12 stories credited to NewsGram
Latest story Apr 19, 2026 · on ChamberLight since Apr 2026
A story can appear as several articles (copies of the same piece), so counts of stories and of articles differ.
Scores for NewsGram
Political lean
12 stories · 95% range 17–35 · updated Sep 24, 2026
Originality
All 12 carry an unconfirmed copying flag, which is not evidence either way.
12 stories · updated Sep 24, 2026
Writing quality 74 of 100: the average rating of 12 stories, each rated on its own (separate from credibility). How it is measured
Scores last checked Sep 24, 2026.
Stories ChamberLight collected, by month
Stories credited to NewsGram, by publication date. ChamberLight collects articles that mention the officials it tracks, so this shows its own coverage of this source, not how much the source publishes.
- Stories from NewsGram
- Shaded: ChamberLight collected no stories, or almost none, from any outlet (a gap in its collection, not in the outlet’s publishing)
Show as a table
| Month | Stories | All outlets |
|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | 4 | 653 |
| April 2026 | 8 | 4,537 |
| May 2026 | 0 | none collected |
| June 2026 | 0 | none collected |
| July 2026 | 0 | none collected |
| August 2026 | 0 | 1 (collection gap) |
| September 2026 | 0 | 598 |
Top topics
Share of this source’s stories tagged with each topic. A story can carry several topics, so the shares do not add up to 100%.
- Defense/Military8
67% of 12 stories · 26% across all outlets
- Foreign Policy6
50% of 12 stories · 30% across all outlets
- Economy5
42% of 12 stories · 26% across all outlets
- Ethics/Corruption5
42% of 12 stories · 62% across all outlets
- Budget/Spending3
25% of 12 stories · 33% across all outlets
- Criminal Justice3
25% of 12 stories · 20% across all outlets
- Environment/Climate2
17% of 12 stories · 5% across all outlets
- Healthcare1
8% of 12 stories · 8% across all outlets
The thin mark on each bar is the topic’s share across all outlets.
Who they cover
Party of the officials these stories are mainly about, across all 19 officials named. A story counts once for each official it is mainly about, so the split is over 26 story–official pairs, from 12 stories.
- Democrat42% · 11 pairs
- Republican42% · 11 pairs
- Independent12% · 3 pairs
- Party not recorded4% · 1 pair
Most covered
Stories mainly about each official, and their share of the source’s 12 stories.
- 1Donald TrumpR5 stories · 42%
- 2Bernard SandersI3 stories · 25%
- 3Margaret HassanD2 stories · 17%
- 4Bill CassidyR1 story · 8%
- 5Charles SchumerD1 story · 8%
- 6Edward MarkeyD1 story · 8%
- 7Hakeem JeffriesD1 story · 8%
- 8Harriet Hageman–1 story · 8%
- 9J. VanceR1 story · 8%
- 10Jeanne ShaheenD1 story · 8%
+ 9 other officials (9 story–official pairs)
Article tone
ChamberLight’s article analysis assigns each story a tone toward the official it covers. It describes the coverage of that official, not NewsGram’s stance, and reader votes do not change it. 12 stories.
- Good Look
- 2 (17%)
- Mixed
- 7 (58%)
- Informational
- 0 (0%)
- Bad Look
- 3 (25%)
Related sources
Lean 95% range 19–32 · updated Sep 24, 2026
Similar lean · 2 shared topics
Lean 95% range 25–29 · updated Sep 24, 2026
Similar lean · 3 shared topics
Lean 95% range 18–29 · updated Sep 24, 2026
Similar lean · 3 shared topics
Lean 95% range 26–34 · updated Sep 24, 2026
Similar lean · 3 shared topics
Lean 95% range 27–35 · updated Sep 24, 2026
Similar lean · 2 shared topics
Lean 95% range 14–24 · updated Sep 24, 2026
Similar lean · 2 shared topics
Challenges to these scores
No one has challenged a score on this page yet. Anyone can; editors publish every outcome here.
Articles served from newsgram.com
26Climate Defenders Warn GOP Immunity Bill Puts ‘Big Oil Above the Law’
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Brett Wilkins Green groups warned Friday that Big Oil-backed Republican legislation would give fossil fuel companies immunity from laws or lawsuits aimed at holding them accountable for their role in causing the climate emergency. On Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a bill co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Budd (R-NC), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) that, if passed, would “prohibit liability against those engaged in the mining, extraction, production, refinement, transportation, distribution, marketing, manufacture, or sale of energy for damages or injunctive or other relief from the use of their products, and for other purposes.” Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) on Friday introduced the House version of the legislation, dubbed the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026, “to protect American energy from leftist legal crusades punishing lawful activity,” as her office put it. If passed, the legislation would ban retroactive climate liability lawsuits, dismiss any such litigation pending upon the law’s enactment, void all state energy penalty laws, and affirm that the federal government maintains exclusive authority and jurisdiction over the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and other interstate environmental standards. Other Republican-controlled states including Tennesseee and Utah have recently passed such legislation, and others—including Iowa, Louisiana, and Oklahoma—have introduced similar bills. “This blatant championing of some of the world’s largest polluters shows how far certain elected officials will go to undermine democratic policymaking and deny people and communities access to justice,” Kathy Mulvey, climate accountability campaign director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Friday. “No company should be above the law, especially those that planned, funded, and continue to engage in a coordinated decadeslong campaign to protect their profits by deceiving the public and blocking climate action,” Mulvey continued. “Such corporate impunity would twist the knife of the climate crisis that is already directly harming people across the country,” she added. “Congress must not capitulate to wealthy special interests. Communities deserve the right to hold polluters accountable for the deadly and costly harms they are causing.” Former Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement that “every elected official who cares about the interests of their constituents more than those of corporate polluters should oppose this disgraceful proposal.” “Juries are a fundamental bastion of democracy, and it’s beyond dangerous to allow powerful and wealthy corporations to shield themselves from ever having to face jurors’ judgment,” he added. See Also: In Gift to Big Oil Donors, Trump Stops EPA From Combating ‘Most Terrible Environmental Threat in Human History’ The Center for Climate Integrity said the bill “would put Big Oil above the law.” “Big Oil companies have raked in massive profits at the pump while lying to the American people about the catastrophic harm of their products, and now they want to deny Americans their rightful day in court and stick taxpayers with the bill for the mess they made,” Center for Climate Integrity president Richard Wiles said Friday. “If fossil fuel companies have done nothing wrong, why do they need immunity?” While these and other climate advocates denounced the bill, their congressional sponsors—and those lawmakers’ fossil fuel industry campaign donors—applauded its introduction. “Energy security is national security, and we will not self-sabotage our critical industries with a cascade of costly lawsuits and extreme penalties that jeopardize American drilling,” Hageman said in a statement. “America’s energy producers should be protected from the dangerous legal precedent that would be set by the retroactive punishment of lawful activity.” American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers president and CEO Chet Thompson and American Petroleum Institute president and CEO Mike Sommers said in a joint statement, “We thank Sen. Cruz and Rep. Hageman for introducing legislation to stop a growing patchwork of state laws and lawsuits that threaten American energy and risk raising costs for consumers.” “These efforts to retroactively penalize companies for lawfully meeting consumer demand are misguided and counterproductive,” the lobbyists added. “Congress should act decisively to reaffirm federal authority over national energy policy and end this activist-driven state overreach.” Eleven states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont—along with the District of Columbia and dozens of city, county, and tribal governments have ongoing lawsuits seeking to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for lying to the public about their products’ role in causing and worsening climate change. On Friday, the right-wing US Supreme Court unanimously issued an important procedural ruling that certain environmental damage lawsuits—in this case, one challenging Chevron’s destruction of coastal wetlands in Louisiana—can be moved from state to generally friendlier federal courts. This, after a jury in Plaquemines Parish ordered Chevron and two other companies to pay $744 million in damages for harming coastal wetlands, a verdict that was appealed. The US Supreme Court’s decision came as its justices prepare to hear Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, a case in which the plaintiffs—three Suncor entities and ExxonMobil—are seeking to relocate a climate damages lawsuit from Colorado to federal court. Big Oil-backed efforts to relocate cases to friendlier forums come amid wins for climate defenders, most notably Held v. Montana, a historic 2024 state court ruling in favor of youth-led plaintiffs based on the Montana Constitution’s right to “a clean and healthful environment.” [DS] Suggested Reading: Trump Announces $300 Billion Texas Oil Refinery Backed by Reliance—Linked to 30-Day Russian Crude Waiver?
Climate Defenders Warn GOP Immunity Bill Puts ‘Big Oil Above the Law’
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Brett Wilkins Green groups warned Friday that Big Oil-backed Republican legislation would give fossil fuel companies immunity from laws or lawsuits aimed at holding them accountable for their role in causing the climate emergency. On Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced a bill co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Budd (R-NC), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Mike Lee (R-Utah) that, if passed, would “prohibit liability against those engaged in the mining, extraction, production, refinement, transportation, distribution, marketing, manufacture, or sale of energy for damages or injunctive or other relief from the use of their products, and for other purposes.” Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) on Friday introduced the House version of the legislation, dubbed the Stop Climate Shakedowns Act of 2026, “to protect American energy from leftist legal crusades punishing lawful activity,” as her office put it. If passed, the legislation would ban retroactive climate liability lawsuits, dismiss any such litigation pending upon the law’s enactment, void all state energy penalty laws, and affirm that the federal government maintains exclusive authority and jurisdiction over the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and other interstate environmental standards. Other Republican-controlled states including Tennesseee and Utah have recently passed such legislation, and others—including Iowa, Louisiana, and Oklahoma—have introduced similar bills. “This blatant championing of some of the world’s largest polluters shows how far certain elected officials will go to undermine democratic policymaking and deny people and communities access to justice,” Kathy Mulvey, climate accountability campaign director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Friday. “No company should be above the law, especially those that planned, funded, and continue to engage in a coordinated decadeslong campaign to protect their profits by deceiving the public and blocking climate action,” Mulvey continued. “Such corporate impunity would twist the knife of the climate crisis that is already directly harming people across the country,” she added. “Congress must not capitulate to wealthy special interests. Communities deserve the right to hold polluters accountable for the deadly and costly harms they are causing.” Former Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement that “every elected official who cares about the interests of their constituents more than those of corporate polluters should oppose this disgraceful proposal.” “Juries are a fundamental bastion of democracy, and it’s beyond dangerous to allow powerful and wealthy corporations to shield themselves from ever having to face jurors’ judgment,” he added. See Also: In Gift to Big Oil Donors, Trump Stops EPA From Combating ‘Most Terrible Environmental Threat in Human History’ The Center for Climate Integrity said the bill “would put Big Oil above the law.” “Big Oil companies have raked in massive profits at the pump while lying to the American people about the catastrophic harm of their products, and now they want to deny Americans their rightful day in court and stick taxpayers with the bill for the mess they made,” Center for Climate Integrity president Richard Wiles said Friday. “If fossil fuel companies have done nothing wrong, why do they need immunity?” While these and other climate advocates denounced the bill, their congressional sponsors—and those lawmakers’ fossil fuel industry campaign donors—applauded its introduction. “Energy security is national security, and we will not self-sabotage our critical industries with a cascade of costly lawsuits and extreme penalties that jeopardize American drilling,” Hageman said in a statement. “America’s energy producers should be protected from the dangerous legal precedent that would be set by the retroactive punishment of lawful activity.” American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers president and CEO Chet Thompson and American Petroleum Institute president and CEO Mike Sommers said in a joint statement, “We thank Sen. Cruz and Rep. Hageman for introducing legislation to stop a growing patchwork of state laws and lawsuits that threaten American energy and risk raising costs for consumers.” “These efforts to retroactively penalize companies for lawfully meeting consumer demand are misguided and counterproductive,” the lobbyists added. “Congress should act decisively to reaffirm federal authority over national energy policy and end this activist-driven state overreach.” Eleven states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont—along with the District of Columbia and dozens of city, county, and tribal governments have ongoing lawsuits seeking to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for lying to the public about their products’ role in causing and worsening climate change. On Friday, the right-wing US Supreme Court unanimously issued an important procedural ruling that certain environmental damage lawsuits—in this case, one challenging Chevron’s destruction of coastal wetlands in Louisiana—can be moved from state to generally friendlier federal courts. This, after a jury in Plaquemines Parish ordered Chevron and two other companies to pay $744 million in damages for harming coastal wetlands, a verdict that was appealed. The US Supreme Court’s decision came as its justices prepare to hear Suncor Energy Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, a case in which the plaintiffs—three Suncor entities and ExxonMobil—are seeking to relocate a climate damages lawsuit from Colorado to federal court. Big Oil-backed efforts to relocate cases to friendlier forums come amid wins for climate defenders, most notably Held v. Montana, a historic 2024 state court ruling in favor of youth-led plaintiffs based on the Montana Constitution’s right to “a clean and healthful environment.” [DS] Suggested Reading: Trump Announces $300 Billion Texas Oil Refinery Backed by Reliance—Linked to 30-Day Russian Crude Waiver?
In Dead of Night, Johnson Tries—But Fails—to Ram Through Domestic Spying Bill for Trump
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Jon Queally A dramatic series of votes in the US House of Representatives resulted in a dead-of-night extension of what critics describe as a “deceitful proposal” to continue a controversial domestic spying program, known as Section 702, that allows federal agencies to spy on the communications of Americans without a warrant. While US President Donald Trump and his allies on the issue have pushed aggressively for a longer agreement to continue the controversial provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, most of the Democratic caucus and a band of renegade, more libertarian-leaning Republicans have resisted. In the 228-197 final vote, a total of four Democrats—Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, and Thomas R. Suozzi of New York—joined with all but 25 Republicans who voted to pass a 10-day extension. Twenty GOP members voted against it, while five did not vote. See Also: UNICEF Says Children ‘Being Pulled From Under Rubble’ in Lebanon After Israeli Bombardment Ahead of the votes—including on separate versions asking for a 5-year and then 18-month extensions of Section 702—opponents of any clean extension, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), said anyone opposed to warrantless spying on Americans must vote no. “They have called us back at midnight to cast a secret vote to reauthorize FISA while America sleeps,” said Khanna in a late-night social media post. “A yes vote gives Trump more power to surveil Americans. Every Democrat must vote no. Everyone who loves the constitution must vote no.” The bloc of 20 Republicans who voted against the shorter extension also refused to budge on the push, despite heavy lobbying from the Trump White House and pressure from House Speaker Mike Johnson, for the 18-month and 5-year versions. The holdouts on both sides of the aisle, meanwhile, have been demanding privacy reforms to make sure the communications of US citizens are not swept up in the surveillance of noncitizens targeted abroad by the nation’s spy agencies and law enforcement. “Let me be clear,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) explaining her no vote in a statement. “There is no new warrant requirement in tonight’s amendment to FISA reauthorization. It does absolutely nothing to fix the massive loopholes in 702 collection that allow the government to spy on Americans without a warrant. It does nothing to fix the data broker loophole. And it slaps a 5-year extension on this bill so that this White House can continue to spy on Americans and violate our privacy rights for an even longer time.” Speaker Johnson, she charged, “is trying to pass it in the middle of the night—like so many of other pieces of his agenda—because he knows it is not what the American people want. Don’t be fooled: this bill simply continues to the spying and surveillance of the American people.” Outside critics of the clean extension effort have criticized Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York and Jim Hines of Connecticut—the latter of whom was reportedly conferring with the Republican whip team on the floor of the House late Thursday night—with sabotaging efforts to get a bill with stronger protections. Sean Vitka, executive director of Demand Progress, which has led a bipartisan coalition against a clean extension of the FISA provision, said serious questions must be asked about the role some Democrats are playing in the current fight to win significant reforms. See Also: Dandi March: The Peaceful Satyagraha That Shook The Foundations Of British Imperialism “Speaker Johnson’s failure to ram through an 18-month FISA extension creates time for Congress to vote on critical privacy protections, namely closing the backdoor search and data broker loopholes,” Vitka said after the short-term extension was passed overnight. “This failure of Himes and House Republican leaders is a testament to the good-faith, bipartisan movement fighting tirelessly for Americans’ privacy rights. This is a major opportunity to protect Americans’ civil liberties, and the Republicans who withstood this pressure should be celebrated for putting privacy over party. “Extraordinarily, four Democrats chose to back Speaker Johnson over Leader Jeffries on this critical privacy vote,” Vitka added. “Given that top Intelligence Democrat Jim Himes was caught speaking with Speaker Johnson before the vote, reporters should be asking whether he engineered these defections in an effort to sabotage the mere chance for the House to enact key, broadly bipartisan civil liberties protections. It would be unconscionable for someone with a critical oversight role like Himes to do so.” For his part, Khanna said the battle for meaningful reforms to the FISA law continues. “We just defeated Johnson’s efforts to sneak through a 5-year FISA authorization tonight,” said Khanna. “Now, they will have to fight in daylight tomorrow!” Vitka said that from now until the end of the month, when the short-term extension expires, lawmakers “fighting against privacy reform to face reality: the American people don’t want FISA to continue as-is and are watching like hawks.” “If you want to renew FISA,” he added, “you must come to the table and agree to real privacy reforms that stop the government from bypassing the courts to collect private information on Americans.” [VP] Suggested Reading: US lawmakers push bills against Sharia law
In Dead of Night, Johnson Tries—But Fails—to Ram Through Domestic Spying Bill for Trump
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Jon Queally A dramatic series of votes in the US House of Representatives resulted in a dead-of-night extension of what critics describe as a “deceitful proposal” to continue a controversial domestic spying program, known as Section 702, that allows federal agencies to spy on the communications of Americans without a warrant. While US President Donald Trump and his allies on the issue have pushed aggressively for a longer agreement to continue the controversial provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, most of the Democratic caucus and a band of renegade, more libertarian-leaning Republicans have resisted. In the 228-197 final vote, a total of four Democrats—Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, and Thomas R. Suozzi of New York—joined with all but 25 Republicans who voted to pass a 10-day extension. Twenty GOP members voted against it, while five did not vote. See Also: UNICEF Says Children ‘Being Pulled From Under Rubble’ in Lebanon After Israeli Bombardment Ahead of the votes—including on separate versions asking for a 5-year and then 18-month extensions of Section 702—opponents of any clean extension, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), said anyone opposed to warrantless spying on Americans must vote no. “They have called us back at midnight to cast a secret vote to reauthorize FISA while America sleeps,” said Khanna in a late-night social media post. “A yes vote gives Trump more power to surveil Americans. Every Democrat must vote no. Everyone who loves the constitution must vote no.” The bloc of 20 Republicans who voted against the shorter extension also refused to budge on the push, despite heavy lobbying from the Trump White House and pressure from House Speaker Mike Johnson, for the 18-month and 5-year versions. The holdouts on both sides of the aisle, meanwhile, have been demanding privacy reforms to make sure the communications of US citizens are not swept up in the surveillance of noncitizens targeted abroad by the nation’s spy agencies and law enforcement. “Let me be clear,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) explaining her no vote in a statement. “There is no new warrant requirement in tonight’s amendment to FISA reauthorization. It does absolutely nothing to fix the massive loopholes in 702 collection that allow the government to spy on Americans without a warrant. It does nothing to fix the data broker loophole. And it slaps a 5-year extension on this bill so that this White House can continue to spy on Americans and violate our privacy rights for an even longer time.” Speaker Johnson, she charged, “is trying to pass it in the middle of the night—like so many of other pieces of his agenda—because he knows it is not what the American people want. Don’t be fooled: this bill simply continues to the spying and surveillance of the American people.” Outside critics of the clean extension effort have criticized Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York and Jim Hines of Connecticut—the latter of whom was reportedly conferring with the Republican whip team on the floor of the House late Thursday night—with sabotaging efforts to get a bill with stronger protections. Sean Vitka, executive director of Demand Progress, which has led a bipartisan coalition against a clean extension of the FISA provision, said serious questions must be asked about the role some Democrats are playing in the current fight to win significant reforms. See Also: Dandi March: The Peaceful Satyagraha That Shook The Foundations Of British Imperialism “Speaker Johnson’s failure to ram through an 18-month FISA extension creates time for Congress to vote on critical privacy protections, namely closing the backdoor search and data broker loopholes,” Vitka said after the short-term extension was passed overnight. “This failure of Himes and House Republican leaders is a testament to the good-faith, bipartisan movement fighting tirelessly for Americans’ privacy rights. This is a major opportunity to protect Americans’ civil liberties, and the Republicans who withstood this pressure should be celebrated for putting privacy over party. “Extraordinarily, four Democrats chose to back Speaker Johnson over Leader Jeffries on this critical privacy vote,” Vitka added. “Given that top Intelligence Democrat Jim Himes was caught speaking with Speaker Johnson before the vote, reporters should be asking whether he engineered these defections in an effort to sabotage the mere chance for the House to enact key, broadly bipartisan civil liberties protections. It would be unconscionable for someone with a critical oversight role like Himes to do so.” For his part, Khanna said the battle for meaningful reforms to the FISA law continues. “We just defeated Johnson’s efforts to sneak through a 5-year FISA authorization tonight,” said Khanna. “Now, they will have to fight in daylight tomorrow!” Vitka said that from now until the end of the month, when the short-term extension expires, lawmakers “fighting against privacy reform to face reality: the American people don’t want FISA to continue as-is and are watching like hawks.” “If you want to renew FISA,” he added, “you must come to the table and agree to real privacy reforms that stop the government from bypassing the courts to collect private information on Americans.” [VP] Suggested Reading: US lawmakers push bills against Sharia law
In Dead of Night, Johnson Tries—But Fails—to Ram Through Domestic Spying Bill for Trump
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Jon Queally A dramatic series of votes in the US House of Representatives resulted in a dead-of-night extension of what critics describe as a “deceitful proposal” to continue a controversial domestic spying program, known as Section 702, that allows federal agencies to spy on the communications of Americans without a warrant. While US President Donald Trump and his allies on the issue have pushed aggressively for a longer agreement to continue the controversial provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, most of the Democratic caucus and a band of renegade, more libertarian-leaning Republicans have resisted. In the 228-197 final vote, a total of four Democrats—Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, and Thomas R. Suozzi of New York—joined with all but 25 Republicans who voted to pass a 10-day extension. Twenty GOP members voted against it, while five did not vote. See Also: UNICEF Says Children ‘Being Pulled From Under Rubble’ in Lebanon After Israeli Bombardment Ahead of the votes—including on separate versions asking for a 5-year and then 18-month extensions of Section 702—opponents of any clean extension, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), said anyone opposed to warrantless spying on Americans must vote no. “They have called us back at midnight to cast a secret vote to reauthorize FISA while America sleeps,” said Khanna in a late-night social media post. “A yes vote gives Trump more power to surveil Americans. Every Democrat must vote no. Everyone who loves the constitution must vote no.” The bloc of 20 Republicans who voted against the shorter extension also refused to budge on the push, despite heavy lobbying from the Trump White House and pressure from House Speaker Mike Johnson, for the 18-month and 5-year versions. The holdouts on both sides of the aisle, meanwhile, have been demanding privacy reforms to make sure the communications of US citizens are not swept up in the surveillance of noncitizens targeted abroad by the nation’s spy agencies and law enforcement. “Let me be clear,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) explaining her no vote in a statement. “There is no new warrant requirement in tonight’s amendment to FISA reauthorization. It does absolutely nothing to fix the massive loopholes in 702 collection that allow the government to spy on Americans without a warrant. It does nothing to fix the data broker loophole. And it slaps a 5-year extension on this bill so that this White House can continue to spy on Americans and violate our privacy rights for an even longer time.” Speaker Johnson, she charged, “is trying to pass it in the middle of the night—like so many of other pieces of his agenda—because he knows it is not what the American people want. Don’t be fooled: this bill simply continues to the spying and surveillance of the American people.” Outside critics of the clean extension effort have criticized Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York and Jim Hines of Connecticut—the latter of whom was reportedly conferring with the Republican whip team on the floor of the House late Thursday night—with sabotaging efforts to get a bill with stronger protections. Sean Vitka, executive director of Demand Progress, which has led a bipartisan coalition against a clean extension of the FISA provision, said serious questions must be asked about the role some Democrats are playing in the current fight to win significant reforms. See Also: Dandi March: The Peaceful Satyagraha That Shook The Foundations Of British Imperialism “Speaker Johnson’s failure to ram through an 18-month FISA extension creates time for Congress to vote on critical privacy protections, namely closing the backdoor search and data broker loopholes,” Vitka said after the short-term extension was passed overnight. “This failure of Himes and House Republican leaders is a testament to the good-faith, bipartisan movement fighting tirelessly for Americans’ privacy rights. This is a major opportunity to protect Americans’ civil liberties, and the Republicans who withstood this pressure should be celebrated for putting privacy over party. “Extraordinarily, four Democrats chose to back Speaker Johnson over Leader Jeffries on this critical privacy vote,” Vitka added. “Given that top Intelligence Democrat Jim Himes was caught speaking with Speaker Johnson before the vote, reporters should be asking whether he engineered these defections in an effort to sabotage the mere chance for the House to enact key, broadly bipartisan civil liberties protections. It would be unconscionable for someone with a critical oversight role like Himes to do so.” For his part, Khanna said the battle for meaningful reforms to the FISA law continues. “We just defeated Johnson’s efforts to sneak through a 5-year FISA authorization tonight,” said Khanna. “Now, they will have to fight in daylight tomorrow!” Vitka said that from now until the end of the month, when the short-term extension expires, lawmakers “fighting against privacy reform to face reality: the American people don’t want FISA to continue as-is and are watching like hawks.” “If you want to renew FISA,” he added, “you must come to the table and agree to real privacy reforms that stop the government from bypassing the courts to collect private information on Americans.” [VP] Suggested Reading: US lawmakers push bills against Sharia law
In 47-52 Vote, Senate GOP Blocks Another Iran War Powers Resolution
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Stephen Prager Senate Republicans on Wednesday once again narrowly stymied a Democrat-led resolution aimed at reining in President Donald Trump’s power to wage war against Iran. Although the war launched by the US and Israel in late February has killed more than 1,700 civilians and sparked a global fuel crisis that has sent prices skyrocketing, that was not enough for 52 Republican senators—every one except libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)—who voted to back the president even as the war further erodes his approval rating. See Also: Dandi March: The Peaceful Satyagraha That Shook The Foundations Of British Imperialism The Democratic caucus was similarly unified, with every member voting for the war powers resolution except the pro-Israel hawk Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.). It was the fourth war powers resolution to fail in the Senate since Trump launched the war on February 28, The last measure in late March fell short by a nearly identical margin. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) called Democrats’ continued attempts to check Trump’s war powers “exhausting” in comments to reporters on Tuesday. “Doing a war powers resolution just undermines the president. I don’t believe [the Democrats] would do that if the president had a ‘D’ behind his name.” After more than two weeks of delay, a similar bill will be brought to the floor in the House of Representatives on Thursday. Its sponsor, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said it has a good chance of passing. But without a similar bill passing the Senate, it would remain a purely symbolic gesture, with no ability to limit Trump’s power as he sends thousands more troops to the region immediately after saying the war was “close to over.” “Trump’s war of choice in Iran is a moral tragedy and economic disaster playing out before our eyes. It is only making the United States and the world less safe,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) after voting for the war powers resolution. “We have seen thousands of civilian deaths in Iran and Lebanon. More than 100 Iranian schoolgirls were killed by American weapons, and 13 American servicemembers were killed, and hundreds have been injured.” He added, “This dangerous, unnecessary, and expensive war has cost American taxpayers around $50 billion so far, with the Trump administration seeking hundreds of billions of dollars more as part of a $1.5 trillion military budget.” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Army National Guard veteran who sponsored the blocked resolution, suggested in her remarks before the vote that Republicans who opposed the resolution would be putting “Trump’s ego first” ahead of American interests and enabling more “chaos.” The two-week ceasefire agreement is set to expire on April 21. A week later, the war will hit the 60-day mark, after which troops must be withdrawn unless their deployment is approved by Congress, though the White House can request a 30-day extension by citing “national security” concerns. According to Politico, some Republicans—even those who voted against the war powers resolution on Wednesday—have indicated that the 60-day mark may be a turning point for them. See Also: SC Stays Transit Bail of Pawan Khera in Forgery and Defamation Case by Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, Questions Telangana HC Order Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is retiring after the next election, said that the administration “has got to start answering questions” about the war’s trajectory, especially as it requests tens of billions of dollars in emergency funding. Duckworth, on the other hand, said she has seen more than enough. “After one half-assed day of so-called ‘negotiations,’ he’s whipsawed to his next idea: a dangerous, complex, partial military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—once again launching a risky new front in this war at our service members’ expense… with no justification, explanation, or even ‘concept of a plan’ of how to get to an end-state,” she said. She added, “As our troops continue to sacrifice whatever is asked of them, we senators need to do the absolute minimum required of us.” (GP) Suggested Reading: M. K. Stalin Calls on Tamizharkal to Hoist Black Flags to Protest the Delimitation Bill, Says “Tamil Nadu Will Not Watch and Remain Quiet”
In 47-52 Vote, Senate GOP Blocks Another Iran War Powers Resolution
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Stephen Prager Senate Republicans on Wednesday once again narrowly stymied a Democrat-led resolution aimed at reining in President Donald Trump’s power to wage war against Iran. Although the war launched by the US and Israel in late February has killed more than 1,700 civilians and sparked a global fuel crisis that has sent prices skyrocketing, that was not enough for 52 Republican senators—every one except libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)—who voted to back the president even as the war further erodes his approval rating. See Also: Dandi March: The Peaceful Satyagraha That Shook The Foundations Of British Imperialism The Democratic caucus was similarly unified, with every member voting for the war powers resolution except the pro-Israel hawk Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.). It was the fourth war powers resolution to fail in the Senate since Trump launched the war on February 28, The last measure in late March fell short by a nearly identical margin. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) called Democrats’ continued attempts to check Trump’s war powers “exhausting” in comments to reporters on Tuesday. “Doing a war powers resolution just undermines the president. I don’t believe [the Democrats] would do that if the president had a ‘D’ behind his name.” After more than two weeks of delay, a similar bill will be brought to the floor in the House of Representatives on Thursday. Its sponsor, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said it has a good chance of passing. But without a similar bill passing the Senate, it would remain a purely symbolic gesture, with no ability to limit Trump’s power as he sends thousands more troops to the region immediately after saying the war was “close to over.” “Trump’s war of choice in Iran is a moral tragedy and economic disaster playing out before our eyes. It is only making the United States and the world less safe,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) after voting for the war powers resolution. “We have seen thousands of civilian deaths in Iran and Lebanon. More than 100 Iranian schoolgirls were killed by American weapons, and 13 American servicemembers were killed, and hundreds have been injured.” He added, “This dangerous, unnecessary, and expensive war has cost American taxpayers around $50 billion so far, with the Trump administration seeking hundreds of billions of dollars more as part of a $1.5 trillion military budget.” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Army National Guard veteran who sponsored the blocked resolution, suggested in her remarks before the vote that Republicans who opposed the resolution would be putting “Trump’s ego first” ahead of American interests and enabling more “chaos.” The two-week ceasefire agreement is set to expire on April 21. A week later, the war will hit the 60-day mark, after which troops must be withdrawn unless their deployment is approved by Congress, though the White House can request a 30-day extension by citing “national security” concerns. According to Politico, some Republicans—even those who voted against the war powers resolution on Wednesday—have indicated that the 60-day mark may be a turning point for them. See Also: SC Stays Transit Bail of Pawan Khera in Forgery and Defamation Case by Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, Questions Telangana HC Order Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is retiring after the next election, said that the administration “has got to start answering questions” about the war’s trajectory, especially as it requests tens of billions of dollars in emergency funding. Duckworth, on the other hand, said she has seen more than enough. “After one half-assed day of so-called ‘negotiations,’ he’s whipsawed to his next idea: a dangerous, complex, partial military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—once again launching a risky new front in this war at our service members’ expense… with no justification, explanation, or even ‘concept of a plan’ of how to get to an end-state,” she said. She added, “As our troops continue to sacrifice whatever is asked of them, we senators need to do the absolute minimum required of us.” (GP) Suggested Reading: M. K. Stalin Calls on Tamizharkal to Hoist Black Flags to Protest the Delimitation Bill, Says “Tamil Nadu Will Not Watch and Remain Quiet”
‘Enough Is Enough’: Sanders Moves to Force Votes Against Trump Arms Sales to Israel
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Jake Johnson US Sen. Bernie Sanders plans to force votes Wednesday on a pair of resolutions that, if enacted, would block the sale of roughly half a billion dollars of weaponry to the Israeli government, citing its bombardment and invasion of Lebanon, continued assault on the Gaza Strip, and accelerating annexation of the West Bank. In a statement previewing the Senate votes, Sanders (I-Vt.) said that “US taxpayers have spent tens of billions of dollars in support of the racist, extremist Netanyahu government. Enough is enough.” See Also: SC Stays Transit Bail of Pawan Khera in Forgery and Defamation Case by Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, Questions Telangana HC Order “The United States must use the leverage we have—tens of billions in arms and military aid—to demand that Israel ends these atrocities,” the senator continued. Sanders’ two resolutions would bar the sale of over $150 million worth of 1,000-pound gravity bombs and related support services, as well as the sale of nearly $300 million of Caterpillar bulldozers, which Israel uses to demolish homes in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Syria. “The arms sales in question violate the criteria laid out in the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act,” Sanders’ office said Tuesday. “Secretary [of State] Marco Rubio signed an emergency determination just six days into the war with Iran in an attempt to bypass the statutory congressional notification period and immediately transfer these weapons.” The resolutions face long odds in the Republican-controlled US Senate. But last year, a majority of the Senate Democratic caucus backed Sanders-led resolutions aimed at blocking earlier Trump administration sales of 1,000-pound bombs, assault rifles, and other military equipment to Israel. “Polls show that over 70% of Democratic voters want to halt arms sales to Israel,” noted Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy. “Lawmakers should not be in positions of party leadership—or hope to be its presidential nominee—if they vote against their base to give Israel the bombs and bulldozers it uses to commit war crimes.” Elizabeth Rghebi, Middle East-North Africa advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, urged Americans to call their senators at 202-224-3121 and demand that they support the new Sanders resolutions. “Amnesty International has documented a clear and ongoing pattern by Israeli forces committing serious violations of international law, including war crimes, genocide, and apartheid,” Rghebi wrote Tuesday. “This includes evidence that Israeli forces have repeatedly carried out war crimes in Lebanon and Iran and the crime of genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip. Amnesty has also been able to identify the use of US-origin weapons, including a 1,000-pound bomb, in the occupied Gaza Strip.” “All senators must take urgent action to ensure that the U.S. immediately suspends the supply, sale, or transfer to Israel of all weapons, munitions, and other military and security equipment, including the provision of training and other military and security assistance,” Rghebi added. “Supporting measures such as the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval is essential to stopping genocide and ensuring that the U.S. is not providing arms and equipment to Israel that can be used to carry out war crimes and genocide.” Sanders’ resolutions have also received support from the pro-Israel liberal advocacy group J Street, which said in a policy memo earlier this week that “the United States should phase out direct financial support for arms sales to Israel and treat Israel as it does other wealthy US allies” rather than giving the country “unquestioning, blank-check support.” See Also: As US Blockades Strait of Hormuz, Iran Military Warns of Weapons ‘Enemy Has No Idea About’ In a social media post endorsing Sanders’ resolutions, J Street wrote that “at a moment of fragile ceasefires and continued violence across the region, approving these transfers would be seen as an American endorsement of the US and Israeli war with Iran and Israeli actions in Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank.” “The weapons transfers being voted on include 1,000-pound bombs and D-9 bulldozers, which have been used by the Israeli government in ways that raise serious legal and moral concerns,” the group wrote. “Congress has a clear responsibility to ensure that US-supplied weapons are not contributing to civilian suffering or undermining the chances for diplomacy, de-escalation, and peace.” (GP) Suggested Reading: A Man in Maharashtra Arrested for Sexually Exploiting 180 Minors and Recording Over 350 Explicit Videos
‘Enough Is Enough’: Sanders Moves to Force Votes Against Trump Arms Sales to Israel
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Jake Johnson US Sen. Bernie Sanders plans to force votes Wednesday on a pair of resolutions that, if enacted, would block the sale of roughly half a billion dollars of weaponry to the Israeli government, citing its bombardment and invasion of Lebanon, continued assault on the Gaza Strip, and accelerating annexation of the West Bank. In a statement previewing the Senate votes, Sanders (I-Vt.) said that “US taxpayers have spent tens of billions of dollars in support of the racist, extremist Netanyahu government. Enough is enough.” See Also: SC Stays Transit Bail of Pawan Khera in Forgery and Defamation Case by Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, Questions Telangana HC Order “The United States must use the leverage we have—tens of billions in arms and military aid—to demand that Israel ends these atrocities,” the senator continued. Sanders’ two resolutions would bar the sale of over $150 million worth of 1,000-pound gravity bombs and related support services, as well as the sale of nearly $300 million of Caterpillar bulldozers, which Israel uses to demolish homes in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Syria. “The arms sales in question violate the criteria laid out in the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act,” Sanders’ office said Tuesday. “Secretary [of State] Marco Rubio signed an emergency determination just six days into the war with Iran in an attempt to bypass the statutory congressional notification period and immediately transfer these weapons.” The resolutions face long odds in the Republican-controlled US Senate. But last year, a majority of the Senate Democratic caucus backed Sanders-led resolutions aimed at blocking earlier Trump administration sales of 1,000-pound bombs, assault rifles, and other military equipment to Israel. “Polls show that over 70% of Democratic voters want to halt arms sales to Israel,” noted Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy. “Lawmakers should not be in positions of party leadership—or hope to be its presidential nominee—if they vote against their base to give Israel the bombs and bulldozers it uses to commit war crimes.” Elizabeth Rghebi, Middle East-North Africa advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, urged Americans to call their senators at 202-224-3121 and demand that they support the new Sanders resolutions. “Amnesty International has documented a clear and ongoing pattern by Israeli forces committing serious violations of international law, including war crimes, genocide, and apartheid,” Rghebi wrote Tuesday. “This includes evidence that Israeli forces have repeatedly carried out war crimes in Lebanon and Iran and the crime of genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip. Amnesty has also been able to identify the use of US-origin weapons, including a 1,000-pound bomb, in the occupied Gaza Strip.” “All senators must take urgent action to ensure that the U.S. immediately suspends the supply, sale, or transfer to Israel of all weapons, munitions, and other military and security equipment, including the provision of training and other military and security assistance,” Rghebi added. “Supporting measures such as the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval is essential to stopping genocide and ensuring that the U.S. is not providing arms and equipment to Israel that can be used to carry out war crimes and genocide.” Sanders’ resolutions have also received support from the pro-Israel liberal advocacy group J Street, which said in a policy memo earlier this week that “the United States should phase out direct financial support for arms sales to Israel and treat Israel as it does other wealthy US allies” rather than giving the country “unquestioning, blank-check support.” See Also: As US Blockades Strait of Hormuz, Iran Military Warns of Weapons ‘Enemy Has No Idea About’ In a social media post endorsing Sanders’ resolutions, J Street wrote that “at a moment of fragile ceasefires and continued violence across the region, approving these transfers would be seen as an American endorsement of the US and Israeli war with Iran and Israeli actions in Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank.” “The weapons transfers being voted on include 1,000-pound bombs and D-9 bulldozers, which have been used by the Israeli government in ways that raise serious legal and moral concerns,” the group wrote. “Congress has a clear responsibility to ensure that US-supplied weapons are not contributing to civilian suffering or undermining the chances for diplomacy, de-escalation, and peace.” (GP) Suggested Reading: A Man in Maharashtra Arrested for Sexually Exploiting 180 Minors and Recording Over 350 Explicit Videos
Sanders Leads Launch of ‘Worker Power’ Movement to Fight ‘Status Quo Economics’
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Brett Wilkins As Republican policies, union-busting corporations, and the imminent threat of artificial intelligence put unprecedented pressure on the US workforce, Sen. Bernie Sanders headlined Sunday’s launch of a movement “to strengthen the labor movement and expand worker power across the country.” Sanders (I-VT) spoke at the “Union Now: Building the Labor Movement” rally at Terminal 5 in Hell’s Kitchen in Midtown Manhattan alongside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA international president Sara Nelson, and other labor and social movement leaders. “Unless we fundamentally transform our economic and political systems, the worst is yet to come,” Sanders warned. “If the middle class of this country is going to survive, we must understand that status quo politics and status quo economics is no longer good enough.” “It’s absolutely important that all of us here and every American understand that in the ruling class of this country today, there is an extraordinary level of arrogance and cruelty,” the senator said. “The truth is that the 1% the people on top, people running this country have never, ever had it so good,” Sanders told the crowd. “But the sad reality is that for these people, all that they have is not good enough. They want more and more and more, and they don’t care who they step on to get what they want.” “These guys are extremely, extremely greedy people, and they could care less in terms of what happens to our children, what happens to our parents and our grandparents, and what happens to our environment today,” the senator argued. See also: BJP Decries "Anti-India" Politics After Zohran Mamdani’s Note and US Lawmakers’ Letter on Umar Khalid “One of the goals of the oligarchs and the media that they own is to make ordinary people feel that there is nothing that they can do to shape the future,” he added. “And what we are here today to say to [Elon] Musk and his friends: Go to hell.” Mamdani, who marked 100 days in office, said: “When we talk about the importance of taking on the crisis of income inequality, we know that the most effective tool to do so is increasing union density. Organizing drives and strikes can, frankly, be lonely work. So Union Now is going to support workers and provide them with more resources, and my administration will stand right alongside them. This moment demands nothing less.” NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani says that "Union Now is going to support workers and provide them with more resources" “AI and robots are coming for human jobs,” the mayor warned. “Worker protections are being eroded. There are companies that think that exploitation is a viable business model. They are wrong.” Nelson asserted that “growing union membership and bargaining power is crucial for workers’ rights and economic justice.” “Too often, the boss has all the power to starve workers during a fight,” she said. “Union Now will work with unions directly to ensure workers have the means to win.” Brittany Norris, a Delta AFA Organizing Committee member and flight attendant, told the crowd that “when it comes to striking, when it comes to public actions, a lot of those things cost money and it’s a lot of time, dedication, and efforts coming from the workers.” “We continuously hear about the profits... that our industry is making, but then we’re begging for a raise that comes up close to what the cost of living increase is every year,” she added. See also: New ‘Thought Policing’ Bill May Let Rubio Strip Passports from US Citizens Over Political Speech Sunday’s Union Now launch comes amid Sanders’ ongoing “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, which has drawn large crowds across the country, including in so-called “red” states. The rally also follows last year’s “Workers Over Billionaires” Labor Day rallies and marches in over 1,000 locations. The Union Now launch also coincides with growing wealth inequality not only in the United States but around a world in which the richest 10% of the global population own three-quarters of planetary wealth and account for nearly half of all consumer spending. “If [President Donald] Trump and his fellow oligarchs get their way, we will be living in a society where fewer and fewer people have more and more wealth and more and more power, where democracy will be undermined, where workers will be thrown out on the street with no recourse,” Sanders said Sunday. “That is not the America we want for ourselves or for our kids.” “The good news is,” he added, “if we stand together and we not let Trump and his friends divide us up, when we stand together and fight for a government that works for all of us, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish.” [KS] Suggested reading: US Condemns Russia Over Targeting Journalists, Urges Respect for Free Speech
Calls for ‘Full Arms Embargo’ Against Israel as Lebanon Massacres Imperil Ceasefire Hopes
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Jake Johnson Fresh demands for a total arms embargo against Israel emerged Wednesday as the country’s devastating onslaught in Lebanon—leveling apartment buildings and killing more than 250 people—threatened to derail tenuous progress toward a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran. “The United States and all other countries need to cut off weapons to Israel immediately,” said Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the US-based Center for International Policy. “Full arms embargo.” See Also: Dandi March: The Peaceful Satyagraha That Shook The Foundations Of British Imperialism Avi Lewis, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, wrote on social media that “Canada must bring sanctions against Israel, cancel the Canada-Israel free trade agreement, implement a real two-way arms embargo, and use every diplomatic and economic tool at our disposal to rein in Israel.” “US-Israeli impunity has shredded the international order,” he added. “Canada should lead in rebuilding it.” US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he “will be offering a resolution to stop US military aid to Israel” when Congress returns to session next week. The US is Israel’s chief arms supplier; recent data shows that 99% of Israel’s weapons imports are from the US and Germany. Israel launched its barrage of airstrikes on Lebanon, including busy areas in central Beirut, just hours after US President Donald Trump, Iranian leaders, and Pakistani mediators announced a two-week ceasefire agreement aimed at providing space for a lasting resolution to the war that the US and Israel launched in late February. Pakistan’s prime minister said explicitly that Lebanon was part of the ceasefire agreement, but the Trump White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the country was excluded, prompting fury in Iran. “If this isn’t yet another case of the US early reneging, then what is it?” asked Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry. US Vice President JD Vance claimed Wednesday that there was a “legitimate misunderstanding” about the terms of the ceasefire, saying the Iranians “thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t.” “That said, the Israelis have actually offered to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful,” Vance said. More Israeli airstrikes were reported in Beirut as Vance made his comments. Israel’s assault on Wednesday marked the deadliest day for Lebanon during the latest round of bombing, which began days after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. Lebanon held a national day of mourning on Thursday as rescue efforts continued across the country. One woman, identified as Haniya Faraj, told The New York Times that nine of her relatives were wounded in an Israeli attack on a neighborhood in central Beirut. “I don’t know if there are more, my head is about to explode,” she said. “I can’t reach all my family members.” The Associated Press reported that its journalists “saw charred bodies in vehicles and on the ground at one of Beirut’s busiest intersections in the central Corniche al Mazraa neighborhood, a mixed commercial and residential area. Using forklifts, rescue workers removed smoldering debris and sifted through ruins for survivors.” Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement that the Israeli government “has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful attacks in Lebanon and displaying a callous disregard for civilian life, fueled by the impunity Israeli officials feel they enjoy.” “These attacks are a reminder that states must immediately halt the transfer of arms and weapons to Israel, given the overriding risk that they will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law,” said Morayef. See Also: “I Killed 99% of Ranveer Allahbadia’s Germs”: Samay Raina Blames Ranveer for India’s Got Latent Fallout European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, condemned Israel’s massive bombardment of Lebanon and reiterated that the country must be included in the ceasefire agreement. “We condemn these strikes in the strongest possible terms,” said Macron. “They pose a direct threat to the sustainability of the ceasefire that has just been reached. Lebanon must be fully covered by it.” Sánchez, who has vocally condemned the Iran war from the start as illegal and immoral, went further, urging the European Union to “suspend its Association Agreement with Israel.” “There must be no impunity for these criminal acts,” said Sánchez. (GP) Suggested Reading: In Conversation with Writer and Author Maria Wirth
Calls for ‘Full Arms Embargo’ Against Israel as Lebanon Massacres Imperil Ceasefire Hopes
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Jake Johnson Fresh demands for a total arms embargo against Israel emerged Wednesday as the country’s devastating onslaught in Lebanon—leveling apartment buildings and killing more than 250 people—threatened to derail tenuous progress toward a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran. “The United States and all other countries need to cut off weapons to Israel immediately,” said Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the US-based Center for International Policy. “Full arms embargo.” See Also: Dandi March: The Peaceful Satyagraha That Shook The Foundations Of British Imperialism Avi Lewis, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, wrote on social media that “Canada must bring sanctions against Israel, cancel the Canada-Israel free trade agreement, implement a real two-way arms embargo, and use every diplomatic and economic tool at our disposal to rein in Israel.” “US-Israeli impunity has shredded the international order,” he added. “Canada should lead in rebuilding it.” US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he “will be offering a resolution to stop US military aid to Israel” when Congress returns to session next week. The US is Israel’s chief arms supplier; recent data shows that 99% of Israel’s weapons imports are from the US and Germany. Israel launched its barrage of airstrikes on Lebanon, including busy areas in central Beirut, just hours after US President Donald Trump, Iranian leaders, and Pakistani mediators announced a two-week ceasefire agreement aimed at providing space for a lasting resolution to the war that the US and Israel launched in late February. Pakistan’s prime minister said explicitly that Lebanon was part of the ceasefire agreement, but the Trump White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the country was excluded, prompting fury in Iran. “If this isn’t yet another case of the US early reneging, then what is it?” asked Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry. US Vice President JD Vance claimed Wednesday that there was a “legitimate misunderstanding” about the terms of the ceasefire, saying the Iranians “thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t.” “That said, the Israelis have actually offered to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful,” Vance said. More Israeli airstrikes were reported in Beirut as Vance made his comments. Israel’s assault on Wednesday marked the deadliest day for Lebanon during the latest round of bombing, which began days after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. Lebanon held a national day of mourning on Thursday as rescue efforts continued across the country. One woman, identified as Haniya Faraj, told The New York Times that nine of her relatives were wounded in an Israeli attack on a neighborhood in central Beirut. “I don’t know if there are more, my head is about to explode,” she said. “I can’t reach all my family members.” The Associated Press reported that its journalists “saw charred bodies in vehicles and on the ground at one of Beirut’s busiest intersections in the central Corniche al Mazraa neighborhood, a mixed commercial and residential area. Using forklifts, rescue workers removed smoldering debris and sifted through ruins for survivors.” Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement that the Israeli government “has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful attacks in Lebanon and displaying a callous disregard for civilian life, fueled by the impunity Israeli officials feel they enjoy.” “These attacks are a reminder that states must immediately halt the transfer of arms and weapons to Israel, given the overriding risk that they will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law,” said Morayef. See Also: “I Killed 99% of Ranveer Allahbadia’s Germs”: Samay Raina Blames Ranveer for India’s Got Latent Fallout European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, condemned Israel’s massive bombardment of Lebanon and reiterated that the country must be included in the ceasefire agreement. “We condemn these strikes in the strongest possible terms,” said Macron. “They pose a direct threat to the sustainability of the ceasefire that has just been reached. Lebanon must be fully covered by it.” Sánchez, who has vocally condemned the Iran war from the start as illegal and immoral, went further, urging the European Union to “suspend its Association Agreement with Israel.” “There must be no impunity for these criminal acts,” said Sánchez. (GP) Suggested Reading: In Conversation with Writer and Author Maria Wirth
Calls for ‘Full Arms Embargo’ Against Israel as Lebanon Massacres Imperil Ceasefire Hopes
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Jake Johnson Fresh demands for a total arms embargo against Israel emerged Wednesday as the country’s devastating onslaught in Lebanon—leveling apartment buildings and killing more than 250 people—threatened to derail tenuous progress toward a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran. “The United States and all other countries need to cut off weapons to Israel immediately,” said Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the US-based Center for International Policy. “Full arms embargo.” See Also: Dandi March: The Peaceful Satyagraha That Shook The Foundations Of British Imperialism Avi Lewis, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, wrote on social media that “Canada must bring sanctions against Israel, cancel the Canada-Israel free trade agreement, implement a real two-way arms embargo, and use every diplomatic and economic tool at our disposal to rein in Israel.” “US-Israeli impunity has shredded the international order,” he added. “Canada should lead in rebuilding it.” US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he “will be offering a resolution to stop US military aid to Israel” when Congress returns to session next week. The US is Israel’s chief arms supplier; recent data shows that 99% of Israel’s weapons imports are from the US and Germany. Israel launched its barrage of airstrikes on Lebanon, including busy areas in central Beirut, just hours after US President Donald Trump, Iranian leaders, and Pakistani mediators announced a two-week ceasefire agreement aimed at providing space for a lasting resolution to the war that the US and Israel launched in late February. Pakistan’s prime minister said explicitly that Lebanon was part of the ceasefire agreement, but the Trump White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the country was excluded, prompting fury in Iran. “If this isn’t yet another case of the US early reneging, then what is it?” asked Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry. US Vice President JD Vance claimed Wednesday that there was a “legitimate misunderstanding” about the terms of the ceasefire, saying the Iranians “thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t.” “That said, the Israelis have actually offered to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful,” Vance said. More Israeli airstrikes were reported in Beirut as Vance made his comments. Israel’s assault on Wednesday marked the deadliest day for Lebanon during the latest round of bombing, which began days after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. Lebanon held a national day of mourning on Thursday as rescue efforts continued across the country. One woman, identified as Haniya Faraj, told The New York Times that nine of her relatives were wounded in an Israeli attack on a neighborhood in central Beirut. “I don’t know if there are more, my head is about to explode,” she said. “I can’t reach all my family members.” The Associated Press reported that its journalists “saw charred bodies in vehicles and on the ground at one of Beirut’s busiest intersections in the central Corniche al Mazraa neighborhood, a mixed commercial and residential area. Using forklifts, rescue workers removed smoldering debris and sifted through ruins for survivors.” Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement that the Israeli government “has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful attacks in Lebanon and displaying a callous disregard for civilian life, fueled by the impunity Israeli officials feel they enjoy.” “These attacks are a reminder that states must immediately halt the transfer of arms and weapons to Israel, given the overriding risk that they will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law,” said Morayef. See Also: “I Killed 99% of Ranveer Allahbadia’s Germs”: Samay Raina Blames Ranveer for India’s Got Latent Fallout European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, condemned Israel’s massive bombardment of Lebanon and reiterated that the country must be included in the ceasefire agreement. “We condemn these strikes in the strongest possible terms,” said Macron. “They pose a direct threat to the sustainability of the ceasefire that has just been reached. Lebanon must be fully covered by it.” Sánchez, who has vocally condemned the Iran war from the start as illegal and immoral, went further, urging the European Union to “suspend its Association Agreement with Israel.” “There must be no impunity for these criminal acts,” said Sánchez. (GP) Suggested Reading: In Conversation with Writer and Author Maria Wirth
As Trump-Iran Truce Frays, Dem Leaders Pursue Yet Another Round of War Powers Votes
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Brett Wilkins After accusations of cowardly delays, Democratic leaders in the US Congress moved Wednesday toward a vote on yet another war powers resolution aimed at stopping President Donald Trump from waging more unauthorized war on Iran as the tenuous day-old Mideast ceasefire unravels. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced Wednesday that Democrats will force a vote on a war powers resolution when upper chamber lawmakers reconvene next week. “Congress must reassert its authority, especially at this dangerous moment,” Schumer said during a press conference at his New York office. “No president, Democrat or Republican, should take this country to war alone. Not now. Not ever.” Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) reiterated remarks made during a Tuesday evening interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, in which he said he’s demanding House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) “immediately reconvene the House back into session” so lawmakers can vote on the war powers resolution. See also: Dems Say Iran Ceasefire Doesn’t Change Fact That ‘Unstable, Unhinged, and Unfit’ Trump Must Go “A two-week ceasefire is insufficient,” Jeffries said. “We need a permanent end to Donald Trump’s reckless war of choice.” “Assuming it doesn’t happen this week, we’ll go back into session next week and we will present a war powers resolution as soon as it becomes available to us to do so as a matter of privilege on the House floor,” he continued. “All we need are a handful of Republicans to join us.” “The American people strongly oppose this reckless war of choice and know that we should not be spending billions of dollars to drop bombs in Iran while Republicans and Donald Trump are unwilling to spend a dime to actually make life more affordable for the American people,” Jeffries added. Jeffries also announced that House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin has scheduled a Friday meeting online regarding "Trump administration accountability and the 25th Amendment" The GOP-controlled House and Senate have rejected attempts to pass war powers resolutions, with Johnson denying that the US is even at war—a dubious argument used in as far back as the Korean War in order to skirt the constitutional requirement for congressional assent. Jeffries also announced Wednesday that House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has scheduled a Friday meeting online regarding “Trump administration accountability and the 25th Amendment,” which allows for the dismissal of a president who is incapacitated, unable, or unwilling to perform their duties. More than 80 Democratic lawmakers are urging members of Trump’s Cabinet to invoke the measure and remove him from office for his genocidal threats against Iran. Schumer’s announcement came on the heels of a day that began with Trump’s genocidal threat to wipe out Iran’s civilization and ended with an agreement for the US and Israel to grant broad concessions to Tehran—including a two-week pause in hostilities—in exchange for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. “All of this happens when one man, especially a man acting as unhinged as Donald Trump, has unchecked power to wage war,” Schumer said. “He backs himself into a corner with dangerous, escalating rhetoric.” See also: Trump Issues Stark “One Night” Warning to Iran, Touts Daring Rescue “The entire world holds its breath, wondering what’s next going to come out of his mouth,” Schumer said of Trump. “And can he ever find a way out? A commander-in-chief who is truly in control would never have gotten into this colossal mess to begin with.” There have been several unsuccessful attempts to pass an Iran war powers resolution, including a bipartisan House effort led by Reps. Ko Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and another spearheaded by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in the upper chamber. A handful of House Republicans supported the Khanna-Massie resolution, while Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) broke ranks to vote against the Kaine-Paul measure. “Republicans will once again have the opportunity to join Democrats and end this reckless war of choice,” Schumer added. “The public must demand that Republicans join with us to approve the War Powers Act.” The renewed push for a war powers vote comes as the shaky Iran ceasefire is being heavily tested both by Israel’s devastating attacks on Lebanon—which have reportedly killed or wounded more than 1,300 people over the past 24 hours—and Iran’s refusal to allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Schumer said Wednesday that “this is one of the very worst military and foreign policy actions that the United States has ever taken.” “The war made us worse in terms of control of the Strait of Hormuz,” he argued, alluding to the ceasefire provision allowing Iranian control over the vital waterway and a $2 million-per-ship toll. “The war made us worse in terms of the strength of the Iranian regime. The war made us worse in terms of high gas prices... And the war made us worse because American credibility is down the drain.” The War Powers Resolution of 1973—also known as the War Powers Act—was enacted during the Nixon administration toward the end of the US war on Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The law empowers Congress to check the president’s war-making authority by requiring the president to report any military action to Congress within 48 hours. It also mandates that lawmakers approve any troop deployments lasting longer than 60 days. In addition to Iran, members of Congress have tried—and failed—to pass multiple war powers resolutions limiting Trump’s attacks on Venezuela, whose president was kidnapped during a brief US invasion in January. Suggested reading: Ukraine Must Remain A Priority Amid Iran War, Estonian FM Margus Tsahkna Tells RFE/RL
As Trump-Iran Truce Frays, Dem Leaders Pursue Yet Another Round of War Powers Votes
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Brett Wilkins After accusations of cowardly delays, Democratic leaders in the US Congress moved Wednesday toward a vote on yet another war powers resolution aimed at stopping President Donald Trump from waging more unauthorized war on Iran as the tenuous day-old Mideast ceasefire unravels. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced Wednesday that Democrats will force a vote on a war powers resolution when upper chamber lawmakers reconvene next week. “Congress must reassert its authority, especially at this dangerous moment,” Schumer said during a press conference at his New York office. “No president, Democrat or Republican, should take this country to war alone. Not now. Not ever.” Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) reiterated remarks made during a Tuesday evening interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, in which he said he’s demanding House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) “immediately reconvene the House back into session” so lawmakers can vote on the war powers resolution. See also: Dems Say Iran Ceasefire Doesn’t Change Fact That ‘Unstable, Unhinged, and Unfit’ Trump Must Go “A two-week ceasefire is insufficient,” Jeffries said. “We need a permanent end to Donald Trump’s reckless war of choice.” “Assuming it doesn’t happen this week, we’ll go back into session next week and we will present a war powers resolution as soon as it becomes available to us to do so as a matter of privilege on the House floor,” he continued. “All we need are a handful of Republicans to join us.” “The American people strongly oppose this reckless war of choice and know that we should not be spending billions of dollars to drop bombs in Iran while Republicans and Donald Trump are unwilling to spend a dime to actually make life more affordable for the American people,” Jeffries added. Jeffries also announced that House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin has scheduled a Friday meeting online regarding "Trump administration accountability and the 25th Amendment" The GOP-controlled House and Senate have rejected attempts to pass war powers resolutions, with Johnson denying that the US is even at war—a dubious argument used in as far back as the Korean War in order to skirt the constitutional requirement for congressional assent. Jeffries also announced Wednesday that House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has scheduled a Friday meeting online regarding “Trump administration accountability and the 25th Amendment,” which allows for the dismissal of a president who is incapacitated, unable, or unwilling to perform their duties. More than 80 Democratic lawmakers are urging members of Trump’s Cabinet to invoke the measure and remove him from office for his genocidal threats against Iran. Schumer’s announcement came on the heels of a day that began with Trump’s genocidal threat to wipe out Iran’s civilization and ended with an agreement for the US and Israel to grant broad concessions to Tehran—including a two-week pause in hostilities—in exchange for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. “All of this happens when one man, especially a man acting as unhinged as Donald Trump, has unchecked power to wage war,” Schumer said. “He backs himself into a corner with dangerous, escalating rhetoric.” See also: Trump Issues Stark “One Night” Warning to Iran, Touts Daring Rescue “The entire world holds its breath, wondering what’s next going to come out of his mouth,” Schumer said of Trump. “And can he ever find a way out? A commander-in-chief who is truly in control would never have gotten into this colossal mess to begin with.” There have been several unsuccessful attempts to pass an Iran war powers resolution, including a bipartisan House effort led by Reps. Ko Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and another spearheaded by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in the upper chamber. A handful of House Republicans supported the Khanna-Massie resolution, while Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) broke ranks to vote against the Kaine-Paul measure. “Republicans will once again have the opportunity to join Democrats and end this reckless war of choice,” Schumer added. “The public must demand that Republicans join with us to approve the War Powers Act.” The renewed push for a war powers vote comes as the shaky Iran ceasefire is being heavily tested both by Israel’s devastating attacks on Lebanon—which have reportedly killed or wounded more than 1,300 people over the past 24 hours—and Iran’s refusal to allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Schumer said Wednesday that “this is one of the very worst military and foreign policy actions that the United States has ever taken.” “The war made us worse in terms of control of the Strait of Hormuz,” he argued, alluding to the ceasefire provision allowing Iranian control over the vital waterway and a $2 million-per-ship toll. “The war made us worse in terms of the strength of the Iranian regime. The war made us worse in terms of high gas prices... And the war made us worse because American credibility is down the drain.” The War Powers Resolution of 1973—also known as the War Powers Act—was enacted during the Nixon administration toward the end of the US war on Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The law empowers Congress to check the president’s war-making authority by requiring the president to report any military action to Congress within 48 hours. It also mandates that lawmakers approve any troop deployments lasting longer than 60 days. In addition to Iran, members of Congress have tried—and failed—to pass multiple war powers resolutions limiting Trump’s attacks on Venezuela, whose president was kidnapped during a brief US invasion in January. Suggested reading: Ukraine Must Remain A Priority Amid Iran War, Estonian FM Margus Tsahkna Tells RFE/RL
Trump, Iran Reach Last-Minute Agreement On Two-Week Cease-Fire
This article was originally published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Read the original article. By Alex Raufoglu WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump and Iran have agreed to a two-week Pakistani-brokered cease-fire, pulling back from the brink to allow the two sides time to negotiate a peace deal. Trump, who early on April 7 wrote that "a whole civilization will die tonight" if Iran fails to reach a deal, said in a social media post that he had received a 10 point proposal from Tehran and he believes "it is a workable basis on which to negotiate." See Also: Americans Spent $8.4 Billion More on Gas in the First Month of Trump’s Iran War: Report The Tasnim news agency, which is close to the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), confirmed a cease-fire has been "established" between the two sides "with specific conditions." "...wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks," Trump wrote. Trump gave no details of the Iranian proposal, but added that the agreement hinges on Tehran allowing for the free passage of ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil and gas shipping lane. Analysts pointed to that condition -- some 20 percent of the world's oil and gas pass through the waterway -- as being the key to the deal, adding that the stability of the cease-fire rests on Tehran. "Now all eyes are on Iran as the president has made the cease-fire contingent upon Iran opening the strait," Alex Plitsas, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council and a former Pentagon official, told RFE/RL. It was not clear if Israel had also agreed to the plan. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi confirmed in a post on X that if the attacks against Iran are halted, Iran's armed forces "will cease" their retaliatory strikes, which have been aimed at targets throughout the Middle East. "For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran's Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations." Trump's post followed his warnings that the United States would target Iran's power plants and bridges. See Also: Rejecting Temporary Ceasefire Deal, Iran Demands Total End of US-Israeli Hostilities It also came just hours after US and Israeli air strikes hit multiple locations across Iran, including infrastructure and the strategic Kharg Island. Senior Trump administration officials called the deal "a win," while Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, characterized the agreement as "a tactical pause -- a delay" by the United States to see if Iran will hold to the deal. "I think President Trump retains the option of escalating. The attack plans have been prepared. That credible military threat remains," he told RFE/RL, adding that both nations remain in a position to strike. "The Iranians have the ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz. So both can revert to previous postures if this deal fails to hold." The last-minute move came amid global concerns over Trump's remarks on wiping out Iranian civilization, with Pope Leo, an American, suggesting it was "truly unacceptable" and others warning against attacks on civilian infrastructure. There had been few signs that the sides were ready for compromise in the war, which began with US and Israeli air strikes on Iran on February 28, and little overlap between proposals put forth by Washington and Tehran. “The ceasefire, should it hold, could serve as a more general off ramp to future hostilities. In this sense, escalation -- even the threat of it -- may have been necessary to precipitate the current de-escalation,” Cale Brown, former State Department Deputy Spokesperson during Trump’s first administration and chair of Polaris National Security, told RFE/RL. US Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said she welcomed a temporary cease-fire to stop the fighting with Iran, though concerns remain over what the war has achieved, citing a sharp increase in gas prices, the "enormous disruption" to the global economy, and the deaths of 13 US service members. “Diplomacy is the only way forward. There must now be an intensive diplomatic effort, alongside our allies, to conclude this conflict and ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon,” the senator from New Hampshire said in a statement late on April 7 after the cease-fire deal was announced. Copyright (c)2025 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty [VS] Suggested Reading: Trump Issues Stark “One Night” Warning to Iran, Touts Daring Rescue
‘Gutter Racist’ Hegseth Blocks Promotion of ‘Exemplary’ Black and Female Army Colonels
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Brett Wilkins In what’s being called an “exceedingly rare” move, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is blocking the promotion of two Black and two female colonels to one-star generals, The New York Times reported Friday that some senior US military officials are questioning whether Hegseth acted out of animus toward Black people and women after the defense secretary blocked the promotion of the four officers despite the repeated objections of Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, who touted what the Times called the colonels’ “decadeslong records of exemplary service.” See Also: “Too Big a Risk”: Kamala Harris Candidly Admits Why She Didn’t Pick Pete Buttigieg as Running Mate in 2024 Military officials told the Times that Hegseth’s chief of staff, Lt. Col. Ricky Buria, got into a heated exchange with Driscoll last summer over the promotion of another officer, Maj. Gen. Antoinette Gant—a combat veteran of the US invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq—to command the Military District of Washington, DC. Such a promotion would have placed Gant in charge of numerous events at which she would likely be seen publicly with President Donald Trump. According to multiple military officials, Buria told Driscoll that Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer. A shocked Driscoll reportedly replied that “the president is not racist or sexist,” an assessment that flies in the face of countless racist and sexist statements by the president, both before and during both of his White House terms. Buria called the officials’ account of his exchange with Driscoll “completely false.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to discuss the matter beyond saying that Hegseth is “doing a tremendous job restoring meritocracy throughout the ranks at the Pentagon, as President Trump directed him to do.” Military officials told the Times that one of the Black colonels whose promotion was blocked by Hegseth wrote a paper nearly 15 years ago historically analyzing differences between Black and white soldiers’ roles in the Army. One of the female colonels, a logistics officer, was held back because she was deployed in Afghanistan during the US withdrawal whose foundation was laid by Trump during his first term. It is unclear why the two other colonels were denied promotions. See Also: Iran military degraded, strikes intensify: Hegseth Although more than 40% of current active duty US troops are people of color, military leadership remains overwhelmingly comprised of white men. Hegseth, who declared a “frontal assault” on the “whores to wokesters” who he said rose up through the ranks during the Biden administration, told an audience during a 250th anniversary ceremony for the US Navy that “your diversity is not your strength.” Hegseth has argued that women should not serve in combat roles, although he later walked back his assertion amid pushback from senators during his confirmation process. Still, since Trump returned to office, every service branch chief and 9 of the military’s 10 combat commanders are white men. Leaders of the Democratic Women’s Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus issued a joint statement Friday calling Hegseth’s blocking of the four colonels’ promotions “outrageous and wrong.” “The claim that Hegseth’s chief of staff told the army secretary Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events is racist, sexist, and extremely concerning,” wrote the lawmakers, Reps. Yvette Clarke (NY), Teresa Leger Fernández (NM), Emilia Sykes (Ohio), Hillary Scholten (Mich.), and Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.). “Time and time again, Trump and his administration have shown us exactly who they are—attacking and undermining Black people and women in the military, public servants, and women in power,” the congressional leaders asserted. “It is clear they are trying to erase Black and women’s leadership and history.” “Today’s news isn’t an anomaly, it is a part of a coordinated and sustained strategy to undermine and erase women and people of color,” their statement said. “We’ve long known that Pete Hegseth is an unfit and unqualified secretary of defense appointed by Trump,” the lawmakers added. “So it is absurd, ironic, and beyond inappropriate that he of all people would deny these promotions to officers with records of exemplary service. America’s servicemembers deserve so much better.” Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also issued a statement reading, “If these reports are accurate, Secretary Hegseth’s decision to remove four decorated officers from a promotion list after having been selected by their peers for their merit and performance is not only outrageous, it would be illegal.” “Denying the promotions of individual officers based on their race or gender would betray every principle of merit-based service military officers uphold throughout their careers,” Reed added. Several congressional colleagues weighed in, like Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a decorated combat veteran who lost her legs when an Iraqi defending his homeland from US invasion shot down the Blackhawk helicopter she was piloting. Duckworth said on Bluesky: “He says he wants to bring meritocracy back to our military. He says he has our warfighters’ backs. But here he is, the most unqualified SecDef in history, denying troops a promotion that their fellow warfighters decided they’ve earned. Hegseth is a disgrace to our heroes.” Other observers also condemned Hegseth’s move, with historian Virginia Scharff accusing him of “undermining national security with his racism and misogyny,” and City University of New York English Chair Jonathan Gray decrying the “gutter racist” who “should be hounded from public life for the damage he’s caused.” [VS] Suggested Reading: ‘Hegseth Wants State Media’: Pentagon Chief Says He Can’t Wait for Son of Pro-Trump Billionaire to Control CNN
‘Gutter Racist’ Hegseth Blocks Promotion of ‘Exemplary’ Black and Female Army Colonels
This article was originally published in Common Dreams under Creative Commons 3.0 license. Read the original article. Contact: editor@commondreams.org By Brett Wilkins In what’s being called an “exceedingly rare” move, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is blocking the promotion of two Black and two female colonels to one-star generals, The New York Times reported Friday that some senior US military officials are questioning whether Hegseth acted out of animus toward Black people and women after the defense secretary blocked the promotion of the four officers despite the repeated objections of Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, who touted what the Times called the colonels’ “decadeslong records of exemplary service.” See Also: “Too Big a Risk”: Kamala Harris Candidly Admits Why She Didn’t Pick Pete Buttigieg as Running Mate in 2024 Military officials told the Times that Hegseth’s chief of staff, Lt. Col. Ricky Buria, got into a heated exchange with Driscoll last summer over the promotion of another officer, Maj. Gen. Antoinette Gant—a combat veteran of the US invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq—to command the Military District of Washington, DC. Such a promotion would have placed Gant in charge of numerous events at which she would likely be seen publicly with President Donald Trump. According to multiple military officials, Buria told Driscoll that Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer. A shocked Driscoll reportedly replied that “the president is not racist or sexist,” an assessment that flies in the face of countless racist and sexist statements by the president, both before and during both of his White House terms. Buria called the officials’ account of his exchange with Driscoll “completely false.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to discuss the matter beyond saying that Hegseth is “doing a tremendous job restoring meritocracy throughout the ranks at the Pentagon, as President Trump directed him to do.” Military officials told the Times that one of the Black colonels whose promotion was blocked by Hegseth wrote a paper nearly 15 years ago historically analyzing differences between Black and white soldiers’ roles in the Army. One of the female colonels, a logistics officer, was held back because she was deployed in Afghanistan during the US withdrawal whose foundation was laid by Trump during his first term. It is unclear why the two other colonels were denied promotions. See Also: Iran military degraded, strikes intensify: Hegseth Although more than 40% of current active duty US troops are people of color, military leadership remains overwhelmingly comprised of white men. Hegseth, who declared a “frontal assault” on the “whores to wokesters” who he said rose up through the ranks during the Biden administration, told an audience during a 250th anniversary ceremony for the US Navy that “your diversity is not your strength.” Hegseth has argued that women should not serve in combat roles, although he later walked back his assertion amid pushback from senators during his confirmation process. Still, since Trump returned to office, every service branch chief and 9 of the military’s 10 combat commanders are white men. Leaders of the Democratic Women’s Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus issued a joint statement Friday calling Hegseth’s blocking of the four colonels’ promotions “outrageous and wrong.” “The claim that Hegseth’s chief of staff told the army secretary Trump would not want to stand next to a Black female officer at military events is racist, sexist, and extremely concerning,” wrote the lawmakers, Reps. Yvette Clarke (NY), Teresa Leger Fernández (NM), Emilia Sykes (Ohio), Hillary Scholten (Mich.), and Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.). “Time and time again, Trump and his administration have shown us exactly who they are—attacking and undermining Black people and women in the military, public servants, and women in power,” the congressional leaders asserted. “It is clear they are trying to erase Black and women’s leadership and history.” “Today’s news isn’t an anomaly, it is a part of a coordinated and sustained strategy to undermine and erase women and people of color,” their statement said. “We’ve long known that Pete Hegseth is an unfit and unqualified secretary of defense appointed by Trump,” the lawmakers added. “So it is absurd, ironic, and beyond inappropriate that he of all people would deny these promotions to officers with records of exemplary service. America’s servicemembers deserve so much better.” Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also issued a statement reading, “If these reports are accurate, Secretary Hegseth’s decision to remove four decorated officers from a promotion list after having been selected by their peers for their merit and performance is not only outrageous, it would be illegal.” “Denying the promotions of individual officers based on their race or gender would betray every principle of merit-based service military officers uphold throughout their careers,” Reed added. Several congressional colleagues weighed in, like Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a decorated combat veteran who lost her legs when an Iraqi defending his homeland from US invasion shot down the Blackhawk helicopter she was piloting. Duckworth said on Bluesky: “He says he wants to bring meritocracy back to our military. He says he has our warfighters’ backs. But here he is, the most unqualified SecDef in history, denying troops a promotion that their fellow warfighters decided they’ve earned. Hegseth is a disgrace to our heroes.” Other observers also condemned Hegseth’s move, with historian Virginia Scharff accusing him of “undermining national security with his racism and misogyny,” and City University of New York English Chair Jonathan Gray decrying the “gutter racist” who “should be hounded from public life for the damage he’s caused.” [VS] Suggested Reading: ‘Hegseth Wants State Media’: Pentagon Chief Says He Can’t Wait for Son of Pro-Trump Billionaire to Control CNN
Democrat Gregory wins Florida bypoll seat in Trump's home turf; Republicans suffer setback
New York, March 25 (IANS) A Democrat has wrested away from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party his Florida state legislature home constituency in a by-election. In a setback to the Republicans, Emily Gregory carried in Tuesday’s by-election the state House of Representatives seat where Trump had led by 11 per cent in the 2024 election. Trump’s home, Mar-a-Lago, is located in the constituency where she won. "Floridians deserve leaders who put people over politics”, Gregory said. A critic of postal ballots, Trump himself voted by mail in the election. The Republican candidate, Jon Maples, was endorsed by Trump. The vacancy occurred when the Republican Mike Caruso, who won the seat by 19 per cent in 2024, quit to become the county clerk and comptroller for a local municipality. Republicans also lost a Florida state Senate by-election to Democrat Brian Nathan, who flipped the seat. Gregory said that the voters were motivated by concerns over the rising prices, an issue that is affecting citizens as the effects of Iran War is seeping into petrol stations and supermarkets, exacerbating an existing affordability problem. Setting the scene for the coming showdown in the midterm elections in November, the state Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried said, “Floridians are tired of the chaos, corruption, and sky high prices on everything from groceries, to gas, and health care”. That is a problem for the Republican Party as the country heads to the mid-term elections in November that would determine the control of Congress. Politico reported that Democrats have seized 28 Republican-held seats in state legislatures in elections across the country over the past 14 months. Meanwhile, US lawmakers warned of mounting pressure on American weapons stockpiles and a rapidly deteriorating global nuclear landscape, as a Senate hearing exposed sharp concerns over the Trump administration’s war with Iran and the future of arms control. At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Ranking Member Senator Jeanne Shaheen said the pace of weapons consumption has exposed serious gaps in planning and strategy. “Last Thursday, almost three weeks into this war against Iran, the Administration pushed through more than 16 billion dollars in arms sales to the Middle East… using emergency authority to bypass normal Congressional review,” she said. Shaheen described the situation as a “munitions and weapons” emergency, warning that US reserves are being depleted rapidly. “In some cases, we have only about a quarter of the interceptors we need,” she said, adding that it remains “not clear what the end goal of the war in Iran is.” The strain is already affecting other conflicts. “US support has become less predictable, and allies are increasingly stepping in to purchase or backfill American-made arms,” she said, referring to Ukraine. Shaheen said that “over 80 per cent of their strikes are now carried out by drones,” highlighting a shift toward “autonomous systems and drone swarms.” However, she cautioned, “the support that we have in the US is not keeping pace.” --IANS int/al/pgh
Democrat Gregory wins Florida bypoll seat in Trump's home turf; Republicans suffer setback
New York, March 25 (IANS) A Democrat has wrested away from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party his Florida state legislature home constituency in a by-election. In a setback to the Republicans, Emily Gregory carried in Tuesday’s by-election the state House of Representatives seat where Trump had led by 11 per cent in the 2024 election. Trump’s home, Mar-a-Lago, is located in the constituency where she won. "Floridians deserve leaders who put people over politics”, Gregory said. A critic of postal ballots, Trump himself voted by mail in the election. The Republican candidate, Jon Maples, was endorsed by Trump. The vacancy occurred when the Republican Mike Caruso, who won the seat by 19 per cent in 2024, quit to become the county clerk and comptroller for a local municipality. Republicans also lost a Florida state Senate by-election to Democrat Brian Nathan, who flipped the seat. Gregory said that the voters were motivated by concerns over the rising prices, an issue that is affecting citizens as the effects of Iran War is seeping into petrol stations and supermarkets, exacerbating an existing affordability problem. Setting the scene for the coming showdown in the midterm elections in November, the state Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried said, “Floridians are tired of the chaos, corruption, and sky high prices on everything from groceries, to gas, and health care”. That is a problem for the Republican Party as the country heads to the mid-term elections in November that would determine the control of Congress. Politico reported that Democrats have seized 28 Republican-held seats in state legislatures in elections across the country over the past 14 months. Meanwhile, US lawmakers warned of mounting pressure on American weapons stockpiles and a rapidly deteriorating global nuclear landscape, as a Senate hearing exposed sharp concerns over the Trump administration’s war with Iran and the future of arms control. At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Ranking Member Senator Jeanne Shaheen said the pace of weapons consumption has exposed serious gaps in planning and strategy. “Last Thursday, almost three weeks into this war against Iran, the Administration pushed through more than 16 billion dollars in arms sales to the Middle East… using emergency authority to bypass normal Congressional review,” she said. Shaheen described the situation as a “munitions and weapons” emergency, warning that US reserves are being depleted rapidly. “In some cases, we have only about a quarter of the interceptors we need,” she said, adding that it remains “not clear what the end goal of the war in Iran is.” The strain is already affecting other conflicts. “US support has become less predictable, and allies are increasingly stepping in to purchase or backfill American-made arms,” she said, referring to Ukraine. Shaheen said that “over 80 per cent of their strikes are now carried out by drones,” highlighting a shift toward “autonomous systems and drone swarms.” However, she cautioned, “the support that we have in the US is not keeping pace.” --IANS int/al/pgh