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Tag: veto

  • Abolish veto rights or give them to newbies in reformed UNSC: India

    Abolish veto rights or give them to newbies in reformed UNSC: India

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    United Nations: Pressing its case for reforming the UN Security Council, India has said that either the veto rights should be abolished or be given also to new permanent members in a reformed Council.ha

    “Either all nations are treated equally in the context of voting rights or else the new permanent members must also be given the veto,” Pratik Mathur, a counsellor at India’s UN Mission said on Wednesday at the General Assembly.

    “Extension of veto to new members, in our view, will have no adverse impact on the effectiveness of an enlarged Council,” he said countering arguments made by some countries against expanding permanent membership.

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    He said that the question of veto should be addressed as part of a comprehensive reform of the Council through clearly defined timelines in the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) for reforms.

    The IGN has virtually stalled because a small group of countries have manipulated the process to prevent progress.

    Mathur was speaking at an Assembly debate held on the first anniversary of the landmark resolution requiring a discussion by the Assembly within ten days of a veto being cast in the Council.

    While the Assembly cannot override a veto in the Council, by having a discussion it hopes to bring moral pressure on the vetoers or expose them to the world.

    Mathur said that the veto resolution adopted by consensus “unfortunately, reflected a piecemeal approach to UNSC reform, thereby highlighting one aspect, ignoring root cause of the problem”.

    The root cause in the view of India and many countries is the architecture of the Council that reflects the post-World War II scenario and gives veto-wielding permanent seats to the five victorious allies, Britain, China, France, the US and Russia, which hold the seat originally given to the Soviet Union.

    Mathur said: “As rightly called out by our African brothers, it goes against the concept of sovereign equality of states and only perpetuates the mindset of the Second World War, ‘To the victor belongs the spoils’.

    “Let me flag what our African Brothers have repeatedly stated in the IGN: ‘The veto as a matter of principle should be abolished. However, as a matter of common justice, it should be extended to new permanent members so long as it continues to exist’.”

    During the debate, Kenya’s Deputy Permanent Representative Michael Kiboino reaffirmed the same point citing the Common African Position on Council reform.

    “If the pursuit of the purposes of the UN Charter is based on the principle of sovereign equality of states, then the veto is a contradiction that should be abolished.

    “But if it is to be retained in a reformed Security Council, it must be extended to new permanent members with all its attributes, including the prerogatives and privileges of permanent membership,” Kiboino declared.

    The most vigorous push for Council reform comes from the 54 nations of Africa, a continent without any permanent members on the Council where the majority of actions relate to it.

    South Africa’s Permanent Representative Mathu Joyini said that the Assembly’s veto resolution requiring discussions of it “should not be seen as an interim or ad-hoc solution to the need for urgent Security Council reform, which will address the structural challenges within the Council itself”.

    “We must continue our efforts for urgent Council reform and the revitalisation of the General Assembly. Ultimately, focus should be on giving greater momentum to the reform of the Security Council itself,” she added.

    The Assembly’s resolution in April 2022 on holding debates on vetoes was adopted after the Council was paralysed by Russia’s veto of a resolution in February last year condemning its invasion of Ukraine.

    Russia vetoed another resolution in September condemning its referendums in areas of Ukraine it had annexed.

    Last year, Moscow also vetoed a resolution on border crossings for sending aid to rebel-held areas of Syria and joined China to shoot down a resolution condemning North Korea’s intercontinental and other ballistic missile tests.

    The Assembly held debates on those three vetoes.

    Assembly President Csaba Korosi called the veto resolution, “a breakthrough, a gamechanger” that “opened the door for a new form of collaboration and accountability” between the Assembly and Council.

    While India has insisted on veto rights for all permanent members in a reformed Council, it had also offered to forgo the veto power temporarily as compromise.

    During an IGN meeting in 2016, Syed Akbaruddin, who was then India’s permanent representative, said: “Our own national position has been and remains that the veto should, as long as it exists, be extended to new permanent members. As a measure of flexibility and willingness for compromise, the use of the veto can be deferred till the Review Conference.”

    The UN Charter provides for a conference to review and amend the veto rights but such a meeting has never taken place.



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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • White House threatens to veto GOP bills reversing D.C. police reforms, restricting transgender athletes

    White House threatens to veto GOP bills reversing D.C. police reforms, restricting transgender athletes

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    The bill “targets people for who they are and therefore is discriminatory,” the White House’s Office of Management and Budget wrote. “Politicians should not dictate a one-size-fits-all requirement that forces coaches to remove kids from their teams.”

    The statement notes that local schools, coaches and athletic associations are already working on participation rules for transgender children. A national ban would disrupt that more nuanced process, it said.

    The threats come ahead of House Republicans’ plan to bring the two proposals to the floor as early as this week in their latest bid to advance agenda items that force congressional Democrats into politically tough votes.

    House Democrats had sought strongly worded veto threats from the administration, particularly when it came to the transgender sports bill, several Hill aides said.

    Democrats are also trying to avoid a repeat of the confusion over Biden’s position on GOP-led bills that prompted many lawmakers to vote against an earlier policing reform rollback in February — only to see Biden decide to support the measure weeks later.

    Jennifer Haberkorn contributed to this report.

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Veto stands: Transgender pronouns OK in North Dakota schools

    Veto stands: Transgender pronouns OK in North Dakota schools

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    In a letter to state lawmakers announcing his veto, the governor said, “The teaching profession is challenging enough without the heavy hand of state government forcing teachers to take on the role of pronoun police.” The First Amendment already protects teachers from speaking contrary to their beliefs, and existing law protects the free speech rights of state employees, Burgum added.

    Republican lawmakers across the U.S. have drafted hundreds of laws this year to push back on LGBTQ+ freedoms, particularly seeking to regulate aspects of transgender people’s lives including gender-affirming health care, bathroom use, athletics and drag performances.

    “Ask yourself, does Senate Bill 2231 treat others the way you would want to be treated?” Democratic Rep. Emily O’Brien of Grand Forks said on the House floor, adding that overriding the veto would perpetuate “discrimination, hatred or prejudice.”

    Republican Rep. SuAnn Olson of Baldwin said the bill protects freedom of speech for teachers and keeps “inappropriate” topics out of the classroom.

    North Dakota will consider other bills this session about transgender students, she said.

    Olson said that if lawmakers “are firm on this bill, on girls’ athletics, on separate bathrooms, we will strengthen public schools.” But allowing what she called an “emphasis on sexuality” in schools would cause students and teachers to abandon the public education system.

    State representatives voted 56-36 to override the governor’s veto, but 63 votes were required.

    All 12 Democrats in the House voted against the bill, as did 24 Republicans. One was Rep. Eric Murphy, of Grand Forks, an associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of North Dakota.

    “I’m tired of these bills. I’m tired of both sides,” Murphy said on the House floor. “If a student wants to be called a different pronoun, does that really matter? Is this earth-shattering?”

    In 2021, Burgum vetoed a bill that would have barred transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams in public schools. Lawmakers didn’t override that veto, but they’re considering new legislation this session to replicate and expand that bill — including at the college level.

    Last week, President Joe Biden denounced what he called hundreds of hateful and extreme state laws that target transgender kids and their families.

    “The bullying, discrimination, and political attacks that trans kids face have exacerbated our national mental health crisis,” Biden said. “These attacks are un-American and must end.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Republican lawmakers override veto of transgender bill in Kentucky

    Republican lawmakers override veto of transgender bill in Kentucky

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    Nineteen people were arrested and charged with third-degree criminal trespassing, Kentucky State Police said. Officers gave each person “the option to leave without any enforcement action or be placed under arrest,” said Capt. Paul Blanton, a police spokesperson.

    Republican House Speaker David Osborne later said it was a decision by state police to remove and arrest protesters.

    “I think it’s unfortunate that it reached that level and certainly they were given, as I’ve been told since then, multiple opportunities to either quiet their chants or to leave voluntarily,” Osborne said.

    The bill’s opponents framed the issue as a civil-rights fight. Democratic Rep. Sarah Stalker declared: “Kentucky will be on the wrong side of history” by enacting the measure.

    The debate about the transgender bill will likely spill over into this year’s gubernatorial campaign, with Beshear’s veto drawing GOP condemnation as he seeks reelection to a second term. A legal fight also is brewing. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky reaffirmed that it intends to “take this fight to the courts” to try to preserve access to health care options for young transgender people.

    “While we lost the battle in the legislature, our defeat is temporary. We will not lose in court,” said Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization.

    In praising the veto override, David Walls, executive director of The Family Foundation, said the bill puts “policy in alignment with the truth that every child is created as a male or female and deserves to be loved, treated with dignity and accepted for who they really are.”

    Activists on both sides of the impassioned debate gathered at the statehouse to make competing appeals before lawmakers took up the transgender bill following an extended break.

    At a rally that drew hundreds of transgender-rights supporters, trans teenager Sun Pacyga held up a sign summing up a grim review of the Republican legislation. The sign read: “Our blood is on your hands.”

    “If it passes, the restricted access to gender-affirming health care, I think trans kids will die because of that,” the 17-year-old student said, expressing a persistent concern among the bill’s critics that the restrictions could lead to an increase in teen suicides.

    Bill supporters assembled to defend the measure, saying it protects trans children from undertaking gender-affirming treatments they might regret as adults. Research shows such regret is rare, however.

    “We cannot allow people to continue down the path of fantasy, to where they’re going to end up 10, 20, 30 years down the road and find themselves miserable from decisions that they made when they were young,” said Republican Rep. Shane Baker at a rally.

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Biden issues first veto, knocks Marjorie Taylor Greene

    Biden issues first veto, knocks Marjorie Taylor Greene

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    While Republicans who led work on the repeal didn’t get it signed into law, it marked a partial victory for conservatives who have targeted the rule and other policies that they say encourage major corporations to elevate climate and social goals in their business practices.

    “This is trying to parallel financial return with an ideological push,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who led the rollback push with Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), told reporters in February. “I don’t like that.”

    The Biden Labor Department rule at issue attempted to undo Trump-era policy that discouraged retirement plan managers from incorporating environmental and social factors into investment decisions. The Biden rule allows them to do so but does not require it.

    Wall Street firms and their trade groups largely stayed on the sidelines during the fight, despite being the subject of criticism from Republican lawmakers. Lobbyists were confident that Biden would veto the repeal, and the industry is also laying low as the issue makes its way through the courts. The state of Texas is leading a multi-state lawsuit to block the rule.

    “There’s just no upside,” said one trade association representative, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Why bother, especially when you’ve got 25 state attorneys general who have already said they’re going to pony up and litigate?”

    The House is scheduled to vote Thursday on overturning the veto, per a floor schedule circulated Friday. Near-unanimous Democratic opposition makes it unlikely the effort will garner the two-thirds support needed.

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Biden won’t veto GOP effort to repeal D.C. crime law

    Biden won’t veto GOP effort to repeal D.C. crime law

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    “I think that’s where most of the caucus is. Most of the caucus sees the mayor in a reasonable position as saying: 95 percent of this is really good, some of this is problematic. And we need to keep working on it,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said after the meeting.

    Biden’s much-anticipated Thursday remarks end several weeks of mystery surrounding his handling of a politically perilous vote for his party. And it comes as the president moves to strengthen the ties with Hill Democrats that propelled him to the party’s nomination.

    The president also told Senate Democrats during their meeting that he wants to see immigration reform on the floor, according to Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and left several Democratic senators with the distinct impression that he’s running for reelection. In addition, Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) said that Biden addressed the debt ceiling by remarking that he’s waiting for Republicans to show him a budget.

    Following their meeting, Schumer also told reporters that the president would support Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and J.D. Vance’s (R-Ohio) bill on railroad protections following the East Palestine train derailment in their state, along with tackling insulin prices for people under 65. The debt limit and budget, along with an “online protection tech bill for kids,” were also discussed, Schumer said.

    “We had a great meeting,” Schumer said as he exited the meeting with Biden. “We talked about implementing the great accomplishments of the president of the last two years. We believe we can get a lot of good bipartisan stuff done in these two years. We are filled with unity, optimism, and optimism about 2024.”

    But Biden’s most potent comments came on the GOP efforts to unravel the criminal code reform that the D.C. Council passed over Mayor Muriel Bowser’s veto. That citywide legislation would scrap some mandatory minimum sentences and change some criminal penalties. Senators cannot filibuster the rollback as a result of the Home Rule Act, which gives Congress special oversight over local Washington affairs.

    After the meeting, Biden tweeted that he supports D.C. statehood and local autonomy but does not “support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor’s objections — such as lowering penalties for carjackings. If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did — I’ll sign it.”

    Senate Democrats have squirmed for two-plus weeks over the vote, which Republicans plan to force to the floor as soon as next week and would be the first congressional override of local D.C. affairs since 1991. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) predicted that “there will be substantial bipartisan support for a resolution to reject the proposed changes.”

    Besides the obvious implications of a vote on the potent political issue of crime, some Senate Democrats are plainly uncomfortable with congressional intervention in D.C.’s affairs.

    “I’m disappointed. First of all, I hope the Senate would not pass it. But I think it’s pretty clear they will,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). “And to me, the Congress should not substitute its judgment for the elected representatives of the people of the District of Columbia.”

    Yet it appears that Democrats’ discomfort with the D.C. law — a near-rewrite of the capital’s criminal code — is carrying more weight than their natural inclination not to interfere.

    “I guess [Biden] thinks it’s too far — a bridge too far, which it really is. I’m glad he said that,” Manchin said leaving the meeting, adding that he clapped loudly when Biden disclosed his view to his fellow Democrats.

    House Republicans first teed up the bill in February, amid a highly public clash between D.C.’s council and its mayor over the sweeping crime bill. In the House, the GOP-led bill won support from 31 Democrats, many of them moderates who have already called for stronger action on nationwide rise in crime since the pandemic. One swing-seat Democrat who backed the bill, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), voted for it mere hours after she was assaulted in her D.C. apartment building.

    Biden’s move to let Congress stop the criminal code changes in D.C. may aggravate locals, but will be a relief to many congressional Democrats who are weary of GOP attacks on them over progressive urban crime proposals. And it comes as prominent Democrats are talking less about Biden’s age or whether he should run again and more about working together heading into the 2024 election.

    In the meeting on Thursday, Biden’s reelection campaign did not explicitly come up but it was mostly assumed he’s running again: “I didn’t hear negative vibes on that,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).

    “The pieces are together. He’ll run again. And he’ll get full support from the caucus,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). “It’s a good feel overall.”

    But not everyone is feeling the love. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), an outspoken progressive who’s mostly pro-Biden, said he’s had a couple issues lately with the president. He cited the administration’s new effort to restrict asylum in certain migration cases — “that’s a bad policy,” he said — and then a lack of public follow-through on an environmental justice initiative.

    And this week, Bowman said he was “hurt” by the Biden team’s handling of a Black History Month celebration at the White House, which he said was so crowded that several of his colleagues left early rather than try to fight for space.

    “They had us packed in the room like sardines,” Bowman said of the White House event, comparing it to better-planned events that span multiple rooms, like the annual Christmas party. “That was, to me, very disrespectful. A slap in the face.”

    For now, though, Bowman’s view is an outlier. And Biden got a warm welcome Wednesday night when he visited a group of House Democrats in Baltimore at their annual policy retreat.

    Reflecting on their much-improved rapport with Biden since last year’s squabbling over his party-line agenda, many Democrats said there was little doubt he would glide to the nomination in 2024.

    “If we, the elected officials, are not with him. I think he’s going to have a very difficult time winning reelection. I gotta tell you, I just don’t see people being against him,” said Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.).

    “I look at everybody else who’s out there. I mean, he’s a little old. That’s true, he’s gotta address that. But other than his age, he’s the best guy we have in my opinion.”

    Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • Biden poised for first veto after Dems support rollback

    Biden poised for first veto after Dems support rollback

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    “At a time when working families are dealing with higher costs, from health care to housing, we need to be focused on ensuring Montanans’ retirement savings are on the strongest footing possible,” Tester said in a statement. “I’m opposing this Biden Administration rule because I believe it undermines retirement accounts for working Montanans and is wrong for my state.”

    The fact that Republicans are poised to push the measure through a divided Congress underscores the growing political momentum behind their crusade against what they deride as “woke” business practices. Conservative officials at the state and federal level are increasingly attacking big corporations for embracing social and environmental causes. It’s a push that Democrats in red states and swing districts are finding they’re unable to ignore.

    The Biden administration said in its veto threat this week that the rollback move would “unnecessarily limit the options available to retirement plan participants and investors.”

    The president’s threat in a way gives moderate Democrats a free pass to distance themselves from the president because they don’t face the risk of the rollback actually being implemented.

    Asked whether Democratic leadership had pressured him to vote “no,” Tester told reporters that they gave a presentation to the broader caucus Tuesday. But “it wasn’t like, pestering.”

    The 2024 election “hasn’t been my focus, but that ought to be their focus,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), who sponsored the measure, told reporters. “I just tried to make the merits of the case out there understandable to everyone listening.”

    Manchin took to the Senate floor to blast the Biden DOL rule as “just another example of how our administration prioritizes a liberal policy agenda over protecting and growing the retirement accounts of 150 million Americans.”

    Republicans are taking advantage of procedures under the Congressional Review Act that allow lawmakers to nullify recently issued rules with simple majority votes, avoiding the Senate filibuster.

    The Labor Department rule at issue doesn’t require investment managers to focus on environmental, social and governance factors in retirement accounts, but instead clarifies that they’re free to do so.

    ESG investing has been a big focus for money managers for years, partly in response to consumer demand for sustainable investment products.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a Wall Street Journal op-ed blasted the GOP rollback effort, accusing Republicans of sacrificing their free market ideals in favor of “forcing their own views down the throats of every company and investor.”

    “The whole anti-ESG operation is a fake, cooked up by the fossil fuel industry,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said in an interview.

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • D.C. drama: Dems weigh veto fight with Biden over crime bill

    D.C. drama: Dems weigh veto fight with Biden over crime bill

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    With all 49 Republicans already in favor and many Democrats still undecided, Biden’s party is highly alarmed that the disapproval resolution could pass. That outcome would spotlight the party’s divide over the issues of crime and D.C. self-governance.

    “I have concerns about passage here. Of course, the president could veto. He’s going to have to make that decision,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “Congress shouldn’t be bigfooting decisions made by the elected representatives of the people of the District. I will be talking with [Democrats] about this general principle.”

    Biden has come out in opposition to the legislation but not made an explicit veto threat. Democratic leaders believe he is prepared to do so: “I’d assume, but I wouldn’t go any further,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who chairs the Judiciary Committee.

    The reversal of D.C.‘s crime law cannot be filibustered, and if 51 senators vote yes it would be the first time since 1991 that Congress has rolled back a statute in the capital city. It’s a stunning turnaround from last Congress, when 46 senators in the Democratic Caucus went on record to support making D.C. a state while the Democratic House passed its own statehood bill.

    And the shift is in part thanks to the stubborn crime problem in the city members call their part-time home: Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who was assaulted in her apartment building last week, was among the Democrats who supported rolling back the D.C. Council’s plan to make changes to some criminal penalties and scrap some mandatory minimum sentences.

    It would only take two Senate defections for the measure to head to Biden’s desk, and Republicans feel they are on the cusp of getting them. In an interview, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) indicated interest in the proposal, though he has not made a firm decision.

    “In West Virginia, they want the tougher codes,” he said. “I would be open to seeing what they want to roll back, and make sure it’s common sense. If it’s reasonable and common sense, yeah.”

    Democrats can more easily block a second House-passed resolution that looked to stop a new city voting rights law that allows noncitizens to vote in local elections. That resolution is not eligible for expedited floor proceedings, and Democrats can bottle it up in committee and object to bringing it up on the floor, according to two people familiar with the floor schedule.

    The crime proposal won’t come to the floor for several weeks. When it does, it may be one of the first tough votes this Congress for Senate Democrats — who control the Senate but cannot stop the disapproval resolution.

    Several Democrats said they were not ready to comment on the crime proposal, including Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Angus King (I-Maine) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.). Manchin, Kelly, King and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) did not co-sponsor a bill to grant D.C. statehood last Congress.

    Some other Democrats said that, philosophically, Congress should not be chipping away at the city’s autonomy. Washington residents pay taxes but lack congressional representation and are subject to the legislative branch’s oversight on a plethora of matters. The last time Congress rolled back a D.C. law, it was to stop a building from exceeding height limits.

    Since that 1991 episode, Congress has attached riders to larger pieces of legislation to block implementation of the city’s marijuana laws and restrict abortion funding, but this is the first time in a generation that the House and Senate may actively roll back policy passed by the city council. As an undecided Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) put it: “I’m generally not in favor of undoing things that a local government has done.”

    “I don’t think Congress should be, you know, in the role of making them play Mother-May-I on everything,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a former mayor and governor. “My default on these is: I’m pretty strongly a home rule guy. When it gets closer we’ll take a look.”

    Senate Republicans took a first step this week, with Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) introducing his resolution of disapproval. In a statement to POLITICO, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he will support the bill, sealing the 49th and final GOP vote and shifting the focus to Democrats.

    “While I have always been supportive of ending mandatory minimums for nonviolent crimes, I do not think mandatory minimums should be lifted for violent crimes. Because the D.C. bill reduces sentences for violent crime I will support efforts to overturn the D.C. law,” Paul said.

    Even if the resolution gets to 51 votes, it won’t be the end of the story. Biden still has his veto pen.

    “My hope is the president would veto it and stand with the residents of the District of Columbia, stand on principle and recognize that this is not a soft-on-crime piece of legislation,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in an interview.

    If Biden vetoes the effort, Congress has a high bar to overcome it: two-thirds of both the House and Senate. That would mean at least 17 Senate Democrats and 290 total House members. Thirty-one House Democrats supported the measure, putting it well short of that threshold.

    The White House said in a statement of administration policy that it opposes the resolution and that “Congress should respect the District of Columbia’s autonomy to govern its own local affairs.” Should he go further and explicitly vow to veto the disapproval resolution, it could affect those Democrats who are on the fence.

    “Anytime the president says that he will veto something, it changes the calculus,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “It means that members may be a lot less inclined to take a position contrary to the president when they know his opposition is so clear.”

    Were the measure to clear Biden’s desk, it would send a signal to the House GOP that it could continue to roll back District laws the conference didn’t agree with. And even if Biden successfully vetoes the resolution, it’s clear that House Republicans are more than willing to battle the D.C. government over its ability to govern itself.

    It’s a sobering reminder for statehood advocates that the window to seek more autonomy has passed — and it’s not clear when it will come again.

    “A couple of years ago, it looked like we were on the doorstep of becoming the 51st state. We still have to work hard every day to aspire to that,” Schwalb said. “We’re now at the whims and the vagaries of a certain small group of politicians who are using the District of Columbia as a prop.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )