Month: June 2021

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked the voting rights reform bill titled For the People Act in an evenly split vote. The Senate voted 50-50 along party lines, with Democrats failing to secure the 60 votes necessary to avoid a Republican filibuster on the procedural vote to open debate on the bill.

The For the People Act features a wide range of provisions aimed at expanding access to ballots, including automatic voter registration for all who are eligible and ensuring the right to vote for those who have completed felony sentences, enhancing federal support for voting security and tightening fundraising rules for super PACs.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell characterized the bill as a power grab by Democrats, saying, “At the end of the day which concocted crisis Democrats use as a justification for their top legislative priority doesn’t make much difference. They’ve made it abundantly clear that the real driving force behind S.1 is a desire to rig the rules of American elections permanently in Democrats’ favor.”  However, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the Republican opposition to the bill “indefensible,” saying that members of the GOP had aligned themselves with former President Donald Trump, who claimed without evidence that widespread voter fraud led to his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who presided over the vote, said that “the fight is not over” as she and President Joe Biden will continue to push for voting reform including the more moderate John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

A White House task force announced Tuesday that the United States won’t hit President Joe Biden’s goal of 70% of all adults vaccinated with at least one COVID-19 shot by July 4th. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 177 million adults 18 years old and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 shot and more than 150 million are fully vaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures. That accounts for 65.4% of adults with at least one dose, shy of the 70% target.  President Biden set the goal in May in an attempt to boost vaccination rates, which have slowed in recent weeks. The United States vaccinated a peak of seven-day rolling average of 3.38 million Americans in a day in mid-April, a figure that dropped to below 1 million in early June.  Biden also sought to have 160 million adults fully vaccinated by Independence Day.

White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said the United States should reach that goal “a few extra weeks” after the July 4 holiday weekend, adding that the country has met the 70% goal for Americans 30 years old and older, and should hit the goal by the end of July 4 weekend for Americans 27 and older.

Zients noted that the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus is spreading throughout communities in the United States and that the unvaccinated are particularly vulnerable, saying: “It’s now more important than ever for them to get vaccinated. Our work doesn’t stop at July Fourth or when we hit 70 percent.”   Zients highlighted that 16 states have hit the 70% goal, as well as Americans over the age of 30, saying in part: “That’s life-saving progress. Throughout the last 5 months the president has set goals to rally the American people behind defeating the virus with the most important and most ambitious being to celebrate our independence from the virus on July Fourth — for America to look like America again.”

On Monday, a federal judge dismissed a series of lawsuits filed against the federal government for its use of force to drive Black Lives Matter protesters out of Lafayette Square last year. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that claims filed against local officers involved in forcibly dispersing the crowd on June 1, 2020, could go forward, but rejected claims for damages against former officials including President Donald Trump, Attorney General William Barr and Defense Secretary Mark Esper along with some current officials.

The lawsuits, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Black Lives Matter D.C. and individual protesters alleged that protesters’ First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights were violated when U.S. law enforcement agents fired tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and flash bombs to force them and other peaceful protesters to disperse as Trump posed for photos at a nearby church.

A report by an Interior Departments watchdog earlier this month said that U.S. Park Police cleared the protesters from the area to erect fencing and not to make way for Trump’s photo.

Nine children and one adult were killed in a multi-vehicle pileup in Alabama. A father and his 9-month-old daughter were killed in one vehicle; Cody Fox, 29, and Ariana Fox were identified as the victims in a small SUV traveling from Marion County, Tenn.

The eight other victims who died were in a bus carrying girls housed at Girls Ranch, a foster home for girls from abusive or abandonment situations. The identities of the girls were not released as many were under the care of the state, however Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock said they ranged in age from 4-17. Girls Ranch wrote on Facebook: “Our hearts are heavy today. Our ranch has suffered great loss. As some of you may have heard, one of our ranch vehicles was involved in a multiple car accident this afternoon. Please send prayers our way as we navigate this difficult time.”  A bystander pulled the driver of the Girls Ranch bus from the vehicle but was unable to go back for the children, said Garlock, adding, “It was too late to get back to them because the bus was engulfed in fire.” Garlock said the crash was likely caused by hydroplaning due to storms on Saturday as Tropical Storm Claudette hit the area with heavy rains and strong winds.

Butler County Sheriff Danny Bond said the crash involved a total of 18 vehicles, including two 18-wheelers, and as many as five other people sustained nonfatal injuries. The crash forced both the northbound and southbound lanes of 1-65 to be closed, with parts of the interstate reopening early Sunday morning.