Biden news: Bernie Sanders unveils free college plan as Merrick Garland launches police review

Rolling updates on the day’s news from Washington and beyond

Joe Biden calls George Floyd’s family after trial verdict

Bernie Sanders, now chair of the Senate Budget Committee, has introduced a plan to pay for free college tuition by levying taxes on Wall Street, combining two of his signature issues into a highly ambitious policy with huge implications.

In the aftermath of the Derek Chauvin verdict, Attorney General Merrick Garland has launched a wholesale Department of Justice review of the Minneapolis Police Department, a probe set to investigate whether its officers routinely “engage in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing”.

Meanwhile, progressive politicians including congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have revived the Green New Deal.

Speaking in Washington DC on Tuesday about tackling climate change, the New York representative said: “Do we intend on sending a message to the Biden administration that we need to go bigger and bolder? The answer is absolutely yes.”

Her words came as reports suggest that Joe Biden will pledge to halve the US’ carbon emissions by 2030 ahead of an important climate summit on Thursday.

The decision would encourage other countries to set more ambitious emissions targets, with 40 world leaders meeting for a two-day virtual conference on the issue.

The US’ reported 50 per cent target almost doubles the country’s last commitment, meaning that drastic changes in power and transportation will be required.

It would be an important step on the journey to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, something the president has vowed to work towards.

• George Floyd’s murder ‘ripped the blinders off’ to reveal systemic racism, Biden says in national address
• Joe Biden celebrates ‘some justice’ for George Floyd as AOC calls conviction not enough
• McEnany branded hypocrite for telling Biden words can inflame violence as president comments on Chauvin trial

Key Points

• Bernie Sanders proposes free college paid for by Wall Street
• Garland announces DOJ probe of Minneapolis police
• AOC reintroduces Green New Deal
• US expected to vow halving of emissions by 2030
• Chauvin conviction could be ‘giant step forward’ in fight against racism, Biden says

[21 April 2021 11:22 · Louise Hall]

Biden gives national address following Chauvin guilty verdict

US President Joe Biden condemned the nation’s legacy of systemic injustice and racist violence in his call for sweeping police reform hours after Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd, Alex Woodward reports.

“It was a murder in full light of day and it ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see” systemic racism in the US, he said in remarks to the nation alongside Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on Tuesday evening.

[21 April 2021 11:44 · Louise Hall]

Administration set to meet goal for 200 million Covid-19 shots in first 100 days

The Joe Biden administration is meeting its goal of administering 200 million Covid-19 shots in his first 100 days in office, as the White House steps up its efforts to inoculate the rest of the public.

With more than 50 per cent of adults at least partially vaccinated, Biden will reflect on his efforts to expand vaccine distribution and access.

With all those 16 and older now eligible for shots, the president is expected to outline his administration’s plans to drive up the vaccination rate even further.

Reporting by the Associated Press

[21 April 2021 12:05 · Louise Hall]

Harris gives shout-out to the American Jobs Plan

Vice President Kamala Harris has given a shout-out to the American Jobs Plan on her Twitter, sharing a video of her promoting the infrastructure proposal.

“You should not have to work more than one job to be able to pay your bills and feed your family,” the vice president says.

“One good job should be enough,” she adds. “At a good job you shouldn’t have to worry about your safety. You shouldn’t have to worry about the ability to get a good life because you might have to go in debt for a diploma that promises a decent paycheck.”

[21 April 2021 12:20 · Louise Hall]

GOP Reps say Washington DC wouldn’t qualify as state

Republican lawmakers are pushing back against HR 51, a bill that would allow Washington DC to become the US's 51st state.

On Tuesday, US Rep. Nancy Mace argued against the bill, claiming that Washington DC would not meet the qualifications needed to even become a Congressional district, let alone a US state.

Graig Graziosi reports:

[21 April 2021 12:40 · Louise Hall]

George W Bush describes GOP as ‘isolationist'

Former President George W Bush has described the modern-day Republican party as “isolationist, protectionist and to a certain extent nativist.”

During an appearance on NBC’s Today on Tuesday, the former president said that the nature of the GOP today was “not his vision”.

“Well, that’s not exactly my vision, but you know what, I’m just an old guy they put out to pasture,” he said. “So just a simple painter.” 

[21 April 2021 13:00 · Andrew Naughtie]

Youngest witness in Chauvin’s murder trial gives interview

A 10-year-old girl who testified during the trial of Derek Chauvin spoke to ABC News’s Good Morning America today, and described watching the verdict with her parents.

Watch it here:

[21 April 2021 13:27 · Andrew Naughtie]

Republican conspiracy theorists come in for mockery

The Washington Post’s cartoon today takes a poke at far-right Republicans who spread the falsehoods that fuelled the Capitol insurrection, pointing out the absurdity of the failed GOP effort to censure Maxine Waters for having encouraged protesters to be “confrontational” had Derek Chauvin been exonerated.

A similar, more serious point was made yesterday by Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who pointed to Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert as examples of what happens when parties coddle their extremist elements.

[21 April 2021 14:00 · Andrew Naughtie]

FBI tracking Capitol rioters with facial recognition technology

It is now clear that federal law enforcement is homing in on suspects from the 6 January insurrection using facial recognition software, with at least one suspect arrested after he was spotted in someone else’s social media posts.

HuffPost’s Ryan J Reilly has put together a thread explaining how facial recognition is being used – and he speculates it may have been deployed more widely than is currently known.

[21 April 2021 14:20 · Andrew Naughtie]

The 2024 primary begins...with Chris Christie?

Regardless of the exhausted electorate’s enthusiasm, it’s never too early to start running for president – even in the Republican Party, whose next few years may be dominated by the question of whether Donald Trump gives it another go.

Reports are now emerging that Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor widely derided for hitching his wagon to Trump after a failed 2020 campaign, is “seriously considering” a 2024 run. That puts him on a list with hardliners Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley, relative moderate Nikki Haley, and rising star Kristi Noem, to name but a few.

But if Trump runs, the best they may have to hope for is a shot at running mate. (After all, given the events of 6 January, he’s unlikely to bring back Mike Pence.)

Louise Hall has more.

[21 April 2021 14:37 · Andrew Naughtie]

Justice Department to investigate Minneapolis Police

Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to announce a full-blown investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis, the city where George Floyd was murdered.

The chief of the city’s police force testified against Derek Chauvin in his trial, but the department has been under heavy pressure to change ever since Mr Floyd’s death.

Read more here: