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But Colin Kahl, the Pentagon's top policy adviser, said the Pentagon still wasn't prepared to meet Kyiv's calls for gas-guzzling M1 Abrams main battle tanks. "I just don't think we're there yet," said Kahl, who had just returned from a trip to Ukraine. U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said President Joe Biden's administration is next expected to approve Stryker armored vehicles for Ukraine. Pressure has been mounting on Germany to send its Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine -- or at least approve their transfer from third countries. A German government source told Reuters Germany would allow German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine to help its defense against Russia if the United States agrees to send its own tanks.

☆ All eyes on Germany when defense leaders meet on arming Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Idrees Ali | Thomson Reuters | National Security Correspondent Focusing On The Pentagon In Washington D.C. Reports On U.S. Military Activity | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Ints KalninsWASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - When dozens of defense ministers meet at an airbase in Germany on Friday, all eyes will be set on what Berlin is - and is not - willing to provide Ukraine. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been set to meet German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht in Berlin before the Ramstein conference, but she resigned from her post on Monday. Instead, Germany's new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will host Austin on Thursday. Some Eastern European officials have publicly called on Germany to allow the transfer of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Well, they're not alone," British Defense minister Ben Wallace said on Monday.

Berlin has veto power over any decision to export its Leopard tanks, fielded by NATO-allied armies across Europe and seen by defence experts as the most suitable for Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stressed the condition about U.S. tanks several times in recent days behind closed doors, the German government source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. This week, Britain raised the pressure on Berlin by becoming the first Western country to send tanks, pledging a squadron of its Challengers. Poland and Finland have already said they will send Leopard tanks if Germany approves them. "The supplies of Western tanks must outpace another invasion of Russian tanks."

WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Tuesday to hear arguments over a bid by Turkey's state-owned lender Halkbank (HALKB.IS) to avoid criminal charges in the United States for allegedly helping Iran evade economic sanctions. The justices are weighing Halkbank's appeal of a lower court's ruling in favor of the U.S. government that allowed the prosecution of the bank to proceed. The case tests Halkbank's contention that it is shielded from prosecution because, as an entity majority owned by the Turkish government, it has sovereign immunity. Halkbank's case has complicated U.S.-Turkish relations, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan calling the 2019 American charges against the bank an "unlawful, ugly" step. They also said Halkbank helped Iran secretly transfer $20 billion of restricted funds, with at least $1 billion laundered through the U.S. financial system.

Medication abortion has drawn increasing attention since the U.S. Supreme Court last June overturned its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide. Nearly all abortions, including medication abortions, are now banned in 12 states, and 16 states that permit some abortions also had laws restricting medication abortion as of November, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. "The FDA, by approving chemical abortion drugs for home use, puts a woman or girl's life at risk." In its court filing, the FDA said there was no basis for second-guessing the FDA's judgment. The FDA said that pulling the drug would force patients seeking abortions in many cases to undergo unnecessary and more invasive surgical abortion.

☆ Why 2 law professors who think Biden's student-loan forgiveness is illegal believe the GOP-led states that blocked the debt relief 'utterly lack standing'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Two law professors filed an amicus brief to SCOTUS regarding Biden's student-debt relief. They said they don't think the relief is legal, but the six GOP-led states who sued do not have standing. The states cannot use student-loan company MOHELA in this case, the professors said. The states "utterly lack standing for the remedy they received"Bray and Baude's central argument is that Missouri should not be bringing this lawsuit. If MOHELA will suffer revenue loss from loans it would have serviced prior to debt relief, then MOHELA is the entity that should be suing, they said.

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden departs the White House to board the Marine One helicopter for travel to Delaware from the White House in Washington, U.S. January 13, 2023. The White House has said the documents were "inadvertently misplaced" and that it is cooperating fully but has declined to respond to detailed questions on the investigation. While working as the Obama campaign's general counsel in 2008, Bauer helped vet Biden as Obama's pick for vice president. He is married to Anita Dunn, another Biden confidant and senior White House adviser. Bauer will now work with White House lawyers as Biden responds to the special counsel's investigation.

☆ Revoke Bolsonaro's visa, 41 U.S. Democrats urge Biden administration
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Patricia Zengerle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

They sent a letter calling on the administration to support democracy and the rule of law in Brazil. State Department and White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. The State Department has said repeatedly its policy is not to discuss specific visa cases. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington had not received any specific requests from Brazil over Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro has said on social media that he would return to Brazil earlier than planned for medical reasons.

Launched in 2020, the app has previously been used to allow people crossing legally at land ports of entry to submit their information beforehand and for non-governmental organizations to request humanitarian entry for certain migrants. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration touts the app as a more regulated, potentially quicker alternative to crossing the border. Rodriguez has been camping in Matamoros, a Mexican border city across from Brownsville, since late November with over a dozen family members, some of whom have already crossed into the United States. Claudia Martinez, a 38-year-old Venezuelan waiting in Tijuana, was unable to access CBP One despite several tries. Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Daina Solomon in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Jackie Botts in Oaxaca City, Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 2 batches of classified documents found in Biden's offices: a complete timeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

President Joe Biden previously called out the former president for holding onto classified documents. Here, a timeline lays out Biden's involvement with the classified documents — and how it sometimes overlapped with the turmoil around Trump's classified documents probe. In September, President Joe Biden commented on the matter: "How that could possibly happen, how anyone could be that irresponsible." November 2, 2022: First batch of classified documents found at Biden's officeMonths later, Biden's team discovered about 10 classified documents at Penn Biden Center, a nonprofit think tank in DC that Biden started in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania. "He takes classified documents very seriously."

☆ Janet Yellen is staying put to oversee billions in climate spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is digging in to oversee billions of dollars in federal climate and infrastructure spending that she believes will transform the economy, close associates say, defying demands from Republicans to step down. Yellen told CNBC late last year that she was "in good company" in misjudging inflation, and that Biden's COVID spending plans were needed to boost the recovery. White House and Treasury officials say inflation was spurred by supply chain problems and exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but note that inflation is now easing and investments in manufacturing will reduce future supply chain log-jams. Treasury had no comment on the Republican concerns, but officials have previously said the department's policies are overdue and urgently needed. In addition to advancing Biden's domestic climate agenda, Treasury officials say another key priority for Yellen in 2023 will be advancing reforms of the World Bank and other multilateral lenders to free up more resources for countries to address climate change and other priorities.

The party-line vote on Tuesday aims to do just that, setting up a "Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government." The body is set to launch a wide-ranging probe of Democrat Biden's administration, which Republicans accuse of "weaponizing" the FBI against Trump. Among the federal agencies targeted are those looking into Trump's attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat and alleged mishandling of classified documents. On Monday the White House said that lawyers for Biden found classified documents at a Washington think tank affiliated with the president. That would create a situation where he could seek to oversee a federal investigation into himself.

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday wrestled with a labor dispute that could narrow federal protections for unions by making it easier for employers to sue over strikes that result in damage to company property. The Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, has leaned toward curbing the power of labor unions in rulings in recent years. 174, representing the company's truck drivers, in state court accusing the union of intentional property destruction during the strike. Glacier Northwest urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that federal preemption does not bar claims made under state law involving intentional destruction of an employer's property. While the U.S. Supreme Court has found that labor unions can be sued in state court for violent or threatening conduct, the union argued, this narrow exception should not be expanded to permit property damage claims brought under state law.

☆ Trial of Sayfullo Saipov, accused of killing 8 people in truck terror attack on NYC bike path, begins
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Opening arguments kicked off Monday in the federal trial of Sayfullo Saipov, the Uzbek immigrant who in 2017 plowed a rented pickup truck on a New York City bike path, killing eight people in its path of destruction. The Oct. 31 attack was the deadliest terrorist attack in New York City since Sept. 11, 2001. Police said Saipov, then 29, was inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group, or ISIS, in launching the attack. How the attack unfoldedIn the attack, Saipov rented a white Home Depot pickup truck in Passaic, New Jersey, and drove it into Manhattan where the streets were filling up with Halloween festivities. Investigators later found a note that Saipov left in the truck, claiming the attack was in the name of ISIS.

The policy was put into effect by Trump's administration in February 2020 and ended by Biden's in March 2021. The judge later rejected the Republican bid to intervene, saying the request by the state officials came too late, and the Chicago-based 7th U.S. The Republican officials had told the justices that they should be able to defend Trump's rule, saying it has been estimated to save states collectively about $1 billion annually. The Supreme Court last year heard arguments over a separate bid by Republican state officials to intervene in defense of Trump's public charge rule but ultimately dismissed the case without resolving the issue. Texas on Thursday filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging Biden's rule.

NSO had argued that it is immune from being sued because it was acting as an agent for unidentified foreign governments when it installed the "Pegasus" spyware. "NSO's spyware has enabled cyberattacks targeting human rights activists, journalists and government officials," Meta said. In one notorious case, NSO spyware was used - allegedly by the Saudi government - to target the inner circle of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi shortly before he was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. According to court papers, the accounts of 1,400 WhatsApp users were accessed using the Pegasus tracking software, secretly using their smartphones as surveillance devices. The U.S. government in November 2021 blacklisted NSO and Israel's Candiru, accusing them of providing spyware to governments that used it to "maliciously target" journalists, activists and others.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar to file a brief expressing the Biden administration's view on the litigation and whether the Supreme Court should take up the matter. Charter schools are publicly funded but operated separately from school boards run by local governments. The 4th Circuit ruling did not make a conclusion on the Title IX claim. Circuit Judge Barbara Milano Keenan, in a decision joined by her fellow Democratic appointees on the 4th Circuit. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority.

☆ With Kevin McCarthy as Speaker, Congress faces a messy debt ceiling fight — and Biden might have to mint a trillion dollar platinum coin
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Those included using the debt ceiling as leverage to slash spending on Democratic priorities like Social Security. These GOP demands could be especially problematic for President Joe Biden as Congress will have to raise the debt ceiling by mid-2023. Importantly, the debt ceiling isn't tied to new spending — it allows the government to pay for what Congress has already appropriated. In 2011, amid another debt ceiling standoff between congressional Republicans and then-President Barack Obama, S&P downgraded the US' credit rating, which top officials at the rating agency said was due to the delay in raising the debt ceiling. Other possibilities include using the 14th Amendment to sidestep the debt ceiling.

☆ If the Supreme Court strikes down student-loan forgiveness, it could have 'startling implications,' Biden says — and set a strange legal precedent going forward
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Biden's administration filed its full legal defense of its student-debt relief plan to the Supreme Court. Student-loan company MOHELA is central to the lawsuit filed by six GOP-led states. The DOJ said that ruling in favor of the states' argument could set a strange legal precedent. She added that the states' standing is questionable, and she's concerned of the legal precedent it would set should the Supreme Court rule in their favor. Should the Supreme Court rule in favor of the states, it would have "startling implications," the filing said.

Through the end of business hours on Friday, GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy had lost 13 straight votes for speaker of the House. Vote after vote, hour after hour, the Democratic minority cast its ballots for the conference's leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York. And as a result, Jeffries won vote after vote for speaker, though McCarthy finally pulled ahead on Friday. Democrats can vote as a block from now till this Congress is over, but they simply didn't have the numbers to elect Jeffries as speaker. With every vote in the House this week, they’ve shown that criticism to be overstated.

COVINGTON, Ky. — A key part of the White House plan to combat the new House GOP majority was on vivid display Wednesday: President Joe Biden talked about bridges and bipartisanship, while Republicans bickered among themselves. They plan to show him addressing real-world problems that are Americans' top concern while painting congressional Republicans as being focused on raw politics. They are refining plans to pressure House Republicans in swing districts to stop any impeachment votes in committee — before the issue reaches the House floor. The general view inside the White House is that there is little of substance to worry about. There, Barack Obama challenged McConnell and congressional Republicans to “help us rebuild this bridge!” and put unemployed construction workers to work.

☆ Elizabeth Warren calls for the Supreme Court to reject the 'baseless lawsuits' that blocked Biden's student-loan forgiveness from reaching 'millions of working people in need of relief'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for the Supreme Court to uphold Biden's student-debt relief. It followed the Justice Department filing a defense of the relief to SCOTUS on Wednesday night. On Wednesday night, the Justice Department filed its fulled legal defense of President Joe Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt to the Supreme Court, ahead of oral arguments beginning on February 28. "The Biden Justice Department has made clear to the U.S. Supreme Court that cancelling student debt is legal under the HEROES Act and critical to millions of working people in need of relief," Warren wrote on Twitter after the legal defense was filed on Wednesday. Biden's administration has not yet commented on what alternative routes, if any, it would pursue if the Supreme Court ends up striking down the relief, noting that its focus right now is the current and ongoing litigation.

☆ Biden's administration just filed a full legal defense of its student-loan forgiveness plan to the Supreme Court, saying the debt relief falls 'comfortably' within the law
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Justice Department filed a defense of Biden's student-debt relief to SCOTUS on Wednesday night. This filing comes ahead of February 28, when the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on the two lawsuits that have blocked the implementation of the debt relief. The other lawsuit was filed by two student-loan borrowers who sued because they did not qualify for the full $20,000 amount of relief. Another primary argument Biden's administration has pushed back on is the idea that the debt relief would harm MOHELA. The Justice Department argued MOHELA is a separate entity from Missouri and should not be considered alongside harms to the state.

☆ Pharmacies can now sell the abortion pill, but you probably won't find it at top chains like CVS, Walmart, or Walgreens anytime soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ben Tobin | Sarah Braner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The FDA authorized retail pharmacies to become certified to carry mifepristone in a ruling Tuesday. Retailers may not sell the abortion pill due to administrative hurdles and backlash, experts say. But don't expect to be able to find the pill at your local Walmart or CVS any time soon. The FDA implemented the regulatory change Tuesday night to allow retail pharmacies to dispense mifepristone to people with a prescription. Insider contacted seven major retail pharmacies to ask whether they plan to sell mifepristone.

☆ Republican U.S. House to open in turmoil as McCarthy fights for gavel
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

After four years as the Republican minority leader, McCarthy now needs at least 218 votes to succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker. House Republicans are expected to meet face-to-face behind closed doors on Tuesday morning, ahead of the speaker election. While Republicans have won back the House, Democrats still hold the White House and Senate. 'TAKES TWO TO TANGO'The record number of voting rounds to elect a House speaker is 133 over a two-month period in the 1850s. The hardline Republican House Freedom Caucus is demanding rule changes that would enhance the group's influence.

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