Politics

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is set to speak to the nation Thursday at 5 p.m. to lay out what the White House said is a new six-part strategy to combat the delta variant, but it was unclear whether he would call for more vaccination mandates in the private sector and for the nation’s schools.

A source familiar with the president’s plans told ABC News that Biden will announce an executive order that will “require all federal executive branch workers to be vaccinated,” as well as a second order that will direct that that standard also be applied to employees of contractors working with the federal government.

As part of this effort, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Indian Health Service, and the National Institutes of Health will complete implementation of their previously announced vaccination requirements that cover 2.5 million people, the source said.

This is an escalation of the president’s action in July calling for federal workers to attest to their vaccination status and submit to mitigation efforts if they are not vaccinated, such as mask usage and regular testing.

Speaking at her daily briefing Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Biden would “outline the next phase in the fight against the virus and what that looks like, including measures to work with the public and private sector.”

She said he would be “building on the steps that we’ve already announced, the steps we’ve taken over the last few months, requiring more vaccinations, boosting important testing measures and more, making it safer for kids to go to school, all at a time when the American people are listening. Again, this will be six steps that we’ll work to be implementing over the months ahead.”

According to a White House official, the president’s plan will include six areas of focus: vaccinating the unvaccinated; furthering protection for the vaccinated; keeping schools safely open; increasing testing and requiring masking; protecting the economy’s recovery; and improving care for those with COVID-19.

Psaki confirmed there will be new components as part of the president’s announcement but wouldn’t go much beyond general comments about testing access, mandates and making sure kids are protected from the highly transmissible virus as they return to school and Americans return from summer vacations.

Psaki said plans were still being finalized as Biden met with with his COVID-19 response team Wednesday afternoon.

“Will any of those new steps influence the average American’s day-to-day life? Should we expect any new mitigation recommendations, as an example?” a reporter asked.

“It depends on if you’re vaccinated or not,” Psaki replied, but gave no further details.

She highlighted efforts the administration already has taken to try and get the delta variant under control.

“We’ve been at war with the delta variant over the course of the last couple of months. And just to remind you of some of the steps that we have announced, we have announced new government mandates on DOD, our military forces, NIH, other — the VA, the Veterans Affairs — Department of Veterans Affairs, folks who are serving on the front lines on the health — on health — in health roles in that department. We’ve also incentivized additional mandates, whether it is in home — in health care facilities, nursing homes, and others,” Psaki said.

“And we’ve also lifted up and — and incentivized private sector — private sector mandates, because we’ve seen that they have been effective. We’ve also deployed over 700 surge response teams across the country and work closely, again, with the private sector to institute more requirements on vaccinations,” she continued.

“We have more work to do, and we are still at war with the virus and with the delta variant,” she added. “So, we’re going to build on that work. And he’s speaking to it now, because this issue, of course, is on front of mind, top of mind to Americans across the country. People are returning to schools. Workplaces are either reopening, some brick and mortar, or some people are just returning to work after spending some time with family or loved ones over the summer.”

But besides ordering the nation’s 2.1 million federal employees and 1.3 million active duty service members get vaccinated, Biden has limited legal authority to institute a broad vaccine mandate for most Americans.

About 75% of the adult U.S. population has received at least one vaccine dose and 64.4% of the adult U.S. population is fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Tuesday, Psaki did seem to suggest that Biden will call on the private sector to institute more vaccine mandates. Major corporations such as Facebook, Google and Citigroup have already announced vaccination requirements.

“I will note that we’ve seen that there are a range of ways that we have increased vaccinations across the country, or vaccinations have increased, I should say. One of them is private sector companies mandating in different capacities that their employees get vaccinated. Or certain school districts mandate,” Psaki said.

Biden previewed some of what he planned to say when he spoke about the August jobs numbers, which were much lower than predicted.

“There’s no question the delta variant is why today’s jobs report isn’t stronger. I know people were looking, and I was hoping, for a higher number. But next week, I’ll lay out the next steps that are going to — we’re going to need to combat the delta variant, to address some of those fears and concerns,” Biden said Friday.

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll showed Americans in August souring on Biden’s handling of the pandemic, with his approval rating for his handling or the response dropping 10 points from June, down to 52%

Biden’s remarks are scheduled for just 11 days before the administration is set to begin widely rolling out booster shots of Pfizer on Sept. 20, a process mired by confusion as some public health experts say the data doesn’t yet support the need for boosters.

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(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Wednesday asked all 18 of former President Donald Trump’s appointees to the boards of the nation’s military academies, including former adviser Kellyanne Conway, press secretary Sean Spicer and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, to resign by Wednesday evening or be dismissed.

Trump had filled some of the positions at West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy, in the final couple months of his presidency. They come with three-year terms, which President Joe Biden is cutting short.

A White House official confirmed the White House sent letters out today and that the appointees had until 6:00 p.m. to resign, or they would be terminated.

The boards of visitors are like boards of trustees who oversee affairs at a university; the president can appoint six people to each, while Congress appoints the rest.

Several of Trump’s appointees were highly political and controversial, and some pushed back on Twitter.

The former director of the White House budget office, Russ Vought, appointed to the board of the Naval Academy, posted the letter he received on Twitter, with the caption, “No. It’s a three year term.”

Spicer, appointed to the Naval Academy as well, tweeted his letter, too, suggesting Biden should focus on Afghanistan.

Conway, meanwhile, appointed to the board of the Air Force Academy, said Biden should resign instead — then suggested she was kidding.

“I will let others evaluate whether they think Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer and others were qualified or not political, to serve on these boards,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. “But the president’s qualification requirements are not your party registration. They are whether you’re qualified to serve and whether you are aligned with the values of this administration.”

Biden wanted “nominees and people serving on these boards who are qualified to serve on them and who are aligned with [his] values,” Psaki said.

Among others being asked to resign are those Trump appointed to the board of the U.S. Military Academy, McMaster and former Gen. Jack Keane, who often appears on Fox News.

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(SAN FRANCISCO) — With six days to go until ballots are due, Vice President Kamala Harris returned to the Bay Area Wednesday afternoon to stump for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom ahead of Tuesday’s recall election.

Newsom is facing a two-part question on next week’s recall ballot: whether voters would like to recall him and who they would like to replace him with.

Harris, who appeared with Newsom before President Joe Biden is set to do so next week, told the crowd at a rally with union workers that helping get out the vote for the governor was a priority.

“I came home for one purpose, it was really important for me to come home to stand and speak in support of my dear friend,” she said.

“We want our leaders in California to have a vision of what is possible, to see the opportunity of a moment to inspire and uplift all people. That’s what the people of California have always wanted. And that’s why the Republicans’ recall will fail,” Harris continued.

Harris is the latest big-name Democrat to stump for Newsom. Shortly before the rally his campaign began airing an ad featuring former President Barack Obama, who encouraged Californians to vote against the recall. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have also appeared on the air in support of Newsom, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., rallied with him to get out the vote earlier this month.

Newsom has come under fire from critics and recall hopefuls for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, including recent vaccine and mask mandates in some public settings across the state.

Harris lauded his decision making when it came to the pandemic.

“Gavin stepped up to the moment. Over 22 million Californians have been vaccinated because of the programs that he led and put in place, because he was not afraid. He didn’t say, “This problem is too big for me.’ He didn’t say ‘My state is too big for me.’ No, and he led with courage,” she said.

Newsom and other Democrats have attempted to nationalize the race by highlighting the thin margins in the Senate — and what could happen if a Republican governor is able to make an appointment should Sen. Diane Feinstein’s seat become open.

“What’s happening in Texas, what’s happening in Georgia, what’s happening around our country with these policies that are about attacking women’s rights, reproductive rights, voting rights, workers rights, they think if they can win in California they can do this anywhere, but we’re gonna show them they can’t,” Harris said Wednesday.

So far, according to data collected by Political Data Inc., a firm that works with campaigns in California, 29% of California’s 22 million active voters, who all received ballots in the mail, have returned them. Based solely on partisan breakdown of ballot returns, Democrats and Republicans are returning ballots at similar paces, 33% and 30%, respectively, although the number of Democratic voters in the state is nearly double that of Republicans.

Newsom, during his remarks introducing Harris, painted Larry Elder — the controversial recall candidate who said he believes the minimum wage should be $0 and that women are not as smart as men — as the type of governor Californians should expect if the recall passes and pointed to the risks he believes the state would be in if Elder were to be his successor.

“He said the first thing he’ll do after he gets sworn in — he said the first thing he’ll do before his first cup of tea — is he will sign an executive order, eliminating mask wearing for our kids in public schools and eliminating vaccine verification for health care workers. Consider the consequences of that,” Newsom said.

Although many voters said they are still undecided on who they’d choose as a replacement, Elder, a nationally syndicated conservative radio host, leads most public polling of the recall field.

Newsom also referenced the balance of power in Washington if Elder had been governor last year and appointed a Republican to fill Harris’ seat.

“Would there have been that last stimulus? Would there be Majority Leader Chuck Schumer? Think of the consequences, California. That’s what’s at stake … you have the opportunity to determine the fate and future of this state. And I would argue impact the fate and future of the United States of America. This is a consequential election,” he said.

Every voter in California was mailed a ballot for this election, so there is less pressure on Newsom when it comes to cultivating high turnout in order to defeat the recall. The latest poll from the Public Policy Institute of California released last week showed 58% of Californians opposing the recall.

In that poll, 49% of respondents said that they either will not vote on the second question to choose a replacement candidate or they do not yet know who they’d like to pick.

Newsom also nodded to former President Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican Party and the lies about a stolen election that have turned into a platform for many in the GOP.

“What a remarkable moment it is in American history. But we have a chance, and an opportunity, to make history of our own here in the state of California. By rejecting that — well, that cynicism, rejecting that fear, by rejecting that kind of dismissiveness. California, we are better than that, we have the opportunity by voting no on this recall. We’re better than that,” he said.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court is returning to its iconic courtroom in October to hear in-person oral arguments for the first time since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the justices to conduct business over the phone.

Oral arguments scheduled for the October, November and December sessions will be in the courtroom with access limited to essential court personnel, counsel and journalists, the court announced Wednesday.

The justices began meeting in person in April for private meetings to discuss cases, and all nine justices are fully vaccinated. But with the continuing coronavirus pandemic and a surge in cases due to the delta variant, the court will remain closed to the public.

While oral arguments have been held over the phone for the last year and a half, real-time oral arguments have been available to the media for broadcasting to the public. The court anticipates that won’t change with a return to in-person operations, according to the announcement.

That marks a major shift in the court’s transparency because prior to the pandemic, only those sitting in the courtroom had real-time access to the proceedings. Audio recordings of oral arguments were made available to the public at the end of each week, and transcripts of arguments were made available the same day.

The court that is returning to the bench in October is not the same as the one that left in March 2020. Before Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September of last year, the court’s conservatives held a narrow 5-4 majority.

Now conservatives have a powerful 6-3 majority after the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, nominated by former President Donald Trump, about a week before the 2020 presidential election — causing an uproar among Democrats over the last-minute appointment. Coney Barret has yet to hear in-person arguments since joining the court.

The court will return from its summer recess to hear arguments Oct. 4 in the cases of Mississippi v. Tennessee, which will determine if Mississippi has sole control of the state’s groundwater, and Wooden v. United States, which will determine whether crimes committed in a sequential spree are considered separate occasions, according to SCOTUSblog.

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(VIRGINIA) — Like many educators this fall, Jill Biden headed back to the classroom at Northern Virginia Community College Tuesday as the first presidential spouse to hold a full-time job while also serving her duties as first lady.

She was also the first second lady to continue with her full time career while her husband was serving as vice president.

Biden is teaching two sections of an introductory academic writing course this semester, with one section fully in-person and the other being a hybrid model of in-person and online learning, according to the college’s course catalogue.

Throughout the pandemic Biden has advocated for the importance of returning to in-person instruction, writing for ABC’s “Good Morning America,” “I know that classrooms are so much more than places where our children learn math and reading.”

Elizabeth Natalle is a founding and board member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education, an organization that promotes and publicizes the contributions of first ladies.

She said Biden’s dual career as a first lady and a professor is not only historic but it more accurately reflects the reality of American women which is a reality that embodies both being a working professional and having families.

“I think Jill Biden is very purposefully being quite vocal about her title, about her professionalism, about her work as a way to inspire and be a role model for American women and for girls growing up,” she said.

Having been an educator for over 30 years and continuing to teach during her husband’s two terms as vice president, Biden had already established some precedent that she could do both, according to Anita McBride, the director of the First Ladies Initiative at American University, which studies the influence of first ladies on politics, policy and public diplomacy.

“It’s something that she made clear that ‘It’s not just what I do, it’s who I am,’ and she prepared the country for the fact that she would continue to do so,” McBride said.

Over the past few presidencies, the country has been inching towards having a first lady who also has a job to balance with presidential spousal duties, McBride said. And Biden is not unlike other first ladies in her efforts to move America forward on its views about working women.

“You can point to almost any first lady in our history and show where they have risen to the occasion and tried to move the country forward and just push the envelope a little bit further on various issues,” she said.

Biden, who goes by “Dr. Biden” in class, has her doctorate of education in educational leadership from the University of Delaware. Last December, an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that garnered explosive reactions called on Biden to drop the title.

The op-ed’s author, Joseph Epstein, wrote that the use of doctor by Biden “sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic.”

In a tweet, Biden responded by saying “Together, we will build a world where the accomplishments of our daughters will be celebrated, rather than diminished.”

Natalle said that first ladies are embroiled in a paradox of public criticism for either being too involved in political matters and not focusing on other duties or not being involved enough — and Biden is no exception.

“First ladies, no matter what they do, find themselves between a rock and a hard place,” she said.

While Biden has been vocal about continuing to teach and the importance of returning to in-person learning, she keeps a low profile about her second job as first lady.

The two courses she is teaching are listed on the semester’s course schedule as being taught by “Tracy, J.” — which is her middle name.

According to her Rate My Professor profile, which is a website that allows students to review college professors, one student wrote that “I mean, who — in her position — would continue here with all that’s going on in her family’s very public life? But in the classroom she’s simply Dr. Biden.”

She is also classified as a “tough grader” but also a “wonderful teacher” by student reviews.

Natalle hopes that Biden’s commitment to continue in her profession will create a lasting impact.

“I hope that she sets a precedent for future first spouses, whether that’s a man or a woman, to be a working person who’s respected for that,” she said.
 

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(NEW YORK) — Reproductive rights are taking center stage in California’s recall election, in a bid to nationalize the stakes of next week’s special election.

Last week, Texas passed the strictest anti-abortion legislation in the nation, effectively nulling Roe v. Wade. The law blocks abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. It also empowers whistleblowers to report and sue anyone aiding an abortion, including doctors and Uber drivers who may have no knowledge of the situation.

Much of the discourse from candidates over the course of this campaign cycle has focused on COVID-19, homelessness and climate change. Though Republican challengers have offered dramatically different approaches to handling these crises, their responses haven’t energized voters as much as Democrats had hoped.

Now, following Texas’ abortion ban, Democrats are turning their focus to the issue, sending a stark warning to voters: California could be next if Gov. Gavin Newsom loses.

“The fight that’s going on nationally, has come to California,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Zohreen Shah during a campaign stop with Newsom. “That’s why this is the moment to vote no on the recall.”

Newsom added, “Imagine the judges a Republican governor will appoint. Imagine the ability to use the line item veto to cut expansions of reproductive rights and health care for women. Imagine a governor from the state of California joining Republican governors on amicus brief supporting overturning Roe v. Wade or using the bully pulpit nationally to advance that cause I think it could be profoundly consequential.”

A reality check on California politics might prove otherwise, though. California has some of the strongest abortion protections in the nation, so if Newsom were to be recalled, his successor would face a variety of obstacles trying to enact a major consequential anti-abortion legislation. Notably, the legislation would have to go up against a heavy Democratic majority in the state legislature and the governor would only have until the end of the term in 2022 to do it.

However, that has not stopped some Republican candidates from taking stances about stripping funding from health services that provide abortions and trying to overturn Roe v. Wade.

During an appearance on CNN’s New Day this week, former Olympian and TV personality Caitlyn Jenner said she supports Texas’ decision because she believes states should have the ability to make their own laws — but she still thinks women should have the right to choose whether or not to give birth.

As it relates to California, Jenner said, “I don’t see any changes in our laws in California in the future.”

Others, aware of California’s political landscape, are calling out Newsom’s alleged strategy of using the issue of abortion to vilify his Republican opponents.

“It’s not that big of an issue in California because California, you know, has constitutional protection,” businessman John Cox told ABC News. “So the politicians are using it. Mr. Newsom is using it to scare people right now.”

Some Republicans, like former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, have complicated Newsom’s alleged efforts to try to paint his Republican challengers as anti-abortion. Faulconer told ABC News, “I’ve been pro-choice … I’ve always been and I will continue to be that way.”

While the effectiveness of Newsom’s strategy will play out at the ballot box on Sept. 14, one thing is for certain: The fight for access to reproductive rights is far from over. Each party appears determined to use the controversial issue to energize their base as the 2022 midterms quickly approach.

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(PORTLAND, Ore.) — Local lawmakers in Portland, Oregon, are set to vote on an “emergency resolution” on Wednesday to ban the city’s procurement of goods and services from the state of Texas in the wake of its restrictive new abortion law.

The resolution, which will be voted on by the Portland City Council, also seeks to ban city employee business travel to Texas.

“The ban will be in effect until the state of Texas withdraws its unconstitutional ban on abortion or until it is overturned in court,” a statement from Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office said of the resolution.

“City legal counsel is currently evaluating the legal aspects of this proposed resolution,” the statement added. “The Portland City Council stands unified in its belief that all people should have the right to choose if and when they carry a pregnancy and that the decisions they make are complex, difficult and unique to their circumstances.”

Texas’ new abortion law, which went into effect last Wednesday, bans physicians from providing abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected (including embryonic cardiac activity). This can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. While the law prohibits the state from enforcing the ban, it instead authorizes private citizens to bring civil suits against anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion — which can even include a driver taking someone to a clinic.

The Portland City Council added that it stands in solidarity with people who may face “difficult decisions about pregnancy” and affirmed that it respects their rights to make the best decision for themselves.

Finally, the members called on others in office to take similar action.

“We urge other leaders and elected bodies around the nation to join us in condemning the actions of the Texas state government,” the group stated.

A spokesman for the city council declined ABC News’ request for further comment Tuesday on how they will seek to enforce the resolution.

The move comes as public pressure mounts on both the government and the private sector over the Texas abortion law.

Ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft both said last week that they would cover the legal fees if its drivers were sued under the new law while driving for the platforms.

Dating app Bumble, which is headquartered in Austin, announced last week on Twitter that it was setting up a “relief fund” to support those seeking abortions in Texas.

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(WASHINGTON) — As COVID-19 case rates remain at a level not seen since before vaccines were widely available in the United States, President Joe Biden is set to deliver remarks Thursday on a new strategy to stop the spread of the contagious delta variant, White House officials confirmed Tuesday.

“On Thursday the president will speak to the American people about his robust plan to stop the spread of the delta variant and boost vaccinations,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

In the remarks, “the president will lay out a six-pronged strategy,” involving both the public and private sectors, she added.

Biden has already made significant moves in requiring vaccines among public sector workers. He instituted a vaccine requirement for the nation’s 2.1 million federal employees, and the Department of Defense will require vaccination for 1.3 million active duty service members.

But realistically, Biden has limited legal authority to institute a broad vaccine mandate for most Americans.

“Yes, that’s — that’s true,” Psaki said Tuesday, confirming Biden’s hands are tied when it comes to a widespread mandate.

Psaki did seem to suggest that Biden will call on the private sector to institute more mandates. Major corporations such as Facebook, Google and Citigroup have already announced vaccination requirements.

“We don’t have any preview quite yet. I will note that we’ve seen that there are a range of ways that we have increased vaccinations across the country, or vaccinations have increased, I should say. One of them is private sector companies mandating in different capacities that their employees get vaccinated. Or certain school districts mandate,” Psaki said Tuesday.

Biden alluded to his plan to lay out his COVID-19 strategy in economic remarks Friday, focused on the disappointing August jobs report.

“There’s no question the delta variant is why today’s jobs report isn’t stronger. I know people were looking, and I was hoping, for a higher number. But next week, I’ll lay out the next steps that are going to — we’re going to need to combat the delta variant, to address some of those fears and concerns,” Biden said Friday.

Part of the strategy Biden referenced Friday is to ask states and local governments to consider using federal funding to extend unemployment benefits in hard-hit areas.

“I want to talk about how we’ll further protect our schools, our businesses, our economy, and our families from the threat of delta. As we continue to fight the delta variant, the American Rescue Plan we passed continues to support families, businesses, and communities. Even as some of the benefits that were provided are set to expire next week, states have the option to extend those benefits and the federal resources from the Rescue Plan to do so. Not more federal taxes, state taxes, but they have the federal money to be able to do that. States continue to have access to a wide array of support, like help for schools that are reopening, help for childcare centers to make them available and affordable, and other resources to help our economy get back to normal,” Biden said Friday.

But no states have indicated a plan to take Biden up on his proposal.

The remarks are scheduled for just 11 days before the administration is set to begin widely rolling out booster shots of Pfizer, a process that has been mired by confusion as some public health experts say the data doesn’t yet support the need for boosters, and as Moderna failed to meet the data reporting deadline to begin offering boosters the same day as Pfizer.

As children return to school for the fall semester, many in-person for the first time since the start of the pandemic, fears are rising that classrooms could host even more virus spread.

“We need to continue to take more steps to make sure school districts are prepared and make sure communities across the country are prepared,” Psaki said Tuesday.

The administration did announce one positive milestone Tuesday: at least 75% of adults in the U.S. have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the White House COVID-19 data director.

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(NEW YORK) — The president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the U.S., was terminated Monday night for allegedly helping former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his response to sexual harassment allegations.

Alphonso David, a former lawyer for Cuomo, was voted out by the Human Rights Campaign and its foundation boards of directors “for cause, effective immediately, for violations of his contract.”

The Aug.3 New York Attorney General report, which alleged Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, alleged David sent files relating to accuser Lindsey Boylan’s employment history to Cuomo staff at the request of Cuomo’s then-secretary Melissa DeRosa in December 2020. The files were later shared with several journalists after Boylan tweeted that the Governor had sexually harassed her, the report said.

David, who worked as chief counsel to the governor from April 2015 until becoming president of the HRC in August 2019, was not working for the Cuomo administration at the time he sent the files.

Further, the report stated that the governor and a group of advisors worked on a draft letter in response to Boylan’s sexual harassment allegations. David reportedly received a draft of that letter. When the governor suggested to put signatures on the letter, “Mr. David testified that he told Ms. DeRosa that he was not signing the letter but was willing to reach out to others to see if they would sign it,” the AG report stated.

HRC and its boards of directors announced an investigation into his actions related to the AG report last month.

“As outlined in the New York Attorney General report, Mr. David engaged in a number of activities in December 2020, while HRC President, to assist Governor Cuomo’s team in responding to allegations by Ms. Boylan of sexual harassment,” Morgan Cox and Jodie Patterson, Human Rights Campaign and Foundation Board Chairs, said in a statement.

“This conduct in assisting Governor Cuomo’s team, while president of HRC, was in violation of HRC’s Conflict of Interest policy and the mission of HRC,” they added.

After news of his firing, David shared a statement on social media stating, “Expect a legal challenge.”

“After I demanded truth and transparency, the HRC board co-chairs who should stand for human rights elected to hide in darkness. They unjustly provided notice of termination to me in order to end my fight for the integrity of the review process and for what is right. I asked for the report, they refused. They lied about producing the report,” he said.

“As a Black, gay man who has spent his whole life fighting for civil and human rights, they cannot shut me up,” he added.

In a statement shared on his social media Sunday he said, “I was shocked and sick to my stomach and immediately called on Governor Cuomo to resign,” adding “I was also the one who called for HRC to conduct an independent review, and I participated in it fully.”

Joni Madison, the current chief operating officer and chief staff of the HRC will serve as interim president as the board search for a replacement.

His exit is the latest fallout from the report that also led Roberta A. Kaplan, the co-founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which fights for sexual harassment victims, to resign after the report named Kaplan as allegedly being involved in an effort to discredit one of Cuomo’s accusers. She resigned despite contesting the claim that she counseled Cuomo in responding to an accuser.

DeRosa, one of Cuomo’s top aides, also resigned last month after state investigators alleged she was part of the “retaliation” against one of his accusers.

Cuomo resigned last month after the damning report and amid a mounting chorus of calls for him to step down. He has consistently denied all allegations of sexual harassment.

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(TEXAS) — Three months and two special sessions after Texas House Democrats engaged in the first of three quorum breaks over the Republican-backed legislative priority of “election integrity,” the final version of the bill officially became law on Tuesday.

In its final form, Senate Bill 1 revises the state’s election laws to tighten ballot access and administration. Some of the provisions outlined in the legislation also appear to be responses to efforts taken by Houston-area officials in Harris County to broaden ballot access during the 2020 general election amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Although there was no evidence of widespread fraud across Texas following the 2020 election, Republican proponents of the legislation claim it seeks to restore voter confidence in the state’s election parameters.

“One thing that all Texans can agree [on], and that is that we must have trust and confidence in our elections. The bill that I’m about to sign, helps to achieve that goal,” Gov. Greg Abbott said at Tuesday’s bill signing ceremony in Tyler, Texas.

Republican supporters of the legislation — including the state’s Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — also praised the bill as a tool for deterring “cheaters” from casting fraudulent ballots.

“Texas turns out voters because they have confidence that our elections are always going to be fair and Senate Bill 1 will give them even more confidence. We want to see more people vote, we want to see them vote fairly and we don’t want the cheaters to undermine our elections,” Patrick said during the bill signing ceremony.

The bill’s transcendence into law signals a political win for Abbott, who made “election integrity” a priority over the course of two special legislative sessions. The move also echoes Abbott’s political alignment with former President Donald Trump, who baselessly attacked the nation’s election processes after his presidential loss in November.

Meanwhile, Texas Democrats insist they will continue to push back politically.

“The signing of this harmful bill will only make us more determined,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement Tuesday.

Democrats in the state legislature had been battling the legislation for months. After first engaging in a final-hour quorum break in May to prevent the first iteration of the bill from passing, House Democrats fled to Washington, D.C. ahead of a subsequent July special session in hopes of working with federal lawmakers to push for national voting rights legislation.

Their exit brought the legislature to a halt until Abbott called for a second special session in August. Faced with a reemerging COVID-19 crisis at home, enough Democrat lawmakers returned to Austin to clear a quorum and watch the Republican majority put the bill over the finish line.

The legislation goes into effect in December, three months following the end of the latest special session, at which point it will officially ban drive-through and 24-hour voting sites, both of which were widely utilized in the populous and diverse Harris County — one of the state’s few deeply blue political areas.

The new law will also make it a state jail felony for election officials to proactively send applications for mail ballot requests to voters if the voters themselves did not request the documents. During the 2020 campaign season, Harris County election officials attempted to send mail ballot applications to millions of the county’s registered voters, but the effort was halted by the Texas Supreme Court.

Under the new law, poll watchers will have “free movement” within polling places. They will also have the ability to “observe all election activities” including the closing of polling places and the transfer of election materials. Although the provision prohibits poll watchers from observing voters as they fill out ballots, the legislation makes it a criminal offense if an election official “knowingly prevents a watcher from observing an activity” or prohibits officials from refusing to accept watchers into a polling place.

Voting rights advocates consistently criticized these provisions as creating ballot access hurdles for people of color. In response, Republicans frequently touted the new law’s expansion of early voting hours, which will mandate that counties with populations of 55,000 people or more provide at least 12 hours of early voting during the second week of the early voting period.

Upon signing the bill into law, Abbott praised the new law’s expansion of in-person early voting while drawing an inaccurate comparison to the voting parameters in President Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware, which Abbott said does not have an early voting period. Although Delaware did not have early voting in the 2020 campaign cycle, it will have an early voting period implemented in 2022, which would coincide with when S.B. 1 going into effect.

Republicans also removed a highly controversial provision that was outlined in a failed version of a “voter integrity” bill during the first special session, which limited the start of Sunday early voting hours. That provision was seen as a direct response to “souls to the polls” voting mobilization traditions in Black churchgoing communities and was often cited in criticisms from Democrats throughout their second quorum break. The ensuing fallout of the now-defunct provision spurred lawmakers to add an hour to the early voting time frame on Sundays to the bill signed by Abbott.

The effects of S.B 1 would play out just as the 2022 midterm election cycle gears up across one of the nation’s emerging political battlegrounds, but at least two federal lawsuits filed in Austin and San Antonio were already contesting the law’s legitimacy before Abbott signed the bill into law.

Meanwhile, Texas Democrats — many of whom hoped to stall the legislation in July by breaking quorum and camping out in Washington, D.C. — continue to put pressure on federal lawmakers to act.

“Senate Bill 1 will go into effect on December 3rd. With the deliberate barriers to voting created by this legislation and redistricting just around the corner, we need the U.S. Senate to act immediately on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Our democracy depends on it,” Texas House Democratic Chair Chris Turner said in a statement.

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