Becerra’s nomination to lead health agency heads to Senate floor
WASHINGTON — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s nomination to become Health and Human Services secretary is headed to the Senate floor after the Finance Committee deadlocked Wednesday in a party-line vote.
Senate rules now allow Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., to bring the nomination to the full Senate. After two hearings failed to stymie Becerra’s progress or convince Democrats not to support him, he appeared on track for approval.
Republicans had zeroed in on derailing Becerra’s confirmation, criticizing his lack of medical experience and his support for abortion access. Conservative groups pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into ads to pressure moderate Democrats not to support him.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said Wednesday before the vote that Becerra is “a very good attorney general” and “very bright,” but said he doesn’t have the health care background the job deserves.
Democrats pointed out that the majority of Health and Human Services secretaries have not had medical backgrounds and that Becerra, who would be the first Latino to lead the agency, served on the committee that sets health care policy during his 24 years in the House. He was among the small group of lawmakers who helped write the Affordable Care Act.
The Senate could confirm Becerra to the job as soon as next week. Some moderate Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have indicated they may back Becerra.
Becerra told senators that his focus will be on fighting COVID-19 and getting reliable data about how it affects communities of color, something Democrats had pushed the Trump administration to do.
— Los Angeles Times
LA Times files suit to unseal search warrant used to obtain Sen. Richard Burr's phone
WASHINGTON — The Los Angeles Times has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to unseal the warrant that authorized federal authorities to search Sen. Richard M. Burr’s cellphone as part of the FBI investigation into stock trades just as the coronavirus pandemic began to surge across the country.
The lawsuit, which was filed Feb. 24 but became public late Tuesday, seeks to have a federal judge make public the warrant, supporting affidavits and related materials connected to the search of the North Carolina senator’s phone.
The Times first reported on the search warrant, which was served May 13 on the Republican lawmaker at his home in Washington. The warrant represented an escalation in the federal investigation into whether Burr violated a law preventing members of Congress from trading on insider information they have gleaned from their official work.
Burr sold a significant portion of his stock portfolio in 33 separate transactions on Feb. 13, after the senator and his committee began receiving coronavirus briefings from U.S. public health officials and a week before the stock market declined sharply. Much of the stock Burr sold was invested in businesses that in subsequent weeks were hit hard by the plunging market.
The day after FBI agents obtained his phone, Burr stepped down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, saying the investigation was a “distraction to the hard work of the committee and the members.” Burr has said he will not run for reelection in 2022.
In January, Burr’s lawyers announced the Justice Department had dropped its investigation.
“Senator Burr is pleased that the Department of Justice has completed a thorough review of this matter and closed it without further action,” attorney Alice Fisher said in a statement Jan. 19. “As the country continues to concentrate efforts on battling the challenges presented by COVID-19, Senator Burr’s focus will remain on the safety and security of North Carolinians and the United States as a whole.“
A spokeswoman for Burr did not immediately respond to an email seeking reaction to the suit, and a Justice Department spokesman, Joshua Stueve, declined to comment.
— Los Angeles Times
Swedish police considering terror as motive in stabbing rampage
Swedish police on Wednesday said they were investigating a stabbing rampage in southern Sweden where eight people were injured in a suspected terrorist attack.
“We are probing this [incident] as attempted murder but due to details in the investigation we are also investigating possible terrorist motives," Malena Grann of the regional police force said during a press conference.
She said the Swedish security service Sapo were assisting the police.
Earlier, police said they shot and arrested a young man after he apparently stabbed eight people in central Vetlanda, a small town in southern Sweden.
He attacked the people in several locations, a few hundred yards apart.
Jonas Lindell of the local police told reporters that the suspected assailant had not been questioned and was in hospital but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. He was thought to have acted alone.
"The suspect was armed at the time of his arrest," he added, declining to comment on a possible motive, what weapon was used or the suspect's nationality.
Police had not had any prior indication of a threat against Vetlanda or from the suspected assailant, who was previously known for petty crimes, Lindell said.
Eight people were injured in the attack and taken to the hospital, but Lindell said he could not provide further details.
Lindell also refused to comment on what sort of weapon was used, stating that police did not want to influence witness accounts.
— dpa
