Archive by Author

Nearly 30 percent of work remains remote as workers dig in

The pandemic may be winding down, but the work-from-home revolution marches on.  

Nearly 30 percent of all work happened at home in January, six times the rate in 2019, according to WFH Research, a data-collection project. In Washington and other large urban centers, the share of remote work is closer to half. In the nation’s biggest cities, entire office buildings sit empty. 

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the American workplace. The share of all work performed at home rose from 4.7 percent in January 2019 to 61 percent in May 2020. Some economists consider the remote-work boom the greatest change to the labor market since World War II.  

“It’s affected so many things,” said Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University economist and WFH researcher. “It’s affected city structure. It’s affecting days of the week that people play sport: golf, tennis. It’s affecting retail. It’s completely skewed, mostly in a positive way, the American economy.” 

In 2021 and 2022, employers gradually summoned American workers back to the office. Last spring, the back-to-the-office movement hit a wall, and the work-from-home population stabilized around 30 percent.  

Workplace experts say remote work is here to stay. Workers love it. Employers have learned to live with it. 

“There’s sufficient and growing evidence that people do work well when they’re working from home,” said Barbara Larson, executive professor of management at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business. “It’s not like everybody was working hard when they were in the office.” 

The average worker saves 70 minutes of daily commuting time by working from home — and spends almost half of that extra time doing work: a win-win.  

A slim majority of Americans are back in the office for good. Many never left. That group includes the restaurant and retail sectors, factory and warehouse workers, bartenders and farmers.  

“Fifty-five percent of Americans can’t work from home,” Bloom said. “They all would like to work from home. They can’t.”  

A much smaller group, around 13 percent, work entirely from home. They include many IT and payroll workers, contractors and people who pick up the phone when you call customer service.  

The remaining 30 percent of U.S. employees populate a vast “hybrid” workforce. They are the bulk of suburban, white-collar America, mostly college graduates, comparatively well-paid.  

“About one-third of Americans can work hybrid,” Bloom said. “Managers, professionals. My students,” future Stanford graduates, “they’re all going into hybrid jobs.” 

Much of corporate America has settled on a weekly formula of three days in the office and two at home for the hybrid worker. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are popular choices for trudging into the office. On Fridays, city centers can look like depopulated ghost towns. 

The work-from-home movement has reshaped the largest cities. Only last month, for the first time since the pandemic began, did the occupancy rate in urban office buildings reach 50 percent in the 10 largest cities.  

As of last week, 49 percent of desks sat empty in Chicago, 53 percent in D.C., 51 percent in New York and Los Angeles. The figures come from Kastle Systems, a company that manages office-access security.  

Other researchers have identified about a dozen large urban centers where one-quarter or more of employees work entirely from home. The top five telework cities: D.C., San Francisco, Austin, San Jose and Seattle. 

For some mayors, tax collectors and downtown businesses, the remote-work boom has seeded fiscal disaster. New York, alone, “is going to see about $12 billion less in expenditures in downtown Manhattan” because of remote work, Bloom said.  

Working from home “means less consumer spending, and it means less transit use,” in big cities, said Adam Ozimek, chief economist at the Economic Innovation Group, a public-policy nonprofit.  

Long-term office leases have softened the tax blow. Many companies are stuck with unused space in empty buildings, rented on five- or 10-year terms. But they will eventually leave. When they do, Ozimek said, cities will have to repurpose vacant offices as residential dwellings.  

“It’s not the end of cities,” Ozimek said. But “if cities aren’t flexible and smart about how they change their fiscal policies and tax policies, you could end up in a bad situation.” 

Not everyone wants to work from home. Two-fifths of workers aged 50 and above prefer fulltime remote work. Three-quarters of 20-somethings, by contrast, want to spend time in the office.  

Young people “are more likely to want to work in person and benefit from working in person,” said Ben Zweig, CEO of Revelio Labs, a workforce intelligence company. “But also, for young people, it’s much more important to be in a city, especially if they’re single and dating.” 

Employers want less telework. Employees want more. The remote work “gap” amounts to roughly one day. The average worker would like to go in to the office two days a week. The average employer prefers three days. 

That dilemma begets another: Which three days should workers spend in the office? If a company allows employees to choose, then conflicting schedules can defeat the purpose of calling everyone in. 

“You end up with meetings where some people are in person and some are remote, and that’s the worst of both worlds,” Zweig said. “People go to the office and spend their days on Zoom calls. They end up thinking, Why the hell did I come in?” 

An easy fix is to send everyone home on Fridays and Mondays. On a recent Friday, occupancy rates in downtown office buildings dipped to 32 percent, according to data from Kastle Systems.  

Some high-profile companies, including Disney and Starbucks, have made headlines by pushing back against remote work. Yet, the number of CEOs lobbying for a return to fulltime office work “is dwindling to basically zero,” Bloom said. 

“If you’re a for-profit business, you don’t do things that massively piss off your employees and that don’t improve performance.” 

For elite job-seekers, remote work has emerged as the ultimate bargaining chip. Employers know this. The share of hybrid job listings has risen steadily since 2020, Bloom said. Employees will trade thousands in annual salary for the right not to schlep to the office. 

“If you withdraw remote work and your competitors are still offering remote work, you’re going to lose your top talent,” Larson said. 

At the same time, employers seem to be advertising fewer jobs that are entirely remote. As the labor market softens, companies may feel they no longer need to dangle a “work-from-anywhere” offer to lure applicants.  

“I actually think the all-remote model doesn’t exist,” said Prithwiraj Choudhury, an associate professor at Harvard Business School. “There’s no company in the world that never asks its employees to meet occasionally.” 

The work-from-home movement shifts a company’s center of gravity from a physical office to a technology platform. “And your office becomes an ancillary tool,” Larson said. 

Some forward-thinking companies take the work-from-anywhere concept to its logical conclusion, operating with no office at all.  

“There are companies that are meeting in ranches,” Choudhury said. “There are teams that are meeting in railway stations or airports.” 

Corporate leaders can choose to frame the remote-work movement “as an opportunity or a threat,” he said. “And if I were a CEO, I would frame this as an opportunity.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

GOP impatience grows for DeSantis to make move on Trump

Senate Republicans nervous about former President Trump’s lead in presidential primary polls are impatiently awaiting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to jump into the race.  

GOP lawmakers don’t expect DeSantis to make his move until after the Florida legislative session ends in early May, but the waiting game is playing on nerves, with some thinking DeSantis has lost political momentum since his big reelection win in November. 

There are also concerns that the longer the governor waits, the bigger the GOP primary field will grow, which is seen as helpful to Trump, who maintains rock-solid support among 25 percent to 30 percent of Republican voters.  

“I suspect he is going to run. I’ve been told that he’s very focused right now — the Florida legislature is in session — he’s very focused on Florida issues,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said of DeSantis, whom she called “the leader of the Republican Party” after he won an impressive reelection victory in November.  

Lummis predicted that “when their legislative session winds down, the pressure will mount on him to run.” 

“He would add an enormously important voice to the race,” she added. “Most of the people that I have visited with about this want to see a competitive primary,” referring to fellow GOP lawmakers.  

The Florida legislature is scheduled to be in session through May 5.  

DeSantis’s absence from the field creates an opening for other Republicans to jump in and command attention for a few news cycles — which is what former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley did last week when she announced her White House bid. She made a splash by calling for politicians older than 75 to take mental competency tests.  

If continued uncertainty about whether DeSantis runs for the White House or not emboldens more people to jump into the race, that may end up helping Trump.  

Lummis said Haley’s entrance into the race likely “is the first of many.” 

“I suspect that delights President Trump because the more people that get in, the more diluted the field,” she said. 

Trump responded to Haley’s entrance with a quip about the more the merrier. He has held a steady double-digit lead over all potential rivals in nationwide polls measuring public views of the Republican presidential field. 

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said he also expects DeSantis to keep his focus on Florida for a while, saying “he’s probably got a window that takes him — if he wants to — into the summer.”  

Asked about colleagues’ concerns that more candidates might join the race the longer DeSantis stays on the sidelines, Thune acknowledged, “There is that.”  

He pointed to other trade-offs for waiting to jump into the presidential fray.  

“There’s an opening and there are others that are may be heading down that path. As the field gets larger, people get out there, they develop support, they get those ground-game grassroots supporters in the early states. You lose the advantage of that” by waiting, Thune said.  

But Thune said DeSantis can afford to wait like few candidates can. 

“Every story about somebody else [who] is considering [running for president] also mentions that he’s the one everybody is waiting on,” he said.  

A Republican senator who requested anonymity to comment on the machinations of the primary said DeSantis appears to have lost some momentum since November.  

The lawmaker said the need to dissuade other candidates from running and to keep the Republican field as small as possible “is a reason to get in early.”  

“The prevailing opinion is if a lot of people get in, Trump will win. So there could be a strategy to maybe get your big dogs in, like DeSantis, to try to keep it from being a 12-person race,” the source said. 

The lawmaker said the rumor is the governor “is raising a lot of money” to get ready for a bruising showdown with Trump.  

A second senator who asked for anonymity to talk about DeSantis agreed that the buzz around him has quieted a bit since November.  

“I would assume he gets in as soon as that legislative session is over,” the lawmaker predicted. 

Axios reported late last month that DeSantis appeared to be “losing the favorability edge he opened up in November” after a trio of national polls showed Trump with a double-digit lead over DeSantis.  

Trump got a boost last month, when the Department of Justice announced the discovery of classified documents at Biden’s home in Delaware and office in Washington, D.C. The revelation that Biden had held onto sensitive information after leaving the Obama administration shifted scrutiny away from Trump for storing secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.   

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), one of the few Senate Republicans who has publicly endorsed Trump for president, said “I don’t think there’s any doubt Trump’s going to have 25 to 35 percent of the base.” 

“He’s going to have his voters,” he said.  

He said DeSantis has a lot of work to do to introduce himself to voters outside of Florida, noting that the governor is scheduled to speak at the Alabama state Republican winter dinner on March 9.  

“I don’t know whether he’s behind or ahead or whatever but he’s sooner or later going to have to start going to other states other than Florida,” he said, predicting DeSantis will get into the race by late May.  

He said candidates challenging Trump “got a lot of work to do.”  

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a potential White House candidate himself, observed in an interview that DeSantis remains a mystery outside his home state, telling The Dispatch, “None of us really know who he is outside of Tallahassee.” 

He said that running for president is “very different” than serving as governor and that “none of us really know what he’ll be like on the national stage.”  

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) says he sees the presidential primary beginning “in earnest” at the end of August or beginning of September.  

Trump didn’t jump into the 2016 Republican presidential primary until June 16, 2015. That year’s early Republican front-runner, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, officially announced his presidential campaign the day before.  

Tillis thinks the advantage of waiting is it allows a candidate to calibrate his or her opening message to what rivals have already said.  

“It depends on what you see as serious candidates getting forward. That will probably move it up or back,” he said of DeSantis’s possible announcement could move up on the calendar if more people get in the race early.  

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said Haley’s announcement this past week is “a starting gun for people.” 

He said DeSantis “has time for sure” because “he has advantages others don’t have.”   

But he’ll “have to watch for cues from other potential candidates,” Cramer added.  

“I would think he could make some moves, some noise to make sure he secures support that might be looking for that,” he said.  

Source: TEST FEED1

Democrats grapple with how to take on Nikki Haley

Democrats have groaned over the campaign return of Donald Trump and have braced for the unknown in an untested Ron DeSantis. 

But now, in the earliest days of the 2024 presidential cycle, the party in power is facing a new challenge: how to handle Nikki Haley.

The former South Carolina governor’s entrance into a wide-open field draws an obvious contrast with Trump, who Republicans have hesitated to take on too soon. For Democrats, it puts them in an unfamiliar spot: defending 80-year-old Biden against a 51-year-old rival hoping to be the first female president.

“If you haven’t figured out how to get this octogenarian off the stage, you really don’t know what you’re doing,” said Rina Shah, a Republican strategist and campaign veteran. “You don’t know how to move forward.”

Biden has, of course, faced female White House opponents before — the most famous being his own vice president, Kamala Harris, with whom he managed to turn an occasionally bitter rivalry into a partnership in his administration. He also competed against nearly half a dozen other female candidates. 

When Biden prevailed, for many Democrats it was bittersweet. They saw him beating Trump, but scores still wanted a woman to lead the country. They are now assessing the optics of Haley running against an older white man, and Republicans are also contemplating what it could mean for their own bench.  

“Gender and race are part of the calculation now because there are only two formally announced people,” Shah said. 

As Haley tells it, her campaign is not going to emphasize “identity politics,” a term both sides of the aisle use in different ways to highlight personal identifiers. But she’s already made gender and age a part of the early contours of her campaign. 

In her announcement speech on Wednesday, Haley said tackling global problems “will require doing some things we’ve never done — like sending a tough-as-nails woman to the White House.” At another point, she said, “may the best woman win” the election. 

Republicans have in the past struggled at appealing to female voters and recruiting more diverse candidates, and Democrats have often jumped at the chance to send more women to higher office. Haley’s bid, just days after newly elected Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered the rebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union, is a clear indication of the GOP’s focus on broadening their candidate pool for higher office.  

“We’re talking about the presidential primary process. Republicans are actually going to come out looking really diverse at this,” Shah said. 

For Democrats, it presents a complicated situation. It’s no secret that many in the party want someone other than Biden to be the nominee. Some recent polling indicates that even a majority of Democrats would like an alternative. 

But many in the party and some close to the administration were quick to defend the president, noting that his agenda and track record supporting people from different backgrounds is what makes him a more compelling choice. 

Charlotte Clymer, a writer and Democratic political strategist, argued that Haley’s presence as a female contender in the race is not sufficient enough without inclusive policies.

“Representation means nothing without advocacy,” Clymer said. 

“I would rather vote for a man who I know is going to fight for my rights over a woman who makes a mockery of my humanity with her empty pandering,” she added. 

Other Democrats note that Biden has filled top positions in government with a wide range of talent, showing a commitment to many different voices and ideas. 

“President Biden has one of the most diverse, multi racial coalitions we have seen in recent political history,” said one Democratic strategist who formerly worked for Hillary Clinton. 

“He has prioritized elevating women, people of color, young people and other minority constituencies throughout his presidency. That approach to governing, and that enduring coalition will help him ward off any critiques that would be expected of an 80-year-old, white man running for reelection,” the campaign strategist said. 

When Biden chose Harris — the first Black, Indian American and female vice president — to be his running mate, some had hoped she would be the heir-apparent for 2024. But that hasn’t happened as questions about Harris’s direction and role in the White House have piled up throughout the first term. 

On Friday, Harris said “I intend to run” for vice president again alongside Biden, a phrase the president himself often uses to describe his reelection thought process.

But the idea that she may be eyeing the presidency is on the minds of Republicans and Democrats alike, especially as Haley entered the race. 

“A hypothetical matchup between Kamala Harris and Nikki Haley, I think Nikki actually could pull that off,” Shah said. 

Still, with every indication that Biden intends to launch another campaign, Democrats are currently navigating a GOP field that includes just Haley and Trump.  

The current scarcity of Republican candidates so far allows Haley, still relatively new to the national stage, to set up an inherent identity contrast with Biden. She’s already addressed what she sees as his inadequacies directly, at times skirting questions that she’ll have to face off against what’s expected to be a crowded field of GOP aspirants first.  

While some Democrats have made Biden’s age a topic of debate, Haley wasted no time in crafting a message around what she describes as being in need of “a new generation to lead us into the future.”

“We’re ready. Ready to move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past,” she said, kicking off her bid. 

Haley got an unexpected bump of momentum the day after her campaign launch when CNN anchor Don Lemon made a remark about her being past her “prime” in a segment about her candidacy, going on to say that women who are not in their 20s, 30s or 40s are not considered “prime” ages.  

Republican women seized on Lemon’s remarks. 

“So Don Lemon says Nikki Haley is past her prime as a woman. Didn’t take long for the first sexist attack on a female Republican candidate for president,” tweeted Karin Lips, a lawyer and conservative activist, garnering a retweet from Haley. 

Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) added: “Nothing terrifies liberals more than successful conservative women. When liberals feel threatened, they resort to sexist nonsense like this.” 

Democrats have often contended that the media’s coverage of female candidates is sexist. When Clinton ran in 2016, she built a messaging and fundraising apparatus around what would be a historic moment towards more gender equality. Four years later, and after four years of Trump, several prominent female candidates launched bids of their own. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) made persistence a key part of her slogan, reminding voters of when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried to quiet her on the Senate floor. 

With Biden likely to be at the top of the ticket again, Democrats are dancing carefully around his age, as well as less-than-ideal options of again putting forward a white man at the top of the ticket when both parties are looking for more diversity.  

While he may be the face of the Democratic Party for now, some say his policy priorities, Cabinet and top aides speak for themselves and are hoping they will shield him from too much criticism. 

“Joe Biden fights for all people. Nikki Haley fights for Nikki Haley,” Clymer said. “Marginalized communities will easily rally around Biden versus Haley.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden in Ukraine ahead of war anniversary: 'Kyiv stands'

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit Monday to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a gesture of solidarity that comes days before the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country.

Speaking alongside Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace, Biden recalled the fears nearly a year ago that Russia’s invasion forces might quickly take the Ukrainian capital. “One year later, Kyiv stands,” Biden said, jamming his finger for emphasis on his stand decorated with the U.S. and Ukrainian flags. “And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you and the world stands with you.”

The Ukraine visit comes at a crucial moment in the war as Biden looks to keep allies unified in their support for Ukraine as the war is expected to intensify with both sides preparing for spring offensives. Zelenskyy is pressing allies to speed up delivery of pledged weapon systems and is calling on the West to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine — something that Biden to date has declined to do.

In Kyiv, Biden announced an additional half-billion dollars in U.S. assistance, including shells for howitzers, anti-tank missiles, air surveillance radars and other aid but no new advanced weaponry.

Zelenskyy said he and Biden spoke about “long range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to Ukraine even though it wasn’t supplied before.” But he did not detail any new commitments.

Biden also got a short firsthand taste of the terror that Ukrainians have lived with for close to a year, as air raids sirens howled over the capital just as he and Zelenskyy were exiting the gold-domed St. Michael’s Cathedral, which they visited together. Looking solemn, they continued unperturbed as they laid a wreath and held a moment of silence at the Wall of Remembrance honoring Ukrainian soldiers killed since 2014.

Biden’s mission with his visit to Kyiv, which comes ahead of a scheduled trip to Warsaw, Poland, is to underscore that the United States is prepared to stick with Ukraine “as long as it takes” to repel Russian forces even as public opinion polling suggests that U.S. and allied support for providing weaponry and direct economic assistance has started to soften. For Zelenskyy, the symbolism of having the U.S. president stand side by side with him on Ukrainian land as the anniversary nears is no small thing as he prods the U.S. and European allies to provide more advanced weaponry and to step up the pace of delivery.

“I thought it was critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever, about U.S. support for Ukraine in the war,” Biden said.

The visit gave Biden an opportunity to get a firsthand look at the devastation the Russian invasion has caused on Ukraine. Thousands of Ukrainian troops and civilians have been killed, millions of refugees have fled the war, and Ukraine has suffered tens of billions of dollars of infrastructure damage.

Biden’s visit also marked an act of defiance against Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had hoped his military would swiftly overrun Kyiv within days. A year later, the Ukrainian capital stands and a semblance of normalcy has returned to the city as the fighting has concentrated in the country’s east, punctuated by cruise missile and drone attacks against military and civilian infrastructure.

Though Western surface-to-air missile systems have bolstered Ukraine’s defensives, the visit marked the rare occasion where a U.S. president has traveled to a conflict zone where the U.S. or its allies did not have control over the airspace. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the U.S. had given advance notice of the trip to Moscow to avoid any miscalculation that could bring the two nuclear-armed nations into direct conflict.

The U.S. military does not have a presence in Ukraine other than a small detachment of Marines guarding the embassy in Kyiv, making Biden’s visit more complicated than other recent visits by prior U.S. leaders to war zones.

Speculation has been building for weeks that Biden would pay a visit to Ukraine around the Feb. 24 anniversary of the Russian invasion. But the White House repeatedly had said that no presidential trip to Ukraine was planned, even after the Poland visit was announced earlier this month.

Since early morning on Monday many main streets and central blocks in Kyiv were cordoned without any official explanation. Later people started sharing videos of long motorcades of cars driving along the streets where the access was restricted.

At the White House, planning for Biden’s visit to Kyiv was tightly held — with a relatively small group of aides briefed on the plans — because of security concerns.

Asked by a reporter on Friday if Biden might include stops beyond Poland, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby replied, “Right now, the trip is going to be in Warsaw.” Moments later — and without prompting — Kirby added, “I said ‘right now.’ The trip will be in — to Warsaw. I didn’t want to make it sound like I was alluding to a change to it.

Biden quietly departed from Joint Base Andrews near Washington shortly after 4 a.m. on Sunday, making a stop at Ramstein Air Base in Germany before making his way into Ukraine.

Other western leaders have made the trip to Kyiv since the start of the war.

In June, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and then Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi traveled together by night train to Kyiv to meet with Zelenskyy. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Kyiv in November shortly after taking office.

This is Biden’s first visit to a war zone as president. His recent predecessors, Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, made surprise visits to Afghanistan and Iraq during their presidencies to meet with U.S. troops and those countries’ leaders.

___

Madhani and Miller reported from Washington.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

Source: TEST FEED1

Buttigieg pushes Norfolk Southern to support higher rail safety standards

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on Sunday urging the company to support higher rail safety standards amid growing concerns about the environmental consequences of its train derailment in northeastern Ohio. 

“I am writing to emphasize the urgent need for Norfolk Southern to demonstrate unequivocal support for the people of East Palestine and the surrounding areas, and to be a part of needed safety improvements across the industry,” Buttigieg wrote.

Buttigieg said he would soon lay out several steps to “immediately improve rail safety for workers and communities,” as well as calling on Congress to increase the cap on fines for railroad companies that violate safety regulations.

“This is the right time for Norfolk Southern to take a leadership position within the rail industry, shifting to a posture that focuses on supporting, not thwarting, efforts to raise the standard of U.S. rail safety regulation,” the secretary wrote.

Buttigieg’s has come under mounting criticism from GOP lawmakers for his handling of the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals near the Pennsylvania state line earlier this month. The incident causing a massive fire and prompting authorities to evacuate about half of the 4,800 residents in the surrounding area.

The East Palestine Fire Department last week informed village residents that they are able to return to their homes, however residents have continued to raise concerns about whether the air and water around them is safe for people, pets and livestock in the aftermath of the incident.

Buttigieg noted that Shaw had indicated that his company is committed to helping the East Palestine community recover from the crash.

“But it is clear that area residents are not satisfied with the information, presence, and support they are getting from Norfolk Southern in the aftermath and recovery. It is imperative that your company be unambiguous and forthright in its commitment to take care of the residents – now and in the future,” Buttigieg wrote.  

He added that Norfolk Southern and other railroad companies have spent millions of dollars in the courts and lobbying lawmakers to oppose increased safety regulation, noting several other train derailments that happened under Norfolk Southern’s watch.

“The people of East Palestine cannot be forgotten, nor can their pain be simply considered the cost of doing business. Norfolk Southern must live up to its commitment to make residents whole – and must also live up to its obligation to do whatever it takes to stop putting communities such as East Palestine at risk,” Buttigieg wrote in his letter.

Earlier this week, Norfolk Southern announced it will launch a $1 million charitable fund initiative to help the East Palestine community, which included providing more than 100 air purifiers for residents to use in their homes.

Source: TEST FEED1

Battle lines form in Democrats' race for Feinstein seat

Democrats are bracing for a fractious race to fill the seat of retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), with high-profile party members pitted against one another along battle lines formed by both identity and ideology.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has already drawn the support of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the race, while Rep. Katie Porter, a progressive darling, raised $1.3 million in the first 24 hours after announcing her candidacy. Meanwhile, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), an ally of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), is planning to jump into the race later this month.

With the race putting a sharp focus on the divisions within a party looking ahead to the 2024 presidential election, observers are expecting a tough — and expensive — fight.

“I see that as kind of like an arms race that almost mutuals out in the end,” said Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has endorsed Porter, regarding the money being raised on all sides. “The question is what message are you advancing after you raise the resources?”

Schiff, a member of the House Democratic leadership and ally of some of the most powerful and mainstream figures in the party, closed 2022 with nearly $21 million on hand in his campaign accounts. Porter had over $7.6 million in her campaign accounts at the end of 2022 and Lee, who filed to run this week, lagged behind with less than $100,000 in her accounts.

As the Democrats gear up for the campaign against each other, officials in California see the race amplifying not just ideological differences, but also issues of race, gender and identity.

Californians have had a woman representing them in the Senate for over 30 years, since Feinstein was elected in 1992. Since then, the likes of former Sen. Barbara Boxer and now-Vice President Kamala Harris were also sent to the Senate by California voters. It’s a trend that some in the Golden State don’t see breaking.

“I think the lens, if you will, of having an African American female representing us in the Senate, representing California, could be huge,” said Susan Hildreth, who is the head of the Democrats of Rossmoor, one of the most influential Democratic groups in northern California. “I don’t want to say that the guys don’t have a chance, they certainly do. But I think there are different lenses that people will use beyond progressive or centrist to help them make their decision about who they’re going to support.”

Laura Lowell, the chair of the Calaveras County Democratic Central Committee, echoed the sentiment that it would be tough for some voters to not have a woman representing the state in the chamber.

“In my adult voting memory, I only remember having female senators until Sen. (Alex) Padilla,” Lowell said. “And I will miss that if we lost a female representing California in the Senate. I just think that would be so, so disappointing.” 

But others point to Porter’s ability to inspire grassroots activism, which has helped propel her to strong fundraising performances in previous election cycles and has helped her hold down a House seat that is in a competitive district. The politician-activist relationship is one that has been important in the progressive movement.

“I have heard her speak to what it means to knock on someone’s door and not to just drop a leaflet… but to speak to the issues that are important to the activists and to connect with the voter,” said Ada Briceño, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Orange County, which Porter represents. “There is no substitute for that. That is a necessary part of campaigning. And she gets it, and she inspires people to want to do that.”

One advantage that Schiff has compared to his rivals is the sheer amount of national attention he has gotten during the administration of former President Trump. Schiff was the lead prosecutor of the former president’s first impeachment proceedings and was a member of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

“He jumped on stage and did a lot of MSNBC in the last few years,” Green said. 

Green said Porter would be focused on building a strong ground game ahead of the 2024 election, something that he thinks won’t be matched by a candidate like Schiff.

“She is very intent on… really funding a ground game and recruiting a volunteer grassroots ground game to make the case one-on-one with voters at the door,” Green said. “I don’t think that’s something that will at all be replicated by Schiff.”

While Democrats contend with the ideological and identity divides in the race, some operatives in the state are asking themselves what comes after the Senate race, with House bailing to run for statewide office.

While Lee and Schiff both serve districts where they are safe from GOP competition in general elections, Porter has run close races against Republicans in both of her election campaigns. Lowell said the question over what seats that Democrats in the state think they can protect in future cycles may play into the 2024 Senate race. “Having observed the workings of this machine, it makes sense to me that they’re making those calculations and thinking it through,” Lowell said. “Because we would need to protect Katie’s seat. We can’t afford to lose another seat in California

Source: TEST FEED1

Pritzker embraces role as DeSantis foil on Illinois schools

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) is setting himself up as the liberal answer to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), advancing progressive policies across a range of culture war issues, including abortion, gun rights and, in particular, education.

In his State of the State address on Wednesday, Pritzker proposed massive increases to Illinois’s education budget while indirectly criticizing DeSantis and his highly publicized moves on Florida schools.

“There is a virulent strain of nationalism plaguing our nation, led by demagogues who are pushing censorship, with a particular attack right now on school board members and library trustees,” Pritzker said.

Democratic strategists are applauding the boldness from Pritzker and believe others in the party should emulate his willingness to come to the front lines to combat Republicans such as DeSantis on issues including education. 

“DeSantis is someone who national Democrats haven’t really started to react to yet, so yes, it is interesting to see Gov. Pritzker on these education issues, on these culture — more of education issues, start to take him on,” said Democratic strategist Jon Reinish.

DeSantis, who is considered a probable 2024 White House candidate, has made headlines for multiple controversial moves on education, including book bans in schools, rejecting the AP African American studies course and banning discussion of LGBTQ issues for young students. 

Pritzker said during his address that “it’s all meaningless if we become a nation that bans books from school libraries about racism suffered by Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron, and tells kids they can’t talk about being gay. It signals to Black and brown people and Asian Americans and Jews and Muslims that our authentic stories can’t be told.”

Like DeSantis, Pritzker was reelected by a double-digit margin last year after leaning into hot-button topics.

He’s moved to protect reproductive health and encouraged women from states where abortion is banned to seek refuge in his. Last month, he signed a ban on assault weapons that is currently the subject of multiple court challenges.

And, in 2019, he signed an executive order saying that Illinois schools must be “affirming and inclusive” of transgender and non-binary students.

“Look, I think if you’re J.B. Pritzker, you’re advocating for your own people,” Reinish said. “Illinois is a diverse state. Chicago was one of the most populous and diverse and prosperous areas of the country with all of the diversity and complexity of a big metro area. So J.B. Pritzker is going to battle for his own constituents.” 

While DeSantis has laid out the reasoning behind his policies as protecting children from dangerous or inappropriate ideas, Pritzker said in his speech this week that is far from the real intention. 

“It’s an ideological battle by the right wing, hiding behind a claim that they would protect our children but whose real intention is to marginalize people and ideas they don’t like,” he said.

Democratic strategist Fernand Amandi said he thinks it’s good for Democrats to push back on Republicans who are “weaponizing education,” but also “you can’t escape the idea that presidential politics is another one of the motivators fueling this engagement.”

“I think it’s probably good politics for any Democratic office holder who has national ambitions to try and establish themselves as a foil of Ron DeSantis,” Amandi said.

During his speech, Pritzker spent much of his time laying out priorities for pre-K, K-12 education and higher education. The governor said he wants an increase in $506 million to go towards K-12 and more than $200 million in early education that would go towards transportation, school funding and universal pre-K. 

In a statement to The Hill, Natalie Edelstein, a spokesperson for Pritzker, didn’t mention DeSantis but took the opportunity to slam Republicans and show how Pritzker is setting himself up as an alternative to their policies. 

“Governor Pritzker’s budget proposal invests heavily in our children and in the future of Illinois. The Land of Lincoln is one that doesn’t hide from the truth, it embraces it. While the GOP continues to offer nothing but demagoguery and conjecture, Governor Pritzker is proud to put forth his fifth consecutive balanced budget, accompanied by a vision for the state that brings everyone along and uplifts families everywhere. In Illinois, we will always be honest about our nation’s history,” Edelstein said. 

In January, Pritzker went after DeSantis more directly over his administration’s decision to block the AP African American studies course in his state.

While Florida said the course had “no educational value,” objecting to the inclusion of sections on intersectionality and Black queer studies, Pritzker sent a letter to the College Board saying, “one Governor should not have the power to dictate the facts of U.S. history. In Illinois, we reject any curriculum modifications designed to appease extremists like the Florida Governor and his allies.”

When asked for comment about Pritzker’s speech and recent attacks on DeSantis, a spokesperson for the Florida governor sent a clip of DeSantis going after Pritzker during a Fox News interview regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

“Pritzker himself, he sent his family to Florida. He sent his family to Florida during the lockdowns, so while the people of Illinois are suffering under his petty tyranny, his family is down living in freedom in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in the interview. “Our worst critics always somehow find a way to be in Florida.”

Pritzker, along with California’s Gavin Newsom, is one of the few Democratic governors drawing national attention for going toe-to-toe with their Republican counterparts.

“Governor Pritzker has seemingly picked up on the same strategy that Governor Newsom is in California in trying to draw a direct contrast not only with Ron DeSantis, but with today’s Republicans by picking fights with them on these cultural issues like education, which is now seemingly the Republicans’ Ground Zero culture war issue,” Amandi said. 

As DeSantis becomes a rising star in the Republican Party and a potential 2024 candidate, Democrats say it is going to be imperative for their leaders to take on his policies and actions. 

“I applaud [Pritzker]. I think it’s wise politics for sure to try and define DeSantis, not just for the people of Illinois, but for a national audience before DeSantis defines himself. It’s good politics for other Democrats to follow his lead,” Amandi said.

Source: TEST FEED1

Alleged Russian war crimes, US aid to Ukraine in spotlight nearly one year after invasion

Russia’s war on Ukraine dominated the Sunday morning political talk shows, with U.S. lawmakers and officials discussing alleged Russian war crimes, continued U.S. support for Kyiv and new concerns about potential lethal Chinese aid to Moscow almost one year since the invasion was launched. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday that it’s “starkly clear” Russia has committed crimes against humanity during the war. 

Blinken was among a number of U.S. officials and lawmakers who were in Germany for the annual Munich Security Conference, where the Russia-Ukraine war was a top focus. 

“The determination that we made — crimes against humanity — that the vice president announced today is unfortunately, starkly clear,” the secretary said. Vice President Kamala Harris said the same in a speech on Saturday.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), meanwhile, stressed on ABC’s “This Week” that the U.S. should designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and start training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.

“We’re talking about the vice president of the United States declaring that Russia is involved in crimes against humanity in Germany of all places, you know, echoes of World War II. How can she say that — and she is correct — and not give the victim of the crime against humanity the defensive weapons they need to stop the crime?” Graham said, referring to Harris.

“So we need to do two things quickly, make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law, which would make it harder for China to give weapons to Russia, and we need to start training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 now,” the senator said.

The Biden administration last month approved sending battle tanks to Ukraine, but some are now pushing the Pentagon to answer Kyiv’s calls for F-16 fighter jets. 

“We need to throw everything we can into this fight so that they can win,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said of Ukraine on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, adding that he’s hopeful the U.S. will move to supply the fighter jets. “And I think the momentum is building for this to happen.”

Blinken said in another interview aired Sunday on NBC News that the U.S. is also “very concerned” that Beijing is “strongly considering” supplying Moscow with “lethal assistance” that could include both ammunition and weapons.  

The revelation comes amid heightened U.S.-China tensions after the Biden administration shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that had flown over sensitive sights through U.S. airspace, despite Beijing’s assertions that it was a civilian weather balloon blown off-course.

Blinken postponed a scheduled visit to China earlier this month amid the controversy.

“China is trying to have it both ways. Publicly, they present themselves as a country striving for peace in Ukraine. But privately, as I said, we’ve seen already over these past months the provision of non-lethal assistance that does go directly to aiding and abetting Russia’s war effort,” Blinken said from Munich.

“And some further information that we are sharing today… indicates that they are strongly considering providing lethal assistance to Russia,” Blinken said, though he clarified that it didn’t appear China had yet “crossed that line.” 

The secretary of State met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi amid the global conference, their first face-to-face since the balloon incident. 

Blinken and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Sunday both warned of “consequences” if China moves to provide lethal aid to Russia.

“We’re not going to advance and announce what we’re planning to do but we made clear to the Chinese that there will be consequences should they make that unfortunate decision,” Thomas-Greenfield said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“Our message to China is China should not do anything that will provide lethal support to the Russians to assist them in their brutal attacks on the Ukrainian people,” the ambassador said, noting that Blinken and President Biden have “made that message clear” in talks with Chinese officials. 

Biden is set to arrive in Poland on Tuesday to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and deliver remarks on global unity in Warsaw. 

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart” that there are no plans for the president to set foot across the border in Ukraine, but that he’ll reaffirm “a high degree of solidarity with the Ukrainian people” and work to “galvanize support” for Kyiv. 

Kirby said on “Fox News Sunday” that the U.S. wants to see an end to the war, but the Biden administration will support Ukraine for “as long as it takes,” even as some in the GOP press for aid to be scaled back.  

Source: TEST FEED1

Section 230, student debt top divisive Supreme Court agenda

The Supreme Court begins a two-week argument session on Tuesday that includes divisive clashes over student debt forgiveness and a controversial liability shield known as Section 230 that Big Tech argues is fundamental to social media.

The justices will begin the busy period by weighing the scope of Section 230 before hearing from the Biden administration the following week. Lawyers for the administration will be seeking to fend off challenges to block its plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for qualifying borrowers.

Rulings in the cases are expected by the summer. Here’s a preview of the two big clashes.

Section 230

The justices on Tuesday will hear Gonzalez v. Google, which could upend protections internet companies have had throughout the nearly two-decade rise of social media.

The plaintiffs, relatives of a victim who was among the more than 100 people killed in a series of attacks by Islamic State terrorists in Paris in November 2015, sued Google under federal anti-terrorism laws.

The family accused Google of aiding and abetting terrorism by purportedly recommending pro-ISIS content to users on YouTube, but Google argues that its recommendations are protected by Section 230, a controversial provision that shields internet companies from liability for content provided by a third-party user. 

The tech industry contends that taking the family’s side would dampen a critical shield that effectively allows the modern internet to function. 

“Recommendation algorithms are what make it possible to find the needles in humanity’s largest haystack,” Google wrote in its brief. 

The dispute may also have broader impacts beyond the tech industry.  

On Wednesday, the justices will interpret the anti-terrorism law that the family believes makes Google liable in the first place.

The court will take it up through Twitter v. Taamneh, a case brought by relatives of another ISIS terrorist attack victim that levies similar allegations against social media platforms.

Google has suggested that siding with the tech industry in Taamneh would resolve both cases, because Google wouldn’t have any liability to need Section 230’s protections.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and some legal scholars argue taking Big Tech’s position would let terrorism sympathizers off the hook, while other observers contend that holding the companies liable would lead foreign countries to reciprocate in their courts against the U.S.

Student debt forgiveness

The Biden administration will attempt to save its student debt forgiveness program on Feb. 28, when the Supreme Court will hear two challenges to the plan.

Six Republican-led states and two individual loan borrowers who did not qualify for the relief argue the administration should not be allowed to forgive up to $20,000 in debt for qualifying individuals.

Their lawsuits have stalled the program, and the justices now are poised to deliver the final verdict on whether Biden can move ahead with fulfilling one of his campaign promises.

The administration asserts that neither group has standing, meaning the legal capacity to sue, so the justices shouldn’t even consider the merits of their challenges.

If the justices do reach the merits, they will weigh whether Education Secretary Miguel Cardona could forgive the debts using an authority connected to the national emergency established during the pandemic.

“It’s going to help tens of millions of folks,” Biden said last month. “Folks on Pell Grants were hit financially because of the pandemic. Seventy percent of Black college students receive Pell Grants. For many Black students, the saving will be significant in my debt relief plan, including wiping out their student debt completely. That’s a real game-changer.”  

Both groups of challengers contend Cardona overstepped his authority, arguing the plan would need clearer authorization from Congress. 

“This case calls on the Court once again to stop the administration from unlawfully invoking COVID-19 to assert power beyond anything Congress could have conceived,” the six Republican attorneys general argued in their brief.

The individual challengers also argue Cardona did not follow proper procedures and that they were denied their rightful opportunity to provide written comments on the plan.

Other cases

The student debt arguments are sandwiched by two lower-profile cases that week.

On Monday, the justices will consider in Dubin v. United States the standard for committing aggravated identity theft, a federal crime that involves using another person’s identity in connection with committing certain felonies.

The case involves David Dubin, a psychological center executive who was convicted of health care fraud for submitting a false Medicaid claim. 

Since he used his patient’s name on the falsified document, lower courts also convicted Dubin of aggravated identity theft and sentenced him to two additional years in prison. Dubin argues he should be cleared of that charge, because the statute requires a nexus to the underlying crime and writing his patient’s name was merely “incidental.”

The justices will cap off the argument session on Wednesday with a case that was brought directly to the Supreme Court, because it is a dispute between two states: New York and New Jersey.

New Jersey is attempting to withdraw from the Waterfront Commission Compact, which it signed in 1953 to address organized crime at the Port of New York and New Jersey.

The case had been scheduled for a different day, but it was moved after the justices canceled an oral argument about Title 42, which limits migrants’ ability to seek asylum in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.

A group of GOP-led states is seeking to intervene in the case to defend the policy, but the justices on Thursday removed it from their calendar without explanation. 

That decision came days after the Biden administration suggested the case may be moot once the COVID-19 public health emergency expires in May.

Source: TEST FEED1