For city leaders in Washington, DC, the deadly January 6 attack on the Capitol reinforces the need for Congress to move on granting statehood to the district, particularly after pro-Trump rioters were able to incite violence without immediate repercussion or proper law enforcement on hand to tame the crowd, according to Rep. Oye Owolewa, DC's shadow representative.
"We don't have control over our National Guard. While every other state can just have the governor reach and get their resources to protect them, we don't have that," he said.
The need for statehood was evident even before the Capitol attack and was highlighted last year when the ongoing coronavirus pandemic first swept the U.S., Owolewa added. "We don't control our own budget. We can't even create our own laws without federal intervention. We're not able to get all the resources to fight COVID compared to our neighboring states in Maryland and Virginia."
Just off of the heels of last week's attack, the city is gearing up to host President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, an event DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is asking that Americans virtually attend from home because of persistent safety concerns. Owolewa said he is concerned about residents of the city, in particular, not just for potential violence at the event but the fallout from the pandemic at health care facilities, restaurants, and shops.
"This is supposed to be a time where people come to DC and celebrate a peaceful transition of power. This is our opportunity to show the world what democracy is like, and right now, we have a president that puts his own interest in front of national security," he continued.
As the House debates over articles of impeachment, despite not having a seat in Congress due to DC's lack of statehood, Owolewa echoed the sentiments from many critics of the president and supported attempting to convict and oust Donald Trump.
"[Trump] is going to be impeached based off his comments that he made that incited a riot and today, I expect a bipartisan vote that will pass the articles of impeachment and send it over to the Senate for a vote," he said.
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
