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☆ Joe Biden's biggest successes and failures in his second year in office
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

His second year in office was marked by historic legislative achievements despite Democrats' razor-thin majority in Congress. Here are some of the highs and lows from Biden's second year:Success: UkrainePresident Joe Biden talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outside the White House. Conservative New York Times columnist Bret Stephens in September called the "staggering gains" by Ukrainian forces "a victory for Joe Biden, too." Universal pre-K was included in a sweeping spending plan passed by House Democrats until their Senate colleagues cut that out too. Failure: InflationPresident Joe Biden arrives for an event focused on inflation and the supply chain at the Port of Los Angeles in June.

☆ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dominated oral arguments and challenged conservative thinking in her first months on the Supreme Court, observers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has sat on the Supreme Court for a little more than two months. The Supreme Court of the United States on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022 in Washington, DC. Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court during a formal group photograph at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Some court observers say oral arguments can potentially be an opportunity for justices to sway their colleagues' thinking – though that doesn't happen often. During the three hours of oral arguments, Jackson frequently threw cold water on the idea.

So yeah, I’m proud of it,” McConnell said, hailing it as an “extremely important” win for conservatives. He said it’ll mean they no longer “pay a ransom on the domestic side” in order to secure hefty military spending. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill.. said he’s “disappointed” in the unequal spending levels but argued that the Kentucky Republican was using his leverage. Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks alongside Sens. Democrats say McConnell was pushing for deals due to the rising support in the Democratic Party in recent years to end the filibuster.

“Nearly every single state in the nation has passed at least one significant gun safety law since Sandy Hook,” concluded the report, first obtained by NBC News. Gun violence has gone from being a political third rail to a kitchen table topic in just ten years. Nearly every American will know a victim of gun violence in their lifetime.”Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., hugs Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., at the Giffords Gun Violence Memorial in front of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., on June 7. Still, gun safety advocates face tall hurdles to achieving other goals, like banning semi-automatic assault-style weapons and large-capacity ammunition. Republicans just won control of the House, almost certainly ending hopes for stricter gun laws for the foreseeable future.

☆ Kanye West owes millions all over town for unpaid contract work and music samples, lawsuits allege
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

He tried that earlier with his music and has been hit with copyright lawsuits related to sampling. And what followed was a thicket of lawsuits from people who alleged West failed to properly credit their songs when using samples for the album. Worse still, according to the lawsuit, West and his pals used "Life of the Party" to market the Stem Player. The company squandered months on the work, even relocating its headquarters to better closely work with West. In the end, the lawsuit alleged, West used a rip-off of MyChannel's e-commerce technology to sell his clothing at a concert.

☆ A razor-thin Senate buffer and 2024 chances are at stake in Georgia's runoff next week between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Early voting has started for the Georgia Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker. A Warnock victory would usher in a 51-49 Democratic majority, while the GOP hopes for a 50-50 split. Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker speaks with supporters during a campaign rally in Milton, Ga., on November 21, 2022. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont — who caucus with the Democratic Party, creating an equal split in the upper chamber. However, some Republicans would prefer that Trump remain at Mar-a-Lago, worried that he could cost them another Senate win.

☆ The pro-choice movement is jubilant after the midterms turned the anti-abortion tide
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The midterms proved that voters want to defend abortion access. Smith told Insider that, like many others, while she eagerly awaited the midterm results, the young man popped into her head. Timmaraju told Insider that they'd shifted resources over the summer into getting out the vote. "I think the moral of the story is young voters and women voters saved the day, saved Democrats." Melissa Fowler, the chief program officer of the National Abortion Federation, told Insider that, "Now the country has heard loud and clear that people support abortion access.

☆ Alzheimer's disease, retirement 'pacts,' and serving until you're 104 years old: Inside the federal judiciary's reckoning with age
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | Camila Dechalus | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

She was nearly two decades older than the median age — 68 — for all federal judges, according to an Insider analysis. More than a century later, in the 1920s, future Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes argued for a mandatory retirement age. In 1954, the Senate passed a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment that'd require retirement at age 75 for federal judges. A recent poll by Insider and Morning Consult found that 71% of 2,210 respondents said the federal judiciary should have a mandatory retirement age. For Scheindlin, the former federal judge in Manhattan, Weinstein was an example of an older judge who was "terrific to his last day."

☆ Here's everything the Federal Reserve is expected to do today
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Construction workers outside the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building, photographed on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Washington, DC. Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | Getty ImagesThere's not a lot of mystery surrounding Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting, with markets widely expecting the central bank to approve its third consecutive three-quarter point interest rate hike. That's the highest the fed funds rate has been since early 2008. Economic outlook: Part of this week's meeting will see Fed officials issue a quarterly update of their interest rate and economic outlook. Powell presser: Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold his usual news conference following the conclusion of the two-day meeting.

☆ The dirty little secret on how congressional staff thrive in the always-on world of modern politics is doing moonlight work like 80-hour weeks, including unpaid Saturdays and Sundays
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-04 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | Warren Rojas | Camila Dechalus | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Some tasks included connecting with local reporters and coordinating messaging with partner political outfits such as EMILY's List and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. That helped her boss' official congressional office save money it could then spend elsewhere, but it did nothing to help her own financial situation. Congressional staffers have used social-media accounts such as Dear White Staffers to spotlight professional burnout, inadequate pay, long hours, diversity failings, and caustic bosses. For example, one of the rules says a congressional staffer working in a congressional office must step outside the office to do campaign work. Or, if there is compensation offered — which isn't guaranteed — they may desperately need the additional money to supplement the low pay for congressional staff."

☆ Could Trump mass-pardon his supporters who rioted at the Capitol? Constitutional-law experts weigh in.
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-11 | by ( Dave Levinthal | Kayla Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The January 6th attack by a mob of his supporters on the Capitol raises the question of whether Trump could pardon them. Trump has the power to broadly pardon the rioters for federal crimes, even before they are charged, experts told Insider. He has repeatedly wielded them to help his political allies who have been charged or convicted of federal crimes. Trump supporters inside the Capitol after shattering doors and windows to get in. That's where Pelosi went with a question about Trump's pardon powers during a 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Sunday.

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