The big news for the day: After stalling for two months, the House passed a package totalling $95 billion for national security aid that the Senate passed as one bill. To make themselves look independent, Republicans separated it into four different bills. The vote:
Ukraine aid, $61 billion: 311-112, with 210 Democrats and 101 Republicans voting in favor. One hundred and twelve Republicans opposed the bill. Seven did not vote, and 1 voted present.
Israel and Gaza humanitarian aid, $26.4 billion: 366-58, with 173 Democrats and 193 Republicans in favor. Fifty-eight Democrats and 21 Republicans opposed the bill. Seven did not vote.
Indo-Pacific aid, $8.1 billion: 385-34, with 34 Republicans opposing the bill. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) voted present, and 11 did not vote.
Variety of GOP national security priorities including a TikTok ban if it leaves its Chinese parent, ByteDance, within 360 days: 360-58. Thirteen did not vote.
Another bill of mixed GOP border priorities failed, 215-199. Seventeen did not vote. The bill was considered under suspension, needing a two-thirds majority to pass.
A breakdown of all individuals’ votes. The House has four vacancies. The Senate will hold a vote on the package on April 23. Specifics in the bills.
Democrats bailed out Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson, but he still criticized them in a press conference, saying that separating the bills was the only way he could get them to support the bills. Yet at least 173 Democrats voted for each of the bills in the package, and three of the four received at least 210 Democratic votes. Over 100 Republicans voted against Ukrainian aid.
Other Good News:
The U.S. Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules has proposed that organizations—including corporations—must identify their financial backers when filing amicus briefs to allow knowledge of secret funds for those who will benefit. Corporate groups, frequently tied to billionaire benefactors, use these filings to push for personal benefits such as repealing tenants’ rights and block unions’ power to strike. The new rule would also require publishing names of donors contributing over $100 for preparing, drafting or submitting the brief if the person or entity had been a filing organization for under 12 months.
The 7th Circuit Court has ruled that the Canadian operator of Enbridge drain the parts of the pipeline crossing Native American land in Wisconsin although the U.S. claims the decision violates a 1977 treaty between the two countries to keep the oil flowing. The U.S. admits that Enbridge is trespassing on trial land in carrying 540,000 barrels of mostly Canadian oil per day through Wisconsin to Ontario.
Colorado has become the second state after California to ban the use of a non-scientific term “excited delirium” in justifying use of force in police custody deaths. The term was used in at least 225 deaths throughout the U.S., and Colorado medics administered ketamine to 902 people for “excited delirium” in two and a half years, 17 percent of people experiencing complications.
UAW got a huge union win in the South at a Chattanooga (TN) Volkswagen plant. In an 84 percent turnout, almost three-fourths of the 3,613 workers voted for the union, the biggest organizing UAW victory in years and a success after failing in 2014 and 2019. A majority of workers at Vance and Woodstock (AL) Mercedes Benz manufacturing plants have already signed union authorization cards for the UAW where workers will vote in mid-May. Recently, the UAW filed unfair labor charges against Mercedes for illegally firing union activists, disciplining workers for discussing the union at work, and prohibiting distribution of union information.
The U.S. Army will no longer allow permit military commanders to permit solders to dodge accusations of serious crimes by resigning instead of going on trial. Instead, the newly created Office of Special Trial Counsel, a group of military attorneys who specialize in handling cases involving violent crimes, must also approve the decision. The new rule applies only to cases under the Counsel’s purview such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, kidnapping, and murder. More than half of the 900 soldiers allowed to leave the Army in the previous decade rather than go to trial were accused of violent crimes. They had to acknowledge they committed an offense punishable under military law but were not required to admit guilt to a specific crime or face any consequences from a conviction such as registering as a sex offender.
Federal law will protect the rights of LGBTQ+ students and victims of campus sexual assault have new safeguards under new Biden administration rules based on a revised regulation from Title IX, a 1972 law barring sex discrimination in schools receiving federal funding. New provisions dismantle sexual assault rules by DDT’s former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her requirement that unwelcome sex-based conduct must be “severe, pervasive, or objectively offensive.” Student cross examinations through representatives in live hearings are no longer mandated. New rules allow remote hearings and bar “unclear or harassing” questions. The changes protect trans students, but a provision forbidding schools from banning transgender athletes is on hold. The GOP party line is that the new rules damage progress for women and girls.
Biden’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has revealed new rules protecting pregnant workers, including time off for a number of reasons including prenatal doctor’s appointments, childbirth recovery, postpartum depression, miscarriage, and abortion. Pregnant workers can also be exempted from heavy lifting and have scheduling changes for those suffering from pregnancy symptoms like nausea or morning sickness. The rules are the last one issued for the 2022 Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA).
The Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) has announced an updated standard for safe exposure levels to toxic silica dust, thrown in the air during mining that contributes to progressive, incurable, and deadly black lung disease in coal miners. The particulate is especially common in low quality coal found in central Appalachia, causing progressive massive fibrosis which is a fatal hardening of lung tissue. The new rule increases medical surveillance with more clinical visits at no cost, silica dust monitoring, and greater site compliance with stricter consequences. In fiscal 2023, mining deaths jumped by 31 percent while MSHA suffered from a smaller budget increase. A problem is the use of an eight-hour day to estimate silica exposure whereas most miners work for 10- or 12-hour shifts, and inspections for mines are only annual.
By blocking construction of a 125-mile Ambler Road, the Biden administration is stopping a major mining project through the protected Arctic National Park and Reserve in northern Alaska to protect tribal subsistence hunting and fishing, a major part of some tribal lifestyles. DDT had approved the mining development days before he left the White House by the Interior head who covered up environmental and tribal impacts in the planning process, an approval condemned by the state’s bipartisan congressional delegation.
For the first time, Ukraine shot down a Russian bomber as it returned from a mission killing several Ukrainians. One pilot was allegedly killed, and another crew member is missing. Russia claimed it crashed from a “technical malfunction.” Ukraine used a Soviet-era S-200 anti-air system dating back to the 1960s and considered obsolete. A second Russian aircraft armed with missiles turned around after the attack.
Pieces about “Lawmakers”:
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, attended a 2017 party with minors where drugs were present, according to a sworn statement by a woman. She said a 17-year-old minor was naked at the party attended by other men and bedrooms available for sexual activities. The committee is probing whether Gaetz used illegal drugs and was under the influence of the drugs at parties while in Congress. Gaetz denied having a relationship with any minor.
Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) vigilantism about protesters on the Golden Gates Bridge in San Francisco demonstrates the conservative hypocrisy: Republicans believe in violent opposition against protesters only when they are liberals. In February 2022, U.S. conservatives were ecstatic when Canadian truckers shut down much of Ottawa to protest public health measures during the pandemic. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said:
“Civil disobedience is a time-honored tradition in our country, from slavery to civil rights to you name it. Peaceful protest, clog things up, make people think about the mandates.”
On Fox, Sean Hannity said the truckers “are taking a stand for freedom, human dignity and autonomy, and for liberty,” and Tucker Carlson called it “the single most important human rights protest in a generation.” Cotton criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for invoking emergency powers to deal with the disruption caused by the truckers’ blockade. GOP-controlled states such as Oklahoma and Florida provided immunity for people driving cars into protesters about George Floyd’s death. Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, illegally took a gun he illegally obtained across state lines and fatally shot two people. Exonerated by the law, he became a hero to conservatives, including DDT.
In more conservative hypocrisy, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) claims to be an aggressive opponent of China and called on people in the U.S. to punish China with boycotts of products. He said, “You don’t do business with your enemies,” while he made money off Chinese businesses. While governor, Scott tried to recruit Chinese business to establish operations in his state, to his personal profit, and his firm was also fined $1.7 billion for Medicare fraud. With his wife, Scott ha invested millions of dollars in corporations with major interests in China.
Austin Smith, leader in Turning Point Action spreading conspiracy theories of “election fraud,” resigned as Texas state representative after he was accused of forging voter signatures on petitions for him to run for office.
Nel's New Day 
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