Democrats See Tax ‘Framework’ to Pay for Huge $3.5 Trillion Package

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The White House and congressional Democrats have agreed to a framework of options to pay for their huge emerging social and environment bill, top Democrats said Thursday. Now they face the daunting task of narrowing the menu to tax possibilities they can pass to fund President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion plan.  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California announced the progress as Biden administration officials and Democratic congressional leaders negotiated behind the scenes. The package aims to rewrite tax and spending priorities to expand programs for Americans of all ages while uppingmore

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US House Backs Bill to Provide $1B for Israel Missile-Defense System

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The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Thursday for legislation to provide $1 billion to Israel to replenish its “Iron Dome” missile-defense system, just two days after the funding was removed from a broader spending bill.    The measure passed by 420 to 9, with two members voting present.    Some of the most liberal House Democrats had objected to the provision and said they would vote against the broad spending bill if it was included. That threatened the bill’s passage, with Democrats only narrowly controlling the House, because Republicans have opposed the plan to fund the federal governmentmore

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Bipartisan Police Reform Talks Collapse in US Senate

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Bipartisan talks in the U.S. Senate to reform policing that began after a spate of police killings of unarmed Black citizens in 2020 have collapsed, dealing at least a temporary setback to President Joe Biden’s vow to address police brutality.   The negotiations started nine months ago following the high-profile police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and the deaths of other Blacks that drew less attention.     Floyd was pinned under a white police officer’s knee for more than nine minutes in an incident captured on cellphone video by a bystander.more

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Disagreement Over Debts, Spending Plunge Washington Into Crisis Mode 

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The Biden administration and congressional Democrats are facing what may be the most politically fraught moment since they took unified control of Washington in January. Lawmakers are battling to avoid a potential government shutdown and a default on the national debt at the same time that Democratic infighting is endangering two pieces of legislation meant to further the party’s key priorities. The stakes, for both the U.S. economy and President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda, could scarcely be higher. A combination of a few missteps or delays in passing a budget resolution and raising the amount of money that the Treasurymore

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Lawmakers Urge Justice Department to Act Against Rising Hate Crimes in US

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Two members of the U.S. Congress instrumental in the passage of anti-hate crime legislation this year are pressing the Department of Justice to step up enforcement of the measure, warning that reinstatement of pandemic-related restrictions is likely to provoke more attacks — particularly on Asian Americans.  The new law seeks to accelerate the Justice Department’s reviews of alleged hate crimes reported to federal authorities.  “As the pandemic wears on and COVID-19 variants cause states, localities, or private entities to reinstate restrictions or public safety mandates, frustration with the virus will undoubtedly resurface,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat of Hawaii, andmore

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House OKs Debt and Funding Plan, Inviting Clash With Republicans

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The U.S. House voted Tuesday night to fund the government into early December, suspend the federal debt limit, and provide disaster and refugee aid, setting up a high-stakes showdown with Republicans who oppose the package despite the prospects of a looming fiscal crisis. The Democratic-led House passed the measure by a vote of 220-211, strictly along party lines. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is likely to falter because of overwhelming GOP opposition. The federal government faces a shutdown if funding stops on Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, midnight next Thursday. Additionally, at somemore

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Study Confirms Political Influence on Preventing COVID Spread

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People who feel strongly connected to their country are more likely to practice social distancing and mask wearing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to research that looked at nearly 70 nations worldwide.  “In pretty much every country we examined around the world, people who were strongly identified [with their country] were more willing to make personal sacrifices to promote public health,” lead researcher Jay Van Bavel told VOA.  However, there’s a catch: The research also found that in the United States, someone’s political party or philosophy can affect their compliance with public health initiatives. “For example, one study that usedmore

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Senate Parliamentarian Deals Blow to Dems’ Immigration Push

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Democrats can’t use their $3.5 trillion package bolstering social and climate programs to give millions of immigrants a chance to become citizens, the Senate’s parliamentarian said late Sunday, a crushing blow to what was the party’s clearest pathway in years to attaining that long-sought goal.  The decision by Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s nonpartisan interpreter of its rules, is a setback for President Joe Biden, congressional Democrats and their allies in the pro-immigration and progressive communities. It badly damages Democrats’ hopes of enacting — over Republican opposition — changes letting several categories of immigrants gain permanent residence and possibly citizenship.   MacDonough’s decision wasmore

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US Debt Limit Struggle Raises Specter of Catastrophic Default

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Unless Congress votes to increase the amount of money the U.S. Treasury is allowed to borrow above its current debt of $28.5 trillion, the United States will default on its financial obligations sometime in the next several weeks, experts warn. Few experts consider that likely to happen, but if it did, it could trigger an economic catastrophe with effects far beyond America’s shores. In a letter to members of Congress last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned of the damage that would result if the U.S. is unable, even for a short time, to pay its bills. “A delay thatmore

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Republican Who Voted to Impeach Trump Exits 2022 Race

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Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, one of 10 US House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump in January, said Thursday he would not seek reelection, citing the “toxic” atmosphere in a party that remains enthralled by the former president. The two-term back-bencher from Ohio stressed that family considerations played a substantial role in his decision, but he acknowledged the difficult political scenario, one in which he would have had to face a Trump-endorsed primary challenger next year. “While my desire to build a fuller family life is at the heart of my decision, it is also true that the current statemore

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Biden Slams Opponents of Vaccine Mandate

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A growing number of Republicans, including state governors, have vowed to mount legal challenges against President Joe Biden’s sweeping measures to compel workers and federal employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has the story. …

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Lawyer Charged in Probe of Trump-Russia Investigation 

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The prosecutor tasked with examining the U.S. government’s investigation into Russian election interference charged a prominent cybersecurity lawyer on Thursday with making a false statement to the FBI.  The case against the attorney, Michael Sussmann, is just the second prosecution brought by special counsel John Durham in 2½ years of work. Yet neither case brought by Durham undoes the core finding of an earlier investigation by Robert Mueller that Russia had interfered in sweeping fashion on behalf of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and that the Trump campaign welcomed that aid. It lays bare the wide-ranging and evolving nature ofmore

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China Imposes Local Lockdowns as COVID-19 Cases Surge  

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China tightened lockdowns and increased orders for mass testing in cities along its coast Wednesday amid the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.Checks have been set up in toll stations around the city of Putian in Fujian province, with a dozen of them closed entirely. The nearby cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou have also restricted travel as the delta variant spreads through the region.The National Health Commission on Wednesday said an additional 50 cases had been diagnosed in various parts of Fujian, most of them in the Putian region.Since the start of the pandemic, first detected in late 2019 in themore

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California Governor Beats Back Recall Challenge

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California voters have rejected a move to unseat their governor in a recall election, a rarely used provision of direct democracy in some 20 U.S. states. Mike O’Sullivan reports that Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, faced down 46 challengers in an election where Donald Trump became an unseen player. Camera: Roy Kim     …

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Largest US Colleges Push Student Vaccines With Mandates, Prizes 

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As a new semester begins amid a resurgence of the coronavirus, 26 of the 50 largest public university campuses in the U.S. are not mandating that students be vaccinated, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.Approaches on enforcement vary widely, even among universities that do have vaccine mandates, with some offering leniency for students who opt out and others expelling those who do not comply.Administrators are emphasizing high student vaccination numbers as key to bringing some normalcy back to campus and keeping instruction in classrooms rather than online. Where mandates face political opposition, schools are relying on incentives andmore

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California Governor Newsom Beats Back Recall Challenge

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California voters have rejected a move to unseat their governor in a recall election, a rarely used provision of direct democracy in some 20 U.S. states.As the ballot count continued Wednesday, nearly two-thirds of voters had rejected the recall effort, and Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, turned back 46 challengers in an election where former President Donald Trump was an unseen player.Democrats urged a “No” vote on the recall, but Newsom said Tuesday night at a victory celebration that the result was an affirmation of his and his party’s values.“We said yes to science. We said yes to vaccines. Wemore

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White House Defends Top General Who Voiced Trump Concerns

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The White House on Wednesday defended the top U.S. military commander, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley, against calls for his resignation following disclosures in a new book by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.  According to the book, titled “Peril,” Milley told senior military officials that any attack orders coming from former President Donald Trump in the waning days of his presidency must be cleared with him. The book also disclosed that Milley twice called China to assure Beijing that no U.S. attack was imminent. Under U.S. law, the president is the commander in chief and there ismore

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2 Women of Color to Face Off in Boston Mayoral Race

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A preliminary runoff election in the northeastern U.S. city of Boston has narrowed the field of mayoral candidates to two women of color, ensuring the city’s next elected mayor will be someone other than a white man for the first time in about 200 years. Two city councilors, Michelle Wu, who is of Taiwanese descent, and Annissa Essaibi George, a self-described Arab Polish American, won Tuesday’s runoff, defeating three other candidates that included acting Mayor Kim Janey. Wu and Essaibi George will face off in November.  Janey was the first woman and Black city resident to hold the position of actingmore

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US Justice Department Files Emergency Motion Against Texas Restrictive Abortion Law

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The U.S. Justice Department has filed an emergency motion with a federal judge asking him to block the southwestern state of Texas from enforcing a new law that bans nearly all abortions in the state.   In a 45-page motion filed late Tuesday with a federal district court, the Justice Department argued that the new law, commonly known as Senate Bill 8, was drafted “to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights” to obtain an abortion.  The emergency motion is the second legal action the Biden administration has taken against Texas over the new law, after filing a lawsuit last week citing the samemore

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California Voters Reject Attempt to Remove Gov Newsom in Recall Election

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Voters in the western U.S. state of California have rejected an effort to remove Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom from office.   Nearly 70% of voters overwhelmingly voted “no” in ending Newsom’s tenure early, with just more than 30% voting “yes,” according to figures released shortly after polls closed in the large state late Tuesday night.   The Associated Press, CNN and NBC News are all projecting the recall effort has failed. Speaking to reporters early Wednesday morning as the results showed him prevailing, Newsom said he was humbled and grateful to the millions and millions of Californians that exercised their fundamental right to vote.” WATCH: California election Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, youmore

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Biden Pushes $3.5 Trillion Climate Change Solution 

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U.S. President Joe Biden says extreme weather caused by climate change is putting America in a “code red” situation. He’s pushing two massive bills in Congress, totaling in the trillions of dollars, to reverse the damage. From Washington, VOA White House correspondent Anita Powell looks at what’s at stake.  Produced by: Jesusemen Oni  …

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Biden Pitches Spending Plan as Key to Fight Climate Change

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President Joe Biden tried to advance his domestic spending plans in Colorado on Tuesday by warning about the dangers of climate change while highlighting how his clean-energy proposals would also create well-paying jobs.The trip to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Flatirons Campus outside Denver capped the president’s two-day swing to the West, and it offered Biden the chance to continue linking the need to pass his spending package to the urgent threat posed by climate change.”Here’s the good news: Something that is caused by humans can be solved by humans,” Biden said. He deemed the need for a clean-energy futuremore

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New Book: Top US Military Leader Moved to Thwart Possible Overseas Attack

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The top U.S. military leader, fearful that former President Donald Trump could “go rogue” in the final weeks of his White House tenure, acted unilaterally to assure China that the U.S. would not launch an attack during Trump’s last days in office, according to a new book.  In two secret phone calls, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured his counterpart, Chinese General Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, that the United States would not attack, according to the account in “Peril,” a book about the last days of Trump’s presidency, by longtime Washingtonmore

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