Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO union president, dies aged 72 – US politics latest

After signing his executive order on expanding the production of electric vehicles in the US, Joe Biden took the electric Jeep Wrangler for a spin around the White House.

White House staffers had set up several electric vehicles on the South Lawn to serve as a backdrop for Biden’s speech about the need to invest in the electric car sector.

Joe Biden has signed his executive order requiring half of all new US vehicles to be electric by the end of the decade.

The order also sets standards for car companies to gradually decrease vehicle emissions over the next five years.

In his remarks before signing the order, Biden said the new policy was vital to strengthening the US economy because the future of car manufacturing will be electric.

“It’s electric, and there’s no turning back,” Biden said. “The question is whether we’ll lead or fall behind in the race for the future.”

Joe Biden began his remarks by expressing sorrow over the unexpected passing of AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumka, who has died at the age of 72.

The president said he was a little late arriving for his speech this afternoon because he was talking to Trumka’s wife and son on the phone.

“He wasn’t just a great labor leader. He was a friend,” Biden said of Trumka. “He was always there. He was an American worker.”

The president credited Trumka with helping to improve so many Americans’ lives, saying, “There’s no doubt that Rich Trumka helped build unions all across this country.”

Joe Biden will soon give a speech on his administration’s efforts to support and expand the production of electric vehicles in the US.

The president will deliver his remarks on the South Lawn, where the White House has set up some electric trucks as a backdrop for the event.

Biden is expected to sign an executive order requiring half of all new US vehicles to be electric by the end of the decade and setting standards to decrease vehicle emissions over the next five years.

The Guardian’s Oliver Milman has more details on the order here:

The justice department’s investigation into the Phoenix Police Department will examine whether officers have engaged in excessive force, including lethal force.

“The investigation will also seek to determine whether PhxPD engages in retaliatory activity against people for conduct protected by the First Amendment; whether PhxPD engages in discriminatory policing; and whether PhxPD unlawfully seizes or disposes of the belongings of individuals experiencing homelessness,” the DoJ said in a statement.

“In addition, the investigation will assess the City and PhxPD’s systems and practices for responding to people with disabilities.”

This is the third “pattern or practice” investigation of a police department that the justice department has launched since Merrick Garland was sworn in as attorney general.

The DoJ has also launched investigations into the police departments of Minneapolis, after the murder of George Floyd, and in Louisville, Kentucky, after the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. Both Floyd and Taylor were African American.

Attorney general Merrick Garland has just announced that the department of justice is launching an investigation into the city of Phoenix and the Phoenix police department.

Garland made the announcement at a press conference this afternoon, and he was joined by assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke.

“The investigation will determine whether the Phoenix police department engages in a pattern or practice of violations of the constitution or federal law,” Garland said.

The attorney general noted that department officials have already briefed Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego and Phoenix police chief Jeri Williams on the launch of the investigation.

“We are pleased with their pledge of support,” Garland said.

The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, is calling another special legislative session to allow lawmakers to advance controversial voting restrictions.

“The Texas Legislature achieved a great deal during the 87th Legislative Session, and they have a responsibility to finish the work that was started,” Abbott said in a new statement.

“I will continue to call special session after special session to reform our broken bail system, uphold election integrity, and pass other important items that Texans demand and deserve.”

Abbott’s announcement is hardly a surprise, given that Texas’ Democratic legislators fled the state to prevent their Republican colleagues from passing the voting bill during the last special session.

It was widely expected that Abbott would call another special session to put more pressure on the Democratic legislators, who currently remain out of state to deny the legislature of the necessary quorum to take up bills.

Asked about Abbott’s announcement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “Our question is, what are you afraid of here? Are you afraid of more people getting out to vote, or what’s the concern?”

Psaki reiterated that Joe Biden hopes to sign federal legislation to protect voting rights, although two voting rights bills remain stalled in the Senate due to a Republican filibuster.

When a reporter asked whether the Texas legislators should remain out of state to further delay the bill’s passage, Psaki deflected the question, simply saying that the lawmakers have been “outspoken advocates and champions of voting rights”.

A reporter asked Jen Psaki about Joe Biden’s thoughts on the passing of AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumka, who was considered an ally to the White House.

“Richard Trumka was someone who the president considered a friend, he considered an ally in the fight for worker rights, for collective bargaining,” the White House press secretary said.

On the question of whether Biden might attend Trumka’s funeral, Psaki said that she was not aware of any specific plans so far for a service, but she added that the president would be “interested” in possibly attending once those plans are finalized.

No change here: White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there are no calls planned between Joe Biden and Andrew Cuomo, as the New York governor faces numerous calls to resign.

Psaki reiterated that the president has not spoken to Cuomo since the New York attorney general announced Tuesday that an investigation had found the governor sexually harassed at least 11 women.

Biden has already called on Cuomo to resign in the wake of the investigation, but the governor has currently given no indication that he plans to step down.

Education secretary Miguel Cardona criticized the Republican governors of Texas and Florida, who have issued bans on mask mandates in schools.

“Don’t be the reason why schools are interrupted. Our kids have suffered enough,” Cardona told reporters in the White House briefing room.

“Let’s do what we know works. Let’s do what we know works across the country,” he added. “Politics doesn’t have a role in this. Educators know what to do.”

Cardona promised that the department of education would have conversations with state leaders if those leaders’ policies appear to be preventing students from accessing in-person instruction.

“At the end of the day, we’re all in this together,” Cardona said.

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing, and she is joined by education secretary Miguel Cardona.

Cardona began his remarks by outlining the Biden administration’s “return to school roadmap” to ensure that US schools can safely reopen in person this fall.

The education secretary said his department has three priorities in bringing children back to the classroom: protecting the health and safety of students and school staff, attending to communities’ mental health needs and accelerating academic achievement.

Cardona said the administration is also doubling down on efforts to get more students vaccinated before the start of the school year. Coronavirus vaccines are currently approved for anyone who is 12 or older.

“We need to make sure that we’re leading with health and safety first,” Cardona said. “We owe it to our students to build back better.”