Biden

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Higher Social Security payments coming for millions of people from bill that Biden signed

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday signed into law a measure that boosts Social Security payments for current and former public employees, affecting nearly 3 million people who receive pensions from their time as teachers, firefighters, police officers and in other public service jobs. Advocates say the Social Security Fairness Act rights a decades-old disparity, though it will also put strain on Social Security Trust Funds, which face a looming insolvency crisis. The bill rescinds two provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — […]

todayJanuary 8, 2025

News

Biden administration says Sudan rebel force committed genocide, imposes sanctions on group’s leaders

The Biden administration said Tuesday that a Sudanese paramilitary group and its proxies are committing genocide in a civil war with the country’s military that has killed tens of thousands of people, leveling sanctions on the group’s leader and affiliated companies. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the conflict, which began nearly two years ago and is considered the world’s biggest current humanitarian catastrophe, had escalated beyond a war crimes and ethnic cleansing determination he made in December 2023. Blinken said […]

todayJanuary 8, 2025 1

News

Biden awards Denzel Washington, Magic Johnson and Fannie Lou Hamer with Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 recipients on Saturday afternoon, including Black American luminaries, actor Denzel Washington, former NBA star and business mogul Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and the late civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.  Other recipients included former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, musician Bono, actor Michael J. Fox, the late Robert F. Kennedy, Sr., fashion designer Ralph Lauren, and longtime Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. The ceremony unfolded […]

todayJanuary 4, 2025

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Bennie Thompson awarded Presidential Citizens Medal by Biden in a full-circle moment for the Mississippi lawmaker

Longtime Congressman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., received one of the highest civilian honors on Thursday when President Joe Biden awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal. Closing out the final days of his term, which ends on Jan. 20, Biden presented Thompson, 76, with the prestigious presidential award during a White House ceremony held in the East Room. For Thompson, who has been in Congress for more than 30 years and before that, served in local government, the presidential honor is years […]

todayJanuary 2, 2025 1

News

Members of Congress urge Biden to exonerate Marcus Garvey following recent executive pardons and commutations

A group of Congressional members are urging President Joe Biden to posthumously exonerate civil rights leader Marcus Garvey for a 1923 conviction.  The letter to Biden, dated just before the Christmas holiday, calls on the president to continue his efforts to advance racial justice in his final days in office. “Exonerating [Marcus] Garvey would honor his work for the Black community, remove the shadow of an unjust conviction, and further your administration’s promise to advance racial justice,” reads the letter […]

todayDecember 26, 2024

News

Trump vows to pursue executions after Biden commutes most of federal death row

President-elect Donald Trump promised on Tuesday to “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions. Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned people to life in prison without parole, arguing that it was senseless and insulted the families of their victims. Biden said converting their punishments to life imprisonment was consistent with the moratorium […]

todayDecember 26, 2024

News

President Biden breaks record for most Black judges confirmed to federal bench

As President Joe Biden enters the final days of his presidency, he has another historic milestone to add to his resume. The Senate confirmed Judge Benjamin Cheeks to the Southern District of California, marking the 63rd lifetime Black judicial confirmation during his administration. Biden has now confirmed more Black judges to the federal bench than any president in U.S. history, including those who served two terms.  “[President Biden] making history with the 63rd Black judge shows that we have representation […]

todayDecember 23, 2024 1

News

Biden commutes sentences of federal death row inmates, ‘striking blow’ to system that has ‘always targeted Black people’

President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of most inmates on federal death row, a historic executive action that is being celebrated by racial and social justice advocates.  The president on Monday announced that he would issue commutations for 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. A majority of inmates on federal death row are Black (38%) and Latino (15%), according to Death Penalty Information Center.  “I’ve dedicated my career […]

todayDecember 23, 2024

News

Biden signs bill that averts a government shutdown and brings a close to days of Washington upheaval

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed a bill into law Saturday that averts a government shutdown, bringing a final close to days of upheaval after Congress approved a temporary funding plan just past the deadline and refused President-elect Donald Trump’s core debt demands in the package. The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides $100 billion in disaster aid and $10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers. “This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything […]

todayDecember 22, 2024