Joe Biden

US Prez Biden signs govt funding legislation, averts shutdown crisis

President Joe Biden on Saturday signed legislation that averts a government shutdown heading into Christmas, bringing a final close to days of upheaval in Washington after Congress passed a bipartisan budget plan just past the deadline and rejected Donald Trump's core demand in the negotiations. The deal funds the government at current levels through March 14 and provides USD 100 billion in disaster aid and USD 10 billion in agricultural assistance to farmers. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had insisted lawmakers would meet our obligations and not allow federal operations to close. But the outcome at the end of a tumultuous week was uncertain after Trump had insisted the deal include an increase in the government's borrowing limit. If not, he had said, then let the closures start now. Johnson's revised plan was approved 366-34, and it was passed by the Senate by a 85-11 vote after midnight. By then, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations. There will be no ...

US Congress passes funding bill, averting govt shutdown; Biden to sign soon

Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping President-elect Donald Trump's demands for a debt limit increase into the new year. House Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted Congress would meet our obligations and not allow federal operations to shutter ahead of the Christmas holiday season. But the day's outcome was uncertain after Trump doubled down on his insistence that a debt ceiling increase be included in any deal if not, he said in an early morning post, let the closures start now. The House approved Johnson's new bill overwhelmingly, 366-34. The Senate worked into the night to pass it, 85-11, just past the deadline. At midnight, the White House said it had ceased shutdown preparations. This is a good outcome for the country, Johnson said after the House vote, adding he had spoken with Trump and the president-elect was certainly happy .

Senate approves 235th judge of Biden's term, beating Trump's tally

President Joe Biden secured the 235th judicial confirmation of his presidency Friday, an accomplishment that exceeds his predecessor's total by one after Democrats put extra emphasis on the federal courts following Donald Trump's far-reaching first term, when he filled three seats on the Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, teed up votes Friday on two California district judges, and they were the last judicial confirmations this year before Congress adjourns and makes way for a new, Republican-led Senate. The confirmation of Serena Raquel Murillo to be a district judge for the Central District of California broke Trump's mark. The tally also marks the largest number of confirmations in a single term since the Jimmy Carter administration. Come next year, Republicans will look to boost Trump's already considerable influence on the makeup of the federal judiciary in his second term. Biden and Senate Democrats placed particular focus on adding women, minorities and

Senators urge Biden to grant ByteDance 90-day delay from law requiring sale

The Justice Department had said that as a Chinese company, TikTok poses a national-security threat of immense depth and scale

US attorney involved in fraud indictment of Gautam Adani to resign

He was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2021 and will leave before President-elect Donald Trump takes office January 20

US considers ban on China's TP-Link over security concerns: Report

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency said TP-Link routers had a vulnerability that could be exploited to execute remote code

US effort to curb China, Russia's access to new chips 'inadequate': Report

The Commerce Department's efforts to curb China's and Russia's access to American-made advanced computer chips have been inadequate and will need more funding to stymie their ability to manufacture advanced weapons, according to a report published Wednesday by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The Biden administration imposed export controls to limit the ability of China and Russia to access US-made chips after Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. The agency's Bureau of Industry and Security, according to the report, does not have the resources to enforce export controls and has been too reliant on US chip makers voluntarily complying with the rules. But the push for bolstering Commerce's export control enforcement comes as the incoming Trump administration says it is looking to dramatically reduce the size and scope of federal government. President-elect Donald Trump has tapped entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new Department

Donald Trump attempts to kill bipartisan budget deal with Musk's help

President-elect Donald Trump delivered a likely death blow to bipartisan congressional budget negotiations on Wednesday, rejecting the measure as full of giveaways to Democrats as billionaire ally Elon Musk whipped up outrage toward the bill and cheered on Republican lawmakers who announced their opposition. Trump's joint statement with Vice President-elect JD Vance, which stopped the bill in its tracks, punctuated a daylong torrent of social media posts by Musk attacking the budget legislation as full of excessive spending. "Kill the Bill!" Musk wrote on his social media platform X as he dangled primary challenges against anyone who voted for the budget deal, a threat Trump later echoed in a post of his own. The episode showcased the growing political influence of Musk, whom Trump has selected alongside entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to spearhead the Department of Government Efficiency, a nongovernmental task force formed to find ways to fire federal workers, cut programmes and slash

China has taken efforts consistent with 'transnational repression': US

FBI and the US's CISA on November 13 issued a warning that the breach, initially discovered late last month, has since uncovered a wide-reaching and serious cyber espionage operation

We have close partnership with our Indian counterparts: Vedant Patel

Over the course of our time in the Biden administration, India has been a key partner in the Indo-Pacific on a number of shared issues, and we look forward to working together, he added

US lawmakers urge Biden admin to stop sending military aid to Israel

Congress members called on Washington to uphold its own laws that restrict military aid to countries that commit war crimes

US Senate passes bill to raise troop pay, aims to counter China's power

The Senate passed a defence bill on Wednesday that authorises significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to USD 895 billion while also stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children of military members. The annual defence authorisation bill usually gains strong bipartisan support and has not failed to pass Congress in nearly six decades, but the Pentagon policy measure in recent years has become a battleground for cultural issues. Republicans this year sought to tack on to the legislation priorities for social conservatives, contributing to a months-long negotiation over the bill and a falloff in support from Democrats. Still, the bill passed comfortably 85-14, sending it to President Joe Biden. Eleven senators who caucus with Democrats, as well as three Republicans, voted against the legislation. The bill "isn't perfect, but it still includes some very good things that ...

Biden to launch probe into Chinese semiconductors over security risks

The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings will be left to the discretion of President-elect Donald Trump's team

Leaving India-US ties in a very good place, expect continuity: Biden admin

The outgoing Biden administration said it was leaving the India-US relationship "in a very strong place", and exuded confidence that it will continue to have bipartisan support during the Donald Trump presidency as well. We continue to be very ambitious about the US-India relationship. We've had very high-level engagement over the course of the last several months with the QUAD summit in Delaware, and we are anticipating a high-level engagement in the last few weeks of the Biden administration, Kurt Campbell, Deputy Secretary of State, told reporters during a conference call here on Tuesday. Campbell joined by Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer and Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra, were in Houston on Tuesday to meet with astronauts from the Indian Space Research Organisation who are training at NASA's Johnson Space Center to execute a joint effort to the International Space Station in partnership with NASA next year. We are quite confident that we'll

Joe Biden calls for ban on congressional stock trading Washington

President Joe Biden endorsed a ban on congressional stock trading in an interview that's being released this week, belatedly weighing in on an issue that has been debated on Capitol Hill for years. Nobody in the Congress should be able to make money in the stock market while they're in the Congress, Biden said. The interview was conducted by Faiz Shakir, a political adviser for Sen. Bernie Sanders, and published by A More Perfect Union, a pro-labour advocacy and journalism organisation. The Associated Press reviewed a video of the interview before its release. It's unclear what impact Biden's statement could have, coming only a month before his term ends. The Democratic president spoke to Shakir about his economic legacy, which includes supporting unions, investing in clean energy projects and signing infrastructure. But Shakir also asked about congressional stock trading, which has been a catalyst for populist anger at Washington. For example, when the coronavirus pandemic was ..

Students should only learn to read, write: Biden condemns school shooting

As many as two people were killed and six others sustained injuries in a shooting incident at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin on Monday, CNN reported citing officials

Stupid for Biden to let Ukraine use US weapons to strike Russia: Trump

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday suggested that he may reverse President Joe Biden's recent decision to allow Ukrainian forces to use American long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory. Trump called the decision made by Biden last month stupid." He also expressed anger that his incoming administration was not consulted before Biden made the move. With the loosening of the restrictions, Biden gave Ukraine long-sought permission to use the Army Tactical Missile System provided by the U.S. to strike Russian positions hundreds miles from its border. I don't think that should have been allowed, not when there's a possibility certainly not just weeks before I take over," Trump said during at a wide-ranging news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. "Why would they do that without asking me what I thought? I wouldn't have had him do that. I think it was a big mistake. Trump's withering criticism of the Biden administration's move comes as the Democratic administratio

Biden establishes national monument for 1st female US Cabinet secretary

President Joe Biden on Monday established a national monument honouring the late FDR-era Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a presidential Cabinet and a driving force behind Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal programmes after the Great Depression. Perkins is one of America's greatest labour leaders, and that's not hyperbole, Biden said. Perkins cemented the idea that if you're working a full-time job, you shouldn't have to live in poverty, Biden said. The outgoing Democratic president signed the proclamation establishing the monument in Newcastle, Maine, after a speech at the Department of Labor as he seeks to burnish his legacy as a champion of women's and labour rights with just over five weeks left in his term. The department's building is named after Perkins, who helped President Roosevelt formulate policies behind the 1930s New Deal agenda and create safeguards in the national economy following the Great Depression that began in 1929. Perkins was the ...

TikTok's potential US ban explained: Can Trump save it from shutdown?

US lawmakers have called on Apple and Google to comply with the January 19 deadline by banning TikTok from their app stores unless ByteDance divests its ownership

Biden, Harris thank major Democratic donors, urge them to stay engaged

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday thanked deep-pocketed Democratic donors who raised record sums in last month's election loss to President-elect Donald Trump and urged them not to lose hope and to remain politically engaged. Biden and Harris, along with their spouses, in remarks at the Democratic National Committee holiday reception sought to buck up key donors who the Democratic Party needs to stay committed as it tries to pick up the pieces. Republicans scored a decisive victory taking the White House and Senate while maintaining control of the House in an election where donors of all political stripes spent about USD 4.7 billion. We all get knocked down. My dad would say when you get knocked down, you just got to get up, Biden said. The measure of a person or a party is how fast they get back up. Harris, who stepped in as the party's presidential nominee after Biden ended his campaign in July following his disastrous debate performance, praised donor