Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States “intends to pay over $200 million in assessed and current obligations” to the World Health Organization by the end of the month, making good on its move to rejoin the multilateral organization amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic. “This is a key step forward in
Continue ReadingAdvocates fighting for Washington, DC, to become the 51st state are more hopeful than ever that they’ll achieve statehood with Joe Biden in the White House and Democrats now controlling both chambers of Congress, though the effort still faces an uphill battle to gain traction. After decades of pushing for representation, supporters of DC statehood
Continue ReadingPresident Joe Biden was pressed on a range of issues Tuesday evening as he fielded questions from voters during a CNN town hall in Milwaukee. The President addressed everything from coronavirus vaccine equity to police funding in his first face-to-face engagement with voters since taking office. Multiple participants — including two who voted for former
Continue ReadingPresident Joe Biden at a Tuesday CNN town hall sought to reassure a second grader worried about getting Covid-19, telling her that young children are the “safest group of people in the whole world.” “Don’t be scared, honey. Don’t be scared. You’re going to be fine, and we’re going to make sure mommy’s fine, too,”
Continue ReadingSeveral members of President Joe Biden’s former coronavirus advisory board are urging his administration to more widely recommend and mandate the use of N95 masks, citing a “pressing and urgent need for action” driven by the threat of new coronavirus variants. In a memo to Biden’s top coronavirus advisers obtained by CNN, a dozen health
Continue Reading The Supreme Court has increasingly exempted religious believers from government regulations, and it is clear by their statements that individual justices on the right think religion is under siege in America. Earlier this month, the justices spared churches from California’s Covid-19 restrictions on large indoor gatherings. In late November, the justices ruled for New York
Continue ReadingWest Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has privately informed President Joe Biden that he won’t join any Democratic efforts to force through provisions in his economic rescue package if they are ruled in violation of strict Senate budget restrictions, the latest warning sign for Biden’s push for a hike to the federal minimum wage. Manchin’s declaration
Continue Reading President Joe Biden on Tuesday described the “sense of history” he feels residing at the White House and all the ways living in the historic building is an adjustment, including being waited on by White House staff. “I get up in the morning and look at Jill and say: ‘Where the hell are we?’ ”
Continue Reading President Joe Biden reaffirmed his support for raising the federal minimum wage — gradually — to $15 an hour at CNN’s town hall on Tuesday. While he acknowledged that increasing the wage could squeeze some employers, he pointed to economists and studies that say the impact would be minor. Plus, the President argued, it would
Continue Reading President Joe Biden on Tuesday reflected on the “sense of history” he feels as a new resident of the White House and suggested he has spoken with his predecessors, but cited one notable exception. Asked whether he has called any former presidents, Biden told CNN’s Anderson Cooper during a town hall in Milwaukee: “Yes, I
Continue ReadingThe Biden administration, in concert with Hill Democrats, is preparing to unveil legislation this week that seeks to provide a pathway to citizenship to the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. For decades, lawmakers have tried to reform the US immigration system and fallen short. The latest effort will similarly be a
Continue Reading The confirmation hearing for Interior Secretary nominee Rep. Deb Haaland is scheduled for next Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. ET, a spokesperson for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmed to CNN on Tuesday. Haaland, who represents New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, was reelected to her second term in November. If confirmed by the Senate,
Continue ReadingFormer President Donald Trump and attorney Rudy Giuliani are being accused of conspiring with the far-right groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to incite the January 6 insurrection in a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court by the Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. The suit cites a post-Civil War law designed
Continue ReadingThe Biden administration on Tuesday announced it had approved a possible $197 million sale of missiles to Egypt, just days after the Egyptian government is said to have detained family members of a US-based Egyptian American human rights activist. The State Department said in a news release that the proposed sale of the missiles and
Continue ReadingPresident Joe Biden is working to “recalibrate” the American relationship with Saudi Arabia, White House press secretary Jenn Psaki said Tuesday, and plans to communicate with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud instead of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “We’ve made clear from the beginning that we’re going to recalibrate our relationship with Saudi Arabia,”
Continue Reading The White House said it was “outraged” by a rocket attack on coalition forces in Iraq that has been claimed by an Iranian-backed militia, but said is still working to determine who was responsible. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden “reserves the right to respond in the time and manner of
Continue ReadingFormer President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is “not currently representing President Trump in any legal matters,” senior Trump adviser Jason Miller told CNN on Tuesday. The former New York City mayor was the face of Trump’s failed bid to overturn the presidential election results, but his legal work with the former President
Continue ReadingFormer President Donald Trump went after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, calling him “a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack” in a broadside attack just days after the Kentucky Republican voted to acquit Trump in his second impeachment trial. After that vote, McConnell ripped Trump in a speech from the Senate floor, and
Continue ReadingFormer Sen. David Perdue of Georgia filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Monday evening to be a 2022 US Senate candidate, the first step in a potential comeback bid after a bruising loss in a runoff election last month. Perdue is leaning toward launching another campaign, according to a person familiar with his
Continue Reading The White House is relaunching its official Snapchat account on Tuesday, featuring a message from President Joe Biden focused on Covid-19. In his first official Snapchat story as president, Biden sits in the White House dining room, wearing a face mask. He tells Snapchatters why he is wearing a mask and asks them to do
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