Politics

News brief: Biden speech, COVID testing critique, Pentagon extremism rules

6:58am December 21, 2021

President Biden addresses the Omicron variant in a speech Tuesday. Some health officials say Biden has fallen short on COVID testing. The Pentagon is updating its policies on extremism in its ranks.

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Politics & Government

How W.Va. politics affect Sen. Manchin's opposition to Biden's key policy proposal

6:13am December 21, 2021

NPR's Scott Detrow talks to ProPublica reporter Ken Ward Jr. about the political forces that shaped West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin's opposition to President Biden's Build Back Better bill.

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The Environmental Protection Agency announces new vehicle emission standards

6:13am December 21, 2021

by Nathan Rott

The Biden administration, reversing another Trump rollback, is tightening vehicle fuel mileage standards. It comes as much of Biden's other climate plans are at risk.

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Deqa Dhalac, who fled Mogadishu 31 years ago, recently became the first Somali-American mayor in the United States.

Politics & Government

Deqa Dhalac is the first Somali-American mayor in the United States

5:00am December 21, 2021

After fleeing Somalia some 30 years ago, Dhalac became this country's first Somali-American mayor earlier this month, elected in a city that's 90% white.

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Rep. Scott Perry, R-Penn., is the first sitting lawmaker that the the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack has sought to question.

GOP Rep. Scott Perry is the first sitting lawmaker the Jan. 6 panel wants to question

7:48pm December 20, 2021

Perry is the first sitting lawmaker that the panel has sought to question from regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

A view of the West Wing from the Rose Garden is seen with Christmas lights on Dec. 17, A White House staffer tested positive for COVID on Monday. President Biden has tested negative for the virus.

White House staffer on Air Force One tests positive for COVID. Biden tests negative

7:39pm December 20, 2021

by Alana Wise

A staffer who on Friday flew aboard Air Force One with the president tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday, the White House said.

The Biden administration is launching a new phone number for mental health crises

5:41pm December 20, 2021

by Rhitu Chatterjee

The Biden administration is putting a quarter of a billion dollars into a new national suicide prevention line. But some say that's not enough to build the infrastructure that's needed.

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With the loss of Manchin's vote, Biden's climate change agenda may be doomed

5:13pm December 20, 2021

Despite a year of increasing weather disasters, Biden's ambitious climate plans may be doomed in Congress.

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Rep. Brown, who pushed to address extremism in military, reacts to Pentagon report

5:13pm December 20, 2021

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Maryland Congressman Anthony Brown about the Defense Department's report on Monday about extremism in the military.

What the White House is doing as omicron begins to take off in the U.S.

5:13pm December 20, 2021

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

President Biden is expected to address the surge in omicron cases, but is his administration's response fast and sufficient enough to meet what could be the most challenging month yet in the pandemic?

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