theguardian--2020-08-16--US Postal Service crisis: Pelosi recalls House early to fight election 'sabotage'

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is recalling the House early from its summer recess in a bid to protect the US Postal Service from efforts to block funding and suppress mail-in voting in November ’ s election .
Pelosi said the House would return later this week to vote on a bill prohibiting the USPS from changing its operations or service levels from what it had in place at the start of 2020 .
Previously , the House had not been scheduled to vote until 15 September .
She said late on Sunday that Donald Trump was trying to sabotage the election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called Postmaster General Louis DeJoy “ a complicit crony ” by bringing in changes that degrades the service and delayed mail .
“ Lives , livelihoods and the life of our American democracy are under threat from the president , ” she said , calling for a day of action on Tuesday .
“ In a time of a pandemic , the Postal Service is election central .
Americans should not have to choose between their health and their vote.
” Her comments echoed those of Bernie Sanders , who told NBC ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s attacks on mail-in voting and his administration ’ s efforts to block funds for the US post office amounted to “ a crisis for American democracy ” ahead of the November presidential election .
“ What you are witnessing is a president of the United States who is doing everything he can to suppress the vote , make it harder for people to engage in mail-in balloting at a time when people will be putting their lives on the line by having to go out to a polling station and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unprecedented number of Americans are expected to vote by mail this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic .
Over the past few months , states across the US have seen record numbers of Americans request ballots and submit votes by mail in primary and other elections .
However , there is concern over whether the USPS , which is already facing a severe financial crisis , will be able get ballots to voters and return them to election offices in time to have them counted .
Congressional Democrats announced on Sunday that DeJoy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the postal service ’ s board of governors , had been invited to a 24 August hearing of the House oversight committee .
The hearing will investigate the recent removal of mailboxes and shutting down of sorting machines nationwide .
DeJoy has strongly denied any political interference , and Trump said in a press briefing on Saturday that DeJoy is , in fact , trying to “ make the post office great again ” .
But last week , Trump openly admitted he was blocking $ 25bn in proposed aid to the post @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harder to vote by mail .

Two members of a key congressional committee have asked the FBI to open a criminal investigation of the leadership of the US Postal Service (USPS), alleging the postmaster general, a Donald Trump mega-donor, has slowed mail delivery in an attempt to rig the presidential election.
“There is evidence that making mail-in balloting more difficult may be one of the motivations for the changes instituted at the Post Office,” Ted Lieu of California and Hakeem Jeffries of New York, both Democrats, wrote in a letter to the FBI director, Christopher Wray.
An unprecedented number of states have instituted mail-in voting in response to the coronavirus pandemic, citing the efficacy of the process in states that have used it for years. The USPS has come under intense scrutiny for policy changes announced as Trump attacks mail-in voting.
The two Democrats’ letter referred to reports that the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, and the USPS board of governors “have retarded the passage of mail”, and said evidence suggests actions have been taken “to affect mail-in balloting or was motivated by personal financial reasons”.
“We request the FBI to look into whether postmaster general Louis DeJoy, or members of the board of governors of the US postal service, committed any crimes,” the congressmen wrote.
Trump denied that he had encouraged DeJoy to slow the mail in answer to a question from reporters outside the White House Monday.
“No, not at all,” Trump said. “Wouldn’t do that. No, I have encouraged everybody: Speed up the mail, not slow the mail.” Trump said the administration simply wanted to ensure that the post office “runs properly” and then contradicted himself, saying “the Post Office is running very well”.
The chair of the House oversight committee, Carolyn Maloney of New York, announced on Monday that her committee would quiz DeJoy in an open hearing next week about policy changes, saying she was “pleased” that DeJoy had agreed to testify.
“The American people want their mail, medicines and mail-in ballots delivered in a timely way, and they certainly do not want drastic changes and delays in the midst of a global pandemic just months before the election,” Maloney said in a statement.
Early Recall
In an attempt to protect the USPS, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, is recalling the House early from its summer recess. Several states are also considering legal action to stop the service being run down.
Pelosi said the House would return later this week to vote on a bill prohibiting the USPS from changing operations or service levels from what it had in place at the start of 2020. Previously, the House had not been scheduled to vote until 15 September. She said late on Sunday Trump was trying to sabotage the election by manipulating the postal service, and called DeJoy “a complicit crony”.
The Democratic bill would include $25bn in new funding for USPS, Politico reported. The White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said Trump was open to a “skinny” deal on USPS that included direct stimulus payments but accused Democrats of drafting a bill to “use it as a political tool instead of a legislative tool”.
In calling for a criminal investigation of DeJoy, Jeffries and Lieu noted that he had donated more than $1.2m to the Trump campaign.
“It is not unreasonable to conclude that Postmaster General DeJoy and the board of governors may be executing Donald Trump’s desire to affect mail-in balloting,” the congressmen wrote. They also accused DeJoy of a conflict of interest from owning stock in postal service competitors and contractors.
In a video that went viral online at the weekend, a reporter interviewed a man in a USPS uniform about mail volume in Columbus, Ohio.
“There is a lull in the mail volume,” the man said. “The whole thing is just a – they’re trying to shut us down so people can’t vote, just basically trying to take away people’s constitutional right to vote. To rig the election. That’s all this is all about. The postal service is fine if they let us handle our business.”
Bernie Sanders told NBC’s Meet the Press Trump’s attacks on the USPS amounted to “a crisis for American democracy”.
“What you are witnessing is a president of the United States who is doing everything he can to suppress the vote, make it harder for people to engage in mail-in balloting at a time when people will be putting their lives on the line by having to go out to a polling station and vote,” the Vermont senator said.
Over the past few months, states have seen record numbers of Americans request ballots and submit votes by mail in primary and other elections. There is concern over whether the USPS, already facing a severe financial crisis, will be able get ballots to voters and return them to election offices in time to have them counted.
After protests outside DeJoy’s home in Washington at the weekend, the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said the USPS board should remove DeJoy if he “refuses to come before Congress”.
The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, had no scheduling updates for the Republican-controlled Senate, a spokesman said.
But the Republican senator Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate in a tight re-election race, said on Twitter the Senate should return to consider legislation to provide the USPS up to $25bn in coronavirus funding.
Several Democratic state attorneys general told Reuters they were in discussions about legal action.
“It is outrageous that Donald Trump would attempt to undermine the USPS for electoral gain,” the Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healy, said.
DeJoy has strongly denied any political interference, and Trump said on Saturday DeJoy was in fact trying to “make the post office great again”.
Last week, however, Trump openly admitted he was blocking $25bn in proposed aid to the post office because he wanted to make it harder to vote by mail.


theguardian--2020-08-16--Sanders: Trump's effort to hinder mail-in voting 'a crisis for US democracy' – as it happened

Jared Kushner , the president ’ s son-in-law and senior advisor , said the death of Donald Trump ’ s younger brother was “ a very tough moment for the president ” .
“ The president loved his brother very much , ” Kushner said in an appearance on CBS ’ s Face The Nation on Sunday .
“ His brother was very proud of him.
” It is “ obviously a very tough moment for the president , ” Kushner added .
“ But he is looking forward to continuing to do great things and make his brother proud.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ aged 71 after being hospitalized in New York , the president said in a statement .
“ It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother , Robert , peacefully passed away tonight , ” Donald Trump said in a statement .
“ He was not just my brother , he was my best friend .
He will be greatly missed , but we will meet again .
His memory will live on in my heart forever .
Robert , I love you .
Rest in peace.
” Trump had visited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York-Presbyterian Hospital after White House officials said Robert had become seriously ill. Officials did not immediately release a cause of death .

Bryan Armen Graham (now) and Tom Lutz (earlier) in New York

16 Aug 2020 22.08 BST Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior advisor, said the death of Donald Trump’s younger brother was “a very tough moment for the president” . “The president loved his brother very much,” Kushner said in an appearance on CBS’s Face The Nation on Sunday. “His brother was very proud of him.” It is “obviously a very tough moment for the president,” Kushner added. “But he is looking forward to continuing to do great things and make his brother proud.” Robert Trump died on Saturday night aged 71 after being hospitalized in New York, the president said in a statement. “It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight,” Donald Trump said in a statement. “He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace.” Trump had visited his brother in Manhattan’s New York-Presbyterian Hospital after White House officials said Robert had become seriously ill. Officials did not immediately release a cause of death.
16 Aug 2020 21.40 BST A wildfire in northern California spawned at least one fire tornado – or “firenado” – on Saturday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a tornado warning as the state continues to endure a heatwave and wildfires. “Extremely dangerous fire behavior noted on the #LoyaltonFire! Rotating columns and potential for fire whirls,” NWS Reno tweeted on Saturday. Fire Tornado today outside Chilcoot and Hallelujah Junction California. This was intense and scary!!!! @TheTXWXchaser @spahn711 @JimCantore @ReedTimmerAccu @jeffpiotrowski #CAwx #LoyaltonFire #firenado #FireSeason2020 pic.twitter.com/vfwrTKK02n — Tasha Joy (@That1GirlTasha) August 16, 2020 NWS Reno later said the “tornadic pyrocumulus has weakened & the immediate threat of tornadic activity has decreased for the #LoyaltonFire,” but warned that “extreme fire behavior will continue into this evening w/new Fire Tornadoes & strong gusts in excess of 60mph remain possible. Stay away from the fire area.” The Loyalton fire in Lassen county, north east of Sacramento, has burned 20,000 acres and was 5% contained by early Sunday, according to CNN. Large wildfires can heat air so much that huge clouds develop. In strong winds, these can rotate and sometimes produce a tornado. A fire tornado caught on film killed one person in 2018.
16 Aug 2020 21.03 BST The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday reported 5,340,232 cases of coronavirus, an increase of 54,686 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 1,150 to 168,696.
The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as Covid-19 as of 4pm ET on 15 August, versus its previous report a day earlier.
The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
16 Aug 2020 20.36 BST A third high school in Georgia’s Cherokee county school district is temporarily ending in-person learning after 500 students were quarantined and 25 tested positive for Covid-19. Creekview high school in the Atlanta suburb of Canton is suspending in-person learning effective immediately through the end of August, a county district spokesperson said. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the decision came after more than a quarter of the 1,800 students taking in-person classes at the high school were directed to quarantine. Creekview will be deep-cleaned on Monday as teachers prepare for the shift to remote learning with online classes scheduled to begin Tuesday. Sunday’s announcement came days after two other Cherokee county high schools, Woodstock and Etowah, made the move to transition to online-only classes after hundreds of their students were quarantined. Located about 30 miles (60km) north of Atlanta, the district serves more than 42,000 students and began its new school year on 3 August. A TV news reporter films a hit in front of supporters of the Cherokee county school district’s decision to reopen schools to students during the coronavirus pandemic as they rally outside the district’s headquarters on 11 August in Canton, Georgia. Photograph: Dustin Chambers/Reuters
16 Aug 2020 20.03 BST At least 23 members of an Oklahoma State University sorority have tested positive for Covid-19, the school said in a statement on Saturday. The outbreak happened at the off-campus house of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and was detected by rapid-antigen testing done at an off-campus clinic, according to the university. The entire sorority house is in isolation or quarantine after the confirmed cases “and will be prohibited from leaving the facility”, the statement read. The Payne County Health Department will monitor the chapter and perform contract tracing. Oklahoma State was in the headlines in April when football coach Mike Gundy apologized for comments pushing for a swift return to normal activities that critics said demonstrated he was out of touch with the realities of the pandemic.
16 Aug 2020 19.46 BST The coronavirus doesn’t appear to have devastated America’s homeless population to the extent public health officials and advocates for the homeless initially feared. Johns Hopkins reported 1,029 new deaths on Saturday from the virus in the US. According to the university’s tally, 169,489 people in the US have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic with identified cases exceeding 5 million. Yet researchers don’t know why there appear to be so few outbreaks among the estimated half-million people without housing in the US. The Associated Press reports: “I am shocked, I guess I can say, because it’s a very vulnerable population. I don’t know what we’re going to see in an aftermath,” said Dr. Deborah Borne, who oversees health policy for Covid-19 homeless response at San Francisco’s public health department. “That’s why it’s called a novel virus, because we don’t know.” More than 200 of an estimated 8,000 homeless people in San Francisco have tested positive for the virus, and half came from an outbreak at a homeless shelter in April. One homeless person is among the city’s 69 deaths. In other places with large homeless populations, the numbers are similarly low. In King County, which includes Seattle, more than 400 of an estimated 12,000 homeless residents have been diagnosed. In Los Angeles County, more than 1,200 of an estimated 66,000 homeless people have been diagnosed. It’s slightly higher in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, where nearly 500 of an estimated 7,400 homeless people have tested positive, including nine who died. Health experts say the numbers don’t indicate how widespread the disease is or how it might play out long term. It’s unknown how many people have died of conditions indirectly related to the virus. While the coronavirus may dissipate more easily outdoors than indoors, living outside has its own risks. With public libraries and other places closed, homeless people say they’re short on food and water, restrooms and cash. In San Francisco, 50 homeless people died over an eight-week period in April and May twice the usual rate, said Dr Barry Zevin, medical director of the public health department’s street medicine program. The official causes are pending, but Zevin notes that fentanyl overdoses are rising and stay-at-home orders may prevent people from getting help quickly. He knew isolation could result in more overdoses. “I think that’s happened, and whether it’s more or less than I would have expected, I don’t know,” he said. “It’s frustrating to be able to forecast something as a problem, do everything you can to prevent it as a problem, but it’s absolutely a case of competing priorities.”
16 Aug 2020 19.26 BST White House chief of staff Mark Meadows confirmed California senator Kamala Harris was eligible to serve as vice-president, offering a definitive stance amid Donald Trump’s cheeky refusals to dismiss the false and racist conspiracy theory questioning Harris’ US citizenship and her eligibility to be Joe Biden’s running mate. Meadows was asked in an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday whether Harris was eligible to become vice president, prompting the chief of staff to answer: “Sure.” “This is not something that we’re going to pursue,” Meadows said. “Actually, Jake, you and a number in the media, you all have spent more time on it than anybody in the White House has talking about this.” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says he accepts that Sen. Kamala Harris is eligible to be vice president. #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/kLcjgP4lYi — State of the Union (@CNNSotu) August 16, 2020 “I’m more concerned with Kamala Harris’s liberal ideas coming from San Francisco to the rest of America than I am whether she was – where she was born or anything else,” he added. The Newsweek op-ed that floated the theory was written by John Eastman, a conservative attorney who argues that the US constitution doesn’t grant birthright citizenship. Eastman attempted to sow doubt about Harris’ eligibility based on her parents’ immigration status. Harris’ mother was born in India and her father was born in Jamaica. Trump has danced around the eligibility question on multiple occasions when pressed by the White House press corps, instead referring to Eastman as a “very highly qualified and very talented lawyer”. Newsweek apologized for an op-ed on Friday, saying it “is being used by some as a tool to perpetuate racism and xenophobia. We apologize.”
16 Aug 2020 18.30 BST Mississippi’s Republican governor Tate Reeves says the fact that residents of his state will have to vote in-person during the Covid-19 pandemic is not a problem. “We do not allow mail-in voting in the state of Mississippi. We think that our election process, which has been in place for many many years, ensures that we have a fair process in which we have the opportunity to limit fraud,” Reeves told CBS on Sunday. According to Johns Hopkins University, Mississippi has the highest positivity rate in the US, with 19.5% of tests coming back positive over the last seven days. Again, Reeves does not see that as a concern. “Every vote that is legally cast in the state of Mississippi will be counted in the November election and I’m confident that once all of those votes are counted that Donald J Trump is going to win Mississippi and many other states,” Reeves said.
16 Aug 2020 18.19 BST Jared Kushner said earlier today that he has no concerns about sending his children back to school “because children have a six times higher chance to die from the flu than from the coronavirus, so based on the data I’ve seen I don’t believe that’s a risk.” But during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot pointed out that school reopening poses a problem for adults too. “It is not just the students themselves,” Lightfoot said. “It is the entire eco-system of the school. You’ve got teachers, you’ve got principals, and you’ve got staff.” She said that many staff in schools are over 60, making them “a vulnerable population.” She added that the federal response to Covid-19 had made the pandemic in the US worse. “The White House fighting, the CDC, the HHS hijacking reporting processes, we still don’t have a federal mask policy. The chaos at the federal level has not been helpful to anyone, not Chicago, Illinois, or states across the country,” Lightfoot said.
16 Aug 2020 18.05 BST Donald Trump has said that the US Postal Service’s well-documented problems ahead of an election that is likely to see a record number of mail-in votes are due to Democrats’ failure to agree an economic stimulus bill with Republicans. On Sunday, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats “are looking at having a standalone bill” for the USPS, an idea White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said he would be open to. “Speaker Pelosi and I are looking at having a standalone bill,” said Schumer. “The House – [Pelosi] can call it back into session, she can do that, I hope she will, and then I will ask [Senate majority leader Mitch] McConnell to call the Senate back into session to do a standalone bill.”
16 Aug 2020 17.50 BST Encouraging news from southern states as cases of Covid-19 appear to be falling in some hotspots for the disease. Florida reported 3,779 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, the first time there had been fewer than 4,000 cases since 18 June, according to CNN. Meanwhile, Mississippi governor Tate Reeves told CBS that “we’ve actually cut the total number of cases on a daily basis in half over the last two and a half weeks.” However, Tate admitted that there were issues with ICU capacity in many hospitals across the state. “Do we have hospital capacity issues? We do,” Reeves said. “In our state and virtually every other rural state across America, we have ICU bed issues and hospital capacity issues even when there’s not Covid-19.” Elsewhere, Arizona reported 883 new cases of Covid-19. In the north of the country, New York reported 607 new cases of the virus. The virus is still taking lives: there were 107 reported new deaths in Florida; 14 in Arizona; and six in New York.
16 Aug 2020 17.34 BST The US Postal service says it will not remove any more collection boxes between now and November’s presidential election. There had been complaints some boxes had been removed, which could make it harder for people to use mail-in voting, the popularity of which is expected to rise during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Given the recent customer concerns the Postal Service will postpone removing boxes for a period of 90 days while we evaluate our customers concerns,” USPS spokesperson Kim Frum said in a statement. Mail-in voting is expected to rise this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters Frum said seldom used boxes are sometimes removed. However, that will not now happen between now and the Election Day. “Based on the density testing, boxes are identified for potential removal and notices are placed on boxes to give customers an opportunity to comment before the removal decision is made. This process is one of the many ways the Postal Services makes adjustments to our infrastructure to match our resources to declining mail volumes,” Frum said.
16 Aug 2020 17.19 BST Chicago’s Democratic mayor, Lori Lightfoot, has said outbreaks of violence at an anti-racism protest in the city on Saturday was caused by people looking to cause trouble rather than legitimate demonstrators. Police said that more than a dozen officers were injured during the confrontations. “What we’ve seen is people who have embedded themselves in ... seemingly peaceful protests and have come for a fight,” Lightfoot told CBS’s Face the Nation. The mayor said violence would not be tolerated at protests. “What happened yesterday was really over very quickly, because our police department has resolved to make sure that we protect peaceful protests but we are absolutely not going to tolerate people who come to these protests looking for a fight and are intending to injure our police officers and injure innocent people who have just come to express their First Amendment rights,” she added.
16 Aug 2020 17.07 BST Sanders calls USPS issues 'a crisis for American democracy' Bernie Sanders is doing the rounds on the Sunday talk shows and his latest appearance is on NBC’s Meet The Press. He said that issues the US Postal Service faces as cuts to the agency hinder its chances of handling mail-in votes in November’s election are “a crisis for American democracy”. “This, again, is not a debate about the postal service alone,” Sanders said. “That’s important. This is about the future of American democracy and whether people have a right to participate.” He said Donald Trump had made a “deliberate effort” to hinder mail-in voting. “I hope the American people come together – progressives, moderates, conservatives – to say, ‘Sorry, Mr President. We may have our disagreements, but in America, we are a democracy. Everybody is going to vote, and we’re not going to let you get away with what you’re doing,’” said the Vermont senator.
16 Aug 2020 16.52 BST Democrats say postmaster general must testify at 'urgent hearing' The postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, will be invited to testify before a House oversight committee on hearing on 24 August. The hearing will look into claims the DeJoy has deliberately made cuts to the US Postal Service that could mean mail-in votes are not counted on time for this November’s presidential election. “The postmaster general and top Postal Service leadership must answer to the Congress and the American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election,” read a joint statement from top House Democrats, including speaker Nancy Pelosi. House Oversight committee invites Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to testify Aug 24 —> asks him to produce docs by Friday Aug 21 pic.twitter.com/GkJZUW48Jm — Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) August 16, 2020 The committee’s chairwoman, Democrat Carolyn Maloney, said DeJoy’s testimony was an “urgent” matter. “Over the past several weeks, there have been startling new revelations about the scope and gravity of operational changes you are implementing at hundreds of postal facilities without consulting adequately with Congress, the Postal Regulatory Commission, or the Board of Governors,” she wrote in a letter to DeJoy on Sunday. Trump has denied that DeJoy, a supporter of the president, has set out to harm the postal system ahead of the election. Trump is a vocal critic of mail-in voting, falsely claiming that the system is subject to widespread fraud. Cases of mail-in voting fraud are, in fact, almost non-existent. Trump said in a press briefing on Saturday that DeJoy is, in fact, trying to “make the post office great again”. For more on the role the USPS and mail-in voting will play in November’s election, you can read my colleague Sam Levine’s excellent guide: Why is the US Postal Service's role in November's election under scrutiny? Read more
Updated at 17.04 BST


theguardian--2020-08-16--Bernie Sanders says Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting a ‘crisis for US democracy’

Bernie Sanders has said Donald Trump ’ s attacks on mail-in voting and his administration ’ s efforts to block funds for the US post office amount to “ a crisis for American democracy ” ahead of the November presidential election .
The Vermont senator ’ s comments came as House Democrats accelerated their scrutiny of the cuts to the US Postal Service ( USPS ) , which will be vital in the effort to minimize the risk to voters while the country still struggles to contain the coronavirus outbreak .
“ What you are witnessing is a president of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he can to suppress the vote , make it harder for people to engage in mail-in balloting at a time when people will be putting their lives on the line by having to go out to a polling station and vote , ” Sanders told NBC ’ s Meet the Press on Sunday , referring to the coronavirus pandemic .
“ This is a crisis for American democracy .
We have got to act and act now.
” An unprecedented number of Americans are expected to vote by mail this year because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ few months , states across the US have seen record numbers of Americans request ballots and submit votes by mail in primary and other elections .
However , there is concern over whether the USPS , which is already facing a severe financial crisis , will be able get ballots to voters and return them to election offices in time to have them counted .
The postmaster general , Louis DeJoy , a major Republican donor and Trump ally , has been accused of deliberately making further recent cuts to the USPS .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Robert Duncan , the chair of the postal service ’ s board of governors , have been invited to a 24 August hearing of the House oversight committee .
The hearing will investigate the recent removal of mailboxes and shutting down of sorting machines nationwide .
Postal service leaders “ must answer to the Congress and American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions , just months before the election , ” House speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior Democrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minority leader Chuck Schumer of New York called for the Senate to follow suit .
DeJoy has strongly denied any political interference , and Trump said in a press briefing on Saturday that DeJoy is , in fact , trying to “ make the post office great again ” .
But last week , Trump openly admitted he was blocking $ 25bn in proposed aid to the post office because he wanted to make it harder to vote by mail .
The president has also attempted to blame Democrats for fueling the crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bill that includes billions of dollars for the postal service .
The announcement of the hearing coincided with efforts by White House aides and postal officials to dial back on the president ’ s rhetoric , claiming that the measures taken so far were “ routine ” and promising that no more mailboxes or sorting machines would be curtailed before November .
“ There ’ s no sorting machines that are going offline between now and the election , ” Mark Meadows , the White House chief of staff , said on CNN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ That ’ s something that my Democrat friends are trying to stoke fear [ over ] .
“ The president of the United States is not going to interfere with anybody casting their vote in a legitimate way , whether it ’ s the post office or anything else.
” In a statement , USPS spokesperson Kim Frum acknowledged complaints over the removal of mailboxes in several states , but insisted it was because of an ongoing evaluation of operational practices .
“ Given the recent customer concerns , the postal service @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 90 days while we evaluate our customers ’ concerns , ” Frum said .
Neither Meadows or Frum indicated that the removed mailboxes or dismantled sorting machines would be restored .
Trump has insisted , without evidence , that voting by mail leads to massive ballot fraud , even though cases of mail-in voting fraud are , in fact , almost non-existent .
Some Republicans , including the Utah senator Mitt Romney , have been critical of Trump ’ s position .
Both the president and first lady Melania Trump applied to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state that makes no distinction between absentee ballots , which Trump has said he approves of , and mail-in ballots , which he derides .
The president is trailing Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in the polls and his focus on the USPS is widely seen as an attempt to sow chaos .
Vote-by-mail does not benefit one party over the other , but Trump ’ s comments suggest he believes if fewer people vote , it will improve his re-election chances .
On Sunday , Meadows said he would welcome a return @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to work on a standalone funding bill for the USPS , something Sanders has called for , and which Pelosi has said she is mulling .
“ Congress needs to come back and get their act together and work , ” Meadows said , claiming that Republicans had offered $ 10bn for the USPS but that Democrats were holding things up .
As Sanders pointed out , House Democrats passed the Heroes Act in May , providing $ 25bn for the postal service , but the measure laid dormant on senate majority leader @ @ @ @ @ @

Bernie Sanders has said Donald Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting and his administration’s efforts to block funds for the US post office amount to “a crisis for American democracy” ahead of the November presidential election.
The Vermont senator’s comments came as House Democrats accelerated their scrutiny of the cuts to the US Postal Service (USPS), which will be vital in the effort to minimize the risk to voters while the country still struggles to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
“What you are witnessing is a president of the United States who is doing everything he can to suppress the vote, make it harder for people to engage in mail-in balloting at a time when people will be putting their lives on the line by having to go out to a polling station and vote,” Sanders told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, referring to the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is a crisis for American democracy. We have got to act and act now.”
An unprecedented number of Americans are expected to vote by mail this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the last few months, states across the US have seen record numbers of Americans request ballots and submit votes by mail in primary and other elections.
However, there is concern over whether the USPS, which is already facing a severe financial crisis, will be able get ballots to voters and return them to election offices in time to have them counted.
The postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, a major Republican donor and Trump ally, has been accused of deliberately making further recent cuts to the USPS. Congressional Democrats announced on Sunday that DeJoy and Robert Duncan, the chair of the postal service’s board of governors, have been invited to a 24 August hearing of the House oversight committee. The hearing will investigate the recent removal of mailboxes and shutting down of sorting machines nationwide.
Postal service leaders “must answer to the Congress and American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election,” House speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior Democrats said in a statement Sunday. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer of New York called for the Senate to follow suit.
DeJoy has strongly denied any political interference, and Trump said in a press briefing on Saturday that DeJoy is, in fact, trying to “make the post office great again”.
But last week, Trump openly admitted he was blocking $25bn in proposed aid to the post office because he wanted to make it harder to vote by mail. The president has also attempted to blame Democrats for fueling the crisis by holding up negotiations over a stimulus bill that includes billions of dollars for the postal service.
The announcement of the hearing coincided with efforts by White House aides and postal officials to dial back on the president’s rhetoric, claiming that the measures taken so far were “routine” and promising that no more mailboxes or sorting machines would be curtailed before November.
“There’s no sorting machines that are going offline between now and the election,” Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, said on CNN’s State of the Union. “That’s something that my Democrat friends are trying to stoke fear [over].
“The president of the United States is not going to interfere with anybody casting their vote in a legitimate way, whether it’s the post office or anything else.”
In a statement, USPS spokesperson Kim Frum acknowledged complaints over the removal of mailboxes in several states, but insisted it was because of an ongoing evaluation of operational practices.
“Given the recent customer concerns, the postal service will postpone removing boxes for a period of 90 days while we evaluate our customers’ concerns,” Frum said.
Neither Meadows or Frum indicated that the removed mailboxes or dismantled sorting machines would be restored.
Trump has insisted, without evidence, that voting by mail leads to massive ballot fraud, even though cases of mail-in voting fraud are, in fact, almost non-existent. Some Republicans, including the Utah senator Mitt Romney, have been critical of Trump’s position.
Both the president and first lady Melania Trump applied to vote by mail in Florida, a state that makes no distinction between absentee ballots, which Trump has said he approves of, and mail-in ballots, which he derides.
The president is trailing Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in the polls and his focus on the USPS is widely seen as an attempt to sow chaos. Vote-by-mail does not benefit one party over the other, but Trump’s comments suggest he believes if fewer people vote, it will improve his re-election chances.
On Sunday, Meadows said he would welcome a return from summer recess of members of Congress to work on a standalone funding bill for the USPS, something Sanders has called for, and which Pelosi has said she is mulling.
“Congress needs to come back and get their act together and work,” Meadows said, claiming that Republicans had offered $10bn for the USPS but that Democrats were holding things up. As Sanders pointed out, House Democrats passed the Heroes Act in May, providing $25bn for the postal service, but the measure laid dormant on senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s desk.


theguardian--2020-08-16--Sanders praises Kamala Harris as ‘an asset’ to Biden, showing party unity

Bernie Sanders praised Kamala Harris as Joe Biden ’ s pick for his running mate on Sunday , as the Democratic party attempted to project an image of unity ahead of this week ’ s national convention , where Biden is set to be officially nominated as the party ’ s presidential candidate .
Sanders , the progressive Vermont senator who clashed with both Biden and Harris earlier this year when the three were vying for their party ’ s presidential nomination , lauded Harris as “ an asset ” .
“ I believe that Kamala , as somebody who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years , is incredibly smart , tough , and I would not want to be Vice-President [ Mike ] Pence in a debate with her , ” Sanders said in an appearance on ABC ’ s This Week .
“ I think she ’ s an asset for the Biden campaign and I think she ’ s going to do great on the campaign trail.
” Sanders , the last candidate running before Biden secured enough votes to win the nomination during the primary campaign , has previously been vocal in his criticism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their stances on universal healthcare in particular .
Sanders ’ former press secretary , Briahna Joy Gray , tweeted that the Democrats ’ choice of Harris , a California senator and the state ’ s former attorney general who she called a “ top cop ” , showed contempt for the party ’ s base at a time of renewed anti-police protests across the US .
Sanders , however , said the party was united in its goal .
“ Obviously there may be disagreements , a lot of my supporters are not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ But I think there is an overwhelming understanding that Donald Trump must be defeated , Biden must be elected , and the day after he is elected we will do everything we can to create a government that works for all of us.
” Cory Booker , Democratic senator for New Jersey and another former candidate for the nomination , defended Harris , who is biracial and identifies as Black , against recent attacks from Trump that she was “ extraordinarily nasty , ” , “ a horrible woman , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The words the president has been using reflects the demeaning , degrading language he ’ s used about Blacks , ” he said on Sunday .
“ Donald Trump can pick a fight if he wants but he ’ s the proverbial bully in the playground that ’ s about to get knocked out when he steps up against this dynamic duo that will beat him in November.
” The convention comes as Trump faces mounting criticism over the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic , which has killed almost 170,000 people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million , according to Johns Hopkins – more than any other country in the world by far .
In recent days Trump has also been under fire for attacking the US Postal Service and mail-in voting , both of which will be crucial for minimizing the risk to voters in the November election .
Sanders told NBC ’ s Meet the Press that Congress needed to act fast to address the issue .
“ This , again , is not a debate about the Postal Service alone , ” Sanders said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the future of American democracy and whether people have a right to participate.
” “ This is a crisis for American democracy , ” Sanders added .
“ We have got to act and act now.
” Opinion polls show American voters appear to approve of Biden ’ s choice of Harris .
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Sunday found that 54 % of respondents were in favour while only 29 % disapproved .
Among Black voters , 78 % approved .
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll , meanwhile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over Trump nationally .
The results showed 50 % of voters approved of Biden with 41 % for the Republican incumbent .
Biden and Harris will formally accept their party ’ s nomination this week at the culmination of the four-day convention in Milwaukee , Wisconsin .
The event , which begins Monday , was planned as a jamboree with delegates from every state but was massively scaled down to a mostly virtual gathering by the coronavirus pandemic .
The Republican national convention is due to take place next week .

Bernie Sanders praised Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s pick for his running mate on Sunday, as the Democratic party attempted to project an image of unity ahead of this week’s national convention, where Biden is set to be officially nominated as the party’s presidential candidate.
Sanders, the progressive Vermont senator who clashed with both Biden and Harris earlier this year when the three were vying for their party’s presidential nomination, lauded Harris as “an asset”.
“I believe that Kamala, as somebody who has known her for a number of years, is incredibly smart, tough, and I would not want to be Vice-President [Mike] Pence in a debate with her,” Sanders said in an appearance on ABC’s This Week.
“I think she’s an asset for the Biden campaign and I think she’s going to do great on the campaign trail.”
Q&A What happens at the Democratic National Convention? Show The Democratic National Convention (DNC), and its Republican counterpart (RNC), are traditionally two of the most high-profile weeks of the US election cycle – a mix of political business, theater and party, in both senses of the word. Tens of thousands of people usually attend the week-long events. Party delegates from across the country converge on a city to hold meetings and events. They fill a big arena to say something prideful about their state and cheer wildly for the party's candidate for president, who officially receives the nomination here. During the convention, politicians and/or celebrities give speeches in support of the party’s candidate, who gives a rousing speech to cap it all off. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the DNC will be completely different. Almost all aspects have moved online. Billie Eilish and John Legend are among the celebrity performers, and key speakers will include presidential nominee, Joe Biden, his running mate, Kamala Harris, political power couples the Obamas and the Clintons, and progressive superstar Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback.
Sanders, the last candidate running before Biden secured enough votes to win the nomination during the primary campaign, has previously been vocal in his criticism of his more moderate rivals, attacking their stances on universal healthcare in particular.
Sanders’ former press secretary, Briahna Joy Gray, tweeted that the Democrats’ choice of Harris, a California senator and the state’s former attorney general who she called a “top cop”, showed contempt for the party’s base at a time of renewed anti-police protests across the US.
Sanders, however, said the party was united in its goal. “Obviously there may be disagreements, a lot of my supporters are not enthusiastic about Joe Biden,” he said.
“But I think there is an overwhelming understanding that Donald Trump must be defeated, Biden must be elected, and the day after he is elected we will do everything we can to create a government that works for all of us.”
Cory Booker, Democratic senator for New Jersey and another former candidate for the nomination, defended Harris, who is biracial and identifies as Black, against recent attacks from Trump that she was “extraordinarily nasty,”, “a horrible woman,” and “mean”.
“The words the president has been using reflects the demeaning, degrading language he’s used about Blacks,” he said on Sunday.
“Donald Trump can pick a fight if he wants but he’s the proverbial bully in the playground that’s about to get knocked out when he steps up against this dynamic duo that will beat him in November.”
The convention comes as Trump faces mounting criticism over the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed almost 170,000 people in the US and infected more than 5.3 million, according to Johns Hopkins – more than any other country in the world by far.
In recent days Trump has also been under fire for attacking the US Postal Service and mail-in voting, both of which will be crucial for minimizing the risk to voters in the November election.
Sanders told NBC’s Meet the Press that Congress needed to act fast to address the issue.
“This, again, is not a debate about the Postal Service alone,” Sanders said. “That’s important. This is about the future of American democracy and whether people have a right to participate.”
“This is a crisis for American democracy,” Sanders added. “We have got to act and act now.”
Opinion polls show American voters appear to approve of Biden’s choice of Harris. A new ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Sunday found that 54% of respondents were in favour while only 29% disapproved. Among Black voters, 78% approved.
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, meanwhile, shows Biden retaining a sizeable lead over Trump nationally. The results showed 50% of voters approved of Biden with 41% for the Republican incumbent.
Biden and Harris will formally accept their party’s nomination this week at the culmination of the four-day convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The event, which begins Monday, was planned as a jamboree with delegates from every state but was massively scaled down to a mostly virtual gathering by the coronavirus pandemic. The Republican national convention is due to take place next week.


theguardian--2020-08-16--Can Joe Biden win over the young Latinos who flocked to Bernie Sanders?

Thomas Kennedy remembers spending all day on the phone keeping up with excited new voters wanting to know how “ el caucus ” worked , ahead of the first Democratic primary contest in Iowa in February .
The most noticeable callers were highly motivated young mothers , part of a huge wave of Hispanic voters , activists and volunteers inspired to get involved in politics for the first time by passion for their candidate .
That candidate was Bernie Sanders .
Kennedy , a progressive activist and former Sanders operative , has switched to support Joe Biden , who will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president .
But Kennedy worries whether Biden can win over valuable young progressives underwhelmed by his moderate politics .
“ Bernie talked directly to people ’ s material needs , ” said Kennedy .
The clear populist promises of universal healthcare and cancelling student debt in particular caught fire , Kennedy said .
And expansive outreach and slogans like ‘ ¡Nuestro Futuro , Nuestra Lucha !
’ — Our Future , Our Struggle – clicked with the cohort who nicknamed Sanders “ Tío Bernie ” ( Uncle Bernie ) .
For the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the nation ’ s largest non-white ethnic voting bloc in the 2020 election , with a large young cohort among the estimated 32 million eligible to vote – a record .
Democrats know that their support is crucial to winning the White House – and potentially both chambers of Congress – but concerns remain over whether Biden can not only persuade young progressives who were energized by Sanders , but mobilize Latinos in decisive numbers at a moment when the coronavirus and economic crises are disproportionately hurting communities of color .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” María Teresa Kumar , the president of Voto Latino , a political organization focused on voter engagement .
“ Because if you ’ re not reaching young people , you are not reaching the Latino community.
” A survey published last month by Voto Latino and pollster Latino Decisions found that only 60 % of Latino voters in six battleground states say they definitely plan to vote , and fewer than half say they are “ extremely motivated and enthusiastic ” about doing so .
Though the poll was conducted before many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immigration and the coronavirus , it found enthusiasm for Biden waning , particularly among young Latinos .
His support among Latino voters slipped to 60 % from 67 % in February .
By comparison , 73 % of Latino voters supported Hillary Clinton at this point in 2016 .
“ When I worked for Bernie , it wasn ’ t about electing one person .
It was about a movement , ” Belén Sisa , a former Sanders press secretary , said .
“ I don ’ t feel that from Joe Biden.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ appeared to move to the left on key policies important to young Latinos .
He has embraced a $ 2tn climate plan , though not the Green New Deal , and pledged an ambitious overhaul of Trump ’ s immigration orders , and an economic agenda centered on racial equality .
But , like many progressives , she is frustrated by Biden ’ s reluctance to embrace Medicare for All , the universal healthcare policy that she says would reduce health disparities for Latinos , who are among the country ’ s most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ embrace calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( Ice ) , the agency carrying out hardline Trump anti-immigration policies at the US-Mexico border and in raids in US cities .
Sisa also said Sanders ’ campaign invested more resources and time , much earlier , to cultivate Latino voters .
Chuck Rocha , the architect of Sanders ’ ambitious Latino outreach strategy , is now applying some of the tactics used to win Hispanics voters in primary contests from Iowa to California , to help Biden beat Trump in November .
After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nuestro Pac , a Democratic Super Pac that will target Latino voters in Michigan , Wisconsin , Florida , Nevada and Pennsylvania .
“ Part of our work is spreading the message that Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden agree 75 % to 80 % of the time , ” Rocha said .
The Biden campaign recently made other high-profile hires including Julie Chavez Rodriguez , the granddaughter of civil rights hero Cesar Chavez , and Matt Barreto , the founder of Latino Decisions , a top Democratic polling firm .
The campaign has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden ’ s platform aimed at Hispanic voters – “ Todos con Biden ” – focuses on healthcare , education and reversing Trump ’ s anti-immigration agenda .
Biden has promised to reinstate the Daca program of rights and protections for undocumented young people , and send a bill to Congress “ on day one ” that would create a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US .
He has also pledged a 100-day moratorium on deportations .
During the primary campaign , Biden was repeatedly confronted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the more than 3 million deportations carried out while he was vice-president .
“ You should vote for Trump , ” Biden told one critic .
Weeks later , he was obliged to apologize for the “ pain ” caused by the policies .
Earlier this week , prominent Latino politicians , activists and organizations applauded the selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate .
Harris , the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants , represents California , which has the largest population of Hispanic voters in the nation .
Domingo Garcia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hispanic organization in the US , said : “ She [ Harris ] knows what Dreamers are facing , the impact Covid-19 is having on black and brown communities , and the contributions immigrants are making to the economy of the United States.
” He described the Biden-Harris ticket as “ looking to the future , and the changing demographics in the United States ” .
The campaign hailed Harris ’ s efforts to stop the Trump administration separating undocumented families crossing the US-Mexico border and “ sponsoring legislation to help victims of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rico in 2017 .
But her record as district attorney and attorney general in California has prompted disquiet among some progressives .
Meanwhile , leading Democratic figures say Trump ’ s handling of the public heath crisis and the economic slump , allied to his xenophobia , is driving voters away from the Republicans .
“ Donald Trump ’ s cruelty is backfiring on him , ” said Julián Castro , who was the only Latino candidate in the Democratic primary race .
Castro believes frustration with the president could have a significant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Florida and his native Texas , where coronavirus is wreaking havoc .
“ More people are getting sick , and more people are dying , ” said Castro , whose stepmother died from coronavirus .
“ That ’ s not going unnoticed.
” And yet strategists say antipathy for Trump is not enough .
“ It has to be ‘ this is why you should vote for Joe Biden ’ , ” said Nathalie Rayes , the president and chief executive of Latino Victory .
Elsewhere , voting by mail , likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during a pandemic , presents another hurdle for Latino voters .
Overall , Latinos have said they had little experience and low confidence in the security of voting by mail , according to the Latino Decisions survey .
“ That was a big code red for us , ” said Kumar .
“ Especially where there is no habit of voting by mail.
” The Biden campaign has pivoted sharply to Latinos , but is it too little too late ?
Cristóbal Alex , Biden ’ s senior campaign adviser , and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said Latinos are “ essential ” to winning the White House .
“ We ’ ve brought in the A-team to ensure that we engage Latinos and compete for every single vote as we go into November , ” he said .
“ That ’ s a very dramatic scale-up in staffing , and that ’ s also being reflected in the organizing at every level of the campaign .
It ’ s an indication of just how seriously the campaign takes the Latino vote.
” Alex said it is understandable that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which he says has been made worse by Trump ’ s extraordinarily divisive presidency , many Latinos are not yet fully engaged in the election .
But he is confident that will change .
Over the past several weeks , the campaign has significantly ramped up its outreach , touting a “ culturally competent ” advertising strategy that includes younger English speakers and older Spanish speakers .
In an effort to reflect the diversity of the Hispanic electorate , the campaign is “ micro-targeting ” Latinos by region and ethnicity .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ running in Arizona has a Mexican accent , while the same ad running in Miami features a narrator with a Cuban accent .
But some say , as a strategy , it needs more fine tuning .
Federico de Jesus , a Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign spokesperson , said : “ It ’ s the start of something that should evolve , not just translating the ads , [ but also ] targeting issues .
The VP has talked about giving TPS to Venezuelans , it would be great if they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ temporary protected status ( TPS ) government program is designed to prevent foreign nationals from being deported back to countries facing threatening conditions such as civil unrest or the aftermath of a devastating natural disaster .
Microtargeting with accents is a “ necessary ” principle of outreach , said De Jesus , and has been used since Obama ’ s 2008 run to the White House .
But more cultural nuances need to be included now , De Jesus said .
He pointed at a successful ad by the Trump campaign after liberals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ food brand , citing its impressive depth and authenticity .
“ Its content was reprehensible , but it used a specific slang that a millennial Puerto Rican woman would use .
So it ’ s not just the accent or the policy , but the words and the music , ” said De Jesus .
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is due to speak at the Democratic national convention this week , fresh from being a member of the Biden-Sanders policy taskforce created after the primary in an effort to unify the party against Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yang will speak , too , but as of Friday , Julián Castro had not been scheduled .
And with the stakes so high , the latest ad from the group America ’ s Progressive Promise is narrated by Sanders , who says : “ Every person who voted for me or the other candidates … understands that Donald Trump is the most dangerous president in the history of our country.
” “ It ’ s absolutely imperative that we come together and defeat him , and defeat him badly.
” The spot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ the most progressive president since FDR ” .

Francisco Navas in New York and Lauren Gambino in Washington

Thomas Kennedy remembers spending all day on the phone keeping up with excited new voters wanting to know how “el caucus” worked, ahead of the first Democratic primary contest in Iowa in February.
The most noticeable callers were highly motivated young mothers, part of a huge wave of Hispanic voters, activists and volunteers inspired to get involved in politics for the first time by passion for their candidate.
That candidate was Bernie Sanders. Kennedy, a progressive activist and former Sanders operative, has switched to support Joe Biden, who will this week become the Democratic nominee for president. But Kennedy worries whether Biden can win over valuable young progressives underwhelmed by his moderate politics.
“Bernie talked directly to people’s material needs,” said Kennedy. The clear populist promises of universal healthcare and cancelling student debt in particular caught fire, Kennedy said.
And expansive outreach and slogans like ‘¡Nuestro Futuro, Nuestra Lucha!’ — Our Future, Our Struggle – clicked with the cohort who nicknamed Sanders “Tío Bernie” (Uncle Bernie).
For the first time, Latinos are poised to be the nation’s largest non-white ethnic voting bloc in the 2020 election, with a large young cohort among the estimated 32 million eligible to vote – a record.
Democrats know that their support is crucial to winning the White House – and potentially both chambers of Congress – but concerns remain over whether Biden can not only persuade young progressives who were energized by Sanders, but mobilize Latinos in decisive numbers at a moment when the coronavirus and economic crises are disproportionately hurting communities of color.
“The Biden campaign must reach young people,” María Teresa Kumar, the president of Voto Latino, a political organization focused on voter engagement. “Because if you’re not reaching young people, you are not reaching the Latino community.”
A survey published last month by Voto Latino and pollster Latino Decisions found that only 60% of Latino voters in six battleground states say they definitely plan to vote, and fewer than half say they are “extremely motivated and enthusiastic” about doing so.
Though the poll was conducted before many of Trump’s recent comments on immigration and the coronavirus, it found enthusiasm for Biden waning, particularly among young Latinos. His support among Latino voters slipped to 60% from 67% in February. By comparison, 73% of Latino voters supported Hillary Clinton at this point in 2016.
“When I worked for Bernie, it wasn’t about electing one person. It was about a movement,” Belén Sisa, a former Sanders press secretary, said. “I don’t feel that from Joe Biden.”
Bernie Sanders signs autographs at an event in Santa Ana, California, in February. Photograph: Damian Dovarganes/AP
Since the primary, Biden has appeared to move to the left on key policies important to young Latinos. He has embraced a $2tn climate plan, though not the Green New Deal, and pledged an ambitious overhaul of Trump’s immigration orders, and an economic agenda centered on racial equality.
“We’ve moved the needle a bit,” Sisa said.
But, like many progressives, she is frustrated by Biden’s reluctance to embrace Medicare for All, the universal healthcare policy that she says would reduce health disparities for Latinos, who are among the country’s most uninsured. And he has refused to embrace calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), the agency carrying out hardline Trump anti-immigration policies at the US-Mexico border and in raids in US cities.
Sisa also said Sanders’ campaign invested more resources and time, much earlier, to cultivate Latino voters.
Chuck Rocha, the architect of Sanders’ ambitious Latino outreach strategy, is now applying some of the tactics used to win Hispanics voters in primary contests from Iowa to California, to help Biden beat Trump in November.
After Biden won the primary, Rocha founded Nuestro Pac, a Democratic Super Pac that will target Latino voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
“Part of our work is spreading the message that Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden agree 75% to 80% of the time,” Rocha said.
The Biden campaign recently made other high-profile hires including Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the granddaughter of civil rights hero Cesar Chavez, and Matt Barreto, the founder of Latino Decisions, a top Democratic polling firm. The campaign has also hired Republican strategist Ana Navarro.
Biden’s platform aimed at Hispanic voters – “Todos con Biden” – focuses on healthcare, education and reversing Trump’s anti-immigration agenda. Biden has promised to reinstate the Daca program of rights and protections for undocumented young people, and send a bill to Congress “on day one” that would create a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US.
We’ve brought in the A-team to ensure that we engage Latinos and compete for every single vote in November Cristóbal Alex
He has also pledged a 100-day moratorium on deportations.
During the primary campaign, Biden was repeatedly confronted by immigration activists who demanded contrition for the more than 3 million deportations carried out while he was vice-president.
“You should vote for Trump,” Biden told one critic. Weeks later, he was obliged to apologize for the “pain” caused by the policies.
Earlier this week, prominent Latino politicians, activists and organizations applauded the selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate. Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, represents California, which has the largest population of Hispanic voters in the nation.
Domingo Garcia, president of Lulac, the oldest Hispanic organization in the US, said: “She [Harris] knows what Dreamers are facing, the impact Covid-19 is having on black and brown communities, and the contributions immigrants are making to the economy of the United States.”
He described the Biden-Harris ticket as “looking to the future, and the changing demographics in the United States”.
The campaign hailed Harris’s efforts to stop the Trump administration separating undocumented families crossing the US-Mexico border and “sponsoring legislation to help victims of Hurricane Maria”, which decimated Puerto Rico in 2017.
But her record as district attorney and attorney general in California has prompted disquiet among some progressives.
Meanwhile, leading Democratic figures say Trump’s handling of the public heath crisis and the economic slump, allied to his xenophobia, is driving voters away from the Republicans.
“Donald Trump’s cruelty is backfiring on him,” said Julián Castro, who was the only Latino candidate in the Democratic primary race.
Castro believes frustration with the president could have a significant effect in battleground states such as Arizona, Florida and his native Texas, where coronavirus is wreaking havoc.
“More people are getting sick, and more people are dying,” said Castro, whose stepmother died from coronavirus. “That’s not going unnoticed.”
And yet strategists say antipathy for Trump is not enough.
04:50 Why Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as his running mate – video explainer
“It has to be ‘this is why you should vote for Joe Biden’,” said Nathalie Rayes, the president and chief executive of Latino Victory.
Elsewhere, voting by mail, likely the safest way to cast a ballot during a pandemic, presents another hurdle for Latino voters. Overall, Latinos have said they had little experience and low confidence in the security of voting by mail, according to the Latino Decisions survey.
“That was a big code red for us,” said Kumar. “Especially where there is no habit of voting by mail.”
The Biden campaign has pivoted sharply to Latinos, but is it too little too late?
Cristóbal Alex, Biden’s senior campaign adviser, and the former president of the Latino Victory Fund, said Latinos are “essential” to winning the White House.
Julián Castro, the only Latino candidate in the Democratic race. He dropped out early and threw his support behind Elizabeth Warren. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters
“We’ve brought in the A-team to ensure that we engage Latinos and compete for every single vote as we go into November,” he said. “That’s a very dramatic scale-up in staffing, and that’s also being reflected in the organizing at every level of the campaign. It’s an indication of just how seriously the campaign takes the Latino vote.”
Alex said it is understandable that in the midst of a national crisis, which he says has been made worse by Trump’s extraordinarily divisive presidency, many Latinos are not yet fully engaged in the election. But he is confident that will change.
Over the past several weeks, the campaign has significantly ramped up its outreach, touting a “culturally competent” advertising strategy that includes younger English speakers and older Spanish speakers.
In an effort to reflect the diversity of the Hispanic electorate, the campaign is “micro-targeting” Latinos by region and ethnicity. For example, the narrator in an ad running in Arizona has a Mexican accent, while the same ad running in Miami features a narrator with a Cuban accent. But some say, as a strategy, it needs more fine tuning.
Federico de Jesus, a Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign spokesperson, said: “It’s the start of something that should evolve, not just translating the ads, [but also] targeting issues. The VP has talked about giving TPS to Venezuelans, it would be great if they had that in an ad.”
The temporary protected status (TPS) government program is designed to prevent foreign nationals from being deported back to countries facing threatening conditions such as civil unrest or the aftermath of a devastating natural disaster.
Microtargeting with accents is a “necessary” principle of outreach, said De Jesus, and has been used since Obama’s 2008 run to the White House. But more cultural nuances need to be included now, De Jesus said. He pointed at a successful ad by the Trump campaign after liberals began to boycott Goya, the canned food brand, citing its impressive depth and authenticity.
“Its content was reprehensible, but it used a specific slang that a millennial Puerto Rican woman would use. So it’s not just the accent or the policy, but the words and the music,” said De Jesus.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is due to speak at the Democratic national convention this week, fresh from being a member of the Biden-Sanders policy taskforce created after the primary in an effort to unify the party against Trump. Sanders, Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Yang will speak, too, but as of Friday, Julián Castro had not been scheduled.
And with the stakes so high, the latest ad from the group America’s Progressive Promise is narrated by Sanders, who says: “Every person who voted for me or the other candidates … understands that Donald Trump is the most dangerous president in the history of our country.”
“It’s absolutely imperative that we come together and defeat him, and defeat him badly.”
The spot concludes by declaring that Biden would be “the most progressive president since FDR”.


theguardian--2020-08-17--US politics: virtual Democratic convention to start amid coronavirus crisis – live updates

Donald Trump called into Fox News this morning .
He discussed things including the postal service , foreign relations and the death of his brother .
Trump said he was going to make the post office “ great again , ” but did not identify how he would do that .
Instead , he spoke about Amazon and how they use the postal system to send products they sell .
He did not announce plans to address his concerns about Amazon , either .
Trump was asked about concerns that he won ’ t leave office if he loses the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think of is crooked Hillary Clinton , ” Trump said .
He then repeatedly criticized Clinton and did not address the initial question .
Trump was also asked about his brother Robert , who died on Saturday in New York City .
Trump said of Robert : “ He was my friend .
I guess they say best friend , and that ’ s true.
” Trump then talked about how sibling relationships can be filled with jealousy and competition .
“ There was not an ounce of jealousy .
he ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this is for the country and it ’ s so incredible , ” Trump said .
“ He was my biggest fan.
” Trump then lied about China ’ s ability to stop the spread of , presumably , the coronavirus .
He described it as “ the plague.
” Trump said : “ He [ Robert Trump ] was so angry with China , because of what happened where the plague came in and they shouldn ’ t have allowed it to happen and they could have stopped it .
”

Amanda Holpuch in New York (now) and Martin Belam (earlier)

18 Aug 2020 01.39 BST Updated evening summary We’re closing down our live US politics coverage for today, but you can follow updates from the Democratic National Convention on our DNC liveblog for the next few hours. Tonight’s events will include speeches from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former first lady Michelle Obama. Meanwhile, an updated summary of today’s news, from myself and Joanie Greve: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy agreed to testify before the House oversight committee next Monday. The hearing is expected to be quite contentious, as Democratic members of the panel grill DeJoy on his handling of the US Postal Service in the final months before November’s presidential election.
The hearing is expected to be quite contentious, as Democratic members of the panel grill DeJoy on his handling of the US Postal Service in the final months before November’s presidential election. The House will vote on legislation regarding USPS on Saturday. House speaker Nancy Pelosi announced yesterday that she would call members back into session to vote on congresswoman Carolyn Maloney ’s bill, which would prohibit changes to USPS operations before the election. More than a dozen states are expected to sue the Trump administration over the treatment of the postal service, Maryland’s attorney general said.
House speaker announced yesterday that she would call members back into session to vote on congresswoman ’s bill, which would prohibit changes to USPS operations before the election. are expected to sue the Trump administration over the treatment of the postal service, Maryland’s attorney general said. A former senior member of the Trump administration endorsed Joe Biden in the presidential race. Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff to former homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, said in a video announcing his endorsement, “Given what I have experienced in the administration, I have to support Joe Biden for president.” The endorsement makes Taylor one of the most senior members of the Trump administration to publicly back Biden’s campaign. Activists criticized Taylor for not reckoning with his own complicity in separating kids from families.
who served as chief of staff to former homeland security secretary said in a video announcing his endorsement, “Given what I have experienced in the administration, I have to support Joe Biden for president.” The endorsement makes Taylor one of the most senior members of the Trump administration to publicly back Biden’s campaign. Activists criticized Taylor for not reckoning with his own complicity in separating kids from families. The Trump administration finalized its plan to allow oil drilling in the Arctic national wildlife refuge – which environmental advocates call the nation’s “last great wilderness”.
– which environmental advocates call the nation’s “last great wilderness”. A major North Carolina university opened for in-person classes and then abruptly cancelled them, after coronavirus cases began to spread among students, including at least one cluster of cases in a fraternity house.
Updated at 01.50 BST
17 Aug 2020 00.44 BST Former DHS official: Trump wanted border wall spikes more damaging to human flesh My colleague Joan Greve wrote earlier about the former Trump Department of Homeland Security official who endorsed Joe Biden for president, saying that “What we saw week in and week out, for me, after two and a half years in that administration, was terrifying.” Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff to former homeland security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, announced his endorsement in a video produced by the group Republican Voters Against Trump. He also elaborated on some of his experiences in the administration in a Washington Post op-ed: One day in February 2019, when congressional leaders were waiting for an answer from the White House on a pending deal to avoid a second government shutdown, the president demanded a DHS phone briefing to discuss the color of the wall. He was particularly interested in the merits of using spray paint and how the steel structure should be coated. Episodes like this occurred almost weekly. Top DHS officials were regularly diverted from dealing with genuine security threats by the chore of responding to these inappropriate and often absurd executive requests, at all hours of the day and night. One morning it might be a demand to shut off congressionally appropriated funds to a foreign ally that had angered him, and that evening it might be a request to sharpen the spikes atop the border wall so they’d be more damaging to human flesh (“How much would that cost us?”). See Adam Serwer’s 2018 essay on the Trump administration: “The cruelty is the point.” But activists also had questions for Taylor about his own complicity in the administration’s separation of migrant children from their families, which Taylor criticized in his piece denouncing Trump. You can't just rewrite recent, highly-on-social-media history. Miles Taylor is directly complicit in the separation of children from their families. If you want to actually engage in reconciliation for that, it's available to you, Mr. Taylor. But this ain't it. https://t.co/PBROOln7na — Jess Morales Rocketto (@JessLivMo) August 18, 2020
Updated at 01.08 BST
17 Aug 2020 00.20 BST Nurse practitioner discovers Iowa underreporting COVID cases on state website New from the Associated Press: A state agency says it is working to fix a data error on Iowa’s coronavirus website that lowers the number of new confirmed cases and therefore downplays the severity of the current outbreak, just as schools are deciding whether to reopen. The glitch means the Iowa Department of Public Health has inadvertently been reporting fewer new infections and a smaller percentage of daily positive tests than is truly the case, according to Dana Jones, an Iowa City nurse practitioner who uncovered the problem. It’s particularly significant because school districts are relying on state data to determine whether they will offer in-person instruction when school resumes in the coming days and weeks. “It’s just horrifying. We have no idea what’s going on, really,” said Jones.
17 Aug 2020 00.04 BST Report: University cancels in-person classes less than 2 hours before tuition deadline An independent weekly in North Carolina is highlighting an interesting detail about the abrupt cancellation of in-person classes at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, the state’s flagship university, which had started on-campus instruction this month. The cutoff for fall tuition cancelation was 5 p.m. The email calling off in-person classes went out around 3:45. https://t.co/MJ1ZEB5ZEh — Sarah Edwards (@eddy_sarah) August 17, 2020 A union that represents some of the university’s staff said in a statement responding to the sudden reversal that administration officials “gambled that they could contain a spread until tuition bills were locked in and lost miserably”, the News and Observer reported. The union had previously sued the university on behalf of housekeepers, professors and other staff, the paper reported.
Updated at 00.08 BST
17 Aug 2020 23.18 BST Mario Koran California governor gives update on fire tornadoes, expected rolling blackouts As a record-setting heat wave descends on California, the state contends with wildfires that threaten to spiral out of control, rolling blackouts to protect against additional blazes and a pandemic whose toll continues to rise. Over the weekend, intense lightning storms and fire tornadoes struck areas across the state, igniting brush fires and prompting state regulators to warn of rolling blackouts just as many children resume distance learning and huge segments of the population work from home. “We failed to predict and plan for these shortages, and that’s unacceptable. I have taken responsibility as your governor to immediately address this issue, to move forward and ensure it simply never happens again,” Newsom said at Monday’s presser, adding that the state has launched an investigation into what went wrong with the energy forecast. Newsom said that parents who are worried about how the power outages will impact their children’s distance learning should know the situation is “very temporary”. Governor demands investigation after Californians left without power in extreme heat Read more Meantime, California coronavirus metrics show signs of improvement. Since 3 August, the state has added five new counties to the state’s monitoring list, based on health metrics that worry public health experts, which means 42 of the state’s 58 counties are now on notice. The San Diego metro area may be removed from the list tomorrow, Newsom said. Newsom said the state’s positivity rate for people who have been tested for Covid is at 6.5%, down from 7 weeks ago, and is “stabilizing” and “moving broadly in the right direction”. Admissions to hospitals and ICUs both declined over the past two weeks, by 21% and 16% respectively.
Updated at 23.39 BST
17 Aug 2020 23.03 BST Sam Levine Another politically charged Trump appointment at the Census bureau The Trump administration has made another rare political appointment to the census bureau, naming Ben Overholt, a statistician at the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to be its deputy director for data. Donald Trump also recently instructed the bureau to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census data used to determine how many US House seats each state gets, a move that is likely to be unconstitutional (the constitution says the census must count all “persons”). The bureau announced earlier this month it is shortening the time to respond to the census, a move that will likely result in an undercount of immigrant, poor and minority communities.
Overholt’s appointment, first reported by NPR, comes at a time when the Bureau is under severe scrutiny and faces accusations of political interference. The Bureau is overwhelmingly staffed by career employees, and the Trump administration installed two political appointees earlier this year there that appear to have little qualification. Democrats in Congress have called for the removal of those employees. In 2017, Kris Kobach, an anti-immigrant politician from Kansas, attempted to get Overholt detailed to Trump’s voter fraud commission, noting Overholt had done an analysis for Kobach after seeing him on TV. Kobach told officials in Vice-President Mike Pence’s office he wanted the request to have Overholt detailed to the commission elevated to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Christy McCormick, a commissioner on the Election Assistance Commission, also praised Overholt in an email to Pence’s office: “When I was at DOJ, we had numerous conversations that make me pretty confident he is conservative (and Christian, too).” Overholt has served as a statistician at the EEOC since 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, he worked in the voting section at the Justice Department for five years and served in the US army for nearly 14 years. He has a PhD and MS in Applied Statistics and Research Methods from the University of North Colorado.
The Bureau said in a statement Overholt would ensure “2020 Census data products are of the highest quality”.
Updated at 23.30 BST
17 Aug 2020 22.41 BST Trump confirms he will give his GOP convention speech at the White House In Wisconsin, President Trump confirms he will give his GOP Convention speech from the White House next Thursday. — Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) August 17, 2020 The Office of Special Counsel said last week that Trump could give the speech from the White House, but said there might be issues for White House employees involved in the event because of the Hatch Act, which sets limits on the political activities of federal employees while on the job. Trump has repeatedly ignored these legal limits.
17 Aug 2020 22.27 BST Better air circulation or doors that lock against a school shooter? Pick one. A reporter for New York magazine has an extremely grim anecdote from a conversation with a friend who is a teacher in the United States preparing to resume classroom instruction during a pandemic: Just heard from a teacher friend prepping for the school year: they've been told they can't leave classroom doors open to promote better air circulation, because that would circumvent the school's automatic locking system that's in place for active shooter situations. — Gabriel Debenedetti (@gdebenedetti) August 17, 2020