Afghanistan fallout engulfs Harris’ first day of Southeast Asia trip
By Jasmine Wright Vice President Kamala Harris, undertaking a suddenly high-stakes visit to Southeast Asia this week amid the first major foreign policy crisis of the Biden administration, was on the receiving end of questions Monday about the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan for the first time since the chaotic fall of Kabul. Harris’ stops in Singapore and Vietnam have assumed outsized importance for their potential to reassure foreign leaders of the United States’ continued commitment to its allies. Particularly in Vietnam where Harris heads Tuesday — as images of the 1975 fall of Saigon have stirred comparisons to evacuations in Kabul — the vice president will
Kathy Hochul becomes governor of New York as Cuomo leaves in disgrace
By Gregory Krieg Kathy Hochul was sworn in as New York’s first female governor shortly after the stroke of midnight on Tuesday, replacing her disgraced predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, who resigned amid multiple scandals, including a report from the state attorney general that found he sexually harassed 11 women. A Buffalo native, Hochul served as Cuomo’s lieutenant governor since 2015. But the pair were rarely seen together outside of campaign seasons. In her public comments after Cuomo announced he would step down, Hochul sought to stress her distance from the tainted executive as she prepared to take the reins and launch her own
House Democrats gear up for a showdown amid divisions over infrastructure strategy
By Clare Foran Divisions among House Democrats over how to enact President Joe Biden’s sweeping infrastructure agenda are poised to come to a head when lawmakers return to Washington this week, beginning with a key budget vote. The House is expected to vote as soon as Tuesday on a budget resolution for the President’s spending package after the Senate approved a $3.5 trillion measure earlier this month. But Democratic divisions are jeopardizing its passage in the House. The goal is for Democrats to be able to craft a sweeping legislative package to expand the social safety net under a budget process known as reconciliation,
Texas Democrats’ effort to freeze voting bill ends
By Dianne Gallagher Texas House Democrats’ historic quorum break unexpectedly ended Thursday evening when at least three new Democrats returned to the floor, paving the way for state Republicans to pass restrictive voting legislation. The surprise turn of events quickly led to public accusations of betrayal among Democrats, as the House now has the required two-thirds of members necessary for a quorum. The voting legislation, which had been recently passed in the state’s Republican-controlled Senate, was among the bills quickly referred to committees for action. The current special session ends early next month, and a public House committee hearing on the voting
Harris heads to Southeast Asia in search of a foreign policy win amid Afghanistan crisis
By Jasmine Wright and Arlette Saenz Vice President Kamala Harris faces a steep challenge next week when she travels to Singapore and Vietnam, as a once-low-risk trip to friendly nations comes at the same time as a bungled US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Harris will have dual responsibilities largely unfamiliar to her in the seven months she’s been in office: Deliver a foreign policy win for an administration in crisis and embody Biden’s call to pivot US foreign policy focus to counter a rising China. Allies and experts say Harris will now face enhanced pressure to convey to the Southeast Asian nations that the US is
How the Biden administration plans to process the influx of people fleeing Afghanistan
By Priscilla Alvarez and Geneva Sands The Biden administration is ramping up efforts to process the influx of Afghans rushing to flee Afghanistan as the Taliban overtakes the country. In recent days, administration officials worked overtime to pull lists of names of special immigrant visa applicants to push through systems and get security checks cleared, and over the course of the week, solicitations went out to the DHS workforce to assist in processing Afghans. Weekly visa issuance increased significantly from March to early August, according to the State Department. But despite months of internal discussions over the process, there was
Biden administration faces daunting odds of pulling off massive Afghanistan evacuation in 2 weeks
By Jeremy Herb, Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood, Jennifer Hansler and Evan Perez The Biden administration is still struggling to answer basic questions about whether it can successfully evacuate tens of thousands of Americans and vulnerable Afghans in a race against a ticking clock ahead of the US military’s August 31 Afghanistan withdrawal date. On Tuesday, US officials across the government provided some details about plans for the massive US evacuation. But many key specifics remain unanswered, including exactly how many Americans are still in Afghanistan, how many Afghans the US military believes it can evacuate and whether the plan will extend beyond the withdrawal
George Floyd Justice In Policing Act ‘Slimmed Down’ To Appease Critics
By Simon Osuji Over a year after the international protests following George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s killings, criminal justice reform and police accountability remain essentially the same. The promise of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act remains unfulfilled, as a bipartisan negotiation team has stalled. According to Politico, Sens. Cory Booker, Tim Scott, and Rep. Karen Bass may be moving toward an agreementless than what was originally promised. The update suggests any change to qualified immunity could be off the table. Qualified immunity refers to a doctrine generally used to excuse police misconduct. It creates a high burden to
Biden administration reverts to internal blame-shifting amid Afghanistan chaos
By Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood, Oren Liebermann and Nicole Gaouette Factions within the Biden administration are embroiled in a blame game over why the US government didn’t act sooner to withdraw American citizens and Afghans who helped the US over two decades of war, leading to a rushed and dangerous evacuation. Military officials have said that for weeks they urged the State Department to move faster in evacuating its diplomatic personnel. State Department officials have said they were operating based on intelligence assessments that suggested they had more time, but intelligence officials insist that they had long reported the possibility
Texas Senate passes elections bill after 15-hour filibuster from Democratic senator ends
By Dianne Gallagher The Texas state Senate passed Senate Bill 1, an election overhaul bill that would add new restrictions and criminal penalties to the voting process, Thursday morning on a 18-11 party line vote. The final vote was taken fewer than 20 minutes after a 15-hour filibuster of the bill from state Sen. Carol Alvarado concluded. Alvarado, wearing a back brace for support and using a catheter, spoke on the bill for 15 hours and four minutes on her feet without sitting, leaning, eating, drinking or using the restroom — in accordance with Texas rules. The Houston Democrat concluded