Thursday – 4/28/22

Thursday - 4/28/22 1

News

UKRAINE… House considers legislation for Ukraine ‘lend-lease’ program to send aid to that country
April 28, 2022 – 10:00 am (ET)

As the midterm elections approach, young Black men in Anson Country, North Carolina, are losing faith in the political system. NBC News’ Antonia Hylton explains why voters in rural areas are losing confidence in the election system.

HOUSE… Kevin McCarthy’s week just got much worse
CNN, Chris CillizzaApril 28, 2022

It’s been a rough few days for Kevin McCarthy.

He had already been exposed as a liar for denying a New York Times report that he told Republican members he was going to recommend that Donald Trump resign in the wake of the January 6 insurrection. The Times produced the audio — and McCarthy was left with this gibberish response.

Which is bad!

But on Tuesday night, the Times published more of McCarthy’s conversations with fellow Republican leaders from January 10, 2021 — audio in which he suggests that the actions of some of his members may be fomenting violence and wonders whether their social media feeds could be taken away.

Russian tanks with their tops blown off are just the latest sign that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine isn’t going to plan.

Hundreds of Russian tanks are thought to have been destroyed since Moscow launched its offensive, with British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Monday estimating it had lost as many as 580.

But Moscow’s problems go beyond the sheer number of tanks it has lost. Experts say battlefield images show Russian tanks are suffering from a defect that Western militaries have known about for decades and refer to as the “jack-in-the-box effect.” Moscow, they say, should have seen the problem coming.

WAR CRIMES… In Russian-occupied Kherson, allegations of rape emerge
CNN, Nick Paton Walsh et al.April 28, 2022

When Dasha and the other children emerged from their basement and into their newly occupied village it was for food.

They were hiding from the Russians, who had fired shots into the air, at cars — and at people.

But when the children resurfaced, they were greeted by two unwanted guests — Russian soldiers. The men let the children enter the kitchen to eat, Dasha said.

It was mid-March and 16-year-old Dasha was about six months pregnant.

One of the soldiers, who Dasha said was drunk, began asking how many rooms were in the house, and the ages of the children.

What followed is an incident that Ukrainian prosecutors say is a war crime.

So far, President Biden’s legacy on climate change is pretty insubstantial. There’s time to change that if he can quickly make much better use of his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The president put nearly all his hopes for climate action into passing his Build Back Better legislation through Congress. That bill would have spent $550 billion on clean energy and electrified transit. It failed to garner a majority in the Senate, and due to continuing reticence about the measure on the part of more conservative Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), it appears unlikely any slimmed-down replacement will pass.

In an ideal world, congressional and EPA action would complement each other. Laws are more durable than EPA policy alone, while the EPA can maneuver around legislative gridlock. Congressional spending on clean energy tax incentives helps bring down implementation costs for businesses, making it easier for the EPA to implement stricter rules.

As Republican primary voters get closer to the polls, it’s beginning to feel like mid-2016 again: Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are on opposing sides.

The former president’s late backing of J.D. Vance in Ohio and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania is directly at odds with the Texas senator’s favored candidates in two brutal Senate primaries that conclude next month. Cruz endorsed his candidates before Trump — Josh Mandel in Ohio and David McCormick in Pennsylvania — and didn’t exactly plan to go toe-to-toe with his 2016 presidential rival. But Trump’s late interventions certainly aren’t scaring him off.

In fact, Cruz is dropping into Ohio this weekend to try and push Mandel across the finish line just days before the May 3 primary. And he says he’ll probably head back to Pennsylvania to bolster McCormick against Oz ahead of the May 17 contest.

President Joe Biden’s latest request for military aid to Ukraine is set to reach Congress as early as Thursday — and promptly get mired in legislative quicksand.

Top Republicans are shrugging off Democrats’ efforts to combine the new Ukraine assistance with a bipartisan agreement on Covid relief funding. GOP senators are threatening to force difficult votes on the Biden administration’s divisive decision to end pandemic-era curbs on immigration at the southern border, pressing an issue that Democrats are already lamenting that the White House has mishandled.

The resulting jousting on the Hill could end up delaying urgently needed help for the war-ravaged nation, despite overwhelming bipartisan support for additional aid to fend off Russia’s brutal assault. And it comes as Biden administration officials are warning that they will soon run out of funding necessary to help Ukraine repel the Russian offensive.

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he pardoned three people who have “demonstrated a commitment to rehabilitation,” including 86-year-old Abraham W. Bolden Sr., who was the first Black Secret Service agent to serve on a presidential detail.

The president also commuted the sentences of 75 people who are currently serving long sentences for non-violent drug offenses.

“America is a nation of laws and second chances, redemption, and rehabilitation. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect these core values that enable safer and stronger communities,” Biden said in a statement.

IMMIGRATION… Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas testifies in Senate as debate continues on Title 42
April 28, 2022 – 10:05 am (ET)
TECHNOLOGY… Senate debates COMPETES Act, a bill to help build domestic technology supply chains
April 28, 2022 – 10:00 am (ET)
BIDEN… gives update at White House on continuing Ukraine-Russia conflict
April 28, 2022 – 10:45 am (ET)

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