Day: January 4, 2023

NYC mayor doubles down on criticism of Colorado, federal government over migrants

January 4, 2023 Published by

Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories 

NEW YORK — For the second day in a row, New York City Mayor Eric Adams laced into the federal government and the governor of Colorado, a fellow Democrat, over busloads of asylum seekers who continue to arrive at the city’s doorstep.

“At one time we had to deal with Republican governors sending migrants to New York,” Adams said Wednesday during an unrelated press conference. “Now we’re dealing with Democratic governors sending migrants to New York. This is just unfair.”

A day earlier, Adams had criticized Governor Jared Polis for sending asylum seekers to places like Chicago and New York. The latter has already seen an influx of more than 30,000 migrants since the spring.

Shortly afterward, in an interview with POLITICO, the Colorado governor said that around 70 percent of migrants arriving in Denver have final destinations elsewhere in the country, including New York, and that his office was working with Denver officials to help them on their way.

The process has been going on for weeks, he added, but last month’s winter storm caused a backlog of asylum seekers who have been stuck in the Mile High City and only now able to leave.

How many people have traveled from Denver to the five boroughs is unclear. The Colorado governor’s office was not able to provide POLITICO with numbers. And while the mayor spoke with his counterpart in Denver last week, City Hall Spokesperson Fabien Levy said Adams only learned about the extent of the arrivals Monday during a call with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

New York City has a similar program to send asylum seekers to other cities if their final destination is elsewhere. Levy said the Adams administration attempts to connect travelers to organizations, family members or services on the other end, but that some of the arrivals from Colorado have ended up in the New York City shelter system.

The influx of asylum seekers crossing the southern border intensified toward the end of the year as a Trump-era policy known as Title 42 — which allowed the federal government to expel migrants as Covid-19 precaution — was expected to expire. The Supreme Court, however, blocked that expiration in a ruling last week.

Regardless, the strain on the social safety nets of cities around the country has begun to sow divisions within the Democratic Party.

On Tuesday, Lightfoot called Colorado’s move “inhumane” — an assessment Adams said he shared.

“You’re damn right I [agree],” he said during Wednesday’s press conference. “For the governor of Colorado to say that I’m going to push the problem to the city — and didn’t even notify us … this is just unacceptable.”

A spokesperson for Polis, however, said that Colorado was honoring the wishes of asylum seekers who often have been traveling for months. And while officials in Denver have made it clear that migrants are welcome to say, many are looking to go elsewhere.

“If the mayor is insinuating that people are being ‘sent’ like Republican governors have been doing, that is simply incorrect,” the governor’s spokesperson Conor Cahill said in a statement. “We respect the agency and authority of migrants to make their own decisions about where they are going.”

“That being said,” he added,” we share the mayor’s passion for federal immigration reform and look forward to partnering with him to continue urging Congress and the White House to get something done immediately.”

Indeed, despite their disagreements about busing, all three leaders expressed frustration at a lack of federal coordination from lawmakers and the Biden Administration.

“Why don’t you tell the federal government to fix this mess they’ve created?” Adams said Wednesday, addressing critics of his administration. “It’s unacceptable and I’m not going to sit back and allow New Yorkers to carry the burden of a man-made crisis. This must be fixed.”

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‘We have been ignored’: Democrat-led cities beg Biden for help with migrants

January 4, 2023 Published by

Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories 

Democratic-led cities dealing with migrants bused in from the southern border say they’ve hit a breaking point, again pleading with the White House to help them manage an influx that has already overloaded community resources.

Their concerns spiraled into Democratic infighting after New York City Mayor Eric Adams said earlier this week that Colorado Gov. Jared Polis planned to send migrants from his state to New York and Chicago, further straining shelters, schools and health services in the cities. On Wednesday, Adams continued to criticize Democratic state leaders for sending to his city.

“One time we had to deal with Republican governors sending migrants to New York. Now we’re dealing with Democratic governors sending migrants to New York,” Adams said at a news conference.

“What’s callous is how we have been ignored as a city. And now I have to make tough decisions on the resources of New York … it is time for the federal government to step up,” he said.

The White House has been in contact with Adams, and the Department of Homeland Security is ramping up support for cities, said an administration official who would not elaborate what that support entailed. DHS did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The demands for help from the local leaders, and the escalating friction between them, adds another layer of pressure to the Biden administration’s floundering response to the border crisis.

The mayors of New York and Chicago have begged for federal assistance after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas bused thousands of migrants to these cities from the southern border last year. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis followed by flying dozens of mostly Venezuelan asylum seekers to Martha’s Vineyard in September, a move widely condemned by Democrats.

Since September, New York’s City Hall has asked the White House for help on multiple fronts, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions. Among other things, they’ve sought funding, help convening local and state leaders to discuss relocating some asylum seekers, and relaxing work requirements so migrants can get jobs, the people said.

But the inaction has left local leaders at a crossroads, even as Biden administration officials point to hundreds of millions of dollars to help with the migrant crisis. It’s still not clear how this money, passed in the latest government funding bill, will be allocated and how much will specifically reach New York City.

The administration’s continued silence on Democrats’ appeals is yet another indication that President Joe Biden has limited tools at his disposal to deal with record levels of migrant crossings, now straining cities thousands of miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. And the president faces the political challenge of trying to appease both Republicans and a growing number of Democrats who have criticized his border policies as too lax, while not further angering immigration reform advocates and lawyers.

Biden is scheduled to travel early next week to Mexico City, where he’ll meet with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The White House is planning a potential stop at the U.S.-Mexico border during Biden’s trip, in what would be the president’s first visit since taking office. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the southern border in June 2021.

Adams said Wednesday his city would continue to support migrants but warned that space and resources were dwindling. New York City has opened dozens of emergency shelters, he said, but schools, health care systems and other public services are facing unprecedented strain.

“I don’t know if we really understand the magnitude of dropping 30,000 people in the city that’s already gone through a crisis,” Adams said, referring to its Covid pandemic recovery.

The border dilemma has intensified for the Biden administration in recent weeks as officials prepared for a court-ordered end to Title 42 limits, only to see the Supreme Court temporarily block lifting the policy, which allows the U.S. to expel migrants without considering their claims for asylum. But regardless of the Trump-era policy’s fate — set to be decided later this year — the southern border is facing a record-breaking migration surge likely to remain a vexing issue throughout Biden’s presidency.

And now criticism from his own party is getting louder.

“The Chicago mayor’s right,” Adams said, when asked if he agreed with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s criticism of Polis and if he had a message for Biden. “When I spoke to her yesterday, she says, ‘Eric, you know, we have been a little too patient. You know, we can’t do anything to embarrass our families, but it’s about time we started to do that.’”

Adams said his frustration was not directed at Biden alone, who like other presidents has struggled to address the intractable issue. He said lawmakers in Congress must step up to fix the problem, an unlikely prospect with tight margins in both chambers and a GOP-led House.

The Biden administration official also directed POLITICO to Biden’s comprehensive immigration reform package he put forward nearly two years ago, while casting blame on Republicans for rejecting funding requests for additional border security and management resources.

For its part, the Biden administration is looking at ways to quell the number of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. Officials are weighing a new humanitarian parole program for migrants from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua, according to several people familiar with the planning. The new policy is modeled after the one rolled out for Venezuelans this fall, which created a narrow pathway for up to 24,000 migrants who had a preexisting tie in the United States, and someone who could provide financial and other support. But implementation of the program, which deals with countries facing political and economic turmoil, is dependent on the use of Title 42 authority to turn away those who don’t qualify.

Julia Marsh contributed to this report.

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Hillicon Valley — Twitter poised to ease political ad ban

January 4, 2023 Published by

Just In | The Hill 

Twitter said it’s planning to lift its ban on political ads and focus more on “caused-based” advertising. 

In other news, SpaceX kicked off the year with its first rocket launch. We’ll also take a peek at what’s to come in the tech world at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  

This is Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Send tips to The Hill’s Rebecca Klar and Ines Kagubare. Subscribe here.

Twitter to scale back ban on political ads 

Twitter on Tuesday announced plans to scale back its ban on political ads and allow more “cause-based” advertising on the platform.  

“We believe that cause-based advertising can facilitate public conversation around important topics. Today, we’re relaxing our ads policy for cause-based ads in the US. We also plan to expand the political advertising we permit in the coming weeks,” the company’s safety team tweeted.   

“Moving forward, we will align our advertising policy with that of TV and other media outlets,” Twitter said.  

The social media platform banned all political ads in 2019, a move championed by Twitter co-founder and then-CEO Jack Dorsey.  

Dorsey said at the time that paying to increase the reach of political messages on the platform can make the decision to follow an account or retweet a post “compromised by money.” 

Read more here. 

First launch of 2023

On the heels of a record-breaking year, SpaceX kicked off the new year with its first rocket launch and landing of 2023. If Elon Musk has his way, this would be the first of nearly 100 launches for the rocket company this year, setting the pace for an ambitious year for private space companies.  

A sooty Falcon 9 booster leapt off its launch pad at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:56 a.m. EST on Tuesday, followed up by the rocket’s first stage returning to Earth just eight minutes later. 

The flight, which was the 15th for this particular booster, ferried 114 small satellites into space as part of SpaceX’s 6th dedicated rideshare mission, called Transporter-6.

Nearly an hour later, those passengers — a bevy of small satellites and small orbital transfer vehicles that carried satellites for a later deployment into different orbits — began to separate from the rocket’s upper stage.  

The whole process, a complex orbital ballet of satellites shooting into space in perfect sequence, took more than half an hour to complete.

The mission is the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company’s sixth dedicated rideshare mission to date, and SpaceX announced during the live broadcast that it plans to launch at least three of these missions this year.

The company also plans to offer rideshare opportunities on its Starlink launches, which it says averages one a week. 

Read more here.

A PEEK AT WHAT’S TO COME FOR TECH 

We’re at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, featuring new products and innovations to come as well as business leaders, regulators and policymakers discussing the state of the tech industry and the challenges ahead.

At an unveiling of some exhibitors Tuesday evening, we saw products ranging from Atmos Gear’s new electric inline skates (which The Hill’s on-the-ground reporter Rebecca Klar did not venture to test out) and Prinker’s temporary tattoo printer (which Rebecca did try).

There’s a big focus on the metaverse this year — and defining what the metaverse even means.

Steve Koenig, vice president of research with the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which organizes the trade show, said the metaverse is “closer than you think,” and said metaverse technology goes beyond the immersive virtual reality worlds to encompass services that blend the physical and virtual worlds.

That was a common theme throughout discussions Wednesday, too. During a panel, Cathy Hackl, chief metaverse officer and founder at consulting firm Journey, said the metaverse doesn’t equal VR or “one specific company.” She said beyond the gaming world, the fashion industry is also leading the way in incorporating metaverse tech.

“I wholeheartedly believe the world’s next Coco Chanel is a 10-year-old girl designing skins on Roblox,” she said.

Other panelists compared the need for companies to develop metaverse and Web 3 strategies to how they approached creating an online presence with the rise of the internet two decades ago. Today, asking someone about their “Web 3 strategy” is akin to asking someone “what’s your internet strategy” in 1994, said Adam Friedman, an executive at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

“Everyone is going to have one, you may just not realize it,” he said.  

What’s to come?: Later this week we will hear from CISA Director Jen Easterly about cybersecurity preparedness and senators about federal tech priorities for the 118th Congress.

SALESFORCE EXPECTED TO LAY OFF 10 PERCENT OF STAFF 

The business software giant Salesforce is set to lay off 10 percent of its workforce, nearly 8,000 employees, and cut back its office spaces, according to a letter to employees on Wednesday citing concerns about the direction of the economy. 

“The environment remains challenging and our customers are taking a more measured approach to their purchasing decisions,” the company’s chief executive officer, Marc Benioff, said in the letter.

The decision by Salesforce is the latest in a string of moves by tech companies to turn to layoffs amid fears of inflation and a looming recession. In November, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced it would lay off 11,000 employees. In the same month, HP said it planned up to 6,000 layoffs over the next three years.

It was also reported in November that Amazon was planning to lay off as many as 10,000 workers, but the company says it has not determined the final number of positions that will be affected 

Read more here. 

BITS & PIECES

An op-ed to chew on: Semi-protecting semiconductors poses a risk to national security 

Notable links from around the web:  

Tom Zhu: Elon Musk’s right-hand man at Tesla (CNN / Laura He) 

Drone advances in Ukraine could bring dawn of killer robots (The Associated Press / Frank Bajak and Hanna Arhirova)

One more thing: Coinbase to pay $100M settlement

The U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase reached a $100 million settlement with New York regulators to resolve an investigation that found the company was “vulnerable to serious criminal conduct,” according to a press release published Wednesday.  

New York Superintendent of Financial Services Adrienne A. Harris announced in the press release that Coinbase will pay a $50 million penalty to New York for violating virtual currency, money transmitter, transaction monitoring and cybersecurity regulations.

These violations made the platform susceptible to fraud, possible money laundering, suspected activity related to child sexual abuse material and potential narcotics trafficking, according to the release. 

Coinbase will also invest an additional $50 million to improve its compliance program as a part of the settlement.  

Read more here. 

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Technology and Cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

​Overnight Technology, Policy, Technology, CES, Las Vegas Read More 

The little-known weapon knocking down Iranian drones over Kyiv

January 4, 2023 Published by

Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories 

Ukraine is swatting away as many Iranian-made drones as Russia can throw at its infrastructure sites, knocking down as many as 80 air vehicles over Kyiv during Russia’s surprise New Year’s Eve blitz alone, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week.

So how did they do it? According to Ukrainian officials and advisers to Kyiv who spoke to POLITICO, much of it is thanks to the German-made Gepard system, a vehicle that can send dual streams of 35mm rounds ripping into the sky to hit the drones. Berlin has sent 30 Gepard vehicles to Ukraine over the past year, with seven more on the way this year.

The weapon, essentially an anti-aircraft gun that sits atop a tracked vehicle, provides Ukraine with a mobile air defense system that has played a key role in destroying Russian drones and missiles as the Kremlin continues to send waves of both at power stations and electrical generating plants. The aerial assaults have plunged Kyiv and other cities into darkness and shut off the heat for tens of thousands of civilians forced to shiver through the winter.

Since September, Ukrainian air defenses have destroyed 540 Iranian kamikaze drones, according to Yurii Ihnat, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force. The Gepard “is effective against these UAVs, as well as against cruise missiles,” he added, “but this weaponry, which is intended for air defense of the Ground Forces, is not enough.”

Given the volume of drone and missile threats, Ukrainian forces still have to use a wide range of expensive anti-aircraft missile systems, both older Soviet-era weapons as well as newer radar systems and missile launchers sent by Western allies.

While U.S. officials can’t confirm the huge number of downed drones, “we don’t have any reason to not believe what they say,” one Defense Department official who requested anonymity to discuss the issue said. “But we have to defer to them, since we can’t be there and see it for ourselves or account for it for ourselves.”

While the Gepard has proven exceptionally effective, problems loom on the horizon.

Many of the rounds for the vehicles’ two guns were manufactured in Switzerland, and the government there has refused to allow Germany to re-export those rounds to Ukraine, citing its neutral status.

German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht wrote to the Swiss government in October asking to send 12,400 rounds of Swiss-made ammunition to Ukraine, a request that was rejected. In December, German manufacturer Rheinmetall said it would open a new production line to start making 35mm ammunition, though the first rounds won’t be available until later this year.

That lack of domestic industrial capacity has increasingly alarmed Western governments since the start of the war. As a result, the U.S. and its European allies are hurriedly working to identify munitions they might be able to pull out of older stockpiles and considering ways to begin pooling resources as the war in Ukraine continues to drain warehouses across NATO.

In Washington, closed-door talks have begun about pulling Cold War-era munitions out of bunkers and upgrading them enough to be useful to Kyiv, according to one person familiar with the discussions. One such program has already started, with missiles for long-retired U.S.-made HAWK air defense systems slated to get the necessary updates to be sent to the fight.

The HAWK missiles would be paired with several launchers Spain has pledged to send Ukraine. The Hawk is still in use in Europe and elsewhere, but was phased out by the U.S. Army in the early 1990s in favor of the Patriot system, meaning the existing missiles in American warehouses need to be refurbished.

Those ‘90s retirements were part of a wider trend across the NATO alliance that saw a slowdown in production on many weapons and cuts to defense spending as Europe rushed to embrace the peace dividend widely assumed to come with the end of the Soviet Union.

The U.S. is also looking for ways to choke off the supply of Iranian drones at the source.

“We are looking at ways to target Iranian UAV production through sanctions, export controls, and talking to private companies whose parts have been used in the production,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. “We are assessing further steps we can take in terms of export controls to restrict Iran’s access to technologies used in drones.”

Lara Seligman contributed to this report

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Saquon Barkley says it’s ‘tough’ to prepare for upcoming game following Damar Hamlin’s collapse

January 4, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

When Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field, was resuscitated and taken to a hospital, it seemed impossible to understand how the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals could continue playing.

They didn’t. The game was eventually postponed, 66 minutes after he collapsed. The NFL has not announced when, or if, the game will be resumed.

As of now, the league will play Week 18 as scheduled, but the scary incident is clearly affecting the rest of the league.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Saquon Barkley spoke to reporters Wednesday and admitted it’s difficult to prepare to play this Sunday.

“It’s going to be tough, yeah, I would say it’ll be tough. That’s a true conversation that really needs to be had. I’ve never — I know where I’m at mentally, but I think that would probably be a really good thing as a captain and a leader of the team to bring the team together and ask that question. That didn’t even cross my mind,” Barkley said.

The star running back, of course, wants to play. He said he isn’t questioning “playing the sport that I love.” But Hamlin’s ordeal has definitely put life into perspective.

“You think about it. You talk about it. But when you actually see something like that, it leaves you speechless …,” he said, noting the shock of seeing what unfolded. “It definitely does put it into perspective. Me having kids and seeing that it’s a physical sport, it’s the game I love to play. But, at any given moment, you make sure you just appreciate all the little things. Going out to practice, spending time with your family, spend time with your teammates, even stuff like this, at any moment, anything can happen.”

Barkley has even thought about the possibility of the league not playing at all this weekend. As of now, Week 18 games will be played as scheduled.

BILLS’ DAMAR HAMLIN HAS SHOWN ‘SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT,’ STILL IN CRITICAL CONDITION, TEAM SAYS

“Me, personally, that’s a conversation that I would have to have with my family. … That’s something I would probably have a better answer later on in the week having to sit down and really reflect on that. It’s sad to say, but it’s the God honest truth. The only thing I’ve really done in this moment about the situation that happened is more thinking about Damar and thinking about his family, thinking about those guys. Really haven’t even sat down myself thinking like, ‘Wow, I’m actually going to take the field too.’”

Hamlin remains in critical condition, but the Bills and his family have both said he has shown signs of improvement over the last 24 hours.

 

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Tesla’s Grip On The EV Market Loosens As Buyers Start To Look Elsewhere In 2023

January 4, 2023 Published by

Carscoops 

More buyers than ever are considering an EV in 2023, and that may be especially good news for traditional automakers, because shoppers aren’t all interested in a Tesla, a new study from insurance comparison service, Jerry, has found.

Although Tesla is still the most popular choice for people interested in buying a new EV in 2023, the preference for the brand is waning among customers. Two thirds of owners and lessees surveyed for Jerry’s 2023 State of the American Driver Report said their top choice would not be a Tesla, and instead pointed to EVs from other brands as their top choice.

Electric vehicles from Ford, Chevrolet, and Hyundai were the most popular options among respondents, after Tesla. Indeed, those brands introduced new EVs such as the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6 in 2022, while Chevrolet’s second-wave of EVs have been unveiled and is coming soon.

Read: Tesla Delivered A Record 405,000 Vehicles In Q4 And 1.3 Million In 2022

Interest in other brands’ EVs comes as the desire for electric vehicles is high. Nearly half (49 percent) of respondents to Jerry’s survey said they were interested in getting an EV as their next vehicle, up from 39 percent a year earlier.

The record-high gas prices experienced across the country were the most commonly cited reason for the interest in electric vehicles. Indeed, gas prices soared to a national average of more than $5.00 per gallon in the summer of 2022. Although prices are expected to fall in 2023, tax incentives being introduced by the federal government may help make up for that.

Those incentives will likely be crucial, because many owners are struggling with the high prices of vehicle ownership. A quarter of people surveyed said that they spent more than 15 percent of their take-home income on car payments, and two-thirds said they were being forced to cut down on other expenses (including groceries in some cases) in order to be able to afford their vehicle.

Despite that, a majority of Americans (51 percent) say they have no interest in buying or leasing an electric vehicle. The inconvenience of charging and the price premium associated with the new technology are the most frequently cited reasons for buyers’ lack of interest.

Read More 

Red Sox, Rafael Devers agree to massive extension: reports

January 4, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

It may have taken longer than Boston Red Sox fans might have hoped, but All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers has reportedly agreed to terms on a massive 11-year deal to remain in Beantown. 

The deal, which was first reported by Carlos Baerga, is worth $331 million over 11 years, though ESPN reported it hasn’t been completed. A physical still needs to be done, and Carlos Correa’s free agency this offseason showed fans that it can create a hiccup in the process. 

This new contract for Devers came after a Tuesday report that stated the Red Sox and the third baseman agreed to terms on a one-year pact worth $17.5 million. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

But the deal was to simply avoid arbitration, per ESPN, and discussions would continue in hopes of both sides finding common ground on a long-term deal. 

Sox fans can now rejoice knowing their homegrown talent will continue playing a pivotal role in Boston’s success for years to come. 

Devers was set to become a free agent at the end of the 2023 season, but with players like Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez finding new homes in MLB, Sox fans were hoping the front office would make Devers priority number one in terms of a new contract. 

DAUGHTER OF MLB LEGEND DENNIS ECKERSLEY MISLED POLICE AFTER ALLEGEDLY ABANDONING NEWBORN IN THE WOODS: REPORT

That appeared to be the case this offseason, though both sides weren’t on common ground initially. As the days and weeks went by without an update on where Boston was at in their negotiations with the Dominican Republic native, speculation and doubt was the natural response from the Red Sox faithful. 

Devers earned his contract after showcasing his tremendous bat and solid glove over six MLB seasons thus far, his last two being All-Star worthy performances. 

Devers’ first All-Star season came in 2021 when he belted 38 homers, a career-high, and 113 RBI over 156 games with a .279/.352/.538 slash line with an .890 OPS. 

And he followed that up last year with a similar line of .295/.358/.521 with 27 homers, 42 doubles and 88 RBI over 141 games. 

RED SOX GET BURNED AGAIN BY MOOKIE BETTS TRADE BY DFAING FORMER TOP PROSPECT NAMED AFTER DEREK JETER

Over the length of his contract, there’s no telling what the Red Sox plan on doing with his position at third base — some believe that Devers could be a solid first baseman, too — but the key to his success is at the plate. Devers has become a feared hitter due to the natural pop that his bat speed and raw power creates as well as a good eye to avoid balls thrown out of the zone. 

At just 26 years old, the Red Sox clearly believe Devers is their present and future, and his contract, while raising his expectations quite a bit, proves they have faith his talent will translate to consistent production and wins for years to come. 

 

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FDA finalizes rule expanding availability of abortion pills

January 4, 2023 Published by

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday finalized a rule change that broadens availability of abortion pills to many more pharmacies, including large chains and mail-order companies.

The Biden administration partially implemented the change last year, announcing it would no longer enforce a long-standing requirement that women pick up the medicine in person. Tuesday’s action formally updates the drug’s labeling to allow many more retail pharmacies to dispense the pills, so long as they complete a certification process.

The change could expand access at both brick-and-mortar stores and online pharmacies. Women can get a prescription via telehealth consultation with a health professional, and then receive the pills through the mail, where permitted by law.

Still, the rule change’s impact has been blunted by numerous state laws limiting abortion broadly and the pills specifically. Legal experts foresee years of court battles over access to the pills, as abortion-rights proponents bring test cases to challenge state restrictions.

For more than 20 years, the FDA labeling had limited dispensing to a subset of specialty offices and clinics, due to safety concerns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA temporarily suspended the in-person requirement. The agency later said a new scientific review by agency staff supported easing access, concurring with numerous medical societies that had long said the restriction wasn’t necessary.

Two drugmakers that make brand-name and generic versions of abortion pills requested the latest FDA label update. Agency rules require a company to file an application before modifying dispensing restrictions on drugs.

Danco Laboratories, which sells branded Mifeprex, said in a statement the change “is critically important to expanding access to medication abortion services and will provide healthcare providers” with another option for prescribing the drug.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists called the update an “important step” forward.

“Although the FDA’s announcement today will not solve access issues for every person seeking abortion care, it will allow more patients who need mifepristone for medication abortion additional options to secure this vital drug,” the group said in a statement.

More than half of U.S. abortions are now done with pills rather than surgery, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

The FDA in 2000 approved mifepristone to terminate pregnancies of up to 10 weeks, when used with a second drug, misoprostol. Mifepristone is taken first to dilate the cervix and block the hormone progesterone, which is needed to sustain a pregnancy. Misoprostol is taken 24 to 48 hours later, causing the uterus to contract and expel pregnancy tissue.

Bleeding is a common side effect, though serious complications are very rare. The FDA says more than 3.7 million U.S. women have used mifepristone since its approval.

Several FDA-mandated safety requirements remain in effect, including training requirements to certify that prescribers can provide emergency care in the case of excessive bleeding. Pharmacies that dispense the pills also need a certification.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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McCarthy loses fifth speaker vote with bid for gavel increasingly in peril

January 4, 2023 Published by



CNN
 — 

Kevin McCarthy suffered yet another stinging defeat on Wednesday as he lost in the sixth round of voting to elect a speaker – a major blow that increasingly imperils his bid and heightens uncertainty over whether he can still secure the gavel or if a viable candidate will emerge as an alternative.

The House of Representatives has adjourned until 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday after failing to elect a new speaker. Now, Republicans are scrambling to find a resolution and talks are expected to continue.

Republicans are considering appointing four members each from the pro-McCarthy and anti-McCarthy camps to negotiate a path forward on choosing a House speaker, one GOP source tells CNN.

The House GOP majority has been stuck at a contentious stalemate amid opposition to McCarthy from a group of conservatives. The fight, which began on the first day of the 118th Congress, has thrown the new House GOP majority into chaos and undercut the party’s agenda.

The House will continue to be paralyzed until this standoff is resolved. The situation has grown dire for McCarthy’s political future as Republican allies are beginning to fear that the House GOP leader may not be able to pull off his gamble for speaker if the fight goes much longer. While McCarthy has firm support among most of the conference, some are not committed to sticking with him.

It’s not at all clear whether McCarthy and his allies will be able to lock down the votes – and the longer the fight drags on the more imperiled his speaker bid has become.

But there are some signs that negotiations may be progressing. Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina, one of the 20 members who has opposed McCarthy in the votes, told CNN things have changed and there is a “dynamic kind of atmosphere” now.

“I’m encouraged by it,” he said.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, another member who has voted against McCarthy, told CNN he has had “more productive” talks over the last two hours with McCarthy allies than he has had over the last few weeks. He said he expects to be part of talks that will take place tonight.

But in a sign of McCarthy’s remaining challenges: Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, a prominent member of the opposition group, told CNN he is still a hard no.

House Republicans hold 222 seats in the new Congress, so for McCarthy to reach 218, he can only afford to lose four GOP votes. His obstacle is that he faces a small but determined contingent of hardline conservatives who have so far been successful in denying him the votes to secure the gavel.

The group has used the leverage they have in the razor-thin Republican majority to extract concessions. McCarthy has already given in to a number of their demands, including making it easier to topple the sitting speaker, but so far his efforts have not been enough, and

The House convened on Wednesday to continue voting after three rounds of votes on Tuesday. McCarthy has come up short each time, failing to hit the majority threshold needed to secure the speakership.

As the votes stretched on Tuesday, the situation appeared to become even more dire for McCarthy, as the vote count in opposition to his speaker bid grew.

The tally for the first ballot in the speaker vote was 203 for McCarthy, with 19 Republicans voting for other candidates. The tally for the second ballot was 203 votes for McCarthy with 19 votes for GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. In the third round of voting, there were 202 votes for McCarthy and 20 votes for Jordan, with Rep. Byron Donalds joining the 19 GOP lawmakers who had voted against McCarthy in the first two rounds.

It was the first time an election for speaker went to multiple ballots since 1923.

“My vote yesterday was basically to break a deadlock, because we were deadlocked, and we were not getting anywhere,” Donalds, a Florida Republican, said Wednesday on “CNN This Morning.” “Right now, (McCarthy) doesn’t have a pathway to get there. If that reemerges, yeah, I can be there, that’s fine, but what’s necessary now is that Republicans come together and find a way to elect a speaker.”

In the fourth round of voting, 20 Republicans voting together for Donalds as the group switched their collective support from Jordan to Donalds. Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana voted present, lowering McCarthy’s threshold to 217.

Spartz told CNN she did so because she wanted to allow for more negotiations within the conference to address the concerns of the 20 members.

The final tally for the fifth vote was again 201 votes for McCarthy, 20 for Donalds and one present vote.

The final tally for the sixth vote was the same: 201 for McCarthy, 20 for Donalds and one present vote.

Trump is watching closely as the dynamic plays out on Capitol Hill and his public support has been a key focus of McCarthy’s efforts.

Two GOP sources familiar with the matter said McCarthy’s allies were panicking on Tuesday after the former president gave a tepid response to NBC News when asked about his support for McCarthy. The former president also declined to issue a statement Monday reiterating his endorsement of McCarthy despite a behind-the-scenes effort from several McCarthy allies to get Trump to do so, two sources said.

One close McCarthy ally then began working behind the scenes to do clean-up duty and started pressing for Trump to put out a statement clarifying his support. McCarthy and Trump then connected by phone, where McCarthy said Trump expressed he was still committed to backing him. Trump put out a strong endorsement on Truth Social Wednesday morning, imploring Republicans not to “TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT” and urging them to vote for McCarthy.

Although Trump’s statement might not move the needle among the fiercest McCarthy foes, one of the sources said McCarthy world was worried about looking “weak” and like he was bleeding support, so they felt it was important to reverse the narrative.

Gaetz, one of the House Republicans opposing McCarthy’s bid for speaker, dismissed Trump’s latest effort to help the California Republican as “sad.”

“This changes neither my view of McCarthy nor Trump nor my vote,” Gaetz said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, shortly after Trump came to McCarthy’s defense in the Truth Social post.

Long a staunch Trump ally, Gaetz’s refusal to bow to Trump’s desire for a McCarthy speakership raises new questions about the former president’s dwindling influence over Republicans in the midst of his third presidential campaign.

“If Matt Gaetz is ignoring you, that’s not a good sign,” said one Trump ally who is involved with his 2024 campaign.

Trump has been making calls on McCarthy’s behalf over the last 24 hours in an attempt to break the conservative blockade against him, this person said, but his efforts have so far been fruitless.

One lawmaker who spoke with Trump late Tuesday suggested the former president should run for speaker himself, according to a person briefed on the call. Trump demurred and continued to push this person to support McCarthy, claiming that he would be a solid “America First” supporter.

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.

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