Biden Administration, Stimulus and Merrick Garland: Live Updates

The Biden administration is abandoning Trump-era changes to the citizenship test.

Garland said on Monday that the United States faces “a more dangerous period” from domestic extremists than it faced at the time of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and praised the early stages of the investigation into the “white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol” on Jan.

“I can assure you that this would be my first priority and my first briefing when I return to the department if I am confirmed,” Judge Garland told the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing to be attorney general.

Judge Garland, 68, who led the Justice Department’s investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing, also vowed to uphold the independence of a Justice Department that had suffered deep politicization under the Trump administration.

“I do not plan to be interfered with by anyone,” Judge Garland said.

Should he be confirmed, he said he would uphold the principle that “the attorney general represents the public interest.”.

Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said in his opening remarks that Judge Garland would need to “restore the faith of the American people and the rule of law and equal justice.”.

Here is where Judge Garland stood on some other key issues in the hearing:.

The ranking Republican on the committee, Senator Charles E.

Grassley of Iowa, pressed Judge Garland on two politically charged investigations from the Trump era.

Grassley asked whether Judge Garland had discussed with Mr.

Judge Garland said that he had not discussed the Hunter Biden case with the president and that he expected that “decisions about investigations and prosecutions will be left to the Justice Department.” He demurred on the Durham investigation, saying that while he was committed to transparency, he had not yet been briefed about its status and findings.

When pressed further about the Hunter Biden case, Judge Garland said that he knew only what he had read about it in the news media, but that he had no reason to think the Biden administration had erred in letting the Trump-appointed United States attorney in Delaware, David C.

Judge Garland said he also was not aware of the details of a preliminary Justice Department investigation into how Gov.

“I think the policy was shameful,” Judge Garland said.

Judge Garland said he would reinvigorate the department’s civil rights division, which atrophied as the Trump administration curbed protections for transgender people and minorities and barred policies intended to combat systemic discrimination.

Judge Garland said that, like President Biden, he does not “support defunding the police.”.

Democrats pushed President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill through a key House committee on Monday on a nearly party-line vote, bringing the pandemic aid plan closer to passage later this week.

After days of committee hearings hammering out the details of the relief package, the House Budget Committee formally approved legislation that would provide billions of dollars to unemployed Americans, schools and businesses.

The committee advanced it on a 19 to 16 margin, with every Republican opposed.

On Monday, they said the public health and economic toll of the pandemic demanded quick action.

“This is not a wait-and-see moment — and this is no longer a wait-and-see Congress or White House,” Representative John Yarmuth of Kentucky, the chairman of the Budget Committee, said at the hearing on Monday.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held a moment of silence during a candle lighting ceremony at the White House this evening to remember the 500,000 people in the country who have died from Covid-19.

Biden said in a televised address before the ceremony.

Biden said.

members have been fleeced,” Everytown’s president, John Feinblatt, said in an interview.

The Biden administration is overturning sweeping changes that the Trump administration made to the civics test required for naturalization.

The shift comes just two months after the Trump administration made the test more difficult by increasing the total number of questions and requiring applicants to study more than 100 possible test questions.

The Biden administration will now only require immigrants to answer six out of 10 questions correctly as opposed to the 12 out of 20 required to pass the Trump-era test.

Under the Trump administration, the test became more complex: Simple geography questions were eliminated and dozens of potential questions were added.

Immigration advocates also said that the wording of some answers had changed to make them more complicated and to better reflect the political views of the Trump administration.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a last-ditch attempt by former President Donald J.

Trump, the articles said, has sustained significant losses, owes enormous debts that he is personally obligated to repay, has avoided paying federal income taxes in 11 of the 18 years The Times examined and paid just $750 in both 2016 and 2017.

Trump, relationships the president has denied.

But court filings by prosecutors suggested that they are also investigating potential crimes like tax and insurance fraud.

Aiming to steer more federal aid to the smallest and most vulnerable businesses, the Biden administration is altering the Paycheck Protection Program’s rules, increasing the amount sole proprietors are eligible to receive.

loan far more attractive to solo ventures that employ just the owner, like sole proprietorships and independent contractors.

The new formula, which Small Business Administration officials said would be released soon, will focus instead on gross income.

In brief remarks on Monday afternoon, President Biden cast the shifts in the program as a salve for hard-hit business owners who have struggled to benefit from the government’s aid efforts thus far.

Biden said.

Biden said the program would still expire at the end of March, even with the two-week pause on applications for all but the smallest businesses, which will take effect on Wednesday.

Biden said the freeze would allow more government resources to be devoted to helping the kinds of small businesses that don’t have employees dedicated to navigating the loan process.

Biden said, “will bring much-needed long overdue help to small businesses who really need help staying open, maintaining jobs and making ends meet, and this is a starting point, not the ending point.”.

This is, of course, Judge Garland’s first time appearing before this committee since ascending to the federal bench.

After the death of Justice Scalia, my Republican colleagues and I decided not to hold a hearing on his nomination — in other words, meaning Judge Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court, having been nominated by President Obama.

I admire Judge Garland’s public service.

Five years ago, when President Barack Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, then the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, effectively killed Judge Garland’s chances by refusing to even schedule a confirmation hearing to consider the nomination.

On Monday, Judge Garland came before that committee for a hearing on whether to confirm him as President Biden’s attorney general.

Grassley — now the ranking Republican on the panel — gave him a much more welcoming reception, saying that “no one doubts that Judge Garland is qualified for the job.”.

The warm greeting underscored why Judge Garland is widely expected to be confirmed as attorney general, in stark contrast to the Republican blockade he ran into in 2016.

Grassley also noted that he did not attack Judge Garland, referring to the brutal confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

“Yes, it is true that I did not give Judge Garland a hearing,” Mr.

I admire Judge Garland’s public service.”.

As the hearing unfolded, senators from both parties continued to treat Judge Garland with warmth.

The atmosphere became emotional when Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, asked Judge Garland to publicly explain something they two had discussed privately about his motivation and family history in confronting hate and discrimination.

The country took us in — and protected us,” said Judge Garland, whose family emigrated to the Midwest from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s.

Speaking haltingly, Judge Garland continued: “And I feel an obligation to the country to pay back; this is the highest, best use of my own set of skills to pay back.

In statements released early Monday morning and first obtained by Politico, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah said they would oppose Ms.

With Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, having already announced his intention to vote against the former Hillary Clinton adviser, President Biden needs the remainder of the Democratic caucus to support her nomination and at least two Republicans to endorse her.

Collins noted that “her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.” And Ms.

Biden said he planned to move forward with the nomination6

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said Monday that Mr.

“Neera Tanden is an accomplished policy expert who would be an excellent budget director and we look forward to the committee votes this week and to continuing to work toward her confirmation through engagement with both parties,” Ms.

During a tense phone call that began 18 minutes later, a top general said that he did not like the “visual” of the military guarding the Capitol and that he would recommend the Army secretary deny the request.

In advance of the Wednesday hearing, called “Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media,” members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter on Monday to Comcast, AT&T, Spectrum, Dish, Verizon, Cox and Altice, asking about their role in “the spread of dangerous misinformation.”.

Biden, who is focusing on his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, has said that he, too, wants to move on from discussing Mr

“I don’t want to talk about him anymore,” the president said during a CNN town hall in Wisconsin last week

Biden has repeatedly brought up what he said are failings of the Trump administration as he sought to win patience from the public during the rollout of coronavirus vaccines