The political risks of Kamala Harris’ mission on immigration
Analysis by Stephen Collinson It’s time for Kamala Harris to step out of Joe Biden’s shadow. Since becoming the first female Vice President in January, Harris has done what number twos are supposed to do: avoiding one-upping the commander-in-chief during his crucial first few months in office. But now, Harris is on a high profile and politically risky first foreign trip to Guatemala and Mexico,seeking to ease a tide of immigration at the US border. She is tackling an issue critical to America’s foreign and domestic policy, and one laced with traps for a politician expected to run for the
Biden floats bringing down infrastructure price tag but wants GOP concessions
By Manu Raju, Maegan Vazquez and Phil Mattingly President Joe Biden offered to bring his price tag on an infrastructure package down to $1 trillion but wants to ensure it amounts to “new money” — not redirected from funding already approved by Congress as Senate Republicans have been demanding, according to a GOP source briefed on the talks. Biden also reiterated his call for new taxes to pay for much of his plan, the source said. It’s the latest sign of the major gulf between the two parties as they try to cut an infrastructure deal. The offer made to
Harris aiming to deepen US relationship with Guatemala and Mexico on first foreign trip
By Jasmine Wright Kamala Harris will try to deepen the United States’ “strategic partnership and bilateral relationship” with Guatemala and Mexico on her first foreign trip as vice president, according to her senior staff members. Harris will visit the region next week as part of her role leading diplomatic efforts to stem the flow of migration from Central America, and she will focus on economic development, climate and food insecurity, and women and young people, according to her staff. The trip underscores the administration’s heightened focus on Central America and migration from the region, especially as record numbers of unaccompanied
Supreme Court ruling in Arizona case will be another front in the voting rights wars
By Ariane de Vogue The battle lines have been drawn in the voting rights wars as several Republican-led states consider ever restrictive laws and Democrats fight a frantic battle in courts to combat what President Joe Biden has called an “assault on democracy.” Now, within the next few weeks, the Supreme Court will enter the melee and weigh in on the scope of the Voting Rights Act in a way that could bolster efforts by Republicans in states like Georgia and Texas to limit access to the polls. The decision will come down in the last turbulent weeks of the
Anti-gun-violence activist Kina Collins announces primary challenge to Illinois Democrat Danny Davis
By Gregory Krieg Gun violence prevention activist Kina Collins announced Tuesday that she is launching a new Democratic primary challenge to Rep. Danny Davis in Illinois’ 7th Congressional District. Davis has been a target of progressive insurgents in recent cycles, winning each time while seeing his vote total slip. He fended off three challengers in 2020, including Collins, who is now running with the support of Justice Democrats as she seeks to consolidate left-wing opposition to Davis. Collins joins a growing slate of Justice Democrats-backed primary challengers on the 2022 ticket, including Odessa Kelly in Tennessee and New York’s Rana
Revolt by Texas Democrats heaps pressure on Washington to act on voting reform
Analysis by Stephen Collinson Texas Democrats launched the most dramatic revolt yet against nationwide Republican bills to restrict voting by walking out of the state’s legislature over the holiday weekend. But their last-ditch effort may only temporarily stall the effort and underscores how the deadlock in Washington is making it easier for Republicans to act on Donald Trump’s election fraud lies to stack the deck in future votes. The showdown in Texas is only the latest example of the GOP’s attempt to pave its path back to dominance by making it harder to vote in 2022 and 2024. It represented
Here’s what Biden can do on his own about racial inequality — and where he’ll need Congress to act
By Tami Luhby and Katie Lobosco President Joe Biden on Tuesday laid out his most comprehensive plan yet for shrinking the nation’s longstanding racial wealth gap, the latest step in his promise to infuse more equity in government policies and in the rebuilding of the economy after the coronavirus pandemic. Some measures — including changes to deal with housing discrimination and directing federal support to small businesses — he can take on his own, but many of his proposals require congressional approval that could be very tough to secure. That includes pouring tens of billions of dollars into communities of
Kamala Harris to lead Biden administration’s efforts on voting rights
By Jasmine Wright President Joe Biden announced Vice President Kamala Harris will lead his administration’s efforts on voting rights in a speech Tuesday on the Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma. The new role comes as the Biden administration condemns efforts by Republican-led state legislatures to pass restrictive laws the White House says make it harder for Americans to vote. Calling the state bills an “unprecedented assault on our democracy,” Biden recognized that he was handing Harris a tough job. “I’m asking Vice President Harris to help these efforts, to lead them among her many other responsibilities. With her leadership and
The Second Amendment is not about guns — it’s about anti-Blackness, a new book argues
By John Blake One of Charlton Heston’s greatest performances came not in a Hollywood film but on a convention stage where he electrified a crowd of gun-rights enthusiasts. Heston was president of the National Rifle Association in May 2000 when he spoke at the group’s national gathering in Charlotte. The actor described gun owners as patriots and said owning a gun was “something that gives the most common man the most uncommon of freedoms.” As the crowd cheered, Heston then raised a replica of a Revolutionary War-era flintlock rifle and delivered a warning in his thundering baritone to anyone who
‘Democracy itself is in peril:’ Biden delivers warning while honoring fallen service members on Memorial Day
By Kate Sullivan President Joe Biden commemorated those who died serving in the military in Memorial Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery and urged Americans to honor the fallen by strengthening and protecting the nation’s democracy. “Democracy itself is in peril, here at home and around the world. What we do now — what we do now, how we honor the memory of the fallen will determine whether or not democracy will long endure,” Biden said. The President said: “We owe the honored dead a debt we can never fully repay. We owe them our whole souls. We owe them our full best efforts