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Democrats ask Google to stop collecting location data following Supreme Court leak

A group of the over 40 Democrats sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai Tuesday evening urging the company to stop collecting and storing location data out of concern that it could be obtained by prosecutors to target individuals seeking abortions.

“We believe that abortion is health care. We will fight tooth and nail to ensure that it remains recognized as a fundamental right, and that all people in the United States have control over their own bodies,” the members, led by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore) and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), wrote. 

“That said, we are concerned that, in a world in which abortion could be made illegal, Google’s current practice of collecting and retaining extensive records of cell phone location data will allow it to become a tool for far-right extremists looking to crack down on people seeking reproductive health care,” they continued.

The leak of a majority decision indicating that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade has amplified concerns about the ways that digital footprints could be used to identify individuals seeking or assisting the termination of a pregnancy.

The letter to Pichai brings up the use of geofence warrants, a technique where law enforcement agencies request tech companies to turn over all data on devices that have passed through a certain area during a certain period.

Geofence warrants, also known as reverse-location warrants, have been issued to track Black Lives Matter protesters and to investigate robberies. Google received over 10,000 geofence warrants in 2020, the letter notes.

Law enforcement would have a much easier time obtaining the court-issued warrants needed to place those requests if the Supreme Court does ultimately strike down Roe V. Wade, given that over 20 states are already preparing to ban abortion.

“If abortion is made illegal by the far-right Supreme Court and Republican lawmakers, it is inevitable that right-wing prosecutors will obtain legal warrants to hunt down, prosecute and jail women for obtaining critical reproductive health care,” the lawmakers wrote. “The only way to protect your customers’ location data from such outrageous government surveillance is to not keep it in the first place.”

The Hill has reached out to Google for comment on the letter.

Source: TEST FEED1

Rhode Island governor to sign measure legalizing marijuana

Rhode Island is poised to become the 19th state in the nation to legalize marijuana for recreational use after legislators on Tuesday passed the bill through both the state House and Senate by wide margins.

Gov. Dan McKee (D) said he would sign the bill Wednesday when it reaches his desk.

The bill will immediately legalize the possession of marijuana in Rhode Island, and it will start the clock ticking on sales of recreational cannabis by the end of the year. A newly created Cannabis Control Commission will oversee and regulate the industry.

Rhode Island will eventually allow a maximum of 33 recreational pot dispensaries around the state. The three medial marijuana dispensaries that already operate in the state will be allowed to sell recreational marijuana as well.

New marijuana products will be taxed at about 20 percent, about average among other states where recreational pot sales are legal. Rhode Island will levy a 7 percent sales tax, cities and towns will add a 3 percent sales tax, and products will be subject to an additional 10 percent tax that is likely to add millions of dollars to state coffers.

The new bill will expunge tens of thousands of past charges for marijuana possession. But it allows towns and cities some flexibility in deciding to opt out of the legal regime. Those municipalities will be able to offer voters the chance to ban sales in voter referenda this fall.

“Ending the prohibition of cannabis is about more than tax revenue. The human consequences of cannabis prohibition have lasting ramifications,” said Jax James, who heads state policy for the pro-legalization group NORML. “This long-awaited legislation will work to rectify past wrongs while also moving Rhode Island forward toward a brighter future.”

The path to legalization has been a decade-long process as supporters worked to build a coalition in the legislature. In the final votes, most Democrats voted in favor of the law, while Republicans and a few Democrats voted against. The bill passed the state House 55 to 16, and in the Senate 32 to six.

Several police chiefs stood in the back of the legislative chamber as the vote passed to register their discontent.

“I don’t approve of this legislation because law enforcement has no real way of testing in the field for marijuana when someone is stopped,” said state Rep. Thomas Noret (D), one of the Democrats who voted against the bill.

McKee, who ascended to the top office after his predecessor Gina Raimondo (D) resigned to become President Biden’s Commerce Secretary, will sign the measure at a ceremony Wednesday afternoon. McKee faces Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea (D) and former Secretary of State Matt Brown (D) in September’s primary election.

With his signature, Rhode Island will become the 19th state in the nation, along with Washington, D.C., to legalize recreational marijuana. It was one of only two New England states, along with New Hampshire, to bar recreational sales.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden’s Iran envoy says return to nuclear deal ‘tenuous’

President Biden’s lead negotiator on nuclear talks with Iran on Wednesday gave a dim outlook for prospects of a return to the deal, telling a Senate panel it was “tenuous at best” despite nearly a year of talks to revive the agreement. 

U.S. Special Representative for Iran Rob Malley said in opening remarks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the U.S. would continue to reject Iranian demands that go beyond the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

He also said the U.S. is “fully prepared to live with and confront that reality” of moving forward without a return to the deal, and said that President Biden has “taken no action off the table,” in a veiled reference to possible military action, in coordination with Israel, to take out Iran’s nuclear program.

Malley said the administration is under no “illusion” that Iran’s government would not be a threat even with a return to the deal vacated by the Trump administration. But he said the Biden government does see the deal as imposing real constraints on Iran’s activities, and that without it Iran is more likely to become a nuclear power.

“Without those constraints, Iran has been accumulating sufficient enriched uranium and made sufficient technological advances to leave the breakout time is short as a matter of weeks, which means Iran could potentially produce enough fuel for bomb before we can know it, let alone stop it,” Malley said. 

Malley said that Iran remains a threat to the U.S. and allies, in particular Israel, acknowledging criticisms from lawmakers opposed to the JCPOA that the agreement does not address Tehran’s support for terrorism, ballistic weapons program, attacks on American forces in the region, detaining American and dual-nationals for political purposes and human rights atrocities at home. 

Malley also announced new sanctions will be imposed on an “international smuggling and money-laundering network” that he said provides hundreds of millions of dollars to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC), which the former Trump administration designated as a terrorist organization and that President Biden has reportedly decided to maintain despite requests from Iran to lift the designation. 

“As we have throughout the negotiations, we will continue to strongly push back” on Iran’s threatening behavior, Malley said in announcing the sanctions. 

Malley underscored in his opening statement that the administration is intent on “fully reviving the JCPOA if Iran is willing to do so,” and committed to submitting any agreement reached to Congress for review under the terms of the Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA). Senate Republicans, and some Democratic senators, have raised the congressional review mandated under INARA as a possible strategy to block the Biden administration from rejoining the JCPOA.

Malley said the administration’s strategy is to build on Iran’s return to the JCPOA to address its other destabilizing and threatening behavior “without the specter of a looming nuclear crisis.”

Source: TEST FEED1

O'Rourke calls on Abbott to cancel NRA convention appearance

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke is calling on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to cancel his scheduled appearance at the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) leadership summit in Houston following the elementary school shooting in Texas on Tuesday.

Abbott and other high-profile Republicans including Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and former President Trump have been slated to attend the event, which is billed as a “celebration of Second Amendment rights.” Trump is scheduled to deliver a keynote at the event on Friday.

Taking to Twitter late on Tuesday, O’Rourke criticized Abbott’s scheduled attendance and urged him to withdraw from the event, saying he would pull out if he had “any decency.”

“Governor Abbott, if you have any decency, you will immediately withdraw from this weekend’s NRA convention and urge them to hold it anywhere but Texas,” he tweeted.

O’Rourke also criticized the governor in an earlier tweet, saying, “The moment to stop Uvalde was right after Sandy Hook. After Santa Fe High. After El Paso. Instead,Abbott made it easier to carry guns in public.”

Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry on whether he planned to still attend the event. The Hill has also reached out to the NRA on any potential changes for the event.

Democrats have renewed calls for stricter guns laws after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two adults.

Abbott, who opposes gun control measures, issued a statement on Tuesday saying that “Texans are grieving for the victims of this senseless crime & for the community of Uvalde.”

O’Rourke is challenging Abbott in November’s elections. Abbott currently holds a 6.7-point lead in the RealClearPolitics polling index.

The NRA event this week is hosted by the Institute for Legislative Action, the lobbying arm of the NRA, and other speakers featured on the event website include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas).

Source: TEST FEED1

Cheney tests positive for COVID-19

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, becoming the latest lawmaker to come down with the virus.

Cheney said in a statement that she is fully vaccinated and boosted and is experiencing mild symptoms.

“While I am fully vaccinated and boosted, I received a positive test result for COVID-19 early Wednesday morning. I am currently experiencing mild symptoms and will follow the CDC’s guidance as I continue to work on behalf of the people of Wyoming,” Cheney said in a statement.

The news comes days after the Wyoming Republican on Sunday accepted the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. She delivered remarks, while maskless, at the in-person event.

Cheney — one of the two Republican lawmakers sitting on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — drew headlines for that speech, in which she said the country is facing “a threat we have never faced before — a former president attempting to unravel our constitutional republic.”

“At this moment we must all summon the courage to stand against that. The question for every one of us is in this time of testing, will we do our duty? Will we defend our Constitution? Will we stand for truth? Will we put duty to our oath above partisan politics? Or will we look away from danger, ignore the threat, embrace the lies, and enable the liar?” she added.

She also criticized former President Trump without mentioning him by name, saying “And this sacred obligation to defend the peaceful transfer of power has been honored by every American president… except one.”

Cheney’s COVID-19 diagnosis comes roughly two weeks before the Jan. 6 select committee is set to hold its first of eight public hearings.

In her statement on Wednesday, Cheney made note of the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 21 people, including 19 children.

The congresswoman said she is praying for those in the community.

“I continue to pray for the people of Uvalde, TX, especially the mothers and fathers who have lost their little children in this horrific attack,” Cheney wrote.

Cheney is the latest lawmaker to test positive for COVID-19 in recent days. On Monday, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) announced positive diagnoses, as did Reps. David Price (D-N.C.) and Susie Lee (D-Nev.) over the weekend.

Source: TEST FEED1

The real reason a judge stopped the Biden administration from ending Title 42 expulsions

On May 20, a federal district court judge issued a nationwide injunction ordering the Biden administration not to terminate its Title 42 order, which requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to process illegal land border crossers promptly (15 minutes in an outdoor setting) — without asylum screening or other Title 8 immigration processes — and expel them back to Mexico through the closest port of entry.

Nearly 2 million migrants have been expelled under the order since it was instituted in 2020 as part of former President Trump’s pandemic response.

The administration disagrees and intends to appeal the decision to a higher court. According to the administration, “The authority to set public health policy nationally should rest with the Centers for Disease Control [CDC], not with a single district court.” 

I agree that national public health policies should be set by the CDC, not by district court judges. But that’s not what happened in this case. 

The Title 42 order was issued to reduce the number of migrants held in congregate settings at ports of entry and Border Patrol stations because of the risk it posed of introducing, transmitting, and spreading COVID-19 in the United States. 

CDC terminated the Title 42 order on April 1, 2022, because less burdensome measures are now available to mitigate those risks. The termination, however, wasn’t scheduled to be effective until May 23 because DHS needed time to institute operational plans for implementing the termination order and to establish additional COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Notice-and-comment requirements

The CDC did not comply with the notice-and-comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it terminated the Title 42 order. According to the CDC, its termination order was not a rule. Moreover, even if it were a rule, it would qualify for the “good cause” and “foreign affairs” exceptions to those requirements.

The CDC claims that there is good cause to dispense with the APA requirements because the Title 42 order is restricting asylum applications and other immigration processes, and provisions in Title 42 state that such orders should last no longer than necessary to protect public health. It would be impracticable and contrary to public interest and immigration laws, the administration argued, to delay the effective date of the termination beyond May 23.

As to the foreign affairs exception, the CDC claims that the Title 42 order concerns ongoing discussions with Canada, Mexico, and other countries regarding immigration and how best to control COVID-19 transmission over shared borders; consequently, it directly involves a foreign affairs function of the United States.

Twenty-four states filed a suit seeking to enjoin the CDC’s termination. The states contend that termination would cause a major increase in undocumented immigrants coming into their states which, among other things, would increase their law enforcement and healthcare costs.

They also claim that the termination order violates the APA’s notice-and-comment requirements.

Judge’s decision

The judge decided the administration had not advanced its argument that its termination order is not a rule. In any event, the termination is a “rule” because it will end the Title 8 immigration restrictions and resume normal immigration enforcement operations. Thus, according to the judge, it is an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect “designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy.”

The CDC’s justification for invoking the “good cause” exception, the judge determined, is flawed for at least four reasons.

First, the judge said, its rationale suggests that the CDC had insufficient time to undergo the APA’s notice-and-comment process. This ignores the fact that the CDC was ordered to consider the need to continue its Title 42 order by an Executive Order issued more than 14 months before it terminated the Title 42 order.

Second, the CDC provided time for DHS to establish operational plans to implement the termination, which acknowledges that the termination will impact DHS’s immigration enforcement operations. 

Third, the judge said the CDC’s rationale is overbroad in that it would apply to every rule issued under Title 42, regardless of the circumstances.

Fourth, an agency’s response to a dangerous and largely unknown contagious disease may justify emergency action that dispenses with the normal rulemaking process, but the CDC has not explained how the present circumstances prevented it from issuing its termination order through the required notice and comment process.

The termination order only includes one sentence supporting its position that the foreign affairs exception applies to its termination order: The CDC simply states that it “concerns ongoing discussions with Canada, Mexico, and other countries regarding immigration and how best to control COVID-19 transmission over shared borders.”

The administration has submitted two declarations that expand upon its foreign affairs rationale during the course of this litigation; however, judicial review of the termination rule is limited to the information included in the termination order, which doesn’t provide a sufficient rationale.  Subsequently submitted rationales cannot be considered.

The judge concluded the states have established a substantial likelihood of success in this suit based on the CDC’s failure to comply with the rulemaking requirements of the APA. Accordingly, he granted their request for an injunction halting the implementation of the Title 42 order.

Is he right? That will be determined by the appellate court that reviews the administration’s appeal.

In the meantime, the administration should stop making the misleading claim that the district court judge is usurping the CDC’s authority to set public health policies. He is simply requiring the CDC to issue its rulemaking policies lawfully by complying with the APA’s notice-and-comment requirements.

Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an Executive Branch Immigration Law Expert for three years. He subsequently served as an immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for 20 years.  Follow him at https://nolanrappaport.blogspot.com

Source: TEST FEED1

Kimmel: Politics staying on late night

Jimmy Kimmel says late-night TV is staying political, even when former President Trump is out of the picture.

 The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host has said that his ABC show had to adjust to becoming more politically charged following Trump’s 2016 election win because disregarding what was going on in Washington and with the country’s new commander in chief would be ignoring the “elephant in the room.” 

“Well, maybe elephant wasn’t a great [analogy],” Kimmel said of Trump in a recent interview with ITK. 

“More like a wildebeest,” Kimmel cracked. “I think elephants are mostly docile.”

The 54-year-old comedian — who last week said he had tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time in a month — is one of several late-night TV hosts who frequently skewer Trump and Republicans in their monologues and in sketches.

Last month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she reported Kimmel to Capitol Police after he made a joke about her in a monologue that referenced Will Smith’s infamous Oscars slap.

“I think, unfortunately, there’s a whole crew of lunatics ready to fill his orange shoes,” Kimmel told ITK of the 45th president. 

“He seems to have given rise to an army of cretins.”

Kimmel — who touched down in the nation’s capital recently for the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center honoring Jon Stewart — also told another outlet that he saw no comedic value in the GOP potentially winning back the House in the midterm elections.

“I will see no positive in that whatsoever. None. Zero. I don’t look at it like that,” he said.

“To me that question is like, ‘Would it be funny if people threw a bunch of garbage on your lawn?’ ” Kimmel exclaimed.

“I mean, maybe to others, but not really to me.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Gallego knocks Sinema over remarks in wake of Texas school shooting

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) on Tuesday knocked Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) following the elementary school shooting in Texas that killed 21 people, including 19 children, criticizing his Grand Canyon State colleague for supporting the legislative filibuster.

Sinema on Tuesday — hours after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at a Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — wrote on Twitter that she was “horrified and heartbroken” by the massacre.

“We are horrified and heartbroken by the senseless tragedy unfolding at Robb Elementary School in Texas and grateful to the first responders for acting swiftly. No families should ever have to fear violence in their children’s schools,” Sinema wrote.

Just over one hour later, Gallego told Sinema to “just stop,” pointing to her stance on the filibuster, which requires bills to secure 60 votes for passage in the Senate.

“Please just stop.. unless you are willing to break the filibuster to actually pass sensible gun control measures you might as well just say ‘thoughts and prayers,’ ” Gallego wrote on Twitter.

Sinema, along with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), has been opposed to removing the filibuster to pass various bills, which many Democrats have called for amid stark partisan gridlock in Washington.

Manchin on Tuesday, in the aftermath of the shooting, said “it makes no sense at all why we can’t do commonsense” gun limits, but reiterated his support for the filibuster when pressed on if he would nix the 60-vote threshold to pass firearm reform.

“The filibuster is the only thing that prevents us from total insanity. Total insanity,” Manchin said.

The House in March 2021 passed two measures aimed at tightening background checks on firearm sales and transfers, but both bills have since languished in the Senate because of GOP opposition.

The Bipartisan Background Checks Act would enact new background check requirements for gun transactions between private parties, and the Enhanced Background Checks Act would extend the review period in which a background check can be conducted prior to purchasing a firearm.

Even if the Senate were to do away with the legislative filibuster, however, the bipartisan background check bill does not have enough support among the Democratic Party to pass in the upper chamber. Manchin has said that the legislation goes too far.

The West Virginia Democrat has been supportive of resurrecting his push for a bill he crafted with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), which requires that firearms sales at a gun show or online be subject to a background check, but allowed exemptions for sales between family and friends.

The proposal, however, ultimately failed in the Senate in a 54-46 vote.

Tuesday was not the first time Gallego has publicly taken on his Arizona colleague. In January, he said it was “past time” for Sinema and the Senate to pass legislation protecting voting rights.

Also in January, Gallego said he had been approached by other Democrats about potentially challenging Sinema for her perch in the upper chamber. She is up for reelection in 2024.

Punchbowl News reported days later that Gallego had met with some of Sinema’s donors in New York.

Sinema’s office declined to comment when reached by The Hill.

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7 in 10 say it’s a good time to find a quality job: Gallup

Most Americans feel it is a good time to find a quality job, a new Gallup poll finds, despite high inflation and some fears of a potential recession in the near future.

Seventy-one percent of Americans in a Gallup poll released Wednesday said they believe it is a good time to find a quality job. That’s near the 21-year high of 74 percent that Gallup recorded last October.

The U.S. unemployment rate currently stands at 3.6 percent and has remained below 5 percent since last September.

The percentage of U.S. adults who said it was a good time to find a quality job dropped significantly at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 68 percent in January 2020 to 22 percent in April 2020, but it has since recovered and remained above 70 percent since last August. 

A record-high 25 percent of the workforce said at the start of the pandemic they thought it was “very” or “fairly likely” they would lose their job in the next year, but that number is now at 15 percent. The figure is still higher than during the few years before the pandemic began. 

Non-college graduates and those whose annual household incomes are less than $75,000 were more likely to report being concerned they will lose their jobs in the next year than college graduates and those making more than $75,000. 

Still, almost two-thirds of those polled said they believe they are “very” or “somewhat likely” to find a new job just as good as their current one if they are laid off. That’s relatively unchanged from the last time Gallup asked that question in 2016. 

A Gallup analyst concluded that high inflation and gas prices are among the top economic issues on Americans’ minds, but the low unemployment rate is keeping views of the job market largely positive.

The survey of 1,018 U.S. adults was conducted April 1-18 via landlines and cellphones with an overall margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Source: TEST FEED1