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Statement on Announced End of US Support for Saudi Military Offensive in Yemen
Today, national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced that the Biden administration would end US support for the Saudi/UAE-led war in Yemen.
The following statement may be attributed to David Segal, executive director and co-founder of Demand Progress:
WASHINGTON
Today, national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced that the Biden administration would end US support for the Saudi/UAE-led war in Yemen.
The following statement may be attributed to David Segal, executive director and co-founder of Demand Progress:
"This is a key step toward improving the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, a crisis the United States stoked by figuratively and literally fueling the Saudi war machine. Tens of thousands of Yemeni civilians have now died, while millions more are on the brink of famine. Today's announcement puts much-needed pressure on Saudi Arabia to end this deadly campaign.
The Biden administration's decision to stop US support for 'offensive operations' by Saudi Arabia is critically important. However, we must learn more about how 'offensive operations' are defined - and ensure that Biden's plans entail ending targeting support, spare parts transfers, and other logistical support, both known and unknown to the general public.
Further, the administration should show today's announcement carries serious weight by immediately cancelling the pending arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both of which have proven they cannot be entrusted with billions of dollars of advanced US weaponry."
Demand Progress's members have fought US participation in this humanitarian crisis by sending over 250,000 emails and making tens of thousands of calls to Congress in recent years. Demand Progress has also worked to support and pass through the House and Senate War Powers Resolutions that would prohibit US participation in the Saudi starvation campaign and affirm Congress's authority over matters of war and peace -- efforts that we and our members will continue.
These recent assertions of Congress's authority to declare war have already played a critical role putting pressure behind a negotiated settlement, including by pushing the Trump administration to end in-flight refueling of Saudi planes and setting the stage for a reset by the Biden administration.
Demand Progress amplifies the voice of the people -- and wields it to make government accountable and contest concentrated corporate power. Our mission is to protect the democratic character of the internet -- and wield it to contest concentrated corporate power and hold government accountable.
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'Sick Joke': Progressives Roundly Reject Idea of Rahm Emanuel as DNC Chair
"No amount of rebranding can change the fact that Rahm Emanuel's political career has been an abject failure—neoliberal centrism is exactly the wrong direction for the Democratic Party," said one critic.
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Progressives were left fuming and flummoxed over reporting Friday that Rahm Emanuel is considering running for chair of the Democratic National Committee, with many leftists wondering whether the party has learned anything from its loss of the White House, Senate, and, arguably, the country's working-class voters.
Axiosfirst reported that Emanuel—President Joe Biden's ambassador to Japan and a former congressman, Chicago mayor, and chief of staff to former President Barack Obama—is mulling whether to seek the top DNC post. Current DNC chair Jamie Harrison, who was elected to the post in 2021, is unlikely to seek a new term, which would begin in March.
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"If they said, 'Well, what should we do? Who should lead the party?' I would take Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, and I would bring him back from Japan, and I would appoint him chairman of the Democratic National Committee," prominent political consultant David Axelrod, who ran both of Obama's successful presidential campaigns, said Wednesday on his podcast.
Axelrod followed up the next day with a post on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, in which he wrote of Emanuel, "Dude knows how to fight and win."
Reaction came fast and furious, with Jonathan Cohn, policy director at the group Progressive Massachusetts, asking on the social network Bluesky, "How is this not a sick joke?"
Center for International Policy executive vice president Matt Duss, a former foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) writing on X that "if you assembled a team of top scientists and told them to come up with a plan to ensure that the Democratic Party continues to lose working-class voters, I doubt they could do better than 'Make Rahm Emanuel head of the DNC.'"
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The groups wrote on Thursday that big banks want to continue to "maintain their dominance by making it unduly difficult for consumers to switch institutions."
"The presence of these organizations on both the FDX and BPI boards undermines the credibility of FDX and presents various concerns relating to conflict of interest, interlocking directorate, and antitrust law," they wrote.
Upon introducing the finalized rule last month, Chopra said the action would "give people more power to get better rates and service on bank accounts, credit cards, and more" and help those who are "stuck in financial products with lousy rates and service."
The coalition of consumer advocacy groups—including Public Citizen, the American Economic Liberties Project, and Americans for Financial Reform—urged Chopra to reject FDX's application for standard-setting authority so long as the banks remain on its board.
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Trump's selection of Wiles flies in the face of his previous pledge to "drain the swamp" and recent criticism of the disproportionate influence lobbyists wield in Washington, D.C.
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The campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets reported in 2021 that Ballard Partners, Wiles' lobbying firm, "increased its revenue with each year of Trump’s presidency, peaking in 2020 with a $24.4 million haul."
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