Senate confirms Antony Blinken as US secretary of state – live | US news

Biden is delivering remarks on what the White House is calling his “racial equity agenda” before signing a slate of executive orders aimed at advancing equity across the federal government.

He opened his speech by invoking the legacy of Georgia Floyd, a Black man whose death under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer sparked a racial reckoning in the country.

It was “the knee on the neck of justice,” Biden said of Floyd’s death. “It marked a turning point in this country’s attitude towards racial justice.”

He said he believed that over the course of the last year the “blinders had been taken off the American people” and that the nation was ready to address deep-seated and systemic racism that has “plagued our nation for far too long.”

“We bought the view that America is a zero sum game,” he said. “If I hold you down I lift myself up.”

Read more about the orders Biden signed in this report by my colleague Daniel Strauss.

Psaki confirmed that Biden held his first call with Russian president Vladimir Putin. According to Psaki, Biden pressed Putin on Russia’s espionage campaign against the US and raised concerns about the arrest of Alexei Navalny, an opposition figure who recently recovered in Germany from novichok poisoning.

She also said Biden emphasized the US’ support for Ukraine, the Russian government’s treatment of peaceful protesters and reports that Russia placed bounties on the heads of US soldiers in Afghanistan.

The conversation marks a stark contrast between Biden and Trump, who repeatedly flattered Putin and once said he believed Russia’s denial of election interference over the conclusion of his own intelligence agencies.

There was some hope of diplomacy between the US and Russia. On the call, Biden expressed support for finalizing an extension of an arms control treaty, known as START, with Russia before it expires next month.

Biden raised expectations yesterday when he told reporters that his administration’s 100-day goal on the vaccine roll out may rise to 150 million, from 100 million.

On Tuesday, Psaki said Biden didn’t offer the figure as a “new goal” but as an aspiration.

On Monday, Schumer called for Biden to declare a “climate emergency”, a move that would give the administration sweeping powers to combat global warming. Asked about it during the press briefing, Psaki suggests Biden might be open to doing so. She said Biden has long identified climate change as one of the four crises facing the nation and considers it “central to his presidency”.

“I don’t think leader Schumer has any doubt about the president’s commitment to this,” she said.

White House Jen Psaki, taking over the briefing, was asked whether the administration would impose a testing requirement on domestic travel to slow the spread of Covid-19. Psaki said that was not the recommendation at this stage but left open the possibility, saying the administration is constantly reviewing and updating federal recommendations on travel based on conversations with experts.

She was also asked about Biden’s comment on Monday that Trump’s trial “has to happen.” She said the remark was simply a reflection of what he saw as the Senate’s constitutional duty now that the article has been delivered from the House.

Asked why he has been so reluctant to give his personal view of impeachment, Psaki again said that Biden is no longer in the Senate and instead believes his job now is to focus on his agenda.

“We will leave the vote counting to leaders in the Senate from now on,” she said, attempting to clean up his comment to CNN last night.

Psaki wouldn’t say the last time Biden spoke to McConnell. On a question about the administration’s vaccination campaign, Psaki said Biden would speak directly to that in his remarks later this afternoon.

Asked about why Biden hasn’t acted to close gun loopholes, as he promised on the campaign trail, Rice said vowed that it was “just the beginning”.

She was also asked about Biden’s order to end the federal government’s use of private prisons. The directive directs the Department of Justice not to renew contracts with private prisons but does not apply to the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration detention facilities, Rice said.

Susan Rice, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, is making an appearance at the White House press briefing this afternoon to lay out Biden’s agenda for advancing racial, gender and LGBTQ equality.

Later today, Biden will sign four executive actions that address housing policies, voting rights, police reform and xenophobia against Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

Rice said these aren’t “feel-good” policies. “Investing in equity is good for economic growth,” she said. “Building a more equitable economy is essential if Americans are gong to compete and thrive in the 21st Century.”

She also announced that Biden has ordered the intelligence community to “compile a comprehensive assessment” on the threat posed by white supremacy. “We are taking it quite seriously.”

The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed Antony Blinken, a veteran diplomat and defender of multilateral alliances, to be the next Secretary of State, in a 78-22 vote.

Biden tapped Blinken, his longtime foreign policy adviser, to be the nation’s top diplomat as his administration seeks to rebuild the country’s relationship with allies, frayed after a tumultuous four years under Trump.

Vice president Kamala Harris presided over the ceremonial swearing in of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, making her the first woman to serve in the role in the department’s 232-year history.

Staged outside on the East Landing of the White House, which overlooks the Treasury building, Yellen raised her right as Harris, physically distanced across the entryway, administered the oath of office. She was joined by her husband, George Akerlof, and son, Robert Akerlof.

Yellen inherits an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic, which has exacerbated longstanding inequalities.

She joins Biden’s history-making cabinet, which so far includes Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the first African American to lead the Pentagon, and National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, who is the first woman to serve in the role.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs advanced the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Department of Homeland Security, overriding the objections of several Republicans on the committee.

Mayorkas, who served as DHS deputy secretary under president Barack Obama, would be the first Latino and the first immigrant to lead the department.

A handful of Republicans, led by the panel’s outgoing chairman, senator Ron Johnson, raised concerns about Mayorkas’ previous tenure at the department and misleadingly attempted to tie him to Trump’s family separation policy.

Mayorkas will next receive a vote by the full Senate.

Twitter has “permanently suspended” MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a devoted supporters of Trump who helped lead he mendacious campaign to overturn the results of the presidential campaign.

According to a Twitter spokesperson, Lindell was removed from the platform for repeatedly violating the company’s civic integrity policy.

Lindell, a major Republican donor, is the latest Trump ally to be booted from Twitter, after the social media company removed Roger Stone, Stephen Bannon and Trump himself.

Though McConnell dropped his objection, the fight over the filibuster – which effectively requires 60 votes to advance a measure – is far from over.

The fate of Biden’s legislative agenda hangs in the balance of an evenly-divided Senate, and Democratic activists are pushing lawmakers to dispense with the rule, arguing that it is the the only way to achieve any of their legislative priorities before the 2022 midterms.

Speaking on the floor Monday, McConnell delivered a stark warning for Democrats.

“When I could have tried to grab this power, I turned it down,” McConnell said, referring to to the possibility that he could have abolished the filibuster as majority leader. “I am grateful that’s been reciprocated by at least a pair of our colleagues across the aisle. I’m glad we’ve stepped back from this cliff. Taking that plunge would not be some progressive dream. It would be a nightmare. I guarantee it.”

Late Monday night, Senator Mitch McConnell dropped his demand that Democrats promise to protect the filibuster, paving the way for a power-sharing agreement that will allow Democrats to officially assume control of the chamber.

The climbdown followed weeks-long negotiations between McConnell, now the minority leader, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who refused to make the commitment, as activists in his party push them to abolish the procedural tool often used to grind Senate activity to a halt.

Two Democrats on Monday – senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona – said they were opposed to abolishing the filibuster, which McConnell pointed to as an assurance that it would be preserved.

“I am glad the Republican leader finally relented,” Schumer said in floor remarks on Tuesday morning.

During her opening remarks, Raimondo stressed that her priorities as commerce secretary would include strengthening trade enforcement and boosting US manufacturing.

Introducing herself to the committee, Raimondo recalled growing up in Rhode Island, the daughter of a factory worker. When her father lost his job at the Bulova watch factory he was forced into early retirement in his 50s.

I know the pain that losing a job causes a family, and I’ve seen that pain in communities that have lost jobs to outsourcing and to the pandemic,” she said, according to a transcript of her testimony. “At its heart, the Commerce Department is about opportunity. The opportunity to start or grow a business. The opportunity to get a good, stable job. The opportunity to pursue the American Dream, regardless of where you live.”

She also touts actions she took as governor to combat climate change, saying: “We need to recognize that tackling climate change goes hand-in-hand with creating good-paying jobs.”

The Senate confirmation hearing for Biden’s secretary of commerce nominee Gina Raimondo, which began at 10am, is off to an auspicious start. Chairman Roger Wicker, a Republican of Mississippi, said he expects Raimondo, a former venture capitalist in her second term as governor of Rhode Island, to be confirmed by the Senate.

Biden’s cabinet is starting to come together. This afternoon, vice president Kamala Harris will swear in Janet Yellen, who will make history as the first woman to serve as Treasury Secretary. Yellen, the former chair of the Federal Reserve, was confirmed by the Senate on an 84-15 vote on Monday.

The full Senate is also expected to vote to confirm Antony Blinken to be Biden’s secretary of state shortly after the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee votes on Alejandro Mayorkas the DHS secretary.

Jonathan Turley, a law professor and Fox News contributor, will join Republican senators for lunch on Tuesday to discuss the constitutionality of Trump’s upcoming impeachment trial.

Turley, who was Republicans’ lone expert during Trump’s first impeachment, has argued that impeaching a former president is “at odds” with the Constitution. It’s a question that has divided scholars.

A bipartisan coalition of constitutional experts that included members of the conservative Federalist Society legal group wrote in an open letter that “our carefully considered views of the law lead all of us to agree that the Constitution permits the impeachment, conviction, and disqualification of former officers, including presidents.” Turley offered a rebuttal to the letter.

Many Republican senators, squeezed between a Trump-loving base and brazen actions of the former president, have turned to this argument as a way to object to the trial without passing judgement on whether Trump committed an impeachable offense.

Democrats have dismissed this argument, pointing to historical precedented – the 1876 impeachment of Secretary of War William Belknap, who was tried after he resigned over allegations he received kickbacks. On Monday, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer also countered that it’s only possible to disqualify an official from ever holding public office again after the official has been convicted in a Senate impeachment trial – a punishment officials could avoid by resigning or leaving office.

“It makes no sense whatsoever that a president—or any official—could commit a heinous crime against our country and then defeat Congress’ impeachment powers by simply resigning, so as to avoid accountability and a vote to disqualify them from future office,” Schumer said.

Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, has said he intends to force a vote on the question, putting his colleagues on the record over where they stand on the constitutionality of an impeaching a former president. Though the effort is likely to fail, it will provide insight into the thinking of several senators who have been more circumspect about their views on impeachment, including the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell.