Texas’ abortion law has landed in the nation’s capital this week, as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs whether limitations on a woman’s ability to terminate her pregnancy are legal. Lawmakers heard from experts Thursday who urged the high court to strike it down. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. Producer: Katherine Gypson. …
Leave a commentU.S. Republicans won big Tuesday in at least one off-year state election. As VOA’s Carolyn Presutti reports, some see Democrats’ losses in the state of Virginia as a warning sign for the party ahead of next year’s midterm elections, when all seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and a third of the U.S. Senate will be up for grabs. …
Leave a commentA Russian analyst who provided information for a dossier of research used during the Trump-Russia investigation has been arrested by U.S. authorities as part of an ongoing special counsel investigation, the Justice Department said Thursday. Igor Danchenko is the third person, and second in a two-month span, to face charges in special counsel John Durham’s probe into the origins of the Russia investigation. Danchenko functioned as a source for Christopher Steele, a former British spy who was paid by Democrats to examine ties between Russia and Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. The research he compiled was provided tomore
Leave a commentNot every mayor-elect of an American city gets post-election congratulations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan. Soon after news broke late Tuesday that Michelle Wu won the race for mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted its “heartiest congratulations to @wutrain on winning the #Boston mayoral race. We couldn’t be prouder of the 1st woman & Asian American to hold the city’s top job. More power to her as she keeps breaking those glass ceilings!” In an historic race where the four top candidates were women of color, Wu, the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants to the United States, became the city’s first woman and person of color to be elected mayor of Boston. Seen a progressive Democrat and protégé of U.S. senator and 2020 presidential candidate Elizabethmore
Leave a commentAs elections took place in states across America on Tuesday, Asian American candidates made history with solidified and projected victories in three major cities. Mayoral races in Boston, Cincinnati and Seattle drew just as much national attention as the tight gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. Michelle Wu, the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, claimed victory in Boston’s mayoral race, as unofficial returns signaled a strong defeat of opponent Annissa Essaibi George, prompting the city councilor to concede. Wu, 36, will now become the first woman, first person of color and first Asian American to serve as Boston’s mayor, breakingmore
Leave a commentNew Jersey Democratic Governor Phil Murphy narrowly won reelection Wednesday, eking out a victory that spared Democrats the loss of a second gubernatorial seat. He’s the state’s first Democratic governor to get a second straight term in 44 years, defeating Republican former New Jersey General Assembly member Jack Ciattarelli. AP called the race Wednesday evening when a new batch of votes from Republican leaning Monmouth County increased Murphy’s lead and closed the door to a Ciattarelli comeback. Ballots left Ballots remaining to be counted included a significant number of votes from predominantly Democratic Essex County, along with mail-in votes spreadmore
Leave a commentSweeping police reforms have been at the center of a debate in the United States since the May 2020 death of African American George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A year-and-a-half later, amid spiking violent crime rates nationwide, voters in the city rejected scrapping its police department and replacing it with a proposed Department of Public Safety. In the first municipal election since Floyd’s death, voters rejected the referendum, known as Ballot Question 2, by a projected margin of 56% to 44%. The measure was seen as a high-profile test of support for the so-called “defund the police”more
Leave a commentA loss in blue-leaning Virginia and a too-close-for-comfort race in New Jersey sent divided Democrats in Washington scrambling for answers Wednesday, and calling for new strategies to unstick a stalled legislative agenda before they sustain more political damage. Republican Glenn Youngkin edged Democratic former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia governor’s race, erasing President Joe Biden’s 10 percentage point margin of victory just a year ago. In New Jersey, heavily favored Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy was neck-and-neck with GOP political newcomer Jack Ciattarelli in a state Biden had carried by 16 percentage points. The results were ominous for Democrats farmore
Leave a commentIn an election with implications far beyond its borders, the state of Virginia on Tuesday elected Republican businessman and political neophyte Glenn Youngkin to serve as governor, ending a decade-long trend of Democratic domination of state-wide offices and signaling trouble for that party’s fate in next year’s congressional midterms. “Together we will change the trajectory of this commonwealth,” Youngkin told a crowd of supporters at a victory celebration early Wednesday. Youngkin took 50.7% of the vote to best Democrat and former Governor Terry McAuliffe, who received only 48.6% in his bid to return to the job he left aftermore
Leave a commentBoston voters, marking a key milestone in the city’s long political history, for the first time elected a woman and an Asian American as mayor on Tuesday, tapping City Councilor Michelle Wu to serve in the city’s top political office. Wu’s victory marks a turning point for the city. Boston had only elected white men as mayor before her. “One of my sons asked me the other night if boys can be elected mayor of Boston,” Wu told supporters. “They have been, and they will again someday, but not tonight.” The choice of Wu over fellow Boston City Councilor Annissa Essaibimore
Leave a commentDemocrat Eric Adams has been elected New York City mayor, defeating Republican Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday in a contest far easier than his next task: steering a damaged city through its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Adams, a former New York City police captain and the Brooklyn borough president, will become the second Black mayor of the nation’s most populous city. David Dinkins, who served from 1990 to 1993, was the first. “Tonight, New York has chosen one of you — one of our own. I am you. I am you,” Adams told a jubilant crowd at his victorymore
Leave a commentRepublican Glenn Youngkin won an election Tuesday to become the next governor of the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia in one of several closely watched races nationally ahead of next year’s midterm congressional elections. The political newcomer defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a former Virginia governor, capturing 51% of the vote to McAuliffe’s 48% with most ballots counted. Ahead of Tuesday’s election, both candidates highlighted its importance on the national political scene as one of only two state governor races contested this year and with Democrats and Republicans looking toward the 2022 election that will see all 435 seats in the House of Representatives on the ballot. Democratsmore
Leave a commentDemocrats reached agreement Tuesday on a plan to lower prescription drug costs for most older people, capping out-of-pocket Medicare costs at $2,000 and reducing the price of insulin, salvaging a campaign promise as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion domestic policy proposal. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the deal, which is one of the few remaining provisions that needed to be resolved in Biden’s big package as the party moves closer to wrapping up negotiations. Schumer acknowledged it’s not as sweeping as Democrats had hoped for, but a compromise struck with one key holdout Democrat, Sen. Kyrsten Sinemamore
Leave a commentElections taking place across the U.S. on Tuesday will be the first to test new voting restrictions in some Republican-controlled states and give elections officials a chance to counter a year’s worth of misinformation about voting security. Officials said demonstrating secure, consistent and fair practices could help reassure those who still have doubts about last year’s presidential election as they begin preparations for next year’s midterms. “It is a great dress rehearsal for 2022,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. Much of the attention will be on Virginia and New Jersey, where voters are casting ballots for governor andmore
Leave a commentVoters are casting ballots Tuesday for governor in the U.S. states of Virginia and New Jersey, two closely watched races ahead of next year’s midterm congressional elections. In Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who served as the state’s governor from 2014 to 2018, is facing Republican Glenn Youngkin, a political newcomer. Both candidates held final campaign events Monday in the northern Virginia suburbs outside Washington. Youngkin told his supporters “the future of this country is going to be decided,” in Tuesday’s vote, while McAuliffe said “the stakes are huge.” McAuliffe has seen his lead in opinion polls slide in recent months, just as approval ratings formore
Leave a commentSenator Joe Manchin wavered Monday on his support for President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1.75 trillion domestic policy proposal, saying instead it’s “time to vote” on a slimmer $1 trillion infrastructure package that has stalled amid talks. The West Virginia Democrat’s announcement comes as Democrats want a signal from Manchin that he will support Biden’s big package. He’s one of two key holdout senators whose votes are needed to secure the deal and push it toward passage. Instead, Manchin rebuffed progressive Democrats, urging them to quit holding “hostage” the smaller public works bill as negotiations continue on the broader package. “Enoughmore
Leave a commentUS President Joe Biden is in Glasgow, Scotland, this week for the UN climate summit, while back at home Democrats try to hammer out an agreement on a massive spending bill. Michelle Quinn reports. Producer: Mary Cieslak …
Leave a commentFacing staff shortages, public schools in Nebraska’s largest city have turned to bilingual high school students to interpret when families talk with teachers during report card conferences. The Omaha school district has some full-time bilingual liaisons, but students and their families speak more than 100 different languages, and more than 18,000 students have received services for limited English speakers at some time while in the district. Lisa Utterback, the district’s chief student and community services officer, told the Omaha World-Herald that the district has about 20 students contracted as interpreters. The students are paid $18 an hour to help withmore
Leave a commentA Texas abortion law that was signed in May by Governor Greg Abbott is considered the most restrictive abortion legislation in the country. After the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in September to at least temporarily uphold the law, the court once again will hear arguments regarding the case on Monday. Texans across the state, meanwhile, are vigorously debating the new law themselves. “It obviously violates Roe v. Wade,” said Rose MacKenzie, a San Antonio resident and musician in the U.S. Air Force Band. “It’s restrictive to women who need care when we should actually have control over our body, well-being,more
Leave a commentU.S. President Joe Biden will arrive at COP 26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Glasgow next week, with the promise, if not the guarantee, that the United States is about to commit to the largest single investment in combating climate change in history. The White House and Democratic leaders in Congress on Thursday announced a scaled-back version of the president’s Build Back Better climate and social spending package. While less ambitious than earlier versions, the package contains $555 billion in spending directed at reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to between 50% and 52% of 2005more
Leave a commentEleven U.S. states with Republican governors sued the Biden administration on Friday, seeking to block a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors and arguing it is unconstitutional and violates federal procurement law. Saying they were necessary to fight COVID-19, President Joe Biden issued on September 9 a pair of executive orders requiring that all executive branch federal employees and federal contractors be vaccinated. A joint lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri by 10 states: Arkansas, Alaska, Missouri, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Texas filed a separatemore
Leave a commentU.S. President Joe Biden met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday, ahead of his meeting with G-20 leaders. Biden said the pope supported his receiving Holy Communion, while some U.S. bishops want to deny him the sacrament over his stance on abortion. With Anita Powell contributing, White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report from Rome. …
Leave a commentThe Biden administration launched a second bid Friday to end a Trump-era policy to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration courts, while also reaffirming a commitment to reinstate it under court order. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the “Remain in Mexico” policy likely contributed to a drop in illegal border crossings in 2019 but with “substantial and unjustifiable human costs” to asylum-seekers who were exposed to violence while waiting in Mexico. The announcement came more than two months after a federal judge ordered that the policy be reinstated “in good faith,” while leaving an openingmore
Leave a commentU.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger, one of the few Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump, said Friday he would not seek re-election in 2022. The Illinois congressman, who also bucked party leadership by joining a House of Representatives panel investigating the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot lamented national divisions in announcing his exit. “I cannot focus on both a re-election to Congress and a broader fight nationwide,” Kinzinger said in a video posted on Twitter. Kinzinger was the latest Republican lawmaker to decide not to seek re-election after 10 House Republicans joined Democrats in voting to impeach themore
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