Category Archives: US Politics

Biden says US to meet goal of vaccinating 100m Americans by Friday – live

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Illinois and Maryland recently announced that within the next two months, all adults will be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, joining at least seven other states who said they can open up eligibility in March and April.

Illinois governor JB Pritzker said today that all residents 16 and older will be eligible to receive the vaccine starting 12 April. Meanwhile, Maryland’s governor, Larry Hogan, said on Tuesday that all adults should be eligible by 27 April.

The Senate just confirmed William Burns to be director of the CIA. Burns is the former deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration and has held multiple roles within the State Department.

While Burns’ nomination received widespread support from Democrats and Republicans, senator Ted Cruz had temporarily blocked what would have been a quick confirmation as Cruz was hoping to send a message to Biden over the Russia-Germany natural gas Nord Stream 2 pipelines, a controversial energy project that critics fear will give more political power to Russia.

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The woman seeking to unseat Republican extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene

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Democrat Holly McCormack is ready to take on the Trump devotee in 2022 – but it’s no easy task in a deep-red Georgia district

“I’m taking on the queen of Qanon: Marjorie Taylor Greene,” reads one tweet from Holly McCormack. “Retweet if you think Marjorie Taylor Greene is an embarrassment to our country,” says another.

America’s midterm elections may be 20 months in the future, but a campaign is already under way to unseat the extremist Republican congresswoman and Donald Trump devotee. In a rural district of Georgia that Taylor Greene won last November with three-quarters of the vote, effectively unopposed after her Democratic opponent quit the race, no one thinks it is going to be easy.

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Russia targeted Trump allies to hurt Biden in 2020 election, US officials say

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Intelligence report underscored allegations that Trump allies played into Moscow’s hands by amplifying claims against Biden

Russia tried to influence the 2020 US presidential election by proliferating “misleading or unsubstantiated allegations” largely against Joe Biden and through allies of Donald Trump, US intelligence officials said on Tuesday.

The assessment was contained in a 15-page report published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It underscored allegations that Trump’s allies played into Moscow’s hands by amplifying claims against Biden by Ukrainian figures with links to Russia.

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FBI facing allegation that its 2018 background check of Brett Kavanaugh was ‘fake’

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A Democratic senator has asked attorney general Merrick Garland to facilitate ‘proper oversight’ into concerns on the investigation

The FBI is facing new scrutiny for its 2018 background check of Brett Kavanaugh, the supreme court justice, after a lawmaker suggested that the investigation may have been “fake”.

Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator and former prosecutor who serves on the judiciary committee, is calling on the newly-confirmed attorney general, Merrick Garland, to help facilitate “proper oversight” by the Senate into questions about how thoroughly the FBI investigated Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing.

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Deb Haaland confirmed as first Indigenous US cabinet secretary

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Interior secretary from New Mexico will be responsible for US’s land, seas and national resources

Deb Haaland has been confirmed as the secretary of the interior, making her the first Indigenous cabinet secretary in US history.

The 60-year-old from New Mexico will be responsible for the country’s land, seas and natural resources, as well as overseeing tribal affairs.

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Senate votes to confirm Deb Haaland as first Indigenous cabinet secretary – as it happened

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A US Capitol police officer was suspended after antisemitic reading material was discovered near his work area on Monday.

A) USCP: Monday, U.S. Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman ordered an officer to be suspended after anti-Semitic reading material was discovered near his work area on Sunday.

B) USCP: The officer will remain suspended pending the outcome of an investigation by the Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

C) USCP: “We take all allegations of inappropriate behavior seriously. Once this matter was brought to my attention, I immediately ordered the officer to be suspended until the Office of Professional Responsibility can thoroughly investigate,” said Acting Chief Pittman.

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Covid cases fall over 80% among US nursing home staff and residents

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Despite vaccine hesitancy, figures show a big drop in infections – giving hope that, after a brutal year, an end is in sight

Joan Phillips, a certified nursing assistant in a Florida nursing home, loved her job but dreaded the danger of going to work in the pandemic. When vaccines became available in December, she jumped at the chance to get one.

Months later, it appears that danger has faded. After the rollout of Covid vaccines, the number of new Covid cases among nursing home staff fell 83% – from 28,802 for the week ending 20 December to 4,764 for the week ending 14 February, data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shows.

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Covid-fatigued California’s effort to recall Newsom may be a rallying cry for Republicans

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Analysis: more than a serious effort to unseat the governor, it is likely a strategy to rally voters, boost Republican candidates and raise funds

Nearly a year after Gavin Newsom became the first American governor to issue a statewide stay-at-home order to combat the coronavirus, the California leader delivered his “state of the state” address from an empty Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

“Let’s allow ourselves to dream of brighter days ahead,” Newsom said on Tuesday.

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Biden’s make or break moment: president aims to build on success of relief bill

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Analysis: Biden is riding high in polls and his American Rescue Plan is popular with Americans – he must build momentum to avoid the fate of Obama

In the White House Rose Garden, where for four years Donald Trump raucously celebrated political wins with his allies, it was now the turn of Democrats to take a victory lap – masked and physically distanced, of course.

Kamala Harris, the vice-president, heaped praise on Joe Biden for signing a $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill, the biggest expansion of the American welfare state in decades. “Your empathy has become a trademark of your presidency and can be found on each and every page of the American Rescue Plan,” Harris said.

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Trump coronavirus coordinator, Deborah Birx, takes job at air purifier business

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Birx, who was criticised for not standing up to Trump over Covid, takes job with Texas company that says its purifiers clean virus from the air

Dr Deborah Birx, the former Trump White House coronavirus taskforce coordinator, is taking a private sector job, joining a Texas manufacturer that says its purifiers clean Covid-19 from the air within minutes and from surfaces within hours.

Birx will join Dallas-based ActivePure as chief scientific and medical adviser, she and the company said on Friday.

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‘The Senate is broken’: proposals for major changes to outdated system gather steam

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Analysis: critics say the US Senate has become a firewall for a shrinking minority of white conservatives to block policies – could a breakthrough be ahead?

In the first 50 days of the Biden administration, the US House of Representatives has passed major legislation to strengthen voting rights, reform police departments, empower labor unions and tighten gun laws.

The public strongly supports each measure, and Biden is poised, pen in hand, to sign each bill into law. It could seem like the dawn of a new progressive era.

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In national address, Biden tells states to make all adults vaccine eligible by 1 May

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President warns Americans ‘this is not the time to let up’ in first prime-time address on pandemic anniversary

Joe Biden has directed states to make all American adults eligible for coronavirus vaccines by 1 May and set an audacious goal of 4 July for gatherings to celebrate “independence” from the deadly pandemic.

But in his first prime-time address, which marked the anniversary of America’s shutdown, the president warned that restrictions could be reinstated if the nation lets down its guard against the virus.

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Joe Biden pledges vaccine eligibility for all US adults by 1 May in nationwide address – video

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Joe Biden has pledged all US adults will be eligible for coronavirus vaccines by 1 May as he addressed the nation on the one year anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic. Biden outlined plans to speed up vaccinations around the country and hoped for a return to normalcy by 4 July. The president condemned the hate crimes against Asian Americans, and repeated his calls for unity, as he urged Americans to continue to wear masks

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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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Biden signs $1.9tn Covid relief ahead of first primetime address as president

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President will mark one year since coronavirus triggered shutdowns across US in televised speech on Thursday night

Joe Biden signed the historic $1.9tn Covid-19 relief package into law on Thursday, hours before he will deliver his first primetime TV address as US president to mark one year since the virus triggered widespread shutdowns across the country.

“This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said in brief remarks before signing the landmark legislation.

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‘It’s every man for himself’: the Texans defying end of mask mandate

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Governor Greg Abbott lifted the mask mandate on 2 March but not everyone in the state is ready to embrace the change

The parking lot was packed at The Shops at La Cantera, a partially outdoor mall in north-west San Antonio, on the day that Texas officially ended mandatory mask wearing. But it was clear not everyone was ready to embrace the change, with most people who wandered in and out of stores still donning face coverings, and many shops requiring customers to wear one before entering.

Related: Texans scramble to get vaccinated after Republican governor says no more masks

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Biden pledges surplus vaccines will be shared with the rest of the world – video

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The US president has pledged surplus vaccines will be shared with the rest of the world, after he announced the purchase of an additional 100m Johnson & Johnson doses. ‘If we have a surplus, we’re going to share it with the rest of the world,’ he said. ‘This is not something that can be stopped by a fence no matter how high you build a fence or a wall. So we’re not going to be safe until the world is safe. And so, we’re going to start off making sure Americans are taken care of first, but we’re then going to try and help the rest of the world.’ The president reiterated plans to have all American adults vaccinated by the end of May and revealed the country hit a record of 2.9m vaccinations in one day on Saturday

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Cuomo faces most serious allegation yet as aide says governor groped her

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New York Democrat has been accused of harassment by five other women and is under investigation by state attorney general

An aide to Andrew Cuomo says the New York governor groped her in the governor’s residence, marking the most serious allegation among those made by a series of women against the embattled Democrat, according to a report published in a newspaper Wednesday.

The Times Union of Albany reported that the woman, who was not identified, was alone with Cuomo when he closed the door, reached under her shirt and fondled her. The newspaper’s reporting is based on an unidentified source with direct knowledge of the woman’s accusation. The governor had summoned her to the Executive Mansion in Albany, saying he needed help with his cellphone, the newspaper reported.

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‘Help is on the way’: Democrats cheer as US House passes $1.9tn Covid relief plan – video

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The House of Representatives gave final approval on Wednesday to one of the largest economic stimulus measures in US history, a sweeping $1.9tn Covid-19 relief bill that gives Joe Biden his first major victory in office. The measure provides $400bn for $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, $350bn in aid to state and local governments, an expansion of the child tax credit, and increased funding for vaccine distribution. 'This is the most consequential legislation that many of us will ever be a party to,' the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said at a ceremony to sign the bill before it goes to the White House

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