Tag: Biden administration

Biden’s presidency isn’t splashy, but Republicans still dislike all the ripples

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Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) offered an odd criticism of President Biden this week.

“The president is not doing cable news interviews,” Cornyn said on Twitter. “Tweets from his account are limited and, when they come, unimaginably conventional.”

That latter point is obviously true, particularly when contrasted with his immediate predecessor, Donald Trump. Asked about Cornyn’s remarks, White House press secretary Jen Psaki offered a sharp response: “I can confirm the president of the United States does not spend his time tweeting conspiracy theories.” Continue reading.

U.S. imposes sweeping sanctions targeting Russian economy

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The Biden administration announced it will sanction dozens of Russian officials and entities, expel 10 diplomats from the U.S., and set new restrictions on buying Russian sovereign debt in response to the massive SolarWinds hack of federal agencies and interference in the 2020 election.

Why it matters: The sweeping acts of retaliation are aimed at imposing heavy economic costs on Russia, after years of sanctions that have failed to deter an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian President Vladimir Putin.

Details: The administration formally accused Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of carrying out the SolarWinds hack, which Microsoft President Brad Smith has called “the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen.” The intelligence community said it has “high confidence” in the assessment. Continue reading.

US expels Russian diplomats, imposes sanctions for hacking

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Thursday the U.S. is expelling 10 Russian diplomats and imposing sanctions against dozens of companies and people, holding the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year’s presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies.

The sweeping measures are meant to punish Russia for actions that U.S. officials say cut to the core of American democracy and to deter future acts by imposing economic costs on Moscow, including by targeting its ability to borrow money. The sanctions are certain to exacerbate tensions with Russia, which promised a response, even as some experts said the measures appeared tailored to avoid an out-of-control escalation of retaliatory acts between the two countries.

Sanctions against six Russian companies that support the country’s cyber efforts represent the first retaliatory measures against the Kremlin for the hack familiarly known as the SolarWinds breach, with the U.S. explicitly linking the intrusion to the SVR, a Russian intelligence agency. Though such intelligence-gathering missions are not uncommon, officials said they were determined to act because of the operation’s broad scope and the high cost of the intrusion on private companies. Continue reading.

CDC director says racism is ‘serious public health threat’

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday declared racism a “serious public health threat,” becoming the largest federal agency to do so.

“A growing body of research shows that centuries of racism in this country has had a profound and negative impact on communities of color,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement published on the agency’s website.

Walensky noted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt most severely in communities of color, which have experienced disproportionate case counts and deaths. 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.

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.

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.

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 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.