Category: Joe Biden

Biden poised to halt new fossil fuel leasing on federal land and water Wednesday

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The planned moratorium would pause oil and gas auctions as officials review the nation’s leasing system

President Biden is poised to impose a moratorium on new federal oil and gas leasing Wednesday, according to three people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan was still being finalized. The move will deliver on one of Biden’s boldest climate campaign pledges but will encounter stiff resistance from the fossil fuel industry.

The White House has prepared documents that would pause new oil and gas auctions on federal land and water as the new administration reviews the program, these people said. The moratorium would not affect existing leases, meaning drilling would continue on public land in the West as well as in the Gulf of Mexico.

The memo remains a draft subject to final approval, said one person close to the White House who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it had not been formally announced. Administration officials had considered imposing a moratorium on new federal coal leasing as well, but one of the people briefed on the plan said officials are leaning against that option. Continue reading.

By Blocking Biden’s DHS Nominee, Hawley Is Picking a Bigger Fight over Immigration

Alexander Mayorkas is eminently qualified to lead the rudderless department, but objections over policy have delayed his confirmation.

Of all the agencies and departments damaged during the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security sustained perhaps the greatest and most prolonged assault. It has been nearly two years since the department had a Senate-confirmed secretary (Kirstjen Nielson), so it would stand to reason that senators would be anxious to confirm a nominee to bring order and legitimacy to that post. But already some Republicans are balking at confirming President Biden’s choice, Alejandro Mayorkas. Sen. Josh Hawley objected to bringing Mayorkas’ nomination to a quick vote, which required unanimous consent, and several Republican senators on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voiced concerns about Mayorkas during confirmation hearings this week.

This is an amazing turn of events given Mayorkas’ background: He’s been a federal prosecutor and deputy director of the Department as well as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, having been previously confirmed by the Senate three times. He is also an immigrant, who knows from personal experience the privilege of citizenship. His parents fled communism in Cuba, bringing him to America as a child, where he learned first-hand the opportunity this country offers, in President Reagan’s words, “to anyone with the will and heart to get here.”

But Mayorkas the man is not the actual target of senators like Hawley, though they may try to tarnish him personally to achieve their objectives. Their opposition is to the Biden administration’s vision for a new era in immigration policy and enforcement. Even Sen. Hawley has admitted as much, saying, “Mr. Mayorkas has not adequately explained how he will enforce federal law and secure the southern border given President-elect Biden’s promise to roll back major enforcement and security measures.” Translation: After four years of the Trump administration’s cruelty, incompetence, and disregard for the equal protection of the law, the Biden administration’s plan is thoughtful, measured, and in line with the values for which this nation is known. And Hawley can’t stand it. Continue reading.

Biden to reopen ACA insurance marketplaces as pandemic has cost millions of Americans their coverage

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President Biden is scheduled to take executive actions as early as Thursday to reopen federal marketplaces selling Affordable Care Act health plans and to lower recent barriers to joining Medicaid.

The orders will be Biden’s first steps since taking office to help Americans gain health insurance, a prominent campaign goal that has assumed escalating significance as the pandemic has dramatized the need for affordable health care — and deprived millions of Americans coverage as they have lost jobs in the economic fallout.

Under one order, HealthCare.gov, the online insurance marketplace for Americans who cannot get affordable coverage through their jobs, will swiftly reopen for at least a few months, according to several individuals inside and outside the administration familiar with the plans. Ordinarily, signing up for such coverage is tightly restricted outside a six-week period late each year. Continue reading.

Senate confirms Yellen as first female Treasury secretary

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The Senate on Monday confirmed Janet Yellen as the first woman to lead the Treasury Department, where her immediate priority will be addressing the coronavirus recession.

Yellen, a Democrat, was confirmed by the Senate 84-15, with broad bipartisan support. All 15 “no” votes came from Republicans.

The Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved Yellen’s nomination last week, with Democrats and even Republicans touting her qualifications despite GOP opposition to much of President Biden’s economic agenda. Continue reading.

White House press secretary shuts down Fox News’ bogus attack on Biden

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When Jen Psaki, the new White House press secretary under President Joe Biden, held a briefing on Monday, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy accused Biden of having a double standard when it comes to travel restrictions in response to the coronavirus pandemic. And Psaki quickly laid out the flaws in Doocy’s argument.

Doocy told Psaki that when former President Donald Trump imposed travel restrictions on people entering the U.S. from China in 2020, Biden “called it xenophobic and fear-mongering.” But now, Doocy added, “President Biden is putting travel restrictions on people coming in from other countries.”

Psaki told Doocy, “I don’t think that’s quite a fair articulation. The president has been clear that he felt the Muslim ban was xenophobic; he overturned the Muslim ban. He also, though, has supported…. travel restrictions in order to keep the American people safe, to ensure that we are keeping the pandemic under control. That’s been part of his policy.” Continue reading.

Justice watchdog to probe whether officials sought to interfere with election

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The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) internal watchdog announced Monday that it would investigate whether any of the agency’s officials “engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome” of the 2020 election.

In a brief statement, the DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced that the probe would encompass current and former agency officials.  

“The investigation will encompass all relevant allegations that may arise that are within the scope of the OIG’s jurisdiction,” Michael Horowitz, the department’s inspector general, said in the statement. “The OIG has jurisdiction to investigate allegations concerning the conduct of former and current DOJ employees. The OIG’s jurisdiction does not extend to allegations against other government officials.” Continue reading.

Biden to sign executive order reforming ‘Buy American’ rules

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President Biden plans to sign an executive order on Monday aimed at strengthening “Buy American” rules with the goal of increasing the federal government’s procurement of American-made goods.

The order would set in motion several changes to the implementation of the laws requiring federal government agencies to procure materials and products domestically.

According to administration officials, the order Biden plans to sign Monday would create a new senior role at the White House Office of Management and Budget to oversee the implementation of the new rules. It would create a central review of waivers for Buy American requirements with the aim of reducing the number of unnecessary waivers, which allow agencies to purchase goods overseas. It would also call for a website where waiver requests can be publicly viewed. Continue reading.

Senate confirms Antony Blinken as secretary of state

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The Senate voted 78-22 on Tuesday to confirm Antony Blinken as secretary of state. 

Why it matters: Blinken, a longtime adviser to President Biden, will lead the administration’s diplomatic efforts to re-engage with the world after four years of former President Trump’s “America first” policy.

Background: Blinken is a French-speaker and step-son of a Holocaust survivor whose stories he credits with shaping his worldview. Like Biden, Blinken is a committed multilateralist and advocate for the United States as a leading force for good in the world. Continue reading.

Trump’s team fired the White House chief usher right before Biden took office, maybe at Biden’s request

When President Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden arrived at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, there was no chief usher to greet them. He had been fired at about 11:30 a.m., half an hour before Biden was sworn in as president, The New York Times reports. Former first lady Melania Trump had hired the chief usher, Timothy Harleth, from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., in 2017, after the previous chief usher, Angella Reid, was dismissed a few months into Donald Trump’s term.

The White House chief usher is in charge of the first family’s residence, overseeing everything from personnel issues to budgets. It is typically an apolitical job, and ushers typically stay through several administrations. Reid, hired in 2011, was only the ninth chief usher since 1885, though she was the first woman hired for the job. The Bidens had communicated to the White House counsel that they intended to bring in their own chief usher, a person familiar with the process told the Times. A Biden White House official told CNN that Harleth “was let go before the Bidens arrived,” though CNN reports it was the Bidens who gave him the ax.

Harleth was already in hot water with Trump’s team, though. He “had found himself in an untenable position” since the election, “trying to begin preparations for a new resident in the White House, even as its occupant refused to concede that he would be leaving the premises,” the Times reports. And Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was “unhappy” with Harleth “for trying to send briefing books about the residence to the Biden transition team in November.” Harleth “had worked with Jill Biden’s staff for weeks to organize the move of household belongings,” The Washington Post adds. Continue reading.

Biden DOJ nixes last-minute Trump administration memo on LGBTQ rights

A Supreme Court ruling last June concluded that a half-century-old prohibition on sex discrimination in employment applies equally to discrimination against gay and lesbian workers as well as those who are transgender.

The Justice Department has taken its first major step under President Joe Biden to reverse the Trump administration’s resistance to expansion of rights accorded to LGBTQ Americans.

Greg Friel, the lawyer just named to oversee the Justice Department’s civil rights division on a temporary basis, issued a directive Friday revoking a 22-page memorandum a Trump appointee released earlier this week taking a cramped view of a major Supreme Court decision last year that longstanding federal law protects LGBTQ individuals from discrimination at work.

In withdrawing the parting-shot memo from the prior administration, Friel said the stance taken in the memo conflicted with a first-day executive order Biden issued promising a vigorous battle against discrimination based on “gender identity or sexual orientation.” Continue reading.