Vermont’s Sanders signs on for ’20 run
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, whose insurgent 2016 presidential campaign reshaped Democratic politics, announced Tuesday that he is running for president in 2020.
“Our campaign is not only about defeating Donald Trump,” the 77-year-old self-described democratic socialist said in an email to supporters. “Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.”
An enthusiastic progressive who embraces proposals ranging from Medicare for All to free college tuition, Sanders stunned the Democratic establishment in 2016 with his spirited challenge to Hillary Clinton. While she ultimately became the party’s nominee, his campaign helped lay the groundwork for the leftward lurch that has dominated Democratic politics in the Trump era.
The question now for Sanders is whether he can stand out in a crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates who also embrace many of his policy ideas and are newer to the national political stage. That’s far different from 2016, when he was Clinton’s lone progressive adversary.
Sanders won more than 13 million votes in 2016 and dozens of primaries and caucuses. He opens his campaign with a nationwide organization and a proven small-dollar fundraising effort.
Sanders’ campaign raised $1 million in 3½ hours on Tuesday morning, according to a person familiar with the campaign, who wasn’t authorized to publicly disclose the early numbers and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Bill shelved, but teachers to stay out
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia teachers will remain on strike for a second day despite a move by the House of Delegates to effectively kill a complex education bill that had sent them to the picket lines.
The leaders of three unions representing teachers and school service personnel made the announcement Tuesday night that the walkout will continue today.
Earlier, the Republican-led House voted 53-45 to indefinitely table the bill that the unions oppose. That means the bill won’t go to the next step: a committee of Senate and House members who would try to come up with a compromise.
Without being specific, West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee said the unions believe there’s still a small chance there could be further developments with the legislation.
Joe White, executive director of the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association, said that based on a conference call with union members, “the trust is not there.”
Fred Albert, president of the American Federation of Teachers’ West Virginia chapter, said the unions’ trust in the House has been somewhat restored, but “we cannot trust the leadership in the Senate,” which has tried to rush the bill to passage.
“We are staying out one more day to make sure that this is a dead bill tomorrow,” Albert said.
Trump has deputy AG nominee in mind
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he plans to nominate Jeffrey Rosen to be the next deputy attorney general.
Rosen is currently the deputy transportation secretary and oversees the department’s day-to-day operations.
He also served as general counsel and a senior policy adviser at the White House Office of Management and Budget from 2006 to 2009.
Rosen previously was a senior partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP — the same law firm as the new attorney general, William Barr.
The current deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, is expected to leave his post in March. His departure had been expected after Barr was confirmed last week.
Rosenstein had overseen special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself. Barr now oversees the remaining work in the Russia investigation.
ISIS recruit said to seek return to U.S.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama woman who left home to join the Islamic State group after becoming radicalized online realized she was wrong and now wants to return to the United States, a lawyer for her family said Tuesday.
Hoda Muthana, 24, regrets ever aligning herself with the terrorist organization and is putting herself at risk by speaking out against it from a refugee camp where she has lived since fleeing the group a few weeks ago, said attorney Hassan Shibly.
Muthana, who dodged sniper fire and roadside bombs to escape, is ready to pay the penalty for her actions but wants freedom and safety for the 18-month-old son she had with one of two Islamic State fighters she wed, he said. Both men were killed in combat.
Shibly said Muthana was brainwashed online before she left Alabama in 2014 and now could have valuable intelligence for U.S. forces, but he said the FBI didn’t seem interested in retrieving her from the refugee camp where she is living with her son.
A Justice Department spokesman referred questions to the State Department, which did not immediately return an email.