Author: PolitCens

U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley has indicated that recent attacks by Iranian proxies on U.S. forces in Iraq are making it tougher for the Biden administration to build domestic support for its new diplomatic initiative to resolve U.S-Iran tensions.U.S. troops and bases in Iraq have come under rocket attack several times since last month, causing multiple casualties, including the death of an American civilian contractor and wounding of a U.S. military service member.U.S. forces responded to the first of the attacks, on an airbase housing U.S. troops in the city of Irbil on Feb. 16, by striking Iran-backed militants in eastern Syria nine days later. U.S. news site Politico cited unnamed U.S. defense officials as saying they suspected an Iranian proxy militia also was responsible for a March 3 rocket attack on western Iraq’s Al-Asad airbase that also houses American forces.In a Wednesday interview with VOA Persian at the State Department, his first with VOA since taking office in January, Malley was asked whether he thought the attacks were part of an Iranian campaign to pressure President Joe Biden into easing sanctions imposed on Tehran by the previous administration of Donald Trump.“It’s not really helping the climate in the U.S. to have Iranian allies take shots at Americans in Iraq or elsewhere, and the U.S. will respond as it has responded and it will continue to respond,” Malley said.Biden campaigned on a pledge to revive diplomacy with Iran and ease Trump’s sanctions if it resumes full compliance with a 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Under the deal, Tehran promised world powers to curb its nuclear activities that could be weaponized in return for relief from international sanctions.Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, saying it did not do enough to stop objectionable Iranian behavior, and unilaterally tightened U.S. sanctions aimed at achieving that goal. Iran retaliated a year later by starting to violate the deal’s nuclear curbs, reducing the amount of time it would need to develop nuclear weapons to what U.S. officials have said is several months. Tehran has long denied seeking to weaponize what it calls a civilian nuclear program.Biden, who was inaugurated in January, faced calls last week from both opposition Republicans and his fellow Democrats in the U.S. Congress to take a tougher approach toward Iran. Referring to what they said were “escalating attacks on U.S. and coalition personnel in Iraq” and Iran’s recent JCPOA violations, the 12 Democrat and 12 Republican members of the House of Representatives wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying the Biden administration “should make use of existing leverage to sharpen the choices available to Tehran.”Speaking to VOA, Malley reiterated the administration’s desire for talks with Iran about returning the U.S. to compliance with the JCPOA if Iran does the same and expressed hope that would happen soon. He suggested recent actions by Iran and its proxies are not helping the U.S. diplomatic initiative to move faster.“If … these are [Iranian] tactics aimed at speeding things up, it’s hard to see how that is going to work,” Malley said.In a separate interview with BBC Persian on Wednesday, Malley said that if Iran does not want to enter into direct talks with the U.S., the two sides could negotiate through a third party.Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in an interview with Politico published Wednesday, reiterated Tehran’s promise to resume compliance with the JCPOA “immediately” only if the U.S. first takes steps to ease the sanctions. He also warned that if Washington continues to demand that Tehran make the first move, Iran will take unspecified “new steps” away from the nuclear deal.The Biden administration has said any U.S. return to the JCPOA would be followed by negotiations aimed at strengthening the nuclear deal to resolve U.S. concerns about Iran’s other activities, including its missile program and support for Islamist militants engaged in long-running conflicts with the U.S. and its regional allies. U.S. officials have not specified how they would persuade Iran to enter such negotiations and what kind of new deal would be produced.“The JCPOA has shown that it is fragile, and we believe it can be strengthened with a follow-on deal. And we will press Iran and try to convince Iran that it’s in their interest as well to get a follow-on deal,” Malley said. “Of course, Iran will have issues that it will want to bring to the table,” he acknowledged.Zarif, speaking to Politico, said Iran will consider discussing nonnuclear issues if the U.S. “passes the test” of JCPOA compliance.“But the United States miserably failed, not only during the Trump administration but even during the past two months of the Biden administration,” he said.The top Iranian diplomat also expressed doubt that the U.S. would be prepared to discuss issues such as U.S. arms sales to Iran’s regional rivals.“Are the U.S. and its Western allies prepared to stop that? That’s a very lucrative market and I don’t think President Biden wants to do that,” Zarif said.In January, the Biden administration announced a freeze on Trump-approved U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia and a review of those the former president approved for the United Arab Emirates.U.S. officials told national media that the arms sales reviews were not unusual for a new administration and said many of the transactions are likely to go forward eventually.This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. Click here for the original Persian version of the story. 
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U.S. President Joe Biden is touring the country to pitch his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package as he seeks to help Americans return to normalcy, both in life and in how they view the presidency. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara looks at how Biden’s crisis communication style compares to his predecessor’s.
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Though Washington is the seat of U.S. political power, its residents have no voting rights in Congress nor rights of full home rule because of its unique status as the federal capital.  But advocates for making Washington, D.C. a state say they see more potential than ever, as VOA’s Carol Guensburg reports. Camera: Betty Ayoub     
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U.S. President Joe Biden traveled Tuesday to a suburb of Philadelphia to promote a $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package, which was his first major legislative victory.  “We’re in a position where it’s going to bring immediate relief,” the president told the minority owners of a flooring company in Chester, Pennsylvania. “You should be aware more help is on the way, for real.”  During the pandemic, according to officials, Smith Flooring received Paycheck Protection Program loans and it also qualifies for additional programs under the American Rescue Plan, which the president signed into law last week.  President Joe Biden waves from the top of the steps of Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., March 16, 2021, as he prepares to depart for a trip to Pennsylvania.National polls have shown that the relief package has wide support, even among Republicans, but Biden’s travels this week, part of what’s being called the “Help is Here” tour, demonstrate he is not taking its popularity for granted.  Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, are taking part in the effort as well. They met with small business owners at an empanada shop in Colorado on Tuesday. The previous day Harris visited a vaccination site on the campus of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas and a local Mexican restaurant.  The vice president was asked by a reporter in Las Vegas why the administration feels compelled to sell the plan, which enjoys widespread public support.   “It’s not selling,” Harris replied. “It’s kind of like you buy a product — you’re already sold on the product, but you need some directions out of the box.”   Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff arrive at Maria Empanada, in Denver, March 16, 2021.Both Biden and Harris are to make appearances in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday. “In the coming weeks, President Biden will lay out his economic recovery plan to invest in America, create millions of additional good-paying jobs, and build back better than before,” the White House said in a statement issued Tuesday.  Biden on Tuesday reiterated that within the next week or so his administration would get out 100 million checks that are part of the rescue plan and reach 100 million coronavirus vaccine shots since he took office. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, on the same day, said the president should not take too much credit for what the lawmaker called “the optimistic springtime that lies before us.”  FILE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky walks from the Senate floor to his office on Capitol Hill, Jan. 6, 2021.”The groundwork we laid last year is proving an historic success,” McConnell said. ”Where the Biden administration is continuing to help streamline distribution, they should of course get some credit. But their effort to sprint to the front of this year-long campaign should not fool anybody.”  The appearances of Biden, Harris and other top administration officials are intended to highlight to voters how the aid, approved by both chambers of Congress despite uniform Republican opposition, could help them. Republican lawmakers objected to the size of the deal and said that some of the funding is not tied directly to trying to end the pandemic in the United States.   First lady Jill Biden went to the state of New Jersey on Monday where she joined Governor Phil Murphy at a school in Burlington.     FILE – U.S. First Lady Jill Biden delivers remarks at the playground of the Samuel Smith Elementary School in Burlington, New Jersey, March 15, 2021.”We are going to safely open schools. We are going to get people back to work. We’re going to lift up the families who are struggling to get by,” she said at the Samuel Smith Elementary School.     The American Rescue Plan is one of the largest economic assistance packages in U.S. history but not a single Republican, in either the House or the Senate, voted in favor of it.   Many of the opposition party complained that much of it had little to do directly with the suffering caused by COVID-19.  “The American Rescue Plan includes a $350 billion bailout for states, rewarding those with poor fiscal management and punishing those who operated responsibly during the pandemic. Funds can be used for virtually anything a state chooses to spend money on, with next to nothing in terms of constraints or restrictions,” said Republican Senator Mike Crapo in a statement on Monday.   The ranking member of the Senate finance committee and his fellow Idaho Republican senator, Jim Risch, have introduced a bill to eliminate a provision in the legislation that prevents states from using relief funds to cut taxes. Millions of adult Americans, all but those in upper-income tax brackets, are receiving $1,400 stimulus checks, with tax credits for children. Billions of dollars are being sent to state and local governments and businesses that have been hit hard by the year-long pandemic.  Additional aid is being spent to boost vaccinations of millions of Americans, where more than 536,000 Americans have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.    
 
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The Senate on Monday confirmed New Mexico Congresswoman Deb Haaland as interior secretary, making her the first Native American to lead a Cabinet department and the first to lead the federal agency that has wielded influence over the nation’s tribes for nearly two centuries.Haaland was confirmed by a 51-40 vote.Democrats and tribal groups hailed Haaland’s confirmation as historic, saying her selection means that Indigenous people — who lived in North America before the United States was created — will for the first time see a Native American lead the powerful department where decisions on relations with the nearly 600 federally recognized tribes are made. Interior also oversees a host of other issues, including energy development on public lands and waters, national parks and endangered species.”Representative Haaland’s confirmation represents a gigantic step forward in creating a government that represents the full richness and diversity of this country,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “Native Americans for far too long have been neglected at the Cabinet level and in so many other places.”Haaland’s nomination has been closely watched by tribal communities across the country, with some virtual parties drawing hundreds of people to watch her two-day confirmation hearing last month.Supporters projected a photo of Haaland, a two-term congresswoman who represents greater Albuquerque, on the side of the Interior building in downtown Washington with text that read “Our Ancestors’ Dreams Come True.”Many Native Americans see Haaland, 60, as someone who will elevate their voices and protect the environment and tribes’ rights. Her selection breaks a two-century pattern of non-Native officials, mostly male, serving as the top federal official over American Indian affairs. The federal government often worked to dispossess tribes of their land and, until recently, to assimilate them into white culture.”It is long past time that an American Indian serve as the secretary of the Interior,” said Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians, the nation’s oldest and largest tribal organization.”The nation needs her leadership and vision to help lead our response to climate change, to steward our lands and cultural resources and to ensure that across the federal government, the United States lives up to its trust and treaty obligations to tribal nations and our citizens,” Sharp said.Jonathan Nez, president of the Navajo Nation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, called Haaland’s confirmation “an unprecedented and monumental day for all first people of this country. Words cannot express how overjoyed and proud we are to see one of our own confirmed to serve in this high-level position.”Haaland’s confirmation “sets us on a better path to righting the wrongs of the past with the federal government and inspires hope in our people, especially our young people,” Nez added.Not everyone was celebrating. Some Republican senators have criticized Haaland’s views on oil drilling and other energy development as radical and extreme, citing her opposition to the Keystone XL oil pipeline and her support for the Green New Deal, a sweeping, if mostly aspirational, policy to address climate change and income inequality.Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Haaland’s “extreme views” and support of “catastrophic legislation” such as the Green New Deal would make her confirmation as interior secretary disastrous, harming America’s energy supply and economy.”American jobs are being sacrificed in the name of the Biden agenda, and Representative Haaland couldn’t defend it,” Barrasso said, referring to decisions by President Joe Biden to reject the Keystone XL pipeline and impose a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands.Barrasso also faulted Haaland’s support for continued protection for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region of the Rocky Mountains, despite a recommendation by the Fish and Wildlife Service that about 700 bears in parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho no longer need protections.”Representative Haaland has chosen to ignore the science and the scientists of the very department that she is now nominated to lead,” Barrasso said, calling on Interior to remove protections for the grizzly under the Endangered Species Act.Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell said she appreciates Haaland’s leadership in the House on a range of issues, adding that Haaland’s status as a Native American “will give us an extra advantage on (tribal) issues that are so important to Indian Country overall.”Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she had “some real misgivings” about Haaland because of her views on oil drilling and other energy issues, but said Native Alaskans, an important constituency in her rural state, had urged her to back Haaland.”Quite honestly, we need (Haaland) to be a success,” Murkowski said.Senator Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico said he was disappointed at the rhetoric used by Barrasso and other Republicans. Heinrich, who lives in Haaland’s district, said she “always has an open door and an open mind” to a range of views.
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U.S. President Joe Biden and other Democrats are embarking this week on visits to numerous states to promote the benefits of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package Biden signed into law last week, hoping to make sure voters know how the aid could help them and that it was approved over uniform Republican opposition.  Biden is scheduled to discuss the plan in remarks at the White House on Monday, while his wife, Jill, goes to the state of New Jersey to join Governor Phil Murphy at an elementary school where she is expected to talk about steps the school took to reopen and how the relief package can help families. Biden Signs Coronavirus Relief Package$1.9 trillion measure cleared Congress over uniform Republican opposition  Vice President Kamala Harris travels Monday to Las Vegas where she will visit a COVID-19 vaccination site. Biden makes his first trip promoting the relief plan Tuesday when he goes to Delaware County, a key suburban Philadelphia jurisdiction in the eastern state of Pennsylvania that he carried over former President Donald Trump in the November election.  The relief package is one of the largest economic assistance packages in U.S. history and the first major legislative victory for Biden. It was approved solely with the votes of Democrats. Republican lawmakers objected to the size of the deal and to the fact that some of the funding is not tied directly to trying to end the pandemic in the United States, where more than 534,000 Americans have died.Senate Passes $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill50-49 vote falls along party lines in 100-member chamber Biden said in a speech Thursday night that members of his administration will spread out across the country to “speak directly” to Americans about the plan.  Biden and the other Democrats plan to highlight that millions of adult Americans, all but those in the upper-income brackets, will receive $1,400 stimulus checks, with tax credits for children. Billions of dollars are being sent to state and local governments and businesses that have been hit hard by the yearlong pandemic in the United States. Additional aid is being spent to boost vaccinations of millions of Americans.  Key Facts About the $1.9T COVID Bill Legislation still needs final passage in House, president’s signature The president and his aides hope to highlight how much assistance is being spent in individual states. National polls have shown that the relief package has wide support, even among Republicans, but Biden is not taking its popularity for granted.Democrats are mindful that in 2009, the last Democratic president, Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president, spent little time promoting the $800 billion economic stimulus package he and fellow Democrats helped push through Congress to help rescue the U.S. economy from the steep recession they inherited from Republican President George W. Bush.Republicans, who mostly opposed the stimulus, went on to capture the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections.Biden press secretary Jen Psaki, a veteran of the Obama administration, told reporters last week: “We didn’t do enough to explain to the American people what the benefits were” in 2009.The White House is planning to make surrogates and senior administration officials available for local television interviews in cities across the country and get more than 400 mayors and governors to talk about what the relief package means for them and their communities.Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the House’s No. 3 Republican, said in a statement that only a small fraction of the $1.9 trillion deal was aimed at the virus and warned that it might eventually lead to tax increases to help pay for it.
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U.S. President Joe Biden and other Democrats are embarking this week on visits to numerous states to promote the benefits of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package Biden signed into law last week, hoping to make sure voters know how the aid could help them and that it was approved over uniform Republican opposition.On Tuesday Biden is to visit Delaware County, a key suburban Philadelphia jurisdiction in the eastern state of Pennsylvania that he carried over former President Donald Trump in the November election.Biden Signs Coronavirus Relief Package$1.9 trillion measure cleared Congress over uniform Republican opposition  Meantime, first lady Jill Biden is headed to the northeastern state of New Jersey on Monday and to New Hampshire on Wednesday. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, are visiting Colorado and New Mexico in the western United States in the coming days, as well as New Jersey, Georgia and Pennsylvania on the East Coast.The relief package is one of the largest economic assistance packages in U.S. history and the first major legislative victory for Biden. It was approved solely with the votes of Democrats. Republican lawmakers objected to the size of the deal and to the fact that some of the funding is not tied directly to trying to end the pandemic in the U.S., where more than 534,000 Americans have died.  Biden said in a speech Thursday night that the first and second couples and members of his Cabinet will spread out across the country to “speak directly to you” about the plan.Biden and the other Democrats plan to highlight that millions of adult Americans, all but those in the upper-income brackets, will receive $1,400 stimulus checks, with tax credits for children. Billions of dollars are being sent to state and local governments and businesses that have been hit hard by the yearlong pandemic in the U.S. Additional aid is being spent to boost vaccinations of millions of Americans.Key Facts About the $1.9T COVID Bill Legislation still needs final passage in House, president’s signature The president and his aides hope to highlight how much assistance is being spent in individual states. National polls have shown that the relief package has wide support, even among Republicans, but Biden is not taking its popularity for granted.Democrats are mindful that in 2009, the last Democratic president, Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president, spent little time promoting the $800 billion economic stimulus package he and fellow Democrats helped push through Congress to help rescue the U.S. economy from the steep recession they inherited from Republican President George W. Bush.Republicans, who mostly opposed the stimulus, went on to capture the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections.Biden press secretary Jen Psaki, a veteran of the Obama administration, told reporters last week: “We didn’t do enough to explain to the American people what the benefits were” in 2009.The White House is planning to make surrogates and senior administration officials available for local television interviews in cities across the country and get more than 400 mayors and governors to talk about what the relief package means for them and their communities.Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the House’s No. 3 Republican, said in a statement that only a small fraction of the $1.9 trillion deal was aimed at the virus and warned that it might eventually lead to tax increases to help pay for it.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday he was traveling to Asia to boost military cooperation with American allies and foster “credible deterrence” against China.Austin kicked off via Hawaii, seat of the American military command for the Indo-Pacific region, his first foreign visits as Pentagon chief.”This is all about alliances and partnerships,” he told reporters on the trip that is to include meetings with key allies in Tokyo, New Delhi and Seoul.”It’s also about enhancing capabilities,” he added, recalling that while the United States was focused on the anti-jihadist struggle in the Middle East, China was modernizing its army at high speed.”That competitive edge that we’ve had has eroded,” he said. “We still maintain that edge. We are going to increase that edge going forward.””Our goal is to make sure that we have the capabilities and the operational plans… to be able to offer a credible deterrence to China or anybody else who would want to take on the US,” he added.Lloyd will be joined in Tokyo and Seoul by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.”One of the things that the secretary of state and I want to do is begin to strengthen those alliances,” he said. “This will be more about listening and learning, getting their point of view.”This tour in Asia of the heads of diplomacy and defense of the United States follows an unprecedented summit of the “Quad,” an informal alliance born in the 2000s to counterbalance a rising China.Blinken will join President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in Anchorage on March 18 with their Chinese counterparts Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi.The Alaska talks will be the first between the powers since Yang met Blinken’s hawkish predecessor Mike Pompeo in June in Hawaii — a setting similarly far from the high-stakes glare of national capitals.The Biden administration has generally backed the tougher approach to China initiated by former President Donald Trump but has also insisted that it can be more effective by shoring up alliances and seeking narrow ways to cooperate on priorities such as climate change. 
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand called Friday on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign, adding the most powerful Democratic voices yet to calls for the governor to leave office in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment and groping. Both had earlier said an independent investigation into the allegations against Cuomo was essential. FILE – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.Earlier Friday, Cuomo insisted he would not step down in the wake of sexual harassment allegations and condemned the coalition of Democrats calling for his resignation. “I’m not going to resign,” the third-term Democratic governor said during an afternoon phone call with reporters. “I did not do what has been alleged. Period.” The governor’s comments came on the day his party in New York and beyond turned sharply against him following allegations of harassment as well as sweeping criticism of Cuomo for keeping secret how many nursing home residents died of COVID-19 for months.  Cuomo’s growing list of detractors now covers every region in the state and the political power centers of New York City and Washington. A majority of Democrats in the state legislature and 21 of the state’s 27 U.S. House members have called on him to step down. The escalating political crisis jeopardizes Cuomo’s 2022 reelection in an overwhelmingly Democratic state. Republicans across the country have seized on the scandal to try to distract from President Joe Biden’s success with the pandemic and challenge his party’s well-established advantage with female voters. Number of critics growingHours earlier, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to say whether Biden believes Cuomo should resign. She said every woman who has come forth about harassment by the New York governor “deserves to have her voice heard, should be treated with respect and should be able to tell her story.”  FILE – U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.Dozens of Democrats called on Cuomo to resign this week, but the coalition of critics expanded geographically and politically on Friday to include the likes of New York City progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; the leader of the House Democratic campaign arm, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney; and a group of Long Island-based state lawmakers who had been loyal Cuomo allies.  “The victims of sexual assault concern me more than politics or other narrow considerations, and I believe Governor Cuomo must step aside,” Maloney said. Ocasio-Cortez said she believes the women who accused Cuomo of wrongdoing. “After two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney General’s investigation finding the Governor’s admin hid nursing home data from the legislature and public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign,” she tweeted. FILE – Activists with VOCAL-NY block traffic outside New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, demanding his resignation, in New York, March 10, 2021.In recent days, Cuomo has been calling lawmakers and supporters asking them to refrain from calling for his resignation and instead support the ongoing investigations. His strategy does not appear to be working. The state Assembly allowed an impeachment investigation into Cuomo on Thursday as lawmakers investigate whether there are grounds for his forcible removal from office. The firestorm around the governor grew after the Times Union of Albany reported Wednesday that an unidentified aide had claimed Cuomo fondled her at his official residence late last year.  The woman hasn’t filed a criminal complaint, but a lawyer for the governor said Thursday that the state reported the allegation to the Albany Police Department after the woman involved declined to do so herself. Additionally, Cuomo is facing multiple allegations of sexually suggestive remarks and behavior toward women, including female aides. One aide said he asked her if she would ever have sex with an older man. And another aide claimed the governor once kissed her without consent and said governor’s aides publicly smeared her after she accused him of sexual harassment. Cuomo stands firmThe governor on Friday vowed that he’ll still be able to govern despite a growing list of New York elected officials who say they’ve lost faith in him.  Cuomo didn’t address the reality of an increasingly untenable position: He’s seeking a fourth term next year, managing the state’s pandemic response and negotiating a state budget with state lawmakers who’ve lost confidence in his leadership.  He again raised questions about the motives of women accusing him of inappropriate behavior. “A lot of people allege a lot of things for a lot of reasons,” he said Friday. “I won’t speculate about people’s possible motives. But I can tell you as a former attorney general who has gone through this situation many times, there are often many motivations for making an allegation. And that is why you need to know the facts before you make a decision.” But dozens of Democrats have already determined the allegations are serious enough to warrant his immediate removal. Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, who chairs the powerhouse U.S. House Judiciary Committee, said Cuomo has lost the confidence of New Yorkers. “The repeated accusations against the governor, and the manner in which he has responded to them, have made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point,” Nadler said. 
 
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U.S. President Joe Biden signed his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package into law Thursday, opening the door for the release of federal aid for financially ailing American households and businesses.Biden, a Democrat, signed the package one day after the House of Representatives approved the bill 220-211 without Republican support and one day earlier than the White House initially had planned.“This historic legislation is about building a backbone in this country and giving people in this country, working people, middle-class folks, people who built the country, a fighting chance,” Biden said as he prepared to sign the bill.Republican lawmakers objected to the package, saying it was too large and did not sufficiently target those who were most in need of economic assistance. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday called the bill “costly, corrupt and liberal.”No federal minimum wage hikeThe measure narrowly passed in the Senate on Saturday after the chamber altered some aspects of a bill approved earlier by the House. Among the changes was the removal of an increase in the federal minimum wage.White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks to reporters at the White House, March 11, 2021, in Washington.White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki praised the legislation at a news conference Monday, saying that while there were some changes on the margins as the Senate acted, it represented the “core” of what Biden proposed.On Tuesday, she said Biden and other senior administration officials planned to continue to tout the benefits of the relief plan after it passed.“We certainly recognize that we can’t just sign a bill,” Psaki told reporters. “We will need to do some work and use our best voices, including the president, the vice president and others, to communicate to the American people the benefits of this package.“So, I think you can certainly expect the president to be doing some travel, and we’ll have more details on that in the coming days,” she said. 
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Facing a surge of migrants flocking to the border, the Biden administration is fine-tuning requirements to its proposed $4 billion aid package to Central American countries to address what it calls the “root cause of migration.”President Joe Biden’s national security adviser and coordinator for the southern border, Roberta Jacobson, said the aid would be subject to strict requirements based on anti-corruption efforts and good governance measures.”I want to emphasize that the funds we’re asking for from Congress don’t go to government leaders,” Jacobson said during a briefing to reporters at the White House on Wednesday. “They go to communities, to training, to climate mitigation, to violence prevention, to anti-gang programs. In other words, they go to the people who otherwise migrate in search of hope.”Responding to VOA’s question, Jacobson would not specify the details of those requirements.“I think that’s something that we would want to discuss with the countries involved before we discuss it publicly,” she said.Push factorsJacobson said some of the money is slated for immediate humanitarian aid, but much of it is designed to mitigate the so-called push factors of migration — conditions that make people leave their home countries for a better life.However, she acknowledged that ultimately, the U.S. may not be able to change conditions on the ground.FILE – A Honduran man seeking asylum in the United States wears a shirt that reads, “Biden please let us in,” as he stands among tents that line an entrance to the border crossing, March 1, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico.“We can encourage them. We can help support them with resources, technical assistance and funding. But we can’t make those changes,” Jacobson said.The Biden administration has been facing increasing pressure from Republican lawmakers and anti-immigration activists to stem the thousands of migrants rushing to the U.S.-Mexico border to escape violence and poverty.“The Biden administration’s claims on U.S. foreign assistance to Central America are purposefully disingenuous,” said Ana Quintana, the Heritage Foundation’s senior policy analyst on Latin American affairs.Quintana added that as the former chief diplomat to the region, Jacobson is well aware that only a small percentage of funds reaches the governments of those countries in the form of training and equipment.Central American Minors programThe Biden administration is also reinstating an Obama-era program that would allow qualified Central American children to seek asylum in the U.S. from their home countries.Established in 2014, the Central American Minors (CAM) program would allow certain minors from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to reunite with parents who are already in the U.S. legally.“I want to be clear: Neither this announcement or any of the other measures suggest that anyone, especially children and families with young children, should make the dangerous trip to try and enter the U.S. in an irregular fashion,” Jacobson said. “The border is not open.”FILE – Tents used by migrants seeking asylum in the United States line an entrance to the border crossing, March 1, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico.The State Department said it would first process applications that were closed in 2017 after the Trump administration terminated the program. The administration will begin accepting new applications once those are processed.Immigration activists welcomed the announcement as a means toward expanding pathways for legal migration in the region.“We hope that it can be the first step in finding ways for children with family in the United States to come here safely, rather than have to make the dangerous journey to the border,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the American Immigration Council.System floodedUnaccompanied minors and other asylum-seekers from Central America are overwhelming the U.S. immigration system at the border. Multiple media reports show that children are detained in border facilities meant for adults for longer periods than U.S. regulations allow.Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has accused the Biden administration of downplaying a growing “border crisis.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki and other administration officials have rejected the characterization.Psaki said Biden had been briefed on the situation by officials who visited facilities where minors are held. She said the president discussed ways to speed up getting minors out of U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities, into shelters with better accommodations and eventually into family homes that have been vetted.She declined to say whether Biden himself would visit the border. 
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Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge and former Justice Department official whose 2016 nomination to the Supreme Court was blocked by Republicans, was confirmed Wednesday by the U.S. Senate as the nation’s top law enforcement official. Garland, 68, a seasoned jurist and criminal investigator, was easily confirmed as the next attorney general – one of President Joe Biden’s most important cabinet appointments – on a bipartisan vote of 70 to 30. All the “no” votes were cast by Republican senators, including presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. Garland’s elevation to the top of the Justice Department is expected to lead to significant criminal justice policy changes under the Biden administration, from a potential moratorium on federal executions that resumed under former President Donald Trump, to closer scrutiny of police departments accused of violating civil rights. Garland is inheriting a massive law enforcement agency rife with controversy and morale problems after four tumultuous years under Trump at a time the Justice Department is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.    FILE – Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, in Washington, January 6, 2021.During his confirmation hearing last month, Garland said the investigation of the bloody insurrection, which has led to charges against more than 300 people, would be his top priority.    The bipartisan support for Garland is in sharp contrast to the strictly partisan votes Trump’s two attorneys general – Jeff Sessions and William Barr – received.      FILE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky walks from the Senate floor to his office on Capitol Hill, Jan. 6, 2021.Prominent Republicans praised Garland’s appointment, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who blocked former President Barack Obama’s nomination of Garland to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court in 2016, arguing that it was too close to the presidential election.   “I’m voting to confirm Judge Garland because of his long reputation as a straight-shooter and legal expert,” McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said before the vote. “His left-of-center perspective has been within the legal mainstream.”  As attorney general, Garland will lead a department with more than 100,000 employees and a budget of more than $31 billion.  Anti-terrorism experienceWhile Garland has served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for nearly a quarter of a century, he comes to the job of attorney general with extensive anti-terrorism experience. That likely will serve him well as he steps into a new role and trains the Justice Department’s focus on fighting domestic terrorism.   In the late 1990s, while serving as a top Justice Department official, Garland, a Harvard-educated lawyer, supervised several high-profile domestic terrorism cases.  From 1995 to 1997, he led the federal investigation of the truck bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City, which left 168 people dead, including 19 children. It was the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.   FILE – The Field of Empty Chairs is seen during the 20th Remembrance Ceremony, the anniversary ceremony for victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, April 19, 2015.Former army soldier and right-wing extremist Timothy McVeigh was later convicted and executed, while an accomplice, Terry Nichols, was sentenced to life in prison.  In 1996, Garland served as the “supervising attorney” for the prosecution of Theodore Kaczynski, the so-called “Unabomber” who killed three people and injured 24 others over the course of nearly two decades. Kaczynski is serving eight life sentences in prison.    Garland’s transition to the judiciary came in 1997 when President Bill Clinton nominated him to the District of Columbia circuit, the second most powerful court in the country and a stepping stone for some Supreme Court justices.  But in 2016, when Obama named Garland to the Supreme Court to replace the late conservative icon Antonin Scalia, Republicans killed the nomination, allowing Trump the following year to put his own nominee on the court.  Independence from White HouseHistorically, many U.S. presidents have chosen close friends and allies to head the Justice Department; President John F. Kennedy picked his brother Bobby Kennedy for the job. Others, however, have turned to outsiders.    In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Republican President Gerald Ford tapped Edward Levi, a renowned president of the University of Chicago, to run the Justice Department. Along the way, Levi won accolades for restoring the department’s independence and integrity.In picking Garland as his attorney general, Biden turned to an outsider in a signal that he wants the Justice Department to retain its traditional independence and distance from the White House after a turbulent period during which Trump was accused of trying to turn the agency into a tool of his political machinery.  FILE – Then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden attend a basketball game in Washington, Jan. 30, 2010.Garland inherits a pair of politically sensitive investigations, which will test his commitment to the Justice Department’s independence: a tax fraud probe of Biden’s son Hunter, and a separate special counsel criminal examination of the origins of the Robert Mueller investigation of Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election on behalf of Trump. During his confirmation hearing, Garland indicated that he intends to allow both to run their course.   Garland said that while he enjoys being a judge, “this is an important moment for me to step forward because of my deep respect for the Department of Justice and for its critical role of ensuring the rule of law.”  Calling the January 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol the “most heinous” attack on democracy, Garland vowed to pursue investigative leads “wherever they take us.”  “I can assure you this will be my main priority [and the subject of] my first briefing” if confirmed, said Garland. Other nomineesWhile Garland was confirmed with a bipartisan vote, Biden’s two other top Justice Department nominations have faced Republican opposition over their alleged partisanship. Nominee to be Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 9, 2021.During her confirmation hearing Tuesday, Vanita Gupta, tapped for the No. 3 position at the Justice Department, was grilled over her past partisan comments on social media aimed at Republican politicians and Trump’s judicial nominees.   Gupta, a prominent civil rights lawyer who previously served as an assistant attorney general in the Obama administration, apologized for her “harsh rhetoric.”  “I can pledge to you today that if I am confirmed, you won’t be hearing that kind of rhetoric from me,” Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans sought reassurance from Gupta and other Justice Department nominees that the agency would investigate left-wing violence with the same vigor as the ongoing investigation into the right-wing perpetrators of the Capitol attack.  “We were fortunate to have Attorney General Barr, who took seriously the federal government’s role to protect federal property and enforce federal law. Judge Garland must be prepared to do the same,” McConnell said.   
 
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The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Merrick Garland as the U.S. attorney general.
 
The vote was 70 to 30 with several high-profile Republicans voting to confirm. Among those were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.  
 
Prominent Republican votes against were Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, who are considered potential 2024 presidential candidates.
 
Garland, who is 68, has served on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia since 1997 and was its chief judge from 2013 to 2020.
 
In 2016, then President Barack Obama nominated Garland to the Supreme Court, but Republicans were able to block a Senate hearing.
 
During confirmation hearing, Garland said his first focus would be on investigating the January 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol.  
 
“We must do everything in the power of the justice department to prevent this kind of interference with policies of American democratic institutions,” he said.
 
Garland also said he would not politicize the Justice Department or interfere in the ongoing federal tax investigation into Hunter Biden, the president’s son.When Garland is sworn in, he will become the 86th U.S. attorney general.
 
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The $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill awaiting final passage in the House of Representatives would bring the United States in line with many other advanced democracies around the world by providing regular, unrestricted federal payments to families with children that would cut the rate of child poverty in half.In all, 13.1 million children and adults would be lifted out of poverty, including 5.7 million under the age of 18, according to one analysis. It would be an historic byproduct of President Joe Biden’s massive economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Democrats’ pent-up demands for addressing income inequality in the U.S. through direct government action.What remains to be seen is whether the change is temporary or signals a permanent adjustment to U.S. social policy.Almost unprecedented An analysis by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center found that the bill would increase the after-tax income of the poorest quintile of Americans by 20.1% and the second-lowest quintile by 9.3%. (Those figures include a one-time federal payment of $1,400 for most Americans as well as elements tailored to benefit families and the poor.)FILE – U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet with governors and mayors on his COVID-19 relief plan, in the Oval Office of the White House, Feb. 12, 2021.An analysis by the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University found that the bill would cut the overall poverty rate in the United States from 12.3% to 8.2%. The impact on children under 18 would be even more dramatic, dropping their poverty rate from 13.5% to 5.7%.Supporters of more generous government benefits for low-income Americans struggled to find a parallel in U.S. history.  “It’s a huge change,” said Sarah Halpern-Meekin, a professor in the LaFollette School of Public Affairs and the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She said the nearest historical comparison in terms of impact on society would be the Social Security Act of 1935, which set up a system of guaranteed income for most retirees in America.Details of legislation In addition to direct stimulus payments and enhanced unemployment benefits, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 would create a refundable tax credit worth $3,600 per year for children under 6 years of age, and $3,000 for children between 6 and 18.Beginning in July, the funds would be delivered in monthly payments, creating a predictable income stream for families. The bill would also expand existing tax credits to care for children and dependents.FILE – People on low incomes and retirees choose food at the World Harvest Food Bank in Los Angeles, July 24, 2019.A separate element of the bill, expanding federal benefits to low-income working households through a program known as the Earned Income Tax Credit, would further reduce poverty in the U.S.Analysts say financial improvements can trigger other positive outcomes for struggling Americans and their families.”With these kinds of increases in income there are concrete health benefits,” said Halpern-Meekin, who is also affiliated with the Institute for Research on Poverty. “The family being less likely to experience material hardship and run short of what they need has a short-term effect on children’s or infants’ health outcomes, and those spill over into long term effects … on health, school and employment outcomes.”Unintended consequences While progressives celebrate the bill as a major victory, conservatives say they fear that providing regular, no-strings-attached income to parents will have unintended consequences that do more harm than good.Scott Winship, the director of poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute, released a research paper titled, “The Conservative Case Against Child Allowances” as lawmakers were debating the bill.”Child allowances run a very real risk of encouraging more single parenthood and more no-worker families, both of which could worsen entrenched poverty in the long run — an overreliance on government transfers, poverty over longer stretches of childhood, intergenerational poverty, and geographically concentrated poverty,” he wrote.”And the concern is about not only material poverty but also the social poverty that comes from growing up in non-intact families or communities with limited social capital and a dearth of meaningful roles for members to fill.”FILE – A volunteer moves a pallet of food for low-income families at the Roadrunner Food Bank in Albuquerque, N.M., June 21, 2013.Noting that the United States has already seen a significant decrease in child poverty in recent decades, Winship called on lawmakers to reject the bill and to instead continue with existing policies that, he said, have been proven to work.”Policymakers should reject child allowances in favor of other policies to reduce child poverty that would build on the lessons of welfare reform, run lower risks of unintended consequences, address stubbornly low rates of intergenerational mobility, and attempt to reverse pervasive declines in family and associational life,” he wrote. “They must resist the allure of a family policy that — only apparently — has no downsides.”Permanent or temporary? As currently written, the changes to tax policy in the bill would expire at the end of the year.However, even if law reverts to its current form next year, taxpayers can expect an additional infusion of cash in 2022, when the benefits for the first six months of this year are refunded to them after they file their 2021 taxes.Advocates say that lifting children out of poverty, even temporarily, would have positive long-term effects on their development, but that the ideal outcome is creating a permanent child benefit similar to those offered in many European countries.Those calling for a permanent child benefit, such as Indivar Dutta-Gupta, the co-executive director of the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Georgetown Law School, say they are optimistic that will be the ultimate result.”By passing such a consequential provision for one year, a provision that is of historic magnitude, the president and those who have supported expanding the child tax credit are putting Congress in the position of either allowing that temporary provision to expire at the end of this year — and if they do, child poverty rates will roughly double on their watch because of a decision they’re making — or they can find a way to extend the provision,” he said.Dutta-Gupta pointed out that scholars who study poverty have been advocating for a child benefit for years, not just as a response to the economic distress caused by the pandemic.”This is a provision that will be useful throughout the business cycle,” he said. “And there’s every reason to expect a full-court press to make the provision expanding the child tax credit permanent before the end of this calendar year.” 
 
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The U.S. House is set to pass a massive COVID-19 relief bill this week that will reshape the American economy and send billions of dollars in global health funding abroad. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports on the U.S. response to the pandemic as vaccinations ramp up around the country.Camera: Adam Greenbaum  
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In a first step toward reversing a contentious Trump administration policy, President Joe Biden on Monday ordered his administration to review federal rules guiding colleges in their handling of campus sexual assaults. In an executive order, Biden directed the Education Department to examine rules that the Trump administration issued around Title IX, the federal law that forbids sex discrimination in education. Biden directed the agency to “consider suspending, revising or rescinding” any policies that fail to protect students.  Biden also signed a second executive order formally establishing the White House Gender Policy Council, which his transition team had announced before he took office. “The policy of this administration is that every individual, every student, is entitled to a fair education — free of sexual violence — and that all involved have access to a fair process,” Jennifer Klein, co-chair and executive director of the Gender Policy Council, told reporters at a White House briefing. The orders were issued on International Women’s Day, a global celebration marking the achievements of women. Trump administrationBoth measures had been expected from Biden, who focused on gender equity during his campaign and previously promised to put an “immediate” end to rules that were finalized last year by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. DeVos’s policy made sweeping changes to the way colleges respond to sexual harassment and assault, with provisions that bolster the rights of the accused and narrow the scope of cases schools are required to address. It was seen as a swing away from Obama-era guidance that focused on protecting victims of sexual misconduct. Among other changes, DeVos’s rules narrowed the definition of sexual harassment, reduced the legal liability of colleges investigating sexual misconduct claims and gave accused students the right to cross-examine their accusers through a representative at live campus hearings. Biden’s order for a review drew praise from civil rights groups that say DeVos’s policy has had a chilling effect on the reporting of sexual assaults, and also from colleges that say the rules are overly prescriptive and burdensome to follow. “This is an important step,” said Shiwali Patel, senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center. “The Title IX rules changes that took place under the Trump administration are incredibly harmful, and they’re still in effect.” Yearslong processAlthough the order sets the stage for a major policy shift, change is unlikely to come quickly. Any effort to rewrite DeVos’s rules would have to go through a federal rule-making process that can take years to complete. It took three years, for example, for DeVos to reverse the Obama guidance and complete her own set of rules. Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, said Biden’s announcement was welcome but changes very little immediately. “In the meantime, the Trump regulations will remain in place,” Hartle said. Republicans slammed Biden’s move and defended DeVos’s rules. “The right to due process is bigger than partisan politics — it is a cornerstone of American democracy,” said North Carolina Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, the ranking Republican on the House Education Committee. “By overturning these stakeholder-vetted, court-supported rules, key protections for victims and the due process rights of the accused would be jeopardized.” Some of the most contentious aspects of DeVos’s rules — including the requirement to allow cross-examinations — are expected to be eliminated in the Biden overhaul. But rather than reverting to Obama’s 2011 policies, some legal experts expect Biden to seek a middle ground that equally protects accused students and their accusers. Part of the solution will likely include greater flexibility for schools as they respond to complaints, said Josh Richards, a lawyer who advises universities on Title IX issues. The scope of cases that colleges must address is also likely to be expanded again under the Biden administration, he said. “I don’t think it’s necessary to go to the extent that the DeVos era rules went in importing court-style legal rules to these processes in order to provide a fair process to everyone involved,” Richards said. A rollback of the existing regulation would be a blow to DeVos, who saw it as one of her signature achievements. In a parting letter to Congress in January, she urged lawmakers to “reject any efforts to undercut this important rule for survivors.” Their approval, however, is not needed to create new agency rules. Legal challengesBiden is starting the process even as DeVos’s policy faces ongoing legal challenges. Multiple lawsuits have been filed asking federal courts to strike down the policy, including a new suit filed Monday by a group of high school students in California. A lawsuit by the National Women’s Law Center is scheduled to go to trial in November. While its suit is pending, the law center is urging the Biden administration to issue a directive suspending parts of the policy that are being challenged in court. Dozens of students and sexual assault survivors issued a separate letter on Monday urging Biden to issue immediate guidance that supports the rights of survivors. Gender equity Biden’s other order establishing the Gender Policy Council was issued after Trump disbanded an office specifically focused on women’s issues created during the Obama administration that was called the White House Council on Women and Girls. The new council is tasked with helping push gender equity on the administration’s domestic and foreign policy efforts. Some of the issues the council will focus on include combating sexual harassment, addressing structural barriers to women’s participation in the workforce, decreasing gender wage and wealth gaps, and addressing caregiving issues that have disproportionately affected women. Biden signed the orders hours before delivering a White House address to mark International Women’s Day. He used his speech to celebrate the recent nominations of Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost and Army Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson to serve as combatant commanders. If confirmed by the Senate, they will become just the second and third women to serve as combatant commanders in the military. Biden also used the speech to make the case that more needed to be done to improve conditions for women who serve, including dealing with the scourge of sexual assault and harassment in the ranks. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has promised to make addressing the issue a top priority as reports of sexual assault have steadily gone up since 2006, according to Pentagon data. Biden called the problem “nothing less than a threat to our national security.”  Vice President Kamala Harris Ahead of Biden’s speech Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris marked International Women’s Day with a virtual address to the European Parliament, while first lady Jill Biden honored nearly two dozen women from around the world for demonstrating courage in pursuit of justice during a State Department ceremony. Harris noted that women have been disproportionately impacted by the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic. Since February 2020, more than 2.3 million have left the workforce, putting women’s labor force participation rate at 57%, the lowest it has been since 1988, according to a National Women’s Law Center analysis. “Simply put, our world does not work for women as it should,” Harris said. 
 
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President Joe Biden is signing two executive orders Monday to create a Gender Policy Council and review Trump-era changes to college campus sexual assault policies. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and Chief of Staff to the First Lady Julissa Reynoso watch as Executive Director of the Gender Policy Council Jennifer Klein delivers remarks during a daily press briefing at the White House, March 8, 2021.The office will be co-chaired by Jennifer Klein, who worked on women’s issues going back to the Clinton administration, and Julissa Reynoso, first lady Jill Biden’s chief of staff. The second order will reverse polices on college campus sexual assault and harassment that were issued last year by Trump’s education secretary Betsy DeVos.Biden’s order, directed at the Department of Education, orders it to review all regulations, especially DeVos’ regulation under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in a school or education program that receives federal money. The administration said the goal is to ensure students are guaranteed an education free from sexual violence.  
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