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
Biden to announce new steps to close racial wealth gap while marking 100th anniversary of Tulsa Race Massacre
By Kate Sullivan President Joe Biden will visit Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Tuesday to mark the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre and announce new actions his administration will take to reduce the racial wealth gap as he commemorates one of the worst acts of racial violence in US history. The President will deliver remarks to memorialize the hundreds of Black Americans who were killed by a White mob that had attacked their neighborhood and burned dozens of city blocks to the ground. He will meet with surviving members of the community, tour the Greenwood Cultural Center and outline his
Texas Democrats leave House floor, effectively blocking passage of restrictive voting bill for now
By Eric Bradner and Dianne Gallagher Texas Republicans’ push to enact a slew of new voting restrictions was stymied — at least for now — by Democrats who walked off the state House floor late Sunday night, leaving majority Republicans without the quorum they needed to approve the bill in the final hours before a midnight deadline. Their move effectively killed Senate Bill 7 for this year’s legislative session. But it could soon be revived: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Sunday night that he is adding “election integrity” to a list of topics lawmakers will address in a special session
Vice President Harris’ team tries to distance her from fraught situation at the border
By Priscilla Alvarez and Natasha Bertrand In the weeks since the President asked her to take charge of immigration from Central America, Vice President Kamala Harris and her staff have sought to make one thing clear: She does not manage the southern border. Two White House officials familiar with the dynamic said Harris and her aides have emphasized internally that they want to focus on conditions in Central America that push migrants to the US southern border, as President Joe Biden tasked her to do. A record number of unaccompanied children crossed into the US this spring, and the throngs
Harris to become first female US Naval Academy commencement speaker
By Jasmine Wright Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday will become the first woman to give the commencement speech at the United States Naval Academy when she addresses the 2021 graduating class. During the speech, Harris will touch on some of the biggest threats to the nation and its armed forces, including the pandemic, cybersecurity and climate change. One White House official said the address is her first broad speech focused on the military and the threats the country faces today. “The global pandemic has accelerated our world into a new era. It has forever impacted our world. It has
The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2022
By Simone Pathe The midterm elections are still 18 months away, but the fight for control of the Senate is already shaping what gets done in the nation’s capital this year. In an evenly divided Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris gives Democrats the tie-breaking vote, every vote matters. That’s proven to be a crucial consideration for President Joe Biden as he tried to pass his Covid-19 relief plan and now his infrastructure and jobs proposals. Looking ahead to next year, that means every Senate race matters. Republicans only need to flip one seat to take back the majority, while
Rep. Lucy McBath is living her son’s legacy
By Dana Bash and Bridget Nolan, Rep. Lucy McBath vividly remembers having “the talk” with her teenage son Jordan in 2012 after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. “I said, ‘Baby, you got to understand. You are a young, Black male, and there are people in this country that are not going to care about you or love you like us, your family, your community,'” the Democratic congresswoman from Georgia recalled. It’s the conversation no parent wants to have, but so many Black mothers and fathers across this country feel it is a must. “‘You have to be really