All posts tagged: U.S. Democratic Party

Trump-backed bill to avert government shutdown fails

Trump-backed bill to avert government shutdown fails

Published by Sam

WASHINGTON — A House Republican bill to fund the government for three months and suspend the debt ceiling for two years failed Thursday night, as dozens of rank-and-file Republicans voted against the deal endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump. Without a deal to fund the federal government and legislation that has passed the House and Senate and been signed into law, a partial shutdown is set to begin late Friday night. A total of 38 Republicans voted against the bill hammered out by their own party’s leaders. The 38 were joined by every Democrat, save for two who voted in favor and one who voted present. It was unclear late Thursday what House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., would do next, given how substantial the opposition to the bill was from within his own party. Trump and his ally Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, had already doomed a prior funding proposal Wednesday by harshly criticizing its provisions, sending Republicans scrambling for most of Thursday for a replacement plan. The latest failed version of the continuing resolution would …

US will provide .1 billion to Micron Technology for chip plants in NY and Idaho, Schumer says

US will provide $6.1 billion to Micron Technology for chip plants in NY and Idaho, Schumer says

Published by skeptic

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide $6.1 billion in government support for Micron Technology to produce advanced memory computer chips in New York and Idaho. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., personally courted Micron to build what would ultimately be a set of four chip factories near Syracuse in the town of Clay. He noted in a Wednesday interview that the announcement was a sign to voters about how Democrats were reviving the manufacturing sector. ”It will be the biggest memory chip plant in America,” said Schumer. “For the Syracuse area, this is the best thing that’s happened probably since the Erie Canal.” The comparison to the 1825 infrastructure project that connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean is audacious, but it gets at the possible magnitude of the economic impact as well as the national security stakes in an increasingly digital world. Including the government support, Micron plans to invest $100 billion in upstate New York over the next two decades. The investment would lead to an …

Noncitizen voting isn’t an issue in federal elections, regardless of conspiracy theories. Here’s why

Noncitizen voting isn’t an issue in federal elections, regardless of conspiracy theories. Here’s why

Published by José

Former President Donald Trump turned to one of his favorite themes on Friday — the specter of immigrants improperly voting in federal elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson came to the former president’s Florida compound to announce that he would introduce a bill to stop those who are not citizens from voting in elections. Trump has made baseless claims about this subject before, like in 2016, when he blamed his loss of the popular vote on voting by immigrants, and then appointed a commission to investigate the issue. It disbanded without identifying a single case of a noncitizen casting a vote. He and other Republicans have recently revved up their conspiratorial claims about the issue with the influx of migrants across the southern border under Biden, contending Democrats are letting them in to add them to the voter rolls. The theory involves two complicated subjects, immigration and voting, but it’s actually very simple. There isn’t any indication that noncitizens vote in significant numbers in federal elections or that they will in the future. It’s already a …

First Muslim American appellate court nominee faces uphill battle to salvage nomination

First Muslim American appellate court nominee faces uphill battle to salvage nomination

Published by skeptic

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nominee who could become the first Muslim American to serve as a federal appellate court judge is fighting back against characterizations of his work by law enforcement groups that are jeopardizing his nomination. The White House and Senate are doubling down on their efforts to win over lawmakers on the fence, but it may be too late. Adeel Mangi received law degrees from Oxford and Harvard. He works in a prestigious law firm and has secured significant legal victories. But his limited volunteer work with two outside groups has imperiled his nomination. Some law enforcement groups have told lawmakers that Mangi’s work as an advisory board member for the Alliance of Families for Justice is disqualifying. That’s peeling off support — not only from key Democrats but from some Republicans who have been at times willing to support President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees. Mangi has taken the unusual step of writing his home state senator to explain his work with the alliance. To counter the police groups in opposition, he and …

Trump sets fundraising record with .5M from Florida event

Trump sets fundraising record with $50.5M from Florida event

Published by skeptic

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign said it raised $50.5 million on Saturday, a staggering reported haul as his campaign works to catch up to the fundraising juggernaut of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. The reported haul from the event with major donors at the Palm Beach, Florida, home of billionaire investor John Paulson sets a new single-event fundraising record and is almost double the $26 million that Biden’s campaign said it raised recently at a gathering with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama at Radio City Music Hall in New York. “It’s clearer than ever that we have the message, the operation, and the money to propel President Trump to victory on November 5,” his campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement. The event, billed as the “Inaugural Leadership Dinner,” sends a signal of a resurgence of Trump and the Republican Party’s fundraising, which has lagged behind Biden and the Democrats. “This has been some incredible evening before it even starts because people — they …

Democrats hope Biden could get a boost from down-ballot races under Wisconsin’s new legislative map

Democrats hope Biden could get a boost from down-ballot races under Wisconsin’s new legislative map

Published by skeptic

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s presidential primary Tuesday clears the way for a general election campaign that Democrats see as an opportunity unlike any in recent state history. New legislative districts adopted last month erase Republican advantages that gave the GOP dominance of the Wisconsin Assembly even as Democrats won 14 of the past 17 statewide elections. Democrats think they can now compete for a majority, but also that invigorated legislative campaigns can help turn out votes for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Ben Wikler, the state Democratic Party chairman, describes the idea as “reverse coattails,” a play on the traditional idea that down-ballot candidates are carried by the top of the ticket. “It drives up turnout among people who had been unlikely to vote in a way that can directly affect the number of votes we get for Biden-Harris,” he said. “It’s why, I think, there are consequences far beyond the state Legislature of having the new state legislative maps drawn.” It’s too early to test Wikler’s idea. But …

U.S. spy chief ‘cannot rule out’ that China would use TikTok to influence U.S. elections

U.S. spy chief ‘cannot rule out’ that China would use TikTok to influence U.S. elections

Published by skeptic

China could use social media app TikTok to influence the 2024 U.S. elections, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a House of Representatives intelligence committee hearing on Tuesday. Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images China could use social media app TikTok to influence the 2024 U.S. elections, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a House of Representatives intelligence committee hearing on Tuesday. Asked by Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi if China’s ruling Communist Party, or CCP, would use TikTok to influence the elections, Haines said: “We cannot rule out that the CCP would use it.” Krishnamoorthi is also the ranking Democrat on the House select committee on China. He and that panel’s Republican chair Mike Gallagher last week introduced a bill that would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the short video app used by 170 million Americans. The House is due to vote on Wednesday under fast-track rules that require two-thirds of members to vote “yes” for the measure to win passage. President Joe Biden said last week he would sign the bill, but the app is popular and getting legislation approved by both the House and Senate in an election year may be difficult. The …

Hike tariffs on Chinese EVs, Senate Democrats urge Biden administration

Hike tariffs on Chinese EVs, Senate Democrats urge Biden administration

Published by skeptic

Three Senate Democrats from auto manufacturing states on Thursday urged the Biden administration to hike import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to address national security risks, the latest push by lawmakers to protect the U.S. auto sector. Nathan Howard | Getty Images Three Senate Democrats from auto manufacturing states on Thursday urged the Biden administration to hike import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to address national security risks, the latest push by lawmakers to protect the U.S. auto sector. “Allowing heavily subsidized Chinese vehicles to enter the U.S. marketplace would endanger American automotive manufacturing,” said the letter first reported by Reuters, from Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. “Artificially low-priced Chinese EVs flooding the U.S. would cost thousands of American jobs and endanger the survival of the U.S. automotive industry as a whole.” Auto industry officials told Reuters last month Biden is considering hiking tariffs on Chinese EVs and the letter is the latest in growing pressure on the White House to take further steps to prevent Chinese vehicle imports. The letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and …

Dean Phillips drops out of 2024 presidential race

Dean Phillips drops out of 2024 presidential race

Published by skeptic

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed President Joe Biden. “Americans were demanding an alternative, and democracy demands options. But it is clear that alternative is not me,” Phillips wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday. “And it is clear that Joe Biden is OUR candidate and OUR opportunity to demonstrate what type of country America is and intends to be.” Phillips’ exit from the Democratic field came hours after GOP candidate Nikki Haley announced her own decision to suspend her presidential bid, effectively cementing the widely predicted November rematch between President Joe Biden and twice-impeached former President Donald Trump. Phillips’ announcement whittles down an already uncompetitive Democratic primary. On Super Tuesday, Biden racked up wins in state after state, though he lost the U.S. territory of American Samoa to little-known Democrat Jason Palmer. Biden’s campaign has been in general election mode for weeks, kicking into high gear after the president swept New Hampshire and South Carolina. Phillips hinted at an announcement on Super Tuesday, cryptically noting that …

U.S. lawmakers push for ByteDance to divest TikTok or face ban

U.S. lawmakers push for ByteDance to divest TikTok or face ban

Published by skeptic

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday to give China’s ByteDance about six months to divest popular short video app TikTok or face a U.S. ban, seeking to tackle national security concerns about its Chinese ownership. Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday to give China’s ByteDance about six months to divest popular short video app TikTok or face a U.S. ban, seeking to tackle national security concerns about its Chinese ownership. The bill is the first significant legislative move in nearly a year toward banning or forcing ByteDance to divest the popular app, after senate legislation to ban it stalled in Congress last year in the face of heavy lobbying by TikTok. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives’ select China committee and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat, are among more than a dozen lawmakers introducing the measure, which is expected to see an initial vote on Thursday. “This is my message to TikTok: break up with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to your American users,” Gallagher said. “America’s foremost …