Senate passes $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan

Table Of Content

• Columbia University Board of Trustees voices support for embattled president
• The House votes for possible TikTok ban in the US, but don’t expect the app to go away anytime soon
• Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
• UT Austin Police give "all clear" for dispersal order as authorities arrest more than 30 protesters
• LAPD arrest about 50 protesters at USC
• AP AUDIO: Aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan heads to the Senate for final approval after months of delay
• April 24, 2024 - US university protests

Starting July 1, most salaried workers who earn less than $844 per week will become eligible for overtime pay under the final rule. And on Jan. 1, 2025, most salaried workers who make less than $1,128 per week will become eligible for overtime pay. As these changes occur, job duties will continue to determine overtime exemption status for most salaried employees. “This barrage of new EPA rules ignores our nation’s ongoing electric reliability challenges and is the wrong approach at a critical time for our nation’s energy future,” said Matheson, whose association represents 900 local electric cooperatives across the country.

Columbia University Board of Trustees voices support for embattled president

“Ukraine is on the verge of collapsing,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “If they condition the offensive portion of the aid, that would be a conversation, but I can’t vote for more aid to go into Gaza and continue to kill people,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a Republican who is a close ally to Donald Trump, said that despite the strong showing of support for funding Ukraine’s defense, opposition is growing among Republicans.

The House votes for possible TikTok ban in the US, but don’t expect the app to go away anytime soon

One other Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, said he was joining Greene and called for Johnson to resign. Sen. Maria Cantwell, the Democratic chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in a statement she was “very happy” that the House bill had extended the time period for ByteDance to sell TikTok. She had successfully pushed to extend the period from six months to a year, saying it would give the company enough time to find a buyer. Bidentold Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday the U.S. will send badly needed air defense weaponry as soon as the legislation is passed.

Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote

The Los Angeles Police Department arrested approximately 50 protestors at the University of Southern California after campus police gave a dispersal order to demonstrators, according to a CNN crew at the scene. The University of Texas at Austin Police Department said in a statement on X Wednesday evening that "the dispersal order at the South Mall has ended. All University rules are still in effect." In an evening update, the Texas Department of Public Safety said that 34 arrests had been made by law enforcement on the campus as of 9 p.m. A photographer was among those arrested during clashes between protesters and law enforcement on the University of Texas at Austin campus on Wednesday. The university "supports free speech through open dialogue that is respectful and constructive," the officials said.

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Instead, the agency would set caps on carbon dioxide pollution that plant operators would have to meet. Some natural gas plants could start blending gas with other fuel sources that do not emit carbon, although specific actions would be left to the industry. They have repeatedly accused the Democratic administration of overreach on environmental regulations and have warned of a looming reliability crisis for the electric grid. The rules issued Thursday are among at least a half-dozen EPA rules limiting power plant emissions and wastewater pollution. WASHINGTON (AP) — Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a rule issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency.

His 2015 Clean Power Plan was blocked by the Supreme Court and later rolled back by Trump. Legislation that could ban TikTok if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake has won a major boost as House Republicans included it in a package of bills that would send U.S. aid to Ukraine and Israel. The department’s final rule, which will go into effect on July 1, 2024, will increase the standard salary level that helps define and delimit which salaried workers are entitled to overtime pay protections under the FLSA.

The ads have included a range of content creators, including a nun, extolling the positive impacts of the platform on their lives and arguing a ban would trample on the First Amendment. The company has also encouraged its users to contact Congress, and some lawmakers have received profanity-laced calls. The company has good reason to think a legal challenge could be successful, having seen some success in previous legal fights over its operations in the U.S.. In November, a federal judge blocked a Montana law that would ban TikTok use across the state after the company and five content creators who use the platform sued. The U.S. government has not publicly provided evidence that shows TikTok shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government or tinkered with the company’s popular algorithm, which influences what Americans see. The bill’s quick path through Congress is extraordinary because it targets one company and because Congress has taken a hands-off approach to tech regulation for decades.

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AP AUDIO: Aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan heads to the Senate for final approval after months of delay

But congressional leaders had to navigate strong opposition from a growing number of conservatives who question U.S. involvement in foreign wars and argue that Congress should be focused instead on the surge of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The legislation would also send $26 billion in wartime assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief to citizens of Gaza, and $8 billion to counter Chinese threats in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. U.S. officials said about $1 billion of the aid could be on its way shortly, with the bulk following in coming weeks. The rule will also increase the total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees (who are not entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA if certain requirements are met) from $107,432 per year to $132,964 per year on July 1, 2024, and then set it equal to $151,164 per year on Jan. 1, 2025. Yet Johnson’s push to pass the foreign aid comes as alarm grows in Washington at the deteriorating situation in Ukraine.

His administration brokered a deal that would have had U.S. corporations Oracle and Walmart take a large stake in TikTok. The sale never went through for a number of reasons; one was China, which imposed stricter export controls on its technology providers. Members of both parties, along with intelligence officials, have worried that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over American user data or direct the company to suppress or boost TikTok content favorable to its interests. TikTok has denied assertions that it could be used as a tool of the Chinese government and has said it has not shared U.S. user data with Chinese authorities. The company has indicated that it would likely go to court to try and block the law if it passes, arguing it would deprive the app’s millions of users of their First Amendment rights.

The speaker needs Democratic support on the procedural maneuvers to advance his complex plan of holding separate votes on each part of the aid package. Johnson is trying to squeeze the aid through the House’s political divisions on foreign policy by forming unique voting blocs for each issue, then sewing the package back together. A separate rule will reduce toxic wastewater pollution by 660 million pounds annually, according to federal officials. It’s a reversal of the Republican Trump administration’s push to loosen coal plant wastewater standards. The proposal relies on technologies to limit carbon pollution that the industry itself has said are viable and available, Regan said.

After agonizing for days over how to proceed on the package, Johnson pushed ahead on a plan to hold votes on three funding packages — to provide about $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and $8 billion to allies in the Indo-Pacific — as well as several other foreign policy proposals in a fourth bill. Environmental groups challenged that rule, arguing it left a large amount of coal ash waste unregulated by the federal government. The rule issued Thursday forces owners to safely close inactive coal ash ponds and clean up contamination. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the rules will reduce pollution and improve public health while supporting the reliable, long-term supply of electricity that America needs. The package has had broad congressional support since Biden first requested the money last summer.

Under the plan, the House would also vote on bill that is a raft of foreign policy proposals. It includes legislation to allow the U.S. to seize frozen Russian central bank assets to rebuild Ukraine; to place sanctions on Iran, Russia, China and criminal organizations that traffic fentanyl; and to potentially ban the video app TikTok if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year. The Biden rule comes nearly a decade after former President Barack Obama first tried to set limits on carbon pollution from U.S. power plants.