JOYCE BEATTY

Biden is signing the order on federal policing two years after Floyd died at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

And with that, the nation's first female and first Black vice president announced the confirmation of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. Ketanji Brown Jackson will join the high court following Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement this summer. “We have a dark-skinned, Black woman on the Supreme Court with locks and she’s going to be looking for clerks,” said first year student Jasmine Marchbanks-Owens, 27, referring to the young lawyers who spend a year helping Supreme Court justices with their work. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, the city’s second Black woman to be mayor, called it “a day filled with great hope for the future of our country.”Lawmakers weren't the only ones cheering. Representation does matter,” Jackson State University President Thomas K. Hudson wrote to students, faculty and staff at the historically Black school in Mississippi.

Lawmakers erupted in cheers after Vice President Kamala Harris announced the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

Scott Applewhite) (J. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON — (AP) — Moments before the Senate began Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation vote to become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, the chamber filled with the swell of history. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus walked through the doors of the Senate to witness the moment. A short delay emerged when Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was late, making him the last to vote and slightly prolonging the inevitable outcome. The assignment for the only two Black Democrats in the Senate, she told them, was to write a letter to a young Black woman in their life to mark this day in history. After the vote, the vice president, herself a history-making leader, took stock of the moment, at a time of brutal war overseas.

Scott Applewhite) (J. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON — (AP) — Moments before the Senate began Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation vote to become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, the chamber filled with the swell of history. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus walked through the doors of the Senate, entering the chamber to witness the moment. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was late, making him the last to vote while slightly prolonging the outcome. Many Republican senators had already left. The remaining Republican senators filed out of the chamber.

Moments before the Senate began Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation vote to become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, the chamber filled with the swell of history.

The historic Senate hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who's the first Black woman nominated for the Supreme Court, have been joyful, combative and clarifying.

The pleas come at a particularly desperate moment for House Democrats, who are heading into a difficult midterm election season where the loss of only a handful of seats will end their majority. “The Congressional Black Caucus has not been silenced for this,” Beatty said of the caucus’ efforts to move forward with voting rights. Jayapal and Ruiz told reporters that the Progressive and Hispanic caucuses will be releasing a list next week of their own priorities for executive action. Reliance on executive action is a strategy that Biden knows well, having seen it in action when he was President Barack Obama's vice president. The voting rights package collapsed on the Senate floor in January after Democratic centrist Sens.

Top Democrats are pleading for President Joe Biden to act alone on some of the party’s core legislative priorities.

The Congressional Black Caucus began planning for how to defend Biden's Supreme Court nominee as soon as Breyer announced his retirement.

After telling colleague to 'kiss my a--," GOP Rep. Hal Rogers says his words were 'not acceptable'

Congress Lawmaker Mask FILE - Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., speaks as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appears before a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on budget on Capitol Hill, March 27, 2019, in Washington. Rogers apologized for using an expletive when Rep. Joyce Beatty asked him to put his mask on while in the Capitol. The Ohio Democrat says Rogers told her to “kiss his ass” during an altercation on the way to vote Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. Beatty says Rogers, who has served in Congress since 1981, poked her in her back before using the expletive. According to Beatty, Rogers replied, “Kiss my a—.”In a video obtained by The AP, Beatty can be heard asking Rogers for an apology on the train.

A senior Republican lawmaker has apologized for using an expletive when Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio asked him to put his mask on while in the Capitol.

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) apologized Tuesday evening to Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, for telling her to "kiss my a--" after she asked him to wear a face mask, CNN reported.What they're saying: “My words were not acceptable,” Rogers told CNN.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Driving the news: The incident occurred after Beatty asked Rogers to put on a face mask as the two were boarding a train on the Capitol subway

(AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades) (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)COLUMBIA, S.C. — (AP) — At President Joe Biden’s lowest moment in the 2020 campaign, South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn came to him with a suggestion: He should pledge to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. Two years later, the hoped-for vacancy on the court has arrived with the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer. As the lobbying begins over filling the open court seat, Clyburn is harnessing his history with Biden and his stature as the No. A seat on court is often seen as a springboard for Supreme Court nominees. “Everybody says, ‘Well, that’s the way you need to go, to go to the Supreme Court,‘” Clyburn said, of the appellate level.

Whoever replaces Speaker Nancy Pelosi will face the daunting task of presiding over the increasingly tense debate about whether Democrats will be the party of the activist left or a center-left coalition that can appeal to a broader segment of America.

The president will nominate Shalanda Young as the agency's chief. She'd be first Black woman in the post. And he'll name Nani Coloretti, who is Asian American, as deputy.

“Democrats are concerned,” former state House Speaker Steve Shurtleff, a longtime Biden supporter who attended the ceremony, told The Associated Press when asked about Biden’s political standing. At least for now, there's little to suggest the legislation, which will strengthen infrastructure in every state and potentially create hundreds of thousands of jobs, will quickly improve Democrats' political standing. The frustrations boiling over now may be long forgotten by the time Biden — or another Democrat — leads the party in the 2024 presidential election. The truth is, no one knows what the standing of Biden or Harris will be next year, never mind in three years. Despite their optimism, tensions inside the White House are real as the new leadership team learns to work together.

Some Democrats have begun saying out loud what others are saying privately — that Joe Biden’s political standing is so weak less than a year into his presidency that he may not be able to win reelection in 2024 if he were to run again.

Top Democrats say a deal is within reach on President Joe Biden's big domestic bill.

How to pay for it all remained deeply in flux Tuesday, with a proposed billionaires' tax running into criticism as cumbersome or worse. Under Wyden’s emerging plan, the billionaires’ tax would hit the wealthiest of Americans, fewer than 1,000 people. Overall, the billionaires’ tax rate had not been set, but it was expected to be at least the 20% capital gains rate. Republicans deride the billionaires' tax and some have suggested it would face a legal challenge. Instead, the White House floated an idea to beef up grants and loans to incentive clean energy sources.

How to pay for it all remained deeply in flux Tuesday, with a proposed billionaires' tax running into criticism as cumbersome or worse. Under Wyden’s emerging plan, the billionaires’ tax would hit the wealthiest of Americans, fewer than 1,000 people. Overall, the billionaires’ tax rate had not been set, but it was expected to be at least the 20% capital gains rate. Republicans deride the billionaires' tax and some have suggested it would face a legal challenge. Instead, the White House floated an idea to beef up grants and loans to incentive clean energy sources.

President Joe Biden’s big domestic policy bill is now half its original size and being pulled apart and reconfigured as Democrats edge closer to satisfying their most reluctant lawmakers.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that current high levels of inflation are likely to fade next year and won’t prevent the Fed from pushing toward its goal of full employment.

In the nation’s capital on Saturday, multiracial coalitions of civil, human and labor rights leaders are convening rallies and marches to urge passage of federal voter protections that have been eroded since the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The White House is pressing state and local governments to swiftly adopt policies to protect renters after an eviction moratorium expired over the weekend.

Hank Johnson is second member of Congress to face arrest this month during protests urging Senate to pass critical voting rights protections

51 percent of unvaccinated individuals think the COVID-19 vaccine contains a microchip

A year after Rep. John Lewis' death a cadre of activists carry the late civil rights icon's legacy amid the most divisive voting rights debate in decades.

WHO epidemiologist: 'We're getting further away from the end' of COVID-19 pandemic

The fight for voting rights ramped up this week, coinciding with the one-year anniversary of the death of Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights activist who fought for equal voting rights throughout his life. Driving the news: Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was arrested Thursday along with eight people in a voting rights demonstration in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, Texas Democrats fled the state this week in an attempt to block Republicans from passing ne

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was arrested on Thursday.

Congressional Black Caucus chair Joyce Beatty among those arrested during Capitol voting rights protest

Though Capitol Police said in a statement on Twitter that nine people were arrested, it is unclear whether Beatty was one of them.

Beatty, who serves as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, urged lawmakers to pass legislation to expand voting rights.

The chair of the Congressional Black Caucus said in a speech prior to her march to the Senate that she hoped she would get arrested as she called for an end to the legislative filibuster.

Congressional Democrats want to reinstate key sections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

President Joe Biden signed legislation Thursday establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, following the passage of a bipartisan Congressional bill. State governments that had not already declared Juneteenth a holiday were also scrambling to respond the new federal holiday. Instead, he said the company sent an email acknowledging the federal holiday and pledging to consider time off in the future. But the federal holiday declaration brought it to the attention of some Americans for the first time. Still, Eve said the declaration of Juneteenth as a federal holiday will make companies that don't follow suit increasingly look bad.

The declaration of Juneteenth as a federal holiday is putting the pressure on more U.S. companies to give their employees the day off, accelerating a movement that took off last year in response to the racial justice protests that swept the country.

His audience included scores of members of Congress and Opal Lee, a 94-year-old Texas woman who campaigned for the holiday. Juneteenth is the 12th federal holiday, including Inauguration Day once every four years. It's also the first federal holiday since the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was added in 1983. Before June 19 became a federal holiday, it was observed in the vast majority of states and the District of Columbia. He said the Juneteenth holiday will help promote understanding and unity.

The House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday making Juneteenth, the day commemorating the official end of slavery in the United States, a federal holiday.

Three Democratic members of Congress are asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the foster care experience of Ma'Khia Bryant that preceded the 16-year-old's fatal police shooting in Ohio. U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, along with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, penned a letter last week on behalf of Bryant's parents, asking the federal agency to look into the teen's experience through the foster care system.

President Joe Biden urged lawmakers on Wednesday night to recognize the anniversary of George Floyd's death with a police reform bill.

The pictures always make it look so presidential.

Lawmakers from both parties say once-stalled legislation on Capitol Hill that would change the nation's policing laws is now closer than ever to consensus.

Bolstered with new momentum, Congress is ready to try again to change the nation’s policing laws.

President Joe Biden says the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd “can be a giant step forward” for the nation in the fight against systemic racism.

Chauvin was found guilty on all three counts in the killing of George Floyd.

President Joe Biden says the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd “can be a giant step forward” for the nation in the fight against systemic racism.

A House panel has advanced a decades-long effort to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves, approving legislation Wednesday night that would create a commission to study the issue.

President Joe Biden’s difficult balancing act on policing was put on vivid display over the course of a few hours as he tries to navigate criminal justice and civil rights.

President Joe Biden’s difficult balancing act on policing was put on vivid display over the course of a few hours Tuesday as he tries to navigate criminal justice and civil rights.

An open Senate seat in Ohio has set off a round of jockeying among ambitious Democrats and a spirited debate over who is best poised to lead a party comeback in a one-time battleground that has been trending Republican. While Acton and Ryan are believed to be the furthest along in their deliberations, several politicians who are Black are also eyeing the seat. The group is working to recruit a Black candidate for the Senate seat, he said. AdStill, Ryan got a boost Saturday when Hillary Clinton, the party’s 2016 presidential nominee, declared on Twitter that she was “all in” for a Ryan Senate candidacy. For some Ohio Democrats the cautionary tale is 2018, when a group of female gubernatorial candidates all ceded their ambitions to former Obama administration consumer chief Richard Cordray, who lost the race.

FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2020, file photo, Thomas Quinlan, chief of the Columbus Division of Police, speaks with the media at the Columbus Community Safety Advisory Commission in Columbus, Ohio. Quinlan was forced out Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, after the mayor who hired him said he'd lost confidence in Quinlan's ability to make needed changes to the department, weeks after the police killing of Andre Hill. “It became clear to me that Chief Quinlan could not successfully implement the reform and change I expect and that the community demands," Ginther said in a statement. At the time, Ginther said Quinlan must address racism within the department’s ranks, including further diversifying the department. The Columbus Division of Police — like many big-city agencies — is juggling calls for internal change even as it battles unprecedented street violence.

Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris campaigns for Democratic U.S. Senate challengers the Rev. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is slated to speak at Tuesday's event, “We Are One,” which will also honor the historic nature of her being the first Black and South Asian woman to become U.S. vice president. Black voters nationwide helped deliver Biden’s presidency, overwhelmingly supporting him from the start of his White House bid. The event will pay homage to the legacy of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, as well as Black sororities and fraternities. It'll be hosted by Terrence J and feature Leslie Jones, DJ D-Nice, and Black cultural icons such as Frankie Beverly, The O’Jays, and Rapsody.

Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris campaigns for Democratic U.S. Senate challengers the Rev. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is slated to speak at the event, “We Are One,” which will also honor the historic nature of her being the first Black and South Asian woman to become U.S. vice president. Black voters nationwide helped deliver Biden’s presidency, overwhelmingly supporting him from the start of his White House bid. The event will pay homage to the legacy of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, as well as Black sororities and fraternities. It'll be hosted by Terrence J and feature Leslie Jones, DJ D-Nice, and Black cultural icons such as Frankie Beverly, The O’Jays, and Rapsody.

Andre Hill, fatally shot by Columbus police on Dec. 22, is memorialized on a shirt worn by his daughter, Karissa Hill, on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, in Columbus, Ohio. Karissa Hill said she considered her father an everything man because he did so many things. (AP Photo/Andrew Welsh-Huggins)COLUMBUS, Ohio – The life of Andre Hill was commemorated Tuesday morning as family and lawmakers called for justice to be brought against the white Columbus police officer who fatally shot the 47-year-old days before Christmas. Dozens gathered at the First Church of God in the city’s southwest side — clad in their Sunday best and Black Lives Matter masks — to honor Hill’s life. Sharpton saluted Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and other city officials for ordering the firing of Coy less than a week after he shot Hill.

(Daily Memphian via AP)As protests grip the nation, officers have doused crowds with pepper spray, struck protesters with batons, steered police cars into throngs, shoved demonstrators and screamed curses. Now, some are questioning whether tough police tactics against demonstrators are actually making the violence worse rather than quelling it. Another officer stepped in within seconds to assist the man, as did the officer who knocked him down. As we do everything to stop NYC from burning, all we hear from elected officials is criticism," the group tweeted. Maybe they should try it on the front lines.___Reeves and Stafford are members of the AP's Race and Ethnicity team.

"How do you take somebody from my district who is underbanked or unbanked and educate them if there's no financial literacy?" She expressed concern about the lack of financial education for the unbanked and underbanked, who might not understand how Libra works. "Financial literacy, absolutely, should be a part of it," he said. The Libra Association, the Geneva, Switzerland-based group of companies that will govern the Libra blockchain and reserve, should provide financial literacy and education so customers know how to bank appropriately, Ross said. Joshua Roberts | ReutersThe issues around financial literacy reach beyond U.S. borders.