Biden promises to lift ‘left-behind and forgotten’ Americans with his ambitious economic agenda
By Maeve Reston President Joe Biden spoke directly to working- and middle-class Americans who “feel left behind and forgotten” in a rapidly changing economy in his first address to a joint session of Congress, promising that his ambitious economic and infrastructure plans amounted to a “blue-collar blueprint to build America.” Addressing many of the voters who abandoned the Democratic Party to support former President Donald Trump, Biden made the case that his economic plans are squarely aimed at improving their economic fortunes while strengthening America’s position around the globe and positioning America to compete against other world powers like China.
Biden’s pick to serve on powerful DC-based appellate says her experience as a Black jurist ‘might be valuable’ if confirmed
By Devan Cole Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s pick to fill a vacancy on a powerful DC-based appellate court, said at a Senate hearing Wednesday that her race doesn’t play a role in her work as a judge, but that her experience as an African American jurist “might be valuable” should she be confirmed to the post. “I don’t think that race plays a role in the kind of judge that I have been and would be,” Jackson told the Senate Judiciary Committee in response to a question from Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn. “I’m doing a certain
New York Post temporarily deletes, then edits false story that claimed Harris’ book was given out in migrant ‘welcome kits’
By Daniel Dale The New York Post temporarily deleted, and then edited and republished, a debunked article that falsely claimed that copies of Vice President Kamala Harris’ book were being included in “welcome kits” given to migrant children at a shelter in Long Beach, California. The reporter who wrote the article, Laura Italiano, tweeted late Tuesday afternoon that she had resigned from the newspaper. Italiano tweeted: “The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point.” The Post newsroom referred questions about
Biden seeks $80 billion to boost IRS enforcement
By John Harwood, Phil Mattingly and Kate Sullivan, President Joe Biden will seek $80 billion to fund enhanced Internal Revenue Service enforcement of high-earners to help pay for his American Families Plan, which he is set to unveil later this week, two sources briefed on the proposal told CNN. The administration believes the enhanced measures to crack down on tax evasion will increase revenue for the government by $700 billion, although some outside experts are skeptical and the Congressional Budget Office — the accepted scorekeeper — is unlikely to project that much revenue. As CNN has reported, this is a
Kamala Harris announces US will send $310 million in humanitarian aid to Central America
By Paul LeBlanc and Jason Hoffman Vice President Kamala Harris announced Monday evening that the US will send an additional $310 million to Central America “for humanitarian relief and to address food insecurity.” $255 million will go to humanitarian relief and $55 million will go toward addressing food insecurity in the region. “In light of the dire situation and acute suffering faced by millions of people in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, Vice President Harris announced an additional $310 million in U.S. government support,” a fact sheet released by the White House said. Harris was tapped by President Joe Biden
Biden’s family plan to lay out economic ambition — and underscore the long road ahead
By Phil Mattingly President Joe Biden, on the verge of the 100-day mark, will soon lay out the final piece of a sweeping, $4 trillion spending proposal — one that would invest hundreds of billions into key Democratic priorities on education, child care and paid leave — in a bid to reshape the social infrastructure of the US economy. The proposal has been the subject of intense lobbying from allies, and it has shifted several times in just the last week. Now, it’s nearly ready for its prime-time moment. Bottom line Long telegraphed, but still no less consequential,
Washington Post: White House considering setting refugee cap at original proposal of 62,500
By Veronica Stracqualursi The White House is reconsidering raising the number of refugees allowed into the US to about 62,500, its original goal, The Washington Post reported Monday. The move comes after the White House publicly shifted the figure several times as it tries to negotiate a balance between pleasing immigrant advocacy groups and being mindful of the political optics of rapidly increasing admissions at a time of heavy immigration on the southern border. No final decisions have been made, however, and timing of an announcement was up in the air, three people familiar with the deliberations told the Post.
Biden to raise minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 an hour
By Tami Luhby Two months after his effort to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour ran into the Senate parliamentarian buzz saw, President Joe Biden is set to use his executive powers to hike the pay of hundreds of thousands of federal contract workers. The President is expected to issue an executive order on Tuesday that increases contract workers’ hourly minimum wage to $15 in early 2022, up from the current $10.95. It eliminates the tipped minimum wage, now $7.65 an hour, by 2024 and ensures that federal contract workers with disabilities also receive a minimum of
Supreme Court agrees to take up major Second Amendment case
By Ariane de Vogue and Devan Cole The Supreme Court announced Monday it will consider the scope of the Second Amendment next term in a case concerning a New York law that restricts an individual from carrying a concealed handgun in public. It has been more than a decade since the justices have ruled on a significant case concerning the right to bear arms, and the court’s decision to take the case comes in the wake of several mass shootings in the US and the Biden administration’s push for enhanced gun regulations. The court’s move also highlights the impact of
Kamala Harris cements her place in Biden’s inner circle during a consequential week
By Kevin Liptak and Jasmine Wright Vice President Kamala Harris was huddled with other White House officials in President Joe Biden’s private dining room last week when the room let out a “collective exhale.” A Minnesota jury had found Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd. As the large flat-screen television mounted on the north wall flashed three “guilty” counts, the room was overcome with a “sweeping sense of relief,” an aide said. Harris joined Biden and the first lady moments later in the Oval Office, where Floyd’s family was patched in by speakerphone. “She wants to say something,” Biden