Judge Merrick B. Garland will appear on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday to begin his confirmation process to become attorney general.
While Judge Garland is expected to gain broad bipartisan support to administer the Department of Justice, he will face tough questions from Democrats and Republicans about how to deal with the myriad of politically charged issues the department now faces: a federal tax fraud investigation on his son from President Biden, an investigation by a special lawyer about the origins of the investigation in Russia and the investigation into the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill, which began to approach the inner circle of former President Donald J. Trump.
He will also need to reinvigorate the department’s civil rights division as the United States undergoes a painful and destabilizing reckoning with systemic racism, something the country has not seen for more than half a century. The Trump administration has worked to restrict the protection of civil rights for transgender people and minorities. It also barred policies designed to combat systemic racism, sexism, homophobia and other implicit prejudices, which Trump said did not exist.
In the opening statement that Judge Garland, 68, plans to deliver to the committee, he promised to tackle the resurgent domestic terrorist threat that was strikingly evident on January 6 and to combat systemic inequality.
“This mission remains urgent because we do not yet have equal justice,” Judge Garland is expected to say.
He must also state that he will not allow the policy to influence the department’s criminal investigation into Biden’s son Hunter or his investigation into whether Obama-era officials erred in their decision to investigate the 2016 Trump campaign.
But Judge Garland will be asked whether his Department of Justice will open new investigations into Trump, his former government officials and his inner circle. Some of these officers were accused by government watchdogs of improper behavior and lying to investigators. It is unclear whether Mr. Trump or his associates will face scrutiny for any connections to the attack on the Capitol. Mr. Trump was acquitted of inciting insurrection by the Senate in his impeachment trial.
Republicans may try to pressure Judge Garland to commit to politically charged investigations of Democrats, including New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, who misrepresented the number of coronavirus-related deaths in nursing homes, or to appoint a special attorney for investigate Mr. Son of Biden. The Justice Department asked David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney appointed by Trump in Delaware, to continue to oversee Hunter Biden’s investigation.
Last month, Judge Garland said he would ensure “that there is no one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans, one rule for friends and another for enemies”.
Civil rights defenders, police unions, Democrats and Republicans expressed support for the appointment of Judge Garland. A bipartisan group of more than 150 former Justice Department employees, including Democrats like Eric H. Holder Jr. and Loretta Lynch, and Republicans like Alberto Gonzales, Michael B. Mukasey and Ken Starr, the independent attorney in the Whitewater investigation, signed a letter of support as well.
In order to target more federal aid to smaller and more vulnerable companies, the Biden government is changing the rules of the Salary Protection Program, increasing the amount that individual owners can receive and imposing a 14-day freeze on loans to companies with 20 or more employees.
The freeze will take effect on Wednesday, the Small Business Administration planned to announce on Monday. In addition, President Biden is expected to speak shortly after noon on Monday to make an announcement about small businesses.
In the December economic aid package, Congress allocated $ 284 billion to restart the aid program. Banks and other lenders, who make government-backed loans, have disbursed $ 134 billion to 1.8 million businesses since loans were resumed last month. The money will be forgiven if the recipients comply with the program rules.
Companies with up to 500 workers are generally eligible for loans, although second-rate loans – available to those whose sales have dropped 25 percent or more in at least a quarter since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic – are limited to companies with 300 or more fewer employees. The 14-day moratorium aims to draw creditors’ attention to the smallest deals, according to government officials, who spoke to reporters at a news conference on Sunday, on condition that they not be identified.
Most small businesses are individual ventures, employing only the owner. For these companies, including sole proprietorships and independent contractors, a major impediment to obtaining relief money was a program rule that based the size of the loan on the annual profit they reported on their taxes. This made unprofitable companies ineligible for help and left thousands of applicants with small loans – some as low as $ 1.
The new formula, which Small Business Administration officials said would be launched soon, will focus on gross revenue. This calculation, which is done before many expenses are deducted, will allow unprofitable companies to qualify for loans.
The agency is also changing several other program rules to expand eligibility. Those with recent convictions for crimes not linked to fraud will now be able to apply, as will those who are in default or in default on federal student loan debt. The agency also updated its guidance to clarify that business owners who are not citizens of the United States but legal residents are entitled to loans.
Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, announced on Monday that she would not support the nomination of Neera Tanden to head the Office of Management and Budget, undermining prospects for confirmation in an equally divided Senate.
The confirmation margins now seem almost insurmountable for Tanden, as Collins is the second senator in four days to announce her opposition. With Senator Joe Manchin III, a Democrat from West Virginia, having already announced his intention to vote against former Hillary Clinton adviser, President Biden needs the rest of the Democratic caucus to support his nomination and at least one Republican to support him. over there.
In a statement released Monday morning and obtained for the first time by the Politico, Collins said he believed Tanden “has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency”.
One of the many Republicans often targeted by Ms. Tanden on social media, Ms. Collins noted that “her previous actions demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden promised to transcend”. And Ms. Tanden’s decision to delete more than 1,000 tweets before her confirmation hearings, she said, “raises concerns about her commitment to transparency.”
After Manchin announced on Friday his intention to vote against her confirmation, Biden said he planned to move forward with the nomination. Following the statement by Ms. Collins, the White House indicated that it planned to proceed with the confirmation process.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said on Monday that Biden continued to support Tanden’s nomination.
“Neera Tanden is an accomplished policy expert who would be an excellent budget director and we look forward to the committee’s votes this week and we will continue to work to confirm it through engagement with both parties,” said Psaki in a statement.
Neera Tanden = experienced policy expert, would be the first Asian American woman to lead the OMB, had the experience of benefiting from a series of federal programs as a child, anticipating the committee’s votes this week and continuing to work for confirmation
– Jen Psaki (@PressSec) February 22, 2021
At 1:09 pm on January 6, minutes after protesters broke through the barricades around the US Capitol and began using steel wreckage to attack guard officers, the Capitol Police chief made a desperate request for reinforcement. It took almost two hours for officials to approve the deployment of the National Guard.
New details about what happened over those 115 minutes on that dark and violent day – revealed in interviews and documents – tell the story of how chaotic decision-making between political and military leaders consumed precious time as the Capitol riots got out of hand .
Communication failures, inaction and confusion over who had the authority to call the National Guard delayed the sending of hundreds of soldiers who could have helped to suppress the hours-long violence.
This period should be the focus of a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, when lawmakers will publicly question Steven A. Sund, the Capitol Police chief at the time, and other current and former officials for the first time about the failures of security that contributed to the violence that day.
“Capitol security leaders must address the decision not to approve the National Guard’s request, failures in agency coordination and information sharing, and how the threat intelligence they had before January 6 informed their security decisions up to that point. day, ”said Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire.
Some American officials said that by the time the urgent request reached the Pentagon on the afternoon of January 6, it had been a long time since National Guard troops could have deployed quickly enough to prevent the attack on the Capitol. But the police pointed out that during a confusion that lasted for hours, every minute lost was critical.
Chief Sund had no response for 61 minutes after asking the National Guard for help. And yet, there was a problem: while Capitol security officials approved his request, the Pentagon had the final say. During a tense phone call that started 18 minutes later, a general said he did not like the look of the military guarding the Capitol and that he would recommend the Army Secretary to deny the request.
Pentagon approval finally came at 15:04. The first deployment of National Guard troops arrived at the Capitol two and a half hours later.