The Pentagon, at the direction of President Biden, shot down a "high altitude object" over Alaska airspace on Friday. A fighter aircraft was dispatched to carry out the task, and the object fell on ice. The incident comes several days after the Pentagon took down a Chinese spy balloon, and it is unclear if the object was related to it.
Posts tagged as “Biden”
President Joe Biden has declined a request from Fox News for a pre-Super Bowl interview, instead opting to do an interview with Fox Soul, a streaming platform aimed at Black Americans. However, Fox has canceled the interview, continuing the Biden administration's icy relationship with the right-wing channel. The annual presidential Super Bowl interview is usually taped on the Friday before the game, but Biden is not expected to participate this year.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP Sen. Rick Scott are in a feud over Scott's proposal to sunset popular benefit programs like Medicare and Social Security, with McConnell calling it a "bad idea" and not reflective of Republican priorities. McConnell and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have both stated that the proposal is not the Republican plan and would not have been included in their agenda even if they had won control of the chamber in November's midterm elections. Biden has been hitting Republicans hard on the subject, and McConnell and Scott's disagreement shows no signs of easing.
On Thursday, the U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon, prompting a response from Beijing and a call from U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to his Chinese counterpart. The House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution condemning China for the incident, and China's Defense Ministry refused Austin's call for a general-to-general talk. Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for not acting quickly enough, and the incident has further complicated the already tense relationship between the U.S. and China.
The White House announced today that Kate Bedingfield is leaving her role as Communications Director and will be replaced by Ben LaBolt, a top Democratic communications professional. LaBolt is expected to bring “a wealth of experience in strategic communications, crisis management, and political strategy” to the role, and is the first openly gay White House communications director. Bedingfield has been a key figure in the White House’s communications strategy since the start of the Biden presidency, and LaBolt is expected to continue her work.
This article discusses the US government's response to a Chinese surveillance balloon shot down by US jets over the Atlantic coast last weekend. The balloon was part of a fleet of balloons used for spying, outfitted with high-tech equipment capable of collecting communications signals and other sensitive information from targets across the globe. The US is considering sanctions and other potential actions in response to the incident, which is not the first time the US has encountered Chinese surveillance balloons.
The US House of Representatives is set to condemn China for its use of a surveillance balloon over US airspace, which was shot down by the military on Saturday. The resolution, introduced by GOP Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas, denounces the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to deceive the international community and calls for the Biden administration to provide comprehensive briefings on the situation. The resolution is a sign of the growing tensions between the US and China, and has raised questions about the US's ability to detect and respond to foreign threats.
President Joe Biden addressed the recent discovery of a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the continental US, emphasizing his commitment to competing with China without looking for conflict. He also addressed an investigation into his handling of classified documents, stating that his staff didn't do a good enough job packing up his previous offices and that the items found were from 1974. Biden's response marks the second time this week that he's sought to downplay the effect of the balloon, while reassuring the public that he is taking the investigation seriously.