Top Michigan Democrat calls on Senate to pass elections bill as a counter to state Republican efforts to restrict voting
By Eric Bradner A top Michigan Democrat on Thursday called on the US Senate to pass the sweeping federal elections bill advanced last month by House Democrats to counter efforts by Republicans in his state and elsewhere to restrict access to voting. Michigan is among the battleground states that were decisive in sealing President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory where the Republican-led legislature is moving ahead with changes designed to make it harder to vote, citing former President Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud. “They need less people to vote. We want more people to vote. That is what this
A year after Breonna Taylor’s death, Kentucky lawmakers limit, but don’t ban, use of no-knock warrants
By Taylor Romine The Kentucky state legislature passed a bill on Tuesday setting restrictions on warrants authorizing entry without notice, more commonly known as no-knock warrants. The legislation comes a little more than a year after the death of Breonna Taylor, a Louisville EMT who was killed by police in March of 2020 after they executed a no-knock warrant. While there are conflicting reports between police and bystanders as to whether police announced themselves during the incident, her death spurred a national conversation about the use of this type of warrant. The legislation doesn’t outlaw no-knock warrants outright, as the
Kamala Harris dives into migration diplomacy as GOP aims to make her the face of the border crisis
By Jasmine Wright and Arlette Saenz Vice President Kamala Harris and her team are staring down attempts to make her the face of the Biden administration’s response to the crisis at the border, a little more than a week after being assigned a role that positions her in the center of one of the administration’s most divisive issues. Aides define her official task as leading the diplomatic outreach to Central American countries to address the root causes of migration. But Harris has already been tied to the border situation at large, as Republicans seek to conflate her more narrowly defined
Black Fortune 500 executives want companies to fight Republican voting restrictions
By Chauncey Alcorn Some of the nation’s most prominent Black business leaders are calling out their Fortune 500 peers for their muted response to new laws that restrict voting across the country. Merck chief executive Ken Frazier and Berkshire Hathaway director Kenneth Chenault were among the 72 Black executives who signed a letter released Wednesday challenging other corporate leaders to be more forceful in condemning what both said were deliberate attempts by Republicans to limit the number of Black Americans casting ballots in key states. Republicans who passed Georgia’s controversial law say the measure is needed to stop illegal voting.
Biden set to convene his Cabinet in-person for the first time on Thursday
By Betsy Klein President Joe Biden is set to convene his Cabinet in-person for the first time Thursday at the White House. The meeting comes one day after he rolls out the first piece of his sweeping infrastructure proposal focused on investments in transportation, public water, health and broadband systems, community care for seniors and innovation research and development. Biden will be keeping the focus on the plan, his top legislative priority, during the meeting, according to a White House official. The group will also discuss the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package and other top priorities. Unlike traditional Cabinet meetings,
Michigan voting rights battle looms as Republicans plan to side-step Whitmer veto
By Eric Bradner Michigan is emerging as the latest battleground in Republicans’ nationwide push to restrict voting rights, with GOP officials planning to end-run Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s all-but-certain veto of proposed restrictions and progressives beginning to mobilize to stop them. The GOP attempt to circumvent Whitmer relies on a quirk of Michigan law: If Republicans gather 340,000 signatures in a petition drive, the House and Senate can enact legislation without the governor having the power to veto it. It’s the latest escalation in a years-long and increasingly ugly effort to undercut Whitmer and two other Democratic women who are
Nikema Williams blazes her own trail in the footsteps of history
By Dana Bash It’s not often that a freshman member of Congress — in office barely two months — gets a shout out from the House Speaker during a congressional signing ceremony for a major piece of legislation. But that’s what happened to Rep. Nikema Williams. Speaker Nancy Pelosi even said that in some ways Williams made passing the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package, the first Biden administration priority, possible. Williams is not only a new House member, she is also the chairwoman of the Georgia Democratic Party, and was a key player in helping the formerly red state elect
Civil rights groups file third federal lawsuit challenging new Georgia voting law
By Pamela Kirkland Several civil rights groups announced on Tuesday that they have filed a joint federal lawsuit over the Georgia election overhaul bill, the third federal lawsuit challenging the legislation since it was signed into law last week. The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Southern Poverty Law Center, and law firms WilmerHale, and Davis Wright Tremaine brought the case on behalf of the Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Georgia Muslim Voter Project, Women Watch Afrika, Latino Community Fund Georgia, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. The lawsuit
Biden unveils first slate of judicial nominees featuring diverse and history-making selections
By Ariane de Vogue and Betsy Klein President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled a diverse slate of 11 judicial nominees, including three African American women for Circuit Court vacancies and a candidate who, if confirmed, would be the first Muslim federal judge in US history. The list, first reported by The Washington Post, is Biden’s first wave of judicial nominations, and also includes candidates who, if confirmed, would serve as the first AAPI woman to serve on the US District Court for the District of DC and the first woman of color to serve as a federal judge for the
It’s a ‘perversion of truth.’ Children of MLK, John Lewis and CT Vivian condemn Georgia voting law
By Nicole Chavez The children of three late civil rights movement leaders released a joint letter late Monday night to corporate leaders and lawmakers in response to the new voting law in Georgia. Bernice A. King, the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; Al Vivian, the son of the Rev. Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian; and John-Miles Lewis, the son of US Rep. John Lewis, said corporate leaders failed to live up to “their racial equity commitments” and disrespected their fathers’ tireless work. “Rather than sowing seeds to provide democracy the greatest chance to grow today and prevail tomorrow,