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Finally Senate Confirms 1st Judicial Nominee Of Joe Biden’s Administration

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Senate Democrats marked a milestone on Tuesday: They confirmed the first judicial nominee of President Joe Biden’s administration.

The Senate voted 66-33 to confirm Julien Xavier Neals, 56, to a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Every Democrat voted to confirm Neals, along with 17 Republicans. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was the only senator who did not vote.

Neals was previously a nominee to this court in 2015, when President Barack Obama nominated him. But then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) let Neals’ nomination gather dust for more than a year until it eventually expired in January 2017.

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) noted the significance of Neals’ confirmation and said he’s eager to get moving on more of Biden’s court picks.

“The first, but certainly not the last, not even close,” Schumer said ahead of the vote. “I greatly look forward to confirming what will be the first of many judicial appointments during the Biden administration.”

The Senate confirmed Biden’s second judicial nominee later Tuesday. Senators voted 72-28 to confirm Regina Rodriguez, 57, to a lifetime seat on a U.S. district court in Colorado.

The president offered his “sincere gratitude” to the Senate for confirming both of his nominees with strong bipartisan support.

“They are both highly qualified, and they represent the diversity that is one of the ultimate strengths of our nation ― in all branches of government, including the judiciary,” he said in a statement. “Other nominees are awaiting confirmation who also have bipartisan support, and I hope they will be rapidly confirmed as well.”

Trump’s first judicial nominee was confirmed much earlier than Biden’s. It was Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who Republicans rushed through to confirmation on April 7, 2017, less than three months after Donald Trump was sworn into office. Gorsuch filled the Supreme Court seat that Republicans had prevented Obama from filling for nearly a year with his nominee, Merrick Garland, who is now the U.S. attorney general.

But Biden is on track to confirm more judges by July than any president has done in their first year in more than 50 years.

“I look forward to continuing to make nominations at an historic pace and working closely with the Senate on many more confirmations,” he said.

Progressive groups are agitating for Democrats to make confirming judges a top priority now that they control the Senate and the White House. Thanks largely to McConnell, Trump appointed more than 230 lifetime federal judges during his four years as president. That’s more than Obama (175), George W. Bush (206) and Bill Clinton (204) did in their first terms in the White House.

Trump’s court picks were also very homogenous. Many were conservative white male corporate lawyers. Progressive groups like NARAL Pro-Choice America, Demand Justice and Service Employees International Union have been pressing Democratic senators to recommend much more diverse nominees to the president, in terms of race and gender but also in professional background.

Biden has 17 other judicial nominees awaiting Senate action. As of Tuesday, there are 80 vacancies on U.S. district and appeals courts.

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‘I’ll bring my plane… I plan on keeping it for another four years’ – Biden on second debate with Trump

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May 16, 2024

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President Biden and former President Trump agreed to hold a second debate Sept. 10 hosted by ABC News.

The two candidates had already accepted an invitation earlier Wednesday to attend a CNN debate on June 27, and both confirmed later in the day on social media that they plan to attend the ABC debate in September.

“I’ve also received and accepted an invitation to a debate hosted by ABC on Tuesday, September 10th,” Biden posted on the social platform X. “Trump says he’ll arrange his own transportation. I’ll bring my plane, too. I plan on keeping it for another four years.”

Biden, of course, is referring to the presidential jet, Air Force One.

“It is my great honor to accept the CNN Debate against Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST PRESIDENT in the History of the United States and a true Threat to Democracy, on June 27th,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Likewise, I accept the ABC News Debate against Crooked Joe on September 10th.”

It marked a whirlwind few hours that started with Biden’s campaign publicly proposing two deabtes in June and September and ended with both candidates agreeing to a date and host.

ABC News had planned to host a GOP primary debate in New Hampshire, but it was canceled after Trump and Nikki Haley said they would not attend. Martha Raddatz of ABC co-moderated one of the 2016 presidential debates; the network did not host a debate in 2020.

The candidates have chosen to go around the Commission on Presidential Debates, the organization that has arranged the showdowns dating back to 1988.

Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon suggested working with outlets that hosted GOP primary debates in 2016 and Democratic primary debates in 2020 to avoid any perceptions of bias.

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Nigerian officials probe plan to marry off scores of female orphans

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May 15, 2024

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ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Women Affairs says it is investigating a plan by a lawmaker in central Niger state to marry off some 100 female orphans of unknown ages later this month.

Speaker of the Niger State Assembly Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji announced the mass wedding last week but called off the ceremony following widespread outrage.

Minister of Women Affairs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, speaking to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, condemned the plans.

Kennedy-Ohanenye said she had petitioned the police and filed a lawsuit to stop the marriages pending an investigation to ascertain the age of the orphans and whether they consented to the marriages.

“This is totally unacceptable by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and by the government” of Nigeria, she said.

Last week, Sarkin-Daji announced his support for the mass wedding of the orphans, whose relatives were killed during attacks by armed bandits. He said it was part of his support to his constituents following an appeal for wedding funding by local traditional and religious leaders.

The mass wedding had been scheduled for May 24.

“That support I intend to give for the marriage of those orphans, I’m withdrawing it,” he said. “The parents can have the support [money], if they wish, let them go ahead and marry them off. As it is right now, I’m not threatened by the action of the minister.”

Despite national laws prohibiting it, forced or arranged marriage is a common phenomenon in Nigeria, especially among rural communities in the predominantly Muslim north, where religious and cultural norms such as polygamy favor the practice.

Poor families often use forced marriage to ease financial pressure, and the European Union Agency for Asylum says girls who refuse could face repercussions such as neglect, ostracism, physical assault and rape.

Raquel Kasham Daniel escaped being married off as a teenager when her father died and now runs a nonprofit helping children, especially less-privileged girls, get a formal education for free.

She said the ability of women to avoid forced marriage in Nigeria depends on their income and education.

“I was 16 when I lost my dad and I was almost married off, but then I ran away from home. And that gave me the opportunity to complete my education, and now I have a better life,” Daniel said.

“So, the reason why I prioritize education is to make sure that other girls have access to quality schooling so that it will help them make informed decisions about their lives. Education not only increases our awareness as girls about our rights but also enhances our prospects for higher income earning,” she said.

Thirty percent of girls in Nigeria are married before they turn 18, according to Girls Not Brides, a global network of more than 1,400 civil society groups working to end child marriage.

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Shell investigates smoke near Gbaran oil facility in Nigeria

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May 15, 2024

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YENAGOA, Nigeria, May 14 (Reuters) – Oil major Shell is investigating reports of smoke early Tuesday near its Gbaran Ubie oil and gas facility in Nigeria’s coastal Bayelsa state, a spokesperson said after residents reported hearing explosions and seeing smoke near the area.
The incident would not immediately lead to an operational shut-in, the Shell spokesperson said.
A fire was reported around 0600 GMT by residents in the nearby community, who said blasts were heard where pipeline repair works had been ongoing.
The Gbaran facility, which began operations in 2010, is by far the most important Nigeria LNG gas feedstock project, processing almost 2 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day.
“We are actively monitoring reports of smoke detected near our Gbaran Central Processing Facility in Bayelsa State. While the source appears to be external to our facility, we are in close communication with regulatory authorities to look into the incident and ensure the safety of the surrounding communities,” a Shell spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
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Shell did not immediately respond to the accounts of residents in the area.
Resident Ovie Ogbuku told Reuters: “At about 7 a.m. I heard the sound so deafeningly and it shook the foundation of the earth and we ran for our dear lives. The result is the thick smoke you are seeing now.”
Another resident Uche Ede said; “We have no idea of the cause of the explosion but we are grateful no life was lost because it was far away from homes.”
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Land operations in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta are prone to sabotage, theft, and pipeline vandalism, forcing oil majors to exit such fields to focus on deepwater drilling.

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