Month: June 2024

President Joe Biden and leaders of the Group of Seven nations reached a deal Thursday to give Ukraine a $50 billion loan this year backed by frozen Russian assets, sustaining their commitment in opposition of Russia’s invasion. The loan would be funded by interest earned on profits from Russia’s frozen assets, largely held in Europe and will support military aid, humanitarian support and reconstruction costs.

Biden and the leaders of Italy, Canada, Germany, France, Canada and the United Kingdom are in Italy for a series of G7 meetings this week. The move comes after Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a separate bilateral security agreement, which solidifies U.S. support to Ukraine for the next decade, including military training, intelligence sharing and weapons assistance.

Mr. Biden and Zelenskyy held a joint press conference in Italy on Thursday, in which Biden called all the actions to bolster Ukraine a message to Russian leader Vladimir Putin: “he cannot wait us out, he cannot divide us. We’re going to stand with Ukraine. We’ve taken three major steps at the G7 that collectively show Putin he cannot wait us out, and we’ll be with Ukraine until they prevail in this war. First is the bilateral security agreement just signed. Second, historic agreement to provide $50 billion in value from Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine. And third, an agreement to ensure our sanctions efforts disrupt third countries that are supplying Russia’s war efforts.” (per NBC News).  Zelenskyy thanked Mr. Biden and Congress for their aid, and offered “thanks to every American heart that does not betray freedom and supports us.”

The Treasury and Commerce departments previously announced a new round of sanctions targeting Russia and its “war machine,” aimed at slowing Russia’s military growth as it continues its war in Ukraine. The sanctions will make it harder for Russia to import supplies to build military equipment, though they will still allow food and goods to get into Russia outside those sectors.  The Biden administration is now allowing Ukraine to use U.S. weapons across the border into Russia near the city of Kharkiv, a policy change that the White House says came with Russia opening a new front in its war.  National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters earlier this week: “Our position here we believe is straightforward and common sensical. Russians are launching attacks from one side of the border directly on to the other side of the border. And Ukraine ought to be able to fire back across that border.” 

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The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously rejected a bid to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone, with the commonly used drug to remain widely available. Per CNN, medication abortion accounts for nearly two-thirds of all US abortions, according to some estimates. The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 as part of a two-drug regimen to end a pregnancy and it has been shown to be safe and effective. The pill is also often prescribed for miscarriage treatment.

The high court ruled that the plaintiffs, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, lacked standing to challenge the Food and Drug Administration’s mifepristone approval actions, adding that they failed to prove they suffered any harm from the FDA’s mifepristone policies and so had no right to sue in federal court to block access to the drug. The Supreme Court opinion said: “given the broad and comprehensive conscience protections guaranteed by federal law, the plaintiffs have not shown-and cannot show-that FDA’s actions will cause them to suffer any conscience injury.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the court’s opinion: “Here, the plaintiff doctors and medical associations are unregulated parties who seek to challenge FDA’s regulation of others. Specifically, FDA’s regulations apply to doctors prescribing mifepristone and to pregnant women taking mifepristone. But the plaintiff doctors and medical associations do not prescribe or use mifepristone. And FDA has not required the plaintiffs to do anything or to refrain from doing anything.”  Kavanaugh added that the plaintiffs’ claim they were seeking to make mifepristone harder for people to because “they are pro-life, oppose elective abortion, and have sincere legal, moral, ideological, and policy objections to mifepristone being prescribed and used by others” isn’t enough for legal standing to sue in federal court.

The court concluded that, “the plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that FDA’s relaxed regulatory requirements likely would cause them to suffer an injury in fact. For that reason, the federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs’ concerns about FDA’s actions.”

President Joe Biden said in a statement that while the ruling means the pill can remain easily accessible, “the fight for reproductive freedom continues … it does not change the fact that the right for a woman to get the treatment she needs is imperiled if not impossible in many states.” 

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On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced in a statement that was keeping its key interest rates steady, stating that it projects just one interest rate cut is possible before year’s end. The central bank said economic activity “has continued to expand at a solid pace,” while job gains “have remained strong, and the unemployment rate has remained low.”

The central bank kept the federal funds rate in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%; it has remained at that level, the highest in 23 years, since July of 2023. Though inflation has eased over the past year, it remains elevated — even as there has been “modest further progress toward the Committee’s 2% inflation objective.”

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters that the Consumer Price Index report released earlier Wednesday is encouraging, but noted that the central bank wants to see more evidence in coming months that inflation is on a path to return to about 2% before moving to cut the benchmark rate. Powell said that inflation has eased from a high of 7% to 2.7%, but is “still too high,” adding: “we see today’s report as progress and building confidence, but we don’t see ourselves as having the confidence that would warrant beginning to loosen policy at this time. My colleagues and I remain squarely focused on achieving our dual mandate goals of maximum employment and stable prices for the benefit of the American people. Our economy has made considerable progress toward both goals.” Powell said the Fed’s “restrictive stance on monetary policy” is to “keep demand in line with supply and reduce inflationary pressures,” and that economic activity has continued to “expand at a solid pace,” while growth of consumer spending has slowed from “last year’s robust pace but remains solid .. Committee participants generally expect GDP growth to slow from last year’s pace with a median projection of 2.1% this year and 2.0% over the next two year.”

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On Wednesday afternoon, House Republicans on voted on a resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur on his handling of classified documents.

The final vote along party lines was 216 to 207, with Rep. David Joyce of Ohio the only Republican who voted against the contempt resolution. In a statement after the vote, Joyce said, “As a former prosecutor, I cannot in good conscience support a resolution that would further politicize our judicial system to score political points.” Joyce also suggested the vote was a partisan act: “as a former prosecutor, I cannot in good conscience support a resolution that would further politicize our judicial system to score political points. The American people expect Congress to work for them, solve policy problems, and prioritize good governance. Enough is enough.”

The lower chamber’s vote to hold Garland in contempt now makes him the third attorney general in U.S. history to be held in contempt of Congress. The resolution includes a referral to the U.S. attorney of the District of Columbia for criminal prosecution, however, GOP investigators are expected to enter into a legal fight with the Justice Department to obtain the recordings.

Speaker Mike Johnson called the outcome “a significant step in maintaining the integrity of our oversight processes and responsibilities .. It is up to Congress – not the Executive Branch – to determine what materials it needs to conduct its own investigations, and there are consequences for refusing to comply with lawful Congressional subpoenas.” Johnson added: “The Committees need the audio tapes to verify the accuracy of the written transcripts given this White House has been known to heavily edit the President’s statements. This is a simple matter — we have the transcript, and we need the audio.”

Garland stated that it was “deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon. Today’s vote disregards the constitutional separation of powers, the Justice Department’s need to protect its investigations, and the substantial amount of information we have provided to the Committees. I will always stand up for this Department, its employees, and its vital mission to defend our democracy.”

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