June, 23 2021, 04:08pm EDT
SCOTUS Reaffirms President Biden's Power to Remove Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul
The following is a statement from Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works, on today's Supreme Court decision in the case of Collins v. Yellen:
WASHINGTON
The following is a statement from Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works, on today's Supreme Court decision in the case of Collins v. Yellen:
"Even before the Supreme Court announced its decision today, it was clear that President Biden has the power to fire the Commissioner of Social Security, Andrew Saul. It's long past time for the president to use that power. Biden should have fired Saul on January 20th, citing the 2019 Seila Law case as his power to do so. But for any Biden advisors who are still hesitating about the constitutionality of removing Saul, today's case should put those doubts to rest.
Today's case directly concerned Biden's ability to remove Mark Calabria, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which (as Justice Elena Kagan pointed out) has a similar leadership structure to the Social Security Administration. The Supreme Court ruled that Biden had the authority to fire Calabria, and the White House promptly did so, stating that 'the President is moving forward today to replace the current Director with an appointee who reflects the Administration's values'.
Like Calabria, Saul is acting in opposition to the Biden administration's stated values. Biden ran on a platform of protecting and expanding Social Security. He needs a Social Security Commissioner who will support that goal, not undermine it. Powerful members of Congress have called for the removal of this union-busting, anti-Social Security Trump crony. The Biden administration should protect the American people's earned benefits by removing Saul from office immediately."
Social Security Works' mission is to: Protect and improve the economic security of disadvantaged and at-risk populations; Safeguard the economic security of those dependent, now or in the future, on Social Security; and Maintain Social Security as a vehicle of social justice.
LATEST NEWS
'New Yorkers Deserve Better': Mayor Adams Urged to Resign as Feds Raid Home
"Mayor Eric Adams can no longer govern. He has lost the trust of the everyday New Yorkers he was elected to serve," said the New York Working Families Party.
Sep 26, 2024
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams faced mounting calls to resign as federal agents raided his official residence in Manhattan early Thursday morning following news that he was indicted in a corruption probe.
Adams, who was under federal investigation for allegedly conspiring with the Turkish government in 2021 to receive unlawful campaign donations, said he would fight the indictment, which remained sealed Thursday morning. Adams is now the first sitting New York City mayor to be charged with a federal crime.
News of the federal grand jury indictment sparked a new flurry of calls for Adams' resignation from New York lawmakers and advocacy groups.
"Mayor Eric Adams can no longer govern," the New York Working Families Party said in a statement. "He has lost the trust of the everyday New Yorkers he was elected to serve. Our city deserves a leader we can trust and who is not engulfed in endless scandals."
In an appearance on Democracy Now! Thursday morning, New York City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán said that "New Yorkers deserve better."
"We need somebody who can take this job seriously," Cabán added, "and [Adams] can no longer do that."
Should Adams ultimately resign or be forced out of office, the city's public advocate, Jumaane Williams, would become mayor.
Tiffany Cabán was the first New York City councilmember to call on Mayor Eric Adams to resign as he faces several federal investigations.
"New Yorkers deserve better,” says @tiffany_caban. “We need somebody who can take this job seriously … and he can no longer do that." pic.twitter.com/da9ctlaoxX
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) September 26, 2024
Chi Ossé, also a member of the New York City Council, called Adams—a former police officer—a "corrupt cop" who "needs to resign."
"This started as a corruption probe into his campaign and now half of the leadership is out of commission," Ossé added. "I'm not going to lie, they look guilty."
News of the Adams indictment came three weeks after the FBI raided the homes and seized the phones of top Adams aides.
The New York Timesreported Thursday that "federal prosecutors investigating whether Mayor Eric Adams conspired with the Turkish government to funnel illegal foreign donations into his campaign have recently sought information about interactions with five other countries."
"The demand for information related to the other countries—Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea, and Uzbekistan—was made in expansive grand jury subpoenas issued in July to City Hall, the mayor, and his campaign," the Times noted, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the matter.
Adams attorney Alex Spiro on Thursday accused federal agents of staging a "spectacle" by raiding the mayor's residence.
"He has not been arrested and looks forward to his day in court," said Spiro. "They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in."
Shortly before news of the indictment broke, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote that she doesn't "see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City."
"The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov[ernment] function," she added. "Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration. For the good of the city, he should resign."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Sanders Unveils Resolutions to Block US Arms Sales as Israel Rejects Cease-Fire Call
"Sending more weapons to Netanyahu's extremist government is unacceptable," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Sep 26, 2024
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and a pair of his Senate colleagues on Wednesday formally introduced resolutions aimed at blocking a series of proposed arms sales to the Israeli government as it bombards Gaza and Lebanon, deepening humanitarian crises there and pushing the region to the brink of all-out war.
The six Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, five of which were backed by Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), would together prevent the sale of $20 billion of U.S. weaponry to Israel. The Biden administration approved the massive sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions, tank ammunition, F-15 fighter jets, and other military equipment last month.
In a statement, Sanders (I-Vt.) said that "there is a mountain of documentary evidence demonstrating that these weapons are being used in violation of U.S. and international law."
On top of the legal case for scrapping the sales, Sanders said Wednesday that "there are also clear policy reasons not to proceed," noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has obstructed cease-fire efforts at every turn.
"It is clear that Netanyahu is prolonging the war to cling to power and avoid prosecution for corruption," the senator said. "Meanwhile, his government has also overseen record illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank and unleashed a wave of violence there that has killed nearly 700 Palestinians, including 150 children, and several Americans over the last 11 months. And now the world must contend with the dramatic escalation in Lebanon."
"Sending more weapons to Netanyahu's extremist government is unacceptable," he added. "That is why many of our closest allies have already stopped offensive arms transfers. Congress must now act to uphold U.S. and international law and use our leverage to advance U.S. policy goals."
Sanders, Welch, and Merkley introduced the resolutions as U.S., France, Qatar, and other nations issued a joint statement calling for a three-week cease-fire on the Israeli-Lebanon border—a proposal that Israel's foreign minister swiftly rejected as Israeli forces carried out a fresh wave of bombings in Lebanon, killing dozens.
"There will be no cease-fire in the north," Israel Katz wrote on social media. "We will continue to fight against the terrorist organization Hezbollah with all our might until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes."
The Sanders-led Joint Resolutions of Disapproval face long odds in a U.S. Congress that has passed billions of dollars in military aid to Israel since the Hamas-led October 7 attack.
With the formal introduction of the resolutions, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee now has 10 calendar days to consider the measures. Once that period is up, "the sponsor(s) of the resolution can force a floor vote on a motion to discharge the resolution from committee," Sanders' office explained in a fact sheet. Because the resolutions are privileged, they can't be amended or filibustered and require just a simple majority to pass.
The Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project said Wednesday that the resolutions mark "the first time in U.S. history" that "there will be a vote in Congress to block weapons to Israel."
"Sending Israel weapons is a violation of U.S. law and opposed by a majority of Americans, who are sick of seeing their tax dollars fund Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians," the group added.
Dylan Williams, vice president of the Center for International Policy, applauded the resolutions as "an appropriate, measured, and sadly necessary response to a security partner's repeated violations of U.S. and international law."
"We welcome Senator Sanders' initiative to put a stop to this carnage and U.S. complicity in it," said Williams.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Trump Condemned for 'Genocidal' Threat to Destroy Iran
"Trump's threat to blow Iran's largest cities and the country itself 'to smithereens' is an outrageous threat that should be widely condemned," said the National Iranian American Council.
Sep 25, 2024
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's threat on Wednesday to blow Iran "to smithereens" if he returns to power was condemned by a leading Iranian American advocacy group as "genocidal."
Trump—the 2024 Republican nominee—addressed a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday after he was reportedly briefed about alleged Iranian assassination threats against him.
"If I were the president, I would inform the threatening country—in this case, Iran—that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens," he said to raucous applause. "We're gonna blow it to smithereens, you can't do that. And there would be no more threats."
Responding to the former president's remarks, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) said in a statement that "Trump's threat to blow Iran's largest cities and the country itself 'to smithereens' is an outrageous threat that should be widely condemned as psychotic and genocidal."
"Just like his threat to target 52 of Iran's most cherished cultural sites, Trump appears disturbingly willing to kill millions of Iranians who have no say over the actions of their authoritarian government," NIAC continued. "These remarks should be disqualifying for a man vying to once again be commander in chief and have sole authority over launching nuclear weapons with the power to make good on his horrifying threat."
"Likewise, we unequivocally condemn any Iranian threats that may be targeted at Trump or former officials," the group added. "Political violence must be rejected and prevented in all forms. Assassinations are a path to war and human suffering, as was demonstrated by the strike on [Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Maj. Gen.] Qasem Soleimani that engendered these threats, and risk further embroiling the region in violence."
Trump ordered the January 2020 airstrike that killed Soleimani in Iraq. He also unilaterally withdrew from the so-called Iran nuclear deal and ramped up sanctions on Tehran, exacerbating Iran's economic woes.
While Trump is known for his boastful and sometimes empty claims, as president he also followed through on his 2016 campaign promise to "bomb the shit out of" Islamic State fighters and "take out their families," resulting in thousands of civilian casualties in countries including Iraq and Syria.
Although Trump often presents himself as the peace candidate, critics have warned voters not to be fooled.
"He's a liar. C'mon, you know he doesn't tell the truth at all," Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)—the only member of either legislative chamber who voted against authorizing the so-called War on Terror in 2001—said in a recent interview with The Nation.
"Just look at his record, who he cozies up to in terms of dictators," Lee added. "He wants more investment in the military budget. What his strategy is, is to create a more dangerous world."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular