President Biden used a visit to the Pentagon on Wednesday to announce a new department-wide task force to “chart a strong path forward on China-related matters.”
Why it matters: Biden is emphasizing early in his tenure that China will be a top priority.
What he’s saying: Biden said the task force would review U.S. “strategy and operation concepts, technology, force posture” and more to produce policy recommendations within a few months. Continue reading.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday defended the Biden administration’s definition of having schools “open” during the coronavirus pandemic amid criticism that the goal is not ambitious enough and has already been met across parts of the country.
Psaki faced multiple questions during her daily briefing with reporters after she said Tuesday that Biden’s goal of having schools open within his first 100 days office meant more than 50 percent of schools were holding at least one day of in-person learning each week by the end of that time frame.
But some were quick to point out that many districts around the country were already doing at least one day of in-person learning under hybrid models, and questioned why the administration was setting the bar so low. Continue reading.
President Biden on Wednesday announced sanctions targeting Myanmar’s military officials, their families and some businesses following a coup in that country that led to the detainment of democratically elected government officials.
Biden made his announcement at the White House, saying that he signed an executive order allowing for sanctions on military leaders who directed the coup, blacklisting their business interests and imposing restrictions on their family members. He did not name the officials in the announcement.
The president said he consulted closely with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and “allies and partners” around the world, and in particular the Indo-Pacific, in an effort to begin to build a coordinated international response to the coup. Continue reading.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin faces an early test as he races to advance a major initiative targeting far-right extremism in the ranks, a challenge that officials acknowledge is complicated by the Pentagon’s lack of clarity on the extent of the threat following the U.S. Capitol riot.
Austin’s highly unusual order for a military-wide “stand-down,” slated to pause normal operations in coming weeks so troops can discuss internal support for extremist movements, underscores the urgency of the task ahead for the retired four-star general, who last month became the nation’s first African American Pentagon chief.
The Jan. 6 events at the Capitol, in which Trump supporters stormed Congress in an attempt to prevent President Biden from taking office, laid bare the appeal of white-supremacist and anti-government groups among some veterans and, in smaller numbers, currently serving troops. Among the 190 people charged in the siege, at least 30 are veterans. Three are reservists or National Guard members. Continue reading.
A growing number of federal judges have announced their departures in the weeks since President Biden was sworn in, giving the new administration an early opportunity to start making inroads into former President Trump’s success at filling the judiciary with conservative judges.
There are currently 57 vacancies in the federal district and appellate courts and another 20 seats that will become vacant in the coming months. At least 25 of those vacancies were announced after Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
The group of departures includes Emmet Sullivan, who was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by former President Clinton in 1994. Sullivan presided over several high-profile cases during the Trump era, including the prosecution of Michael Flynn on charges that the former White House national security adviser had lied to the FBI about his conversations with a Russian diplomat during Trump’s transition period. Continue reading.
White House and congressional Democrats agree moving away from fossil fuels, creating green jobs are top priorities
As the 117th Congress enters its second month and the Biden administration fills out its Cabinet, Democrats in the executive and legislative branches of the federal government are in agreement that climate change deserves swift attention and in alignment that legislation to support the transition from fossil to clean energy is a good place to begin.
Even President Joe Biden’s nominees for director of national intelligence, secretary of Agriculture, Treasury secretary and deputy Defense secretary, not traditionally posts with ecological focuses, described climate change as a critical issue.
If there was doubt that the Senate under Democratic control would approach climate change as an all-hands-on-deck threat, Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., aimed to lay it to rest on Feb. 3, calling the warming globe “the existential threat of our time.” Continue reading.
The Justice Department on Tuesday asked US attorneys appointed by former President Donald Trump to submit their resignations, a turnover that spares two top prosecutors in Delaware and Connecticut overseeing two sensitive Trump-era investigations.
The resignations are effective February 28, US attorneys were told on a conference call with acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson, according to two Justice officials familiar with the matter. A number of acting US attorneys who aren’t Senate confirmed or who were appointed by the courts are expected to remain in their posts until a Biden appointee is approved by the Senate, prosecutors were told Tuesday.
Delaware US Attorney David Weiss has been asked to remain in office, where he is overseeing the tax probe of Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son. John Durham, appointed as special counsel by former Attorney General William Barr to reinvestigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, will also continue his work, but he is expected to resign as US attorney in Connecticut, a Justice official said. Continue reading.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday challenged Fox News correspondent to back up his question on Keystone Pipeline job losses with actual data.
During a White House press briefing, Doocy suggested that President Joe Biden had failed to keep his promise on creating green energy jobs.
“When is it that the Biden administration is going to let the thousands of fossil fuel industry workers — whether it’s pipeline workers or construction workers who are either out of work or will soon be out of work because of a Biden [executive order] — when it is and where it is that they can go for their green job?” Doocy asked. Continue reading.
Two in 3 Americans approve of President Biden’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a poll by ABC News-Ipsos, with widespread support for his efforts to pass a relief bill.
The survey was conducted Feb. 5 and 6 among 508 adults using the probability-based KnowledgePanel. Biden’s 67 percent approval on handling the coronavirus contrasts sharply with how Americans felt President Donald Trump handled the pandemic. In October, 61 percent said they disapproved of Trump’s response to the coronavirus.
Biden earned high marks among Democrats and political independents in the new poll, with 96 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of independents approving. Just a third of Republicans, 33 percent, voiced approval. Continue reading.
Party leaders have already begun discussions on major legislation — and trying to force out Louis DeJoy
The nation’s mail service is slower and more erratic than it’s been in generations, via the confluence of an abrupt reorganization and pandemic-era anomalies that has fueled demands for reform and fundamentally different ideas on how to achieve it.
On one side is Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who, with the backing of the U.S. Postal Service’s governing board, is expected as soon as next week to outline a new vision for the agency, one that includes more service cuts, higher and region-specific pricing, and lower delivery expectations.
But congressional Democrats are pressing President Biden to install new board members, creating a majority bloc that could oust DeJoy, a Trump loyalist whose aggressive cost-cutting over the summer has been singled out for much of the performance decline. The fight over the agency’s future is expected to be fraught and protracted, leaving Americans with unreliable mail delivery for the foreseeable future. Continue reading.
