Biden Aide Avoids Testimony
Biden administration officials still aren't eager to talk about Joe Biden's cognitive challenges while he was formally serving as our president. But Americans deserve to know who was running the U.S. Government prior to Jan. 20, 2025. Now the House Oversight Committee reports that the person running President Biden's autopen typically didn't receive signature orders directly from Mr. Biden. The committee also reports that a key witness abruptly cancelled a scheduled interview.
Today the Oversight committee reports:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Starmer seeking to quell revolt over welfare reform plan
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is trying to head off a growing Labour rebellion over the Government's welfare reforms. Downing Street insiders said talks were taking place with Labour MPs about the legislation after 126 of them publicly backed a move to block the legislation. The first vote on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill is due to take place on Tuesday and a concerted effort has been launched by ministers to win round potential rebels. A No 10 source said: 'The broken welfare system is failing the most vulnerable and holding too many people back. 'It's fair and responsible to fix it. There is broad consensus across the party on this.' The source insisted the reforms were 'underpinned by… Labour values'. They said: 'Delivering fundamental change is not easy, and we all want to get it right, so of course we're talking to colleagues about the Bill and the changes it will bring, we want to start delivering this together on Tuesday.' Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said talks between backbenchers and the Government were 'ongoing' as six more Labour MPs added their names to the rebel amendment that would halt the legislation in its tracks. The reasoned amendment argues that disabled people have not been properly consulted and further scrutiny of the changes is needed. The new signatories include the Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee chairman Toby Perkins, Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Gareth Snell, Newcastle upon Tyne MP Mary Glindon and Tamworth MP Sarah Edwards. North Ayrshire and Arran MP Irene Campbell and Colchester MP Pam Cox, both of whom won their seats in the party's 2024 landslide election victory, have also added their names. The new names take the total number of Labour backbenchers supporting the amendment, tabled by Treasury Select Committee chairwoman Dame Meg Hillier, to 126. The plans restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip), the main disability payment in England, and limit the sickness-related element of universal credit. The Government hopes the changes will get more people back into work and save up to £5 billion a year. Existing claimants will be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support, a move seen as a bid to head off opposition by aiming to soften the impact of the changes. But the fact so many Labour MPs are prepared to put their names to the 'reasoned amendment' calling for a change of course shows how entrenched the opposition remains. One backbencher preparing to vote against the Bill told the PA news agency: 'A lot of people have been saying they're upset about this for months. 'To leave it until a few days before the vote, it's not a very good way of running the country. 'It's not very grown-up.' They said that minor concessions would not be enough, warning: 'I don't think you can tinker with this. They need to go back to the drawing board.' The Daily Telegraph reported that potential concessions being considered include a commitment to speed up payment of support to help people back into work and offering assurances that reviews of policies in this area will be published. Meanwhile, The Times reported some MPs opposed to the plans had blamed Sir Keir's chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and suggested the time had come for 'regime change' in Downing Street. Other senior Labour figures outside Parliament, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, have publicly expressed their opposition to the plans. Meanwhile, the Tories seem unlikely to lend the Government their support, with leader Kemi Badenoch setting out conditions for doing so, including a commitment to rule out tax rises in the autumn budget and further cut to the benefits bill.
CNN
37 minutes ago
- CNN
The Trump administration is suing Minnesota over breaks in higher education for immigrant students
Minnesota became the latest state Wednesday to face a lawsuit from the Trump administration seeking to force it to give its high school graduates who entered the U.S. illegally as immigrants the same lower tuition rates reserved for in-state citizens. The U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit also seeks to strike down a law that allows the same immigrant students to receive scholarships covering part or all of their tuition under the state's North Star Promise program. The department filed its case in federal district court in Minnesota, naming Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Democratic state Attorney General Keith Ellison as defendants, along with the state's Office of Higher Education. The Justice Department has filed similar lawsuits this month against policies in Kentucky and Texas. Last week, a federal judge in Texas blocked that state's law giving a tuition break to students living in the U.S. illegally after the state's Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, said he supported the legal challenge. Walz's office said it is reviewing the lawsuit 'to better understand what this means for the state.' The lawsuit argued that Minnesota is 'flagrantly violating' a federal law that prevents states from providing a benefit in higher education to resident students living in the U.S. illegally if U.S. citizens cannot receive the same benefits. States generally set higher tuition rates for out-of-state students. Also, President Donald Trump issued executive orders in February directing federal agencies to see that public benefits do not go to immigrants living in the U.S. illegally and to challenge state and local policies seen as favoring those immigrants over some citizens. The lawsuit argues that the Republican president's orders enforce federal immigration laws. The lawsuit also argues that Minnesota's policies discriminate against U.S. citizens. 'No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,' U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. The Justice Department's lawsuit in Minnesota noted the cases filed earlier this month in Kentucky and Texas but did not mention any other states as potential targets of litigation. However, in discussing the Texas case, Bondi has suggested more lawsuits might be coming. Last year, Florida ended its tuition break for students living there illegally, but at least 21 states have laws or policies granting them, in addition to the University of Michigan system, according to the National Immigration Law Center, which favors them. Those states include Democratic-leaning ones such as California and New York, but also GOP-leaning ones like Kansas and Nebraska. According to the center, at least 16 states allow the immigrant students to receive scholarships or other aid to go to college. Supporters of the state tuition breaks argue that they don't violate federal law if they provide the same rates to U.S. citizens in the same circumstances — meaning they are residents of the state and graduates of one of its high schools. Generally states have imposed other requirements. For example, Minnesota requires male students to have registered with the U.S. Selective Service System and all students to be seeking legal resident status if that's possible. Backers of the laws also argue that the students generally were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, often when they were far younger, and are as much a part of their local communities as U.S.-born students. Also, they contend that such immigrants tend to be motivated high achievers.
CNN
37 minutes ago
- CNN
The Trump administration is suing Minnesota over breaks in higher education for immigrant students
Trump legal cases Immigration Student lifeFacebookTweetLink Follow Minnesota became the latest state Wednesday to face a lawsuit from the Trump administration seeking to force it to give its high school graduates who entered the U.S. illegally as immigrants the same lower tuition rates reserved for in-state citizens. The U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit also seeks to strike down a law that allows the same immigrant students to receive scholarships covering part or all of their tuition under the state's North Star Promise program. The department filed its case in federal district court in Minnesota, naming Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Democratic state Attorney General Keith Ellison as defendants, along with the state's Office of Higher Education. The Justice Department has filed similar lawsuits this month against policies in Kentucky and Texas. Last week, a federal judge in Texas blocked that state's law giving a tuition break to students living in the U.S. illegally after the state's Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, said he supported the legal challenge. Walz's office said it is reviewing the lawsuit 'to better understand what this means for the state.' The lawsuit argued that Minnesota is 'flagrantly violating' a federal law that prevents states from providing a benefit in higher education to resident students living in the U.S. illegally if U.S. citizens cannot receive the same benefits. States generally set higher tuition rates for out-of-state students. Also, President Donald Trump issued executive orders in February directing federal agencies to see that public benefits do not go to immigrants living in the U.S. illegally and to challenge state and local policies seen as favoring those immigrants over some citizens. The lawsuit argues that the Republican president's orders enforce federal immigration laws. The lawsuit also argues that Minnesota's policies discriminate against U.S. citizens. 'No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,' U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. The Justice Department's lawsuit in Minnesota noted the cases filed earlier this month in Kentucky and Texas but did not mention any other states as potential targets of litigation. However, in discussing the Texas case, Bondi has suggested more lawsuits might be coming. Last year, Florida ended its tuition break for students living there illegally, but at least 21 states have laws or policies granting them, in addition to the University of Michigan system, according to the National Immigration Law Center, which favors them. Those states include Democratic-leaning ones such as California and New York, but also GOP-leaning ones like Kansas and Nebraska. According to the center, at least 16 states allow the immigrant students to receive scholarships or other aid to go to college. Supporters of the state tuition breaks argue that they don't violate federal law if they provide the same rates to U.S. citizens in the same circumstances — meaning they are residents of the state and graduates of one of its high schools. Generally states have imposed other requirements. For example, Minnesota requires male students to have registered with the U.S. Selective Service System and all students to be seeking legal resident status if that's possible. Backers of the laws also argue that the students generally were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, often when they were far younger, and are as much a part of their local communities as U.S.-born students. Also, they contend that such immigrants tend to be motivated high achievers.
