Senate Democrat Manchin Remains Opposed to Filibuster Change  

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A centrist U.S. Democratic lawmaker, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, is renewing his opposition to changes in the parliamentary rules in the politically divided Senate, imperiling President Joe Biden’s ambitious legislative agenda. In the Senate, now with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, members of both parties in recent years have more frequently employed a filibuster to block key legislation they did not like. Once a filibuster has begun, it requires a 60-vote super majority to end debate and move a bill to a final vote. Some progressive Democrats want to end use of the filibuster in order to approve Biden’s legislativemore

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Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin Announces Candidacy for New York Governor

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Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin announced his candidacy for governor of New York on Thursday with an attack on incumbent Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the subject of investigations over sexual harassment allegations and COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents. “The bottom line is this; to save New York, Andrew Cuomo’s gotta go,” Zeldin, a fourth-term Congress member from Long Island, said in a news release. Zeldin, 41, promised to bring “the kind of relentless, fighting spirit towards helping to save our state that Andrew Cuomo only reserves for multi-million dollar self-congratulatory book deals, cover-ups, abuse and self-dealing.”   Cuomo, whomore

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Biden to Announce Actions on Gun Violence

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U.S. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland are scheduled to speak Thursday about a set of new measures meant to address gun violence in the United States.Ahead of their remarks, the White House released details of some of the initiatives, calling gun violence a “public health epidemic.”WATCH LIVE at 11:45am EDTPlan details One action is a proposed rule from the Justice Department to stop the proliferation of so-called “ghost guns” that lack serial numbers and are difficult for law enforcement to trace when they are used in crimes.The Justice Department is also planning to issue a model ofmore

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Interior Secretary Steps Into Utah Public Lands Tug-of-War

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For decades, a public lands tug-of-war has played out over a vast expanse of southern Utah where red rocks reveal petroglyphs and distinctive twin buttes bulge from a grassy valley. A string of U.S. officials has heard from those who advocate for broadening national monuments to protect the area’s many archaeological and cultural sites, considered sacred to surrounding tribes, and those who fiercely oppose what they see as federal overreach. On Thursday, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will be the latest cabinet official to visit Bears Ears National Monument — and the first Indigenous one. Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblomore

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Should US Boycott Beijing Olympics?

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The political dispute over a new election law in the southern state of Georgia has broadened into a debate over whether the United States should participate in a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price acknowledged the U.S. will discuss with allies whether to jointly boycott the games to protest Beijing’s repression of minorities and major human rights abuses. “A coordinated approach will be not only in our interest but also in the interest of our allies and partners,” he told reporters at a daily briefing. But he stressed that no final decisionmore

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Biden Announcing Actions to Address Gun Violence

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U.S. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland are scheduled to speak Thursday about a set of new measures meant to address gun violence in the United States.Ahead of their remarks, the White House released details of some of the initiatives, calling gun violence a “public health epidemic.”One action is a proposed rule from the Justice Department to stop the proliferation of so-called “ghost guns” that lack serial numbers and are difficult for law enforcement to trace when they are used in crimes.The Justice Department is also planning to issue a model of what are known as “red flag”more

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Biden to Unveil Actions on Guns, Including Naming New ATF Boss

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U.S. President Joe Biden will unveil a series of executive actions aimed at addressing gun violence on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the plans, delivering his first major action on gun control since taking office.He’s also expected to nominate David Chipman, a former federal agent and adviser at the gun control group Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).Two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that Chipman’s nomination is expected to be announced Thursday. The people could not discuss the matter publiclymore

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Should US Boycott of Beijing Olympics?

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The political dispute over a new election law in the southern state of Georgia has broadened into a debate over whether the United States should participate in a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price acknowledged the U.S. will discuss with allies whether to jointly boycott the games to protest Beijing’s repression of minorities and major human rights abuses. “A coordinated approach will be not only in our interest but also in the interest of our allies and partners,” he told reporters at a daily briefing. But he stressed that no final decisionmore

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Democratic US Congressman Alcee Hastings of Florida Dies at 84

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Democratic U.S. Representative Alcee Hastings has died at the age of 84, his office said on Tuesday, further narrowing the party’s majority in the lower chamber of Congress. His office did not provide details on the cause of death. In January 2019, Hastings said he was diagnosed with and receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer. “I’m heartbroken at the passing of my dear friend, Alcee Hastings,” said fellow Florida Democratic lawmaker Ted Deutch in a statement. “Alcee spoke up for the quiet voices that would otherwise go unheard. He never backed down from a fight for the people he represented andmore

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US Senate Democrats Seek Change in Trump Tax Reforms to Create US Jobs

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Top Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee on Monday proposed major shifts in former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax reforms to eliminate what they say are incentives for companies to move operations overseas and shift profits to tax haven countries. The plan proposed by Democratic senators Ron Wyden, Sherrod Brown and Mark Warner parallels some of the corporate tax hike proposals announced last week by President Joe Biden to finance $2 trillion in U.S. infrastructure investment. The senators are targeting provisions in the landmark 2017 Tax and Jobs Act that govern how companies’ foreign income is taxed, the Global Intangible Low-Taxed Incomemore

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Biden Looks to Raise US Corporate Taxes, with Dozens of Companies Now Paying Nothing 

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U.S. President Joe Biden is looking to raise corporate income tax rates to help pay for his proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure spending plan, but dozens of the country’s biggest and best-known companies are currently legally avoiding paying any federal taxes. Biden says he wants to raise the corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28%. The rate was cut from 35% in 2017 under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump.  FILE – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a virtual roundtable with participants from Black Chambers of Commerce across the country to discuss the American Rescue Plan, Feb. 5, 2021.On Monday, U.S. Treasurymore

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Supreme Court Dismisses Case over Trump and Twitter Critics

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The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a case over former President Donald Trump’s efforts to block critics from his personal Twitter account.The court said there was nothing left to the case after Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter and ended his presidential term in January.Twitter banned Trump two days after the deadly attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters on Jan. 6. The company said its decision was “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”The court also formally threw out an appeals court ruling that found Trump violated the First Amendment whenever he blocked a critic to silencemore

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Energy Secretary: Biden to Push Through Infrastructure Plan if No Republican Support

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U.S. President Joe Biden would be willing to push through his $2 trillion infrastructure plan without the support of Republican lawmakers if he cannot reach a bipartisan deal, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Sunday. Granholm said Biden would prefer that his plan have Republican backing but, if that does not work, he would likely support using a procedural strategy called reconciliation to allow Democrats to pass it in the Senate. “As he has said, he was sent to the presidency to do a job for America. And if the vast majority of Americans, Democrats and Republicans, across the country support spendingmore

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US, Japan and South Korea Agree to Keep Up Pressure on North Korea

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The United States, South Korea and Japan agreed in high-level security talks Friday to work together to keep up pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.In a joint statement after a day of talks, U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Kitamura, and South Korea’s national security adviser, Suh Hoon, reaffirmed their commitment to address the issue “through concerted trilateral cooperation towards denuclearization.”The three countries also agreed on the need for full implementation by the international community of U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea, “preventing proliferation,more

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Biden Taps 5 Cabinet Members to Advance Infrastructure Plan

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U.S. President Joe Biden held his first Cabinet meeting Thursday, directing five Cabinet members to lead the way in explaining his $2 trillion infrastructure plan to the American public.Biden, who unveiled the massive program to repair the country’s deteriorating roads and bridges and ramp up broadband internet connections on Wednesday, also instructed all of his agency chiefs to look at their spending plans to make sure “Buy American” rules are being followed, to maximize job opportunities for U.S. workers.Biden Unveils $2 Trillion US Jobs, Infrastructure PlanPresident’s plan aims to put the United States in position to out-compete China and othermore

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Economists See Biden Infrastructure Plan Powering Growth; Criticism Muted

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President Joe Biden’s plan announced Wednesday to plow $2 trillion into an eight-year overhaul of U.S. infrastructure was met with only limited carping from many voices normally critical of government spending. Meanwhile, economists expressed broad agreement that the plan, as proposed, would power long-run economic growth.It is certainly possible that pumping that much money into the economy, with interest rates near zero and a nascent recovery already taking shape, could cause inflation, said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for Bankrate.com.However, he said, “The other part of the discussion is, there’s clearly a huge risk from failing to address infrastructure needs.more

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Biden Releases First Diverse Slate of Judicial Nominees

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President Joe Biden released his first slate of 11 federal judicial nominations on Wednesday, including three Black women for federal circuit court vacancies, a Muslim American and an Asian American and Pacific Islander. “This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession,” Biden said in a statement that emphasized their “broad diversity of background experience and perspective.” The nominees, which include nine women, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Black women nominated for federal circuit court vacancies include Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the U.S. Court of Appeals formore

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Hazy Forecast for Biden’s Goal of a Green Electrical Grid

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Powering a large, industrialized country can be a dirty business.The United States still relies primarily on fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal to produce nearly 400,000 gigawatt hours of electricity annually for commercial, industrial and residential consumers.President Joe Biden wants the United States, by the year 2035, to have carbon-free electricity or what is termed “net zero,” meaning an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and so-called carbon offsets, such as planting of trees.“There’s no way that it is feasible without technologies that aren’t currently in the marketplace today,” Mike Sommers, president and chief executive officer ofmore

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US House Impeaches Trump for Second Time

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The Democratic-majority US House impeached President Donald Trump Wednesday, charging him with inciting an insurrection attempting to overturn the Electoral College vote count at the US Capitol last week. As VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, the trial in the US Senate will not start until after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated next week. Producers: Katherine Gypson and Jesse Oni  …

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Washington Beefs Up Security Ahead of Presidential Inauguration

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The same day the U.S. Congress voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, the nation’s capital prepared to welcome thousands more National Guard troops to help keep the peace during next week’s transfer of power.“I think you can expect to see somewhere upwards of beyond 20,000 members of the National Guard that will be here,” Robert Contee, acting chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, told reporters Wednesday.Defense officials confirmed the increased authorization, which came just days after the National Guard said it was sending up to 15,000 troops to the city tomore

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Trump Administration Slashes Imperiled Spotted Owls’ Habitat

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The Trump administration said Wednesday that it would slash millions of acres of protected habitat designated for the imperiled northern spotted owl in Oregon, Washington state and Northern California, much of it in prime timber locations in Oregon’s coastal ranges. Environmentalists immediately decried the move and accused the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under President Donald Trump of taking a parting shot at protections designed to help restore the species in favor of the timber industry.  The tiny owl is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and was rejected for an upgrade to endangered status last year by themore

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Can Trump Pardon Himself Before He Leaves Office?

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Once confined to scholarly circles, the debate over whether a president can pardon himself has gained urgency in the wake of last week’s violent storming of the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters. The riots led to Trump’s historic second impeachment this week and sparked Democratic calls for a federal investigation into Trump’s role in inciting the violence.  That in turn has renewed the question of whether Trump may use the power of presidential pardon on himself in order to escape future prosecution. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California signs the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump in an engrossmentmore

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US House Impeaches Trump for Inciting Deadly Capitol Riot

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The U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump on Wednesday, declaring that he incited insurrection last week when he implored thousands of his supporters to march to the Capitol to try to overturn his reelection loss, prompting a mob demonstration that turned into deadly mayhem.The 232-197 majority for impeachment, with just a week remaining in Trump’s four-year term as the U.S. leader, was made up of Democratic Party lawmakers joined by 10 of Trump’s fellow Republicans.The House vote made Trump the first of the country’s 45 presidents in its 245-year history to be impeached twice.He was acquitted by themore

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