Category: Joe Biden

Biden to announce executive action on ghost guns, red flag laws

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President Biden will announce on Thursday six executive actions geared towards preventing all forms of gun violence, including mass shootings, community violence, domestic violence and suicide. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will issue a series of proposed rules aimed at restricting the proliferation of so-called ghost guns, encouraging states to adopt red flag laws and tightening loopholes around certain modified pistols.

The department is also expected to issue a comprehensive report on firearm trafficking for the first time since 2000, and Biden will make official his intent to nominate David Chipman, a gun control advocate, to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Continue reading.

Biden to take a flurry of actions on gun control

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President Biden on Thursday will announce a half-dozen executive actions focused on curbing gun violence, including regulations on home-assembled firearms and the nomination of a gun-control advocate to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The initiatives are the first major actions that Biden will take as president on guns, a top Democratic priority that has only become more urgent after recent mass shootings in Boulder, Colo., and the Atlanta area.

“We know that Americans are dying from gun violence every single day in this country,” a senior administration official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, said Wednesday. “That’s why we are pursuing an agenda that will address not only mass shootings, but also community violence disproportionately affecting Black and Brown Americans, domestic violence and suicide by firearm.” Continue reading.

Stephen Miller launches legal group to block Biden agenda in court

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Former Trump White House senior adviser Stephen Miller has formed a new legal group to challenge the Biden administration’s policies through lawsuits, Politico first reported.

Why it matters: Miller told the Wall Street Journal Wednesday that any Biden policy that the group, America First Legal, “believes to be illegal” would be “fair game” for litigation, setting up an expansive battlefield for trying to maintain Trump-era policies.

The big picture: America Legal First will work with state attorneys general and Republican lawyers around the country to file and assist with conservative lawsuits against Biden policies, per the WSJ. Continue reading.

Five ways an obscure Senate ruling could change Washington

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The Senate parliamentarian issued a ruling Monday night paving the way for the unlimited use of a budget procedure to bypass the legislative filibuster.

The ruling by Elizabeth MacDonough — who is largely unknown to the public — could change how Washington operates and give Democrats significant leeway to advance their agenda over the next two years. 

Here are five reasons why the decision is a game changer. Continue reading.

‘Built on a lie’: Jen Psaki annihilates Peter Doocy’s misleading question on Georgia voting

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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday pushed back against the assertion that Georgia’s new voting laws are less restrictive than Colorado’s laws.

Psaki was asked the question by Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy during Tuesday’s White House briefing.

“Is the White House concerned that Major League Baseball is moving their All-Star Game to Colorado, where voting regulations are very similar to Georgia?” Doocy wondered. Continue reading.

GOP voters received more news about Dr. Seuss than massive COVID-19 relief bill, poll finds

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Republican voters report receiving more information from conservative media about Dr. Seuss than the COVID-19 relief bill.

Dan Pfeiffer argued on Tuesday that it’s not an accident that conservatives in the media are spoon-feeding their viewers and readers outrage about the six Dr. Seuss books that are no longer being printed due to racially insensitive material.

“The Republican plan to make 2022 about wokeness run amok is less stupid (and even more cynical) than it sounds,” Pfeiffer explained. “The Cancel Culture crusade is not just the province of the blowhards on Fox News. The Republican Party leadership is making it a central part of their strategy.” Continue reading.

Biden to announce all US adults will be eligible for coronavirus vaccine by April 19

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President Biden plans to announce Tuesday that he is moving up his target for all American adults to become eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by almost two weeks to April 19, according to a White House official.

Biden is also expected to announce that the United States has administered 150 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, the official confirmed, putting the president on track to meet or exceed his goal of administering 200 million doses in his first 100 days in office.

CNN first reported Biden’s planned announcements on Tuesday. The president is scheduled to visit a vaccination site at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va., Tuesday afternoon before returning to the White House to give remarks on the state of vaccinations. Continue reading.

Senate parliamentarian to let Democrats bypass GOP filibuster on two more bills

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The Senate parliamentarian ruled Monday that Democrats can use special budgetary rules to avoid a GOP filibuster on two more pieces of legislation, setting the stage for President Biden‘s infrastructure agenda to pass in two packages with simple-majority votes.

It’s a win for Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) that allows him to pass Biden’s $2.25 trillion package by revising the fiscal 2021 Budget Resolution.

Schumer could pass a budget resolution for fiscal 2022 to do a third reconciliation package for the second half of the Biden infrastructure agenda. Or the fiscal 2021 budget could be revised a third time to set up a third reconciliation package. Continue reading.

Scoop: Dem-aligned group launches 6-figure infrastructure push

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A Democrat-aligned advocacy group is kicking off a six-figure campaign backing President Biden’s mammoth infrastructure spending measure —starting with ads targeting constituents of Sens. Joe Manchin and Susan Collins — the group tells Axios.

Why it matters: The American Working Families Action Fund (AWFAF) is one of the first groups to announce the launch of an independent digital and TV advertising effort aimed at selling the proposal to Congress and the public.

  • It will include a trio of videos and TV and digital ads targeting residents of West Virginia and Maine, states represented by Manchin, a Democrat, and Collins, a Republican — two senators crucial to the measure’s fate. Continue reading.

Yellen pushes global minimum corporate tax

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday pushed for a global minimum corporate tax rate during her first major speech in her new role, as the Biden administration is seeking to enact an infrastructure plan financed by increasing taxes on corporations.

“Together we can use a global minimum tax to make sure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field in the taxation of multinational corporations, and spurs innovation, growth, and prosperity,” Yellen said at a virtual event hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

The speech comes at the start of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings, which are being held virtually. Continue reading.