Author: PolitCens

The Senate voted Thursday to begin debating a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, after Democrats made 11th-hour changes aimed at ensuring they could pull President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority through the precariously divided chamber. Democrats were hoping for Senate approval of the package before next week, in time for the House to sign off and get the measure to Biden quickly. They were encountering opposition from Republicans arguing that the measure’s massive price tag ignored promising signs that the pandemic and wounded economy were turning around. Democratic leaders made over a dozen late changes in their package, reflecting their need to cement unanimous support from all their senators — plus Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote — to succeed in the 50-50 chamber. It is widely expected the Senate will approve the bill and the House will whisk it to Biden for his signature by mid-March, handing him a crucial early legislative victory. Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to break the tie on a procedural vote as the Senate works on the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 4, 2021.The Senate’s 51-50 vote to start debating the package, with Harris putting the Democrats over the top, underscored how they were navigating the package through Congress with virtually no margin for error. In the House their majority is 10 votes. The bill, aimed at battling the killer virus and nursing the staggered economy back to health, will provide direct payments of $1,400 to vast numbers of Americans. There is also money for COVID-19 vaccines and testing, aid to state and local governments, help for schools and the airline industry, tax breaks for lower earners and families with children, and subsidies for health insurance. FILE – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y. speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Jan. 26, 2021.”The time is now to move forward with big, bold, strong relief,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The new provisions would have the government cover the entire cost of health care for some workers who lose jobs, up from its 85% share; boost spending for rural health care and capital projects; expand tax credits for student loans and start-up companies; and steer specific amounts of aid to smaller states. The details were provided by a Senate Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the decisions. Even with the late revisions, there was a good chance that lawmakers will make yet another one and vote to pare back the bill’s $400 weekly emergency unemployment benefits to $300. That potential change could also extend those emergency payments another month, through September. It was described by aides and a lobbyist who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations. Support from moderatesBiden and Senate leaders had agreed Wednesday to retain the $400 weekly jobless payments included in the version of the relief bill the House approved Saturday. The reduction to $300 — which seemed likely to occur once the Senate begins a “vote-a-rama” on scores of amendments later this week — seemed to reflect a need to secure support from moderate Democrats. FILE – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks during her weekly press conference at the U.S. Capitol, Feb. 18, 2021.It also left House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the task of keeping her chamber’s numerous progressives on board. Liberals already suffered a blow when their No. 1 priority — a federal minimum wage increase to $15 hourly that was included in the House package — was booted from the bill in the Senate for violating the chamber’s rules and for lack of moderates’ support.  In another bargain that satisfied moderates, Biden and Senate Democrats agreed Wednesday to tighten eligibility for the direct checks to individuals. The new provision completely phases out the $1,400 payments for individuals earning at least $80,000 and couples making $160,000, well lower than the original ceilings.  “My hope is they don’t screw around with it too much,” Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said of the Senate in an interview. “If they do, there could be some problems.” Congress wants to send the bill to Biden before March 14, when a previous round of emergency benefits for people tossed out of work by the pandemic expires. Republican delaysAs soon as the Senate began considering the bill, Republican Congressman Ron Johnson of Wisconsin forced the chamber’s clerks to begin reading the entire 628-page measure aloud. He said earlier that he was doing it to “shine the light on this abusive and obscene amount of money.”  FILE – Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., speaks during a hearing at the U.S. Capitol, March 3, 2021,Schumer said Johnson would “accomplish little more than a few sore throats for the Senate clerks.” Asked about Republican delays, Biden told reporters he has talked to Republican lawmakers and added, “We’re keeping everybody informed.”  Biden met last month with Republican senators who offered a plan one-third the size of the Democrats’ proposal, and there have been no signs since of serious talks. Johnson’s move, which would take many hours to complete, pointed to a larger Republican argument: Democrats were ramming an overpriced bill through that disregarded that growing numbers of vaccinations and other signs suggesting the country’s pandemic ordeal is beginning to ease.  State of economy The economic recovery began to stall late last year as the virus surged, causing a shortfall in hiring in recent months. Employers added just 49,000 jobs in January and cut 227,000 jobs in December.Economists estimate that the February employment report being released Friday will show gains of 175,000, not nearly enough to swiftly recover the nearly 10 million jobs lost to the pandemic-induced recession. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates economic growth will exceed 4% this year without Biden’s rescue package. Republicans cite that as evidence the economy is pointed upward, but Democrats say a strong economic stimulus is still needed to prevent a relapse.  “It’s a crisis that is still very much with us, and it is deadly, deadly serious,” Schumer said.
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The U.S. Senate is expected to vote this weekend on a massive new round of coronavirus aid addressing the ongoing economic and health crises caused by the pandemic. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more on the impact of that aid.  Produced by: Katherine Gypson    Camera:  Adam Greenbaum    
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The U.S. Capitol Police Department says it is taking seriously intelligence about a possible plot by a militia group to breach the Capitol on Thursday.“We have already made significant security upgrades to include establishing a physical structure and increasing manpower to ensure the protection of Congress, the public and our police officers,” the Capitol Police said in a statement. “Our department is working with our local, state, and federal partners to stop any threats to the Capitol.”The building where Congress meets has been protected with the help of National Guard troops and surrounded by an extended security perimeter with tall fencing since a Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.That mob breached the Capitol as members of Congress met to certify President Joe Biden’s election victory over Trump.Thursday’s date is connected to a far-right conspiracy theory that Trump, who has repeatedly falsely claimed mass voter fraud cost him the election, would return to power on March 4.  That date was inauguration day for U.S. presidents until 1933, when it was moved to Jan. 20.Earlier this week, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned local law enforcement officials in a joint intelligence bulletin that a group of militia extremists had discussed encouraging people to travel to Washington and try to take control of the Capitol.The threats prompted the House of Representatives to cancel its Thursday session.  The Senate is scheduled to meet.Ahead of possible election-related protests on the Hill tomorrow https://t.co/GHZLdnpWer— Katherine Gypson (@kgyp) March 4, 2021Lawmakers have held several hearings about what was known before the Jan. 6 attack and how local and federal agencies responded.The Justice Department has charged more than 300 people with taking part in the siege that left five people, including a Capitol Police officer, dead. 
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The Transportation Department’s watchdog asked the Justice Department to criminally investigate Elaine Chao late last year after it determined she had misused her office when she was transportation secretary under President Donald Trump but was rebuffed, according to a report released Wednesday.
The report said the Justice Department’s criminal and public integrity divisions declined in December to take up the case for criminal prosecution following the inspector general’s findings that Chao inappropriately used her staff and office for personal tasks and to promote a shipping business owned by Chao’s father and sisters. That company does extensive business with China.
A formal investigation into potential misuses of position was warranted,'' deputy inspector general Mitch Behm wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
Chao, the wife of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, stepped down from her job early this year in the last weeks of the Trump administration, citing her disapproval over the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol by Trump's supporters.Chao has denied wrongdoing. In the report released Wednesday, she did not specifically respond to allegations, instead providing a September 2020 memo that argued promoting her family was an appropriate part of her official duties at the department.Asian audiences welcome and respond positively to actions by the secretary that include her father in activities when appropriate,” that memo said.
The watchdog report cited several instances that raised ethical concerns. In one, Chao instructed political appointees in the department to contact the Homeland Security Department to check personally on the status of a work permit application for a student who was a recipient of her family’s philanthropic foundation.  
Chao also made extensive plans for an official trip to China in November 2017 – before she canceled it – that would have included stops at places that had received support from her family’s business, the New York-based Foremost Group. According to department emails, Chao directed her staff to include her relatives in the official events and high-level meetings during the trip.
 Above all, let's keep (the Secretary) happy, one of the department’s employees wrote to another staffer regarding Chao’s father. If Dr. Chao is happy, then we should be flying with a feather in our hat.''
The report found that Chao also directed the department's public affairs staff to assist her father in the marketing of his personal biography and to edit his Wikipedia page, and used staff to check on repairs of an item at a store for her father.
The IG report said Justice Department officials ultimately declined to take up a criminal review, saying theremay be ethical and/or administrative issues” but no evidence to support possible criminal charges.
As a result, the inspector general’s office said in the report it was now closing its investigation based on the lack of prosecutorial interest'' from the Justice Department.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, chairman of the House transportation committee, who requested the investigation, expressed disappointment that the review was not completed and released while Chao was still in office.Public servants, especially those responsible for leading tens of thousands of other public servants, must know that they serve the public and not their family’s private commercial interests,” he said. 
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Months after record-high U.S. voter turnout propelled Democrats to victory in the 2020 elections, giving them control of the White House and both houses of Congress, Republicans are attempting to reshape election laws in state legislatures across the nation.In state after state, Republicans seek to limit opportunities for early and absentee balloting that Americans flocked to last year — Democratic voters in particular.In America’s heartland, Iowa is among the first examples of the trend.More than 2 million Iowans were registered to vote in the 2020 general election, a record in a state with a population of just over 3.1 million.Of 1.7 million ballots ultimately cast in Iowa last November, more than 1 million were submitted through the mail as absentee ballots — also a record — as many voters shunned the polls during a pandemic.Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, won Iowa but lost the national election to Democrat Joe Biden.Now Republicans, who control Iowa’s state legislature, have passed a bill limiting early, in-person voting and shortening the time allotted for absentee ballot submissions. Republicans argue that expanded use of both could invite fraudulent balloting even if no evidence of widespread fraud emerged from the 2020 elections.’You make improvements’“The question I get most often is, ‘Why?’” Iowa State Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican, told fellow lawmakers during debate over the legislation in late February. “Why are we doing an election bill? ‘Do you not think that we had a successful 2020 election?’ I do. ‘Do you think that Iowa is rife with election fraud this last election?’ I do not. But the job of the state government committee is to ensure election integrity. You make improvements, and that’s exactly what we are doing here today.”What Republicans promote as preventing potential voter fraud, Democrats see as voter suppression that would disproportionately impact minorities and other Democratic-leaning groups that sometimes struggle to get to the polls on Election Day.“Iowans oppose this legislation and want us to make sure that it is easy to vote and hard to cheat,” State Rep. Eric Gjerde, a Democrat, explained to his colleagues during the legislative session ahead of voting on the measures. “We want to make the freedom to vote as easy as possible for every single Iowa voter. I have many constituents who work multiple jobs and are parents and need the flexibility to vote when they have the time.”Democrats failed to defeat the Republican effort in Iowa, and the bill passed both houses of the state legislature with unified majority Republican backing.Iowa is not alone, and Democrats are sounding the alarm.At a recent hearing in Washington, newly elected Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff said legislation advancing in his state would disproportionately deter voting by minorities.Ossoff said the legislation “would make it harder for Georgians to vote, for example, to end Sunday early voting, which is used heavily by Black and working-class voters.”’No rationale for it’Election observers say Georgia and Iowa are among dozens of states where Republicans seek to rewrite voting laws. They add that the timing, immediately after Democratic electoral victories, is no coincidence.“It’s pretty widespread,” said Michelle Kanter Cohen, senior counsel at the Fair Election Center, who spoke to VOA during a recent Skype interview. “It’s not surprising to me having worked in this area of voting rights for some time to see a backlash against a high turnout election.”The Fair Election Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization addressing voting rights and election registration reform. Kanter Cohen said she has a hard time understanding many of the current changes under consideration in state legislatures.“There’s no rationale for it being given that makes any sense,” she told VOA. “It’s not as if there was, for example, a problem with the polls being open until 9 instead of 8. In fact, voters who work a long day may only be able to vote at that time.”Others say the end result of Republicans’ efforts is hard to predict.“A lot of things that are meant to objectively suppress the vote have instead angered people who then showed up in record numbers,” said Jessica Huseman, editorial director at Votebeat, an independent, nonpartisan news organization covering election integrity.Huseman said some of the proposed reforms are practical, not problematic.“There are a lot of states, for example, whose deadlines for requesting absentee ballots were unrealistically close to the election. So, election administrators just didn’t have time to get those ballots out the door and have voters return them,” she told VOA during a recent Skype interview. “But there is certainly no need to change broad swaths of the election system that we have now. You see states that are overcorrecting from perceived but not real problems from the 2020 election in order to satisfy the most extreme part of their base.”Voting reforms in Iowa await the signature of that state’s Republican governor, the first in what Huseman said could be a wave of voting changes in multiple states ahead of the 2022 U.S. midterm elections that could determine how much of Biden’s agenda in the second half of his term in office becomes law.
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The U.S. Capitol Police Department says it is taking seriously intelligence about a possible plot by a militia group to breach the Capitol on Thursday.“We have already made significant security upgrades to include establishing a physical structure and increasing manpower to ensure the protection of Congress, the public and our police officers,” the department said in a statement. “Our department is working with our local, state, and federal partners to stop any threats to the Capitol.”The building where Congress meets has been protected with the help of National Guard troops and surrounded by an extended security perimeter with tall fencing since a Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.That mob breached the Capitol as members of Congress met to certify President Joe Biden’s election victory over Trump.Thursday’s date is connected to a far-right conspiracy theory that Trump, who repeatedly falsely claimed mass voter fraud cost him the election, would return to power on March 4.  The date was inauguration day for U.S. presidents until it was moved to Jan. 20 in 1933.Earlier this week, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned local law enforcement officials in a joint intelligence bulletin that a group of militia extremists had discussed encouraging people to travel to Washington and try to take control of the Capitol.The threats prompted the House of Representatives to cancel its Thursday session.  The Senate is scheduled to meet.Lawmakers have held several hearings about what was known before the Jan. 6 attack and how local and federal agencies responded.The Justice Department has charged more than 300 people with taking part in the siege that left five people, including a Capitol Police officer, dead. 
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration would promote democracy abroad but not through costly military interventions, which he said had failed in the past. Blinken’s comments came Wednesday as he outlined President Joe Biden’s foreign policy objectives, as VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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The U.S. Senate delayed the start of debate on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill until at least Thursday after reaching a deal to phase out $1,400 payments to higher-income Americans in a compromise with moderate Democratic senators.The Democratic-controlled Senate is hoping for a final vote later in the week on passage of Biden’s top legislative priority. Before the bill hits the chamber floor, Democrats are negotiating limits to a measure Republicans have attacked as wasteful.The Senate will reconvene at noon (1700 GMT) on Thursday, said Sen. Dick Durbin, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat. The House of Representatives canceled its Thursday session after the Capitol Police warned of a possible attack on the building by a militia group.Senate officials did not respond to questions about whether their security plans would change.Senate Democrats said the coronavirus stimulus proposal, which would block Americans earning $80,000 per year or more and couples earning $160,000 or more from receiving the $1,400 payments, was a good solution.The income cutoff had been higher — $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for couples filing jointly — in the version of the legislation passed by the Democratic-led House.Sen. Joe Manchin, a centrist Democrat, told reporters: “I’m very pleased with the discussions and dialogues and some changes that have been agreed upon.” But he said he did not know the fate of another change he sought, to scale back enhanced unemployment benefits to $300 a week from $400.The compromise would mean about 9 million fewer households would get direct payments than did so in the last round of stimulus.The 100-seat Senate, where control is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, will at some point consider a motion to begin 20 hours of debate on the sweeping legislation. That vote could be an early indicator of how much Republican opposition the package faces.The bill would pay for vaccines and medical supplies, boost jobless assistance and send a new round of emergency financial aid to households, small businesses and state and local governments. Democrats aim to get it to Biden to sign into law before March 14, when some current benefits expire.”The plan that we are going to vote on this week is going to provide real, robust relief for all of us,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have denounced the bill. On Wednesday, McConnell called it a “vast catalog of liberal spending” and a partisan “smorgasbord of borrowed money” packed with “crazy provisions” unrelated to the pandemic, which has killed more than 517,000 Americans and left millions more jobless.But a new Morning Consult/Politico poll showed strong bipartisan support for the measure, despite the Republican attacks. It said 77% of all voters and 59% of Republicans backed the plan.Republicans threaten delayRepublicans said they would take steps to drag out work on the legislation. Sen. Ron Johnson said he would insist that the entire bill, hundreds of pages long, be read to the Senate at the start of the debate, instead of the usual practice of just reading the title. That alone could take 10 hours, he said.In an interview with Wisconsin’s 1130 WISN News/Talk radio, Johnson also said he intended to keep offering amendments to the bill.Democrats have been seeking to sort out a welter of competing ideas as they seek to advance the bill.A minimum wage increase sought by Biden was ruled out last week. The Senate parliamentarian said it could not be included in the package while the Democrats are using a special procedure that allows them to pass the bill with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes needed to advance most legislation in the chamber.Democrats have shown no interest in dropping another partisan sticking point: $350 billion in aid for state and local governments, which face rising costs and uncertain tax revenues because of the pandemic.Once the Senate votes on the bill, the House would then have to sign off on the changes before Biden can sign it into law. 
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U.S. infrastructure rates a C-minus grade, the American Society of Civil Engineers said Wednesday, with years of inaction by the federal government leaving the country with deteriorating roads and bridges while airports, water supplies and public transit systems need upgrades. The civil engineers said the United States needs to spend $5.9 trillion over the next decade, about $2.6 trillion more than would normally be spent to bring its infrastructure up to a safe level. The group said its infrastructure grade – barely passing in the U.S. academic system – reflected “significant deficiencies,” although a slight improvement from the D-plus grade in 2017, in part because of state and local government and private sector efforts to target repairs for water main leaks. FILE – A worker welds on the Ninth Street bridge in Pittsburgh, May 6, 2020. The American Society of Civil Engineers rated U.S. infrastructure a C-minus grade on Wednesday.The engineers, however, said of the 17 categories making up the overall grade, 11 were in the D range that indicated a “significant deterioration” with a “strong risk of failure,” such as for public transit, storm water infrastructure, airports, roads and highways. It rated bridges, energy, drinking water and solid waste disposal at the C level, and just two areas – ports and rail service – in the B range. Infrastructure spending is often debated in Washington, but seldom acted on, with successive administrations and lawmakers unable to agree on what infrastructure should be improved and how it should be paid for – out of normal government budgets or with higher taxes of some sort, such as gasoline taxes to build and repair roads. During former President Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, his administration held many “infrastructure week” programs but there was never agreement with Congress on what projects to fund. Now, President Joe Biden says he plans to tackle the issue following what he hopes is Congress’s passage of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. It has already cleared the House of Representatives and could be passed in the Senate by mid-March. But again, there is wide initial debate on what infrastructure projects should be funded and questions on how to pay for them.  FILE – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks at Union Station in Washington, Feb. 5, 2021.Biden’s transportation chief, Pete Buttigieg, told the Associated Press that the civil engineers’ report card, “is a warning and a call to action. A generation of disinvestment is catching up to us, and we must choose whether to allow our global competitors to pull ahead permanently, or to invest in the safety, equity, resilience and economic strength that superior infrastructure can bring to Americans.” He said that while communities throughout the U.S. fight the coronavirus pandemic, the Biden administration also is “committed to being a partner to help them save money, reduce congestion and improve mobility, safety and accessibility.” The infrastructure issues came to the fore in February in the southwestern state of Texas, with its struggle to cope with power outages and water shortages during a prolonged winter storm. Frigid temperatures froze pipes that burst and flooded homes, while millions of residents lost heat and running water. 
 
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared Wednesday that the relationship between the United States and China is the world’s “biggest geopolitical test” of the century.  In his first major foreign policy speech, Blinken said the new Biden administration would “manage” ties with China “from a position of strength.”“That requires engaging in diplomacy and in international organizations, because where we have pulled back, China has filled in,” Blinken said at the State Department in Washington.The top U.S. diplomat said Washington would continue to compete, collaborate and be “adversarial,” if necessary, with China, “the only country with the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to seriously challenge the stable and open international system — all the rules, values, and relationships that make the world work the way we want it to.”Blinken’s speech laid out President Joe Biden’s strategy to “renew America’s strengths” on the global stage with a pledge to “lead with diplomacy.”.@SecBlinken: We will renew democracy, because it’s under threat. pic.twitter.com/l47YkDTdUA— Department of State (@StateDept) March 3, 2021Throughout his presidency, Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, launched a relentless trade war with Beijing, strongly suggested the coronavirus was leaked from the Chinese city of Wuhan laboratory, and challenged China’s military control of the disputed South China Sea.COVID-19, disinformation
Blinken said the Biden administration’s other major foreign policy objectives include working to contain the global coronavirus pandemic, building a more inclusive global economy and addressing the growing global threat against democracy that has been fueled by the global pandemic.“The erosion of democracy is not only happening in other places. It’s also happening here in the United States. Disinformation is rampant here. Structural racism and inequality make life worse for millions. Our elected leaders were targeted in the violent siege of the Capitol just two months ago,” Blinken said.“And now they’re watching us, because they want to see whether our democracy is resilient, whether we can rise to the challenge here at home,” he added.Mending fences
Repairing relations with allies, addressing climate change and powering a “green energy revolution” are also on the list of Biden’s foreign policy priorities, as is maintaining a lead in technology.“We want America to maintain our scientific technological edge because its critical to us thriving in a 21st century economy. But we know that new technologies aren’t automatically beneficial,” Blinken said. “We need to make sure technologies protect your privacy, make the world safer and healthier and make democracies more resilient.” .@SecBlinken on strong democracies: Strong democracies are more stable, more open, better partners to us, more committed to human rights, less prone to conflict, and more dependable markets for our goods and services. pic.twitter.com/nOERJEyRGm— Department of State (@StateDept) March 3, 2021Blinken said last month the Biden administration would also seek to bolster and extend the nuclear deal reached between Iran and world powers.
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President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, has withdrawn her nomination after she faced opposition from key Democratic and Republican senators for her controversial tweets. Her withdrawal marks the first high-profile defeat of one of Biden’s nominees. Eleven of the 23 Cabinet nominees requiring Senate approval have been confirmed, most with strong bipartisan support. “Unfortunately, it now seems clear that there is no path forward to gain confirmation, and I do not want continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities,” Tanden wrote in a letter to Biden. The president, in a statement, said he has “utmost respect for her record of accomplishment, her experience and her counsel” and pledged to find her another role in his administration. FILE – Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 24, 2021.Tanden’s viability was in doubt after Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and a number of moderate Republicans came out against her last month, all citing her tweets attacking members of both parties prior to her nomination.  Manchin, a key moderate swing vote in the Senate, said last month in a statement announcing his opposition that “her overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget.”  FILE – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 15, 2020.Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, meanwhile, cited Biden’s own standard of conduct in opposing Tanden, declaring in a statement that “her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.” Tanden needed just 51 votes in an evenly divided Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris acting as a tiebreaker. But without Manchin’s support, the White House was left scrambling to find a Republican to support her.  FILE – Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, listens during a hearing on Capitol Hill, June 23, 2020.One potential Republican vote, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, told reporters earlier Tuesday on Capitol Hill she still had not yet made up her mind on Tanden’s nomination. The White House stuck with her even after several centrist Republicans made their opposition known, insisting her experience growing up on welfare and background working on progressive policies as the president and CEO of the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress made her the right candidate for the moment.  White House chief of staff Ron Klain initially insisted the administration was “fighting our guts out” for her. 100s of tweets deletedFILE – Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 25, 2021.Tanden faced pointed questions over her past comments about members from both parties during her confirmation hearing. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and prominent progressive lawmaker, accused her of issuing “vicious attacks” against progressives, and had not said whether he would support her nomination. Tanden apologized during that hearing to “people on either the left or right who are hurt by what I’ve said.” Just prior to the hearing, she deleted hundreds of tweets, many of which were critical of Republicans. Collins cited those deleted tweets in her statement, saying that the move “raises concerns about her commitment to transparency.” She said Congress “has to be able to trust the OMB director to make countless decisions in an impartial manner, carrying out the letter of the law and congressional intent.” As recently as Monday, the White House indicated it was sticking by Tanden’s nomination, with press secretary Jen Psaki noting Tanden’s “decades of experience” in defending their pick.  “We will continue, of course, to fight for the confirmation of every nominee that the president puts forward,” Psaki insisted. But she added, “We’ll see if we have 50 votes.” Possible replacementsThe head of the OMB is tasked with putting together the administration’s budget, as well as overseeing a wide range of logistical and regulatory issues across the federal government. Tanden’s withdrawal leaves the Biden administration without a clear replacement. The apparent front-runner on Capitol Hill to replace Tanden was Shalanda Young, a former staff director for the House Appropriations Committee, who has been actively pushed by members of the Congressional Black Caucus.  Other names mentioned include Ann O’Leary, a former chief of staff for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Gene Sperling, who served as a top economic adviser to both Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. 
 
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Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday that the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters trying to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory was domestic terrorism. As VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, Wray admitted the bureau did have raw intelligence warning of violence that day.
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FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday defended the bureau against criticism that it missed warning signs about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and failed to adequately sound the alarm about the possibility of violence by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.At the same time, Wray, in his first congressional appearance since the riot, disputed assertions promoted by some on the right that far-left activists masquerading as Trump supporters were involved in the deadly attack.FILE – Supporters of President Donald Trump gather outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6, 2021.The attack left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer, and more than 100 other officers injured. A nationwide manhunt in the aftermath of the insurrection has led to the arrest of more than 270 rioters, including 33 members of anti-government militias and other far-right groups.Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Wray said the FBI took multiple steps to ensure a “raw” intelligence report warning about the possibility of a violent attack on the Capitol — the seat of the U.S. Congress — reached key law enforcement agencies the day before. The January 5 report, prepared by the FBI’s Norfolk, Virginia, field office, cited online extremist chatter about the possibility of violence and “war.”The FBI typically verifies such raw information before sharing it with law enforcement agencies. But in this case, Wray said, the threat was concerning and “specific enough” that the FBI decided to share it with the Capitol Police, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department and other law enforcement agencies as soon as possible.“We did pass that on to the people in the best position to take action on the threat. Not one, not two, but three different ways,” Wray said.Yet the report was not flagged for top officials responsible for securing the Capitol, hose officials testified last week, raising questions about a breakdown in intelligence- sharing.The officials — the former chief of Capitol Police, and the former sergeants-at- arms for the House and the Senate — told lawmakers that while they had prepared for a large and potentially violent protest outside the Capitol on January 6, they had not been warned about the possibility of a violent takeover.FILE – Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., responds to questions from reporters on May 6, 2019.Asked by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal why the FBI failed to “sound the alarm in some more visible and ringing way,” Wray, calling the attack an act of domestic terrorism, said the FBI had repeatedly warned about the threat in recent months.“The FBI over the course of 2020 put out a number of intelligence products specifically warning about domestic violent extremism. Including specifically warning about it in connection with the election. Including specifically warning about that threat in relation to the election and continuing past the election itself and up through the inauguration,” Wray said.In December, for example, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security warned that “terrorist-inspired individuals and homegrown violent extremists may be encouraged or inspired to target public events or places.”In the lead-up to January 6, Wray said the FBI had been tracking a “large amount of information” about people intending to travel to Washington and the potential for violence. A major challenge for the FBI is separating extremist online rhetoric that is “aspirational” from “intentional,” he said.Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks at the start of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs & Senate Rules and Administration joint hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, Feb. 23, 2021.Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said the FBI report appeared to be “beyond aspirational.”“It seems like some of these reports that we now know exist out there were specific in terms of these plans that were going on,” she said.She asked Wray if he felt sending an email to other law enforcement agencies was a sufficiently aggressive response to an alarming report that even Wray was not shown at the time.Wray said the January 6 attack was not “an isolated event” but rather one that was rooted in the growing threat of domestic violent extremism confronting the country in recent years.“The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now, and it’s not going away anytime soon,” he said. “At the FBI, we’ve been sounding the alarm on it for a number of years now.”The FBI is currently investigating about 2,000 domestic terrorism cases, most of them involving white supremacists — up from 1,400 at the end of last year, and from 1,000 in 2017, according to Wray.In the nearly two months since the January 6 attack, the FBI has arrested more than 270 people on federal charges related to the Capitol breach, with additional people arrested almost daily. Local authorities have arrested an additional 30 or so people.Capitol Police estimate that about 800 Trump supporters stormed the building during the riot.Wray said “aspects” of the Capitol breach were planned and coordinated in advance, with some of the rioters traveling to Washington with “plans and intentions” to carry out an attack.“Some of the coordination appears to have been coordinated travel, coordinated meeting up, coordinated in terms of what kind of gear they may be bringing with them,” Wray said.FILE – Capitol police officers in riot gear push back demonstrators who try to break a door of the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.Of the 257 people charged with federal offenses to date, 33 allegedly belonged to anti-government militia groups and other far-right groups, according to a new report released by The George Washington University’s Program on Extremism.Wray was asked repeatedly whether the FBI had any evidence that the attack was organized by “fake Trump protesters,” left-wing anti-fascists and anarchists.”We have not, to date, seen any evidence of anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to ‘antifa’ in connection with the 6th,” Wray said. “That doesn’t mean we’re not looking and will continue to look. But at the moment, we have not seen that.”The baseless claim that the attack on the Capitol was a “false flag” operation carried out by antifa activists started soon after the riot ended. Right-wing talk show hosts, as well as some Republican members of Congress, have continued to promote the theory, despite previous denials by the FBI.During last week’s Senate hearing on the Capitol breach, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson repeated the claim, saying “fake Trump protesters” were among the people that “probably planned this.” 
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President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, has withdrawn her nomination after she faced opposition from key Democratic and Republican senators for her controversial tweets. Her withdrawal marks the first high-profile defeat of one of Biden’s nominees. Eleven of the 23 Cabinet nominees requiring Senate approval have been confirmed, most with strong bipartisan support. “Unfortunately, it now seems clear that there is no path forward to gain confirmation, and I do not want continued consideration of my nomination to be a distraction from your other priorities,” Tanden wrote in a letter to Biden. The president, in a statement, said he has “utmost respect for her record of accomplishment, her experience and her counsel” and pledged to find her another role in his administration. FILE – Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 24, 2021.Tanden’s viability was in doubt after Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and a number of moderate Republicans came out against her last month, all citing her tweets attacking members of both parties prior to her nomination.  Manchin, a key moderate swing vote in the Senate, said last month in a statement announcing his opposition that “her overtly partisan statements will have a toxic and detrimental impact on the important working relationship between members of Congress and the next director of the Office of Management and Budget.”  FILE – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 15, 2020.Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, meanwhile, cited Biden’s own standard of conduct in opposing Tanden, declaring in a statement that “her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.” Tanden needed just 51 votes in an evenly divided Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris acting as a tiebreaker. But without Manchin’s support, the White House was left scrambling to find a Republican to support her.  FILE – Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, listens during a hearing on Capitol Hill, June 23, 2020.One potential Republican vote, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, told reporters earlier Tuesday on Capitol Hill she still had not yet made up her mind on Tanden’s nomination. The White House stuck with her even after several centrist Republicans made their opposition known, insisting her experience growing up on welfare and background working on progressive policies as the president and CEO of the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress made her the right candidate for the moment.  White House chief of staff Ron Klain initially insisted the administration was “fighting our guts out” for her. 100s of tweets deletedFILE – Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 25, 2021.Tanden faced pointed questions over her past comments about members from both parties during her confirmation hearing. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and prominent progressive lawmaker, accused her of issuing “vicious attacks” against progressives, and had not said whether he would support her nomination. Tanden apologized during that hearing to “people on either the left or right who are hurt by what I’ve said.” Just prior to the hearing, she deleted hundreds of tweets, many of which were critical of Republicans. Collins cited those deleted tweets in her statement, saying that the move “raises concerns about her commitment to transparency.” She said Congress “has to be able to trust the OMB director to make countless decisions in an impartial manner, carrying out the letter of the law and congressional intent.” As recently as Monday, the White House indicated it was sticking by Tanden’s nomination, with press secretary Jen Psaki noting Tanden’s “decades of experience” in defending their pick.  “We will continue, of course, to fight for the confirmation of every nominee that the president puts forward,” Psaki insisted. But she added, “We’ll see if we have 50 votes.” Possible replacementsThe head of the OMB is tasked with putting together the administration’s budget, as well as overseeing a wide range of logistical and regulatory issues across the federal government. Tanden’s withdrawal leaves the Biden administration without a clear replacement. The apparent front-runner on Capitol Hill to replace Tanden was Shalanda Young, a former staff director for the House Appropriations Committee, who has been actively pushed by members of the Congressional Black Caucus.  Other names mentioned include Ann O’Leary, a former chief of staff for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Gene Sperling, who served as a top economic adviser to both Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. 
 
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The director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation told a Senate panel Tuesday that the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol building aimed at preventing the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory over Donald Trump was domestic terrorism.
 
“That siege was criminal behavior, plain and simple. It’s behavior that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism. It’s got no place in our democracy and tolerating it would make a mockery of our nation’s rule of law,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in his opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  
 
Wray said the insurrection was “not an isolated event” and that the nation’s top law enforcement agency “elevated racially and ethnically motivated violent extremism to our highest threat priority on the same level as ISIS (Islamic State) and home-grown violent extremists” in 2019.  
 
He added the FBI does not focus on ideology when investigating domestic terrorism.  FILE – Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.Wray’s testimony comes amid concern that the FBI was not adequately prepared for the riot, despite warnings days before the attack. Lawmakers are pressing Wray on how the FBI is dealing with the national security threat from white nationalists and domestic violent extremists and whether the agency is adequately equipped to address the problem. 
President Donald Trump urged thousands of supporters who had come to Washington on Jan. 6 for a “Save America March” to walk from the Ellipse just south of the White House to the U.S. Capitol building as lawmakers were in the process of formally certifying Biden’s Nov. 3 presidential victory.   
“You will have an illegitimate president. That is what you will have, and we can’t let that happen,” Trump said. Trump added: “We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Hundreds of Trump supporters walked to the Capitol building and broke their way inside resulting in violence that killed five people.
Wray has remained largely out of the public eye since the violent mob stormed the Capitol. His testimony before Congress Tuesday marks the first time he has made a public appearance since the attack. 
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President Joe Biden’s choice for attorney general, Merrick Garland, moved one step closer to confirmation Monday when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance his nomination to the full Senate.Garland received bipartisan support from the committee with a final vote of 15-7.The vote comes one week after Garland was questioned by the committee.During his appearance before the committee, Garland said one of his top priorities would be investigating the January 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol.He also said enforcing civil rights would be prioritized.In his testimony, Garland stressed the importance of preserving the independence of the attorney general, saying he will “be the lawyer not for any individual but for the people of the United States.”He also sought to assure Republican lawmakers that he has no intention of curbing investigations started by attorneys general appointed by former President Donald Trump.Garland said he had not discussed the current federal investigation of Hunter Biden, the president’s son, with the new U.S. leader. The investigation involves the younger Biden’s overseas financial transactions and tax considerations. Both Bidens have said there was no wrongdoing.
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Donald Trump slammed President Joe Biden’s policies and reaffirmed leadership of the Republican Party at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida on Sunday, his first major speech after leaving office. He hinted but did not confirm whether he will run again in 2024. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.  
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