Ronald Reagan did it. So did Bill Clinton. Barack Obama did as well.Can Joe Biden do it too?After a difficult first two years in the White House, Reagan, Clinton, and Obama each rebuilt enough public support to win a second term—not long after many observers had labeled them fatally damaged by their early setbacks.
The new moonshot lands one year into Biden’s presidency, giving the administration a long runaway to steer its progress.
The United Nations warns Afghanistan is “hanging by a thread” as millions in the country suffer from hunger and are at risk of freezing to death during the winter as U.S. sanctions have devastated the economy. We get an update on what is now the world’s largest humanitarian crisis from Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.
As tensions grow between Russia and NATO over a potential invasion of Ukraine, up to 2 million people in eastern Ukraine are at risk of massive displacement and violence if the conflict escalates. We speak with the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Jan Egeland, who is on the ground in Ukraine and says a war could roll back nearly a decade of humanitarian progress made in the Ukrainian region.
Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin continuing to deny accusations of a planned invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration ordered the deployment of 3,000 additional troops to Eastern Europe on Wednesday to supposedly protect Ukraine. Moscow-based historian and political writer Ilya Budraitskis says both Russia and the U.S. are gaining more from the threat of conflict than an actual war, and says Russia has no real strategic gain from a potential invasion.
Amnesty International has become the third major human rights organization to accuse Israel of committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians in a new report released on Tuesday.
Biden and his top health officials have already begun hinting at an impending “new normal.
A White House spokesperson said Califf has met with 33 senators to date and is scheduled to meet with an additional 14 so far.
The FDA said it would convene its independent panel of vaccine experts Feb. 15 to consider the data.
Medical boards have sanctioned eight physicians since January 2021 for spreading coronavirus-related misinformation, according to the Federation of State Medical Boards.
The company is aiming to produce at least 2 billion doses of its vaccine in 2022, of which the U.S. has ordered 100 million.
Congress needs to create a new safety net for such lenders — not let regulators squeeze them out of business.
Inside the White House, there is still optimism: “President Biden was elected to a four-year term, not a one-year term.
The government reported Wednesday that the consumer price index, the most widely watched gauge of inflation, hit a four-decade high in December compared to the previous year.
The jump is the latest evidence that rising costs for food, rent and other necessities are heightening the financial pressures on America’s households.
The potential clash over the Fed’s plans to tighten monetary policy could be a harbinger of conflicts to come with Democrats and even some Republicans.
To speak about the key role NATO is playing in the Ukraine crisis, we speak with Ludo De Brabander, spokesperson of the peace organization Vrede vzw in Belgium, where NATO is headquartered. De Brabander says NATO has outlived its purpose, and touches on how activists in NATO countries like Belgium are pushing against narratives in the media that war with Russia is necessary.
Germany’s new coalition government is refusing to send lethal weapons to Ukraine but has offered to send over 5,000 combat helmets to protect Ukrainian soldiers in case of a Russian attack. The move has been ridiculed as the U.S. and other NATO countries continue to send military support to Ukraine. In response, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised his country will stay in tune with European Union and NATO policies toward Russia.
The State Department said it expects a “thorough criminal investigation” into the death of 78-year-old Omar Assad, whom Israeli soldiers detained last month.
Donald Trump has continued to fight the release of documents to the House select committee but has largely failed to stop it.
In the news today: The House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol continues to make behind-the-scenes headway as it hears from all the witnesses who have not been refusing to testify—which puts the squeeze on those still trying to hide.
In case anyone had any doubts, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has made her most explicit statement to date regarding the target of her investigation into alleged attempts at improperly influencing the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Willis’ letter sent Sunday to the FBI requesting a “risk assessment” of the county courthouse and the surrounding area has been covered by Daily Kos and other news outlets.
To say that Joe Manchin appears out of touch with the pressing needs of his constituents and Americans as a whole would be a grotesque understatement. The Build Back Better bill would be a godsend to millions of Americans who struggle to pay their monthly bills, find affordable child care and—not for nothing—worry about the effects of climate change on their children’s future.
Georgia Sheriff Keybo Taylor campaigned—and won—on ending Gwinnett County’s harmful 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This is the racist policy that allows local law enforcement to act as mass deportation agents. On his first day in office at the very end of 2020, Taylor kept his promise and terminated the agreement.
In Cobb County, Sheriff Craig Owens also won on the issue that same year.
The floodgates appear to have opened on Starbucks workers trying to form unions. On Friday, voting in a union representation election concluded at a Mesa, Arizona, Starbucks. On Monday, the two Buffalo stores that already voted to unionize started bargaining, while ballots went out for three more Buffalo-area stores.
Horrified judges Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke reportedly walked off in protest.
Anti-Asian hate has risen amid the pandemic and follows a long history of discriminatory policies against San Francisco’s Chinese community.
More than 3,300 service members are at risk of being thrown out soon.
Justice Stephen Breyer hadn’t even made his retirement official last week when Democrats put out word that they wanted to confirm his replacement as fast as possible. According to one report, they wanted to match the record speed with which Republicans installed Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court following the 2020 death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The reason for the Democrats’ rush wasn’t immediately apparent.
Sign up for Conor’s newsletter here.Late last month, the Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases about the constitutionality of race-conscious admissions policies, often called affirmative action, in institutions of higher education. What are your thoughts, positions, insights, questions, or legal opinions on the subject?Email your answers to conor@theatlantic.com. I’ll publish a selection of answers in Friday’s newsletter.