Category: Joe Biden

Blinken Scraps Trump Administration’s Global Attack On Gay Human Rights

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The Biden administration has thrown out a report from the Trump administration that human rights groups criticized for devaluing LGBTQ rights across the globe.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the announcement during a press conference on Tuesday to discuss a 2020 report on the status of human rights that includes some 200 countries and territories.

“There is no hierarchy that makes some rights more important than others,” Blinken said. “Past unbalanced statements that suggest such a hierarchy, including those by the recently disbanded State Department advisory committee do not represent a guiding document for this administration.” Continue reading.

White House unveils $2 trillion infrastructure and climate plan, setting up giant battle over size and cost of government

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Ahead of speech in Pittsburgh, Biden administration releases sprawling effort to revamp U.S. transit, broadband, housing and more

The White House’s unveiling of a $2 trillion jobs, infrastructure and green energy proposal to reshape the U.S. economy met a chorus of opposition late Wednesday, with Republicans panning it as a partisan wish-list, some liberals challenging it as not sufficient to combat climate change and business groups rejecting its proposed tax hikes.

Under what the administration calls the American Jobs Plan, President Biden aims to tackle some of the nation’s most pressing problems — from climate change to decaying water systems to the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

In a speech Wednesday afternoon at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Pittsburgh Training Center, Biden pitched his plan as a transformative effort to overhaul the nation’s economy. He called it the most significant federal jobs investment since World War II, saying it would put hundreds of thousands of electricians and laborers to work laying miles of electrical grid and capping hundreds of oil wells. He said the plan’s research funding would make America the global leader in emerging sectors such as battery technology, biotechnology and clean energy. Continue reading.

GOP Congressman ‘Happy’ To Tout COVID-19 Stimulus Funds That He Voted Against

Rep. Madison Cawthorn, like every other Republican in Congress, opposed the American Rescue Plan.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) sent out a tweet Tuesday touting some funds that community health centers in his district will be receiving ― even though he voted against the legislation that made the money possible.

Cawthorn wrote that he was “happy” to announce that North Carolina’s 11th District received a number of grants from the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Proud to see tax-payer dollars returned to NC-11,” he wrote in a follow-up tweet.  Continue reading.

Biden’s first slate of judicial nominees aims to quickly boost diversity in federal courts

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President Biden announced his first slate of judicial nominees on Tuesday, elevating U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the influential appeals court in Washington to succeed Merrick Garland as part of the largest and earliest batch of court picks by a new administration in decades.

Jackson, often considered a contender to be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, is among Biden’s 11 nominations that include three Black women for appeals court vacancies and the first Muslim American to serve on a District Court. The group is designed to send a message about the administration’s desire for more diversity on the federal bench and how rapidly the president wants to put his mark on it.

Biden previously pledged to name the first Black woman to the high court, and his picks signal an early departure from the Trump administration, which successfully reshaped the federal courts with nominees who were overwhelmingly White and male. Continue reading.

Biden calls on states to keep mask mandates, pause reopenings

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President Biden on Monday urged state and local officials to reconsider lifting their coronavirus restrictions and to reinstate mask mandates that have lapsed as the U.S. faces an increase in cases.

“I’m reiterating my call for every governor, mayor and local leader to maintain and reinstate the mask mandate,” Biden said at an event intended to highlight the rapid increase in vaccine eligibility. “Please, this is not politics. Reinstate the mandate if you let it down.

Asked later if some states should pause reopening efforts, Biden said “yes.” Continue reading.

Biden nominees are cruising to confirmation with GOP votes

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Republican senators have not mounted the same opposition that Democrats did with Trump’s picks

ANALYSIS — With the confirmation of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh on March 22 as Labor secretary, Joe Biden’s Cabinet is complete. And with all 15 of his department heads in place, it’s fair to say that Biden had the easiest time getting his team of any president in recent history.

Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, who is considering a rules change to weaken the Senate’s filibuster because he expects Republicans will soon block legislation to set national standards for federal elections, painted a different picture of bipartisanship on the day Walsh was confirmed.

“Every single member of President Biden’s Cabinet has received a bipartisan vote in favor of confirmation,” he said. “It’s a tribute to President Biden and his team that they have chosen such a fine Cabinet, and a tribute to the senators here that we have moved in such a quick fashion despite so many other responsibilities.” Continue reading.

CDC director warns of ‘impending doom’ on potential new COVID-19 surge

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The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday warned of “impending doom” over rising coronavirus cases, telling the public that even though vaccines are being rolled out quickly, a fourth surge could happen if people don’t start taking precautions.

“I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. We have so much to look forward to so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope. But right now I’m scared,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing Monday.

“We do not have the luxury of inaction,” Walensky added. Continue reading.

The Memo: Biden seeks a secret weapon — GOP voters

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President Biden says he is winning over Republican voters even as he runs into a wall of GOP opposition on Capitol Hill.

The president has a strong case to make on the COVID-19 relief bill, which scores very highly in opinion polls. But whether Biden can replicate that level of support as he moves onto other issues is much more doubtful.

The White House believes he can.  Continue reading.

Biden to unveil major new spending plans as Democrats eye bigger role for government

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The president is set to tout key components of an infrastructure overhaul and the early contours of his 2022 budget

President Biden this week is set to begin sketching out his plan to commit trillions of dollars toward upgrading the country’s ailing infrastructure, fighting climate change and bolstering federal safety net programs, as Democrats try to usher in a new era of bigger government — and spending — in the aftermath of the coronavirus.

The forthcoming proposals reflect a broader political shift underway in Washington, where Democratic leaders have sought to capitalize on their 2020 election victories to advance once dormant policy priorities and unwind years of budget cuts under administrations past.

But Biden’s aggressive agenda also may test his stated support for bipartisanship — after passing his $1.9 trillion stimulus plan without any Republican support — as well as the public’s willingness to embrace the sizable tax increases on wealthy families and profitable companies that may be necessary to help finance the burst in federal spending. Continue reading.

Poll: Voters Credit Democrats, Not Republicans, On Rescue Plan

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Since the passage of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, Republicans have attempted to take credit for the legislation — despite the fact that not a single one voted for it.

Now, a new poll shows these efforts have overwhelmingly failed.

A poll this week by Invest in America shows that voters credit Biden and Democrats for the relief provided by the American Rescue Plan by a 49-point margin, with 48% of Republicans saying the same.

Other recent polls by Vox and Data for Progress show that 62 percent of voters were in favor of passing the expansive American Rescue Plan when contrasted with a smaller, more targeted relief proposed by GOP lawmakers — including nearly 50 percent of Republicans. Continue reading.