Joe Biden signed an executive order calling for the federal government to be carbon-neutral by 2050. “As the single largest land owner, energy consumer, and employer in the nation, the federal government can catalyze private sector investment and expand the economy and American industry by transforming how we build, buy, and manage electricity, vehicles, buildings, and other operations to be clean and sustainable,” the order says.
The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection indicated it will move forward with plans to hold Mark Meadows in criminal contempt. The news comes one day after Meadows, the former chief of staff to Donald Trump, announced he would no longer cooperate with investigators out of deference to the former president’s claims of executive privilege over certain records. Meadows is suing Nancy Pelosi and members of the committee over subpoenas issued.
Lab tests indicate three doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine provide effective protection against the Omicron variant. In response to the news, Biden encouraged all eligible Americans to get their vaccine booster shot as quickly as possible. “This reinforces what my medical advisors have been emphasizing: that boosters give you the highest protection yet,” the president said.
The House passed a $768bn defense bill last night, in a vote of 363-70. The bill passed despite criticism from progressive lawmakers, who had hoped to curb military spending now that Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
The House overwhelmingly approved legislation to sanction China for goods produced by the forced labor of Muslim Uyghurs. The vote was 428-1 on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which bans imports of goods produced in internment camps. The Senate has already approved a similar measure.
The House has overwhelmingly approved legislation to sanction China for goods produced by the forced labor of Muslim Uyghurs.
The vote was 428-1 on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which bans imports of goods produced in internment camps. “This is not a partisan issue,” said Democrat Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. “It is a human rights issue.” The Senate has already passed a similar measure.
The sanctions follow a diplomatic boycott by the White House of the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing over China’s human rights record.
The bill would task the Department of Homeland Security to create a list of entities that work with the Chinese government in its effort to repress members of the Uyghur minority and ban those goods. The bill also asks officials to assume all goods made in the Xinjiang province, where Uyghurs are being subjected to forced labor, are banned unless the commissioner of the US Customs and Border Protection specifically allows an exception.
Liz Cheney, the Republican vice-chair of the House select committee investigating the insurrection, told reporters that she and her fellow committee members “look forward to litigating” Meadows’ lawsuit.
"He appears now to be saying he's going to challenge and bring suit about documents over which he's claimed privilege," said Cheney. "We look forward to litigating that."
Here’s more background on Mark Meadows, what the select committee is seeking from him, and his history of non-cooperation, from my colleague Joan E Greve:
Mark Meadows has sued Nancy Pelosi and committee investigating insurrection
Mark Meadows has sued the House speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection. The former White House chief of staff is facing contempt proceedings after refusing to cooperate with the committee, which has sought information about Donald Trump’s role in instigating the capitol riot.
The lawsuit asks the court to toss out the committee’s subpoenas. “Mr Meadows, a witness, has been put in the untenable position of choosing between conflicting privilege claims,” the suit says.
Trump has also filed his own lawsuit against the committee. The former president and his associates have claimed executive privilege shields confidential communications between them – but Joe Biden’s administration has waived the right to executive privilege in this case.
The House has already voted to hold another Trump associate, Steve Bannon, in contempt for refusing to cooperate. The committee has also recommended holding Jeffrey Clark, a former justice department lawyer, in contempt.
In an upcoming Masterclass episode, Hillary Clinton shares what she would have said in her 2016 presidential victory speech, had she won the election.
In an excerpt of the Masterclass released by NBC’s Today, Clinton begins her speech: “My fellow Americans, today you’ve sent a message to the whole world. Our values endure, our democracy stands strong and our motto remains ‘E pluribus unum’. Out of many, one. We will not be defined only by our differences. We will not be an us vs them country. The American dream is big enough for everyone.”
“Fundamentally, this election challenged us to decide what it means to be an American in the 21st century,” she says.
The former presidential candidate and secretary of state is teaching a Masterclass on “the power of resilience”.
In introducing her speech, Clinton says: “I’ve never shared this with anybody. I’ve never read it out loud. But it helps to encapsulate who I am, what I believe in and what my hopes were for the kind of country that I want for my grandchildren, and that I want for the world.”
Progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has spoken out about the hypocrisy of gun-wielding Christmas card photos, an emerging trend among several Republic lawmakers who have posted holiday photos showing themselves and their family holding military-style rifles.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez called out far-right congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who had posted a picture of her family, including her small children, holding rifles in front of a Christmas tree.
“Tell me again where Christ said ‘use the commemoration of my birth to flex violent weapons for personal political gain’?” said Ocasio-Cortez, recalling back in 2015 when conservatives declared that there was a “war on Christmas”, with companies like Starbucks facing threats of boycott.
“lol @ all the years Republicans spent on cultural hysteria of society ‘erasing Christmas and it’s meaning’ when they’re doing that fine all on their own.”
In addition to Boebert’s gun-themed Christmas photo, Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie recently posted a picture of his family holding rifles while posing in front of a Christmas tree, with the caption: “Merry Christmas! PS: Santa, please bring ammo.”
The photo was posted only days after a school shooting in Oxford, Michigan, located an hour outside of the state’s capitol, where four students died and seven people were injured.
The attorney general of California said his office will investigate the police department of Torrance, California following a Los Angeles Times investigation revealing that officers exchanged racist text messages.
The investigation is “part of an effort to identify and correct potential systemic failures in the department’s policies and practices,” the attorney general Rob Bonta’s office said. “The review comes amidst deeply concerning allegations of excessive force, racist text messages, and other discriminatory misconduct, and follows a request for assistance by the Torrance Chief of Police.”
The Times reported that police officers had exchanged racist and anti-Semitic messages:
The officers’ comments spared no color or creed: They joked about “gassing” Jewish people, assaulting members of the LGBTQ community, using violence against suspects and lying during an investigation into a police shooting, according to district attorney’s office records reviewed by The Times.
Frequently, hateful comments were targeted at Black people. Officers called Black men “savages,”and several variations of the N-word, according to documents reviewed by The Times. The officers also shared instructions on how to tie a noose and a picture of a stuffed animal being lynched inside Torrance’s police headquarters, according to the documents.
The Times reported that the 15 officers on administrative leave over their involment in such exchanges were also involved in “least seven serious or fatal uses of force against Black or Latino men since 2013”.
“Police departments are on the front lines of that fight every day as they work to protect the people of our state,” Bonta said in a statement. “However, where there is evidence of potentially pervasive bias or discrimination, it can undermine the trust that is critical for public safety and our justice system.”
The head of Instagram began testimony before US lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon about protecting children online, in the latest congressional hearing scrutinizing the social media platform’s impact on young users.
Adam Mosseri defended the platform and called for the creation of an industry body to determine best practices to help keep young people safe online. Mosseri said in written testimony before the Senate commerce consumer protection panel the industry body should address “how to verify age, how to design age-appropriate experiences, and how to build parental controls”.
He also suggested Instagram may abandon its engagement-based algorithm and release a chronological timeline in the first quarter of 2022, a departure from its current controversial system.
“We all want teens to be safe online,” Mosseri said in opening statements. “The internet isn’t going away, and I believe there’s important work that we can do together – industry and policymakers - to raise the standards across the internet to better serve and protect young people.”
Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), have been facing global criticism over the ways their services affect the mental health, body image and online safety of younger users. In opening statements, Senator Richard Blumenthal promised to be “ruthless” in the hearing, saying “the time for self policing and self regulation is over”.
“Self policing depends on trust, and the trust is gone,” he said. “The magnitude of these problems requires both and broad solutions and accountability which has been lacking so far.”
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Joe Biden signed an executive order calling for the federal government to be carbon-neutral by 2050. “As the single largest land owner, energy consumer, and employer in the nation, the federal government can catalyze private sector investment and expand the economy and American industry by transforming how we build, buy, and manage electricity, vehicles, buildings, and other operations to be clean and sustainable,” the order says.
The House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection indicated it will move forward with plans to hold Mark Meadows in criminal contempt. The news comes one day after Meadows, the former chief of staff to Donald Trump, announced he would no longer cooperate with investigators out of deference to the former president’s claims of executive privilege over certain records.
Lab tests indicate three doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine provide effective protection against the Omicron variant. In response to the news, Biden encouraged all eligible Americans to get their vaccine booster shot as quickly as possible. “This reinforces what my medical advisors have been emphasizing: that boosters give you the highest protection yet,” the president said.
The House passed a $768bn defense bill last night, in a vote of 363-70. The bill passed despite criticism from progressive lawmakers, who had hoped to curb military spending now that Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
Outlining his economic vision for the country, Joe Biden differentiated himself from progressive Senator Bernie Sanders, who identifies as a democratic socialist.
“I’m a capitalist,” Biden said. “I’m a good friend of Bernie’s, but we disagree. I’m not a socialist. I’m a capitalist. You should be able to make a million or a hundred million bucks, if you can. But pay your fair share.”
The president’s speech in Kansas City has now concluded, and he will soon start his trip back to Washington.
