Katherine Tai, President Joe Biden`s nominee for U.S. trade representative, on Thursday backed tariffs as a `legitimate tool` of trade policy and called for tough enforcement of existing trade deals, including with China.

Tai mapped out her plans at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, underscoring her commitment to a worker-centered trade policy that treated Americans as "workers and wage earners, not just consumers."

Tai, who served seven years as the Democratic trade counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, vowed to maintain a "healthy partnership" with Congress, and said she would work to rebuild strained ties with U.S. allies.

Tai, echoing the get-tough tone on China struck by other Biden nominees and officials, said Beijing needed to live up to its commitments under the Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal signed in January 2020. China fell 42% short of meeting its commitments to buy additional U.S. goods and services in 2020, experts say.

"There are promises that China made that China needs to deliver on," Tai said, adding that Washington needed to explore all of its options to push for needed structural changes in China to make the world`s two largest economies more compatible.

Tai, who previously served as USTR`s head of China trade enforcement, told senators that the United States needs a "strategic and coherent plan" for holding China to its trade promises and competing with Beijing`s state-directed economic model.

"China is simultaneously a rival, a trade partner and an outsized player whose cooperation we`ll also need to address certain global challenges," Tai said. "We must remember how to walk, chew gum and play chess at the same time."

Achieving this, she said, would require stronger, more resilient U.S. supply chains and investments in people and infrastructure to boost American competitiveness.

"We must also impart the values and rules that guide global commerce - and we must enforce those terms vigorously," Tai said.

`IMPORTANT STEP`

She said she would prioritize enforcement of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which she helped renegotiate in 2019 as trade counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee to include tougher labor and environmental standards.

She said the deal marked an "important step in reforming our approach to trade" and its success was vital.

Tai`s testimony has been anxiously awaited for months by industry, U.S. trading partners from Beijing to Brussels, labor groups and lawmakers - all lining up to lobby the Yale- and Harvard-educated daughter of immigrants from Taiwan.

After former President Donald Trump`s "America First" trade stance upended decades of trade liberalization efforts and heaped tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of U.S. imports, many of these groups are pleading for a return to a more traditional view of trade as an engine of growth.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday called on Tai to back away from the "blunt instrument" of tariffs.

As the trade "czar" for the world`s largest economy, biggest importer of goods and second-largest exporter after China, Tai will wield immense clout.

If confirmed, she faces a long list of disputes left over from the Trump administration, from tariffs on steel and aluminum, aircraft and wine to threatened duties over digital services taxes and China`s lagging U.S. goods purchases.

Katherine Tai, President Joe Biden`s nominee for U.S. trade representative, on Thursday backed tariffs as a `legitimate tool` of trade policy and called for tough enforcement of existing trade deals, including with China.

Katherine Tai, President Joe Biden`s nominee for U.S. trade representative, on Thursday backed tariffs as a `legitimate tool` of trade policy and called for tough enforcement of existing trade deals, including with China. Tai mapped out her plans at a confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, underscoring her commitment to a worker-centered trade policy that treated Americans as "workers and wage earners, not just consumers." Tai, who served seven years as the Democratic trade counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, vowed to maintain a "healthy partnership" with Congress, and said she would work to rebuild strained ties with U.S. allies. Tai, echoing the get-tough tone on China struck by other Biden nominees and officials, said Beijing needed to live up to its commitments under the Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal signed in January 2020. China fell 42% short of meeting its commitments to buy additional U.S. goods and services in 2020, experts say. "There are promises that China made that China needs to deliver on," Tai said, adding that Washington needed to explore all of its options to push for needed structural changes in China to make the world`s two largest economies more compatible. Tai, who previously served as USTR`s head of China trade enforcement, told senators that the United States needs a "strategic and coherent plan" for holding China to its trade promises and competing with Beijing`s state-directed economic model. "China is simultaneously a rival, a trade partner and an outsized player whose cooperation we`ll also need to address certain global challenges," Tai said. "We must remember how to walk, chew gum and play chess at the same time." Achieving this, she said, would require stronger, more resilient U.S. supply chains and investments in people and infrastructure to boost American competitiveness. "We must also impart the values and rules that guide global commerce - and we must enforce those terms vigorously," Tai said. `IMPORTANT STEP` She said she would prioritize enforcement of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which she helped renegotiate in 2019 as trade counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee to include tougher labor and environmental standards. She said the deal marked an "important step in reforming our approach to trade" and its success was vital. Tai`s testimony has been anxiously awaited for months by industry, U.S. trading partners from Beijing to Brussels, labor groups and lawmakers - all lining up to lobby the Yale- and Harvard-educated daughter of immigrants from Taiwan. After former President Donald Trump`s "America First" trade stance upended decades of trade liberalization efforts and heaped tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of U.S. imports, many of these groups are pleading for a return to a more traditional view of trade as an engine of growth. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday called on Tai to back away from the "blunt instrument" of tariffs. As the trade "czar" for the world`s largest economy, biggest importer of goods and second-largest exporter after China, Tai will wield immense clout. If confirmed, she faces a long list of disputes left over from the Trump administration, from tariffs on steel and aluminum, aircraft and wine to threatened duties over digital services taxes and China`s lagging U.S. goods purchases.

Biden's USTR nominee Tai backs use of tariffs, vows focus on enforcement

President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he would seek $37 billion in funding for legislation to supercharge chip manufacturing in the United States.

Biden to press for $37 billion to boost chip manufacturing

US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden </a>on Wednesday revoked a proclamation issued by <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump </a>that blocked several green card holders from entering the United States.&nbsp;

Biden's predecessor Trump imposed the ban last year in a bid to protect the jobs of Americans amid high unemployment due to the pandemic.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-why-migrants-from-honduras-are-rushing-to-the-us-357585/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The ban was initially placed until December last year, but Trump later extended it to March 2021.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-signals-hes-flexible-on-immigration-overhaul-364503">Biden signals he’s flexible on immigration overhaul</a>

Calling immigrants a "risk to the US labour market," Trump blocked their entry into the country by issuing Proclamation 10014 and Proclamation 10052.

Rejecting the proclamation on Wednesday, Biden said the ban had prevented families settled in the US from reuniting and hurt businesses across the country.&nbsp;

Biden said the ban "does not advance the interests of the United States" in his proclamation.

"To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here. It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world," he said.&nbsp;

As many as 120,000 family-based preference visas were lost majorly because of the ban in the 2020 budget year, according to the American Immigrant Lawyers Association.&nbsp;

The Trump proclamation did not allow immigrants to bring over family members unless they were US citizens.&nbsp;

It also barred employment-based visas' entry unless the immigrants were involved in any service beneficial to the US, such as healthcare.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked a proclamation issued by Donald Trump that blocked several green card holders from entering the United States. Biden's predecessor Trump imposed the ban last year in a bid to protect the jobs of Americans amid high unemployment due to the pandemic.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked a proclamation issued by Donald Trump that blocked several green card holders from entering the United States. Biden's predecessor Trump imposed the ban last year in a bid to protect the jobs of Americans amid high unemployment due to the pandemic. Watch | The ban was initially placed until December last year, but Trump later extended it to March 2021. Also read | Biden signals he’s flexible on immigration overhaul Calling immigrants a "risk to the US labour market," Trump blocked their entry into the country by issuing Proclamation 10014 and Proclamation 10052. Rejecting the proclamation on Wednesday, Biden said the ban had prevented families settled in the US from reuniting and hurt businesses across the country. Biden said the ban "does not advance the interests of the United States" in his proclamation. "To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here. It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world," he said. As many as 120,000 family-based preference visas were lost majorly because of the ban in the 2020 budget year, according to the American Immigrant Lawyers Association. The Trump proclamation did not allow immigrants to bring over family members unless they were US citizens. It also barred employment-based visas' entry unless the immigrants were involved in any service beneficial to the US, such as healthcare.

Joe Biden revokes Trump-era ban on green card applicants

Singer Kelly Clarkson, who is in the middle of a divorce from Brandon Blackstock, has received some advice from US First Lady Dr Jill Biden.&nbsp; 
 
The former 'American Idol' contestant, 38, and Blackstock share two children together: River Rose, 6, and Remington Alexander, 4.&nbsp; 
 
The two have accused each other of financial faults.&nbsp; 
 
Biden was earlier married to a man called Bill Stevenson from 1970-1975 before marrying Joe Biden in 1977. 
 
The US First lady appeared on the Wednesday episode of 'The Kelly Clarkson Show' and opened up about her own divorce and offered words of encouragement to the singer. Clarkson has been vocal about the difficulties of divorce.&nbsp;

“This is what I would say to you if I were your mother. My mother always said, 'Things are going to look better tomorrow and if you can take one day at a time ... things will get better," Biden, 69, said.&nbsp; 
 
"I look back on it now and I think, 'You know if I hadn't gotten divorced, I never would have met Joe.'" 
 
Biden also stated that she "wouldn't have the beautiful family I have now" had she not split from her first husband.&nbsp;

Dr Biden shares her 39-year-old daughter Ashley with the President, who had three children from a previous marriage.&nbsp; 
 
President Biden lost his daughter Naomi and first wife Neilia in a car crash.&nbsp; 
 
"I really think things happen for the best," Dr Biden added. "... Over time, you heal and you're going to be surprised and I can't wait until that day comes for you and you're going to call me up and you're going to say, 'Hey Jill, you were right.'" 
 
In an earlier episode of the show, Clarkson had addressed her split, calling divorce "horrible." 
&nbsp;

Singer Kelly Clarkson, who is in the middle of a divorce from Brandon Blackstock, has received some advice from US First Lady Dr Jill Biden. The former 'American Idol' contestant, 38, and Blackstock share two children together: River Rose, 6, and Remington Alexander, 4.

Singer Kelly Clarkson, who is in the middle of a divorce from Brandon Blackstock, has received some advice from US First Lady Dr Jill Biden. The former 'American Idol' contestant, 38, and Blackstock share two children together: River Rose, 6, and Remington Alexander, 4. The two have accused each other of financial faults. Biden was earlier married to a man called Bill Stevenson from 1970-1975 before marrying Joe Biden in 1977. The US First lady appeared on the Wednesday episode of 'The Kelly Clarkson Show' and opened up about her own divorce and offered words of encouragement to the singer. Clarkson has been vocal about the difficulties of divorce. “This is what I would say to you if I were your mother. My mother always said, 'Things are going to look better tomorrow and if you can take one day at a time ... things will get better," Biden, 69, said. "I look back on it now and I think, 'You know if I hadn't gotten divorced, I never would have met Joe.'" Biden also stated that she "wouldn't have the beautiful family I have now" had she not split from her first husband. Dr Biden shares her 39-year-old daughter Ashley with the President, who had three children from a previous marriage. President Biden lost his daughter Naomi and first wife Neilia in a car crash. "I really think things happen for the best," Dr Biden added. "... Over time, you heal and you're going to be surprised and I can't wait until that day comes for you and you're going to call me up and you're going to say, 'Hey Jill, you were right.'" In an earlier episode of the show, Clarkson had addressed her split, calling divorce "horrible."

US first lady Jill Biden has this advice for Kelly Clarkson about divorcing Brandon Blackstock

Neera Tanden’s nomination as the first Indian-American and the first woman of colour to serve as director of the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is in jeopardy.

Why Neera Tanden's nomination under jeopardy?

US President Joe Biden has spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in his first bilateral meeting with a foreign leader since taking office.

'US-Canada are best friends': Joe Biden

WASHINGTON — Days after President Joe Biden took office, the Bureau of Land Management put a scenic landscape of a winding river at the top of its website, which during the previous administration had featured a photograph of a huge wall of coal.

At the Department of Homeland Security, the phrase “illegal alien” is being replaced with “noncitizen.” The Interior Department now makes sure that mentions of its stakeholders include “Tribal” people (with a capital “T,” as preferred by Native Americans, it said). The most unpopular two words in the Trump lexicon — “climate change” — are once again appearing on government websites and in documents; officials at the Environmental Protection Agency have even begun using the hashtag #climatecrisis on Twitter.

And across the government, LGBTQ references are popping up everywhere. Visitors to the White House website are now asked whether they want to provide their pronouns when they fill out a contact form: she/her, he/him or they/them.

It is all part of a concerted effort by the Biden administration to rebrand the government after four years of former President Donald Trump, in part by stripping away the language and imagery that represented his anti-immigration, anti-science and anti-gay rights policies and replacing them with words and pictures that are more inclusive and better match the current president’s sensibilities.

“Biden is trying to reclaim the vision of America that was there during the Obama administration, a vision that was much more diverse, much more religiously tolerant, much more tolerant of different kinds of gender dispositions and gender presentations,” said Norma Mendoza-Denton, a professor of anthropology at UCLA and an author of “Language in the Trump Era: Scandals and Emergencies.”

Mendoza-Denton said Trump sought to “remake reality through language” during a tumultuous tenure. As she writes in her book, the former president “changed some of the deepest expectations about presidential language, not just when it comes to style, but also the relationship between words and reality.”

Now officials in Biden’s administration are using Trump’s own tactics to adjust reality again, this time by erasing the words his predecessor used and by explicitly returning to ones that had been banished.

“The president has been clear to all of us: Words matter, tone matters and civility matters,” said Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary. “And bringing the country together, getting back our seat at the global table means turning the page from the actions but also the divisive and far too often xenophobic language of the last administration.”

Some shift in the language used by government agencies is not uncommon when a new administration arrives in Washington. In addition to their symbolic power, the revisions can help usher in new policies. Allowing the phrase “climate change” gives a green light to government scientists, while banning the use of “illegal alien” can alter the real-life engagements between immigrants and border agents.

But rarely has the contrast been quite so stark as it is between Biden and Trump. The rhetorical overhaul is underway in all corners of the government as executive orders are drafted, news releases are modified, scores of federal forms are tweaked, and online portals are revamped.

Stephen Miller, who pursued similar changes at the beginning of the Trump administration as a top policy adviser, said the embrace of what he called politically correct language by officials in Biden’s government reflected the importance of framing important issues for the public.

In addition to the changes on websites, he noted that Biden’s executive orders had been filled with words and phrases that would never have come from Trump’s mouth, including “equity,” “environmental justice,” “pathway to citizenship,” “pro-choice” and “undocumented immigrant.”

“The struggle over the lexicon is actually the central struggle,” said Miller, who wrote many of Trump’s speeches and was the architect of his assault on the immigration system. “Equity is meant to harken to this idea that America is a nation that believes in everybody having this fundamental dignity of treatment. But the other side would say, ‘What you call equity, I call discrimination.’ ”

Trump administration officials like Miller sought to engineer similar shifts in language when they were in office. Miller fought in 2017 for the use of the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” during that year’s presidential address to Congress, arguing that it conveyed a seriousness of purpose by Trump in fighting terrorism. Critics said that using the phrase falsely suggested that all Muslims are terrorists.

And Ben Carson, Trump’s secretary of housing and urban development, proposed removing the phrase “inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination” from the department’s mission statement. He later backed down.

For the Biden administration, the vocabulary shift was immediate.

Hours after taking office, officials responsible for updating WhiteHouse.gov removed pages highlighting Trump’s 1776 Commission, which likened progressivism to fascism and attacked liberals who charge that the founding of the United States was tainted by slavery.

At the same time, the president’s aides restored the Spanish-language version of the website, which had been taken down by Trump’s digital team, and hired sign language interpreters for the livestream of the press secretary’s daily briefing. References to presidents as “he” were changed to “they” on some parts of the site.

At the State Department, the incoming secretary, Antony Blinken, moved quickly to erase what Mike Pompeo, his predecessor, called an “ethos” statement for U.S. diplomats, which included a pledge to be a “champion of American diplomacy” and to work with “unfailing professionalism.” Many longtime members of the department saw it as an insulting warning to the so-called deep state who Pompeo and Trump believed were undermining their agenda.

In its place, Blinken issued a statement that said “the ethos of public service permeates the workforce” and declared that State Department employees “do not need a reminder of the values we share.”

And officials at the Bureau of Land Management, in addition to overhauling their website, have restored boilerplate language at the bottom of all documents, including the assertion that the agency’s mission is “to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of America’s public lands.”

Melissa Schwartz, the Interior Department’s top communications official, said such changes were part of a new policy of encouraging voices that had not been heard during the Trump administration.

“The words we choose are critical and set the tone, whether it’s press releases or social media or all-staff messages,” she said. “At Interior, that means not just acknowledging the disproportionate impact that the climate crisis is having on communities of color and Indigenous peoples but an embrace of the science and solutions that will help us tackle it.”

Biden administration officials say the effort to modify the language used by government officials recognizes the powerful messages that certain words and phrases send.

The term “alien” is written into immigration statutes and has been widely used in government for decades to describe foreigners, even showing up in memos from Obama-era officials. But it has increasingly been at the center of an ideological tug of war about whether it unfairly stigmatizes immigrants and whether those in the United States without authorization should be called “undocumented” rather than “illegal.”

Three years ago, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered officials in his department to use the term “illegal alien” in all communications when describing someone who did not come to the United States through legal means. In a memo, Justice Department officials wrote that “the word ‘undocumented’ is not based in U.S. code and should not be used to describe someone’s illegal presence in the country.”

Now the Biden administration is explicitly reversing that position. On Feb. 12, officials at Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that handles citizenship, said employees should not use the word “alien” in “outreach efforts, internal documents and in overall communication with stakeholders, partners and the general public.” The move, the agency’s acting director said, “aligns our language practices with the administration’s guidance on the federal government’s use of immigration terminology.”

A few days later, the White House went further. In his legislative proposal for a far-reaching immigration overhaul, Biden would strip the word “alien” from the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act and substitute it with “noncitizen,” a suggestion that infuriates anti-immigration groups.

“It’s kind of Orwellian — that’s what it is, really,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors limits on immigration. “The war against the word ‘alien’ is a continuation of this effort to destigmatize illegal immigration that started in the mid-1970s. This is in a sense the culmination of that process.”

Some changes are still pending.

The website of the Department of Homeland Security’s citizenship office, USCIS.gov, still bears the mission statement that Trump administration officials modified in 2018 to remove “America’s promise as a nation of immigrants” and replace it with “fairly adjudicating requests for immigration benefits.” That could soon switch course.

At the Environmental Protection Agency, Trump’s aides had taken down the part of the website devoted to climate change. As of mid-February, the site had not yet been restored. But given Biden’s embrace of the subject, officials said they expected that to happen soon.

But the Treasury Department is already moving ahead with plans to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, a decision that had been delayed during the Trump administration.

And at the Interior Department, employees have been told that they can use phrases like “science-based evidence” again. In a call with the agency’s public relations officials Jan. 21, Schwartz had a message for her colleagues.

“Climate change is real, and science is back, and you should feel free to talk about both in your press releases,” she said. “I release you!”

WASHINGTON — Days after President Joe Biden took office, the Bureau of Land Management put a scenic landscape of a winding river at the top of its website, which during the previous administration had featured a photograph of a huge wall of coal.

WASHINGTON — Days after President Joe Biden took office, the Bureau of Land Management put a scenic landscape of a winding river at the top of its website, which during the previous administration had featured a photograph of a huge wall of coal. At the Department of Homeland Security, the phrase “illegal alien” is being replaced with “noncitizen.” The Interior Department now makes sure that mentions of its stakeholders include “Tribal” people (with a capital “T,” as preferred by Native Americans, it said). The most unpopular two words in the Trump lexicon — “climate change” — are once again appearing on government websites and in documents; officials at the Environmental Protection Agency have even begun using the hashtag #climatecrisis on Twitter. And across the government, LGBTQ references are popping up everywhere. Visitors to the White House website are now asked whether they want to provide their pronouns when they fill out a contact form: she/her, he/him or they/them. It is all part of a concerted effort by the Biden administration to rebrand the government after four years of former President Donald Trump, in part by stripping away the language and imagery that represented his anti-immigration, anti-science and anti-gay rights policies and replacing them with words and pictures that are more inclusive and better match the current president’s sensibilities. “Biden is trying to reclaim the vision of America that was there during the Obama administration, a vision that was much more diverse, much more religiously tolerant, much more tolerant of different kinds of gender dispositions and gender presentations,” said Norma Mendoza-Denton, a professor of anthropology at UCLA and an author of “Language in the Trump Era: Scandals and Emergencies.” Mendoza-Denton said Trump sought to “remake reality through language” during a tumultuous tenure. As she writes in her book, the former president “changed some of the deepest expectations about presidential language, not just when it comes to style, but also the relationship between words and reality.” Now officials in Biden’s administration are using Trump’s own tactics to adjust reality again, this time by erasing the words his predecessor used and by explicitly returning to ones that had been banished. “The president has been clear to all of us: Words matter, tone matters and civility matters,” said Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary. “And bringing the country together, getting back our seat at the global table means turning the page from the actions but also the divisive and far too often xenophobic language of the last administration.” Some shift in the language used by government agencies is not uncommon when a new administration arrives in Washington. In addition to their symbolic power, the revisions can help usher in new policies. Allowing the phrase “climate change” gives a green light to government scientists, while banning the use of “illegal alien” can alter the real-life engagements between immigrants and border agents. But rarely has the contrast been quite so stark as it is between Biden and Trump. The rhetorical overhaul is underway in all corners of the government as executive orders are drafted, news releases are modified, scores of federal forms are tweaked, and online portals are revamped. Stephen Miller, who pursued similar changes at the beginning of the Trump administration as a top policy adviser, said the embrace of what he called politically correct language by officials in Biden’s government reflected the importance of framing important issues for the public. In addition to the changes on websites, he noted that Biden’s executive orders had been filled with words and phrases that would never have come from Trump’s mouth, including “equity,” “environmental justice,” “pathway to citizenship,” “pro-choice” and “undocumented immigrant.” “The struggle over the lexicon is actually the central struggle,” said Miller, who wrote many of Trump’s speeches and was the architect of his assault on the immigration system. “Equity is meant to harken to this idea that America is a nation that believes in everybody having this fundamental dignity of treatment. But the other side would say, ‘What you call equity, I call discrimination.’ ” Trump administration officials like Miller sought to engineer similar shifts in language when they were in office. Miller fought in 2017 for the use of the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” during that year’s presidential address to Congress, arguing that it conveyed a seriousness of purpose by Trump in fighting terrorism. Critics said that using the phrase falsely suggested that all Muslims are terrorists. And Ben Carson, Trump’s secretary of housing and urban development, proposed removing the phrase “inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination” from the department’s mission statement. He later backed down. For the Biden administration, the vocabulary shift was immediate. Hours after taking office, officials responsible for updating WhiteHouse.gov removed pages highlighting Trump’s 1776 Commission, which likened progressivism to fascism and attacked liberals who charge that the founding of the United States was tainted by slavery. At the same time, the president’s aides restored the Spanish-language version of the website, which had been taken down by Trump’s digital team, and hired sign language interpreters for the livestream of the press secretary’s daily briefing. References to presidents as “he” were changed to “they” on some parts of the site. At the State Department, the incoming secretary, Antony Blinken, moved quickly to erase what Mike Pompeo, his predecessor, called an “ethos” statement for U.S. diplomats, which included a pledge to be a “champion of American diplomacy” and to work with “unfailing professionalism.” Many longtime members of the department saw it as an insulting warning to the so-called deep state who Pompeo and Trump believed were undermining their agenda. In its place, Blinken issued a statement that said “the ethos of public service permeates the workforce” and declared that State Department employees “do not need a reminder of the values we share.” And officials at the Bureau of Land Management, in addition to overhauling their website, have restored boilerplate language at the bottom of all documents, including the assertion that the agency’s mission is “to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of America’s public lands.” Melissa Schwartz, the Interior Department’s top communications official, said such changes were part of a new policy of encouraging voices that had not been heard during the Trump administration. “The words we choose are critical and set the tone, whether it’s press releases or social media or all-staff messages,” she said. “At Interior, that means not just acknowledging the disproportionate impact that the climate crisis is having on communities of color and Indigenous peoples but an embrace of the science and solutions that will help us tackle it.” Biden administration officials say the effort to modify the language used by government officials recognizes the powerful messages that certain words and phrases send. The term “alien” is written into immigration statutes and has been widely used in government for decades to describe foreigners, even showing up in memos from Obama-era officials. But it has increasingly been at the center of an ideological tug of war about whether it unfairly stigmatizes immigrants and whether those in the United States without authorization should be called “undocumented” rather than “illegal.” Three years ago, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered officials in his department to use the term “illegal alien” in all communications when describing someone who did not come to the United States through legal means. In a memo, Justice Department officials wrote that “the word ‘undocumented’ is not based in U.S. code and should not be used to describe someone’s illegal presence in the country.” Now the Biden administration is explicitly reversing that position. On Feb. 12, officials at Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that handles citizenship, said employees should not use the word “alien” in “outreach efforts, internal documents and in overall communication with stakeholders, partners and the general public.” The move, the agency’s acting director said, “aligns our language practices with the administration’s guidance on the federal government’s use of immigration terminology.” A few days later, the White House went further. In his legislative proposal for a far-reaching immigration overhaul, Biden would strip the word “alien” from the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act and substitute it with “noncitizen,” a suggestion that infuriates anti-immigration groups. “It’s kind of Orwellian — that’s what it is, really,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors limits on immigration. “The war against the word ‘alien’ is a continuation of this effort to destigmatize illegal immigration that started in the mid-1970s. This is in a sense the culmination of that process.” Some changes are still pending. The website of the Department of Homeland Security’s citizenship office, USCIS.gov, still bears the mission statement that Trump administration officials modified in 2018 to remove “America’s promise as a nation of immigrants” and replace it with “fairly adjudicating requests for immigration benefits.” That could soon switch course. At the Environmental Protection Agency, Trump’s aides had taken down the part of the website devoted to climate change. As of mid-February, the site had not yet been restored. But given Biden’s embrace of the subject, officials said they expected that to happen soon. But the Treasury Department is already moving ahead with plans to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, a decision that had been delayed during the Trump administration. And at the Interior Department, employees have been told that they can use phrases like “science-based evidence” again. In a call with the agency’s public relations officials Jan. 21, Schwartz had a message for her colleagues. “Climate change is real, and science is back, and you should feel free to talk about both in your press releases,” she said. “I release you!”

The words that are in and out with the Biden administration

In his first bilateral meeting with a foreign leader, US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> virtually met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The two leaders talked about the immediate need to bring in more policies around climate change. Trudeau praised Biden for rejoining the Paris climate accord and said, "US leadership has been sorely missed over the past years."

"And I have to say as we were preparing the joint rollout of the communique on this, it’s nice when the Americans are not pulling out all the references to climate change and instead adding them in," he added.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-canada-are-best-friends-joe-biden-365782">WATCH|</a>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-canada-are-best-friends-joe-biden-365782/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Biden returned the praise by claiming that "the United States has no closer friend than Canada"

They also highlighted the recently-tainted relationship of both the countries with China, with Canada also mentioning the two citizens, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who have been detained by China.

"Human beings are not bartering chips," Biden said about the detained Canadian citizens. "We’re going to work together until we get their safe return."

It is still unclear whether the two leaders talked about Canada accessing the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from the Michigan plant, instead of Belgium. The issue was highlighted in their call, which took place a few days ago, where Biden had said that his priority is to get all American vaccinated first.

However, Trudeau assured the US President that the two countries will work "together to get through Covid but also to make sure we're pulling our weight around the world and making the world a better and safer place for everyone."

In his first bilateral meeting with a foreign leader, US President Joe Biden virtually met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The two leaders talked about the immediate need to bring in more policies around climate change.

In his first bilateral meeting with a foreign leader, US President Joe Biden virtually met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The two leaders talked about the immediate need to bring in more policies around climate change. Trudeau praised Biden for rejoining the Paris climate accord and said, "US leadership has been sorely missed over the past years." "And I have to say as we were preparing the joint rollout of the communique on this, it’s nice when the Americans are not pulling out all the references to climate change and instead adding them in," he added. WATCH| Biden returned the praise by claiming that "the United States has no closer friend than Canada" They also highlighted the recently-tainted relationship of both the countries with China, with Canada also mentioning the two citizens, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who have been detained by China. "Human beings are not bartering chips," Biden said about the detained Canadian citizens. "We’re going to work together until we get their safe return." It is still unclear whether the two leaders talked about Canada accessing the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from the Michigan plant, instead of Belgium. The issue was highlighted in their call, which took place a few days ago, where Biden had said that his priority is to get all American vaccinated first. However, Trudeau assured the US President that the two countries will work "together to get through Covid but also to make sure we're pulling our weight around the world and making the world a better and safer place for everyone."

US leadership 'sorely missed' in past, says Justin Trudeau for 'close friend' Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden's administration will&nbsp;distribute 25 million masks starting next month.

White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday&nbsp;"In the month of March, we will begin to deliver millions of masks to food banks and community health centres around the country.''

"We will deliver more than 25 million masks across the country, these masks will be available in more than 1300 community health centres, and 60,000 food pantries nationwide.

Zients also said that the Biden&nbsp;administration is anticipating the&nbsp;distribution of&nbsp;at least three million doses of Johnson &amp; Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine should it receive emergency use authorization (EUA).

Around 44.5 million people in the United States had received at least one dose of two-shot vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech or Moderna, as of Tuesday morning as the&nbsp;Biden&nbsp;administration tries to accelerate an unprecedented campaign to vaccinate most American adults.

About 19 per cent&nbsp;of total global coronavirus deaths have occurred in the United States, an outsized figure given that the nation accounts for just 4 per cent&nbsp;of the world’s population.

The country has the highest overall death figure, reflecting&nbsp;the lack of a unified, national response last year, when the administration of former President Donald Trump mostly left states to their own devices in tackling the greatest public health crisis in a century.&nbsp;

Biden, a Democrat, took office on Jan. 20 after defeating Trump, a Republican, in the 2020 presidential election, in part by arguing he would do a better job of addressing the pandemic.

Trump downplayed the pandemic in its early stages and repeatedly predicted rosier numbers about the expected death toll in the United States than came to fruition.

&nbsp;

US President Joe Biden's administration will distribute 25 million masks starting next month. White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday "In the month of March, we will begin to deliver millions of masks to food banks and community health centres around the country.

US President Joe Biden's administration will distribute 25 million masks starting next month. White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday "In the month of March, we will begin to deliver millions of masks to food banks and community health centres around the country.'' "We will deliver more than 25 million masks across the country, these masks will be available in more than 1300 community health centres, and 60,000 food pantries nationwide. Zients also said that the Biden administration is anticipating the distribution of at least three million doses of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine should it receive emergency use authorization (EUA). Around 44.5 million people in the United States had received at least one dose of two-shot vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech or Moderna, as of Tuesday morning as the Biden administration tries to accelerate an unprecedented campaign to vaccinate most American adults. About 19 per cent of total global coronavirus deaths have occurred in the United States, an outsized figure given that the nation accounts for just 4 per cent of the world’s population. The country has the highest overall death figure, reflecting the lack of a unified, national response last year, when the administration of former President Donald Trump mostly left states to their own devices in tackling the greatest public health crisis in a century. Biden, a Democrat, took office on Jan. 20 after defeating Trump, a Republican, in the 2020 presidential election, in part by arguing he would do a better job of addressing the pandemic. Trump downplayed the pandemic in its early stages and repeatedly predicted rosier numbers about the expected death toll in the United States than came to fruition.

US to distribute 25 million masks for protection against coronavirus

Veteran US diplomat William Burns, nominated to lead the CIA, pledged Wednesday to keep the&nbsp;agency free of politics and said China would be his biggest focus if confirmed.

Burns was picked by President Joe Biden to replace retiring Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel and to help restore an air of independence after former president Donald Trump allegedly tried to manipulate the country's spies for political reasons.&nbsp;

He told the Senate Intelligence Committee that his career in the Middle East and Russia made him appreciate the value of untainted intelligence.

"I learned that good intelligence, delivered with honesty and integrity, is America's first line of defense," he told the panel.

"I learned that intelligence professionals have to tell policymakers what they need to hear, even if they don't want to hear it. And I learned that politics must stop where intelligence work begins."

He said Biden stressed that "he wants the agency to give it to him straight."

"And I pledged to do just that, and to defend those who do the same."

Burns also told the panel that China was the main challenge the country faces, echoing views stated by Biden and other top officials of his administration.

"Out-competing China will be key to our national security in the decades ahead. That will require a long-term, clear-eyed, bipartisan strategy, underpinned by domestic renewal and solid intelligence," he said.

He said that while in some areas, like nuclear non-proliferation, the United States can cooperate with Beijing, it is nevertheless "a formidable, authoritarian adversary."

The CIA in particular has faced challenges, with China having recruited a number of US diplomats and spies over recent years and also, starting a decade ago, bringing down the CIA's own network of informants in the country.

Burns also stressed in a statement to the hearing that the fight for technological superiority in espionage, including the use of artificial intelligence, will also be a key part of his mission.&nbsp;

Until his nomination, Burns was president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a leading Washington foreign policy think-tank.

If approved as expected by the Senate, Burns will be the first career diplomat to lead the CIA.&nbsp;

But he has deep experience in security and intelligence matters after spending over three decades in the US foreign service, including a stint as ambassador to Russia from 2005-2008.

Veteran US diplomat William Burns, nominated to lead the CIA, pledged Wednesday to keep the agency free of politics and said China would be his biggest focus if confirmed.

Veteran US diplomat William Burns, nominated to lead the CIA, pledged Wednesday to keep the agency free of politics and said China would be his biggest focus if confirmed. Burns was picked by President Joe Biden to replace retiring Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel and to help restore an air of independence after former president Donald Trump allegedly tried to manipulate the country's spies for political reasons. He told the Senate Intelligence Committee that his career in the Middle East and Russia made him appreciate the value of untainted intelligence. "I learned that good intelligence, delivered with honesty and integrity, is America's first line of defense," he told the panel. "I learned that intelligence professionals have to tell policymakers what they need to hear, even if they don't want to hear it. And I learned that politics must stop where intelligence work begins." He said Biden stressed that "he wants the agency to give it to him straight." "And I pledged to do just that, and to defend those who do the same." Burns also told the panel that China was the main challenge the country faces, echoing views stated by Biden and other top officials of his administration. "Out-competing China will be key to our national security in the decades ahead. That will require a long-term, clear-eyed, bipartisan strategy, underpinned by domestic renewal and solid intelligence," he said. He said that while in some areas, like nuclear non-proliferation, the United States can cooperate with Beijing, it is nevertheless "a formidable, authoritarian adversary." The CIA in particular has faced challenges, with China having recruited a number of US diplomats and spies over recent years and also, starting a decade ago, bringing down the CIA's own network of informants in the country. Burns also stressed in a statement to the hearing that the fight for technological superiority in espionage, including the use of artificial intelligence, will also be a key part of his mission. Until his nomination, Burns was president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a leading Washington foreign policy think-tank. If approved as expected by the Senate, Burns will be the first career diplomat to lead the CIA. But he has deep experience in security and intelligence matters after spending over three decades in the US foreign service, including a stint as ambassador to Russia from 2005-2008.

Joe Biden's CIA pick stresses China threat

US President Joe Biden will on Wednesday sign an executive order, which stands to address a global semiconductor chip shortage that has forced American automakers and other manufacturers to cut production and alarmed the White House and members of Congress.

The pandemic-induced scarcity will be the subject when Biden meets a bipartisan group of US lawmakers on Wednesday to discuss the issue.

Administration officials said Biden's executive order, to be signed at 4:45 pm EST Wednesday, will launch an immediate 100-day review of supply chains for four critical products: semiconductor chips, large-capacity batteries for electric vehicles, rare earth minerals and pharmaceuticals.

The order will also direct six sector reviews -- modelled after the process used by the Defence Department to strengthen the defence industrial base. It will be focussed on the areas of defence, public health, communications technology, transportation, energy and food production.

The United States has been besieged by supply shortages since the onset of the pandemic, which squeezed the availability of masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment, hurting frontline workers.

A group of US chip companies earlier in February urged Biden to provide "substantial funding for incentives for semiconductor manufacturing" as part of his economic recovery and infrastructure plans. Last summer they supported bipartisan legislation to provide "tens of billions of dollars" to help pay for chip manufacturing and research.

Biden has been under pressure from Republican lawmakers to do more to protect American supply chains from China by investing in domestic manufacturing of next-generation semiconductor chips.

Under Biden's order, thereby, the White House will look to diversify the United States' supply chain dependence for specific products such as rare earth minerals from China.

(with inputs from agencies)

US President Joe Biden will on Wednesday sign an executive order, which stands to address a global semiconductor chip shortage that has forced American automakers and other manufacturers to cut production and alarmed the White House and members of Congress.

US President Joe Biden will on Wednesday sign an executive order, which stands to address a global semiconductor chip shortage that has forced American automakers and other manufacturers to cut production and alarmed the White House and members of Congress. The pandemic-induced scarcity will be the subject when Biden meets a bipartisan group of US lawmakers on Wednesday to discuss the issue. Administration officials said Biden's executive order, to be signed at 4:45 pm EST Wednesday, will launch an immediate 100-day review of supply chains for four critical products: semiconductor chips, large-capacity batteries for electric vehicles, rare earth minerals and pharmaceuticals. The order will also direct six sector reviews -- modelled after the process used by the Defence Department to strengthen the defence industrial base. It will be focussed on the areas of defence, public health, communications technology, transportation, energy and food production. The United States has been besieged by supply shortages since the onset of the pandemic, which squeezed the availability of masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment, hurting frontline workers. A group of US chip companies earlier in February urged Biden to provide "substantial funding for incentives for semiconductor manufacturing" as part of his economic recovery and infrastructure plans. Last summer they supported bipartisan legislation to provide "tens of billions of dollars" to help pay for chip manufacturing and research. Biden has been under pressure from Republican lawmakers to do more to protect American supply chains from China by investing in domestic manufacturing of next-generation semiconductor chips. Under Biden's order, thereby, the White House will look to diversify the United States' supply chain dependence for specific products such as rare earth minerals from China. (with inputs from agencies)

Biden set to address global computer chip shortage with latest executive order

President Joe Biden held a virtual bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the first time since taking office. During the meeting, Biden declared that 'the United States has no greater friend than Canada'.

US-Canada are the best friends: President Biden; Trudeau welcomes US leadership in meeting

The Quad is aimed at ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific, a region that witnessed increasing Chinese military assertiveness in recent years.

Biden admin views Quad as having essential momentum

President Joe&nbsp;Biden on Tuesday&nbsp;announced the reversal of the stringent Trump-era policy by reverting to the 2008 version of the naturalisation test module to make the path to US citizenship more accessible to all eligible individuals.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Monday that it is reverting to the 2008 version of the naturalisation civics test beginning March 1, 2021.

The previous Trump administration had introduced some changes to the naturalisation civics test, called the 2020 civics test, which increased the number of questions from 100 to 128 and the correct answers in the multiple-choice questions had political and ideological overtones.

Announcing the reversal, the USCIS said the agency has determined that the revised civics test, applicable for individuals who had applied on or after December 1, 2020, "may inadvertently create potential barriers" to the naturalisation process.

USCIS said in a statement, "This action is consistent with the framework of the Executive Order on Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems, which directs a comprehensive review of the naturalisation process to eliminate barriers and make the process more accessible to all eligible individuals."

"The 2008 civics test was thoroughly developed over a multi-year period with the input of more than 150 organisations, which included English as a second language experts, educators, and historians, and was piloted before its implementation. USCIS aspires to make the process as accessible as possible as directed by President Biden's request to review the process thoroughly,''&nbsp;it said.

The civics test is administered to applicants who apply for US citizenship through naturalisation and is one of the statutory requirements for naturalising. Applicants must demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, principles, and form of government of the United States.

"The decision to naturalise demonstrates an investment in and commitment to this country. USCIS is committed to administering a test that is an instrument of civic learning and fosters civic integration as part of the test preparation process,''&nbsp;the statement said.

Applicants who filed their application for naturalisation on or after December 1, 2020, and before March 1, 2021, likely have been studying for the 2020 test; therefore, USCIS will give these applicants the option to take either the 2020 civics test or the 2008 civics test, it said.

There will be a transition period where both tests are being offered. The 2020 test will be phased out on April 19, 2021, for initial test takers. Applicants filing on or after March 1, 2021, will take the 2008 civics test, the agency said.&nbsp;

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the reversal of the stringent Trump-era policy by reverting to the 2008 version of the naturalisation test module to make the path to US citizenship more accessible to all eligible individuals.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced the reversal of the stringent Trump-era policy by reverting to the 2008 version of the naturalisation test module to make the path to US citizenship more accessible to all eligible individuals. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Monday that it is reverting to the 2008 version of the naturalisation civics test beginning March 1, 2021. The previous Trump administration had introduced some changes to the naturalisation civics test, called the 2020 civics test, which increased the number of questions from 100 to 128 and the correct answers in the multiple-choice questions had political and ideological overtones. Announcing the reversal, the USCIS said the agency has determined that the revised civics test, applicable for individuals who had applied on or after December 1, 2020, "may inadvertently create potential barriers" to the naturalisation process. USCIS said in a statement, "This action is consistent with the framework of the Executive Order on Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems, which directs a comprehensive review of the naturalisation process to eliminate barriers and make the process more accessible to all eligible individuals." "The 2008 civics test was thoroughly developed over a multi-year period with the input of more than 150 organisations, which included English as a second language experts, educators, and historians, and was piloted before its implementation. USCIS aspires to make the process as accessible as possible as directed by President Biden's request to review the process thoroughly,'' it said. The civics test is administered to applicants who apply for US citizenship through naturalisation and is one of the statutory requirements for naturalising. Applicants must demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, principles, and form of government of the United States. "The decision to naturalise demonstrates an investment in and commitment to this country. USCIS is committed to administering a test that is an instrument of civic learning and fosters civic integration as part of the test preparation process,'' the statement said. Applicants who filed their application for naturalisation on or after December 1, 2020, and before March 1, 2021, likely have been studying for the 2020 test; therefore, USCIS will give these applicants the option to take either the 2020 civics test or the 2008 civics test, it said. There will be a transition period where both tests are being offered. The 2020 test will be phased out on April 19, 2021, for initial test takers. Applicants filing on or after March 1, 2021, will take the 2008 civics test, the agency said.

US President Joe Biden rolls back Trump-era citizenship test

The United States are all set to reach the grim milestones of 500,000 COVID-19 deaths. The toll counts as some signs of hope are emerging in the world's worst-hit country with millions of people now vaccinated and a decline in winters massive spike in cases.

United States nears 500,000 Coronavirus deaths

US President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on Monday on the lives lost to the coronavirus pandemic and will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at sundown together with the First Lady, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, the White House said.&nbsp;

"... the President, the First Lady, the Vice President, and the Second Gentleman will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at sundown in the South Portico," Biden's Monday daily guidance, released by the White House, says.&nbsp;

According to the release, Biden will deliver remarks in the Cross Hall of the White House ahead of the candle lighting ceremony.&nbsp;

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According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States has confirmed more than 28.1 million coronavirus cases, and the country's Covid-19 death toll stands at over 498,800. &nbsp;

These are the highest figures of all the countries in the world. According to US media reports, the US coronavirus death toll is expected to surpass 500,000 on Monday. The United States faces this dark milestone this week despite a recent decline in Covid-19 cases. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-official-says-who-needs-to-dig-deeper-on-virus-origins-365454">Biden official says WHO needs to dig deeper on virus origins</a>

The number of Covid-19 cases fell for the fifth straight week and officials scrambled to inoculate the population. It has been nearly a year since the pandemic upended the country with dueling public health and economic crises.&nbsp;

"It's nothing like we've ever been through in the last 102 years since the 1918 influenza pandemic... It really is a terrible situation that we've been through - and that we're still going through," Dr Anthony Fauci, White House Covid-19 medical adviser and the nation's top infectious disease official, told CNN's 'State of the Union' programme on Sunday.&nbsp;

US President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on Monday on the lives lost to the coronavirus pandemic and will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at sundown together with the First Lady, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, the White House said.

US President Joe Biden will deliver remarks on Monday on the lives lost to the coronavirus pandemic and will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at sundown together with the First Lady, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, the White House said. "... the President, the First Lady, the Vice President, and the Second Gentleman will hold a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony at sundown in the South Portico," Biden's Monday daily guidance, released by the White House, says. According to the release, Biden will deliver remarks in the Cross Hall of the White House ahead of the candle lighting ceremony. × According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States has confirmed more than 28.1 million coronavirus cases, and the country's Covid-19 death toll stands at over 498,800. These are the highest figures of all the countries in the world. According to US media reports, the US coronavirus death toll is expected to surpass 500,000 on Monday. The United States faces this dark milestone this week despite a recent decline in Covid-19 cases. Also Read: Biden official says WHO needs to dig deeper on virus origins The number of Covid-19 cases fell for the fifth straight week and officials scrambled to inoculate the population. It has been nearly a year since the pandemic upended the country with dueling public health and economic crises. "It's nothing like we've ever been through in the last 102 years since the 1918 influenza pandemic... It really is a terrible situation that we've been through - and that we're still going through," Dr Anthony Fauci, White House Covid-19 medical adviser and the nation's top infectious disease official, told CNN's 'State of the Union' programme on Sunday.

US President to hold candle lighting ceremony in memory of Covid-19 victims as toll nears 5 lakh

President Joe Biden’s national security adviser on Sunday urged the World Health Organization to dig deeper and China to release raw data on the origins of the COVID-19 virus, casting doubt on a completeness of coming report from the health organization.

“The only way to have a scientifically based investigation is to have access to all the data,” Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said on “Face the Nation” on CBS, calling for “a credible, open, transparent international investigation led by the World Health Organization.”

The WHO sent a team of investigators, mostly scientists, to China for four weeks over January and February to investigate the origins of the virus. The team said after returning to the United States that Chinese scientists refused to give them access to patient records and other critical data. The investigators are already working on a preliminary report, but Sullivan said more research was needed.

“The WHO still has more work to do to get to the bottom of exactly where this virus emerged,” he said.

Toward the end of the show on which Sullivan aired his concerns, Matthew Pottinger, President Donald Trump’s former deputy national security adviser, made an appearance in which he continued to advance a discredited theory promoted by the previous administration and challenged by many scientists: that COVID-19 was the product of secret Chinese military experimentation in a lab in Wuhan, China.

While acknowledging some of the Trump administration’s “grave missteps,” such as not advising the American public soon enough to wear masks and not doing enough collection and analysis about how the virus was spreading and evolving genetically, Pottinger said China misled U.S. public health experts by not disclosing that the virus could spread silently, carried by people who did not show symptoms.

“We were waiting to be fed information when the nature of that regime meant that we were not going to get that information,” Pottinger said. “They had a strong incentive to mislead their own public and the rest of the world about the nature of this virus.”

During his appearance, Sullivan lamented a decision by the Trump administration to dismantle a special White House office that the Obama administration set up inside the National Security Council to detect and address pandemics. And Pottinger said that, based on the COVID-19 experience, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should establish “a new super body for pandemic preparedness and response,” with the person in charge attached to the White House.

Both men said that the U.S. intelligence community should have played a greater role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Sullivan said the Biden administration would be increasing “its tools, its resources, its practices to focus on detecting, preventing and responding to pandemics.”

Pottinger, a former Marine intelligence officer who resigned from the Trump administration after Trump supporters invaded the Capitol on Jan. 6, said, “I don’t think that the intelligence community is going to be able to do more than that critical role of collecting and analyzing the information.”

President Joe Biden’s national security adviser on Sunday urged the World Health Organization to dig deeper and China to release raw data on the origins of the COVID-19 virus, casting doubt on a completeness of coming report from the health organization.

President Joe Biden’s national security adviser on Sunday urged the World Health Organization to dig deeper and China to release raw data on the origins of the COVID-19 virus, casting doubt on a completeness of coming report from the health organization. “The only way to have a scientifically based investigation is to have access to all the data,” Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said on “Face the Nation” on CBS, calling for “a credible, open, transparent international investigation led by the World Health Organization.” The WHO sent a team of investigators, mostly scientists, to China for four weeks over January and February to investigate the origins of the virus. The team said after returning to the United States that Chinese scientists refused to give them access to patient records and other critical data. The investigators are already working on a preliminary report, but Sullivan said more research was needed. “The WHO still has more work to do to get to the bottom of exactly where this virus emerged,” he said. Toward the end of the show on which Sullivan aired his concerns, Matthew Pottinger, President Donald Trump’s former deputy national security adviser, made an appearance in which he continued to advance a discredited theory promoted by the previous administration and challenged by many scientists: that COVID-19 was the product of secret Chinese military experimentation in a lab in Wuhan, China. While acknowledging some of the Trump administration’s “grave missteps,” such as not advising the American public soon enough to wear masks and not doing enough collection and analysis about how the virus was spreading and evolving genetically, Pottinger said China misled U.S. public health experts by not disclosing that the virus could spread silently, carried by people who did not show symptoms. “We were waiting to be fed information when the nature of that regime meant that we were not going to get that information,” Pottinger said. “They had a strong incentive to mislead their own public and the rest of the world about the nature of this virus.” During his appearance, Sullivan lamented a decision by the Trump administration to dismantle a special White House office that the Obama administration set up inside the National Security Council to detect and address pandemics. And Pottinger said that, based on the COVID-19 experience, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should establish “a new super body for pandemic preparedness and response,” with the person in charge attached to the White House. Both men said that the U.S. intelligence community should have played a greater role in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Sullivan said the Biden administration would be increasing “its tools, its resources, its practices to focus on detecting, preventing and responding to pandemics.” Pottinger, a former Marine intelligence officer who resigned from the Trump administration after Trump supporters invaded the Capitol on Jan. 6, said, “I don’t think that the intelligence community is going to be able to do more than that critical role of collecting and analyzing the information.”

Biden official says WHO needs to dig deeper on virus origins

The first time the nation saw Biden in the Oval Office, hours after he was sworn in, he sat behind the Resolute Desk with a mask on his face.

Inside Joe Biden's major policy decisions in a month

After numerous weeks of stiff relationship with the US, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wants to establish a "win-win" relationship with Washington.

The Turkish President is hoping to diminish the fractious ties between the two NATO allies that have been ongoing for years.

He stressed that while the two countries have their differences, "the common interests of Turkey and the United States outweigh the differences".

His statement with a warmer tone has come days after the leader had hesitantly welcomed Biden in his new role of the US President. However, despite Biden's hardened approach towards Turkey and its policies, Erdogan said he hopes "to reinforce our cooperation with the new American administration on a win-win basis".

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-joe-biden-faces-his-first-foreign-policy-challenge-364131">WATCH|</a>

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Biden's administration, upon taking office, quickly rebuked Turkey on its homophobic stance in the country that had led to several incidents of student demonstrations.

The US also urged the release of the prominent civil society leader Osman Kavala.

For now, the US is hesitant about the first possible handshake as the issue of S-400 still persists. Erdogan had bought Russia's S-400 missile system despite warnings that the purchase can jeopardise its role in the NATO alliance. This had led to sanctions from the US on the Turkish defence industry.

Recently, too, Turkey had accused Washington of supporting "terrorists" and had summoned its ambassador as the US had declined to back Ankara's claim that PKK Kurdish "terrorists" were responsible for the execution of 13 Turks in Iraq. However, Washington had later accepted Ankara's claim.&nbsp;

"We expect a clear attitude from all our allies after the cowardly terrorist attack which claimed the lives of our 13 nationals," Erdogan said.

After numerous weeks of stiff relationship with the US, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wants to establish a "win-win" relationship with Washington.

After numerous weeks of stiff relationship with the US, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wants to establish a "win-win" relationship with Washington. The Turkish President is hoping to diminish the fractious ties between the two NATO allies that have been ongoing for years. He stressed that while the two countries have their differences, "the common interests of Turkey and the United States outweigh the differences". His statement with a warmer tone has come days after the leader had hesitantly welcomed Biden in his new role of the US President. However, despite Biden's hardened approach towards Turkey and its policies, Erdogan said he hopes "to reinforce our cooperation with the new American administration on a win-win basis". WATCH| Biden's administration, upon taking office, quickly rebuked Turkey on its homophobic stance in the country that had led to several incidents of student demonstrations. The US also urged the release of the prominent civil society leader Osman Kavala. For now, the US is hesitant about the first possible handshake as the issue of S-400 still persists. Erdogan had bought Russia's S-400 missile system despite warnings that the purchase can jeopardise its role in the NATO alliance. This had led to sanctions from the US on the Turkish defence industry. Recently, too, Turkey had accused Washington of supporting "terrorists" and had summoned its ambassador as the US had declined to back Ankara's claim that PKK Kurdish "terrorists" were responsible for the execution of 13 Turks in Iraq. However, Washington had later accepted Ankara's claim. "We expect a clear attitude from all our allies after the cowardly terrorist attack which claimed the lives of our 13 nationals," Erdogan said.

Turkey's Erdogan aims for 'win-win' relationship with Biden administration

WASHINGTON — After meeting in the Oval Office earlier this month with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and his fellow senior House Democrats, Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina made a beeline to Harris’ office in the West Wing to privately raise a topic that did not come up during their group discussion: the Supreme Court.

Clyburn, the highest-ranking African American in Congress, wanted to offer Harris the name of a potential future justice, according to a Democrat briefed on their conversation. District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs would fulfill Biden’s pledge to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court — and, Clyburn noted, she also happened to hail from South Carolina, a state with political meaning for the president.

There may not be a vacancy on the high court at the moment, but Clyburn and other lawmakers are already maneuvering to champion candidates and a new approach for a nomination that might come as soon as this summer, when some Democrats hope Justice Stephen Breyer, who is 82, will retire. With Democrats holding the narrowest of Senate majorities, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death still painfully fresh in their minds, these party leaders want to shape Biden’s appointment, including moving the party away from the usual Ivy League résumés.

The early jockeying illustrates how eager Democratic officials are to leave their mark on Biden’s effort to elevate historically underrepresented contenders for a landmark Supreme Court nomination. But it also casts a spotlight on discomfiting issues of class and credentialism in the Democratic Party that have been just below the surface since the days of the Obama administration.

Some Democrats such as Clyburn, who have nervously watched Republicans try to repackage themselves as a working-class party, believe that Biden could send a message about his determination to keep Democrats true to their blue-collar roots by choosing a candidate like Childs, who attended public universities.

“One of the things we have to be very, very careful of as Democrats is being painted with that elitist brush,” said Clyburn, adding: “When people talk to diversity they are always looking at race and ethnicity — I look beyond that to diversity of experience.”

Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, like Clyburn a veteran member of the Congressional Black Caucus, made a similar point in an email to the White House counsel, Dana Remus, last month listing the caucus’s preferred criteria for federal court appointments. Near the top of the list, Butterfield said, was: “The judge should have a diversity of experience in multiple settings and in multiple areas including experiences outside of the law.”

Biden’s pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the court was an unusual kind of campaign promise: Clyburn nudged him to do it at a debate in Charleston before South Carolina’s pivotal primary last year. It was a vow that even some of the president’s aides resisted, worried that it might look like pandering.

Biden has said little in public since being elected about his preferences for the court, but as a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he has something of a split personality when it comes to the politics of personnel. While happy to highlight his Scranton, Pennsylvania, roots, state school diploma and “Middle-Class Joe” moniker, he has long surrounded himself with aides and advisers who brandish the sort of pedigree he lacks.

And some White House officials are already bracing for what they believe will be unfair attacks from the right on whichever Black woman they pick, convinced that the eventual nominee must have an impeccable résumé.

“It’s going to have to be someone who has unquestioned credentials so it doesn’t look like it’s an unqualified person,” said one senior Biden official, who spoke about possible court nominees on condition of anonymity to share thinking from inside the West Wing.

Among the potential candidates being pitched for a Supreme Court seat, Childs has a background that differs from most recent nominees. Unlike eight of the nine current Supreme Court justices, Childs, 54, did not attend an Ivy League university. Her mother worked for Southern Bell in Columbia, South Carolina, and Childs won a scholarship to the University of South Florida. She later graduated from the University of South Carolina’s law school and became the first Black woman to make partner at one of the state’s major law firms.

In the fashion of an earlier generation of jurists, she rose in state politics before being appointed to the bench. Childs served as a top official at South Carolina’s labor department before being appointed to the state’s workers’ compensation board.

“She is the kind of person who has the sort of experiences that would make her a good addition to the Supreme Court,” Clyburn said.

Clyburn, whose coveted endorsement helped revive Biden’s listing campaign before the South Carolina primary last year, has been particularly active on her behalf as part of what his advisers say is his most significant request of the administration. The 80-year-old House whip has made the case for Childs with Harris; Remus; and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Judiciary Committee chair.

Bakari Sellers, a Democratic political commentator who is close to Harris, has also pitched members of the vice president’s inner circle on Childs, who was appointed to the federal bench by Obama in 2010.

“Not just for our party but for the judiciary it’s important to have somebody who has lived experiences,” Sellers said.

What’s prompting some of these officials to go public with a more aggressive form of advocacy are two developments.

First, they saw the makings of a shortlist in a Ruth Marcus column in The Washington Post earlier this month naming a pair of potential Breyer successors, who like Childs are young enough to serve on the court for a few decades. The two cited — U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of Washington, D.C., and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger — both have Ivy League law degrees and important connections. Jackson, 50, was a clerk for Breyer himself and Kruger, 44, served as Obama’s deputy solicitor general

There are a handful of other Black women in their 40s with elite credentials who have caught the eye of lawmakers, including some on the Judiciary Committee. There is Danielle Holley-Walker, dean of Howard University’s law school, and Leslie Abrams Gardner, a U.S. District Court judge in Georgia who is a younger sister of Stacey Abrams.

More significant is the matter of timing.

There are relatively few Black women on the federal appeals courts, where presidents often draw their nominees to the Supreme Court. Very soon, however, there will be another vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — which can be a springboard to the high court — when Judge Merrick B. Garland resigns to become attorney general. Childs may be better positioned to ascend to the Supreme Court if she were to serve on that appeals court, some of her admirers say.

“There is an immediate vacancy there so I would advocate for her consideration to the D.C. circuit,” Butterfield, himself a former state Supreme Court judge, said of Childs. “And when and if there’s a Supreme Court vacancy she ought to be considered for that, as well.”

Another possible contender seen for a court seat is Cheri Beasley, who lost reelection as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court by 412 votes in November. She also went to a public university and climbed through the judiciary via service on lower state courts. Yet Beasley has told people that she is considering a bid for North Carolina’s open Senate seat next year, according to one Democrat who has spoken to her.

When a court vacancy does occur, several Democrats say, they are bracing for Obama-era tensions, which were papered over by former President Donald Trump, to emerge.

Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus, as well as a number of white Democrats, say they believe the party is too closely linked to elites, and that perception only hands political fodder to Republicans during campaign season.

“This isn’t being critical of the Harvards or the Yales, but I think there’s some great attorneys out there that are really, really smart that come from other places on this Earth,” said Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, where Democrats lost all three marquee races last year. “And I think we ought to consider them.”

Vi Lyles, mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, said, “having the broadest perspective of what’s gone on in the country makes you a better decision-maker and leader.”

Even more delicate are lingering frustrations among Black leaders, many of whom went to state schools or historically Black institutions, about Obama’s arms-length treatment of the Congressional Black Caucus and his administration’s seeming preference for appointees with elite credentials.

“He was predisposed to Ivy League nominees, I think we can all agree on that,” said Butterfield.

Sellers was even blunter. “I love Barack Obama, but there was an Ivy League culture that emanated from the White House, and we got to move away from that,” he said.

The frustration with Obama culminated with his selection of Garland for the Supreme Court following Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in 2016. Some congressional Democrats believed the former president could have put pressure on Republicans, and energized Democrats, had he chosen a Black woman and were infuriated when he said he did not seek out “a Black lesbian from Skokie.”

What Clyburn will only say obliquely is that Biden does not just owe Black voters for his nomination, he’s indebted to African Americans who resurrected his candidacy in South Carolina and those across the South who all but cemented his nomination three days later as he swept the region on Super Tuesday.

Some African American Democrats believe that Black Americans will rally behind whichever Black woman Biden nominates and suspect Clyburn is looking for a rationale to elevate his home state and burnish his legacy.

Yet few politicians preach more than Biden about the importance of “dancing with the one that brung you,” as the president often puts it. And so far, Clyburn has been able to install two of his closest allies in the administration, with former Rep. Marcia Fudge being named housing secretary and Jaime Harrison tapped to lead the Democratic National Committee.

Asked if he could support Childs to the high court, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a Republican and the first Southern Black senator elected since Reconstruction, said he was not ready to commit. But he praised her for having “a very good reputation” and said her appointment “would reflect the positive and powerful progress we’ve made in the great state of South Carolina.”

Scott was more direct, though, when asked if Biden owed it to South Carolina’s Black voters given the role they played in his path to the presidency.

“Jim Clyburn would say so,” he said with a smile.

WASHINGTON — After meeting in the Oval Office earlier this month with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and his fellow senior House Democrats, Rep.

WASHINGTON — After meeting in the Oval Office earlier this month with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and his fellow senior House Democrats, Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina made a beeline to Harris’ office in the West Wing to privately raise a topic that did not come up during their group discussion: the Supreme Court. Clyburn, the highest-ranking African American in Congress, wanted to offer Harris the name of a potential future justice, according to a Democrat briefed on their conversation. District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs would fulfill Biden’s pledge to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court — and, Clyburn noted, she also happened to hail from South Carolina, a state with political meaning for the president. There may not be a vacancy on the high court at the moment, but Clyburn and other lawmakers are already maneuvering to champion candidates and a new approach for a nomination that might come as soon as this summer, when some Democrats hope Justice Stephen Breyer, who is 82, will retire. With Democrats holding the narrowest of Senate majorities, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death still painfully fresh in their minds, these party leaders want to shape Biden’s appointment, including moving the party away from the usual Ivy League résumés. The early jockeying illustrates how eager Democratic officials are to leave their mark on Biden’s effort to elevate historically underrepresented contenders for a landmark Supreme Court nomination. But it also casts a spotlight on discomfiting issues of class and credentialism in the Democratic Party that have been just below the surface since the days of the Obama administration. Some Democrats such as Clyburn, who have nervously watched Republicans try to repackage themselves as a working-class party, believe that Biden could send a message about his determination to keep Democrats true to their blue-collar roots by choosing a candidate like Childs, who attended public universities. “One of the things we have to be very, very careful of as Democrats is being painted with that elitist brush,” said Clyburn, adding: “When people talk to diversity they are always looking at race and ethnicity — I look beyond that to diversity of experience.” Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, like Clyburn a veteran member of the Congressional Black Caucus, made a similar point in an email to the White House counsel, Dana Remus, last month listing the caucus’s preferred criteria for federal court appointments. Near the top of the list, Butterfield said, was: “The judge should have a diversity of experience in multiple settings and in multiple areas including experiences outside of the law.” Biden’s pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the court was an unusual kind of campaign promise: Clyburn nudged him to do it at a debate in Charleston before South Carolina’s pivotal primary last year. It was a vow that even some of the president’s aides resisted, worried that it might look like pandering. Biden has said little in public since being elected about his preferences for the court, but as a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he has something of a split personality when it comes to the politics of personnel. While happy to highlight his Scranton, Pennsylvania, roots, state school diploma and “Middle-Class Joe” moniker, he has long surrounded himself with aides and advisers who brandish the sort of pedigree he lacks. And some White House officials are already bracing for what they believe will be unfair attacks from the right on whichever Black woman they pick, convinced that the eventual nominee must have an impeccable résumé. “It’s going to have to be someone who has unquestioned credentials so it doesn’t look like it’s an unqualified person,” said one senior Biden official, who spoke about possible court nominees on condition of anonymity to share thinking from inside the West Wing. Among the potential candidates being pitched for a Supreme Court seat, Childs has a background that differs from most recent nominees. Unlike eight of the nine current Supreme Court justices, Childs, 54, did not attend an Ivy League university. Her mother worked for Southern Bell in Columbia, South Carolina, and Childs won a scholarship to the University of South Florida. She later graduated from the University of South Carolina’s law school and became the first Black woman to make partner at one of the state’s major law firms. In the fashion of an earlier generation of jurists, she rose in state politics before being appointed to the bench. Childs served as a top official at South Carolina’s labor department before being appointed to the state’s workers’ compensation board. “She is the kind of person who has the sort of experiences that would make her a good addition to the Supreme Court,” Clyburn said. Clyburn, whose coveted endorsement helped revive Biden’s listing campaign before the South Carolina primary last year, has been particularly active on her behalf as part of what his advisers say is his most significant request of the administration. The 80-year-old House whip has made the case for Childs with Harris; Remus; and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Judiciary Committee chair. Bakari Sellers, a Democratic political commentator who is close to Harris, has also pitched members of the vice president’s inner circle on Childs, who was appointed to the federal bench by Obama in 2010. “Not just for our party but for the judiciary it’s important to have somebody who has lived experiences,” Sellers said. What’s prompting some of these officials to go public with a more aggressive form of advocacy are two developments. First, they saw the makings of a shortlist in a Ruth Marcus column in The Washington Post earlier this month naming a pair of potential Breyer successors, who like Childs are young enough to serve on the court for a few decades. The two cited — U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of Washington, D.C., and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger — both have Ivy League law degrees and important connections. Jackson, 50, was a clerk for Breyer himself and Kruger, 44, served as Obama’s deputy solicitor general There are a handful of other Black women in their 40s with elite credentials who have caught the eye of lawmakers, including some on the Judiciary Committee. There is Danielle Holley-Walker, dean of Howard University’s law school, and Leslie Abrams Gardner, a U.S. District Court judge in Georgia who is a younger sister of Stacey Abrams. More significant is the matter of timing. There are relatively few Black women on the federal appeals courts, where presidents often draw their nominees to the Supreme Court. Very soon, however, there will be another vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — which can be a springboard to the high court — when Judge Merrick B. Garland resigns to become attorney general. Childs may be better positioned to ascend to the Supreme Court if she were to serve on that appeals court, some of her admirers say. “There is an immediate vacancy there so I would advocate for her consideration to the D.C. circuit,” Butterfield, himself a former state Supreme Court judge, said of Childs. “And when and if there’s a Supreme Court vacancy she ought to be considered for that, as well.” Another possible contender seen for a court seat is Cheri Beasley, who lost reelection as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court by 412 votes in November. She also went to a public university and climbed through the judiciary via service on lower state courts. Yet Beasley has told people that she is considering a bid for North Carolina’s open Senate seat next year, according to one Democrat who has spoken to her. When a court vacancy does occur, several Democrats say, they are bracing for Obama-era tensions, which were papered over by former President Donald Trump, to emerge. Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus, as well as a number of white Democrats, say they believe the party is too closely linked to elites, and that perception only hands political fodder to Republicans during campaign season. “This isn’t being critical of the Harvards or the Yales, but I think there’s some great attorneys out there that are really, really smart that come from other places on this Earth,” said Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, where Democrats lost all three marquee races last year. “And I think we ought to consider them.” Vi Lyles, mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, said, “having the broadest perspective of what’s gone on in the country makes you a better decision-maker and leader.” Even more delicate are lingering frustrations among Black leaders, many of whom went to state schools or historically Black institutions, about Obama’s arms-length treatment of the Congressional Black Caucus and his administration’s seeming preference for appointees with elite credentials. “He was predisposed to Ivy League nominees, I think we can all agree on that,” said Butterfield. Sellers was even blunter. “I love Barack Obama, but there was an Ivy League culture that emanated from the White House, and we got to move away from that,” he said. The frustration with Obama culminated with his selection of Garland for the Supreme Court following Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in 2016. Some congressional Democrats believed the former president could have put pressure on Republicans, and energized Democrats, had he chosen a Black woman and were infuriated when he said he did not seek out “a Black lesbian from Skokie.” What Clyburn will only say obliquely is that Biden does not just owe Black voters for his nomination, he’s indebted to African Americans who resurrected his candidacy in South Carolina and those across the South who all but cemented his nomination three days later as he swept the region on Super Tuesday. Some African American Democrats believe that Black Americans will rally behind whichever Black woman Biden nominates and suspect Clyburn is looking for a rationale to elevate his home state and burnish his legacy. Yet few politicians preach more than Biden about the importance of “dancing with the one that brung you,” as the president often puts it. And so far, Clyburn has been able to install two of his closest allies in the administration, with former Rep. Marcia Fudge being named housing secretary and Jaime Harrison tapped to lead the Democratic National Committee. Asked if he could support Childs to the high court, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a Republican and the first Southern Black senator elected since Reconstruction, said he was not ready to commit. But he praised her for having “a very good reputation” and said her appointment “would reflect the positive and powerful progress we’ve made in the great state of South Carolina.” Scott was more direct, though, when asked if Biden owed it to South Carolina’s Black voters given the role they played in his path to the presidency. “Jim Clyburn would say so,” he said with a smile.

How Democrats are already maneuvering to shape Biden’s first Supreme Court pick

One month into the job, President Joe Biden is on the cusp of securing a bigger economic rescue package than during the 2009 financial crisis. He has wiped out his predecessor Donald Trump's policies from climate change to travel bans, while the U.S. daily COVID-19 vaccine distribution rate grew 55%.

A look at US President Joe Biden's major policy decisions

The US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden's</a> attorney general nominee has pledged to remove the impact <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Trump's</a> administration has left on the department.

In a testimony prepared for his confirmation hearing, due on Monday and Tuesday, Merrick Garland assured he will be working towards depoliticising the department and aims to remove the stain of the previous administration's interference.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-reassures-americans-covid-vaccines-are-safe-365067" hreflang="en">Biden reassures Americans Covid vaccines are safe</a>

Upon confirmation of his post, he would reaffirm "policies that protect the independence of the department from partisan influence in law enforcement investigations (and) that strictly regulate communications with the White House."

He has also assured that he will draft clear guidelines for FBI investigations. This has been taken into considerations by Garland after the agency faced several allegations in the last few years accusing the organisation of diverging into politics during the investigation of the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-to-appear-for-first-post-white-house-speech-in-cpac-365129" hreflang="en">Donald Trump to appear for first post-White House speech in CPAC</a>

Following the uprise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Garland is also aiming to bring racial equality and justice for people of colour and minority groups. He stressed that this issue will be dealt with as an "urgent" task as it has been pending even after 150 years of establishment of the Justice Department.

"The Civil Rights Act of 1957 created the Department's Civil Rights Division, with the mission 'to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society," Garland said. "That mission remains urgent because we do not yet have equal justice."

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/at-his-first-major-global-appearance-biden-draws-sharp-contrast-with-trumps-policies-364920" hreflang="en">At his first major global appearance, Biden draws sharp contrast with Trump's policies</a>

Talking about the recent letdown of the country in form of US Capitol riots that took place on January 06 by Trump supporters, Garland vowed to prosecute the Capitol attackers — as of now nearly 230 people have been charged for the riots.

"If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6 — a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government," he said.

The 68-year-old leader is known for his work in the Justice Department, where he worked 24 years ago, and then started serving as a judge.

Garland was earlier nominated by former US President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a> to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. However, the conservatives worked out a plan to fill the vacancy with a Trump nominee to shift the majority of the Supreme Court towards the right-wing.

The US President Joe Biden's attorney general nominee has pledged to remove the impact Trump's administration has left on the department. In a testimony prepared for his confirmation hearing, due on Monday and Tuesday, Merrick Garland assured he will be working towards depoliticising the department and aims to remove the stain of the previous administration's interference.

The US President Joe Biden's attorney general nominee has pledged to remove the impact Trump's administration has left on the department. In a testimony prepared for his confirmation hearing, due on Monday and Tuesday, Merrick Garland assured he will be working towards depoliticising the department and aims to remove the stain of the previous administration's interference. Also read| Biden reassures Americans Covid vaccines are safe Upon confirmation of his post, he would reaffirm "policies that protect the independence of the department from partisan influence in law enforcement investigations (and) that strictly regulate communications with the White House." He has also assured that he will draft clear guidelines for FBI investigations. This has been taken into considerations by Garland after the agency faced several allegations in the last few years accusing the organisation of diverging into politics during the investigation of the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Also read| Donald Trump to appear for first post-White House speech in CPAC Following the uprise of the Black Lives Matter movement, Garland is also aiming to bring racial equality and justice for people of colour and minority groups. He stressed that this issue will be dealt with as an "urgent" task as it has been pending even after 150 years of establishment of the Justice Department. "The Civil Rights Act of 1957 created the Department's Civil Rights Division, with the mission 'to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all Americans, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society," Garland said. "That mission remains urgent because we do not yet have equal justice." Also read| At his first major global appearance, Biden draws sharp contrast with Trump's policies Talking about the recent letdown of the country in form of US Capitol riots that took place on January 06 by Trump supporters, Garland vowed to prosecute the Capitol attackers — as of now nearly 230 people have been charged for the riots. "If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6 — a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government," he said. The 68-year-old leader is known for his work in the Justice Department, where he worked 24 years ago, and then started serving as a judge. Garland was earlier nominated by former US President Barack Obama to fill a Supreme Court vacancy. However, the conservatives worked out a plan to fill the vacancy with a Trump nominee to shift the majority of the Supreme Court towards the right-wing.

Biden's attorney general pick plans to remove Trump's tainted hangover from department

Tehran said on Sunday the United States must first lift sanctions on Iran if it wants to talk about salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal, reiterating its stance that it will not make the first move to restore the pact with major powers.

President Joe Biden's administration said last week it was ready to talk to Iran about both nations returning to the accord, which aimed to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons while lifting most international sanctions.

Former US president Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, which in turn gradually began breaching terms of the agreement.

But Iran and the United States have been at odds over who should take the first step to revive the accord. Iran insists the United States must first lift US sanctions while Washington says Tehran must first return to compliance.

"The US&nbsp;will not be able to rejoin the nuclear pact before it lifts sanctions.&nbsp;Once everybody implements their side of obligations, there will be talks," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Iran's English Language Press TV.

Iran has been hard hit by the sanctions, as well as by the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rafael Grossi, the IAEA director-general who is in Tehran to discuss the agency's "essential verification activities", met on Sunday with Iran's nuclear energy chief.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/un-nuclear-watchdog-chief-rafael-grossi-arrives-in-iran-ahead-of-us-sanctions-deadline-365182">Also read |&nbsp;UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, arrives in Iran ahead of US sanctions deadline</a>

Iran`s envoy to the IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, tweeted that Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran`s Atomic Energy Organisation, and Grossi held "fruitful talks based on mutual respect".

"Iran and the IAEA held fruitful discussions based on mutual respect, the result of which will be released this evening," Kazem Gharibabadi, who attended the meeting, wrote on Twitter.

Zarif said: "We will talk to Mr. Grossi about respecting the laws of our country...but at the same time not creating an impasse for him to continue to carry out the obligations to show Iran`s nuclear programme is peaceful."

Earlier in the day, Zarif said&nbsp;Iran's decision to end snap inspections by UN&nbsp;inspectors on February&nbsp;23 would not mean abandoning its 2015 nuclear deal, but the United States must still lift sanctions on Tehran to rescue the pact.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/irans-zarif-says-ending-iaea-snap-inspections-doesnt-breach-2015-nuclear-deal-365188">Also read |&nbsp;Iran's Zarif says ending IAEA snap inspections doesn't breach 2015 nuclear deal</a>

"All our steps (to breach the deal) are reversible...The move on February&nbsp;23 is not abandoning the deal," Zarif said in a televised interview with Iran's English Language Press TV.

Under a law enacted by hardline Iranian lawmakers last year, the government is obliged on February&nbsp;23 to limit IAEA inspections to declared nuclear sites only, revoking its short-notice access to any location seen as relevant for information-gathering, if other parties did not fully comply with the deal.

Tehran said on Sunday the United States must first lift sanctions on Iran if it wants to talk about salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal, reiterating its stance that it will not make the first move to restore the pact with major powers.

Tehran said on Sunday the United States must first lift sanctions on Iran if it wants to talk about salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal, reiterating its stance that it will not make the first move to restore the pact with major powers. President Joe Biden's administration said last week it was ready to talk to Iran about both nations returning to the accord, which aimed to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons while lifting most international sanctions. Former US president Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, which in turn gradually began breaching terms of the agreement. But Iran and the United States have been at odds over who should take the first step to revive the accord. Iran insists the United States must first lift US sanctions while Washington says Tehran must first return to compliance. "The US will not be able to rejoin the nuclear pact before it lifts sanctions. Once everybody implements their side of obligations, there will be talks," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Iran's English Language Press TV. Iran has been hard hit by the sanctions, as well as by the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Rafael Grossi, the IAEA director-general who is in Tehran to discuss the agency's "essential verification activities", met on Sunday with Iran's nuclear energy chief. Also read | UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, arrives in Iran ahead of US sanctions deadline Iran`s envoy to the IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, tweeted that Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran`s Atomic Energy Organisation, and Grossi held "fruitful talks based on mutual respect". "Iran and the IAEA held fruitful discussions based on mutual respect, the result of which will be released this evening," Kazem Gharibabadi, who attended the meeting, wrote on Twitter. Zarif said: "We will talk to Mr. Grossi about respecting the laws of our country...but at the same time not creating an impasse for him to continue to carry out the obligations to show Iran`s nuclear programme is peaceful." Earlier in the day, Zarif said Iran's decision to end snap inspections by UN inspectors on February 23 would not mean abandoning its 2015 nuclear deal, but the United States must still lift sanctions on Tehran to rescue the pact. Also read | Iran's Zarif says ending IAEA snap inspections doesn't breach 2015 nuclear deal "All our steps (to breach the deal) are reversible...The move on February 23 is not abandoning the deal," Zarif said in a televised interview with Iran's English Language Press TV. Under a law enacted by hardline Iranian lawmakers last year, the government is obliged on February 23 to limit IAEA inspections to declared nuclear sites only, revoking its short-notice access to any location seen as relevant for information-gathering, if other parties did not fully comply with the deal.

Iran reiterates stance, says US must first lift sanctions before talks to revive 2015 deal

One month into the job, President Joe Biden is on the cusp of securing a bigger economic rescue package than during the 2009 financial crisis. He has wiped out his predecessor Donald Trump`s policies from climate change to travel bans, while the U.S. daily COVID-19 vaccine distribution rate grew 55%.

That may have been the easy part.

The White House`s broad strategy - avoid unwinnable political fights, focus on policies with mass voter appeal, and mostly ignore Republican attacks - will be increasingly difficult in the months ahead, Democrats and Republicans say, even as millions more are vaccinated and the economy rebounds.

"They`ve got some problems right around the corner," said Jim Manley, once a top aide to former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Biden has made many of the changes he has clear authority to do by executive action. Landmines going forward include pushing laws on which the Democratic Party is divided, such as college debt relief, tax hikes and curbs on the energy industry.

Then there are the intractable policy fights that have defined American politics for a generation, including who can become a citizen, how easy it should be to vote, whether the government should pay for healthcare, and who should carry a gun.

Meanwhile, many tricky issues, from trade tariffs to China policy to tech oversight, are still under review at the White House.

DEMOCRATS UNITED?

Democrats are working to pass their economic stimulus package with or without Republican support before a critical mid-March deadline when expanded unemployment insurance expires.

The bill only needs a majority vote, because it will be passed as part of a process called reconciliation, but that requires every Democrat to side with the White House. Doubts are growing that the bill will include a provision raising the federal minimum wage to $15, which would sorely disappoint liberal Democrats.

"I`ve been shocked at how disciplined the Left has been; I`m not sure how much that`s going to last," Manley said. "I can see there`s some fissures developing."

Those cracks were on display when some Democrats, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, criticized Biden after he said told a Feb. 16 CNN town hall he disagrees with members of his party who want to forgive $50,000 in student debt.

A comprehensive White House-backed immigration bill unveiled on Feb. 18 is not expected to pass the Senate; the second-ranked Democrat, Dick Durbin, is among those suggesting a less-ambitious effort that focuses on immigrants brought to the United States as children.

Republicans are reshuffling after the Trump years, said Paul Shumaker, a Republican strategist behind Senator Thom Tillis` hard-fought re-election in North Carolina.

Biden could unite them by overreaching on taxes and spending, he noted, while doing too little on these issues will disappoint some of his Democratic base.

"He`s enjoying a honeymoon period, but everyone knows that honeymoon`s going to come to an end," Shumaker said.

ELUSIVE REPUBLICAN SUPPORT

White House aides say the policy agenda they plan to push in the coming months has bipartisan voter appeal, and they believe Republicans in Congress could ultimately be forced to support it by their constituents.

"Is he going to be focused on winning every last Republican over? No, of course not," said White House communications director Kate Bedingfield, a longtime Biden confidant.

"But is he going to reach out and speak to people on both sides of the aisle – is he going to work to put forward plans that meets the needs of people of both parties – yes, he absolutely is."

Biden`s early polling numbers suggest that will be a challenge. Some 56% of Americans approve of his performance as president, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in mid-February, but just 20% of Republicans.

The White House`s bipartisan hopes lie in an infrastructure plan, still in the embryonic stages of development, that is expected to exceed the scale, scope and price tag of the roughly $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.

The measure is almost certainly going to both expand the deficit and require some tax increases, measures expected to spur opposition. It is likely to be peppered with measures on climate change, and could also include Biden`s proposed subsidies for college, according to several people briefed on early conversations.

Putting the pieces together will be tough without a full senior staff, including Biden`s pick for budget director, Neera Tanden, whose confirmation has run into Democratic opposition from Senator Joe Manchin, who also opposed including the minimum wage in the stimulus bill.

Nonetheless, the Left`s expectations for Biden remain high.

"The administration came out bold and strong," said Luis Hernandez, a youth gun violence prevention activist who met with senior administration officials last week. "There`s much more to be done."

One month into the job, President Joe Biden is on the cusp of securing a bigger economic rescue package than during the 2009 financial crisis. He has wiped out his predecessor Donald Trump`s policies from climate change to travel bans, while the U.

One month into the job, President Joe Biden is on the cusp of securing a bigger economic rescue package than during the 2009 financial crisis. He has wiped out his predecessor Donald Trump`s policies from climate change to travel bans, while the U.S. daily COVID-19 vaccine distribution rate grew 55%. That may have been the easy part. The White House`s broad strategy - avoid unwinnable political fights, focus on policies with mass voter appeal, and mostly ignore Republican attacks - will be increasingly difficult in the months ahead, Democrats and Republicans say, even as millions more are vaccinated and the economy rebounds. "They`ve got some problems right around the corner," said Jim Manley, once a top aide to former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Biden has made many of the changes he has clear authority to do by executive action. Landmines going forward include pushing laws on which the Democratic Party is divided, such as college debt relief, tax hikes and curbs on the energy industry. Then there are the intractable policy fights that have defined American politics for a generation, including who can become a citizen, how easy it should be to vote, whether the government should pay for healthcare, and who should carry a gun. Meanwhile, many tricky issues, from trade tariffs to China policy to tech oversight, are still under review at the White House. DEMOCRATS UNITED? Democrats are working to pass their economic stimulus package with or without Republican support before a critical mid-March deadline when expanded unemployment insurance expires. The bill only needs a majority vote, because it will be passed as part of a process called reconciliation, but that requires every Democrat to side with the White House. Doubts are growing that the bill will include a provision raising the federal minimum wage to $15, which would sorely disappoint liberal Democrats. "I`ve been shocked at how disciplined the Left has been; I`m not sure how much that`s going to last," Manley said. "I can see there`s some fissures developing." Those cracks were on display when some Democrats, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, criticized Biden after he said told a Feb. 16 CNN town hall he disagrees with members of his party who want to forgive $50,000 in student debt. A comprehensive White House-backed immigration bill unveiled on Feb. 18 is not expected to pass the Senate; the second-ranked Democrat, Dick Durbin, is among those suggesting a less-ambitious effort that focuses on immigrants brought to the United States as children. Republicans are reshuffling after the Trump years, said Paul Shumaker, a Republican strategist behind Senator Thom Tillis` hard-fought re-election in North Carolina. Biden could unite them by overreaching on taxes and spending, he noted, while doing too little on these issues will disappoint some of his Democratic base. "He`s enjoying a honeymoon period, but everyone knows that honeymoon`s going to come to an end," Shumaker said. ELUSIVE REPUBLICAN SUPPORT White House aides say the policy agenda they plan to push in the coming months has bipartisan voter appeal, and they believe Republicans in Congress could ultimately be forced to support it by their constituents. "Is he going to be focused on winning every last Republican over? No, of course not," said White House communications director Kate Bedingfield, a longtime Biden confidant. "But is he going to reach out and speak to people on both sides of the aisle – is he going to work to put forward plans that meets the needs of people of both parties – yes, he absolutely is." Biden`s early polling numbers suggest that will be a challenge. Some 56% of Americans approve of his performance as president, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in mid-February, but just 20% of Republicans. The White House`s bipartisan hopes lie in an infrastructure plan, still in the embryonic stages of development, that is expected to exceed the scale, scope and price tag of the roughly $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. The measure is almost certainly going to both expand the deficit and require some tax increases, measures expected to spur opposition. It is likely to be peppered with measures on climate change, and could also include Biden`s proposed subsidies for college, according to several people briefed on early conversations. Putting the pieces together will be tough without a full senior staff, including Biden`s pick for budget director, Neera Tanden, whose confirmation has run into Democratic opposition from Senator Joe Manchin, who also opposed including the minimum wage in the stimulus bill. Nonetheless, the Left`s expectations for Biden remain high. "The administration came out bold and strong," said Luis Hernandez, a youth gun violence prevention activist who met with senior administration officials last week. "There`s much more to be done."

Biden's first month was a 'honeymoon,' but bigger challenges loom ahead

A report by Wall Street Journal based on US Campaign Finance Records has said that US President Joe Biden's campaign received at least USD 15.1 million from employees of big tech firms in donations. The report has said that the companies include Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Facebook. This made up biggest source of donations to Democrats among corporate employees.

Corporations are prohibited from directly donating to campaigns. But their employees are free to donate as individuals. USA's Federal Election Commission requires individuals who contribute USD 200 or more to report their employer.

The companies have declined to comment after the WSJ reveal.

Microsoft employees donated USD 3.2 million to Biden in the election. Microsoft employees have long been a top source of money for Democratic presidential candidates.

Facebook employees have emerged as another top source of money, donating USD 1.9 million to Biden's campaign.

Employees of Amazon contributed a total of USD 2.8 million to Biden’s campaign.&nbsp;

Republican Party has been asserting for long that big tech companies were biased against them. They have also accused companies like Facebook and Google of censoring online content to favour liberal views.

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai are set to testify before US House of Representatives panel next month. Biden administration will also be picking the heads for key bodies dealing with the tech companies - &nbsp;like Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department Antitrust Division. The picks will be interesting as it will largely determine how the government under Joe Biden handles the big tech

A report by Wall Street Journal based on US Campaign Finance Records has said that US President Joe Biden's campaign received at least USD 15.1 million from employees of big tech firms in donations.

A report by Wall Street Journal based on US Campaign Finance Records has said that US President Joe Biden's campaign received at least USD 15.1 million from employees of big tech firms in donations. The report has said that the companies include Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Facebook. This made up biggest source of donations to Democrats among corporate employees. Corporations are prohibited from directly donating to campaigns. But their employees are free to donate as individuals. USA's Federal Election Commission requires individuals who contribute USD 200 or more to report their employer. The companies have declined to comment after the WSJ reveal. Microsoft employees donated USD 3.2 million to Biden in the election. Microsoft employees have long been a top source of money for Democratic presidential candidates. Facebook employees have emerged as another top source of money, donating USD 1.9 million to Biden's campaign. Employees of Amazon contributed a total of USD 2.8 million to Biden’s campaign. Republican Party has been asserting for long that big tech companies were biased against them. They have also accused companies like Facebook and Google of censoring online content to favour liberal views. Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai are set to testify before US House of Representatives panel next month. Biden administration will also be picking the heads for key bodies dealing with the tech companies - like Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department Antitrust Division. The picks will be interesting as it will largely determine how the government under Joe Biden handles the big tech

Biden campaign received USD 15 million in donations from big tech employees: Report

US President Joe Biden made his first major international address on foreign policy at the Munich Security Conference. Biden said that traditional US allies should once again have confidence in Washington’s leadership.

US President Joe Biden delivers a powerful speech

President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> used his first public encounter with America’s European allies to describe a new struggle between the West and the forces of autocracy, declaring that “America is back” while acknowledging that the past four years had taken a toll on its power and influence.

His message stressing the importance of reinvigorating alliances and recommitting to defending Europe was predictably well received at a session of the Munich Security Conference that Biden addressed from the White House.

But there was also pushback, notably from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who in his address made an impassioned defense of his concept of “strategic autonomy” from the United States, making the case that Europe can no longer be overly dependent on the United States as it focuses more of its attention on Asia, especially China.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-urges-allies-to-work-towards-addressing-irans-destabilising-activities-364953" hreflang="en">Biden urges allies to work towards addressing Iran's 'destabilising' activities</a>

And even Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who is leaving office within the year, tempered her praise for Biden’s decision to cancel plans for a withdrawal of 12,000 U.S. troops from the country with a warning that “our interests will not always converge.” It appeared to be a reference to Germany’s ambivalence about confronting China — a major market for its automobiles and other high-end German products — and to the continuing battle with the United States over the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Russia.

But all three leaders seemed to recognize that their first virtual encounter was a moment to celebrate the end of the era of “America First,” and for Macron and Merkel to welcome back Biden, a politician whom they knew well from his years as a senator and vice president.

And Biden used the moment to warn about the need for a common strategy in pushing back at an Internet-fueled narrative, promoted by both Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, that the chaos surrounding the American election was another sign of democratic weakness and decline.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/at-his-first-major-global-appearance-biden-draws-sharp-contrast-with-trumps-policies-364920" hreflang="en">At his first major global appearance, Biden draws sharp contrast with Trump's policies</a>

“We must demonstrate that democracies can still deliver for our people in this changed world,” Biden said, adding, “We have to prove that our model isn’t a relic of history.”

For the president, a regular visitor to the conference even as a private citizen after serving as vice president, the address was something of a homecoming. The session was crunched down to a video meeting by Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, this year’s host, and the European leaders decided to do the same for a brief, closed meeting of the Group of 7 allies that Biden also participated in.

The next in-person summit meeting is still planned for Britain this summer, pandemic permitting.

Biden never named his predecessor, Donald Trump, in his remarks, but framed them around wiping out the traces of Trumpism in the United States’ approach to the world. He celebrated its return to the Paris climate agreement, which took effect just before the meeting, and a new initiative, announced Thursday night, to join Britain, France and Germany in engaging Iran diplomatically in an effort to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement that Trump exited.

But rather than detail an agenda, Biden tried to recall the first principles that led to the Atlantic alliance and the creation of NATO in 1949, near the beginning of the Cold War.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/biden-administrations-immigration-policy-and-recent-attacks-on-the-asian-american-communities-364900">WATCH|</a>

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“Democracy doesn’t happen by accident,” the president said. “We have to defend it. Strengthen it. Renew it.”

In a deliberate contrast to Trump, who talked about withdrawing from NATO and famously declined on several occasions to acknowledge the United States’ responsibilities under Article V of the alliance’s charter to come to the aid of members under attack, Biden cast the United States as ready to assume its responsibilities as the linchpin of the alliance.

“We will keep the faith” with the obligation, he said, adding that “an attack on one is an attack on all.”

But he also pressed Europe to think about challenges in a new way — different from the Cold War, even if the two biggest geostrategic adversaries seem familiar.

“We must prepare together for long-term strategic competition with China,” he said, naming “cyberspace, artificial intelligence and biotechnology” as the new territory for competition. And he argued for pushing back against Russia — he called Putin by his last name, with no title attached — mentioning in particular the need to respond to the SolarWinds attack that was aimed at federal and corporate computer networks.

“Addressing Russian recklessness and hacking into computer networks in the United States and across Europe and the world has become critical to protect collective security,” Biden said.

The president avoided delving in to the difficult question of how to make Russia pay a price without escalating the confrontation. A senior White House cyberofficial told reporters this week that the scope and depth of the Russian intrusion was still under study, and officials are clearly struggling to come up with options to fulfill Biden’s commitment to make Putin pay a price for the attack.

But it was the dynamic with Macron, who has made a habit of criticizing the NATO alliance as nearing “brain death” and no longer “pertinent” since the disappearance of the Warsaw Pact, that captured attention.

Macron wants NATO to act as more of a political body, a place where European members have equivalent status to the United States and are less subject to the American tendency to dominate decision-making.

A Europe better able to defend itself, and more autonomous, would make NATO “even stronger than before,” Macron insisted. He said Europe should be “much more in charge of its own security,” increasing its commitments to spending on defense to “rebalance” the trans-Atlantic relationship.

That is not a widely shared view among the many European states that do not want to spend the money required, and the nations of Central and Eastern Europe are unwilling to trust their security to anyone but the United States.

Macron also urged that the renovation of NATO’s security abilities should involve “a dialogue with Russia.” NATO has always claimed that it is open to better relations with Moscow, but that Russia is not interested, especially as long as international sanctions remain after its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine about seven years ago.

But Macron, speaking in English to answer a question, also argued that Europe could not count on the United States as much as it had in past decades. “We must take more of the burden of our own protection,” he said.

In practice, it will take many years for Europe to build up a defense arm that would make it more self-reliant. But Macron is determined to start now, just as he is determined to increase the European Union’s technological capacities so that it can become less dependent on American and Chinese supply chains.

Biden, in contrast, wants to deepen those supply chains — of both hardware and software — among like-minded Western allies in an effort to lessen Chinese influence. He is preparing to propose a new joint project for European and American technology companies in areas like semiconductors and the kinds of software that Russia exploited in the SolarWinds hacking.

It was Merkel who dwelled on the complexities of dealing with China, given its dual role as competitor and necessary partner for the West.

“In recent years, China has gained global clout, and as trans-Atlantic partners and democracies, we must do something to counter this,” Merkel said.

“Russia continually entangles European Union members in hybrid conflicts,” she said. “Consequently, it is important that we come up with a trans-Atlantic agenda toward Russia that makes cooperative offers on the one hand, but on the other very clearly names the differences.”

While Biden announced he would make good on an American promise to donate $4 billion to the campaign to expedite the manufacturing and distribution of coronavirus vaccines around the world — a move approved last year by a Democratic-led House and a Republican led-Senate — there were clear differences in approach during the meeting.

Underscoring the importance that the European Union accords to Africa, Macron called on Western nations to supply 13 million vaccine doses to African governments “as soon as possible” to protect health workers.

He warned that if the alliance failed to do this, “our African friends will be pressured by their populations, and rightly so, to buy doses from the Chinese, the Russians or directly from laboratories.”

Vaccine donations would reflect “a common will to advance and share the same values,” Macron said. Otherwise, “the power of the West, of Europeans and Americans, will be only a concept, and not a reality.”

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, on Friday also urged countries and drugmakers to help speed up the manufacturing and distribution of vaccines across the globe, warning that the world could be “back at Square 1” if some countries went ahead with their vaccination campaigns and left others behind.

“Vaccine equity is not just the right thing to do, it’s also the smartest to do,” Tedros said to the Munich conference. He argued that the longer it would take to vaccinate populations in every country, the longer the pandemic would remain out of control.

President Joe Biden used his first public encounter with America’s European allies to describe a new struggle between the West and the forces of autocracy, declaring that “America is back” while acknowledging that the past four years had taken a toll on its power and influence.

President Joe Biden used his first public encounter with America’s European allies to describe a new struggle between the West and the forces of autocracy, declaring that “America is back” while acknowledging that the past four years had taken a toll on its power and influence. His message stressing the importance of reinvigorating alliances and recommitting to defending Europe was predictably well received at a session of the Munich Security Conference that Biden addressed from the White House. But there was also pushback, notably from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who in his address made an impassioned defense of his concept of “strategic autonomy” from the United States, making the case that Europe can no longer be overly dependent on the United States as it focuses more of its attention on Asia, especially China. Also read| Biden urges allies to work towards addressing Iran's 'destabilising' activities And even Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who is leaving office within the year, tempered her praise for Biden’s decision to cancel plans for a withdrawal of 12,000 U.S. troops from the country with a warning that “our interests will not always converge.” It appeared to be a reference to Germany’s ambivalence about confronting China — a major market for its automobiles and other high-end German products — and to the continuing battle with the United States over the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Russia. But all three leaders seemed to recognize that their first virtual encounter was a moment to celebrate the end of the era of “America First,” and for Macron and Merkel to welcome back Biden, a politician whom they knew well from his years as a senator and vice president. And Biden used the moment to warn about the need for a common strategy in pushing back at an Internet-fueled narrative, promoted by both Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China, that the chaos surrounding the American election was another sign of democratic weakness and decline. Also read| At his first major global appearance, Biden draws sharp contrast with Trump's policies “We must demonstrate that democracies can still deliver for our people in this changed world,” Biden said, adding, “We have to prove that our model isn’t a relic of history.” For the president, a regular visitor to the conference even as a private citizen after serving as vice president, the address was something of a homecoming. The session was crunched down to a video meeting by Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, this year’s host, and the European leaders decided to do the same for a brief, closed meeting of the Group of 7 allies that Biden also participated in. The next in-person summit meeting is still planned for Britain this summer, pandemic permitting. Biden never named his predecessor, Donald Trump, in his remarks, but framed them around wiping out the traces of Trumpism in the United States’ approach to the world. He celebrated its return to the Paris climate agreement, which took effect just before the meeting, and a new initiative, announced Thursday night, to join Britain, France and Germany in engaging Iran diplomatically in an effort to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement that Trump exited. But rather than detail an agenda, Biden tried to recall the first principles that led to the Atlantic alliance and the creation of NATO in 1949, near the beginning of the Cold War. WATCH| × “Democracy doesn’t happen by accident,” the president said. “We have to defend it. Strengthen it. Renew it.” In a deliberate contrast to Trump, who talked about withdrawing from NATO and famously declined on several occasions to acknowledge the United States’ responsibilities under Article V of the alliance’s charter to come to the aid of members under attack, Biden cast the United States as ready to assume its responsibilities as the linchpin of the alliance. “We will keep the faith” with the obligation, he said, adding that “an attack on one is an attack on all.” But he also pressed Europe to think about challenges in a new way — different from the Cold War, even if the two biggest geostrategic adversaries seem familiar. “We must prepare together for long-term strategic competition with China,” he said, naming “cyberspace, artificial intelligence and biotechnology” as the new territory for competition. And he argued for pushing back against Russia — he called Putin by his last name, with no title attached — mentioning in particular the need to respond to the SolarWinds attack that was aimed at federal and corporate computer networks. “Addressing Russian recklessness and hacking into computer networks in the United States and across Europe and the world has become critical to protect collective security,” Biden said. The president avoided delving in to the difficult question of how to make Russia pay a price without escalating the confrontation. A senior White House cyberofficial told reporters this week that the scope and depth of the Russian intrusion was still under study, and officials are clearly struggling to come up with options to fulfill Biden’s commitment to make Putin pay a price for the attack. But it was the dynamic with Macron, who has made a habit of criticizing the NATO alliance as nearing “brain death” and no longer “pertinent” since the disappearance of the Warsaw Pact, that captured attention. Macron wants NATO to act as more of a political body, a place where European members have equivalent status to the United States and are less subject to the American tendency to dominate decision-making. A Europe better able to defend itself, and more autonomous, would make NATO “even stronger than before,” Macron insisted. He said Europe should be “much more in charge of its own security,” increasing its commitments to spending on defense to “rebalance” the trans-Atlantic relationship. That is not a widely shared view among the many European states that do not want to spend the money required, and the nations of Central and Eastern Europe are unwilling to trust their security to anyone but the United States. Macron also urged that the renovation of NATO’s security abilities should involve “a dialogue with Russia.” NATO has always claimed that it is open to better relations with Moscow, but that Russia is not interested, especially as long as international sanctions remain after its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine about seven years ago. But Macron, speaking in English to answer a question, also argued that Europe could not count on the United States as much as it had in past decades. “We must take more of the burden of our own protection,” he said. In practice, it will take many years for Europe to build up a defense arm that would make it more self-reliant. But Macron is determined to start now, just as he is determined to increase the European Union’s technological capacities so that it can become less dependent on American and Chinese supply chains. Biden, in contrast, wants to deepen those supply chains — of both hardware and software — among like-minded Western allies in an effort to lessen Chinese influence. He is preparing to propose a new joint project for European and American technology companies in areas like semiconductors and the kinds of software that Russia exploited in the SolarWinds hacking. It was Merkel who dwelled on the complexities of dealing with China, given its dual role as competitor and necessary partner for the West. “In recent years, China has gained global clout, and as trans-Atlantic partners and democracies, we must do something to counter this,” Merkel said. “Russia continually entangles European Union members in hybrid conflicts,” she said. “Consequently, it is important that we come up with a trans-Atlantic agenda toward Russia that makes cooperative offers on the one hand, but on the other very clearly names the differences.” While Biden announced he would make good on an American promise to donate $4 billion to the campaign to expedite the manufacturing and distribution of coronavirus vaccines around the world — a move approved last year by a Democratic-led House and a Republican led-Senate — there were clear differences in approach during the meeting. Underscoring the importance that the European Union accords to Africa, Macron called on Western nations to supply 13 million vaccine doses to African governments “as soon as possible” to protect health workers. He warned that if the alliance failed to do this, “our African friends will be pressured by their populations, and rightly so, to buy doses from the Chinese, the Russians or directly from laboratories.” Vaccine donations would reflect “a common will to advance and share the same values,” Macron said. Otherwise, “the power of the West, of Europeans and Americans, will be only a concept, and not a reality.” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, on Friday also urged countries and drugmakers to help speed up the manufacturing and distribution of vaccines across the globe, warning that the world could be “back at Square 1” if some countries went ahead with their vaccination campaigns and left others behind. “Vaccine equity is not just the right thing to do, it’s also the smartest to do,” Tedros said to the Munich conference. He argued that the longer it would take to vaccinate populations in every country, the longer the pandemic would remain out of control.

Biden tells allies ‘America is back,’ but Macron and Merkel push back

Democrats emerged from the 2020 election with full control of the federal government and a pile of lingering questions. In private, party leaders and strategists have been wrestling with a quandary: Why was President Joe Biden’s convincing victory over Donald Trump not accompanied by broad Democratic gains down ballot?

With that puzzle in mind, a cluster of Democratic advocacy groups has quietly launched a review of the party’s performance in the 2020 election with an eye toward shaping Democrats’ approach to next year’s midterm campaign, seven people familiar with the effort said.

There is particular concern among the Democratic sponsors of the initiative about the party’s losses in House districts with large minority populations, including in Florida, Texas and California, people briefed on the initiative said. The review is probing tactical and strategic choices across the map, including Democratic messaging on the economy and the coronavirus pandemic, as well as organizational decisions like eschewing in-person canvassing.

Democrats had anticipated they would be able to expand their majority in the House, pushing into historically red areas of the Sun Belt where Trump’s unpopularity had destabilized the GOP coalition. Instead, Republicans took 14 Democratic-held House seats, including a dozen that Democrats had captured in an anti-Trump wave election just two years earlier.

The results stunned strategists in both parties, raising questions about the reliability of campaign polling and seemingly underscoring Democratic vulnerabilities in rural areas and right-of-center suburbs. Democrats also lost several contested Senate races by unexpectedly wide margins, even as they narrowly took control of the chamber.

Strategists involved in the Democratic self-review have begun interviewing elected officials and campaign consultants and reaching out to lawmakers and former candidates in major House and Senate races where the party either won or lost narrowly.

Four major groups are backing the effort, spanning a range of Democratic-leaning interests: Third Way, a centrist think tank; End Citizens United, a clean-government group; the Latino Victory Fund; and Collective PAC, an organization that supports Black Democratic candidates.

They are said to be working with at least three influential bodies within the House Democratic caucus: the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition, a group of centrist lawmakers. The groups have retained a Democratic consulting firm, 270 Strategies, to conduct interviews and analyze electoral data.

Democrats are feeling considerable pressure to refine their political playbook before the 2022 congressional elections, when the party will be defending minuscule House and Senate majorities without a presidential race to drive turnout on either side.

Dan Sena, a former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said there was a recognition in the party that, despite Biden’s victory, the 2020 cycle had not been an unalloyed Democratic success story.

“I think people know that there was good and bad coming out of ’20, and there is a desire to look under the hood,” Sena said.

Among the party’s goals, Sena said, should be studying their gains in Georgia and looking for other areas where population growth and demographic change might furnish the party with strong electoral targets in 2022.

“There were a series of factors that really made Georgia work this cycle,” he said. “How do you begin to find places like Georgia?”

Matt Bennett, senior vice president of Third Way, confirmed in a statement that the four-way project was aimed at positioning Democrats for the midterm elections.

“With narrow Democratic majorities in Congress and the Republican Party in the thrall of Trump-supporting seditionists, the stakes have never been higher,” he said. “Our organizations will provide Democrats with a detailed picture of what happened in 2020 — with a wide range of input from voices across the party — so they are fully prepared to take on the GOP in 2022.”

In addition to the outside review, some of the traditional party committees are said to be taking narrower steps to scrutinize the 2020 results. Concerned about a drop in support with Latino men, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee conducted focus groups in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas earlier this year, one person familiar with the study said. It is not clear precisely what conclusions emerged from the exercise.

So far there is no equivalent process underway on the Republican side, party officials said, citing the general lack of appetite among GOP leaders for grappling openly with Trump’s impact on the party and the wreckage he inflicted in key regions of the country.

As a candidate for reelection, Trump slumped in the Democratic-leaning Upper Midwest — giving up his most important breakthroughs of 2016 — and lost to Biden in Georgia and Arizona, two traditionally red states where the GOP has suffered an abrupt decline in recent years. The party lost all four Senate seats from those states during Trump’s presidency, three of them in the 2020 cycle.

But Trump and his political retainers have so far responded with fury to critics of his stewardship of the party, and there is no apparent desire to tempt his wrath with a comprehensive analysis that would be likely to yield unflattering results. One unofficial review, conducted by Trump’s pollster, Tony Fabrizio, concluded that Trump had shed significant support because of his handling of the pandemic, with particularly damaging losses among white voters.

In the past, Democratic attempts at self-scrutiny have tended to yield somewhat mushy conclusions aimed at avoiding controversy across the party’s multifarious coalition.

The Democratic Party briefly appeared headed for a public reckoning in November as the party absorbed its setbacks in the House and its failure to unseat several Republican senators whom Democrats had seen as ripe for defeat.

A group of centrist House members blamed left-wing rhetoric about democratic socialism and defunding the police for their losses in a number of conservative-leaning suburbs and rural districts. Days after the election, Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia said the party should renounce the word “socialism,” drawing pushback from progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

That airing of differences did not last long: Democrats quickly closed ranks in response to Trump’s attacks on the 2020 election, and party unity hardened after the Jan. 5 runoff elections in Georgia and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. But there are still significant internal disagreements about campaign strategy.

It has been eight years since either political party conducted a wide-ranging self-assessment that recommended thorough changes in structure and strategy. After the 2012 election, when Republicans lost the presidential race and gave up seats in both chambers of Congress, the Republican National Committee empaneled a task force that called for major changes to the party organization.

The so-called 2012 autopsy also recommended that the GOP embrace the cause of immigration reform, warning that the party faced a bleak demographic future if it did not improve its position with communities of color. That recommendation was effectively discarded after House Republicans blocked a bipartisan immigration deal passed by the Senate, and then fully obliterated by Trump’s presidential candidacy.

Henry Barbour, a member of the RNC who co-authored the committee’s post-2012 analysis, said it would be wise for both parties to consider their political positioning after the 2020 election. He said that Democrats had succeeded in the election by running against Trump but that the party’s leftward shift had alienated otherwise winnable voters, including some Black, Hispanic and Asian American communities that shifted incrementally toward Trump.

“They’re running off a lot of middle-class Americans who work hard for a living out in the heartland or in big cities or suburbs,” Barbour said. “Part of that is because Democrats have run too far to the left.”

Barbour said Republicans, too, should take a clear-eyed look at their 2020 performance. Trump, he said, had not done enough to expand his appeal beyond a large and loyal minority of voters.

“The Republican Party has got to do better than that,” he said. “We’re not just a party of one president.”

In addition to the four-way review on the Democratic side, there are several narrower projects underway focused on addressing deficiencies in polling.

Democratic and Republican officials alike found serious shortcomings in their survey research, especially polling in House races that failed to anticipate how close Republicans would come to retaking the majority. Both parties emerged from the campaign feeling that they had significantly misjudged the landscape of competitive House races, with Democrats losing seats unexpectedly and Republicans perhaps having missed a chance to capture the chamber as a result.

The chief Republican and Democratic super political action committees focused on House races — the Congressional Leadership Fund and House Majority PAC — are both in the process of studying their 2020 polling and debating changes for the 2022 campaign, people familiar with their efforts said.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican group, is said to be undertaking a somewhat more extensive review of its spending and messaging, although it is not expected to issue any kind of larger diagnosis for the party.

“We would be foolish not to take a serious look at what worked, what didn’t work and how you can evolve and advance,” said Dan Conston, the group’s president.

Several of the largest Democratic polling companies are also conferring regularly with each other in an effort to address gaps in the 2020 research. Two people involved in the conversations said there was general agreement that the industry had to update its practices before 2022 to assure Democratic leaders that they would not be caught by surprise again.

Anna Greenberg, a Democratic pollster involved in reviewing research from the last cycle, said that the party was only now digging more deeply into the results of the 2020 election because the past few months had been dominated by other crises.

Several Democratic and Republican strategists cautioned that both parties faced a challenge in formulating a plan for 2022; it had been more than a decade, she said, since a midterm campaign had not been dominated by a larger-than-life presidential personality. Based on the experience of the 2020 campaign, it is not clear that Biden is destined to become such a polarizing figure.

“It’s hard to know what an election’s like without an Obama or a Trump,” Greenberg said, “just normal, regular, ordinary people running.”

Democrats emerged from the 2020 election with full control of the federal government and a pile of lingering questions. In private, party leaders and strategists have been wrestling with a quandary: Why was President Joe Biden’s convincing victory over Donald Trump not accompanied by broad Democratic gains down ballot?

Democrats emerged from the 2020 election with full control of the federal government and a pile of lingering questions. In private, party leaders and strategists have been wrestling with a quandary: Why was President Joe Biden’s convincing victory over Donald Trump not accompanied by broad Democratic gains down ballot? With that puzzle in mind, a cluster of Democratic advocacy groups has quietly launched a review of the party’s performance in the 2020 election with an eye toward shaping Democrats’ approach to next year’s midterm campaign, seven people familiar with the effort said. There is particular concern among the Democratic sponsors of the initiative about the party’s losses in House districts with large minority populations, including in Florida, Texas and California, people briefed on the initiative said. The review is probing tactical and strategic choices across the map, including Democratic messaging on the economy and the coronavirus pandemic, as well as organizational decisions like eschewing in-person canvassing. Democrats had anticipated they would be able to expand their majority in the House, pushing into historically red areas of the Sun Belt where Trump’s unpopularity had destabilized the GOP coalition. Instead, Republicans took 14 Democratic-held House seats, including a dozen that Democrats had captured in an anti-Trump wave election just two years earlier. The results stunned strategists in both parties, raising questions about the reliability of campaign polling and seemingly underscoring Democratic vulnerabilities in rural areas and right-of-center suburbs. Democrats also lost several contested Senate races by unexpectedly wide margins, even as they narrowly took control of the chamber. Strategists involved in the Democratic self-review have begun interviewing elected officials and campaign consultants and reaching out to lawmakers and former candidates in major House and Senate races where the party either won or lost narrowly. Four major groups are backing the effort, spanning a range of Democratic-leaning interests: Third Way, a centrist think tank; End Citizens United, a clean-government group; the Latino Victory Fund; and Collective PAC, an organization that supports Black Democratic candidates. They are said to be working with at least three influential bodies within the House Democratic caucus: the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition, a group of centrist lawmakers. The groups have retained a Democratic consulting firm, 270 Strategies, to conduct interviews and analyze electoral data. Democrats are feeling considerable pressure to refine their political playbook before the 2022 congressional elections, when the party will be defending minuscule House and Senate majorities without a presidential race to drive turnout on either side. Dan Sena, a former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said there was a recognition in the party that, despite Biden’s victory, the 2020 cycle had not been an unalloyed Democratic success story. “I think people know that there was good and bad coming out of ’20, and there is a desire to look under the hood,” Sena said. Among the party’s goals, Sena said, should be studying their gains in Georgia and looking for other areas where population growth and demographic change might furnish the party with strong electoral targets in 2022. “There were a series of factors that really made Georgia work this cycle,” he said. “How do you begin to find places like Georgia?” Matt Bennett, senior vice president of Third Way, confirmed in a statement that the four-way project was aimed at positioning Democrats for the midterm elections. “With narrow Democratic majorities in Congress and the Republican Party in the thrall of Trump-supporting seditionists, the stakes have never been higher,” he said. “Our organizations will provide Democrats with a detailed picture of what happened in 2020 — with a wide range of input from voices across the party — so they are fully prepared to take on the GOP in 2022.” In addition to the outside review, some of the traditional party committees are said to be taking narrower steps to scrutinize the 2020 results. Concerned about a drop in support with Latino men, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee conducted focus groups in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas earlier this year, one person familiar with the study said. It is not clear precisely what conclusions emerged from the exercise. So far there is no equivalent process underway on the Republican side, party officials said, citing the general lack of appetite among GOP leaders for grappling openly with Trump’s impact on the party and the wreckage he inflicted in key regions of the country. As a candidate for reelection, Trump slumped in the Democratic-leaning Upper Midwest — giving up his most important breakthroughs of 2016 — and lost to Biden in Georgia and Arizona, two traditionally red states where the GOP has suffered an abrupt decline in recent years. The party lost all four Senate seats from those states during Trump’s presidency, three of them in the 2020 cycle. But Trump and his political retainers have so far responded with fury to critics of his stewardship of the party, and there is no apparent desire to tempt his wrath with a comprehensive analysis that would be likely to yield unflattering results. One unofficial review, conducted by Trump’s pollster, Tony Fabrizio, concluded that Trump had shed significant support because of his handling of the pandemic, with particularly damaging losses among white voters. In the past, Democratic attempts at self-scrutiny have tended to yield somewhat mushy conclusions aimed at avoiding controversy across the party’s multifarious coalition. The Democratic Party briefly appeared headed for a public reckoning in November as the party absorbed its setbacks in the House and its failure to unseat several Republican senators whom Democrats had seen as ripe for defeat. A group of centrist House members blamed left-wing rhetoric about democratic socialism and defunding the police for their losses in a number of conservative-leaning suburbs and rural districts. Days after the election, Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia said the party should renounce the word “socialism,” drawing pushback from progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. That airing of differences did not last long: Democrats quickly closed ranks in response to Trump’s attacks on the 2020 election, and party unity hardened after the Jan. 5 runoff elections in Georgia and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. But there are still significant internal disagreements about campaign strategy. It has been eight years since either political party conducted a wide-ranging self-assessment that recommended thorough changes in structure and strategy. After the 2012 election, when Republicans lost the presidential race and gave up seats in both chambers of Congress, the Republican National Committee empaneled a task force that called for major changes to the party organization. The so-called 2012 autopsy also recommended that the GOP embrace the cause of immigration reform, warning that the party faced a bleak demographic future if it did not improve its position with communities of color. That recommendation was effectively discarded after House Republicans blocked a bipartisan immigration deal passed by the Senate, and then fully obliterated by Trump’s presidential candidacy. Henry Barbour, a member of the RNC who co-authored the committee’s post-2012 analysis, said it would be wise for both parties to consider their political positioning after the 2020 election. He said that Democrats had succeeded in the election by running against Trump but that the party’s leftward shift had alienated otherwise winnable voters, including some Black, Hispanic and Asian American communities that shifted incrementally toward Trump. “They’re running off a lot of middle-class Americans who work hard for a living out in the heartland or in big cities or suburbs,” Barbour said. “Part of that is because Democrats have run too far to the left.” Barbour said Republicans, too, should take a clear-eyed look at their 2020 performance. Trump, he said, had not done enough to expand his appeal beyond a large and loyal minority of voters. “The Republican Party has got to do better than that,” he said. “We’re not just a party of one president.” In addition to the four-way review on the Democratic side, there are several narrower projects underway focused on addressing deficiencies in polling. Democratic and Republican officials alike found serious shortcomings in their survey research, especially polling in House races that failed to anticipate how close Republicans would come to retaking the majority. Both parties emerged from the campaign feeling that they had significantly misjudged the landscape of competitive House races, with Democrats losing seats unexpectedly and Republicans perhaps having missed a chance to capture the chamber as a result. The chief Republican and Democratic super political action committees focused on House races — the Congressional Leadership Fund and House Majority PAC — are both in the process of studying their 2020 polling and debating changes for the 2022 campaign, people familiar with their efforts said. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican group, is said to be undertaking a somewhat more extensive review of its spending and messaging, although it is not expected to issue any kind of larger diagnosis for the party. “We would be foolish not to take a serious look at what worked, what didn’t work and how you can evolve and advance,” said Dan Conston, the group’s president. Several of the largest Democratic polling companies are also conferring regularly with each other in an effort to address gaps in the 2020 research. Two people involved in the conversations said there was general agreement that the industry had to update its practices before 2022 to assure Democratic leaders that they would not be caught by surprise again. Anna Greenberg, a Democratic pollster involved in reviewing research from the last cycle, said that the party was only now digging more deeply into the results of the 2020 election because the past few months had been dominated by other crises. Several Democratic and Republican strategists cautioned that both parties faced a challenge in formulating a plan for 2022; it had been more than a decade, she said, since a midterm campaign had not been dominated by a larger-than-life presidential personality. Based on the experience of the 2020 campaign, it is not clear that Biden is destined to become such a polarizing figure. “It’s hard to know what an election’s like without an Obama or a Trump,” Greenberg said, “just normal, regular, ordinary people running.”

Democrats beat Trump in 2020. Now they’re asking: what went wrong?

SAN ANTONIO — Carrol Anderson spent much of his life in southeast Texas, where the most feared natural disasters spin up from the Gulf of Mexico during the warm months of hurricane season. But last week, Anderson, a 75-year-old who breathed with the help of oxygen tanks, knew that a different kind of storm was heading his way.

To prepare, he ordered a fresh supply of oxygen that his stepdaughter said never arrived. There was a spare tank, however, in the pickup outside his one-story brick house in Crosby, Texas, just northeast of Houston.

So when Anderson, an Army veteran who went by Andy, was found dead inside his truck Tuesday, his stepdaughter figured he had gone outside to retrieve it. His main tank, back in the house, runs on electricity, and the power had gone out the night before as a deadly cold descended on much of Texas.

While the final tally could be much higher, Anderson was among at least 58 people who died in storm-affected areas stretching to Ohio, victims of carbon monoxide poisoning, car crashes, drownings, house fires and hypothermia.

In Galveston County, along the Texas Gulf Coast, the authorities said two residents had died from exposure to the cold and one person from possible carbon monoxide poisoning. Four other deaths remained under investigation and were possibly linked to the frigid weather.

County Judge Mark Henry, the county’s top elected official, said he would have evacuated some of his most vulnerable residents before the winter storm had he known that power outages would plunge the county into darkness for a few days. He said the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the state’s power grid, had warned only of rolling blackouts. Instead, most residents were without power for at least 48 hours.

“We would have been happy to order an evacuation if we’d been told Sunday the power was going to go out and stay out for four days,” he said, noting the county is more accustomed to ordering evacuations before hurricanes.

A spokeswoman for ERCOT said Friday that the surge in demand stressed the power grid, a crisis so dire that the “local utilities were not able to rotate the outages.”

At its height, about 4 million Texans were without power this week as temperatures plummeted to the teens and single digits. About 165,000 remained without electricity on Friday, though millions were still without running water or under notices to boil their tap water.

Still, there were signs of relief. In hard-hit Austin, City Manager Spencer Cronk said Friday that more than 1 million gallons of water would arrive over the next two days. The city plans to set up distribution centers, and Cronk said water would be delivered to the city’s most vulnerable citizens, such as older people and those without homes.

Greg Meszaros, the director of Austin’s water utility, said he expected that most residents would have their water pressure restored over the weekend. Boil water advisories should be lifted sometime next week, he said.

Coming into clearer view were the dimensions of a public health crisis exacerbated by poverty, desperation and, in some cases, a lack of understanding of cold-weather safety. Texas hospitals and health providers saw more than 700 visits related to carbon monoxide poisoning between Monday and Wednesday. Thayer Smith, division chief with the Austin Fire Department, said his city had seen dozens of incidents of toxic exposure from people burning charcoal in their homes.

The weather also hampered the response to the coronavirus pandemic. The White House on Friday said 6 million doses of coronavirus vaccines had been held up because of snowstorms across the country, creating a backlog affecting every state and throwing off the pace of vaccination appointments over the next week.

In Texas, hospitals spent the week grappling with burst pipes, power outages and acute water shortages, making it difficult to care for patients.

In Abilene, authorities said a man died at the Hendrick Medical Center after he was unable to get dialysis treatment at the site. Large amounts of filtered water, in addition to electricity and heat, are required to properly provide care for dialysis patients, and water at the hospital was shut down, said Cande Flores, the Abilene fire chief.

Flores said that at least four people had died in Abilene as a result of the state power grid failure, including a homeless man who died from exposure to the cold, a 60-year-old man who was found dead in his home and an 86-year-old woman whose daughter found her frozen in her backyard.

Elsewhere in the state, a 69-year-old man was found dead inside his home in a rural community south of San Antonio, where he lived alone. He did not have electricity, and the authorities said his bedroom was 35 degrees when they found him.

In Houston, an Ethiopian immigrant died in her idling car, which was parked in her garage, where she sat while charging her phone. The woman, Etenesh Mersha, was talking to a friend when she started to feel tired.

“She tried to drink water,” said Negash Desta, a relative by marriage to Mersha. “After she told her friend she couldn’t talk anymore, there was no response after that.”

The friend tried to call the police in Houston but did not have an address, Desta said. The friend turned to Facebook, where she found Desta. Hours later, he eventually received a message about what had happened and alerted the police. They found an entire family, poisoned.

“When they get in, they found the mother and daughter were just dead and the son and father alive. They had all fainted,” he said, adding that the car had still been running. The daughter, Rakeb Shalemu, was 7 years old.

Mersha’s husband and 8-year-old son were hospitalized. Desta said that the husband has since been released and that the boy, Beimnet Shalemu, was still in the intensive critical unit.

Near Houston in Conroe, Texas, an 11-year-old boy, Cristian Pineda, was found dead in his bed on Monday morning. His family had no power the night before, and the parents, the boy and his siblings had huddled together in one bedroom, Lt. James Kelemen of the Conroe Police Department said Friday.

Like Anderson and Mersha and her family, Cristian was the focus of a hastily assembled GoFundMe page. It requested donations to cover the expenses of his burial in Honduras, where his family is from. It had raised more than $38,000 as of Friday afternoon.

The page showed a picture of a boy in a thin red hoodie, smiling and standing in the snow.

On Tuesday, while Anderson’s wife was mopping up their living room after a frozen pipe burst, he walked to the garage to try to get a generator going, hoping he could help clean up with a Shop-Vac.

His wife would not know until later that he had walked to his truck in search of oxygen, said his stepdaughter, Brandi Campanile. It was 19 degrees. His spare oxygen tank, it would turn out, was empty.

“He was trying to get oxygen and it was just a losing battle,” Campanile said Friday. “Texas is not meant to handle freezing temperatures. It’s not something that happens out here.”

SAN ANTONIO — Carrol Anderson spent much of his life in southeast Texas, where the most feared natural disasters spin up from the Gulf of Mexico during the warm months of hurricane season.

SAN ANTONIO — Carrol Anderson spent much of his life in southeast Texas, where the most feared natural disasters spin up from the Gulf of Mexico during the warm months of hurricane season. But last week, Anderson, a 75-year-old who breathed with the help of oxygen tanks, knew that a different kind of storm was heading his way. To prepare, he ordered a fresh supply of oxygen that his stepdaughter said never arrived. There was a spare tank, however, in the pickup outside his one-story brick house in Crosby, Texas, just northeast of Houston. So when Anderson, an Army veteran who went by Andy, was found dead inside his truck Tuesday, his stepdaughter figured he had gone outside to retrieve it. His main tank, back in the house, runs on electricity, and the power had gone out the night before as a deadly cold descended on much of Texas. While the final tally could be much higher, Anderson was among at least 58 people who died in storm-affected areas stretching to Ohio, victims of carbon monoxide poisoning, car crashes, drownings, house fires and hypothermia. In Galveston County, along the Texas Gulf Coast, the authorities said two residents had died from exposure to the cold and one person from possible carbon monoxide poisoning. Four other deaths remained under investigation and were possibly linked to the frigid weather. County Judge Mark Henry, the county’s top elected official, said he would have evacuated some of his most vulnerable residents before the winter storm had he known that power outages would plunge the county into darkness for a few days. He said the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the state’s power grid, had warned only of rolling blackouts. Instead, most residents were without power for at least 48 hours. “We would have been happy to order an evacuation if we’d been told Sunday the power was going to go out and stay out for four days,” he said, noting the county is more accustomed to ordering evacuations before hurricanes. A spokeswoman for ERCOT said Friday that the surge in demand stressed the power grid, a crisis so dire that the “local utilities were not able to rotate the outages.” At its height, about 4 million Texans were without power this week as temperatures plummeted to the teens and single digits. About 165,000 remained without electricity on Friday, though millions were still without running water or under notices to boil their tap water. Still, there were signs of relief. In hard-hit Austin, City Manager Spencer Cronk said Friday that more than 1 million gallons of water would arrive over the next two days. The city plans to set up distribution centers, and Cronk said water would be delivered to the city’s most vulnerable citizens, such as older people and those without homes. Greg Meszaros, the director of Austin’s water utility, said he expected that most residents would have their water pressure restored over the weekend. Boil water advisories should be lifted sometime next week, he said. Coming into clearer view were the dimensions of a public health crisis exacerbated by poverty, desperation and, in some cases, a lack of understanding of cold-weather safety. Texas hospitals and health providers saw more than 700 visits related to carbon monoxide poisoning between Monday and Wednesday. Thayer Smith, division chief with the Austin Fire Department, said his city had seen dozens of incidents of toxic exposure from people burning charcoal in their homes. The weather also hampered the response to the coronavirus pandemic. The White House on Friday said 6 million doses of coronavirus vaccines had been held up because of snowstorms across the country, creating a backlog affecting every state and throwing off the pace of vaccination appointments over the next week. In Texas, hospitals spent the week grappling with burst pipes, power outages and acute water shortages, making it difficult to care for patients. In Abilene, authorities said a man died at the Hendrick Medical Center after he was unable to get dialysis treatment at the site. Large amounts of filtered water, in addition to electricity and heat, are required to properly provide care for dialysis patients, and water at the hospital was shut down, said Cande Flores, the Abilene fire chief. Flores said that at least four people had died in Abilene as a result of the state power grid failure, including a homeless man who died from exposure to the cold, a 60-year-old man who was found dead in his home and an 86-year-old woman whose daughter found her frozen in her backyard. Elsewhere in the state, a 69-year-old man was found dead inside his home in a rural community south of San Antonio, where he lived alone. He did not have electricity, and the authorities said his bedroom was 35 degrees when they found him. In Houston, an Ethiopian immigrant died in her idling car, which was parked in her garage, where she sat while charging her phone. The woman, Etenesh Mersha, was talking to a friend when she started to feel tired. “She tried to drink water,” said Negash Desta, a relative by marriage to Mersha. “After she told her friend she couldn’t talk anymore, there was no response after that.” The friend tried to call the police in Houston but did not have an address, Desta said. The friend turned to Facebook, where she found Desta. Hours later, he eventually received a message about what had happened and alerted the police. They found an entire family, poisoned. “When they get in, they found the mother and daughter were just dead and the son and father alive. They had all fainted,” he said, adding that the car had still been running. The daughter, Rakeb Shalemu, was 7 years old. Mersha’s husband and 8-year-old son were hospitalized. Desta said that the husband has since been released and that the boy, Beimnet Shalemu, was still in the intensive critical unit. Near Houston in Conroe, Texas, an 11-year-old boy, Cristian Pineda, was found dead in his bed on Monday morning. His family had no power the night before, and the parents, the boy and his siblings had huddled together in one bedroom, Lt. James Kelemen of the Conroe Police Department said Friday. Like Anderson and Mersha and her family, Cristian was the focus of a hastily assembled GoFundMe page. It requested donations to cover the expenses of his burial in Honduras, where his family is from. It had raised more than $38,000 as of Friday afternoon. The page showed a picture of a boy in a thin red hoodie, smiling and standing in the snow. On Tuesday, while Anderson’s wife was mopping up their living room after a frozen pipe burst, he walked to the garage to try to get a generator going, hoping he could help clean up with a Shop-Vac. His wife would not know until later that he had walked to his truck in search of oxygen, said his stepdaughter, Brandi Campanile. It was 19 degrees. His spare oxygen tank, it would turn out, was empty. “He was trying to get oxygen and it was just a losing battle,” Campanile said Friday. “Texas is not meant to handle freezing temperatures. It’s not something that happens out here.”

Extreme cold killed Texans in their bedrooms, vehicles and backyards

After days of the harsh winter storm in Texas, US President Joe Biden is planning to visit the state next week and declare a major disaster.

"As I said when I ran, I’m going to be a president for all Americans," he said. "If I can do it without creating a burden for folks, I plan on going."

The declaration of disaster in the state will allow the Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, to claim federal aid benefits for immediate and long-term recovery efforts.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-a-brutal-blast-of-winter-weather-leads-to-blackouts-in-texas-364929">WATCH|</a>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-a-brutal-blast-of-winter-weather-leads-to-blackouts-in-texas-364929/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Biden's request for approval for the declaration of disaster has come following a request from Abbott.

The acting administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), Bob Fenton, has been asked to look into the approval process. Biden also contacted Fenton to let him know that he would approve the measure as soon as he receives the formal request from the agency.

This decision has been taken as the state of Texas has been battling the harsh winter storm from the past few days, leaving thousands of houses without any power and safe drinking water.

After days of the harsh winter storm in Texas, US President Joe Biden is planning to visit the state next week and declare a major disaster. "As I said when I ran, I’m going to be a president for all Americans," he said.

After days of the harsh winter storm in Texas, US President Joe Biden is planning to visit the state next week and declare a major disaster. "As I said when I ran, I’m going to be a president for all Americans," he said. "If I can do it without creating a burden for folks, I plan on going." The declaration of disaster in the state will allow the Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, to claim federal aid benefits for immediate and long-term recovery efforts. WATCH| Biden's request for approval for the declaration of disaster has come following a request from Abbott. The acting administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), Bob Fenton, has been asked to look into the approval process. Biden also contacted Fenton to let him know that he would approve the measure as soon as he receives the formal request from the agency. This decision has been taken as the state of Texas has been battling the harsh winter storm from the past few days, leaving thousands of houses without any power and safe drinking water.

Joe Biden to declare Texas winter storm as 'disaster'

"The Iranians want the removal of sanctions as a pre-condition to return back to the talks and they hope they can get back to the deal they had with Barack Obama": Susan Tehrani. Mohammed Saleh tells you more

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