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Politics

Merrick Garland lawyer basic affirmation hearings to start Monday

Merrick Garland attorney general confirmation hearings to begin Monday

Judge Merrick Garland, US President-elect Joe Biden’s candidate for US Attorney General, speaks as Biden listens as he announces his nominations for the Justice Department on January 7, 2021 at his interim headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

Merrick Garland is finally getting his Senate day.

Garland, President Joe Biden’s election as attorney general, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday on the first day of his confirmation hearings, which are expected to continue later this week.

The hearings were postponed due to partisan disputes while Democrats and Republicans struggled to reach a power-sharing deal in the evenly-divided Senate.

Those delays came after Garland was denied no hearings at all in 2016 when former President Barack Obama appointed the centrist judge to the Supreme Court following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the Conservative associate.

The federal appeals court judge is expected to be quickly confirmed – likely in early March – though he may be grilled uncomfortably, especially by the panel’s Republicans.

Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the senior Republican on the Justice Committee, has stated that Garland will be asked how he will deal with the federal investigation into Biden’s son Hunter Biden related to the younger Biden’s finances. Hunter Biden has announced that the federal prosecutor is investigating his “tax affairs”.

All in all, however, the hearings are unlikely to be dramatic. In a statement, Democratic Committee Chairman Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois described Garland as “a consensus decision whose merits should be swiftly confirmed”.

Question of independence

Garland has been a judge on the US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit since 1997 and served as the chief judge in the court from 2013 to 2020, which was considered the most important except for the Supreme Court.

The 68-year-old, if confirmed, will head the Justice Department, which will be crucial to Biden’s agenda for criminal justice reform. Biden has also said that he hopes that by choosing Garland he can demonstrate a contrast to President Donald Trump’s use of the department for selfish ends.

“We must restore the DOJ’s honor, integrity and independence to this nation that has been so badly damaged,” Biden said during a January speech introducing Garland.

“I want to be clear to those in charge of this department who you are going to serve: you are not going to work for me. You are not the lawyer for the president or the vice president,” added Biden. “Your loyalty is not to me. It is to the law, the constitution and the people of this nation.”

Trump’s four-year tenure in the Justice Department was marked by controversy.

His first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was forced to resign for good in 2018 after Trump attacked him for months for deciding to withdraw from former Special Adviser Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

William Barr, Trump’s last attorney general, has been charged with manipulating the prosecution of Trump allies Roger Stone and Michael Flynn and making misleading statements related to Müller’s final report.

Garland is committed to maintaining its independence.

“The essence of the rule of law is that the same cases are treated equally: there is no rule for Democrats and one for Republicans, one rule for friends, another for enemies, one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless,” he said last month.

Civil Rights Examination

It is likely that Democrats will push Garland to look at how his views on criminal justice align with Biden’s pledge to strengthen racial justice in the legal system. Civil rights groups have found that Garland has demonstrated a conservative stance in his decisions as a judge.

“Judge Garland very rarely ruled in favor of defendants in Fourth Amendment cases and has generally deemed law enforcement action appropriate in the circumstances,” the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a 2016 report, while Garland stood under the Supreme Court’s consideration.

The report also found that Garlands “notable judgment rulings similarly display a pro-criminal perspective”.

During his campaign, Biden pledged to reduce the number of people detained in the United States and to eradicate inequalities in sentencing.

During his early days in office, he ordered the Justice Department to restrict contracts with private prisons and made other promises related to racial justice in the ministry. While the administration has been in place for a month, rights groups have been pushing for more to be done.

The Capitol Rebellion

An early test for Garland could be the result of the January 6 uprising in the Capitol, which led to increasing calls for a new domestic terrorism law to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation – part of the DOJ – find members help the pro-Trump mob who led the attack.

Federal prosecutors have said the investigation into the attack is likely unprecedented in the DOJ’s history, and that more than 200 people have already been charged.

While law enforcement groups have advocated such laws, civil rights groups have suggested that such bills fall hardest on already persecuted communities such as blacks and Muslims.

Garland is expected to fall back on his work in 1995 to oversee law enforcement resulting from the Oklahoma City bombing carried out by white supremacists.

Garland not only assembled the litigation team in this case, but also drafted the Department of Justice’s plan to respond to critical incidents and “oversaw the US Marshal Service Vulnerability Assessment for Federal Institutions.”

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World News

Your Monday Briefing – The New York Occasions

Your Monday Briefing - The New York Times

The UK’s disclosure on Friday that a new variant of the virus could be more deadly than the original has silenced those who had called for a swift return to life as before.

The UK government is expected to announce in the coming days that it will extend and tighten the nationwide lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson this month. Schools can remain closed until Easter, while overseas travelers may need to be quarantined in hotels for 10 days.

For Mr Johnson, who has faced relentless pressure from members of his own Conservative Party to relax restrictions, the warning of the variant made a strong case that Britain may be in the middle of a serious new phase of the pandemic – and that it does relaxed constraints now could be disastrous.

Effects: While scholars agree that the evidence of the variant’s greater lethality is preliminary, they said it was nonetheless served government purposes in the lockdown debate in which Mr Johnson, drawn between science and politics, is often Has shown an aversion to tough steps.

Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.

In other developments:

  • Larry King, who interviewed presidents, movie stars and people from all walks of life, died on Saturday in Los Angeles at the age of 87. He had recently been treated for Covid-19.

  • Israel will suspend most air travel in and out of the country for at least a week from midnight on Monday to block the invasion of emerging variants.

  • Egypt began vaccinating health workers in isolation facilities, pulmonary hospitals and fever wards on Sunday in the country’s first wave of vaccine rollouts.

  • Protesters in the Netherlands clashed with police in two cities on Sunday and a coronavirus testing facility burned down on Saturday as fury over a nationwide lockdown grew.

  • The European Union said it would take legal action if necessary to ensure that pharmaceutical companies fulfill contracts to supply vaccines to the block after manufacturers announced possible delays.

Some right-wing extremists, united around the world by a racist ideology charged by social media, were spurred on by the January 6 events at the U.S. Capitol.

While many online users disapproved of storming the Capitol as an amateur botch, others saw it as a teaching moment – how to pursue their goal of overthrowing democratic governments in a more concerted and concrete way.

It is difficult to say exactly how deep and lasting the ties are between the American right and its European counterparts. However, officials are increasingly concerned about a web of diffuse international connections, and fear that the networks that were encouraged back in the Trump era have become more resolute in recent weeks.

Germany: Following the violence in the US, German authorities tightened security around the parliament building in Berlin, where far-right protesters, waving many of the same flags and symbols as the Washington rioters, tried to force their way out in August. 29. No specific plans for attacks have currently been identified in Germany.

As the world nears 100 million coronavirus cases – with 25 million in the US as of Saturday and nearly 30 million in Europe – questions are emerging about new variants of the virus that could slow or even reverse progress in ending the pandemic as well about the uneven adoption of vaccines around the world.

One of these questions is how effective the current vaccines will be against these modified versions of the virus that originally appeared in the UK, South Africa, Brazil and the US. Some seem more contagious than the original version, and all of them are little known.

At the same time, failure to distribute Covid-19 vaccines to poor countries is likely to lead to global economic devastation in which wealthy countries will be hit almost as badly as in developing countries, according to a new study commissioned by the International Chamber of Commerce is released today.

By the numbers: In the most extreme scenario – with rich nations fully vaccinated by the middle of this year and poor countries largely closed – the study concludes that the global economy would suffer losses of more than $ 9 trillion, a sum , which is above the annual production of Japan and Germany combined.

On the impoverished northeastern Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, the predominantly indigenous population is dependent on fishing – and high-priced lobster is one of the most sought-after quarries.

But lobster there is an amazingly dangerous pursuit. Hundreds of fishermen are paralyzed from hunting for lobsters and other delicacies such as clams and sea cucumbers found deep in the ocean.

Trump impeachment proceedings: The House of Representatives will file its indictment against former President Donald Trump with the Senate today, but the trial won’t begin until February 8.

Asia’s “El Chapo”: Tse Chi Lop, allegedly the leader of a billionaire drug consortium, was arrested on Friday in Amsterdam and is about to be extradited to Australia.

Chinese miners: Two weeks after an explosion trapped a group of miners underground in Shandong Province, at least eleven were found alive and lifted to the surface on Sunday.

Snapshot: Above, supporters of the imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny held banners in Moscow on Saturday with the inscription: “Do not be afraid. Do not be still ”and“ One for all and all for one. “On Saturday there were demonstrations in more than 100 cities, the largest protests in Russia since at least 2017. Analysts say the stalemate between the Kremlin and its critics seems to be worsening.

Cosmically lost and found: Missing: a very, very large black hole. One of the largest galaxies in the universe appears to be missing the dark centerpiece – and despite the efforts of astronomers, they are no closer to finding it.

“That was for Nepal”: A group of climbers from Nepal earlier this month became the first people in the world to climb K2 in winter, a mountaineering challenge that many thought was impossible.

What we read: This GQ piece by Douglas Emhoff about his role as the first “second gentleman”. It’s interesting read about reinvention.

Knit: Artisans in search of Harry Styles ‘colorful cardigan and Bernie Sanders’ housewarming gloves are redesigning their own patterns.

Clock: Repeat – or maybe enjoy for the first time – five films that define the romantic comedies of the 1980s.

You can stay safe and take your time. At Home offers a comprehensive collection of ideas for what to read, cook, see, and do while inside.

With reporter-manned offices in around 30 countries, The Times can quickly cover breaking news that occurs almost anywhere. At the heart of this effort are our three main hubs for the newsroom – New York, London and an Asia hub located in Hong Kong but moving to Seoul. Here’s a look at how it works.

At the end of the working day in New York, the editors will pass the coverage to the editors in Hong Kong and Seoul, who are currently 13 and 14 hours in advance. While the editors in Asia wind down their day, a lively London newsroom will act as the main hub. A few hours later that team will return the baton back to New York and everything repeats itself again, a rotation that is vital to a 24 hour news operation.

“There is a lot of overlap,” said Adrienne Carter, Asia editor for the Times, “so there are probably only a handful of hours that a group is alone.”

When Asia hands the reporting over to London, a newsroom with around 70 employees on four continents will have to keep watch. Journalists begin with the newsroom’s coverage of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, often coordinating the early morning US news with the international, national, and academic desks, as well as the Washington office.

Jim Yardley, the Europe editor, said the way the international newsrooms are structured makes the collaborative effort seamless. “One of the things about London and Hong Kong is that they emerge primarily from the international desk, but in many ways they are part of every desk,” he said. “It’s an attempt to actually make the work more collaborative and less silly.”

That’s it for this briefing. I wish you a pleasant start to the week.

– Natasha

Many Thanks
To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

PS
• We listen to “The Daily”. Our final installment is about President Biden’s instructions and how to deal with government by decree.
• Here is our mini crossword puzzle and a clue: Champ or Major for the Bidens (three letters). You can find all of our puzzles here.
• Marcela Valdes, who has been reporting on politics, culture, immigration and more for the New York Times Magazine for many years, joins the magazine as a contributor.

Categories
Business

New York Metropolis will shut indoor eating beginning Monday, Gov. Cuomo says

New York City will shut indoor dining starting Monday, Gov. Cuomo says

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that New York City restaurants will have to close indoor restaurants as new daily coronavirus cases across the state for the first time since spring and hospital stays in Covid-19 10,000 have dwarfed.

The Democratic governor said restaurants will continue to have al fresco dining areas and offer take-out and delivery from Monday. Cuomo warned earlier this week that the state could shut down indoor dining if the city’s hospitalization rate didn’t stabilize.

“You will see a bad December, a bad January. How bad is the question,” Cuomo said at a press conference.

He said the outbreak will not “end” until the vaccine is widely available, which could be June or September. “It’s a long six months between today and June,” he said.

Cuomo cited additional warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued last week, warning of “exposures in non-essential indoor and overcrowded outdoor areas.” According to a slide presented at the briefing, they presented an “avoidable risk for all participants”.

“In New York City, you have taken the CDC caution when eating indoors, along with the rate of transmission and the density and crowding, which is a bad situation. New York City hospital stays have continued to increase,” Cuomo said.

The move marks a notable reversal of the state’s reopening plans as New York City returned to dining at 25% indoor capacity on September 30th. The restaurants in the Big Apple have had to stay afloat and eat-out by eating al fresco in recent months, even as falls declined in summer and early fall. Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio postponed the return of indoor dining in early July as other states in the US reported worsening outbreaks.

However, the Empire State governor urged the schools to stay open, saying they were much safer. He said the rate of positivity, or the percentage of Covid-19 tests that came back positive, “tends to be lower” in schools compared to the surrounding community.

“My point is, if it is safer for the children to be in school, then you have the children in school. If it is safer for the teacher to be in school, then you have the teacher in school “said Cuomo.

The state is now concerned about what Cuomo calls “living room sprawl”. Almost 74% of new Covid-19 cases come from households and social gatherings, according to Cuomo. Restaurants and bars accounted for 1.43% of new cases, while gyms accounted for less than 1%.

“We may see the end of the Thanksgiving wave, if you will, but we are about to get into the Hanukkah wave and the Christmas tide and the Christmas week and the Kwanzaa wave and New Years Eve and New Years Anniversary,” Cuomo said, adding added that the health authorities hope for a “stabilization” by mid to late January.

Source: New York State

According to a CNBC analysis of data from the COVID Tracking Project, an independent volunteer organization started by journalists from The Atlantic, New York reports an average of around 4,653 people hospitalized with Covid-19. This corresponds to an increase of 30% compared to a week ago.

However, “the situation in the hospitals is better than in the past,” said Cuomo. Compared to the spring when the virus first swept through New York and overwhelmed its hospital systems, there are now 30% fewer people in the state’s intensive care units and 50% fewer people intubated, Cuomo said. The mean hospital stay has also fallen from 11 days in the spring to five days now.

New York expects 170,000 doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday or Monday, Cuomo said. The doses could be issued as emergency clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at any time after a key panel overwhelmingly approved the recordings Thursday night.

Another highly anticipated vaccine from Moderna could get the green light in the coming weeks. Cuomo said the state expects 346,000 doses of this vaccine by the week of December 21st.

“The vaccine is coming and we are ready to give it,” said Cuomo.