Today’s Headlines and Commentary

President Biden will meet with 10 Republican senators to discuss a smaller COVID-19 relief package proposal this evening, writes Politico. The GOP members’ counterproposal is priced at $618 billion, significantly lower than Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan. Democratic leaders are prepared to pursue budget reconciliation in order to push Biden’s proposal through Congress without bipartisan support—a move that Republican lawmakers warn would undercut Biden’s calls for national unity and cooperation across party lines.

Myanmar’s military has seized control of the country and detained several leaders of the democratically elected incumbent party, including President Aung San Suu Kyi, according to France 24. Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, swept last year’s election in a landslide victory. But tensions have risen between Suu Kyi and the country’s military in the past few weeks as military leaders have alleged without evidence that the election was rigged, claiming to have uncovered more than 10 million instances of voter fraud. The army has declared a state of emergency and announced it will take power for the next year, which would return Myanmar to rule by a military regime. The Myanmar military has ruled the country for most of the last 60 years.

In response to the military coup in Myanmar, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated that the U.S. “will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed,” reports Politico.

Russian police arrested thousands of protestors this weekend as the Kremlin sought to quell a country-wide political movement that was sparked by calls to action made by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, writes the Wall Street Journal. The demonstrations have been ongoing since the Kremlin detained Navalny at a Moscow airport on Jan. 17. Navalny was returning to Russia after recovering from a poison attack which has since been attributed to Russian operatives.

Twitter has restricted access to multiple high-profile accounts in India in order to comply with a “legal demand,” according to TechCrunch. The dozens of accounts impacted include journalism outlets in addition to personal accounts for political figures and other prominent individuals. The accounts remain accessible to users outside of India. It remains unclear what legal action prompted Twitter to impose the restrictions.

The U.S. Treasury’s decision to delay an investment ban targeting companies linked to the Chinese military has left American investors in limbo, reports Reuters. Former President Trump had blacklisted 44 companies that his administration claimed were linked to Beijing’s military activities in a series of executive actions, giving investors until Jan. 28 to divest. Last Wednesday, the Biden administration extended the deadline to May 27.

The Rochester, N.Y. police department released body-camera footage yesterday that showed police officers pepper-spraying and forcibly restraining a 9-year-old girl, according to the New York Times. The officers were responding to a family disturbance call. The Rochester Police department has been shrouded in scrutiny since the department released records showing that Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man, died of suffocation after law enforcement placed a hood over his head and pressed his face into the pavement while bringing him into custody in March 2020.

Dozens of former U.S. officials who served in President George W. Bush’s administration are leaving the Republican party, reports Reuters. The officials cite dismay with Republican lawmakers’ failure to criticize former President Trump after his false claims of a rigged election incited the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. “The Republican Party as I knew it no longer exists. I’d call it the cult of Trump,” said Jimmy Gurulé, who was undersecretary of the Treasury Department for terrorism and financial intelligence in the Bush administration.

ICYMI: This Weekend on Lawfare

Quinta Jurecic examined why the Justice Department is just now charging a prolific far-right commentator who spread disinformation during the 2016 election cycle for his attempt to suppress votes in 2016.

Jennifer Earl and David Cunningham explained how U.S. law enforcement agencies should work to better protect against threats from white supremacists and other right-wing extremists.

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