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Less than one week after perhaps the most egregiously anti-transgender bill in modern US history passed the Arkansas legislature, it was vetoed in a surprise move by Governor Asa Hutchinson, a staunch Republican with a poor record on LGBTQ and civil rights. The bill, HB 1570, erroneously dubbed the “Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act” (SAFE),
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The training coordinator for the Minneapolis Police Department’s crisis intervention program testified Tuesday in Derek Chauvin’s criminal trial about the importance of recognizing when someone is in crisis and de-escalating the situation. “Policy requires that when it’s safe and feasible, we should de-escalate,” said Sgt. Ker Yang, who has been with the department for 24
Continue ReadingLast Wednesday President Joe Biden announced a more than $2 trillion plan to rebuild US infrastructure, repairing roads, bridges, pipes, as well as expanding access to long-term care services under Medicaid, building schools and expanding internet access across the US. Biden plans to fund these investments in large part through tax increases. The plan proposes
Continue ReadingRepublican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a frequent critic of Biden administration nominees for supporting the Iraq War and other “forever wars,” himself wrote in support of the Iraq War prior to becoming a senator in newly uncovered blog posts. “The question should not be, When do we get to leave? But instead, How are
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Sen. Joe Manchin, an influential centrist Democrat, warned Monday that the Biden administration’s massive infrastructure package can’t pass in its current form because he and a handful of other Senate Democrats believe the corporate tax hikes proposed in the bill — designed to offset its costs — are too steep. “As the bill exists today,
Continue ReadingThe Senate parliamentarian has ruled that Democrats may amend the budget resolution they used for their Covid-19 relief bill and attach another set of reconciliation instructions to it, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The ruling is a key step for Democrats as they weigh their options for moving infrastructure legislation, potentially giving
Continue ReadingPresident Joe Biden, well on his way to reaching a new goal of vaccinating 200 million Americans by the end of April, is taking initial steps toward helping other nations ramp up shots, including by boosting global manufacturing and appointing a top global health expert who previously advocated for shipping vaccines from the United States’
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A man tied to the allegations of extortion pushed by Rep. Matt Gaetz said Monday evening that the Republican lawmaker is “trying to direct attention from himself” as Gaetz faces a Justice Department probe. Bob Kent, a former Air Force intelligence officer, told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “Prime Time” that — despite Gaetz’s claims —
Continue ReadingTop officials in President Joe Biden’s administration have made a series of television and radio appearances to promote the infrastructure proposal Biden unveiled last week, a roughly $2 trillion package the White House has named the American Jobs Plan. But some of these Biden officials have inaccurately described one of the figures they have made
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Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo on Monday thoroughly rejected Derek Chauvin’s actions and use of force during the arrest of George Floyd last May as contrary to department policy. “Once Mr. Floyd had stopped resisting, and certainly once he was in distress and trying to verbalize that, that should have stopped,” Arradondo testified during Chauvin’s
Continue ReadingFor the right price, 14 Colorado drivers can show their love for the state’s legal green. Colorado is auctioning rights for 14 different official state license plates with phrases like “BONG,” “GANJA,” “HEMP” and “ISIT420.” The revenue from these extremely obvious nods to all things cannabis will go to the Colorado Disability Funding Committee, Democratic
Continue ReadingThe Senate parliamentarian has ruled that Democrats may amend the budget resolution they used for their Covid-19 relief bill and attach another set of reconciliation instructions to it, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The ruling is a key step for Democrats as they weigh their options for moving infrastructure legislation, potentially giving
Continue ReadingArkansas’ Republican governor on Monday vetoed an anti-transgender health care bill that would’ve prohibited physicians in the state from providing gender-affirming “procedures” for trans people under age 18. Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters that he killed HB 1570 because the bill “would be and is a vast government overreach” and because it would’ve created “new
Continue ReadingJustice Clarence Thomas suggested on Monday that Congress should consider whether laws should be updated to better regulate social media platforms that, he said, have come to have “unbridled control” over “unprecedented” amounts of speech. The provocative and controversial opinion comes as Twitter banned former President Donald Trump from its platform for violating its rules
Continue ReadingTop members of the Biden White House have appeared with California’s embattled Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, twice over the last week — a signal of support for a politician who is likely to face a recall election. Newsom accompanied Vice President Kamala Harris on a tour of a water treatment plant in Oakland, California, on
Continue ReadingSecretary of State Tony Blinken said that the US would not “trade shots in arms for political favors” when outlining the State Department’s plans to share supplies of Covid-19 vaccines with other countries, though he offered little detail on what that outreach would look like. “This is about saving lives,” Blinken said during remarks at
Continue ReadingAdditional Army criminal investigators have been sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in the wake of a soldier’s allegation about sexual assault that may have involved multiple Army personnel in more than one incident, several Army officials told CNN. According to the post’s commanding general, a trainee at Fort Sill reported on March 27 that she
Continue ReadingTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for a global minimum corporate tax rate on Monday, a pitch that comes as the Biden administration begins to sell its roughly $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs proposal that would raise US corporate taxes to fund the massive plan. “We’re working with G20 nations to agree to a global minimum
Continue ReadingThe leader of a task force that reviewed security failures around the January 6 insurrection reiterated his call on Monday for background checks on all congressional staff following yet another deadly attack at the US Capitol. But Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, speaking to CNN’s Jim Sciutto, also pushed back on claims that the
Continue ReadingThe Internal Revenue Service started sending what it calls “plus-up” payments last week to people who are owed a bigger stimulus check based on their actual 2020 income than they initially received. The original payments were based on 2018 or 2019 tax returns. That means people who earned less in 2020 could be owed more
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