A high altitude balloon floats over Billings, Mont., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. The U.S. is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted over U.S. airspace for a couple days, but the Pentagon decided not to shoot it down due to risks of harm for people on the ground, officials said Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. The Pentagon would not confirm that the balloon in the photo was the surveillance balloon. (Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via AP)
Republicans criticized President Joe Biden’s response to the suspected Chinese spy balloon that U.S. military fighter jets shot down Saturday.
China claimed the balloon, which had been seen flying over Montana earlier last week, was only meant for observing weather conditions. The Chinese Foreign Ministry claimed the move to destroy the balloon was a “clear overreaction and serious violation of international practice.”
Biden was briefed on the balloon Wednesday but it was not shot down until it was flying over water Saturday, in part, because of the potential damage caused by debris.
"The president will always put the safety and security of the American people first," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday. "We are tracking closely and keeping all options on the table."
Republicans criticized the administration for waiting so long to shoot it down.
“I will be demanding answers and will hold the admin accountable for this embarrassing display of weakness,” Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said.
Sen. Marco Rubio, lead Republican on the Intelligence Committee, similarly said it sent the wrong message to the rest of the world.
“The message embedded in this to the world is we can fly a balloon over airspace of the United States of America and they won’t be able to do anything about it to stop us,” Rubio said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also criticized the president.
McConnell said in a statement Sunday that "this balloon could have been shot down right away without endangering Americans or Canadians.”
“This was a reminder of the PRC's brazenness and President Biden missed the opportunity to defend our sovereignty, send a message of strength, and bolster deterrence," he added.
But Democrats defended the administration's actions.
“We sent a clear message to China that this is not acceptable. We protected civilians. We gained more intelligence while protecting our own sensitive information,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “The bottom line here is that shooting down the surveillance balloon over water wasn't just the safest option but it was the one that maximized our intelligence payload.”
A group of eight congressional leaders on intelligence committees will receive a classified briefing this week on China and the surveillance balloon.
Senators will receive a classified briefing on February 15 with the latest intelligence on the balloon as the United States searches for debris off the South Carolina coast.
Heading into 2022, the eyes of political nerds like us are fixed on statehouses across the country. State legislatures are in the process of taking the data from the 2020 census and using it to draw new congressional districts. The process has major implications for midterms, as Republicans could retake the majority just by gerrymandering enough seats into their column. In Maryland, state level Democrats are considering several maps, one of which would completely draw out the only Republican from the state in Congress.
Bruce DePuyt, senior reporter at Maryland Matters, and Helen Brewer, legal analyst at Princeton's Electoral Innovation Lab, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Today is Veterans Day, a day each year that gives us a chance to honor our service members and reflect on the issues they face in our armed forces. One issue that's gotten a lot of scrutiny recently is the handling of sexual assault cases in the military. The military has long been criticized for how it handles cases of sexual assault, with particular attention paid to how cases are investigated and prosecuted usually within the chain of command. The defense department has said sexual assault cases will be removed, but it's not the same as Congress changing the law itself.
Lory Manning, retired U.S. Navy captain and the director of government operations at the Service Women's Action Network, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Greenwood, a digital banking platform aimed at supporting Black and Latino businesses and clients, is launching its very own GreenBook. Named after the historic publication for Black travelers during the era of Jim Crow, the online guide will provide a directory of Black- and Latino-owned businesses across the country. Ryan Glover, the founder and chairman of Greenwood, joined Cheddar to provide additional details about the listings.
President Biden's infrastructure plan will be pumping billions of dollars into the EV sector. David Shepardson, Correspondent at Thomson Reuters, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to break down all of the details.
Al Root, Senior Writer at Barron's, joined Wake Up With Cheddar's Jill Wagner to break down who qualifies for the proposed EV tax credits and why some automakers aren't too pleased about extra incentives for vehicles made at union plants.
Jill Wagner is joined by Baker to talk about kids and vaccines: we finally know how many young kids are getting vaccinated. Plus, Democrats are working on a Plan B for paid family leave. And the salad chain Sweetgreen goes public.
A breakthrough deal between the U.S. and China when it comes to climate has finally been reached. The two countries have pledged to work together to curb carbon emissions. Amy Harder, executive editor at Cipher, joined Cheddar News to discuss more.
President Joe Biden is expected to visit GM's 'Factory Zero' plant in Detroit, where mass production of its electric vehicle fleet will get underway. Biden is likely to tout his recently passed $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan, which allocates $7.5 billion toward EV infrastructure.
