Biden police reform pledge faces limits of presidential power
5 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly a year after President Joe Biden called for “real action” on police brutality as part of a pledge to fix U.S. racial inequality, he is coming up against the limits of presidential power.
FILE PHOTO: A protester carries a Black Lives Matter flag outside the Federal Bureau of Investigation Minneapolis Division field office, days after Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a police officer, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, U.S. April 13, 2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
The White House shelved a proposed police oversight commission this week to focus on a police reform bill that has narrow hopes in Congress. The move comes as anger grows over the killing of another Black man, Daunte Wright, who was stopped by police just miles from where George Floyd was killed last May.
Nearly a year after President Joe Biden called for "real action" on police brutality as part of a pledge to fix U.S. racial inequality, he is coming up against the limits of presidential power.
4 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden sought to demonstrate his much-touted interest in working with Republicans in Congress on Monday, with a bipartisan White House meeting as lawmakers prepared to grapple with his $2.3 trillion proposal to improve U.S. infrastructure.
The Democratic president appears to be losing political capital with 10 Senate Republicans who have signaled an openness to working with Democrats, according to aides and observers. Those Republicans include Susan Collins and Mitt Romney, whose support could give him the votes to pass bipartisan legislation.
Biden’s party narrowly controls the House of Representatives and the Senate, meaning he can ill afford to lose Democratic votes. That has emboldened Democratic moderates such as Senator Joe Manchin, who have outsized influence over his legislative priorities.
6 Min Read
(Reuters) - Last summer, millions of ordinary Americans took to the streets to protest racism, police violence and the killing of George Floyd.
FILE PHOTO: An image of George Floyd s arrest by Officer Derek Chauvin plays on a screen, on the eighth day of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. April 7, 2021 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
In the year since, many transformed their energy and anger to action. Across the country, civilians on task forces and elected officials in state legislatures are pushing for changes that experts say address the root causes of police misconduct targeting minority communities. Reforms at state and local levels in the past year include the creation of oversight boards that are not beholden to police departments or unions.
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: People gather near the White House to call on the U.S. government to respond to China s alleged abuses of a Muslim ethnic minority called the Uighurs, near the White House in Washington, U.S. July 3, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators on Tuesday introduced a bill to expedite refugee applications from Uighurs, matching an effort in the U.S. House of Representatives to assist members of the largely Muslim ethnic group that advocates say face persecution in China.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Chris Coons put forward the “Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act,” which would grant Priority 2 refugee status to Uighurs and other groups, including Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, who have faced repression in or fled from China’s Xinjiang region.