Biden and Harris to focus on voting rights Thursday, expand DNC program
By Dan Merica President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will hold separate events Thursday to focus attention on Democratic efforts to combat voter suppression and protect voting rights nationwide, Democratic officials tell CNN. Harris will announce the expansion of the Democratic National Committee’s “I Will Vote” campaign with an event in the Washington, DC, area, according to a committee official. Biden will meet privately with a range of civil rights groups to talk about their efforts to protect voting rights, according to a White House adviser. The separate events come in the midst of Republican efforts to pass restrictive voting
Supreme Court gives Republican-led states green light to impose restrictive new voting laws
By Eric Bradner, CNN The restrictive voting laws that Republican-led states are implementing this year are more likely to withstand legal challenges, experts said, after the Supreme Court on Thursday gave states the tacit green light to go as far as they want in imposing measures they say are intended to combat election fraud — even at the cost of protections for minority voters. The court’s ruling came in an Arizona case, in which Democrats had challenged two voting restrictions: one requiring ballots cast at the wrong precinct to be thrown out; and one prohibiting campaign workers, activists and others from
We’re beginning to see the real Kamala Harris
Opinion by Roxanne Jones A few weeks ago, a meeting was not going well. My business partner had just shut down a room of wealthy, powerful White men. No easy feat. “That is not what I do,” she said to a client. “You need to go sit down with that question.” In other words, do not ask me silly questions. Right away, I knew her comments would be misunderstood as flippant, unprepared and a little too “Black” for the room, even though the client asked a question that was more fitting for an administrative assistant than a CEO. But my
Clyburn ‘absolutely’ open to ID requirement in voting rights bill
By Chandelis Duster James Clyburn, a member of House Democratic leadership, said Sunday he was “absolutely” open to West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposed changes to election law reform that include a voter ID requirement — as long as it’s equitable. “We are always for voter ID. We are never for disproportionate voter ID. When you tell me that you got to have a photo ID and a photo for a student activity card is not good but for a hunting license it is good,” Clyburn, the House majority whip, told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” I don’t
Justices Gorsuch and Thomas call to revisit landmark First Amendment case New York Times v. Sullivan
By Ariane de Vogue Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch on Friday said the Supreme Court should revisit the breadth of the landmark First Amendment decision in New York Times v. Sullivan and explore how it applies to social media and technology companies. That 1964 ruling created a higher bar for public figures to claim libel and has been a bedrock of US media law, but the two conservative justices said it’s time to take another look. “Since 1964,” Gorsuch wrote Friday, “our Nation’s media landscape has shifted in ways few could have forseen.” He added that “thanks to the revolutions in technology,
Supreme Court says Arizona limits don’t violate Voting Rights Act
By Ariane de Vogue, Fredreka Schouten and Chandelis Duster The Supreme Court on Thursday said two provisions of an Arizona voting law that restrict how ballots can be cast do not violate the historic Voting Rights Act that bars regulations that result in racial discrimination. The ruling will limit the ability of minorities to challenge state laws in the future that they say are discriminatory under the Voting Rights Act. The vote in the case is 6-3 breaking along conservative-liberal ideological lines. Justice Samuel Alito delivered the majority opinion. The case comes as several Republican-led states, encouraged by former President Donald
Biden Cabinet set to ramp up push as Democrats enter critical stage in infrastructure negotiations
By Phil Mattingly As Democrats enter a critical stage in the negotiations over the shape of a sweeping, multi-trillion dollar social safety net expansion, President Joe Biden plans to lean on a key group to sell the proposal, according to an internal White House memo: his Cabinet secretaries. For the Biden administration, deputizing and deploying Cabinet officials to sell the two major components of his $4 trillion in proposals has been a key element of their strategic approach for several months, both inside and outside of Washington. But as White House officials continue to work through the details of a roughly $1 trillion
Major 6-3 rulings foreshadow a sharper Supreme Court right turn
by Ariane de Vogue All term long the Supreme Court has been the target of political players as members of Congress called for a “legislative solution,” the Biden administration launched a commission to study court reform and progressive groups claimed that court packing measures were necessary to “save” the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, conservatives relished the possibility of a swift right turn with their new 6-3 majority after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last September and Amy Coney Barrett joined the bench the next month. By the last day of the term, the justices finally issued their own verdict. They handed out a pair of decisions
The House takes a revealing vote on Confederate statues
by Nicole Hemmer During the insurrection in January, a rioter hoisted a Confederate flag over his shoulder, letting it furl out behind him as he marched through the Capitol. It was an outrageous sight: not even during the Civil War had insurrectionists breached the halls of Congress with the battle flag. Yet there it was, flapping alongside Trump flags and America First flags as rioters — and some Republicans in Congress — tried to stop the certification of the presidential election. While the Confederate flag in the Capitol may have been staggering, it also was not out of place in a building
House to vote on $715 billion transportation and water infrastructure bill
By Clare Foran The House is expected to vote on Thursday to approve a $715 billion transportation and water infrastructure bill focused on improving and repairing roads, bridges, transit and rail and ensuring clean drinking water. House Democrats say the bill — known as the INVEST in America Act — will deliver on key priorities in President Joe Biden‘s American Jobs Plan, and they hope the legislative text can be used to negotiate with the Senate and the White House to determine what specific policy proposals can be included as part of the recently announced bipartisan infrastructure framework. Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio