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☆ US senator presses for declassified report on Al Jazeera reporter's killing
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Senator Chris Van Hollen called on Monday for declassifying a government report on the death of Al Jazeera's Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist who was shot and killed while covering an Israeli army raid last year. The U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (USSC) conducted an investigation, but the report remains classified. In a statement, Van Hollen, a Democrat on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, said the report contains important insights into her death. In December, Al Jazeera made a submission to the International Criminal Court over Abu Akleh's killing. Israel insists that its soldiers do not deliberately target journalists and has refused to identify the soldier who may have shot Abu Akleh.

Persons: Chris Van Hollen, Al Jazeera's Shireen Abu Akleh, Abu Akleh, Abu Akleh's, Van Hollen, Al Jazeera, Biden, Rami Ayyub, Don Durfee, David Gregorio Our Organizations: declassifying, West Bank, U.S . Security, Israel, Palestinian Authority, Democrat, Senate's Foreign Relations, Israel Defense Forces, U.S . State Department, International Criminal, Thomson Locations: Palestinian, American, Jenin, Israel

☆ NRO director says commercial space industry helps fuel the spy satellite agency’s ambitious goals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Morgan Brennan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office plans to quadruple the number of satellites on orbit over the next decade. It will need commercial space companies to help do it. "It's helped us improve our reliability so that we can achieve more with more capability at a lower cost," he said. The ambitious game plan speaks to the growing role of commercial space companies in national security work. NRO partners closely with both the U.S. Space Command and the Space Force.

☆ House Democrats, looking to renew plan to expand Social Security, say debt ceiling fight 'hurts seniors the most'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Social Security already faces funding risksIn order to prevent a Social Security funding shortfall, congressional Democrats and Republicans must agree on a solution. The Social Security 2100 Act that was introduced in the last Congress had broad support among House Democrats. Changes in the Social Security 2100 Actzimmytws | iStock | Getty ImagesThe Social Security 2100 Act aims to extend the program's solvency, though estimates are not yet available for how long it could prolong the program's funding. Social Security 2100 also calls for adding an additional 12.4% net investment income tax for taxpayers making more than $400,000. Max Richtman president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

☆ US economy on the brink as time runs low to avert debt default
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

After a weekend of acrimony between negotiators for House Republicans and the White House, Biden will meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Monday for critical talks on pulling the economy back from the precipice. Biden and McCarthy to meet MondayThe rhetoric eased a little, however, after Biden and McCarthy spoke as the president flew home on Air Force One. McCarthy already passed a bill raising the debt ceiling in exchange for a wish list of Republican demands. This is a balance of power that ought to drive both sides towards a compromise, but extremist elements in the House GOP could make that impossible. Like McCarthy, Biden also faces political pressure within his own party after some progressive Democrats expressed fears he would offer the speaker too much in any deal.

☆ A 74-year old Democrat in Congress pushing to make roads safer thinks 'the bicycle is the key to much of what ails us'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Biking advocates gathered on Capitol Hill on Thursday morning to push for federal legislation. The 74-year-old lawmaker has a short ride to work, but "on a nice morning, you just sometimes keep going," he added. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat, with his bicycle at a congressional bike ride organized by cycling advocacy groups. Romney's comments received significant backlash from biking advocates and others, who pointed out that there's plenty of evidence that better bike infrastructure gets more cyclists on the road, reduces driving, and cuts emissions. "Every person on a bicycle is somebody who's not in a car in front of you," Blumenauer said.

☆ Clarence Thomas, who accepted lavish gifts from a billionaire, argued that a law prohibiting taking bribes is too vague to be fairly enforced
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — who accepted lavish gifts and luxury vacations from a billionaire for years — signed off on a Supreme Court opinion Thursday arguing that a law prohibiting taking bribes is too vague to be fairly enforced. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion — on which Thomas signed off — that a federal anti-bribery law wasn't clear enough. "To this day, no one knows what 'honest-services fraud' encompasses," Gorsuch wrote. Crow described Thomas as a friend and insisted he never sought to influence the conservative Supreme Court justice. Additionally, the Senate Judiciary Committee asked Crow for a list of any gifts he's given to a Supreme Court justice or their family.

☆ 2 Supreme Court justices failed to recuse themselves from cases involving their publisher after receiving exorbitant amounts in book advances and royalties
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On two occasions, the Supreme Court has declined to take on cases involving publishing conglomerate Penguin Random House. There have been two cases that came before the Supreme Court involving publishing conglomerate Penguin Random House. In both situations, the Supreme Court declined to take on the copyright infringement cases, allowing the publisher to win at a lower court level. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed in 2017 and was also a member of the Supreme Court during the second case. Sotomayor and Gorsuch had both signed major book deals with the publisher before the cases occurred, and both justices declined to recuse themselves from the cases involving Penguin Random House.

☆ A group of Democratic senators want to withhold $10 million in Supreme Court funding until it adopts a public code of ethics: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A group of fifteen Democratic senators sent a letter in March asking to withhold $10 million in Supreme Court funding. The senators said the $10 million should be withheld until a public code of ethics is instituted for the court. "Congress has broad authority to compel the Supreme Court to institute these reforms, which would join other requirements already legislatively mandated. At a Supreme Court ethics hearing on Tuesday, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley appeared to take umbrage at the Democratic senators' request, asserting the $10 million that would be cut from the Supreme Court's budget would directly impact their security. She added that cutting funding for the Supreme Court's security simply wasn't on the table.

☆ Senators Kennedy and Van Hollen on their new bill to block foreign executives from insider trading
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSenators Kennedy and Van Hollen on their new bill to block foreign executives from insider tradingSen. John Kennedy (R-LA.) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) join 'Squawk Box' to discuss a new bill requiring foreign executives to disclose their trades.

☆ Elizabeth Warren demands Fed crackdown on large regional banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Senator Elizabeth Warren is cranking up the pressure on the Federal Reserve following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank fit into that asset threshold when they failed earlier this month. The bipartisan 2018 rollback of Dodd-Frank freed large regional banks in that range of assets from the toughest oversight. Notably, the letter was signed by Senator Angus King, the Maine independent who voted in favor of the 2018 rollback. Days after the bank failures, the Federal Reserve launched a review of the regulation and oversight of Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ Treasury will do whatever it takes to ensure 'savings remain safe,' Yellen tells senators
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services March 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. WASHINGTON — Federal bank regulators are prepared to do whatever is needed to "ensure that depositors' savings remain safe" in U.S. banks, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. These actions included guarantees on uninsured deposits at the failed banks, and the creation of new liquidity sources for smaller banks experiencing a rush of withdrawals. Thanks in large part to these actions, "aggregate deposit outflows from regional banks have stabilized," Yellen told a bankers group Tuesday. Yellen and her deputies have so far said any blanket guarantee of uninsured deposits would require extraordinary circumstances, and likely an act of Congress.

☆ U.S. lawmakers to examine merits of higher FDIC bank deposit insurance cap
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"I think that lifting the FDIC insurance cap is a good move," Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, said on CBS's "Face The Nation" program, referring to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's current $250,000 limit per depositor. "What I will do though, legislatively, and in an oversight function, is to determine whether or not we need to address the FDIC deposit level," McHenry told the same CBS program. During the financial crisis that erupted in 2008, the FDIC temporarily backstopped all deposits to safeguard smaller banks. Pressure on midsized and smaller banks from deposit outflows continued on Friday despite a move by several large banks to deposit $30 billion into First Republic Bank, an institution rocked by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. McHenry said he wanted to examine the trade-offs of higher deposit insurance limits, "the moral hazard of having more risk-taking in the financial sector, and also the impact it would have on community banks."

☆ U.S. lawmakers to examine merits of higher bank deposit insurance cap
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] Signs explaining Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and other banking policies are shown on the counter of a bank in Westminster, Colorado November 3, 2009. "I think that lifting the FDIC insurance cap is a good move," Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, said on CBS's "Face The Nation" program, referring to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's current $250,000 limit per depositor. During the financial crisis that erupted in 2008, the FDIC temporarily backstopped all deposits to safeguard smaller banks. Pressure on midsized and smaller banks from deposit outflows continued on Friday despite a move by several large banks to deposit $30 billion into First Republic Bank (FRC.N), an institution rocked by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) and Signature Bank (SBNY.O). McHenry said he wanted to examine the trade-offs of higher deposit insurance limits, "the moral hazard of having more risk taking in the financial sector, and also the impact it would have on community banks."

"If corporate profits were to decline from the extremely high levels that we saw recently, would it be possible to sustain" growth in workers' benefits "even as we get inflation down to the target of 2%?" Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen asked Powell during the Fed chief's semi-annual testimony before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. "Wages affect prices and prices affect wages," Powell said, associating current earnings growth to the current ultra-low unemployment rate of 3.4%, and suggesting the labor market may need to weaken at least somewhat for inflation to fall. SHORTAGESUltimately, Powell said he felt profits would likely moderate on their own as the U.S. economy moves beyond the pandemic. "What we're seeing in the economy is pretty much about shortages ... supply chain blockages," Powell said.

Senators have asked giant cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its U.S. partner Binance.US for information about their regulatory compliance and finances, citing a series of investigations by Reuters and some other media reports, according to a letter released on Wednesday. The collapse of rival crypto exchange FTX, whose founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been charged with fraud, “underscored the need for real transparency and accountability in the crypto industry," the senators wrote. Binance has previously disputed Reuters’ articles, calling the illicit-fund calculations inaccurate and the descriptions of its compliance controls "outdated." In the letter, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, the senators requested Binance and Binance.US provide documents and answers to their questions by March 16. The senators are seeking information about the companies’ balance sheets, U.S.-based users, anti-money laundering policies.

☆ Binance is a 'hotbed of illegal financial activity' and is hiding basic info from customers, US senators say in scathing letter to the world's biggest crypto exchange
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

US senators accused the world's largest crypto exchange of being "a hotbed of illegal financial activity." In a scathing letter to Binance, lawmakers requested copies of the company's balance sheets since 2017. A Binance spokesperson said the exchange will help lawmakers understand why it remains "the most trusted platform with users across the globe." The senators asked for a response by March 16 and sought more information about the relationship between Binance.com and Binance.US. Binance also has reportedly faced a slew of legal and regulatory probes from the SEC and the US Justice Department.

☆ Senators press crypto exchange Binance on potentially illegal business practices after FTX collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators asked Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange and once-competitor to bankrupt crypto giant FTX, for detailed information on its business operations amid accusations of illegal practices. A spokesperson for Binance told CNBC that the company looks forward to "correcting the record" about its operations. Binance has become the definitive leader in the digital currency exchange industry since FTX filed for bankruptcy and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, stepped down in November. In their letter, the senators outlined the Justice Department's allegations against Binance, and contended the company has showed a lack of transparency. FTX's collapse, which affected over 1 million investors, highlighted "the need for real transparency and accountability in the crypto industry," the senators wrote.

☆ A Senate hearing on drug trafficking shows how meaningless the world 'cartel' has become
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Steven Dudley | Insight Crime | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

During a recent Senate hearing on fentanyl trafficking, lawmakers and officials used the word "cartel" 90 times. InSight Crime analysisA Sinaloa Cartel leadership chart from November 2015 with "El Chapo" Guzmán and two of his sons, Ivan Archivaldo and Jesus Alfredo. The Sinaloa Cartel, for instance, has at least three major poles of power, each of which is controlled by different leaders. Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman arrives in New York after his extradition in January 2017. Milgram, for instance, pointed to the DEA's laser focus on the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG as the path to success.

☆ Blinken to talk aid, Nordic NATO bid in visit to quake-hit Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives for a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, February. Since the earthquake, the United States has sent a search and rescue team to Turkey, medical supplies, concrete-breaking machinery, and additional funding of $85 million in humanitarian aid that also covers Syria. While the United States has praised Turkey for some of its actions during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it remains worried over its close relationship with Moscow, experts say. "There will be no transfer of F-16s if Erdogan continues to deny admission to Finland and Sweden ... Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan's chief foreign policy advisor, said last month he hoped the F-16 deal would not become "hostage" to the NATO memberships of Sweden and Finland.

☆ Turkey's foreign minister to discuss F-16s and NATO during U.S. visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

For its part, Turkey demands Washington not support the Syrian Kurdish militia that it sees as terrorists. Turkey now hopes to buy F-16 jets from the United States, a sale that some top members of Congress oppose despite support from the Biden administration. But recently, Ankara's refusal to ratify NATO membership of Sweden and Finland is emerging as a more central reason in their opposition. The two Nordic states applied for NATO membership last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine but their bids need approval from all 30 NATO member states. He added he hoped the F-16 deal would not become "hostage" to the NATO memberships of Sweden and Finland.

☆ Turkey urges Biden administration to be 'decisive' over F-16 deal as Congress objects
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Recently, Ankara's refusal to ratify the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland has become more central to Congress' opposition. "HOSTAGE"Ties between the United States and Turkey have been strained since Turkey acquired Russian missile defense systems in 2019. For its part, Turkey demands Washington does not support the Syrian Kurdish armed groups that it sees as terrorists. But a senior administration official said Washington was unlikely to follow through with the sale unless Menendez reverses his opposition. The U.S. side did not give a date on when they would send the formal notification for the F-16s to Congress, Cavusoglu added.

☆ 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.

☆ Americans will soon be able to save a lot more for retirement — but it might help the wealthy the most
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It includes changes to Americans' retirement savings, like raising the age of required withdrawal. A significant element of the bipartisan government spending plan included changes to Americans' retirement funds. It also allows an increased contribution in retirement savings for older workers and paves the way for automatic enrollment for workers starting in 2025. White Americans are far more likely to have retirement savings, and those savings dwarf those of Americans of color. Some Democratic lawmakers acknowledged they did not get to include everything they had hoped for in this spending package, like increased funding to help Americans recover from the pandemic.

He got away with it because in a 50-50 Senate, Manchin had a ton of leverage and could force Senate Democratic leaders to make numerous concessions or else get nothing passed. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images fileA 51-49 Senate majority doesn’t completely quell Democratic headaches over having to corral their own. Like Manchin, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has bucked her Democratic colleagues. In a 51-49 Senate, Democrats also will have unilateral power to issue subpoenas. This leaves Senate Democrats in a much rosier position concerning chickens and just about everything else.

☆ Senate Banking Chairman Brown to introduce bill closing 'shadow' banking loophole after Elon Musk says Twitter will process payments
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown will introduce a bill Tuesday that aims to close the so-called shadow banking loophole that allows retail and tech companies to offer banking services without the same stringent oversight as other financial institutions. Twitter is one of several non-bank companies that sought to enable banking services for users through state-chartered ILCs. Jack Dorsey, Musk's predecessor at Twitter, also was involved in financial services through his separate payments company Square. Other companies that have applied for ILC charters include eCommerce marketplace Rakuten, Ford Motor Company and financial services firm Edward Jones . The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation approved ILC deposit insurance applications for Square and Nelnet, a student financial services company, in 2020.

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