Tag: pick

What Biden’s expected Joint Chiefs pick will likely face in the Senate

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Brown, who POLITICO first reported is Biden’s choice to succeed Milley, is likely to survive his confirmation battle in the Democratic-led Senate.
But the process probably won’t go as smoothly as it did three years ago, with the four-star general potentially facing tough questions about China’s possible invasion of Taiwan, the future of Ukraine’s fight to repel Russia and diversity policies conservatives have derided as distracting the military from its main missions.
Previous hearing room exchanges offer clues about how Brown will perform at his confirmation. By all accounts, he’s a cool customer: even-tempered, serious, succinct and direct. But the questions he faced were about the Air Force, well within his comfort zone.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the issues you can expect senators to focus on, and how Brown might answer:
Diversity and other Biden policies
Brown could see harsh questions by conservative senators on a variety of Pentagon policies they regard as a distraction from the military’s mission of fighting the nation’s wars.
Republicans have largely opposed efforts by the Biden administration to promote diversity and root out extremism in the ranks as well as combat the effects of climate change. Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are routinely pressed on those and other personnel issues in their appearances on Capitol Hill. Milley made waves in the House for his defense against criticism that the military is distracted by those programs.
Brown, who is the highest-ranking Black military leader since Colin Powell chaired the Joint Chiefs in the early 1990s, spoke out about his own experience as one of the few Black pilots following the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. In an emotional video, Brown reflected on “my own experiences that didn’t always sing of liberty and equality.”

Brown could also face pressure from Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) or others over policies implemented by Austin to shore up troops’ access to abortion following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. Democrats have praised the move, but Republicans want it reversed, arguing it politicizes the military and undercuts laws that bar taxpayer funding for abortions.
After the ruling in 2022, Brown was asked in an interview at the Aspen Security Forum how it would affect the Air Force.
“We have a responsibility to comply with the law. But we also have an obligation to take care of our airmen and their families,” Brown said.
Russia and Ukraine
While Milley has weighed in extensively on the Ukraine war, Brown’s views have been aired far less frequently — and when they have, they’ve made headlines.
Brown has Europe experience: Just before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, he was headquartered in Germany as the lead for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration at U.S. Air Forces in Europe.
At the Aspen Security Forum last summer, Milley said no decisions had been made to offer Ukraine Western fighter jets and pilot training, a hot-button issue rippling through Washington and the NATO alliance.
But Brown — who has a history in the cockpits of the F-16, B-1 and B-52 — offered some much-discussed speculation that such training was a possibility, and he riffed on what types of aircraft Ukraine might eventually receive.
“I can’t speculate what aircraft they may go to,” Brown said, but the U.S. has a “responsibility” to train its allies and, when it comes to Ukraine’s needs, “meet them where they are.”
“There’s U.S. [aircraft], there’s Gripen out of Sweden, there’s the Eurofighter, there’s [the French] Rafale. So there’s a number of different platforms that could go to Ukraine,” Brown said, adding with a smile: “Maybe not MiGs. It’ll be a lot tougher to get parts from the Russians in the future.”
Two Ukrainian pilots came to the U.S. in March for a fighter skills assessment at Tucson’s Morris Air National Guard Base.
Senate Armed Services members Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Tuberville, may push Brown for his views about sending F-16 jets to Ukraine, after they queried the Pentagon on the topic. And what about an Air Force plan to send uncrewed aircraft?
Top civilians have said fighters would take too long to deliver and that the emphasis should be on ground-based air defenses such as Ukraine’s S-300s, German IRIS-Ts or newly arrived Patriots.
Months earlier, Brown credited Russia’s lack of dominance over Ukraine’s skies to Kyiv’s use of those defenses, both donated and indigenous.
“Air superiority cannot be assumed, and one of the things that the Ukrainians have been able to do based on their air defense capability is actually threaten Russian air power,” he told Senate Armed Services member Joe Manchin at a hearing last year.
China and Taiwan
Brown will meet a Senate that’s grown more hawkish on China and he’ll face questions about what more the U.S. must do to deter Beijing from launching an invasion of Taiwan in the coming years.
Democrats and Republicans have pushed for more funding to better position the military in the Indo-Pacific region as well as to pump up arms sales to Taiwan. But lawmakers are also concerned the Pentagon isn’t moving fast enough to arm the self-governing island. Top Senate Armed Services Republican Roger Wicker of Mississippi has argued the window is closing for the U.S. to buy the weapons and equipment that might be needed if a conflict breaks out before the end of the decade.
Brown’s main competition for the top job, Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger, is hailed for retooling the Corps to focus on a Pacific fight. Brown, meanwhile, commanded Pacific Air Forces before taking over as the service’s top officer. He’ll likely draw on that experience in his pitch to senators.
“He is literally on the front lines in implementing the National Defense Strategy, which has a focus on great power competition, particularly China as the pacing threat to our nation for the next 50 to 100 years,” Sen. Dan Sullivan, (R-Alaska) who previously delayed a vote on Brown over a decision on basing aerial tankers, said before his confirmation as Air Force chief of staff in June 2020. “Gen. Brown is in that battle right now, front-lines every day.”
Arnold Punaro, a former staff director for the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Brown’s experience will give him “credibility” to spur the military to adapt to the Pacific.
“We have not yet made the needed adjustments to deal with the threat posed by China,” he said. “As chairman, General Brown will be in a position to drive the joint force and joint operations to deal with the threats posed not only by China, but also Russia, Iran, and North Korea.”
But will China invade?
Top leaders testifying before Congress have given a broad range of answers when asked if, and when, China might invade Taiwan.
But Brown’s response to one particularly fiery prediction offers clues as to how soon he thinks the threat may actually come.
Gen. Mike Minihan, Air Mobility Command head, made waves in January following news reports of a memo showing he predicted war with China in two years.
In the memo, he told the officers in his command that “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025.” He added that his leaders should “aim for the head.”
Brown, when asked about the memo, told reporters there were “aspects” of the missive that disappointed him. “It detracted from the key message of the sense of urgency that is required,” he said.
Caught in a promotions logjam?
Regardless of how he does before the committee, Brown’s nomination will land in a Senate that’s mired in a partisan deadlock over confirming military promotions, which have typically been approved with little opposition.
Tuberville has blocked the speedy confirmation of all senior military officer picks over policies implemented by the Pentagon in February that allow troops to be reimbursed for travel expenses and take leave to obtain abortions or other reproductive care.
The resulting standoff has meant that no nominees for general or admiral ranks have been confirmed in months. It’s a stalemate that Pentagon leaders say will hurt military readiness as commanders leave their posts or retire and aren’t replaced by permanent leaders — even uniting nearly all living U.S. defense secretaries this week in opposition to the blockade.
The backlog is building and could ensnare Biden’s picks for the Joint Chiefs if it drags on.
There are ways to slip through the blockade and ensure there are no vacancies at the most senior military posts. Once Brown clears the Armed Services Committee, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could hold a cloture vote on Brown’s nomination, a procedural tactic to escape holds in the Senate.
It’s a road Democrats may not want to wait to take until it’s absolutely necessary. Tuberville has argued that he isn’t preventing anyone’s confirmation, only forcing the Senate to take time to vote on nominees.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 6, 2023
Michael Delaney’s judicial nomination is on shakier ground after POLITICO reported that the Biden pick served on a board opposing the administration on several positions.

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One Judiciary Committee Democrat said the report raised “concerns.”

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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 4, 2023
How McCarthy could pick off centrist Dems with 4 debt-limit ideas

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On several occasions during debt-limit negotiations over the last decade, the unpredictable fallout of a looming deadline has helped persuade dozens of lawmakers from each party to begrudgingly support concessions they didn’t love. This time, ideas like beefing up work requirements for food assistance programs aren’t gaining the bipartisan appeal Republicans might have hoped for, while other proposals — like easing permitting for energy projects — might attract enough interest among Democrats to get added to a final deal.
Here’s a breakdown of the particular policy areas in the House Republican bill that might offer an opening for a bipartisan deal, with a clear-eyed assessment of how realistic those hopes really are:
Energy permitting
A sizable share of lawmakers in both parties agree that it takes too long to get permits for energy project construction in the U.S. So House Republicans’ push to streamline permitting rules just might have legs.
But what an agreement would look like, exactly, remains a big question. And Democrats remain resistant to linking energy policy to the debt-limit debate.
“This may be one of the few things we can actually accomplish in this Congress,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said. He added that it’s “very clear” Republicans are focused on permitting for oil and gas pipelines, instead of electric transmission lines — an emphasis Democrats could shift.
“They are just out of step with where the economy and country are,” Heinrich said of House GOP lawmakers. “That’s hopefully where the Senate comes in and rebalances.”
Worried that green perks could go to waste from the party-line tax and climate law they cleared last year, many Democrats want the federal government to make it easier to connect clean energy to the grid. Progressives are reluctant to shorten the length of environmental reviews for energy projects, however, for fear that could hurt low-income communities and communities of color.
Details: The House Republican package would streamline permitting reviews for energy projects and mines. But it’s also chock full of partisan priorities like protecting fracking, forcing the sale of oil and gas leases, killing tax benefits for green energy projects and pooh-poohing Biden’s decision to kill the Keystone XL pipeline.

Sympathizers: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has tried to rally bipartisan support for overhauling energy permitting rules. But he failed last year, as progressive lawmakers argued against changing the rules for environmental reviews and Republicans spurned him for supporting Democrats’ trademark climate law.
In the House, when the chamber first voted in March on the package of energy policies that got rolled into the debt limit package, four Democrats joined as “yeas.” Those supporters included Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, who hail from oil-and-gas-rich Texas, as well as centrists Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Jared Golden of Maine.
Work requirements
House Republicans are trying to get a handful of swing-state Democrats in the Senate to support tougher work requirements for food assistance programs. But most have resoundingly rejected the idea.
Details: The debt limit bill House Republicans passed last week includes provisions that would expand existing work requirements for the nation’s largest food aid program, often referred to by its acronym of SNAP, along with other emergency aid that low-income families can use to buy food.
Specifically, it requires so-called “able-bodied adults without dependents” who receive SNAP to continue meeting work requirements until they’re 55 years old, rather than the current age limit at 49.
Sympathizers: Manchin has signaled he could be open to beefing up work requirements, potentially backing tighter rules for people who are “capable and able to do it.” House Republicans are quick to highlight Biden’s own embrace of welfare reform during the Clinton administration in the 1990s, when the position was less fraught among Democrats and Biden was a sitting senator — but the stricter work rules getting pushed by today’s GOP go beyond those.
Latest news on the debt ceiling
Spending caps
Democrats have insisted that they’re ready to haggle over federal funding for the fiscal year that kicks off on Oct. 1 — just not with the Treasury Department’s borrowing ability at stake.
In order for that to happen, though, Republicans would have to agree to separate government funding caps that aren’t tied to debt-ceiling talks. And that would amount to a major shift from the GOP’s current demand for $130 billion in spending cuts in exchange for a vote to lift the debt limit.
If those talks get decoupled, it’s plausible that both sides could reach an agreement on military spending, since there’s already broad bipartisan support for ensuring the Pentagon gets enough money to at least keep pace with inflation.
Democrats would never sign off on the domestic spending cuts that GOP leaders are seeking. But it’s possible that they could cut a deal with a handful of Republicans — think centrists, purple-state members and appropriators — to keep non-defense funding essentially stagnant, pairing small cuts with increases elsewhere to rein in spending.
Details: The House debt limit bill would cap spending at $1.47 trillion for the upcoming fiscal year, rolling back the clock by two years on federal funding levels. Then for a decade, funding would be allowed to grow by 1 percent every year.
Sympathizers: A slew of moderate Democrats in both chambers have expressed support for fiscal restraint in the abstract, including long-term strategies for stabilizing the national debt like the 2010 budget plan that proposed trillions of dollars in tax increases and spending cuts.
“I am certainly not opposed to working on ways to reduce the debt. I am very, very, very opposed to putting the full faith and credit of the country at risk,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who faces a tough reelection in a red state, has said. “So you know, if we’re talking about doing something like [the 2010 plan], I not only think that’s a good idea, put me on it.”
Ending student loan relief
It’s hard to see Biden negotiating away a major domestic policy achievement that his administration has so vigorously defended in court. Some have even credited the president’s student debt relief plan, announced in the months leading up to the midterm elections, with helping limit Republican gains in the House last November.
A few moderate Democrats have criticized the president’s embrace of mass forgiveness of student loan debt, however, and have signaled openness to a separate Republican effort to nix the relief.
Details: The House GOP bill would overturn Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, which promises up to $20,000 in debt relief per borrower, even as the president’s plan remains in limbo ahead of a challenge at the Supreme Court.
The Republican bill would also block the administration’s new income-driven repayment plan that’s designed to lower monthly payments. And it would permanently curtail the Education Department’s power to create new policies that increase the taxpayer cost of the student loan program.
Sympathizers: When the president rolled out his student loan forgiveness plan last summer, Manchin called it “excessive,” arguing that people need to “earn it” through public service like working for the federal government. Other politically vulnerable Democrats have also spoken against the plan, including Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Michael Bennet of Colorado, as well as Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire.
Meredith Lee Hill and Josh Siegel contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 2, 2023
Senate Dems plan hearings to pick apart GOP debt deal

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The Senate Budget Committee hearing on Thursday will feature Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics and leaders of the Environmental Defense Fund and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Republicans and Democrats remain at loggerheads over debt ceiling negotiations, just as entrenched as they were before the House passed its GOP debt ceiling and spending cuts package. House Republicans were certain that their starting bid to rollback federal spending in exchange for lifting the debt limit would force President Joe Biden to the negotiating table. But last week’s action on the House GOP package has yet to move the needle much.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that Republicans are “demanding hostage negotiations” while House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told “This Week” that Biden is “running out the clock” on the debt limit.
Now the House is out of town, leaving the Senate to weigh in on the GOP proposal and how Biden should handle it. And Treasury Department officials are expected to update the public soon on the “X date,” before which Congress will need to pass a debt limit lift to avoid default, in the coming days. That will ramp up the pressure, but it’s not yet clear what will get leaders to budge.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said last week that Biden not getting in a room with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to negotiate on the debt limit “signals a deficiency of leadership, and it must change.” The West Virginia Democrat said “we are long past time for our elected leaders to sit down and discuss how to solve this impending debt ceiling crisis” and called on Biden to “negotiate now.”
Most other Democrats aren’t going that far. They are talking about talks, but have so far drawn a distinction between talks on spending and negotiations on the debt limit.
“[Biden] will sit down with Speaker McCarthy to talk about these issues in the framework of the budget and the appropriations process,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told “Fox News Sunday.” But not the president should not negotiate over the debt limit, Van Hollen said.
And Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Sunday that Biden can “start negotiating tomorrow” on possible spending cuts but stressed that those talks can only move forward if Republicans commit to raising the debt limit.

“I’m willing to look at any other proposals. There’s a lot of waste within government. Let’s go after it. But don’t go to war against the working class of this country, lower-income people,” Sanders said.
Republicans maintain that what they view as government overspending and the nation’s growing debt are inextricably linked and that conversations about each cannot be separated.
“As we’re addressing the debt limit, we also have to address the problem that got us here,” Scalise said on “This Week.”
The House majority leader also challenged Senate Democrats to put forth their own legislation.
“If they’ve got a better idea, I want to see that bill and tell them to pass it through the Senate,” Scalise said.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 1, 2023
Richard Sharp was Boris Johnson’s toxic legacy – never again should politicians pick a boss for the BBC | Jonathan Freedland

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A word of advice for anyone who has worked hard to acquire a reputation they cherish: if Boris Johnson approaches, if he comes anywhere near, run a mile. Richard Sharp is the latest proof that, even out of office, Johnson continues to act as reputational napalm, laying waste to careers and turning good names bad.
Sharp joins a long list that includes Christopher Geidt, who had the poison task of serving as Johnson’s adviser on ethics; Allegra Stratton, whom the former prime minister said had “sickened” him when she joked about a party in Downing Street, even though he had attended several himself; and the one-time rising star civil servant and current cabinet secretary, Simon Case, quoted this week as having said of Johnson, “I don’t know what more I can do to stand up to a prime minister who lies”. Each entered Johnson’s circle as a respected figure; each was diminished by their contact with the reverse Midas, the man who rots everything he touches.
One question left by Sharp’s resignation as chair of the BBC is: what took him so long? He hardly needed to wait for today’s report by Adam Heppinstall KC, with its verdict that Sharp’s failure to disclose his role in brokering an £800,000 loan arrangement for Johnson represented “a breach of the governance code”, to know that he could not possibly continue in a job whose defining duty is to maintain the independence of the BBC. As the former director general John Birt said a month ago, Sharp was “unsuitable” for the role, thanks to “navigating a loan for the prime minister at exactly the same time as applying for the job at the BBC. It’s the cosiness of that arrangement that made it unsuitable, and I wish the cabinet secretary had called it out.” (The cabinet secretary being Case, serially Midased by Johnson.)
According to those inside the BBC, Sharp had been a capable chair. But the manner of his appointment meant he could never do the job properly. Witness last month’s row over Gary Lineker’s tweet, aimed at Suella Braverman’s language on migrants. That was a moment when you might expect the chair to lead from the front, publicly explaining either why impartiality is central to the BBC’s mission or why it was vital that the BBC not succumb to government pressure – or both. Instead, Sharp was mute and invisible, too hopelessly compromised as the man who had helped bail out a fiscally incontinent Tory prime minister to say a word.
It’s baffling that all of this did not occur to Sharp himself long ago – including right at the start, when he submitted his job application and was required to identify any conflicts, or perceived conflicts, of interest. The fact that he didn’t mention his role in the Johnson loan, even though he had discussed the issue with Case, suggests he knew that it looked bad – that it would give rise to the “perception that Mr Sharp would not be independent from the former prime minister, if appointed,” as Heppinstall puts it. Given he knew the importance of perceived, as well as actual, neutrality for the BBC, that silence was itself disqualifying.
‘Many have been diminished by their contact with Boris Johnson the reverse Midas, the man who rots everything he touches.’ Photograph: Charles McQuillan/PA
His grudging resignation statement suggests the penny has still not dropped. Dominic Raab may have started a fashion for passive-aggressive Friday departures, because Sharp was insistent that his breach of the rules was “inadvertent and not material”. Still, he invited our admiration for his decision “to prioritise the interests of the BBC” since “this matter may well be a distraction from the corporation’s good work were I to remain in post”. Er, yes, just a bit. Again, if preventing a distraction was Sharp’s concern, he should have gone the moment this story broke. As it is, he’s left multiple questions still to answer – including whether Johnson should not have recused himself from the appointment process on the grounds that he had an egregious conflict of interest, given that he knew Sharp had helped him out with the loan.
What’s needed now is not just a new BBC chair, but a new way of doing things. Even if he hadn’t got involved in Johnson’s personal finances, Sharp was hardly a non-partisan figure. He is a longtime, high-value donor to the Tory party, to the tune of £400,000. True, political parties, Labour included, have been appointing allies and chums to this role since the 1960s, but that practice needs to stop. Lineker distilled the case nicely: “The BBC chairman should not be selected by the government of the day. Not now, not ever.”
This goes wider than the BBC: there’s a slew of public jobs that might appear to be independently appointed, but that are quietly filled on the nod, or whim, of Downing Street. But it’s with the BBC that independence matters acutely. To understand why, look across the Atlantic.

This week’s announcement by Joe Biden that he will seek a second term had to fight for media attention with the firing of Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson. That’s because Carlson had become second only to Donald Trump in influence over the Republican party, able to make senior elected officials and aspirant presidential candidates bend to his agenda and ideological obsessions – even when mainstreaming previously fringe, and racist, ideas like the “great replacement theory”, with its claim of a deliberate, if shadowy, plot to replace white Americans with a more diverse and pliant electorate.
Fox News itself, with its repeated amplification of the big lie of a stolen election, is partly responsible for why nearly two-thirds of Republican voters do not believe a demonstrable fact: namely, that Biden won office in a free and fair contest in 2020. Today’s America is a land of epistemic tribalism: knowledge is not shared across the society, but rather dependent on political affiliation. There are red state facts and blue state facts, and which you believe comes down to which media you consume – which social media accounts you follow, which TV networks you watch.
In Britain, there have been efforts to lead us down that gloomy path. There are partisan, polemical TV channels now, desperate to do to Britain what Fox has done to America. And Johnson was Trumpian in his contempt for the truth, determined to create a world of Brexit facts that would exist in opposition to the real one. But if those efforts have largely failed – and if Johnson was eventually undone by his lies – that is partly down to the stubborn persistence in this country of a source of information that is regarded by most people as, yes, flawed and, yes, inconsistent, but broadly reliable and fair. Trust levels in the BBC are not what they were, and that demands urgent attention, but it is striking nonetheless that, according to a Reuters Institute study, aside from local news, BBC News is the most trusted news brand in the US. It seems that in an intensely polarised landscape, people thirst for a non-partisan source.
The BBC should be defended – and that process starts with governments treating it as the publicly funded broadcaster it is, rather than the state broadcaster some wrongly imagine it to be. That means giving up the power to pick its boss – and getting politicians out of the way. The BBC is a precious thing – so precious, we might not fully appreciate it until it’s gone.

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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 28, 2023
Alabama’s Bryce Young taken with No 1 pick in NFL draft by Carolina Panthers

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Quarterbacks dominated the first part of the NFL draft.
Bryce Young, CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson were among the top four picks Thursday night, an expected result in a league where teams know finding a franchise QB is the quickest path to success.
The Carolina Panthers selected Young, the slender and dynamic Alabama quarterback, with the No 1 pick, seven weeks after making a blockbuster trade with Chicago to move up to get their choice.
First-round draft selections
The Panthers chose the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner over Ohio State’s Stroud, Florida’s Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis. New coach Frank Reich said earlier in the week that the organization reached a consensus Monday after several weeks of deliberation.
Stroud didn’t have to wait long. He went No 2 to the Houston Texans, who then made a blockbuster deal with Arizona to acquire the No 3 pick and selected Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr.
Richardson then went at No 4 to the Indianapolis Colts, who will begin a sixth straight season with a different starting QB.

Heading into the draft, there was no consensus beyond the No 1 pick.
A dual-threat playmaker with a strong arm and an elite combination of instincts and intelligence, Young also possesses the intangibles and characteristics coaches desire, including leadership ability and a strong work ethic.
But the biggest question about Young is his size. He measured at 5ft 10in 1/8 and weighed 204lbs at the combine. Though he dominated the SEC, some scouts and coaches fear Young may not be able to physically withstand all the hits in the NFL.
The Panthers couldn’t pass up his superior skills.
Kyler Murray, the No 1 overall pick in 2019, is the only other QB since 2003 to be selected in the first round after weighing in at 207 pounds or less at the combine.
“I’m confident in my abilities,” Young said Wednesday. “I don’t know how to play the game another way. I’ve been this size relative to the people around me my entire life. I focus on what I control, and I can’t grow. That doesn’t fall into that category. I can’t get any taller. I focus on myself. I’m confident in myself with what I’ve been able to do and I’m excited for the work it’s going to take.”
The Panthers have sought an answer at quarterback since moving on from Cam Newton, who was the No 1 overall pick in 2011 and the NFL MVP in 2015 when he led the Panthers to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance.
Young had a spectacular career at Alabama and the Panthers are hoping he can deliver the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy. He played in a pro-style offense under offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, the former Texans head coach who has returned to the NFL to run New England’s offense.
Young threw for 4,872 yards with 47 touchdowns and seven interceptions in his first season starting as a sophomore in 2021. Last season, he had 3,328 yards passing with 32 TDs and five picks while playing with a new supporting cast.
Stroud’s stock had seemingly dropped after reports that he scored poorly in the S2 Cognition test surfaced recently. He told the AP earlier in the day he didn’t know where he would end up going, even saying it could be top 20.
Instead, Stroud, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy the past two seasons, goes to Houston to help the rebuilding Texans move past Deshaun Watson.
Richardson might have the most upside of all the QBs in this draft class but he has the least experience. Colts owner Jim Irsay is fond of Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts and Richardson has similar playmaking ability.
He’ll play for Shane Steichen, who was the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia when Hurts developed into an MVP runner-up.
Defense-needy Seattle took Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No 5 and the Cardinals moved up to No 6 to select Ohio State offensive lineman Paris Johnson. Las Vegas then chose Texas Tech edge Tyree Wilson and Atlanta made Bijan Robinson the first running back taken in the top 10 since Saquon Barkley went No 2 to the Giants in 2018.
NFC champion Philadelphia moved up one spot to take troubled Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter at No 9 and Chicago went with Tennessee offensive lineman Darnell Wright with the 10th pick.
At No 11, the Titans passed on Levis for Northwestern offensive lineman Peter Skoronski. Levis and Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker could make it five QBs in the first round a year after Kenny Pickett (No 20) was the only signal-caller to go in the first round.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also passed on Levis at No 19, taking Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey.
It took until the 20th pick for the first wide receiver to go. The Seahawks chose Jaxon Smith-Njigba. That started a run of four wideouts in a row. The Chargers then took Quentin Johnston, the Ravens grabbed Zay Flowers to team up with Odell Beckham Jr, and the Vikings added Jordan Addison to go with Justin Jefferson.
Two months after the hometown Kansas City Chiefs celebrated another Super Bowl title with a downtown parade, a sea of red-clad fans lined up in the streets where the century-old Union Station served as the backdrop for the draft.
Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce walked on stage with the Vince Lombardi Trophy and riled up the crowd before turning it over to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Mahomes implored fans to scream louder – they did. Kelce asked if they wanted to trade up for the No 1 pick.
But the Chiefs don’t need a QB. Carolina, Houston and Indianapolis did.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 28, 2023
Unions pour on support for Biden’s Labor pick amid confirmation worries

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The “Stand with Su” effort is a direct counterweight to some of the forces that have been lobbying against her — including the name choice, as one of the main anti-confirmation groups is called “Stand Against Su.”
“Julie Su has been a champion for labor, and labor is mobilizing in the way only we can,” AFL-CIO spokesperson Ray Zaccaro said.
A key part of the pitch is that Su, who faces a committee vote Wednesday, is in the same mold as former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a seasoned politician who had fans on both sides of the aisle and who has been directly involved in rounding up support for her, according to an administration official. Su served as Walsh’s deputy secretary beginning in July 2021 and has been acting head of the department for the past month, after Walsh stepped down to run the NHL Players’ Association.
“She has worked hand in hand with Marty Walsh,” American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten told POLITICO. “If you liked the way Marty Walsh operated as the Secretary of Labor, then there’s no reason not to embrace Julie Su.”
But Republicans say Su, who was labor secretary in California before coming to Washington, would veer sharply left of Walsh and used a confirmation hearing this week to portray her as anti-business and captive to labor’s priorities. Although all five of the senators in question voted to confirm Su as deputy secretary, Manchin, Tester and Sinema are likely to face tough reelection fights next year.
“The more that people learn about her track record and just how bad she was in this role in California, we’re seeing that shifting the debate,” Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), a leading critic of Su, told POLITICO prior to her confirmation hearing. “It’s very different when you’re going for the top position than being under Marty Walsh.”
The battle over Su is the Biden administration’s first attempt at replacing a Cabinet secretary, and the latest test of Democratic leadership’s ability to confirm nominees after multiple high-profile misfires. Though Su is already steering the department, administrations are typically wary of issuing major policy decisions without a permanent leader, meaning that a protracted confirmation fight could bog down the agency for months.
Administration officials are holding nightly “war room” calls with Su’s backers to discuss the game plan for the following day and to track developments, according to a White House official. The administration also holds 15 to 20 check-in calls per day across labor and business groups.

Walsh has also been actively engaged in the process and advocating for Su with labor and business leaders and senators, according to an administration official.
Many Democrats on Capitol Hill are hopeful Kelly, Tester and King will support Su. If that is the case, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein remains in San Francisco recovering from shingles, Su and the White House would still need to win over Manchin and Sinema, both of whom have bucked the president in the past.
Neither senator is on the committee that will vote Wednesday on whether to advance Su’s nomination to the floor and attention will fully turn to them immediately after the vote.
Su has been ramping up her meetings with senators of both parties in recent weeks, though she has yet to meet with several key holdouts. She has spoken to Sinema, according to two sources familiar with the situation, and the White House is in touch with Manchin, an administration official said.
Su doesn’t have a traditional “sherpa,” a veteran lawmaker or some other plugged-in operative who typically leads Cabinet officials and other important nominees through the confirmation process on Capitol Hill. The lack of one has raised eyebrows among some of Su’s supporters about the White House’s level of support for the nomination.
The term “sherpa” is being phased out at the White House, however. Instead, she has a “navigator” — the senior leader of the Labor Department’s congressional affairs shop. The office has led Su through the process and accompanied her at each of her Senate meetings, according to that official.
Su is only the second Cabinet official to go through the confirmation process since the first months of the Biden administration — Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar being the other — and the agencies now lead the confirmation process, an administration official said.
With an obvious eye toward Manchin, the White House has heavily touted Su’s support from labor unions, including the AFL-CIO, Teamsters and, most significantly, United Mine Workers of America.
While a recent letter of support from Mine Workers President Cecil E. Roberts may pull weight with Manchin, Su supporters have been cautious to not be too heavy-handed with either him or Sinema, knowing that an overt lobbying effort may backfire.
“The White House knows what they need to do for the best outcome to get Julie Su confirmed,” said an organized labor official, who requested anonymity to discuss political strategy. “They know the relationship dynamics they have with the senators in question. And they know it’s a complicated circumstance that requires deft and delicate management.”
The White House’s light-touch strategy is not entirely reliant on unions to shoulder the lobbying load and the administration has highlighted her support from groups like the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Majority and those representing Asian American and Pacific Islanders. If confirmed, Su would be Biden’s first AAPI Cabinet secretary and his fourth AAPI Cabinet member overall.
But organized labor is at the center of the pro-Su push.
“There’s a world of Julie Su supporters out there, and we’re trying to show that,” the labor official said. “We saw these senators vote for her [to become deputy secretary] and there’s no reason to vote against her now. It remains to be seen just how uncertain they actually are.”
— Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 22, 2023
Efforts for oppn unity pick up pace: Yechury after meeting Nitish

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New Delhi: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said efforts for opposition unity have picked up the pace ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and seat adjustments will be made at the state level.
Speaking to the media after meeting Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar here, Yechury indicated that a third front was a possibility.
“Efforts for opposition unity have picked up the pace. An opposition coalition will be formed and seat adjustments will be done at the state level,” the CPI(M) general secretary said.

With Bihar CM Shri Nitish Kumar to carry forward the efforts to unite secular democratic parties to safeguard the Indian Republic, Constitution and Democracy, severely assaulted by the BJP & Modi govt. Defeat the BJP in order to save India & people’s livelihoods. pic.twitter.com/9yXdRGM3tI
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) April 13, 2023
“In Kerala, Congress and our party are arch rivals. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not in a fight there,” he said.
He further said that the third front that is going to be formed will always be after the elections.
“But in India, fronts are formed post polls such as United Front in 1996, in 1998 NDA was formed after elections, UPA formed post polls in 2004,” Yechury said.
Earlier, Bihar CM Kumar, who on Wednesday met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi as part of his initiative to forge an alliance of opposition parties, met Yechury here.
Later, Yechury tweeted, “With Bihar CM Shri Nitish Kumar to carry forward the efforts to unite secular democratic parties to safeguard the Indian Republic, Constitution and democracy, severely assaulted by the BJP & Modi govt. Defeat the BJP in order to save India & people’s livelihoods (sic).”

The Bihar CM also met CPI general secretary D Raja on Thursday.
“Had a meeting with JD(U) leader & Bihar CM Shri Nitish Kumar to discuss broad issues of opposition unity against RSS-BJP. The country is in turmoil and all sections of society are vocal against BJP misrule. Unity of secular-democratic forces is must to protect our democracy and people,” said Raja in a tweet after the meeting.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 13, 2023
Liberal groups raise ‘grave concerns’ about Biden judicial pick

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The controversy surrounding Delaney’s nomination is unusual for a Biden judicial pick, compounded with further concerns voiced by some Democratic members on the panel. The New Hampshire judicial nominee is under particular scrutiny for his representation of St. Paul’s School in a school sexual assault case. During that case, Delaney filed a motion that would have allowed the plaintiff, who was a minor, to remain anonymous only if she and her representatives agreed not to speak about the case publicly during the litigation.
The victim in the case, Chessy Prout, went public and a settlement was eventually reached in 2018. Prout recently wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe encouraging the White House to withdraw Delaney’s nomination. During his confirmation hearing, Delaney said he was an “advocate” for St. Paul’s, and that the school “felt that the request to restrict [Prout’s] lawyers from trying the case in the media was compatible with her desire to proceed with privacy and anonymity.”
Delaney, a former New Hampshire attorney general, has strong support from his home state Democratic senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, as well as the White House. Hassan and Shaheen have made the case for his confirmation broadly to their colleagues, including at the caucus lunch this past week.
Delaney’s allies also highlight support from Susan Carbon, former President Barack Obama’s director of the office on violence against women at the Department of Justice, who wrote that he was “instrumental” in making changes designed “to improve the civil and criminal justice systems for victims of crime” in New Hampshire. Other endorsements include four former New Hampshire Supreme Court justices, appointed by both parties, and 29 past presidents of the New Hampshire Bar Association.
“The strong support for Michael Delaney from legal experts, survivor advocates and lawmakers spanning the political spectrum speaks to his qualifications, ethics and commitment to justice throughout his nearly thirty-year career,” said Sarah Weinstein, a Shaheen spokesperson. “Senator Shaheen believes that both his record and strong backing from individuals in the advocacy and legal sectors underscore his qualifications.”
Laura Epstein, a Hassan spokesperson added that “Delaney’s strong, bipartisan support from a wide cross-section of leaders … underscores his deep commitment to justice and why he will make for an excellent First Circuit Judge.”
White House spokesperson Seth Schuster said the White House “has the utmost respect for sexual assault and domestic violence survivors and expects senators to take Mr. Delaney’s full record into account when considering his nomination — as the White House did before nominating Mr. Delaney to the First Circuit.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to take up Delaney’s nomination next week, but that is likely to change depending on attendance. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has been out of the Senate recovering from shingles. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, have made the school sexual assault case a key focus and are not expected to support his nomination. While no Democrats have come out publicly against Delaney, it’s not clear he has the votes to get through committee.

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#Liberal #groups #raise #grave #concerns #Biden #judicial #pick
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 11, 2023
Ted Cruz tries to trip up Biden’s pick for FAA nominee

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Cruz, the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee vetting the nomination, asked Washington specifically about what a device known as an “angle of attack” sensor does, how many are equipped on Boeing’s troubled 737 MAX jetliner, and whether he’d ever flown a plane or been an air traffic controller, among others. (Details about Washington’s career are spelled out in documents already submitted to the committee.) The sensor is one of the systems implicated in two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed hundreds of passengers on planes operated by Ethiopian Airlines and Indonesia-based Lion Air.
As part of the exchange, Cruz asked Washington what happens when a pilot gets two different readings from two different angle of attack sensors. Washington replied that “human reaction needs to take over.”
“Why did that not happen on the Lion Air and Ethiopian Air flights?” Cruz asked.
“Senator, I’m not a pilot — I don’t know if I can answer that particular question,” Washington replied.
Cruz shot back that Washington’s answer was part of the “fundamental problem” with his nomination.
Cruz capped off his questioning with a statement ripped straight from the culture wars, saying the flying public doesn’t care if pilots are “transgendered witches” and instead want someone who knows how to fly a plane. Neither Washington nor Cruz had referenced gender identity before or after that remark, which had Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) barely restraining her laughter.
Washington countered that though he has never been a pilot, he knows how to manage large bureaucracies and lead people to excel, and suggested that means he’s the right person for the job.
“As a military veteran and leader of three large transportation organizations, my broad transportation safety knowledge and real-world leadership experiences provide me a unique perspective of how aviation and all modes of transportation should integrate into a seamless system,” Washington said.

Cruz also referenced ongoing lawsuits in which Washington has been named, including a politically tinged corruption probe into Los Angeles County politicians, as well as a recent lawsuit filed by a former employee of Denver airport alleging racial discrimination in pay and other items. Washington has denied any wrongdoing and on Wednesday said he has “nothing to hide.”
After the hearing, Cantwell said she thought the hearing went well and that she supports Washington’s nomination. She said that Washington’s lack of ties to aviation manufacturers and airlines is actually an asset as the FAA tries to ensure that another 737 MAX incident does not happen again.
“He’s actually might be somebody who is more likely to continue to push for reforms and have a stronger, independent FAA,” Cantwell said.
And Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said GOP arguments against Washington amount to a “hatchet job.”
Democrats anticipated Cruz’s attack and circled the wagons ahead of the hearing, including blasting out a document rebutting some of Cruz’s assertions about Washington’s experience and his time overseeing Los Angeles Metro.
Just before the hearing, Democrats lined up key aviation figures such as former House Transportation chair Peter DeFazio and Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson to voice their support.
“Mr. Washington’s record and engagement with stakeholders gives me tremendous confidence in his ability to lead us forward for the industry, our world partners, and the traveling public,” Nelson wrote.
Other Republicans on the committee, including Aviation Subcommittee ranking member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and former committee Chair John Thune (R-S.D.), did not explicitly come out against Washington’s nomination during their questioning.
One Democrat on the panel, Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, said she was undecided on the nomination.
By law, the head of the FAA must have aviation experience, and must be a “civilian.” Whether Washington, who retired after 24 years in the military, can be considered a “civilian” has not been resolved, but after the hearing Cantwell said he will not need a waiver because he’s considered a civilian.
If he is not considered a civilian under the terms of the law, then he will have to seek a waiver. That could complicate his nomination, because it will involve the assent of the House, where Republicans such as Transportation chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) are opposed.
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#Ted #Cruz #trip #Bidens #pick #FAA #nominee
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 2, 2023

Tag: pick

Energy permitting

Work requirements

Spending caps

Ending student loan relief