3.58pm EST
15:58
In a statement announcing his lawsuit against the Biden administration over the mask mandate for air travel, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton argued that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not go through Congress to issue the mandate, which makes it illegal.
“Biden’s repeated disregard of the individual liberties of Texans is not only disrespectful to the US Constitution, it is also troublesome that any president thinks they can act above the law while hardworking Americans standby,” said Paxton said. “President Biden cannot continue governing through executive edicts. Now is the time to strike down his administration’s air-travel mask mandate.”
3.55pm EST
15:55
A mild drama is playing out in the senate right now over the vote to confirm eight of Joe Biden’s nominees for US attorney.
Dick Durbin, chair of the judiciary committee, asked for unanimous consent, but Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas, is holding out because he wants to know why four US marshals who defended the Portland courthouse in 2020 have been denied justice department representation.
Manu Raju
(@mkraju)
Cotton, on the floor, says he’s holding up the votes because he wants information about why four US Marshalls who defended the Portland courthouse in 2020 have been denied representation by DOJ in lawsuits. Says he won’t “roll over” and allow them to be “hung out to dry”
February 16, 2022
Craig Caplan
(@CraigCaplan)
Cotton:”Marshals are represented in court as they should be & we can go back to fast-tracking DoJ nominees.But until we get that outcome,we won’t be fast-tracking nominees because I will continue to stand up for these brave men of law enforcement who deserve better from this DoJ” pic.twitter.com/izeN58Bq5e
February 16, 2022
Majority leader Chuck Schumer has added his two cents, saying that it hasn’t been since 1975 that the senate held a roll call vote to confirm a US attorney. But there was actually a senate roll call vote in December.
Jamie Dupree
(@jamiedupree)
Actually, there was a Senate roll call vote on a US Attorney nominee in December (Rachel Rollins of Massachusetts, confirmed 12/8/21.) https://t.co/VYAllky1dN
February 16, 2022
3.45pm EST
15:45
Texas sues Biden administration over mask mandate
The Texas attorney general sued the Biden administration today over a government mask mandate requiring that masks be worn in airports, on airplanes and on other modes of transit.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton and congresswoman Beth Van Duyne filed a lawsuit jointly challenging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention transit mask rules, which have been in place since February 2021 and are set to expire on 18 March.
“Masks on planes are unnecessary,” Van Duyne tweeted, while Paxton tweeted that “masks on planes are not only silly, but illegal too.”
Beth Van Duyne
(@Bethvanduyne)
Sued the CDC today. Masks on planes are unnecessary. Thanks to @TPPF for helping make this happen so we can continue the fight to end mandates and bureaucratic control of American lives!
February 16, 2022
Attorney General Ken Paxton
(@KenPaxtonTX)
Just filed my 22nd suit against Biden, this time regarding anti-science, virtue-signaling masks on airlines & airports. Masks on planes are not only silly, but illegal too. Proud to join @TPPF, @robhenneke, @Bethvanduyne in restraining Dems’ lawless gov’t. End the mask mandates!
February 16, 2022
Updated
at 3.53pm EST
3.39pm EST
15:39
Here’s a little more on the situation with the Senate Republicans and the Federal Reserve nominees.
To recap: The senate banking committee has five nominees for the Federal Reserve board to advance, Republicans have taken issue with one – Sarah Bloom Raskin – and want her to answer more questions. Until they are allowed another session for Raskin to answer more questions, they are refusing to show up to the meetings, which means a vote to advance any of the nominees cannot take place.
The White House has called this move by the Republicans “irresponsible” and stand by their nominee. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president also supported the decision by Sherrod Brown, chair of banking committee, to keep all five nominees together so they can be voted on together.
Manu Raju
(@mkraju)
Sen. Sherrod Brown rejected Sen. Pat Toomey’s demands for Sarah Raskin to answer more questions in order for Rs to provide a quorum to consider Fed nominees in committee
“If Toomey gets his way on this, it’s the way they will stop nominee after nominee after nominee,” he told us
February 16, 2022
Manu Raju
(@mkraju)
“She responded,” Brown said. “189 questions she answered. .. He doesn’t like the answers. She doesn’t remember everything from five and 10 years ago. Nobody does, but she answered the questions in good faith.”
“I think she’s done everything that she has been asked to do.”
February 16, 2022
3.26pm EST
15:26
The Washington Post has put together an incredible interactive piece on the text messages sent exchanged in the lead-up to and during the deadly 6 January attack on the US Capitol.
The texts revealed the trepidation and dread experienced by those in the inner circle of Donald Trump ahead of the chaos:
The Washington Post
(@washingtonpost)
The panicked texts started landing in Mark Meadows’s phone long before Jan. 6, 2021.
Fox News host Sean Hannity shot off a text on New Year’s Eve, warning the White House chief of staff of mass resignations in the White House Counsel’s Office. https://t.co/3HFI3rCtD0 pic.twitter.com/GognDJqr6d
February 16, 2022
The Washington Post
(@washingtonpost)
The ping-pong of private Hannity missives was a far cry from the contents of his show, where he continued to amplify the arguments for electoral objections despite his stated fears. https://t.co/3HFI3rCtD0 pic.twitter.com/QFwH186cAF
February 16, 2022
The frantic and desperate messages exchanged during the attack offer some insight into how Trump insiders were truly reacting that day. Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff, received thousands of text messages that day, many from lawmakers and Trump allies begging him to get Trump to put a stop the mob. “TELL THEM TO GO HOME,” one GOP member texted in all caps.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham texted Mark Meadows, chief of staff for Donald Trump: “Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.”
The Washington Post
(@washingtonpost)
These and thousands of other frantic, ephemeral text messages that might have otherwise been lost to history are now key to piecing together the most vivid and comprehensive picture to date of the events surrounding the chaos at the Capitol. https://t.co/3HFI3rCtD0 pic.twitter.com/IzdsBguUzx
February 16, 2022
2.28pm EST
14:28
Facebook promotion for former UK deputy PM Nick Clegg
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has promoted the company’s top policy executive, Nick Clegg, to president of global affairs, Zuckerberg said in a post on Wednesday, reducing his own role in the company’s policy decisions.
Clegg, who previously served as Britain’s deputy prime minister, had joined Facebook as vice‑president for global affairs and communications in 2018.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the oversight board – a regulatory group that was formed in 2020 to make decisions independent of Facebook’s corporate leadership.
Nick Clegg has been promoted at Meta. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Clegg’s promotion is the latest public shift for the company, which has made a number of substantial changes in recent months as it refocuses its efforts on building out the metaverse – a digital world where users can meet in virtual reality.
Clegg joined the company in 2018, when Facebook was facing intense pressure over its policies during the 2016 US presidential election. . He also helped the company weather controversy around Facebook’s role in the persecution of the Rohingya in Myanmar, and most recently the revelations made by whistleblower Frances Haugen.
Updated
at 2.38pm EST
1.46pm EST
13:46
Psaki condemns ‘totally irresponsible’ Senate Republicans
White House press secretary Jen Psaki had strong words yesterday for the Senate Republicans who refused to show up for the the banking committee meeting to advance Federal Reserve board nominees – the Republicans had issue with one specific nominee, Sarah Bloom Raskin, and took this stance rather than vote against the nomination.
Yesterday, Psaki called the move by Republicans a “very extreme step that is totally irresponsible in our view”.
“(The president) agrees that Republicans are AWOL on the fight against inflation at this pivotal moment for our economy,” Psaki said today. “Everybody understands that we need a full Federal Reserve board, the first one in nearly a decade to tackle inflation and bring prices down for American families.”
She said the president supports the decision by Sherrod Brown, the chair of the banking committee, to keep all five Federal Reserve nominees together rather than split them up to get the other four passed.
“We believe Republicans need to do their jobs and show up and vote,” Psaki said. “They can vote against people. But not showing up is not delivering on the commitment you made to the American people when they voted for you.”
Updated
at 2.39pm EST
1.35pm EST
13:35
White House press secretary Jen Psaki fielded a question regarding the criticism over Joe Biden announcing that he planned on nominating a Black woman to the supreme court – even just yesterday, Republicans like senator John Cornyn were opining that they thought it was wrong to pick someone on the basis of their race or gender.
“The supreme court has been around for 230 years and there has never been a Black woman that has served on the supreme court. The president believes that is a problem with past processes, not a lack of qualified black women to serve on the supreme court,” Psaki said today.
“The president is proud of the range of qualified, creditable candidates that he is looking at and he is looking forward to making an announcement soon.”
Updated
at 2.39pm EST
1.22pm EST
13:22
White House press secretary Jen Psaki previewed the upcoming trip of vice-president Kamala Harris, who is traveling to Munich, Germany for the Munich Security Conference on later this week.
“She will build on the president’s and the national security team’s intensive engagement with European allies and partners, and continue to emphasize with our partners our ironclad commitment to our Nato allies, underscore our commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and reaffirm our shared interests in upholding the principles that have underpinned European peace and security.”
Psaki continued: “She will continue to convey to the rest of the world…our commitment to putting in place severe economic consequences should Russia invade.”
1.15pm EST
13:15
White House press secretary Jen Psaki opened today’s press briefing by coming out strong on the economy, announcing a 3.8% increase in retail sales in January.
She said the uptick in retail sales both “reflects the resiliency of the economy” and underscores “the strength of the American economy as we recover from the pandemic.”
12.52pm EST
12:52
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in Israel:
Craig Caplan
(@CraigCaplan)
Pelosi leading a CODEL in Israel this week was welcomed at the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem this morning. https://t.co/7CbQe3UD3I
February 16, 2022
Craig Caplan
(@CraigCaplan)
House Speaker Pelosi with Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy in Jerusalem spoke about the diversity of Israel and of Congress including her CODEL members who were with her inside the Knesset.https://t.co/B3y48OohSf
February 16, 2022
Chad Pergram
(@ChadPergram)
A) Pelosi while speaking in Israel: Our delegation is also here to reaffirm America’s commitment to a just and enduring two-state solution. One that embraces – enhances stability and security for Israel, Palestinians and their neighbors.
February 16, 2022
Chad Pergram
(@ChadPergram)
B) Pelosi: In December of 2019, the Hse passed a resolution declaring ‘Only the outcome of a 2-state solution can both ensure the State of Israel’s survival as a Jewish & democratic state and fulfills the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own’
February 16, 2022