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The Biden administration has asked the Supreme Court to decline to hear a lawsuit alleging that America's all-male military draft amounts to unconstitutional discrimination on the basis of sex. In a 26-page brief , the Department of Justice on Wednesday urged the justices to turn down the petition because lawmakers are “actively considering” the scope of the national registration requirement, noting that the court previously said the issue was better suited to Congress than judges. At issue in the case is whether an all-male draft remains legally sound after the Defense Department in 2013 lifted the ban on women serving in combat roles. ADVERTISEMENT Military conditions have changed dramatically since the court upheld the draft law in a 1981 decision in the case of Rostker v. Goldberg. The court ruled 6-3 that the Military Selective Service Act’s male-only requirement was justified because of women's exclusion from combat roles. Petitioners in the current case, backed … [Read more...] about DOJ asks Supreme Court to decline to hear suit claiming all-male draft is discriminatory

Photo: David Wallace-Wells before a Senate panel David Wallace-Wells, deputy editor at New York Magazine, testified before a Senate panel on the staggering costs of continued delay on climate action on Thursday. Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth , was one of several witnesses called by Senator Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Budget Committee, for a hearing on “The Cost of Climate Inaction,” including Bob Litterman, founding partner of Kepos Capital, and Nobel Prize–winning economist Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University. Experts estimate a business-as-usual approach toward curbing greenhouse-gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, would put the world on track for an increase of the planet’s average temperature of about three degrees Celsius by the end of the century. But thanks to a global political awakening, growing cultural pressure, and rapid improvements in the cost of renewables, those worst-case scenarios are considerably less likely, … [Read more...] about Magazine’s David Wallace-Wells Testifies Before the Senate on Climate Change

In April 2009, just a few months after taking office, then-President Obama gave a speech in Prague, where he said the following: “[A]s a nuclear power, as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can lead it, we can start it. So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” The speech was widely praised and was the principal reason Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize later that year. ADVERTISEMENT But talking about eliminating nuclear weapons and getting the job done are two very different things. To be fair, Obama didn’t claim it would be easy, saying “this goal will not be reached quickly –- perhaps not in my lifetime.” President Obama did have two signature achievements on nuclear weapons policy — the conclusion of the New START nuclear reductions treaty with … [Read more...] about Biden can make history on nuclear arms reductions

Unions and labor advocates with high hopes that President Biden Joe Biden House panel approves bill to set up commission on reparations Democrats to offer bill to expand Supreme Court Former Israeli prime minister advises Iran to 'cool down' amid nuclear threats MORE would help deliver on major priorities like raising wages and increasing worker power have few if any concrete victories to point to as Biden approaches 100 days in office. A $15 minimum wage provision was jettisoned from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan; labor’s top legislative priority, the PRO Act, is once again stalled in the Senate; and a union organizing effort at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama was soundly defeated. Union leaders argue that Biden is still delivering on his campaign promise to be a pro-union president and that progress has been slow going because of razor-thin Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. But many progressive groups say Biden needs to be fighting … [Read more...] about Unions struggle to secure wins under Biden

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit Thursday to Kabul where he told Afghan leaders that while the United States will soon begin withdrawing its remaining troops from the country, it remains committed to Afghanistan. “The partnership is changing, but the partnership is enduring,” Blinken said as he met with President Ashraf Ghani and other officials. The visit came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden announced all U.S. troops will be out of Afghanistan by September 11 of this year. “We respect the decision and are adjusting our priorities,” Ghani said Thursday. A senior State Department official told reporters that while the United States will no longer have military assets in Afghanistan, it will still be capable of confronting any threat that emerges. Blinken also spoke Thursday to a group of mostly U.S. soldiers at the American embassy, offering praise for the military’s efforts since the first forces were deployed to the country in 2001. … [Read more...] about Blinken Makes Surprise Visit to Afghanistan to Sell Biden Troop Withdrawal