Austin: US doesn’t want conflict with China but won’t ‘flinch when our interests are threatened’
By Brad Lendon US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that China’s claims and actions in the Indo-Pacific threaten the sovereignty of nations around the region while Washington is committed to building partnerships that guarantee the vital interest of all nations. “Beijing’s claim to the vast majority of the South China Sea has no basis in international law. That assertion treads on the sovereignty of states in the region,” Austin said in a speech to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore. China claims almost all of the 1.3-million-square-mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory, despite much of those
‘Time for action:’ Voting and civil rights groups intensify pressure on Biden and Congress to move on federal election bills
By Fredreka Schouten Civil rights activists and voting rights groups this week are intensifying pressure on Congress to advance federal voting rights legislation as a bulwark against an array of new laws in Republican-controlled states that make it harder to vote. Activists say they also are growing increasingly impatient with President Joe Biden and his reluctance to demand an end to the Senate’s filibuster rule that establishes a 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation in the chamber. They want Biden to exert pressure on Democratic holdouts on the filibuster to allow a pair of federal voting bills to pass the Senate by a simple
Ohio House primary reveals Democratic divides that could play out across the 2022 midterm map
By Eric Bradner A congressional primary in Ohio is revealing the generational and ideological fissures in the Democratic Party that have been largely hidden in the early months of Joe Biden’s presidency — but could burst into full view as the midterm elections approach. Nina Turner, the former state senator and prominent surrogate for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns, is battling the establishment-backed Shontel Brown, the Cuyahoga County Democratic chairwoman and county council member, in a race that also features 11 other long-shot candidates bidding to represent the 11th District, which stretches from Cleveland south to Akron. The August
Bipartisan infrastructure deal enters critical week in Congress with major sticking points unresolved
By Paul LeBlanc The much-deliberated bipartisan infrastructure bill is entering a critical week on Capitol Hill with lawmakers projecting optimism ahead of a possible procedural vote this week, potentially on Monday. But a weekend of talks had yet to produce an agreement as of late Sunday, while major sticking points remained, per three sources familiar with the matter. Democratic negotiators, including the White House, sent Republicans on Sunday night a “global offer to finish every major open item,” a Democratic source close to the talks told CNN. The offer included the major unresolved issues, including funding for highways and bridges, money for
Boosters, masks and mandates: Biden’s team sorts through options for containing Covid surge among unvaccinated Americans
By Kevin Liptak The Biden administration is debating a series of steps to further contain the Covid-19 pandemic, which, after 18 months, is again surging in parts of the country where vaccination rates are low. A senior administration health official said the government is “actively exploring” how to provide extra vaccine shots to vulnerable populations, who officials now increasingly expect will require boosters, as they await the US Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the three vaccines currently authorized for emergency use. The White House on Friday announced a purchase of hundreds of millions of additional Pfizer doses, in part to be
Texas Senate advances bill to restrict how race, nation’s history is taught in schools
By Shawna Mizelle While the Texas Legislature remains embroiled in a battle over election laws, Republican senators have advanced a bill that would reshape how social studies teachers can discuss race and current events in their classrooms. SB3, which passed the Republican-led chamber in a 18-4 vote last week, now remains stalled in the state House after that chamber’s Democrats broke quorum and went to Washington, DC, to block action on a separate restrictive voting law. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott listed a proposal “concerning critical race theory” among his priorities for the legislature’s special session that convened earlier this month. With SB3, Republican
Why Texas’s lone Black freshman Democrat refuses to give up on the fight for voting rights
By Nicquel Terry Ellis For Texas State Rep. Jasmine Crockett, holding public office was not a goal she ever set. Neither was becoming a civil rights attorney. But after being the victim of racist hate mail while attending undergrad at Rhodes College and watching Black people face inequalities in the criminal justice system, both careers became a calling she had to answer. Today, Crockett is making waves as the outspoken and passionate lone Black freshman Democrat in the Texas state legislature. In her first year in the state House of Representatives, Crockett proposed more than 60 legislative bills — many
5 takeaways from President Joe Biden’s CNN town hall
By Kevin Liptak President Joe Biden arrived in Ohio on Wednesday mindful the days for actual bipartisan governing in Washington are quickly waning. Throughout his CNN town hall, he voiced again and again his conviction that Republicans will come along, even though some are poisoned by conspiracies and others, he said, are “lying” on his record. He was confronted with open skepticism by some of his questioners, particularly on the matter of voting rights. But he plodded ahead, elevating his belief in bipartisanship as nothing less than a quest to prove Democracy can work. It was a reflection of the
Kamala Harris looks to turn the page as she zeroes-in on voting rights
By Arlette Saenz and Jasmine Wright Vice President Kamala Harris is making voting rights her top public focus, elevating a long-shot battle as she seeks to more clearly define her role and stake out high-value territory within the Biden administration. A little more than six months into her time in office, Harris is also hiring new staff to replace those who announced their departures earlier this summer. One source says they’re even considering additions to her communications team, citing heightened interest in her vice presidency, which at times has seen some missteps and intense scrutiny. The vice president’s carefully crafted
Rep. Hank Johnson arrested at voting rights protest
By Ali Zaslav, Paul LeBlanc and Nicquel Terry Ellis Rep. Hank Johnson was arrested by Capitol Police on Thursday during a protest on “Senate inaction on voting rights legislation,” according to a video posted on Twitter. Johnson can be seen in the video with his hands restrained behind his back while still participating in a chant with other protesters yelling, “Whose streets? Our streets. Whose House? Our House.” He is one of 10 people whom the Capitol Police arrested for “unlawfully demonstrating” outside the Hart Senate Office Building and charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding. “Today, Congressman Hank Johnson was