Tag: President Biden

Biden pledges action on guns amid resistance

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White House officials met last week with several gun violence prevention groups as they weigh how to move forward on an issue that has stymied Democrats for years.

The White House says President Biden is “personally committed” to action on an issue he has tackled many times in the past. Less than a month into the new administration, Biden officials are meeting with advocates backing reforms that Democrats have been pushing for in Congress, like strengthening background checks.

However, Americans’ views on guns may be even more divided than the last time Biden confronted the issue. A November Gallup poll found support for stricter gun laws is at its lowest level since 2016. Continue reading.

Key players to watch in minimum wage fight

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The battle over whether to keep a minimum wage hike in President Biden’s COVID-19 relief package is heating up, with key players on both sides of the issue digging in for the fight.

The debate is threatening to create deep divisions among Democrats as they move forward with an economic rescue package without GOP support.

Outside groups are also exerting pressure on progressive and moderate Democrats to boost the rate from $7.25, where it’s stood since 2009, to $15 an hour.

Biden Orders Halt To Trump’s War On Medicaid Families

The Biden administration is ending Medicaid work requirements the previous occupiers of the executive branch foisted on the nation’s working poor. Two weeks ago, President Joe Biden signed an executive order instructing officials at the Department of Health and Human Services to remove barriers to Medicaid, and that’s just what they are doing.

Three states—Arkansas, Kentucky, and New Hampshire—tried to impose the requirements, but two levels of federal courts have struck them down so the order doesn’t have immediate effect. But it means no state will be able to create the needless, humiliating, ridiculous hoop of requiring people to prove they’re working, all as a means of keeping needy and deserving people from applying for the benefit.

The proof that this measure is intended just to make life more difficult for poor people is in the fact that 93% of people on Medicaid—who aren’t ill or disabled, elderly, taking care of family members, or in school full time—already work. Medicaid is there to help all those people, and work requirements have never been about work. Continue reading.

The Chamber embraces Biden. And Republicans are livid.

The influential trade organization says it’s taking the same approach to the new administration as it did with Trump.

Washington’s most powerful trade group is having a political identity crisis.

Over the past month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has taken a series of steps that have enraged its traditional Republican allies. It applauded much of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion plan to Covid relief bill; cheered Biden’s decision to rejoin the Paris climate agreement; backed the former leader of the liberal Center of American Progress, Neera Tanden, for Office of Management and Budget director; and expressed openness to raising the minimum wage, though not to $15 an hour.

That’s left the Chamber, a K Street institution known for its bruising battles with past Democratic administrations, occupying an increasingly lonely political center, caught between angry Republicans who feel the trade group has abandoned them and Democrats who are pursuing policies anathema to many of their members. Continue reading.

Biden says U.S. will have enough vaccine for 300 million people by end of July

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The administration used options in existing contracts to purchase another 200 million doses, increasing supply by 50 percent

President Biden said Thursday that his administration had finalized deals for another 200 million doses of the two coronavirus vaccines authorized in the United States, giving the country enough vaccine by the end of July to cover every American adult.

In remarks capping an afternoon tour of the National Institutes of Health, Biden said the federal government had purchased 100 million more doses from Pfizer and German company BioNTech, as well as 100 million more from Moderna, using options built into existing contracts with those companies.

The announcement was the centerpiece of an emotional address from Biden, who made a point of speaking through his mask as he called it a “patriotic responsibility” to wear one. Continue reading.

Biden rescinds national emergency proclamation Trump used to fund border wall

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President Biden informed Congress on Thursday that he has terminated the national emergency over the U.S.-Mexico border that former President Trump first declared in Feb. 2019.

Why it matters: Trump used the national emergency proclamation to divert billions of dollars in Pentagon funds toward building a border wall, after it became clear that Congress was opposed to additional funding. The declaration prompted dozens of lawsuits and attempts by Congress to block Trump from fulfilling one his top 2016 campaign promises.

What they’re saying: “I have determined that the declaration of a national emergency at our southern border was unwarranted. I have also announced that it shall be the policy of my Administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall, and that I am directing a careful review of all resources appropriated or redirected to that end,” Biden wrote in a letter to congressional leaders. View the post here.

Bipartisanship in Congress isn’t about being nice – it’s about cold, hard numbers

Before he was even inaugurated as president, Joe Biden, elected at a time of strong political polarization, emphasized the importance of bipartisanship in dealing with Congress: “I think I can work with Republican leadership in the House and Senate. I think we can get some things done.” 

Incoming presidents routinely make such appeals, and for good reason. 

Senate rules require a “supermajority” – 60 out of 100 senators, including both Democrats and Republicans – to pass major legislation. But presidents have found it difficult to fulfill the promise of bipartisanship, which would require negotiation between Democratic and Republican leaders and the agreement of substantial numbers of lawmakers from both parties. Continue reading.

Biden holds first call as president with China’s Xi Jinping

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President Biden on Wednesday evening held his first call with Chinese President Xi Jinping since taking office, raising thorny issues including human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

The big picture: Ahead of the call, senior administration officials offered reporters the most detailed portrait to date of Biden’s policies toward China, and how they will build on — and diverge from — Donald Trump’s approach.

Driving the news: “President Biden underscored his fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including toward Taiwan,” according to a White House readout of the call. Continue reading.

Biden announces new Pentagon task force on China

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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.

Biden announces sanctions on Myanmar military leaders following coup

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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.