Category: Joe Biden

Biden’s new goal is 200 million COVID-19 vaccinations in first 100 days

The Hill logo

President Biden on Thursday announced an updated goal to administer 200 million COVID-19 vaccinations in his first 100 days in office during his first press conference.

During his first official press briefing, Biden laid out his new target after the U.S. reached his original goal of 100 million vaccinations on Friday, the president’s 59th day in office. 

“That’s right: 200 million shots in 100 days,” Biden said. “I know it’s ambitious, twice our original goal. But no other country in the world has even come close, not even close to what we are doing. I believe we can do it. Continue reading.

Rolling back a rollback: Buttigieg deletes some Trump-era limits on regulation

Washington Post logo

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg moved Wednesday to undo key deregulatory actions by the Trump administration, an overhaul that department officials said was necessary to address challenges that include climate change, racial injustices, the coronavirus pandemic and the economy.

In an obscure but potent bureaucratic step, Buttigieg formally deleted many internal departmental rules and policies put in place under his predecessor, Elaine Chao, that were part of the Trump administration’s push to pare back regulations, and in some cases, limit their enforcement.

The changes at Transportation are an outgrowth of a broader effort by President Biden to reverse Trump’s executive orders directing federal agencies to sharply limit their regulatory reach. Embodying the now-removed Trump orders was one that instructed department officials to find two regulations to eliminate for every one they imposed. Continue reading.

Maddow explains exactly why John Cornyn is fighting new DOJ nominee — and it has nothing to do with qualifications

Raw Story Logo

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow speculated Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is leading the charge against a key Justice Department nominee because she humiliated him.

Wednesday, Maddow recalled the extensive corruption of Texas cop Tom Coleman who arrested four dozen people claiming that he did an undercover operation and busted them for cocaine. An overwhelming number of those arrested were Black. There was no evidence, no recording of the alleged drug sales, no proof whatsoever. Still, the court believed his testimony over that of the individuals charged. Most were convicted and some were given sentences over 100 years. 

The officer, in that case, was an N-word-spouting racist honored with a police award as Lawman of the Year from then-Attorney General John Cornyn. Continue reading.

Polls Show Massive Support For Biden’s Trillion-Dollar Infrastructure Plan

National Memo logo

President Joe Biden is reportedly preparing a plan for somewhere between $3- and $4 trillion in American infrastructure improvements. While Congressional Republicans are again making noise about opposing it, a new poll finds wide support for many of its likely components.

A survey by Data for Progress and the pro-infrastructure group Invest in America, released Tuesday, found that 57 percent of American likely voters believe now is the time for a big investment, while just 35 percent believe it is not.

When told of the basics of a $4 trillion infrastructure plan, voters backed it 69 percent to 22 percent. Even Republicans supported it 50 percent to 42 percent. Continue reading.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says only 0.1 percent of Trump administration’s covid farm relief went to Black farmers

Washington Post logo

A Q&A with the new secretary of agriculture about how the American Rescue Plan’s USDA portion will be spent

A tiny fraction of the Trump administration’s coronavirus relief for American farmers — just 0.1 percent of the overall package — went to Black farmers, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed in February with strong bipartisan support for a second stint in the role.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Vilsack for the first time noted the extent to which the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated existing disparities across the American economy.

The distribution of coronavirus relief increased those gaps, he said. Continue reading.

Biden puts Harris in charge of border crisis

Axios logo

President Biden is putting Vice President Harris in charge of addressing the migrant surge at the U.S.-Mexico border, senior administration officials announced on Wednesday.

Why it matters: Just as President Obama tasked Biden with fixing the U.S. economy after he assumed office in 2009, Biden is putting his own vice president in charge of a problem threatening to overshadow the new administration’s successful launch.

  • Harris will lead efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) to manage the flow of unaccompanied children and migrant families arriving at the border in numbers not seen since a surge in 2019.

Justice Dept. faces risks, rewards with riot sedition charges

The Hill logo

Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers face risks and rewards if they move forward with sedition charges against members of the mob that overran the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Many legal experts say sedition charges are a natural fit given what happened at the Capitol that day.

Hundreds of former President Trump’s supporters overwhelmed Capitol Police and interfered with Congress’s lawful certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory. Five people were killed, including a Capitol Police officer, with dozens more injured. Continue reading.

Experts slam Fox News for wrongly attacking VP Harris for ‘repeatedly failing to salute military’

Raw Story Logo

Fox News is taking fire from military experts after the conservative media outlet and some of its strongest allies attacked Vice President Kamala Harris for not saluting members of the U.S. Military. As experts explained, Harris is not a member of the military nor in the chain of command, and it would be inappropriate for her to do so. It would also signal a weakening of civilian control.

“Vice President Kamala Harris is facing criticism for appearing to break with precedent and failing to salute the honor guard when boarding Air Force Two,” Fox News’ Evie Fordham wrote in an online article on Tuesday. “Video reviewed by Fox News showed that her predecessors, former Vice President Mike Pence and President Biden, regularly saluted the honor guard in the same situation.”

Tom Nichols, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College who formerly was a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, slammed Fox News, saying it would be “incorrect” for her to salute, and they know they’re wrong. Continue reading.

How Trump Created The ‘Border Crisis’ — And How Biden Can Fix It

National Memo logo

In 2014, the Obama administration was faced with a surge in unaccompanied minors from Central America showing up at our border and seeking asylum. In an effort to reduce the number of kids trekking across Mexico, it created a program to let them apply for asylum in their home countries. Some 13,000 did, helping to ease the rush. 

You can guess what happened next. Donald Trump became president and acted on his twin beliefs: anything that Barack Obama did was bad, and anything that helped foreigners was worse. He killed the program, and soon the number of Central American kids crossing over began to grow. By the spring of 2019, his administration was faced with its very own crisis at the border.

His Department of Homeland Security responded with harsh measures — separating children from parents in large numbers, expelling children from Central America into Mexico and forcing asylum seekers to remain for months in Mexico in squalid camps. Continue reading.

Biden allies eye two-step strategy on infrastructure

The Hill logo

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a key ally of President Biden, and several White House advisers want Congress to first move a smaller infrastructure bill in hopes of securing a bipartisan win before trying to address more ambitious goals on climate change and health care in a subsequent measure.

They are aiming to secure at least one big bipartisan accomplishment before Democratic and Republican lawmakers return to their trenches to battle over elements of Biden’s agenda that energize progressives and anger conservatives.

However, it remains to be seen if GOP legislators will join forces with Democrats and give Biden a bipartisan victory knowing the next step is to pass a massive partisan bill with a simple majority vote under the budget reconciliation process. Continue reading.