DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Biden Administration Nudges Federal Workers Back to the Office
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Annie Linskey | Paul Kiernan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Three GOP House members have cited low in-person attendance at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration headquarters in Washington. WASHINGTON—The Biden administration urged federal workers to return to their offices in new guidance that gives agencies broad discretion for how to revamp their work environments and leaves room for some continued telework. The policy is aimed at “substantially increasing in-person work,” said Jason Miller , the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget in an accompanying blog post. The 19-page memo Thursday set no concrete targets for how many federal workers must come back or by when, and it indicated officials would evaluate where remote work has been effective.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is the highest ranking in a string of top administration officials to travel through Africa this year. The Biden administration is pushing hard for American businesses to invest in Africa despite the obstacles they face there, more than a decade after China began expanding its economic and political ties with countries across the continent. Vice President Kamala Harris pledged Tuesday in Ghana’s seaside capital to “double down” on efforts to bring billions of dollars in investments to Africa, a continent that many Western investors still view as high risk. Ms. Harris is the highest ranking in a string of top White House and Biden administration officials to travel through Africa this year, promising to unlock American investment as both the U.S. and China look to tap into the continent’s vast natural resources.

☆ Kamala Harris Pledges $100 Million to West Africa Nations to Fight Extremist Threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Vice President Kamala Harris with Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, in blue tie, in Accra, Ghana, the first stop on her three-country Africa trip. ACCRA, Ghana—Vice President Kamala Harris announced Monday that the U.S. will provide $100 million over 10 years in new security aid to help West African countries fend off threats posed by terrorist and extremist groups, including al Qaeda, that have been expanding in the region. The bulk of the money—at least $86 million—will be provided over the next three years to Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Togo, according to the Biden administration. The funds “will address security governance and development issues in the region,” Ms. Harris said in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, her first stop on a three-country Africa trip.

CLAY, N.Y.—A shortage of skilled workers in places such as this Syracuse suburb is posing a major challenge for the Biden administration’s ambitious plan to spur chip manufacturing in the U.S.Micron Technology Inc. plans to invest $100 billion to open a semiconductor-manufacturing campus here, with construction starting in 2024 and production beginning in the latter half of the decade.

The budget is unlikely to gain momentum on Capitol Hill, with the GOP expected to oppose most of the administration’s ideas. WASHINGTON—President Biden will outline a plan to reduce federal budget deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade and raise taxes on wealthy people and large corporations, kicking off monthslong spending negotiations with Republicans in Congress. Mr. Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget plan, which will be released Thursday, will lay out his recommended funding levels for federal agencies and departments. He is expected to ask for more in defense spending than he requested last year and propose drug-policy changes and efforts to cut fraud and waste that the White House said would save hundreds of billions of dollars.

WASHINGTON—President Biden proposed a $6.9 trillion budget that calls for reducing deficits and raising taxes on wealthy people and large corporations, detailing a policy vision that isn’t expected to gain momentum in Congress, but is an opening salvo in spending talks with Republicans. Mr. Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget plan, released Thursday, calls for an increase over the roughly $6.4 trillion that the White House expects the federal government to spend this fiscal year. It would reduce federal budget deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade, the White House said.

☆ Biden Snub on Crime Law Reminds D.C. Who’s in Charge
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Eric Lee for The Wall Street JournalThe nation’s capital is subject to congressional oversight because of a provision in the Constitution. WASHINGTON—The city that hosts the most powerful government in the world doesn’t have much power. President Biden’s decision to side with Republicans and some Democrats in blocking changes to the District of Columbia’s crime code is the latest in a long string of interventions regarding contentious local laws. Federal lawmakers say they are exercising needed oversight for the federal district, while local elected officials argue Congress is undercutting the democratic process to score political points.

☆ Biden, Democrats Face Hard Choices on GOP Push to Overturn D.C. Crime Law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Natalie Andrews | Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

D.C. has seen an increase in homicides and auto thefts, according to local police data. WASHINGTON—The Senate is moving closer to a vote to block changes to the District of Columbia’s revised criminal code over concerns about softened penalties for lawbreakers, flexing its oversight muscles just as the capital city is experiencing a surge in crime. Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R., Tenn.), plan to force a vote as early as next week to repeal the law, saying the changes to the D.C. code make residents and visitors less safe. Defenders of the law say Congress is improperly nosing into city affairs and effectively overruling the will of voters to make a political point.

☆ D.C. Crime Law Forces Tough Choices for Biden, Democrats
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Natalie Andrews | Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The White House said there is no consensus within the Biden administration over the origins of the Covid-19 virus, a day after the disclosure of an Energy Department assessment that the pandemic most likely originated with a leak from a Chinese lab. The Energy Department, which had previously been undecided on the origins of the pandemic, recently joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

☆ Biden Draws Distinction Between Classified Documents Found at His Homes and Trump’s
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—President Biden said that there are “degrees of irresponsibility” regarding handling of classified materials, drawing a distinction between the material found at locations he used and documents taken from former President Donald Trump’s Florida home. Asked by ABC News if there was anything irresponsible in how he handled classified documents, the president played down his situation.

☆ Biden Visits Poland After Surprise Ukraine Trip as War Nears Anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Sabrina Siddiqui | Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PRZEMYŚL, Poland—President Biden is to give an address in Poland on Tuesday after his historic trip to Ukraine, as Western and Kyiv officials brace for a major Russian offensive to coincide with the Feb. 24 anniversary of the war. Mr. Biden’s long planned trip to Eastern Europe to demonstrate continuing U.S. support for the Ukrainian war effort took on added gravity Monday after Mr. Biden unexpectedly stopped in Kyiv, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and toured part of the city during air-raid warnings.

WARSAW, Poland— President Biden struck a defiant tone in an address rallying allies and declaring that Russia would never prevail in its war with Ukraine, which is now entering its second year. “Appetites of the autocrat cannot be appeased. They must be opposed,” Mr. Biden said before hundreds of flag-waving Poles and an array of diplomats gathered at the Royal Castle complex here. “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. Never,” Mr. Biden said, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would never be defeated on the battlefield.

☆ Kamala Harris Says Russia Has Committed Crimes Against Humanity
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a meeting with the French president at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday said that the U.S. has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity, speaking days before the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “From the starting days of this unprovoked war, we have witnessed Russian forces engage in horrendous atrocities and war crimes,” said Ms. Harris, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, a global security and foreign-policy forum. “We have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt: These are crimes against humanity,” she said to applause from the gathered officials.

☆ Biden, GOP Draw Opposing Lessons From Prior Debt-Limit Standoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Annie Linskey | Siobhan Hughes | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—During the final throes of negotiations to avoid a government default in 2011, then-Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama received late-night updates in the Oval Office on a compromise to break a legislative logjam as they monitored the Asian markets for reaction to signs that the U.S. couldn’t pay its bills. “I cannot tell you how terrifying that was,” said Jack Lew, who was the director of the Office of Management and Budget at the time, recalling how he and others finally hammered out a budget deal with Republicans that led to spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. “I don’t think I’ve worked on a domestic policy issue where there was as imminent a sense of potential catastrophe,” said Mr. Lew, who later served as Treasury secretary.

☆ Biden Directs Blame for Classified Documents to Staff Who Packed His Offices
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON— President Biden focused attention on the role his staff played while packing up his papers after he left government, suggesting that documents marked classified were found in various locations that he used after leaving the vice presidency because workers didn’t do a thorough job sifting through his papers. “As they packed up my offices to move them, they didn’t do the kind of job that should have been done to go thoroughly through every single piece of literature that’s there,” Mr. Biden said to PBS’s Judy Woodruff in an interview broadcast Wednesday night.

☆ Biden Expected to Visit Poland Around Anniversary of Russia’s Ukraine Invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Sabrina Siddiqui | Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

President Biden speaking in Warsaw last March about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. WASHINGTON—President Biden is expected to visit Poland this month around the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to people familiar with the plans. The trip isn’t yet finalized and is subject to change, the people said. A National Security Council spokesman declined to comment.

☆ Classified-Documents Probe Highlights Biden Family’s Deep Ties to Penn
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The discovery of classified documents from Joe Biden’s vice presidency at a foreign-relations think tank might have surprised many in the country. The fact that the think tank was run by the University of Pennsylvania and bore the president’s name shouldn’t have. For decades, the Ivy League school and the Biden family, across generations, have fostered close relations to their mutual benefit. Those benefits extend beyond the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, where the documents were discovered in November.

☆ Brian Deese to Depart as Top White House Economic Adviser by End of February
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Annie Linskey | Andrew Restuccia | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Brian Deese has been a key voice on many of President’s Biden’s top accomplishments, including negotiations on the Inflation Reduction Act. WASHINGTON— Brian Deese , director of the White House’s National Economic Council, plans to leave his post after two years at the end of February, the White House said Thursday. The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that Mr. Deese was planning to step down from the position as President Biden’s top economic adviser. Mr. Biden hasn’t made a final decision on Mr. Deese’s replacement, administration officials and others familiar with the matter said. That announcement is expected after next week’s State of the Union address, some of the people said.

☆ Hunter Biden Calls for Probes Into Trump Allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—A lawyer for Hunter Biden urged state and federal prosecutors Wednesday to investigate prominent allies of former President Donald Trump and others who accessed and disseminated the contents of his laptop, alleging they broke the law in an effort to “weaponize” the personal data of Joe Biden’s son during the 2020 election. The series of letters marked a pivot to a newly aggressive strategy for the younger Mr. Biden as he confronts a yearslong Justice Department investigation focused on his taxes, along with separate inquiries by House Republicans into his business dealings.

☆ Hunter Biden Calls for Criminal Probes Into Trump Allies Over Laptop
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—A lawyer for Hunter Biden urged state and federal prosecutors Wednesday to investigate prominent allies of former President Donald Trump and others who accessed and disseminated the contents of his laptop, alleging they broke the law in an effort to “weaponize” the personal data of Joe Biden‘s son during the 2020 election. The series of letters marked a pivot to a newly aggressive strategy for the younger Mr. Biden as he confronts a yearslong Justice Department investigation focused on his taxes, along with separate inquiries by House Republicans into his business dealings.

☆ Biden Administration to Propose Rule to Lower Credit-Card Late Fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Annie Linskey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is scrutinizing fees charged by financial institutions that it says are problematic. WASHINGTON—President Biden plans to announce Wednesday that his administration is proposing a rule that would limit the late fees credit-card companies can charge, bringing penalties down to $8 from as much as $41 for a missed payment, according to the White House. The rule being put forward by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could go into effect as early as 2024, administration officials said, and doesn’t require congressional approval.

☆ String of Classified Document Discoveries Seen Tarnishing White House
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Annie Linskey | Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Secret Service personnel park vehicles in the driveway leading to President Biden’s house after classified documents were reported found there. WASHINGTON—Democrats expressed concern Sunday that multiple discoveries of classified documents at President Biden’s private home and a former office will overshadow his agenda and open the door to more Republican-led investigations in the House as lawmakers return to Washington. The Justice Department searched Mr. Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del., for more than 12 hours Friday, an examination that caused authorities to take possession of additional items with classified markings and some related materials, according to a statement released late Saturday by Mr. Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer.

WASHINGTON—President Biden is planning to name Jeff Zients , an investor and former Obama administration official who led the White House’s Covid-19 response, to be his next chief of staff, according to people familiar with the decision. Ron Klain , Mr. Biden’s current chief of staff, is expected to step down in the coming weeks after more than two years on the job. The Washington Post earlier reported that Mr. Zients was expected to replace him. Mr. Zients didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, and the White House declined to comment.

☆ More Classified Documents Found at President Biden’s Delaware Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Annie Linskey | Sadie Gurman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Justice Department’s search of President Biden’s home in Delaware lasted about 12 hours, according to Mr. Biden’s personal attorney. WASHINGTON—A Justice Department search of President Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del., Friday prompted authorities to take possession of six additional documents with classified markings and some related materials, according a new statement by Mr. Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer. The search of Mr. Biden’s home lasted about 12 hours and “covered all working, living and storage spaces in the home,” Mr. Bauer said in the statement. The six items taken included some papers from Mr. Biden’s tenure in the U.S. Senate, where he served for 36 years. Others came from his time as vice president.

Search resuls for: "Annie Linskey"

25 mentions found