Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up a legal dispute over a New York gun law that could expand the scope of the Second Amendment, leaving the high court, now with an expanded conservative majority, poised to address the politically charged issue of gun rights.
The Supreme Court’s decision to consider the legal battle comes in the wake of a spate of mass shootings in recent weeks that have reignited the debate over gun control and spurred calls for Congress to pass legislation restricting access to firearms. Oral arguments will take place in the fall, in the court’s next term.
The high court has shied away from jumping into the contentious issue of gun rights since issuing its last major rulings in 2008 and 2010, when it found the Second Amendment protects the right to have firearms in the home for self-defense. The justices in June turned away a bevy of challenges to state laws placing restrictions on guns and, after hearing oral arguments, dismissed a dispute over a New York City rule restricting where licensed handgun owners could transport locked and unloaded firearms because the measure was changed.
The reluctance of the Supreme Court to wade into such a politically fraught issue has rankled its conservative members. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in 2018 that his fellow justices have made the Second Amendment a “disfavored right” and the Supreme Court’s “constitutional orphan,” and Justice Brett Kavanaugh said last year the court should address the issue of the scope of the Second Amendment “soon.”
But gun rights backers believe the stage is set for the Supreme Court to clarify the scope of the Second Amendment, as it now has a 6-3 conservative majority with the addition of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in October.
The case to be heard by the justices involves a New York regime that prohibits people from carrying concealed handguns outside the home without a license. To obtain a license to carry in public, an applicant must demonstrate a “proper cause” and “special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community or of persons engaged in the same profession.”
Joined by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, two New York residents challenged the state’s framework for obtaining a license to carry a handgun in public after their applications to do so were rejected on the grounds they failed to show “proper cause” to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.
The group argued the law was an unconstitutional infringement of the Second Amendment, but both the federal district court and the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the licensing rules. They asked the Supreme Court to decide whether the Second Amendment allows the government to prohibit citizens from carrying handguns outside the home for self-defense.
But New York Attorney General Letitia James argued the law “is consistent with the historical scope of the Second Amendment and directly advances New York’s compelling interests in public safety and crime prevention.”
In its unsigned order on Monday, the Supreme Court said it would consider “[w]hether the State’s denial of petitioners’ applications for concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violated the Second Amendment.”
California’s ambition to retake the lead on climate change policy in the United States received a major boost Monday as the Biden administration moved toward allowing the state to once more set its own car pollution standards, a right revoked under former President Trump.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced that it is reviewing a major Trump-era action that blocked California’s legal authority to set tailpipe emission standards for cars and SUVs that are tougher than federal regulations. After seeking the public’s input, as required by law, the agency intends to rescind the Trump administration’s decision, a spokesman for the agency said.
The EPA’s action has national significance as transportation remains the largest source of planet-warming emissions in the United States, and California, with nearly 40 million people, is the country’s largest auto market. The state’s unique ability to set its own car pollution rules has influenced federal policy for decades, leading to stricter nationwide standards.
Thirteen other states and the District of Columbia follow California’s more stringent standards, altogether accounting for nearly 40% of auto sales in the United States. A smaller number have also signed on to the state’s mandate that automakers produce more zero-emission vehicles.
The decision is a step toward restoring the state’s power to set tougher fuel efficiency and tailpipe emissions standards than the federal government.
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The agency’s action was widely expected — and eagerly anticipated by state officials and environmentalists. Over the last five decades, every president except for George W. Bush and Trump accepted California’s power to set its own tailpipe pollution rules under the 1970 Clean Air Act.
“I am a firm believer in California’s long-standing statutory authority to lead,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement. “The 2019 decision to revoke the state’s waiver to enforce its greenhouse gas pollution standards for cars and trucks was legally dubious and an attack on the public’s health and well-being.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the move, adding that the announcement “begins the process of restoring this critically important tool” to California and the other states that have followed its lead.
California’s special authority dates to the 1960s, when state officials acknowledged the smog enveloping Southern California as a public health crisis. By the time the federal government began to take an interest in enacting tailpipe emissions controls, California had already taken the lead.
Concerned that each state would pass different regulations, Congress gave the EPA the authority to set vehicle emissions standards for the nation, but it carved out an exception for California. Under the law, the EPA would be required to give the state a waiver allowing it to enforce its own rules, provided they were at least as tough as the federal ones.
The legal waiver has historically served as the foundation for the state’s role as an environmental leader in reducing car pollution and improving air quality. It has also allowed the state to play an outsize role in accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles by empowering officials to require that automakers produce more of them if they wanted access to the California market.
Cara Horowitz, co-director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the UCLA School of Law, said restoring California’s waiver is crucial to the state’s efforts to fight climate change.
“California has this fairly ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 40% by 2030. And an even more ambitious goal of getting to carbon neutrality by 2045,” she said. “It can’t do those things unless it’s able to tamp down significantly on pollution from vehicles.”
Biden’s infrastructure proposal includes a $174-billion investment in electric cars. But it doesn’t go as far as California’s plans.
Biden has also vowed to make deep cuts to the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, announcing at last week’s climate summit that he would reduce them by as much as 52% by 2030. His plans rely heavily on automakers building cleaner cars and Americans buying more electric vehicles, a massive shift that could take place faster if California is empowered again to set emissions standards.
The Biden administration has begun talks with automakers to replace the weaker standards put in place under Trump with rules that would run through 2025. Restoring California’s authority to write its own car pollution standards would give state officials a seat at those talks and, more important, could pressure car companies to agree to more stringent rules.
“The Biden administration surely expects California to play our historic role as the left flank,” said Mary Nichols, who served as California’s top clean air regulator for more than a decade before stepping down last year. With California and the states that follow its standards empowered to enforce tougher rules, she said, the EPA can stake out a moderate position, knowing the auto industry will still have to satisfy these states.
The Department of Transportation issued a rule barring any state from setting its own car pollution standards — a regulation that the Biden administration took steps to repeal last week. And based on that rule, Trump’s EPA revoked the state’s legal waiver, preventing it from enforcing its tailpipe emissions standards.
The state sued the administration and set off a legal battle that was still winding its way through the federal courts when Biden took office.
Frustrated by the Trump administration’s plans to roll back car pollution regulations, Nichols brokered a deal in 2019 with five automakers to reduce auto emissions — regardless of what the federal government did. The Biden administration is expected to use that agreement as a model for its talks with car manufacturers.
Some environmental groups say that deal doesn’t do enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent the worst effects of climate change. They want the Biden administration to hold automakers to the tougher standards they agreed to under Obama, which required new cars and SUVs to average about 36 miles per gallon under real-world driving conditions by 2025. Under the California agreement, car companies would have until 2026 to meet that standard.
General Motors and other automakers have argued that the tougher Obama-era standards aren’t achievable because of Americans’ continued preference for less efficient SUVs and pickup trucks. They are expected to ask the Biden administration to require only small fuel-efficiency improvements over the next decade so they can use the profits from gas-guzzling vehicles to fund the introduction of dozens of new electric models.
Before Trump, California had lost its power to regulate emissions only once before, under Bush. At the time, the state was set to enact standards that were more aggressive than those favored by the federal government. The move probably would have resulted in automakers producing one set of cars to meet California’s regulations and another, more polluting fleet for the rest of the country.
President Obama reversed Bush’s decision two years later and worked with California on a set of national standards.
Minnesota just barely held onto its eight congressional seats on Monday as the U.S. Census Bureau announced new population totals for the country.
Minnesota grew by slightly under 400,000 people in the last decade, the Census Bureau reported, reaching a total population of 5,709,752 people by April 2020. But with other states especially in the south and west growing faster, Minnesota had been widely expected to lose a congressional seat.
The state held onto its eight seats by the narrowest of margins, Census Acting Director Ron Jarmin said in an online presentation. If the state of New York had counted just 89 more people in the Census, he said, it would have vaulted over Minnesota to get the 435th of 435 House seats allotted.
Minnesota also had the highest Census response rate in the country, at 75%. Experts said that could be a factor in why Minnesota was able to hold onto its eight seats.
“We really had a huge group of people with an interest in making sure we got this right, and that effort paid off, especially given the very small margin that we are seeing,” said Susan Brower, the state demographer. She praised what she called a broad coalition of government and private interests who joined together to promote Census participation.
“There’s a really jubilant feeling among the Census stakeholders today,” Brower said.
Retaining eight seats means Minnesota won’t lose clout in Congress or in the Electoral College. And while the upcoming process of redrawing Minnesota’s eight districts is still certain to be fraught, having to consolidate eight districts into seven would likely have meant a messy political fight with high potential to pit allies against one another.
“You’ll be able to hear the collective sighs of relief from the eight members of Congress across the state,” said Gregg Peppin, a Republican strategist with experience in redistricting.
With a politically divided state Legislature, and the state’s congressional delegation split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, Peppin said incumbents have much less to worry about now. “If I’m an incumbent, I’m thinking the Legislature is going to probably do a ‘least changes’ plan,” he said.
Minnesota has been on the edge of losing one of its seats in the U.S. House for decades. The last time it happened was after the 1960 population count, when the state went from nine seats to eight.
Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat and the senior member of Minnesota’s delegation, said in a statement that the news “is a tribute to everyone who worked so hard to get a complete, comprehensive count of Minnesota’s population.”
“The nonprofits, businesses, local government leaders, and citizen activists who promoted the Census deserve credit for this win,” McCollum said.
The final Census numbers were supposed to be released by the end of December, but the data were delayed after the 2020 Census count was plagued with budget constraints, technical difficulties and logistical struggles amid the pandemic.
A decade ago, Minnesota came within about 15,000 people of losing its eighth seat. Initial estimates released last December suggested the state would fall some 25,000 people short of keeping the eighth seat, which left most of the state’s political class all but certain it would happen.
As of the 2020 elections, Democrats and Republicans evenly divide the state’s eight-member House delegation. Democrats hold the seats that cover Minneapolis, St. Paul and a number of their respective inner-ring suburbs; and two suburban-to-exurban districts in the south and west Twin Cities.
Republicans hold three much geographically larger districts that combined cover most of greater Minnesota, and a fourth district that combines parts of the north metro and the St. Cloud area.
The Minnesota Legislature is tasked with redrawing the political boundaries for seats in Congress and the statehouse, but disagreements and divided government have kicked that process to the courts for decades.
That’s likely to happen again this cycle, with Minnesota’s Legislature divided between Republicans and Democrats.
Staff writer Hunter Woodall contributed to this report.
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks Monday at the Department of Justice in Washington. Garland announced the department will open an investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Mandel Ngan /Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks Monday at the Department of Justice in Washington. Garland announced the department will open an investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Mandel Ngan /Pool/AFP via Getty Images
The Justice Department will launch an investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department to determine if there is a pattern of discrimination or excessive force within its ranks, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday.
The investigation marks the launch of the second such “pattern or practice” investigation since Garland took over as attorney general and comes more than a year after the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor by Louisville, Ky., police fueled worldwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.
“The investigation will assess whether LMPD [Louisville Metro Police Department] engages in a pattern or practice of using unreasonable force, including with respect to people involved in peaceful, expressive activities,” Garland said.
“It will determine whether LMPD engages in unconstitutional stops, searches and seizures, as well as whether the department unlawfully executes search warrants on private homes.”
Taylor, a 26-year-old Louisville emergency medical technician, was shot and killed in her home in March 2020 by police as they attempted an early-morning narcotics raid on her apartment.
The city settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Taylor’s family in September for $12 million. The settlement included a series of police reforms. Louisville had earlier also banned no-knock warrants.
The police department fired one of the officers involved in the killing last year. The department said officer Brett Hankison “displayed an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
Monday’s announcement follows the launch of a similar “pattern or practice” investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department last Wednesday. That move came a day after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on murder charges for the death of George Floyd.
Good morning and welcome to Fox News First. Here’s what you need to know as you start your day
Fox News Poll: Biden approaches 100-day milestone As Joe Biden closes in on the 100-day mark of his presidency, a Fox News poll finds a 54 percent majority of voters approves of his job performance. That’s lower than Barack Obama’s 62 percent and George W. Bush’s 63 percent approval at their respective 100-day points, but higher than the 45 percent Donald Trump received four years ago.
There is an 81-point gap on approval of President Biden between Democrats (95 percent) and Republicans (14 percent). That’s even a bit wider than the 76-point partisan gap for former President Trump in April 2017.
In addition, concern about coronavirus stands at a record low, and the highest percentage ever say the virus is at least somewhat under control. Eighty-one percent feel it is under control, an increase of 34 points since December.
That’s the best news in the poll for Biden.
By a 31-point margin, voters say border security is worse than it was two years ago, a 56 percent majority thinks Biden winning the election is completely or mostly behind the increase of migrants at the U.S. southern border, and 67 percent are extremely or very concerned about illegal immigration.
Views on the economy are more than two-to-one negative: 29 percent rate it as excellent/good and 69 percent say only fair/poor. That’s little changed since the end of Trump’s term, when it was 33-66 percent. However, in January 2020, before the pandemic, 55 percent rated economic conditions positively, including a record 20 percent saying “excellent.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.
In other developments: – Chuck Todd: Biden’s 53 percent approval rating is ‘the new 60’ – McCarthy slams Biden’s first 100 days as ‘bait and switch’ after promises of bipartisanship – AOC says Biden ‘exceeded’ progressive expectations in first 100 days – Republicans cannot standby as ‘the demagogues of the Democratic Party’ tear this country apart: Mark Levin
MIT study challenges indoor social distancing, finds ‘no difference between 6 feet and 60 feet’ A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology challenges the widespread social distancing guidelines, asserting that the “six-foot rule” is “inadequate” in mitigating indoor transmission of COVID-19.
MIT professors Martin Bazant and John Bush found that people who maintain six feet of distance indoors are no more protected than if they were 60 feet apart – even when wearing a mask.
The peer-reviewed study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, focused on factors such as time spent indoors, air filtration and circulation, immunization and variant strains.
“What our analysis continues to show is that many spaces that have been shut down in fact don’t need to be,” Bazant explained to CNBC. “Often times the space is large enough, the ventilation is good enough, the amount of time people spend together is such that those spaces can be safely operated even at full capacity and the scientific support for reduced capacity in those spaces is really not very good.”
“I think if you run the numbers, even right now for many types of spaces you’d find that there is not a need for occupancy restrictions,” he added.
Both Bazant and Bush teach applied mathematics, while Bazant also teaches applied chemistry. As such, the professors developed a calculation to determine the risk of exposure to COVID-19. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
In other developments: – Fauci acknowledges outdoor COVID-19 transmission ‘low,’ expects updated mask guidance – Fully open Texas and Florida reporting fewer COVID cases than Democrat-led Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York – European Union will let vaccinated Americans visit this summer: official – AZ parent slams school board for ‘double standard’ of hosting retirement party, canceling prom
Oscars 2021 sees ‘Nomadland’ receive best picture as celebs rip Derek Chauvin, police brutality The 2021 Oscars on Sunday saw “Nomadland” take home the top prize as best picture in an awards show that featured countless celebrities reference Derek Chauvin’s murder conviction and police brutality in the United States.
“We give this one to our wolf,” Frances McDormand, one of the film’s stars and producers, said before howling to the ceiling as she accepted the accolade. She also asked viewers to watch the film “on the largest screen possible” at movie theaters “very, very soon.”
McDormand also took home the award for best actress for the film.
Travon Free, one of the directors of “Two Distant Strangers,” discussed police brutality in his acceptance speech for the film’s win for best live-action short film.
“Today the police will kill three people and tomorrow the police will kill three people, and the day after that the police will kill three people because on average the police in America every day kill three people,” Free said, joined by co-director Desmond Roe.
He continued: “Those people have been disproportionately Black people… I ask that you please not be indifferent. Please don’t be indifferent to our pain.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
In other developments: – Tyler Perry’s Oscar speech goes viral, ‘My mother taught me to refuse hate’ – Oscars 2021: Complete winners list – Academy Awards venue change forces crew to deal with higher-crime area in Los Angeles – 93rd Academy Awards leaves viewers unhappy over new format, late Chadwick Boseman snub – The Oscars will not require attendees to wear face masks during telecast: report – LA’s homeless relocate ahead of Oscars ceremony: report
TODAY’S MUST-READS: – Border agents blame smugglers for endangering the lives of mom, 2 children at border wall – Virginia deputy shot Black man after giving him ride home an hour earlier: report – Miami International Airport turns into slugfest after massive brawl breaks out – Michigan Democrat seen resisting DUI arrest, threatens to call Gov. Whitmer in bodycam footage – CNN SOTU interview with VP Harris ridiculed for extreme social distancing: ‘It’s all theatre’ – Submarine that vanished in Indonesia with 53 crew on board is found
THE LATEST FROM FOX BUSINESS: – Young adults relocations are reshaping political geography – Elon Musk says ‘bunch of people will probably die’ during Mars mission – Out-of-town homebuyers with deep pockets edging out locals – Wyoming roofing company offering free AR-15 with every installation, owner fires back at backlash – Hunting, gun sports app GoWild seeing rise in ammunition scams – Disneyland to reopen this week, but with no parades, fireworks or hugs
#TheFlashback: CLICK HEREto find out what happened on “This Day in History.”
Mark Levin, host of “Life, Liberty & Levin,” blasted President Biden, Vice President Harris and congressional Democrats on Sunday, saying they arepursuing a “diabolical course for our nation” and undermining “virtually every institution in our society.”
“They slander our ancestors, trash our founding documents and principles. They hate the country in which they live and contributed nothing to its betterment,” he said.
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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A student has been arrested after firing multiple shots at Plymouth Middle School Monday morning.
No injuries were reported, and all students are safe, according to school officials.
According to Plymouth police, officers responded to a report of shots fired at 8:44 a.m.
A letter from Robbinsdale Area Schools officials said the student fired a gun into the ceiling of a hallway multiple times. Several students witnessed the incident, according to the school.
“We know this was a scary and traumatic event for everyone at Plymouth Middle School, and across the district,” interim superintendent Dr. Stephanie Burrage wrote in the letter. “Please know that each district school has a support team that includes school counselors, school psychologists, social workers and others who are available to work with students as they cope with the things they’re feeling and experiencing due to this incident.”
The student was taken into custody and the scene is contained, and police say they are not looking for additional suspects.
School officials said “there will be a visible police presence at Plymouth Middle School for the rest of the day, and the school will remain in lockdown during that time.”
Families who wish to pick up their students are asked to go to the east parking lot of Armstrong High School for reunification.
According to WCCO’s Christiane Cordero, some parents drove to the school after receiving calls or texts from students that a gun was discharged at the school.
Plymouth Middle School is on lockdown. Waiting for official confirmation but parents rushed here in response to their kids texting/calling saying a gun was fired on campus.
Spoke with one mom who was both panicked and relieved. “I’m just glad I heard from my daughter directly.” pic.twitter.com/uMLx9yhAeQ
So far in his young presidency, President Joe Biden has been one of the best friends the stock market has ever had.
Better, in fact, than any president before him going back to at least the 1950s and the Dwight Eisenhower administration, as the 46th chief executive has witnessed an unprecedented growth on Wall Street in his first 100 days in office as measured from the time of his election.
How long that cozy relationship will last is about to be determined, as investors have to digest a slew of potential obstacles from tax policy, regulations associated with Biden’s ambitious climate agenda, and the threat of overheating in an economy already on fire.
But so far, investors have shown no hesitance in making huge bets on corporate America.
“Biden’s first 100 days have already delivered the strongest post-election equity returns in at least 75 years, due to record fiscal stimulus and despite heavy use of Executive Orders,” JPMorgan Chase strategist John Normand said in a note. The results are “not bad for some [former President Donald] Trump labeled as Sleepy Joe during the campaign.”
Indeed, Biden’s results have been staggering so far.
The S&P 500 has risen 24.1% since Election Day with numbers that easily trounce any of his predecessors.
The only administration going back to 1953, or the beginning of Eisenhower’s term, to rival Biden’s were those of John F. Kennedy, who saw an 18.5% rise during the same period.
Even Trump, who often touted how well stocks were doing, saw just an 11.4% rise for the first 100 days.
To be sure, judging results that early in a presidency is tricky. In Biden’s case, it’s especially difficult to gauge whether the market was reacting to him specifically or simply continuing to ride the steam locomotive that began in late March 2020 and has shown only sporadic signs of slowing down since.
“Anyone that became president this year was going to have a pretty significant tailwind,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities. “You’re coming into a point where you had to just not mess things up, and hopefully improve on what it was you needed to get done.”
No president, in fact, had a tailwind comparable to what Biden was handed in January.
Congress already had appropriated more than $3 trillion in stimulus and the Federal Reserve had relaxed policy to the loosest point in the central bank’s history. All told, more than $5.3 trillion has been spent on Covid-related relief efforts, and the Fed’s bond purchases have nearly doubled its balance sheet to just shy of $8 trillion.
With possibly trillions more coming in spending on infrastructure, a term that congressional Democrats have paint with a generously broad brush, that gives forward-looking investors even more reason to plow money into the market.
On top of that, the U.S. is still vaccinating about 3 million people a day, adding hopes that growth will continue as more of the economy comes back to life ahead.
“It will be intriguing to see what the next 100 days looks like,” Hogan said. “There’s a significant tailwind for reopening. The tug-of-war between the virus and vaccine is finally being won by the vaccine.”
What could go wrong
Still, there’s plenty to watch ahead as the sizzling bull market tries to rage on.
After all, the S&P 500 is up about 48% from a year ago, and it hasn’t had a meaningful pullback in more than six months. From November through March, investors poured more money into equity-based funds than they did in the previous 12 years, according to Bank of America.
Moreover, some 96% of the components in the all-encompassing Wilshire 5000 have seen positive returns in the past 12 months, which Hogan said is a record and has come despite more volatility than usual, particularly in the past few months.
“For sure, I would get concerned about going too far, too fast,” Hogan said. “But the corrections seem like they’re happening on a rotational basis instead of an index basis. At some point in time, there will be something that gums this up.”
Markets have continued to push higher even knowing that Biden has pinned a bull’s eye on the nation’s richest earners as well as corporations, with both groups expected to see substantially higher tax bills ahead.
Concern remains, though, over policy mistakes in other areas.
All that stimulus has resulted in a $1.7 trillion budget deficit through just the first half of fiscal 2021, raising concerns over how all that red ink will be financed.
At the same time, the Fed has said it will not start tightening until it seems inflation that runs above its traditional 2% target for a considerable period of time as it takes aim at a goal of both full and inclusive employment.
Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz, said that “outcomes-based” approach to monetary policymaking is a mistake, particularly with inflation clearly on the rise. El-Erian told CNBC that “massive liquidity and a significant pickup in the economy recovery” are propelling the markets and should continue to do so unless there’s “either a policy mistake or some sort of market dislocation.”
One area he is watching is the Fed, which meets this week.
The policymaking Federal Open Market Committee is almost certain not to change policy or even indicate that interest rate hikes or a slowdown in asset purchases are anywhere on the horizon. El-Erian said he’d like to see a gradual tightening that starts soon.
“The risk of falling behind is high. Then you have to slam on the brakes,” he said on “Squawk Box.” “That’s the one thing that can really disrupt the markets, if we get them slamming the brakes. So I would rather see them slowly tap the brakes now than have a very high risk of them slamming the brakes down the road.”
While Fed officials have characterized the higher inflation numbers recently as temporary, El-Erian said supply-driven inflation, like with semiconductors and a number of consumer goods, indicates that may not be the case.
“I’m really worried that what they hope is transitory inflation is going to end up being persistent inflation,” he said. “If we end up in a persistent inflation world, they’re going to have to slam on the brakes, and the market reaction then will be much worse than it would be if they just tapered a little bit now.”
Correction: An earlier version misstated the precise number of days since Biden became president.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal to expand gun rights in the United States in a New York case over the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
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J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal to expand gun rights in the United States in a New York case over the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
In a major foray into gun rights, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up a lower court ruling that upheld New York’s restrictive gun-permit law.
At issue in the case, NY State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Corlett, is how much the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to carry concealed weapons outside their home for self-defense. The case will likely be argued in the fall.
The court’s decision follows mass shootings in recent weeks in Indiana, Georgia, Colorado and California, and a surge in firearms sales, particularly to first-time gun buyers.
While most states permit gun owners to carry their firearms when they go out, New York and seven other states — California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island — have some restrictions.
In 2008 and 2010, the high court overturned handgun bans in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, respectively, in a pair of landmark cases that redefined gun rights in the United States.
In those cases, a sharply divided court ruled that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is an individual right, not one associated with the militia, as the court had previously implied. Those decisions marked a huge victory for the National Rifle Association and other gun rights organizations.
However, in the past decade, the court has largely avoided gun rights cases. The latest case out of New York state would be the first major firearms ruling since Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation last year, solidifying a 6-3 conservative majority.
In April 2020, the court sent a challenge to a New York City ban on carrying handguns outside the home back to the lower court without ruling, concluding the case was moot because the city had already changed the law.
But in a concurring opinion at that time, Justice Brett Kavanaugh recommended that the justices take up another Second Amendment case soon, suggesting the lower courts might not be properly applying the Supreme Court’s earlier gun rights rulings.
“If the shooting and the killing was self-defense or proper use of force, then show the truth,” the Rev. William J. Barber II said at a news briefing on Saturday. “If it wasn’t — show the truth. But Sheriff, D.A., law enforcement, you can’t just shut up. You must speak up.”
On Friday, Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said the body-camera footage should be released.
Mr. Brown’s family is in part represented by Ben Crump, the well-known civil rights lawyer who was among those representing the family of George Floyd after his death in police custody in Minneapolis.
The shooting in North Carolina took place one day after a jury found a former police officer guilty of murder in Mr. Floyd’s death, and as police violence against Black people has come under intense scrutiny across the country.
A spokesman for the sheriff’s office said that seven of the department’s 55 full-time deputies had been placed on paid administrative leave after Mr. Brown’s death.
Mr. Brown’s family was told that no drugs or weapons had been retrieved from the property or the car, Mr. Daniels, their lawyer, said on Saturday. The legal team has not yet seen the search warrant that officials say was being executed at the time of the shooting.
“This is a moment in time that we have to seize and take back accountability and transparency,” Mr. Daniels said. Mr. Brown, he said, was “taken by the hands of the ones who are sworn to protect and serve.”
The EU is at an advanced stage of talks with the US over mutually recognising vaccine passports to boost transatlantic tourism this summer, but Brussels is yet to open discussions with the British government.
A spokesperson for the European commission said that while discussions had been held with US officials and the secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, there were “no contacts at present with the UK”.
Boris Johnson has said he wants to allow foreign travel by 17 May and the government is considering introducing vaccine passports for British holidaymakers in line with that target.
But a commission spokesperson said talks had not yet opened between Brussels and London on how to ensure mutual recognition of either side’s documents proving vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test.
It is understood technical talks are under way with individual EU member states such as Greece. A UK government spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, offered fresh hope for US residents of a summer holiday in the EU.
She suggested in an interview with the New York Times that Americans who were fully vaccinated would be able to visit Europe, in what would be a change of policy on non-essential travel.
“The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” she said. “This will enable free movement and travel to the European Union. Because one thing is clear: all 27 member states will accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by EMA.”
She said the travel situation would still depend “on the epidemiological situation, but the situation is improving in the United States, as it is, hopefully, also improving in the European Union”.
The EU adopted tough restrictions on travel into the bloc’s 27 member states last year. Non-essential trips are permitted only from Australia, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
To qualify for the list, countries must have recorded no more than 25 new Covid cases per 100,000 people over the past 14 days and no more than 4% of tests carried out in the previous week returning positive.
The latest UK statistics, dated 20 April, show 24.7 cases per 100,000 across a seven-day period. The list of countries exempt from the EU measures is reviewed every two weeks.
It has been suggested that the EU’s rules could change in time for summer to also take into account vaccination coverage.
Last week EU diplomats opened a discussion as to what criteria could be used beyond incidence rate to allow Europe’s tourism hotspots to enjoy a summer season.
It was suggested by the commission that the vaccination rates in several parts of the world “support updating the approach for the safe lifting of restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU”.
While a number of northern EU member states are cautious about reopening to tourists, ministers in Spain and Greece, among others, have been outspoken about the needs of their tourism sectors.
Greece has said it will open its borders to travellers from the US from Monday, provided they show proof of vaccination or a negative coronavirus test.
Spain’s tourism minister, Fernando Valdés, said last week that his country would be ready for mass tourism this summer.
He told Sky News: “We are desperate to welcome you this summer. “I think we will be ready here in Spain and we also think that things on the vaccination scheme of the UK are going pretty well. So, hopefully we will be seeing this summer the restart of holidays.”
The European commissioner leading the EU’s vaccine taskforce, Thierry Breton, told the Guardian this month that he was confident the bloc would hit its target of vaccinating 70% of adults by the end of the summer, permitting it “an almost normal tourist season”.
Some tech and green energy stocks could be particularly exposed to selling pressure if the Biden administration hikes capital gains taxes, according to Goldman Sachs.
President Joe Biden will reportedly propose moving the capital gains tax rate for high-income earners to 39.6%, which would be pushed above 40% when accounting for an existing surcharge to fund programs from the Affordable Care Act.
That could cause investors to take a closer look at whether to sell their biggest winners. Goldman Sachs researchers looked at four periods over the last decade to identify some of the stocks that might be most at risk.
A student fired gunshots Monday morning inside Plymouth Middle School, and no injuries were been reported, police said.
A school resource officer apprehended the student, who fired the shots in a hall outside a bathroom, police and the district superintendent said during a media briefing late Monday morning. A gun was recovered, police said.
A lockdown was in place until about noon at the school for sixth- through eighth-grade students, which is part of the Robbinsdale School District and located just west of Hwy. 169 at N. 10011 36th Av.
Police said they are not looking for any other suspects in connection with the gunfire, which was reported to authorities about 8:45 a.m., said Police Chief Erik Fadden. More than 700 students were in the school at the time.
Interim District Superintendent Stephanie Burrage said, “We had an unfortunate situation today. Anytime there is a gun in the school [that] puts our kids in jeopardy. … It’s not a fun day for anyone to manage a gun in a school.”
Burrage was asked whether the student said anything during the incident, and she replied, “We can’t share what was said.”
The superintendent said the district has been in contact with the student’s parents.
A staff member first encountered the student before the school resource officer stepped in and made the arrest, police said.
“Thank God there was a school resource officer there to de-escalate,” said Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson, whose office will have personnel on the campus to assist police.
The district directed families wishing to pick up students to go to the east parking lot of nearby Armstrong High School for reunification.
Small groups of students started leaving around noon and were provided bag lunches as they headed toward the high school.
Seventh-grader Lola Hodgson texted her mother, Nikia Slaughter, at 8:47 a.m. that the school was on lockdown and that several shots had been fired.
“We don’t entirely know what the hell is going on,” Hodgson texted her mother, who headed for the school.
“I was bawling,” Slaughter said from the high school’s parking lot, where a few hundred parents gathered, waiting to pick up their students. Many of them were wiping tears or bent over their phones, texting their children for updates.
Slaughter was joined by her mother, Karen Jetson. When they got the news from the school at 10 a.m. that there were no students hurt, they both said they felt overwhelming relief.
When President Joe Biden took his oath over three months ago, he assumed responsibility for a set of unprecedented challenges ranging from a global pandemic, an economic crisis and a nation reeling from political and racial divisions.
As a candidate and incoming president, he had promised a series of swift and sweeping actions to address the range of challenges he inherited.
As he now approaches his 100th day in office on Thursday, here’s a look at how Biden is measuring up in meeting some of the markers he laid out for the start of his presidency.
“It’s a matter of timing,” Biden told reporters last month, explaining his approach to governing. “As you’ve all observed, successful presidents — better than me — have been successful, in large part, because they know how to time what they’re doing — order it, decide and prioritize what needs to be done.”
COVID-19
The promise: Pass COVID-19 relief package to get Americans through the economic crisis
Status: Kept
Throughout 2020, Biden laid out his vision for combatting the COVID-19 pandemic and helping Americans emerge from the economic crisis.
Once taking office, he formally unveiled a relief package he called the “American Rescue Plan,” which became the blueprint for coronavirus relief legislation.
Among the promises Biden made on the campaign trail were stimulus checks, funding for schools to implement safety measures and reopen, small business funding, and money for vaccinations, testing, and contact tracing.
All of these items were included in the $1.9 trillion package that ultimately became law after Congress passed it and, on March 11, Biden signed into law.
But Biden did fail on one pledge: He said he would secure bipartisan support for the measure, but he ultimately failed to persuade a single Republican lawmaker to vote for it.
The promise: 100 million COVID-19 vaccine shots in 100 days
Status: Kept
In December, Biden set a goal that 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses would be administered in his first 100 days in office.
But by the time he assumed the presidency, the United States was already administering around a million shots a day on average. And with the effort ramping up, it was clear Biden would very likely achieve his goal early — in large part thanks to actions taken under the previous administration.
Pharmaceutical companies began to flood the system with more doses, and a third vaccine gained emergency-use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The Biden administration secured hundreds of millions more doses and opened up more vaccination sites, at pharmacies and via mobile vaccination units.
The U.S. reached 100 million shots in Biden’s Day 59, and one week later, the president doubled his goal to 200 million shots by his 100th day.
On Wednesday, on Day 92, he announced the U.S. had reached that milestone, too — eight days early.
The promise: Ensure ‘a majority of our schools can be open’
“If Congress provides the funding we need to protect students, educators and staff, if states and cities put strong public health measures in place that we all follow,” Biden said in December, “then my team will work to see that a majority of our schools can be open by the end of my first 100 days.”
Status: Not kept
Since Biden took office, Congress did allocate hundreds of billions of dollars for schools, and many states and cities have adopted health measures in line with newly updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But Biden was vague about what he meant by “open” — whether full time or part time — and the White House has similarly shifted the goalposts.
The most recently available survey data from the U.S. Department of Education, released on April 7, found that 46% of public school students were being offered full-time, in-person learning — but that the vast majority were still learning online, at least part of the week.
Having the option was not the same as utilizing it: Only 29% of eighth graders and 39% of fourth graders were attending school full-time in-person in February, according to the survey.
The promise: Encourage masks, require them where he had the power to do so
Status: Kept
Biden pledged to sign an executive order on Day One to require masks where he had the legal power to do so, including in “federal buildings” and during “interstate travel on planes, trains and buses.”
He followed through on that promise, signing that order within hours of becoming president.
Biden also said he would encourage Americans to wear masks for 100 days and would work with governors and mayors to mandate masks, as well.
Biden has done both, repeatedly wearing a face covering himself — unlike his predecessor, former President Donald Trump — and explicitly calling on Americans to do the same. He’s also encouraged state and local mandates, although it’s not clear what type of pressure he’s exerted on governors and mayors to enact them.
Climate and foreign affairs
The promise: Rejoin international organizations, reenter international agreements
Status: Kept / in progress
Biden’s foreign policy platform was predicated on faith in international institutions and the strength of multilateralism. To that end, he promised to reverse what he saw as the retreat from the global stage that took place under Trump.
So, as promised, he ended a process Trump had started — to remove the U.S. from the World Health Organization. And he returned the United States to the Paris climate accord after Trump pulled out.
Biden also pledged to return to the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. His administration jump started talks on the matter, but so far has not come to an agreement that would bring both the U.S. and Iran back into compliance.
And last week, the White House said Biden’s first trip abroad as president, in June, would take him to the United Kingdom and Belgium for summits with leaders from NATO, the European Union and the “Group of Seven” industrialized nations.
The trip, the White House said, would “highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalizing the Transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure America’s interests.”
The promise: Make climate change a national priority
Status: Kept / in progress
Returning the United States to the Paris accord on climate change on his first day in office sent a signal the Biden saw climate change as one of the primary crises he said he believed the country faced.
It was a stark contrast with his predecessor, Trump, who minimized the importance of climate change and the role of science in general.
Biden signed executive actions that elevated the importance of science in federal policymaking and that called on federal agencies to make climate change and environmental justice a priority in domestic and foreign policy decision-making. He created several senior positions and established a prominent Office of Domestic Climate Policy at the White House.
Last week, he fulfilled a pledge to bring world leaders together to discuss climate change. He has also blocked the Keystone XL oil pipeline from becoming a reality and stopped drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
And a sweeping infrastructure plan he proposed last month included significant investments in a green energy grid, electric vehicles and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Other longer-term goals remain in progress, though, such as putting forward a plan to conserve 30% of American lands and waters by 2030 and making progress on curbing hydrofluorocarbon greenhouse gases.
Immigration
The promise: Stop construction of southern border wall
Status: Largely kept
Biden promised to stop construction of new wall on the southern border after Trump failed to complete what he championed there.
On Biden’s first day in office, he signed a proclamation to “pause work” on the wall and redirect unspent funds that had been set aside for its construction. Workers abandoned construction equipment in some places and left large gaps in the barrier.
But the U.S. secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, recently told agency employees that construction may resume to plug some of the “gaps” along the wall, according to The Washington Times. Agency spokespeople did not respond to questions about the secretary’s reported comments and about areas where construction is continuing.
“There is some limited construction that has been funded and allocated for,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on April 6. “But it is otherwise paused.”
Biden had also said that his administration would “withdraw the lawsuits” the federal government used to try to seize land along the border. But it has not actually done so.
The promise: Reverse Trump’s strict immigration policies
Status: In progress
Biden has struggled to untangle the web of hardline immigration policies enacted by his predecessor.
As promised, on his first day in office, he ended Trump’s “Muslim travel ban” that prevented people from traveling from several Muslim-majority countries to the United States — and weeks later, he sent an immigration reform plan to Congress that proposed a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States — another pledge fulfilled.
Biden also returned deportation priorities to the status quo in the Obama administration, which focused on people who committed crimes other than entering the country illegally. And on his first day, he threw his support behind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that allows people who came to the U.S. as children, undocumented, to stay in the country.
But a court blocked his plan to freeze deportations for 100 days.
Meanwhile, Biden formed a task force to reunite migrant families the Trump administration tore apart, but it has yet to bring together even one family so far.
He has kept in place a pandemic-era restriction know as “Title 42” under which most migrants who are caught crossing the border illegally are rapidly returned to Mexico or elsewhere. Although he has allowed unaccompanied minors, many arriving as part of a recent influx, to stay.
And so far, his reviews of the “public charge” rule — which makes it difficult for undocumented immigrants to receive public benefits — and how to streamline the naturalization system have not resulted in significant change.
Policing and guns
The promise: Create police oversight commission
Status: Not kept
In June, about one week after George Floyd’s death while in Minneapolis police custody, Biden vowed to create a national police oversight commission within the first 100 days of his administration, to study paths for police reform.
“We need each and every police department in the country to undertake a comprehensive review of their hiring, their training, their de-escalation,” Biden said in Philadelphia.
The Biden White House, however, frequently highlighted its support for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, passed by the House of Representatives in early March, rather than announcing the creation of the commission.
On April 12, White House Domestic Policy Adviser Susan Rice said the White House was officially scrapping any plans for a commission.
“Based on close, respectful consultation with partners in the civil rights community, the administration made the considered judgment that a police commission, at this time, would not be the most effective way to deliver on our top priority in this area, which is to sign the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act into law,” Rice said.
Both the Obama and the Trump administrations had formed commissions to study police reform and oversight, but neither commission led to any measurable change.
The promise: Send bill to Congress repealing liability protection for gun manufacturers, closing background check loopholes and instituting a waiting period
Status: Not Kept
President Biden often touted his credentials on guns during his campaign, highlighting his work to get assault weapons banned for 10 years as part of the Violence Against Women Act, and promising he would once again take action on guns right away.
“On my first day of office,” Biden said in February 2020, “I’m going to send a bill to the Congress repealing the liability protection for gun manufacturers, closing the background check loopholes and waiting period.”
But he has not yet sent any gun legislation to Congress.
Instead, the White House has advocated for lawmakers to act on legislation addressing the background check system.
Biden did take six gun-related executive actions on April 8, including directing the Department of Justice to issue a proposed rule to regulate the sale of so-called “ghost guns” within 30 days, calling for investments in evidence-based community violence intervention and asking the Justice Department to publish model “red flag” legislation for states within 60 days.
But those actions did not cover his Day One pledge.
The economy
The promise: Propose an infrastructure spending plan
Status: Kept
In January, Biden said that the following month — during an address to Congress — he would “lay out” the second part of a “two-step plan to build a bridge to the other side of the crises we face and to a better, stronger, more secure America.”
The first step was his COVID-19 relief package, which he signed into law last month. The second, he said in January, was his “Build Back Better Recovery Plan.”
“It will make historic investments in infrastructure and manufacturing, innovation, research and development, and clean energy,” Biden said. “Investments in the caregiving economy and in skills and training needed by our workers to compete and win the global economy of the future.”
Even though his first address to Congress was delayed until later this week, the president did unveil a sweeping infrastructure spending proposal that includes investments in the buckets he mentioned in January. He broke up the plan into two parts — a $1.9 trillion “American Jobs Plan” he rolled out late last month — and an “American Families Plan” the White House has said will come by the end of April.
The promise: Pause foreclosures, evictions
Status: Kept
Biden said he would extend a pandemic-era pause on evictions and foreclosures.
On his first day in office, he asked several federal agencies to do just that.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended an eviction moratorium until March 31, then extended it again until June 30.
Several other federal agencies extended the prohibition on foreclosures against federally guaranteed mortgages until March 31; they, too, extended it again until June 30.
The promise: Extend student loan repayment pause
Status: Kept
Before taking office, Biden’s transition advisers said that he planned to extend an existing pause on federal student loan repayments amid the continued COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of his flurry of executive actions during his first day in office, Biden did just that, calling on the Department of Education to extend the freeze on the payments until September 30, a request the department immediately carried out.
“Too many Americans are struggling to pay for basic necessities and to provide for their families,” the department said in a statement then. “They should not be forced to choose between paying their student loans and putting food on the table.”
Equality and racial justice
The promise: Make protections for LGBTQ Americans a top legislative priority
Status: Not kept
Biden pledged on the campaign trail to make passing the Equality Act into law a top legislative priority in his first 100 days. The act would amend the 1964 Civil Rights act to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
Since taking office, Biden has urged its swift passage. “It’s time for Congress to secure these protections once and for all by passing the Equality Act — because no one should ever face discrimination or live in fear because of who they are or whom they love,” he said in a statement in February.
The House of Representatives passed the bill on Feb. 25, but it’s now languishing in the Senate, where some Republicans oppose it, saying it could infringe on religious liberties.
But Biden has made passage of COVID-19 relief and a major infrastructure plan his top legislative priorities thus far, not spending much political capital to urge the evenly divided Senate to take up the Equality Act.
Biden did sign an executive order during his first week in office aimed at enforcing the protections LGBTQ Americans already have under law, but part of it is already tied up in a legal challenge from a private Christian college.
The promise: End transgender military ban
Status: Kept
Trump abruptly tweeted in July 2017 that he had decided to ban transgender Americans from serving in the military. On the 2020 campaign trail, Biden vowed to overturn the ban, saying it was “not just the right thing to do, but it’s in our national interest.”
On his sixth day in office, Biden made good on his promise, signing an executive order restoring the ability of transgender Americans to serve.
“What I’m doing is enabling all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform,” Biden said as he signed the order. LGBTQ advocacy groups praised his swift action.
The promise: Address systemic racism in housing, criminal justice, voting rights
Status: Kept / in progress
On Jan. 26, Biden signed four executive actions to address racial equity – dealing with discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, strengthening tribal relations, reinstating an Obama-era anti-housing discrimination rule that Trump had rolled back and ending the Justice Department’s use of private prisons.
Biden had promised to update the Voting Rights Act to prevent Americans from being denied the right to vote based on race, and as president he’s made repeated calls for Congress to move it forward.
“I once again urge Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to make it easier for all eligible Americans access the ballot box and prevent attacks on the sacred right to vote,” he said in a statement on March 26, in response to a restrictive election law passed in Georgia.
The promise: Create a Cabinet that ‘looks like America’
Status: Kept
Biden campaigned on a pledge to assemble a team that “looks like America.”
He has fulfilled that promise, forming a Cabinet is the most diverse in U.S. history.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay person to be confirmed by the Senate to a Cabinet position, Janet Yellen is the nation’s first female treasury secretary, Deb Haaland became the first Native American interior secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas is the first immigrant to head the Department of Homeland Security and Lloyd Austin is the first Black defense secretary.
There are more women serving in Biden’s Cabinet than any other recent administration and more than half are people of color.
Governing and ethics
The promise: Raise ethical standards
Status: In progress
On the campaign trail, Biden promised to raise the White House’s ethical standards following four years of Trump officials pushing the limits.
One of Biden’s first executive orders in office was to require all federal government employees to sign an ethics pledge “designed to ensure that executive branch employees act in the interest of the American people and not for personal gain,” including preventing federal employees from interfering with independent Department of Justice probes.
The Biden White House has also started to release personal financial disclosure forms and has committed to releasing quarterly visitor logs, which the Obama administration began and Trump stopped.
As a candidate, Biden said he would introduce a constitutional amendment to entirely eliminate private dollars from federal elections and other campaign finance reforms, and establish a Commission on Federal Ethics. His administration has yet to move forward on these pledges.
The promise: Work across the aisle to find bipartisan compromise
Status: In progress
While not an explicit 100-day promise, during his presidential campaign, Biden touted his past bipartisan work and pledged that he would do the same as president.
“There’s going to be, I promise you, between four and eight Republican senators who are willing to — going to be willing to move on things where there’s bipartisan consensus,” Biden said during an ABC town hall in October.
But Biden’s first two major legislative undertakings are proving just how difficult achieving that bipartisan consensus may be.
His first Oval Office meeting was with a group of Senate Republicans to discuss possible compromises around his first legislative agenda item — a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
However, the White House plowed ahead on the measure, narrowly passing it without a single Republican vote — drawing the ire of some who questioned how open Biden actually was to compromise.
The White House defended its decision to move ahead, citing the need to get relief to Americans ahead of looming expiration dates to critical benefits like expanded unemployment insurance.
Now, as Biden sets his sights on a $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal, he has expressed a willingness to compromise and has so far held two Oval Office meetings on the plan with Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
“I am prepared to compromise, prepared to see what we can do and what we can get together on,” Biden said Monday at the start of one of the meetings.
But the White House has set deadlines, saying it wants to see “significant progress” by Memorial Day, and the measure passed over the summer.
Jordyn Phelps, Anne Flaherty and Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.
The U.S. drop in demand is leading some states to turn down vaccine shipments.
Louisiana has stopped asking the federal government for its full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine. In Mississippi, officials asked the federal government to ship vials in smaller packages so they don’t go to waste. About half of Iowa’s counties have stopped asking for new doses from the state.
And even as Kansas remains far from reaching the coveted public health standard of herd immunity against COVID-19 – essentially starving off the virus because it runs out of vulnerable bodies – more than 60 counties turned down their weekly allotment of vaccine doses.
“Herd immunity is great and 80% sounds wonderful,” said Karen Winkelman, a nurse and the Barton County health director in Kansas. Barton County has given at least one dose of the vaccine to about 30% of its adults compared with 36.4% across the state.
“But I don’t think we would ever reach that,” she added.
Some are urging federal officials to send more vaccines to places where there is demand – rather than allocate them based on population – including in Massachusetts, where Republican Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday that the state could administer two to three times more doses per day if it had more supply.
– Abigail Censky, Topeka Capital-Journal
Also in the news:
►A suburban Minneapolis nursing home has paid Minnesota’s largest fine – $27,100 – for a coronavirus violation. David Kolleh died last May at Sholom Community Alliance, which was cited for failing to provide an adequate respiratory program for workers.
►Three out of every five Coloradans hospitalized for COVID-19 since mid-March were younger than 60, indicating to some a flipping of the virus surge as the vaccine protects seniors, reported the Denver Post.
►Alaska Airlines has banned an Alaska state senator from its flights, saying she refused to follow mask requirements. State Sen. Lora Reinbold of Eagle River was recorded last week at Juneau International Airport apparently arguing with airport and Alaska Airlines staff about mask policies.
Navajo Nation set to ease restrictions, open restaurants
The Navajo Department of Health on Monday was expected to loosen some virus-driven restrictions and transition to “yellow status.” Restaurants will be allowed to have in-door dining at 25% capacity and outdoor dining at 50% capacity. Parks will be permitted to open at 25% capacity but only for residents and employees. Navajo casinos will be able to open at 50% capacity but only for residents and staff as well.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez says more than half of the reservation’s adult population has been vaccinated.
First known case of male developing clot after J&J vaccine reported
The University of California-San Francisco has reported the first known case of a male in the United States developing a blood clot after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. More than a dozen previous cases involved women under 50. The UCSF case was a Bay Area resident in his early 30s who got a clot in his leg and was hospitalized, officials told the San Francisco Chronicle. The patient, who was improving and scheduled to leave the hospital in a few days, received his Johnson & Johnson shot on April 8 and began to experience escalating pain in the lower back and leg on April 16, UCSF said.
More than a dozen states have once again begun administering the J&J vaccine, which had been paused for almost two weeks while the clotting cases were investigated.
Summer destinations may draw big crowds, few workers
As vaccinated Americans start to get comfortable traveling again, popular summer destinations are anticipating a busy season. But hotel, restaurant and retail store owners warn that staffing shortages exacerbated by the pandemic could force them to limit occupancy, curtail hours and services or shut down facilities entirely just as they’re starting to bounce back from a grim year.
“It’s the ‘Hunger Games’ for these employers, fighting for getting these guest workers into the country while also trying everything they can to recruit domestically,” said Brian Crawford, an executive vice president for the American Hotel and Lodging Association. “It’s really frustrating. They’re trying to regain their footing after this disastrous pandemic but they just can’t catch a break.”
World seeing record surge in cases, driven by India
India reported about 353,000 new coronavirus cases Sunday, a pace of more than 4 cases every second. The country’s surge is helping drive a record number of cases in the world: Nearly 5.8 million cases reported in the week ending Sunday, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. Globally, about 9.6 coronavirus cases are being reported every second. About nine deaths are reported every minute.
In the week ending Sunday, Brazil reported the world’s worst death toll of 17,462. India’s was second-worst at 16,354. But Brazil’s death toll has been falling and India’s has been skyrocketing as cases spike.
The U.S. will send vaccine supplies and experts to India in coming days, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday. President Joe Biden said he is “determined to hep India in its time of need.”
– Mike Stucka
Can bar patronage encourage vaccination?
The owner of an iconic Washington, D.C., blues bar says allowing him to reopen Madame’s Organ might save his business – and persuade fence-sitters to get vaccinated. Bill Duggan told WJLA-TV he has asked the city to allow him to reopen after more than a year with an all-vaccinated staff and patrons who can prove vaccination. Besides getting people back to work, Duggan says this could also serve as an incentive for some to get the shot.
“If you’re a strict anti-vaxxer we’re not going to convince you, but if you’re on the fence, then, yes, there’s an incentive to do it, and it’s a fun incentive, and it costs the government nothing,” he said.
More than 5 million Americans have skipped second vaccine dose
The latest data from the CDC highlights the importance of getting the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine back in circulation despite the tiny chance it could lead to blood clots in some women. More than 5 million Americans who were inoculated with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, both of which require two shots weeks apart, have failed to get the second one within the recommended interval. That’s almost 8% of the first-dose recipients, and the numbers are growing.
The New York Times reports that the reasons for skipping the second shot include fear of side effects, lack of supply and feeling that one dose provides enough protection.
Although the U.S. ranks among the leading countries in the world with 42% of the population receiving at least one dose, only 28.5% of the country’s 330 million people are fully vaccinated.
As we approach the 100-day mark of his presidency, and ahead of his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, Biden has made a lot of progress on COVID-19, and Americans largely approve of the job he’s doing handling the coronavirus pandemic and the economy.
It’s a different story, however, when it comes to immigration, which polls show is the president’s biggest vulnerability at this point. H has also made efforts on racial justice, the environment and switching back to a more multilateral approach to foreign policy. But so far he has not been able to get everything done that he set out to do.
Here’s where Biden stands on much of what he promised (jump down to the details on each topic from the graphic):
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COVID-19
President Biden marks hitting a goal of 200 million shots in arms by his 100th day in office during remarks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 21.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
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Alex Wong/Getty Images
President Biden marks hitting a goal of 200 million shots in arms by his 100th day in office during remarks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 21.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Assemble a coronavirus task force: DONE This was accomplished, and the task force continues with regular briefings, usually three times a week, that do not involve the president. His task force has had a focus on equity in a way that was never done under the Trump administration.
Push for immediate coronavirus legislation: DONE This is Biden’s signature accomplishment so far, as he signed a $1.9 trillion relief bill that passed along party lines. It contained money for direct payments, enhanced unemployment benefits and rental assistance, but did not include everything Biden wanted, particularly a raise in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The wage hike was deemed ineligible under the Senate’s rules for using reconciliation, a process that Democrats used as an end run around Republican opposition. The legislation also did not include $10,000 per person in student loan forgiveness (other options are still being talked about on that front).
Release a vaccine distribution plan: DONE This was released during the transition. To date, more than 40% of the population has received at least one dose of a vaccine and more than 27% is fully vaccinated. Biden has received high marks in polls for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are still inequities in who has been able to access the vaccines.
Rejoin World Health Organization and keep Dr. Anthony Fauci as a close adviser: DONE These steps were taken very early on. Fauci was the one to announce that the U.S. would be remaining in the WHO but noted that the U.S. would work “to strengthen and reform” the organization. The WHO was the subject of intense criticism from the Trump administration for what it saw as failures to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
Economy
President Biden meets with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Vice President Harris in the Oval Office on Jan. 29.
Evan Vucci/AP
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Evan Vucci/AP
President Biden meets with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Vice President Harris in the Oval Office on Jan. 29.
Evan Vucci/AP
Reverse Trump’s corporate tax cut: NOT YET ACHIEVED Biden has not been able to accomplish this yet, but he wants to roll back much of what Trump did by enacting tax increases on corporations to pay for his approximately $2 trillion infrastructure plan. The upcoming American Families Plan would reportedly be paid for by tax hikes on wealthy individuals.
Environment
President Biden speaks to world leaders during a virtual summit on climate change on April 22.
Evan Vucci/AP
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Evan Vucci/AP
President Biden speaks to world leaders during a virtual summit on climate change on April 22.
Make the U.S. an international leader on climate change: IT’S COMPLICATED This is one of Biden’s murkier — and more challenging — promises. The rest of the world, Europe in particular, has seen the U.S. drop out of and rejoin multiple international climate agreements and is wary of whether any climate commitments started by Biden would last in the country’s current political environment.
Still, the administration has released an aggressive plan to cut emissions over the coming decade, and its infrastructure proposal, if approved, would provide unprecedented boosts to clean energy efforts.
— Scott Detrow, NPR White House correspondent
Racial equity
President Biden addresses the nation on April 20 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
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President Biden addresses the nation on April 20 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
Evan Vucci/AP
Extend the Voting Rights Act: NOT YET ACHIEVED A comprehensive voting bill passed the House, but Republicans have universally opposed it, leaving its fate in limbo in the U.S. Senate — and leading to renewed discussions among Democrats about scrapping the legislative filibuster. Republicans argue that the federal government should leave voting rights issues and election administration to the states.
But following the 2020 presidential election and former President Donald Trump’s false allegations of widespread fraud, multiple GOP-led states are taking steps to restrict voting rights. Georgia’s recently passed law, for example, has been the subject of corporate boycotts and the reason for Major League Baseball moving its All-Star Game out of Atlanta.
Institute a national police oversight commission: DROPPED This month, the White House announced it was shelving the commission, saying it “would not be the most effective way to deliver on our top priority in this area, which is to sign the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act into law.” The bill, which has passed the House but not the Senate, would overhaul certain police practices and ban chokeholds.
The day after the Derek Chauvin guilty verdict for the murder of George Floyd, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Justice Department would be launching an investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department for possible patterns of discrimination and excessive use of force. It’s the first investigation of its kind during the Biden presidency.
Push Congress to pass the SAFE Justice Act: NOT YET ACHIEVED The Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective Justice Act (or SAFE Justice Act) was a bipartisan piece of legislation introduced by Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia and now-former Republican Rep. Jason Lewis of Minnesota. It would take steps toward changing sentencing and probation, including reducing the use of mandatory-minimum sentencing for nonviolent offenses and instituting policies geared at lowering recidivism.
It was first introduced in 2017 but never received a vote. There has been no action to this point in Congress on the legislation, but congressional aides with knowledge of the legislative push say they are expecting it will be introduced as soon as next month and believe it will have bipartisan and bicameral support. They see it as a complement to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which does not deal with sentencing and probation or what happens to people after they serve their time.
Immigration
President Biden talks with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas before signing several executive orders on immigration on Feb. 2.
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President Biden talks with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas before signing several executive orders on immigration on Feb. 2.
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Introduce legislation that would give a pathway to citizenship for immigrants in the U.S. illegally and especially for those brought to the U.S. illegally as children: DONE One of Biden’s first acts as president was to introduce the legislation. But the prospects for a comprehensive overhaul passing Congress are dim. Democrats on Capitol Hill formally introduced Biden’s wide-reaching plan in the House in February, but nothing has come of a potential comprehensive overhaul to this point because of solid Republican opposition. That continues to leave millions in the country illegally and others looking to come in limbo.
Make the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program permanent: IT’S COMPLICATED Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office that strengthened DACA, but the program remains under threat. A federal judge in Texas, who previously indicated that he thought DACA was unlawful, is expected to rule on the legality of the program soon. But there are also several efforts on Capitol Hill to pass legislation to secure and/or expand DACA-like protections for people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as minors.
Stop family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border: IT’S COMPLICATED Trump’s widely criticized family separation policies were largely stopped during his own administration, and Biden signed an executive order condemning the policy. The current administration is making efforts to reunite families separated under the Trump administration, but in practice, families continue to separate themselves on the Mexican side of the border, where parents send children alone from tent encampments. This has led to an increase of unaccompanied minors coming across the U.S.-Mexico border, and the administration has struggled to deal with the post-Trump surge.
Sign an executive order establishing a task force focused on reuniting children and parents separated at the border: DONE This was done Feb. 2. The executive order created a task force to help identify children separated from their parents and reunite the families. As of the beginning of April, however, no family members had been reunited.
End Trump’s executive order banning travelers from some Muslim-majority countries: DONE One of the first actions Biden took after assuming office was signing a proclamation ending the ban on travelers from several majority-Muslim countries.
Stop the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols as well as the policy of “metering” asylum cases: IT’S COMPLICATED On his first day in office, Biden had the Department of Homeland Security suspend new enrollments in a program that has pushed tens of thousands of migrants to wait in Mexico for asylum hearings in U.S. courts. A few weeks later, the administration started to allow asylum-seekers in the program into the United States.
Biden has promised to end “metering,” the practice of instituting a daily restriction on how many migrants can seek asylum. But so far the administration has continued to restrict asylum-seekers through two other measures: a ban on “nonessential” travel and a Trump-era finding under “Title 42 of the U.S. Code that anyone ‘who would otherwise be introduced into a congregate setting in a land Port of Entry (POE)’ posed a public health risk,” David Bier of the Cato Institute reported. It’s unclear how or if the Biden administration will address or end the efforts in the future.
Take away funding for continued construction of a wall along the southern U.S. border: IT’S COMPLICATED The wall was another of the first issues Biden promised to address. The president issued a proclamation to this effect on his first day, revoking Trump’s emergency declaration that had helped fund the construction of a border wall. Biden’s $1.5 trillion budget proposal also did not call for funding for the construction of the border wall.
Biden’s order included a 60-day review. But his plans now don’t appear as concrete. It has been more than a month since that two-month review period, yet the White House says the review is ongoing. The Biden government has even been involved in winning eminent domain cases held over from the Trump administration. And Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas reportedly told employees that some border wall construction might begin again to plug “gaps” left from the construction halted when Biden took office.
Increase government supervision over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection, calling for the need to hold personnel “accountable for inhumane treatment”: DONE While his $1.5 trillion budget outline did not provide funding for the wall, it did call for an increase of funding for an investigation of immigration agents accused of “white supremacy.”
As part of a more “humane” policy, ICE and CBP were told last week to drop the terms “illegal,” “alien” and “assimilation.” “Illegal” will become “undocumented”; “noncitizen” or “migrant” should be used instead of “alien”; and “assimilation” should be replaced by “integration.” In February, the administration issued new guidance for agents to prioritize arrests of immigrants who are national security and public safety threats.
— NPR’s Franco Ordoñez contributed reporting
Foreign policy
President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken participate in a virtual meeting with world leaders on March 12 at White House.
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President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken participate in a virtual meeting with world leaders on March 12 at White House.
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Pledge to “pick up the pieces of Donald Trump’s broken foreign policy”: IT’S COMPLICATED Under Trump, views of the U.S. plummeted among the country’s strongest allies. Biden has switched U.S. foreign policy back to a more multilateral stance and has shifted power back to diplomacy and the State Department as well. At the Munich Security Conference in February, Biden declared, “America is back.” That was met mostly positively by America’s allies in Europe, but France and Germany pushed back, notably pointing out that they had to put some distance between themselves and the United States, that the U.S. could not always be relied on and that “interests will not always converge.”
Biden also set a date for removing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan: Sept. 11, 2021, which happens to be the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “We went to Afghanistan because of a horrific attack that happened 20 years ago,” Biden said this month. “That cannot explain why we should remain there in 2021. We were attacked; we went to war with clear goals. … We achieved those objectives. Bin Laden is dead and al-Qaida is degraded in Afghanistan, and it’s time to end this forever war.”
Trump also wanted to get U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, and his administration had negotiated a deal to remove troops by May 1 of this year, something Biden said would be “tough” to achieve. There has been mixed reaction to Biden’s decision, particularly because the withdrawal comes without conditions — it’s America’s longest war, but there are concerns over tracking militants in Afghanistan.
International summit: NOT YET ACHIEVED Beyond 100 days, Biden wants to “host a global Summit for Democracy to renew the spirit and shared purpose of the nations of the Free World.” The idea is to gather democratic countries to find ways to combat corruption, authoritarianism and human rights abuses. Biden plans to hold the summit in the coming months, and he has already done an about-face from Trump in calling out corruption and authoritarianism in Russia as well as focusing on human rights abuses in China. That, however, caused a flare-up in tensions last month during the first major talks between the U.S. and China during Biden’s presidency.
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A top European Union official said Sunday that Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 should be able to travel to Europe by summer, easing existing travel restrictions.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told The New York Times that the union’s 27 members would accept, unconditionally, all those who are vaccinated with vaccines that are approved by the European Medicines Agency. The agency has approved the three vaccines used in the United States.
“The Americans, as far as I can see, use European Medicines Agency-approved vaccines,” von der Leyen said. “This will enable free movement and travel to the European Union.”
She did not say when travel could resume. The EU largely shut down nonessential travel more than a year ago.
European Union countries agreed this month to launch COVID-19 travel passes that would permit people who have been vaccinated against the disease, recovered from an infection or have tested negative to travel more easily.
In an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired on Sunday, CBS’s Scott Pelley asked Ellison if Floyd, in his view, bears any responsibility for what happened the day in May 2020 that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nine minutes. Floyd was pronounced dead soon after.
Ellison responded unequivocally, telling Pelley “No, he doesn’t.”
The interview comes less than a week after a jury found Chauvin guilty of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
The encounter between Chauvin and Floyd was captured on video and Floyd is seen arguing with officers who ordered him to enter a police car.
Pelley pushed Ellison on this fact, saying “If he’d gotten in the car, he’d be alive today.”
Ellison did not change his interpretation, telling Pelley that “police officers are paid and trained to deal with people who are having problems.”
He said if officers are allowed “to use deadly force on people who are just having a bad day, then we’re going to be in a very, very lethal situation.”
“We need officers who have the judgment and the ability to discern what somebody is going through so that people survive these encounters,” he added.
Ellison also noted that Floyd was not armed, and told Pelley that “he never threatened a soul, he never struck out on — against anybody.”
He said Floyd “did everything the officers said” except enter the car because of his claustrophobia and anxiety.
On body camera video, Floyd can be heard telling officers that he was claustrophobic.
Ellison also questioned how Chauvin could “justify” not rendering CPR and not heeding Floyd’s statements that he could not breathe, concluding “So I’m hard-pressed to find how George Floyd bears responsibility for what happened here.”
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who recently called for further police reforms following the conviction of Derek Chauvin, said in an interview that aired Sunday that he had a confluence of emotion after the verdict, which included a sense of satisfaction and even some sympathy for the defendant.
He told Scott Pelley, a correspondent for “60 Minutes,” that it was clear that Chauvin deserved to be convicted in George Floyd’s murder, but “he’s a human being.”
“I’m not in any way wavering from my responsibility,” Ellison, who spent 16 years in his professional career as a criminal defense attorney, said. “But I hope we never forget that people who are defendants in our criminal justice system, that they’re human beings. They’re people. I mean, George Floyd was a human being. And so I’m not going to ever forget that everybody in this process is a person.”
Chauvin was convicted of all three counts in the murder of Floyd and the New York Times reported that he has since been held in solitary confinement for all but one hour each day in the prison in Oak Park Heights, Minn. A prison spokeswoman told the paper that he is in solitary confinement because there is fear for his safety.
Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The most serious charge — second-degree unintentional murder — could result in a 40-year sentence. The two other counts carry 25- and 10-year sentences, respectively.
The actual sentence that Chauvin receives depends on whether Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill will agree with prosecutors two months from now and impose a longer prison term than stated in Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines for first-time offenders.
Ellison told “60 Minutes” that he believes that it is “important for the court to not go light or heavy” in the sentencing.
“I don’t know if it’s right for a judge to send a message through a sentence because the sentence should be tailored to the offense, tailored to the circumstances of the case. Look, the State never wanted revenge against Derek Chauvin. We just wanted accountability,” he said.
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