thwart the transition process – Ron Klain said on Sunday that the appointments were moving at a faster pace than the previous two administrations.

Continue reading...

Senior Biden adviser set for key role has ties to oil and gas, climate activists warn

Posted on by

Climate advocates urge Louisiana congressman Cedric Richmond to leverage his new position to help bring attention to their plight

As Louisiana congressman Cedric Richmond takes a senior role in the incoming Biden administration, climate advocates and leaders in the fight against toxic air pollution in his district have warned of his history of poor engagement with vulnerable communities and his ties to the oil and gas industry.

But they also have urged him to leverage his new position to help direct attention to their plight.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden’s win was a ‘sigh of relief’ for LGBTQ+ people. Now activists want stronger protections

Posted on by

The new administration has promised to undo Trump’s discriminatory policies, but advocates want to see bold support for queer and trans rights

Joe Biden has promised to undo years of anti-LGBTQ+ policies by Donald Trump’s administration, but advocates and civil rights leaders are urging the president-elect to go further in expanding protections and opportunities for queer and transgender people.

In its four years in office, the Trump administration systematically attacked the fundamental rights of LGBTQ+ people, stripping away safeguards enacted in the previous administration in education, immigration, healthcare, housing and criminal justice.

Continue reading...

Biden warns ‘more people may die’ if Trump refuses to cooperate on transition – live

Posted on by

According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, if Donald Trump wants a statewide recount, he will have to pay $7.9m.

The president lost the state by more than 20,000 votes - which means a recount is very unlikely to change the fact that he lost. Even if a recount, miraculously, left Trump ahead in the state, Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes are not enough to change the election outcome.

Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, told the Washington Post that senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina was among several members of his party who pressured him to toss out legally cast ballots so that Trump could win the state.

From the Post:

In a wide-ranging interview about the 2020 election, Raffensperger expressed exasperation with a string of baseless allegations coming from Trump and his allies about the integrity of the Georgia results, including claims that Dominion Voting Systems, the Colorado-based manufacturer of Georgia’s voting machines, is a “leftist” company with ties to Venezuela that engineered thousands of Trump votes not to be counted.

The atmosphere has grown so contentious, Raffensperger said, that both he and his wife, Tricia, have received death threats in recent days, including a text to him that read, “You better not botch this recount. Your life depends on it.”

Continue reading...

We’re being told Biden won’t be able to achieve much. We must reject that idea | Astra Taylor

Posted on by

If Joe Biden is going to accomplish anything, we need to start thinking differently about power and our political system

One thing we have learned from this election is just how crazy our democratic system is. Many crucial victories came down to slim margins in swing states and the idiosyncrasies of the electoral college.

Moving forward, progressives need to rally around serious democracy reform. Every issue we care about, from heathcare to climate justice, flows from that. Without a major intervention – and even with radical candidates winning office here and there – our political system is becoming less and less representative and responsive.

Continue reading...

‘Heal the damage’: Activists urge Joe Biden to move beyond ‘border security’

Posted on by

Biden has said he will end construction of Trump’s wall, but activists say they hope for more than a return to the status quo

As Joe Biden prepares to take office, activists say the president-elect must not only take meaningful action to stabilize the US-Mexico border, but also reckon with his own history of militarizing the border landscape and communities.

Biden has promised to end many of the Trump administration’s border policies, but has yet to unveil the kind of bold immigration plan that would suggest a true departure from Obama-era priorities. Cecilia Muñoz, Obama’s top immigration adviser who memorably defended the administration’s decision to deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants, was recently added to Biden’s transition team.

Continue reading...

A youth group helped Biden win. Now they want him to fix climate crisis

Posted on by

The Sunrise Movement helped reach 3.5m voters in swing states and are determined to hold the president-elect to his promises

Joe Biden will have to navigate a path for the most ambitious climate agenda ever adopted by a US president through not only stubborn Republican obstruction but also an emergent youth climate movement that is already formulating plans to hold him to account.

Continue reading...

Arrests in Washington as Trump supporters assemble, rejecting Biden victory

Posted on by

Counter-demonstrators clash with Maga groups that echo president’s baseless claims of fraud

Donald Trump continued to rage against the dying light of his US presidency on Saturday, falsely claiming to be the victim of mass voter fraud and praising rightwingers and conspiracy theorists who gathered in Washington to echo his fabrication.

Trump emerged from the White House to applause, cheers, waving and whistles from hundreds of supporters lining both sides of the street. They punched the air, took pictures with phones and held signs that included “Best prez ever” and “Stop the steal”.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden administration: president-elect assembles a diverse cabinet

Posted on by

Susan Rice is being considered for secretary of state and Michele Flournoy is reportedly top choice for defence secretary

Joe Biden is piecing together what he has promised to be a diverse cabinet, with Michele Flournoy reportedly top choice for US defence secretary and Susan Rice considered a frontrunner for secretary of state.

Continue reading...

Who might figure in Joe Biden’s cabinet? Six names tipped for top jobs

Posted on by

Susan Rice, Michele Flournoy, Doug Jones, Lael Brainard, Vivek Murthy and Heidi Heitkamp are some of the most frequently mentioned in Washington

Cabinet appointment speculation is a time-honored tradition in Washington DC – and despite everything else going on is US politics at the moment, 2020 is no different.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden ignores Trump obstruction to press ahead with cabinet selection

Posted on by

The president-elect is likely to value Washington experience but must balance the wings of his party and a possibly hostile Senate

Joe Biden’s team is pressing forward with preparations to take over the federal government when his term starts despite virtually no help from Donald Trump’s outgoing administration.

Continue reading...

Bye-Don: a farewell to the Trump aesthetic

Posted on by

It’s time to reflect on the weaponising of a certain Fox News-adjacent look that dominated his four years in office

The age of Trump was an ugly one. An ugliness in profound and harrowing senses – racism, lies and callousness – extended into a literal ugliness that, while in no way as significant as the president’s actions, has often made the past four years feel like an assault on the senses. This administration has looked and sounded like no other, just as it has acted like no other. The nastiness of Trump’s pronouncements has many times been made more shocking by his language: the barked, capitalised tweets littered with errors and exclamation marks; the misogyny underscored by snickering profanity. Every unmasked public appearance has been a visceral reminder of a shirking of leadership and responsibility in the face of a public health crisis.

Continue reading...

Trump poised to leave legacy of chaos with last-minute foreign policy moves | Analysis

Posted on by

Analysis: With defence secretary’s firing and potential new Iran sanctions, Trump raises fears over impact of a vengeful president

The abrupt dismissal of the US defence secretary, Mark Esper, and reported plans for multiple layers of new sanctions on Iran have made clear that Donald Trump’s last 10 weeks in office could still prove a very bumpy ride for the rest of the world.

Trump is refusing to concede his loss to Joe Biden and, while he launches a quiver of baseless legal challenges to the results, he is also seeking to demonstrate he is still in charge of foreign and defence policy – fueling fears about the impact a vengeful president might have on the US role on the world stage over the coming 10 weeks of transition.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden vows to ‘spare no effort’ in tackling Covid as US sees record cases

Posted on by

President-elect warned the US is ‘facing a very dark winter’ as 200,000 more could die before a vaccine becomes available

Joe Biden vowed on Monday to spare no effort in tackling the coronavirus pandemic as soon as he enters the White House and warned the US is “facing a very dark winter”.

Continue reading...