President Biden will focus his first prime-time address since taking office on the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic in remarks that will "level" with the country about the remainder of his plan to defeat the virus.
Less than two weeks after the release of an unclassified US intelligence report on the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, pressure continues to build in Washington for President Joe Biden to hold Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) accountable.
The widely anticipated report confirmed what many human rights groups, United Nations experts and US lawmakers had long argued: the crown prince approved the operation to “capture or kill” Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
But the Biden administration has said it would not directly sanction or impose a travel ban on MBS; instead, it said it plans to “recalibrate” – but not “rupture” – Washington’s relationship with Riyadh, a longtime strategic ally.
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The federal pandemic relief package moving through Congress will go a long way toward filling New York’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit. But Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature will still need to plug a smaller gap. But, getting there could be tricky, with the Democratic governor embroiled in two scandals, the Democratic leader of the state Senate calling for his resignation, and Republicans pushing for impeachment.
If the relief package is approved, New York State would receive around $12.5 billion to help fill what Cuomo says is a $15 billion budget gap for this year and the next fiscal year. More than half of that deficit was caused by revenue declines and additional spending because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the state hard last spring.
New US Spending Plan COVID Help Or Pork?
Every Michigan Democrat elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are calling the massive spending bill working its way through Washington
“The American Rescue Plan.” Michigans two Senators, Debbie Stabenow, and Gary Peters joined with all the other Democrats in the Senate to push it through. All Michigan Democrats in the US House also voted in favor, all Republicans are opposed. That includes SW Michigan 6th Representative Fred Upton, and 3rd DIstrict Republican Peter Meijer. The bill is being described by Democrats as robust coronavirus relief legislation. Democrats say America will be better off with its passage. Fiscal analysts say it will become one of the largest federal spending bills in American history. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer from New York earlier described the bill as “one of the largest anti-poverty bills” in U.S. history.