Biden Taps Michelle Kwan and Caroline Kennedy for Ambassador Posts
Ms. Kennedy, nominated to be ambassador to Australia, and Ms. Kwan, nominated to be the envoy to Belize, were prominent Biden supporters during the 2020
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Manchin Balks on Social Policy Bill; Democrats May Punt to 2022
A self-imposed Christmas deadline for action on the $2.2 trillion social safety net, climate and tax package appeared likely to slip as negotiations with the West Virginia Democrat faltered. The gulf between Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and…
Learning the lessons from Ukraine’s post-Maidan reform experience
Ukraine marked three decades of independence this year, but the country’s efforts to undertake genuine reforms only really began following the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. In 20
King Family, Activists Plan Marches to Pressure Democrats on Voting Rights
Prominent backers of stalled voting rights legislation plan a blitz emphasizing the urgent need to counter new state restrictions. Martin Luther King III, with microphone, the son of Martin Luther King Jr., plans to use the January holiday commemorating his…
Biden taps Thompson for full term as top housing regulator
President Joe Biden will nominate Sandra Thompson, currently the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to a full term at the regulator, the White House announced Tuesday. If confirmed, Thompson would be the country’s top housing regulator, with…
Senate Passes $768 Billion Defense Bill, Sending It to Biden
Lawmakers in both parties linked arms in an overwhelming vote authorizing an increase in the Pentagon’s budget of roughly $24 billion more than President Biden requested. The bill passed by the Senate includes significant increases for initiatives intended to counter…
U.S. Waited Months to Book C.I.A. Prisoners at Guantánamo Bay
Defense lawyers said the delay cast into doubt whether samples taken from the captives could be considered valid evidence. Military commission proceedings for detainees charged with war crimes are held at Camp Justice in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba…
The Anger Games of American Politics
Maggie Astor at The New York Times devotes an article to the egregious lies US politicians share with their constituents, not through social media, but through massive email campaigns. They escape notice in the public debate about fake news because…
CoFoE could cause disquiet in Commission over citizens’ wishes to change treaties
Changing the names of institutions, forming transnational lists, and questioning the unanimity vote are among 39 recommendations approved by the citizens’ panel on democracy at a Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) panel in Florence last weekend. But some…
The Brief, powered by Goldman Sachs – Ukraine is litmus test for Scholz’s new foreign policy
In an emerging multipolar world, Germany will need to be more assertive to defend European and transatlantic values. However, it remains to be seen if the new Chancellor Olaf Scholz will rise to the occasion, and the first signs are…