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CNN —Welcoming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House this week for a state visit – the most elevated form of American diplomacy – will require President Joe Biden to make certain trade-offs. Yet Modi and India, the world’s largest democracy, also represent a lynchpin in Biden’s strategy in Asia. That, according to officials, was the rationale behind inviting Modi for a state visit, only the third of Biden’s presidency so far. The two leaders will hold a joint news conference – something virtually every state visit over the past two decades has featured – but that was only agreed upon after lengthy, delicate negotiations between the two sides. “We’re just grateful that Prime Minister Modi is going to be participating in a press event at the end of the visit.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, Modi, He’s, India’s, Biden, “ We’re, John Kirby, Jake Sullivan, New Delhi’s, ” Sullivan, “, Barack Obama, Xi Jinping, Donald Trump, Howdy Modi, Emmanuel Macron, Rahul Gandhi, Modi’s, he’s, Pramila, Sen, Chris Van Hollen, Jayapal, ” Modi, Rashida, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio, Sullivan, ”, It’s, Russia can’t, Xi, ” Biden Organizations: CNN, Indian, White, Office, National Security, Indian Embassy, White House, Trump, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Rep, Democrat, Maryland Democrat, Reps, State Department Locations: India, Asia, China, Beijing, Ukraine, New, United States, America, Houston, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Washington, Maryland, Alexandria, Cortez, Russia

WASHINGTON, June 21 (Reuters) - Rights advocates in Washington demanded that President Joe Biden publicly call out what they described as India's deteriorating human rights record, saying the U.S. approach of raising the issue in private with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a failure. In a press briefing on Wednesday, activists and academics also called for hearings in the U.S. Congress about human rights in India under the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Modi, who is on a four-day visit to the United States. Critics of the Modi government's human rights record have cited less press freedom, restrictions on minority religious rights and other forms of discrimination and backsliding on democratic rights. The White House may bring up human rights concerns but it said that Biden will not "lecture" Modi on the issue. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Heather Timmons and Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Joe Biden, Narendra Modi, Modi, Nadine Maenza, Biden, Zaki Barzinji, Barack Obama, Angana Chatterji, Ilhan Omar, Rashida, Bernie Sanders, Critics, Kanishka Singh, Heather Timmons, Grant McCool Organizations: Rights, U.S, Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, ., Wilson Center, International, Critics, White, University of California, U.S . Congress, World Press, 161st, Thomson Locations: Washington, U.S, India, United States, Berkeley, Karnataka

☆ Jimmy Carter's legacy: How he welcomed refugees
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Catherine E. Shoichet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

These steps Carter took during his presidency are still shaping the United States, decades after he left office. Because of Carter’s actions, hundreds of thousands of people fleeing persecution had a chance to come to the United States when he was commander-in-chief. A crisis that began before Carter took office was becoming increasingly dire by the day. That respect, Nguyen says, was earned by actions that Carter took that changed the course of her parents’ lives. “They were only able to do so because of the political courage exercised by President Carter,” she says.

Persons: Jimmy Carter’s, hasn’t, Carter, ”, Kai Bird, Jimmy Carter, Bird, Carter didn’t, Fred Ihrt, ” Carter, Bee Nguyen, it’s, Nguyen, ’, “, ” Nguyen, President Carter, AAPIHeritageMonth, –, ♥️, ince, ives, K unis,, inger, egina, sia, ould, ong, ake, ariel, haring, J, ross Organizations: CNN, CBS, The New York Times, White, ust, ashington Locations: United States, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Saigon, Georgia, Thailand, Iowa, America, ife

☆ Some GOP lawmakers want McCarthy to reject any debt ceiling deal that doesn't include banning student-loan forgiveness and strengthening work requirements for federal programs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some GOP lawmakers don't want McCarthy to budge on any of their demands in a debt ceiling deal. The US could default on its debt as soon as June 1, and the parties have yet to reach a deal. McCarthy and Biden met on Monday evening to once again attempt to reach a deal on raising the debt ceiling. And even with an economically catastrophic default looming, some GOP lawmakers don't want McCarthy to budge on Republican demands to reach a deal. Many progressive lawmakers have criticized compromising with Republicans on the debt ceiling, reinforcing Biden's repeated statements that raising the debt ceiling should be a bipartisan and clean process, without any spending cuts attached.

☆ Hakeem Jeffries is enjoying an early honeymoon leading House Democrats. But one day, he'll have to make 'hard commitments.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

House Democrats say Hakeem Jeffries is a better listener and is more consensus-oriented than Pelosi. There's one big reason for it: House Democrats can't pass any of their own bills right now. Pelosi and Jeffries on the House floor after she announced she would step down from party leadership on November 17, 2022. 'He gets it'Jeffries, 52, has enjoyed a rapid ascent to the top of the Democratic caucus. "There were always very different views within the Democratic caucus on people who voted their district," said Slotkin.

☆ 3 Democratic lawmakers want to give parents $393 a month per kid for 18 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reps. Omar, Tlaib, and Garcia reintroduced a bill to give parents $393 a month per kid for 18 years. The bill's sponsors estimate it could cut child poverty by 64%. It would replace the pandemic-era expanded child tax credit, which expired in December 2021. "It is a tragedy that we let the child tax credit expansion expire." According to the fact sheet, $393 a month — or around $4,700 a year — per child could cut child poverty by 64% and deep child poverty by 70%, per estimates from the People's Policy Project.

☆ Bicyclists are getting killed on American streets, and they want Congress to fix it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

They're asking for e-bike tax credits and road safety funding, among other things. He's brought that message to Minnesota and federal lawmakers as part of his pro-bicycle advocacy for the last 20 years. This week, bike advocates from all 50 states descended on DC as part of the League of American Bicyclists' National Bike Summit. My kids tease me — please teach me how to ride a bike,'" Grilley said. Lindsey Nicholson/Getty ImagesElectrifying bike transportAdvocates for e-bike tax credits say they reduce the number of car trips people take, cutting emissions and congestion, and boosting public health.

☆ 126 Democratic lawmakers reaffirm to Biden that they think his student-loan forgiveness plan is legal — and they 'expect the legal challenges to the plan will fail'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

126 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Biden expressing support for his student-debt relief plan. GOP lawmakers have continued to challenge the legality of his plan. Since Biden's debt relief plan was announced, many Republican lawmakers attacked that relief as unfair, costly, and an overreach of executive authority. Some Republicans have also recently introduced legislation to end the student-loan payment pause and block Biden from canceling student debt broadly. "The President has the legal authority to cancel student debt," Missouri Rep. Cori Bush wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

☆ Over 500 students are at the Supreme Court to plug Biden's student-loan forgiveness because the 'economic mobility of over 40 million Americans is dependent on the survival of this program'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Over 500 students are flooding the Supreme Court on Tuesday to support student-debt relief. The Supreme Court will hear arguments and likely make a final decision on the relief in May or June. Today, over 500 students have gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court to fight back against any attempt to restrict such freedom. "Our government must relieve borrowers of the crushing weight of student debt which will keep an entire generation from reaching their full potential," he continued. All eyes now turn to the conservative-majority Supreme Court, which will likely make a final ruling on Biden's debt relief in May or June.

☆ Days before the Supreme Court takes on Biden's student-loan forgiveness, Elizabeth Warren urges it to 'do its job and apply the law as it is written'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Sen. Elizabeth Warren urged the Supreme Court to uphold Biden's student-debt relief. "The Supreme Court needs to do its job and apply the law as it is written." GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn, for example, wrote on Twitter on Thursday that "canceling student debt is Biden's gift to young left-wing activists. She also led GOP senators in filing an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court urging it to strike down Biden's debt relief. This scale of student-loan forgiveness is unprecedented, so it's hard to determine which way the Supreme Court will rule.

☆ Railroad workers union says workplace conditions such as long hours and lack of sick days will only lead to more tragedies like the Ohio derailment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Various rail workers unions blame working conditions for the Ohio derailment, per The Guardian. Staff shortages and no paid sick days will lead to more disasters, union leaders said. This comes two months after Congress halted a railroad workers strike. Railroad Workers United, and others claim companies get away with short staffing, long hours and no paid sick days, jeopardizing safety protocol in the name of profit, the Guardian reported. Corners get cut and safety is compromised," Ron Kaminkow, Railroad Workers United secretary and Amtrak engineer told The Guardian.

☆ Some critics of Biden's student-loan forgiveness say the relief will help rich people the most. New data suggests the exact opposite.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New Education Department data suggested Biden's student-debt relief would benefit the lowest earners the most. It said that 81% of all applications received came from the bottom 80% of Congressional districts by average income. It used data from the department, along with the US Census Bureau, to make those estimates. But it's reasonable to say that Biden's relief would work as intended, targeting it to the lowest earners. Now, all eyes are on the Supreme Court to see if those borrowers will end up actually getting relief.

☆ U.S. senators question rail oversight after toxic Ohio derailment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Two Republican senators sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday questioning U.S. freight rail system oversight in the aftermath of a toxic train derailment in Ohio on Feb. 3. Vance questioned Buttigieg about railroad safety, saying "it is not unreasonable to ask whether a crew of two rail workers, plus one trainee, is able to effectively monitor 150 cars." The Department of Transportation (USDOT) did not immediately comment but Buttigieg addressed the criticism in a series of tweets. Buttigieg responded to Cruz on Twitter that "we could start by discussing immediate steps Congress could take to address rail safety & reduce constraints on USDOT in this area. After railroad crews drained and burned off a toxic chemical from five tanker cars, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Feb. 8 said that residents could return to their homes.

☆ Kevin McCarthy is working tirelessly and spending a lot of his political capital to win fights that don't actually matter.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Kevin McCarthy rallied GOP lawmakers to oust Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. But taking Omar off the Foreign Affairs panel took a good deal more effort on his part. The Omar vote was seen as a huge victory for the party, especially coming off McCarthy's protracted 15 rounds of balloting to secure the House speakership. Republicans led a successful effort to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. While Republican leaders were pleased with the outcome, the behind-the-scenes work to push through a successful vote against Omar took up a lot of political oxygen.

☆ Ex-Twitter employee tells AOC the platform changed its content moderation policy to accommodate Trump's racist 'go back' tweets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A former top Twitter official said the social network bent its rules for Trump's 2019 racist tweet. "So much for bias against right-wing on Twitter," Ocasio-Cortez said, concluding the line of questioning. The recommendation had been for Trump's tweets to be labeled but allowed to remain on the platform since he was a public figure. Twitter was repeatedly criticized for allowing Trump's tweets to stand. Following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, the social network banned the president "due to the risk of further incitement of violence."

☆ Joe Rogan facing allegations of antisemitism after saying it's 'stupid' to say 'Jews aren't into money'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Joe Rogan faced accusations of antisemitism after his latest podcast episode. The CEO of the American Jewish Committee said that Rogan's comments invoked age-old antisemitic tropes. In the latest Spotify show, The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan defended Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar. He said in a tweet, "the notion that interest in money is uniquely Jewish is antisemitic garbage." The Joe Rogan Experience podcast was the most listened to on Spotify in 2022, with an average audience of approximately 11 million.

☆ 1870 pin meaning: What the buttons and crayon lapel pins Congress wore to the State of the Union stand for
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden gave his second State of the Union address on Tuesday. Two pins — one that reads '1870' in white text atop a round black pin and various colored crayon-shaped pins with the Crayola logo — have garnered attention. 1870 PinRep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., conducts a television interview before President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. "153 years after the murder of Henry Truman, the Black community is still waiting for justice," Rep. Watson Coleman said. Crayola Crayon PinA lawmaker wears a pin of a white Crayola crayon during the State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2023.

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☆ Biden Says U.S. Economy is ‘Strong’ After Jobs Report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Rep. Ilhan Omar Faces Vote to Oust Her From Foreign-Affairs Committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Natalie Andrews | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has been on the foreign-affairs panel since arriving to Congress in 2019. WASHINGTON—House Republicans plan to hold a vote Thursday to oust Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from her position on the Foreign Affairs Committee, citing her criticisms of Israel’s government and past statements that were criticized as antisemitic. Republicans have a 222-212 majority in the House, with one vacancy, giving them little room to maneuver. All Democrats are expected to oppose removing Ms. Omar, but almost all Republicans are expected to back her ouster. Party leaders won over some GOP lawmakers including Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana, who had expressed concerns about free speech and heavily criticized the plan, by floating the idea of a new appeal process for barred members.

☆ Rep. Ilhan Omar Ousted From Foreign-Affairs Committee by GOP
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Natalie Andrews | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rep. Ilhan Omar has been on the foreign-affairs panel since arriving to Congress. WASHINGTON—House Republicans ousted Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from her position on the Foreign Affairs Committee in a vote Thursday, citing her criticisms of Israel’s government and past statements that were criticized as antisemitic. The House voted 218 to 211 with one voting present on the resolution to remove her from the panel. Ahead of the vote, Republican leaders won over some GOP lawmakers including Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana, who had expressed concerns about free speech and heavily criticized the plan, by floating the idea of a new appeal process for barred members.

☆ Debt ceiling deal no closer as McCarthy, Biden vow to continue talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

McCarthy said he and Biden did not discuss any details of their next meeting, such as whether White House aides or members of McCarthy's leadership team would participate. Both Biden and McCarthy say passing a debt limit bill is absolutely essential. "I believe you have to lift the debt ceiling, but you do not lift the debt ceiling without changing your behavior. Biden and the White House have so far refused to "negotiate" on a debt limit hike, however. "We will not pass a clean debt ceiling here without some form of spending reform.

☆ AOC to GOP: Don't tell me you're condemning anti-Semitism when a Republican 'who has talked about Jewish space lasers' gets a plum committee assignment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

AOC unloaded on Republicans for hypocrisy with their vote to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from her committee. She said Republicans have been rewarded with plum committee assignments after doing worse. "This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America," she said. Republicans voted to remove Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee because of her controversial comments in the past about Israel. After being stripped of committee assignments last Congress for her rhetoric, she now sits on prestigious committees on oversight and homeland security.

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Republicans on Thursday ousted Democrat Ilhan Omar from a high-profile committee over remarks widely condemned as antisemitic, two years after Democrats removed two Republicans from committee assignments. The deeply divided House voted 218-211 along party lines to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee with Republicans citing the 2019 remarks for which she later apologized. She was in line to be the top Democrat on the foreign affairs panel's Africa subcommittee. [1/6] U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) walks to her office after being ousted by the Republican-lead House of Representatives to serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 2, 2023. McCarthy previously rejected assignments of Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

☆ Eric Swalwell slams House GOP for moving against Ilhan Omar after supporting the openly anti-semitic Kanye West
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rep. Eric Swalwell tore into the House GOP for removing Rep. Ilhan Omar from a powerful committee. Swalwell pointed out that an official GOP Twitter account praised Kanye West and took months to delete the message. House Republicans later voted to remove Omar from the panel. In October, the Twitter account for Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee expressed solidarity with Kanye West. House Republicans cited that report in a separate effort to remove Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee.

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