Politics

Pope Urges Countries To Welcome Afghan Refugees

NPR reports: Pope Francis is encouraging countries to welcome Afghan refugees who are seeking a new life. During his appearance to the public in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, Francis also prayed that displaced persons inside Afghanistan receive assistance and protection. “In these tumultuous moments, in which Afghans are seeking refuge, I pray for the most vulnerable among them, I …

Read More »

Klobuchar: End The Filibuster To Save Abortion Rights

Axios reports: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that the Senate should abolish the filibuster in order to protect abortion rights. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last week promised to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, codifying Roe v. Wade, when the House returns from recess. Klobuchar said Sunday ending the filibuster would be key …

Read More »

Kamala Harris To Campaign For Newsom In California

CNN reports: Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday in the Bay Area, following through on her commitment to help the embattled Democratic governor defeat the Republican-led effort to oust him in the September 14 special election. Newsom is campaigning in Los Angeles on Saturday with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as they attempt to …

Read More »

California GOP Ad Campaign Promotes Voting By Mail

Reuters reports: California Republicans launched a campaign on Friday to convince conservatives to trust the state’s mail-in balloting system, hoping to boost turnout in the election to recall Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, party officials said. The party will roll out videos on its digital platforms showing Republican Party officials mailing their ballots and urging supporters to vote early in the …

Read More »

Collins Very Concerned About SCOTUS Abortion Ruling

The Bangor Daily News reports: U.S. Sen. Susan Collins called a new Texas law severely restricting abortion “extreme” and criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to leave it in place amid outcry from abortion-rights activists who decried the senator’s 2018 vote to confirm a conservative justice. It is likely not the final word on the Texas law, but the ruling …

Read More »

Manchin Says He Won’t Vote For $3.5T Budget Package

Sen. Joe Manchin writes for the Wall Street Journal: I, for one, won’t support a $3.5 trillion bill, or anywhere near that level of additional spending, without greater clarity about why Congress chooses to ignore the serious effects inflation and debt have on existing government programs. Inflation continues to rise and is bleeding the value of Americans’ wages and income. …

Read More »

POLL: Newsom +19 On California Recall Question

The Los Angeles Times reports: Most likely California voters are opposed to the Republican-led recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom and a growing number fear the consequences of removing him from office with a hard-right conservative best positioned to take his place, according to new poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. The poll found that 58% of …

Read More »

Liz Cheney Elevated To Vice Chair Of Riot Committee

Axios reports: Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chair of the House select committee in charge of investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, announced Thursday that he has named Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as vice chair. Why it matters: Cheney, who was already the committee’s top Republican, is now the panel’s second-ranking member, an unusual move for a committee dominated by …

Read More »

New York To Consider Extending Evictions Moratorium

Gothamist reports: New York State lawmakers are expected to reconvene in-person in Albany for a rare special session Wednesday to extend the eviction moratorium through next January, while Governor Kathy Hochul attempts to speed up payment of more than $2 billion in federal rent relief funds to tenants in need. There are other pressing but thorny issues Hochul had said …

Read More »

Bolsonaro: I’ll Be Killed, Arrested, Or Declared Winner

Reuters reports: Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday that he had three options: victory in the 2022 presidential election, death or prison. “I have three options: arrest, killing, and victory,” he said at a rally of evangelical leaders. Bolsonaro later added that the first option was out of the question. “No one on earth threatens me.” Bolsonaro follows …

Read More »

CA Parole Panel Approves Release Of RFK’s Assassin

The Washington Post reports: A California parole board panel on Friday voted in favor of Sirhan B. Sirhan’s request for release from prison on parole, 53 years after he was arrested and convicted of the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, finding that he was no longer a threat to society, according to Sirhan’s brother, one of Kennedy’s sons and …

Read More »

Kobach Claims Poverty In Private Border Wall Lawsuit

McAllen, Texas’s Fox News affiliate reports: The organization that crowdsourced millions of dollars from public donations to build a private border wall in South Texas told a Texas court on Thursday that they don’t have funds to pay a local lawyer in a pending civil lawsuit relating to the private border wall. “The essence of it is that We Build …

Read More »

Justice Breyer Says He’s Considering Retirement

The New York Times reports: Justice Stephen G. Breyer says he is struggling to decide when to retire from the Supreme Court and is taking account of a host of factors, including who will name his successor. “There are many things that go into a retirement decision,” he said. He recalled approvingly something Justice Antonin Scalia had told him. “He …

Read More »

Facebook Working On Forming Elections Commission

The New York Times reports: Facebook has approached academics and policy experts about forming a commission to advise it on global election-related matters, said five people with knowledge of the discussions, a move that would allow the social network to shift some of its political decision-making to an advisory body. The proposed commission could decide on matters such as the …

Read More »

SCOTUS Allows Revival Of “Remain In Mexico” Policy

The New York Times reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday night refused to block a ruling from a federal judge in Texas requiring the Biden administration to reinstate a Trump-era immigration program that forces asylum seekers arriving at the southwestern border to await approval in Mexico. The court’s brief unsigned order said that the administration had appeared to act arbitrarily …

Read More »

Mistrial Declared In Avenatti’s Embezzlement Case

NBC News reports: A California judge declared a mistrial Tuesday in lawyer Michael Avenatti’s embezzlement case, where he was accused of stealing nearly $10 million in settlement funds from his clients. The Orange County judge ruled that federal prosecutors failed to disclose data in connection with a law firm server that included a database that tracked expenses and costs associated …

Read More »

House Approves Budget Package In 220-212 Vote

The Washington Post reports: House Democrats on Tuesday approved a roughly $3.5 trillion budget that could enable sweeping changes to the nation’s healthcare, education and tax laws, overcoming internal divisions in a debate that could foreshadow even tougher battles still to come. The 220-212 outcome came after days of delays as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) scrambled to stave off …

Read More »

Biden To Stick To Afghanistan Withdrawal Deadline

The Washington Post reports: President Biden, who held a virtual meeting with G-7 leaders Tuesday morning, has faced pressure from allies to extend the Aug. 31 deadline for U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, amid scenes of chaos around the Kabul airport as thousands of Afghans try to flee the country. But as evacuations of Americans and others ramp up, the president …

Read More »

Dem Moderates Stall Biden’s $3.5T Budget Plan

The Associated Press reports: Confronting moderates, House Democratic leaders tried to muscle President Joe Biden’s multitrillion-dollar budget blueprint over a key hurdle, working overnight to ease an intraparty showdown that risks upending their domestic infrastructure agenda. Tensions flared and spilled into early Tuesday as a band of moderate lawmakers threatened to withhold their votes for the $3.5 trillion plan. They …

Read More »

Kathy Hochul Sworn In As New York Governor [VIDEO]

The New York Times reports: Kathy C. Hochul, a former congresswoman from Buffalo, became the 57th governor of New York early Tuesday, making history as the first woman to ascend to the state’s highest office. She was sworn in at the State Capitol by the state’s chief judge, Janet DiFiore, in a private ceremony, capping a whirlwind chain of events …

Read More »