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US lawmakers stop $875m defence equipment sale to Nigeria Over ‘Poor Human Rights Record’
United States lawmakers are holding down a proposed sale of attack helicopters to Nigeria amid mounting concerns about the Muhammadu Buhari regime’s human rights record as it grapples with multiple security crises.
US lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have reportedly delayed clearing a proposed sale of 12 AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters and accompanying defence systems to the Nigerian military.
The deal is worth $875 million, according to US officials and congressional aides familiar with the matter.
In addition to the helicopters, the proposed sale included 28 helicopter engines produced by GE Aviation, 14 military-grade aircraft navigation systems made by Honeywell, and 2,000 advanced precision kill weapon systems—laser-guided rocket munitions, according to information sent by the State Department to Congress and reviewed by Foreign Policy magazine.
A report by Foreign Policy on Tuesday said the behind-the-scenes controversy over the proposed arms sale illustrates a broader debate among Washington policymakers over how to balance national security with human rights objectives.
The hold on the sale also showcases how powerful US lawmakers want to push the Biden administration to rethink US relations with Nigeria amid overarching concerns that Buhari is drifting toward authoritarianism as his government is besieged by multiple security challenges, including the Boko Haram insurgency.
But Western governments and international human rights organisations have ramped up their criticisms of the Buhari regime, particularly in the wake of its ban on Twitter, systemic corruption issues, and the Nigerian military’s role in deadly crackdowns on #EndSARS protesters last October.
Chairperson of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, called for a “fundamental rethink of the framework of our overall engagement” with Nigeria during a Senate hearing with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken in June.
Both Menendez and Sen. Jim Risch, a top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have placed a hold on the proposed arms sale, according to multiple US officials and congressional aides familiar with the matter, who spoke to Foreign Policy on condition of anonymity.
The details on the proposed sale were first sent by the US State Department to Congress in January before then-former Vice President Joe Biden was inaugurated as president, according to officials familiar with the matter.
Nigeria has just received six out of the 12 Tucano jet fighters purchased from the US government.
Some experts said the United States should hit the pause button on major defence sales until it makes a broader assessment of the extent to which corruption and mismanagement hobble the Nigerian military and whether the military is doing enough to minimize civilian casualties in its campaign against Boko Haram and other violent insurrectionists.
Administration officials say they are tired of regular efforts by Capitol Hill to review arms
“There doesn’t have to be a reason why we don’t provide weapons or equipment to the Nigerian military,” said Judd Devermont, director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank. “But it has to be done with an assessment of how it will actually, one, change the direction of conflict in Nigeria, and, two, that they will use it consistent with our laws. In both cases, it’s either a question mark or a fail.”
“There is a culture of impunity that exists around abuses by the military,” said Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch, Anietie Ewang.
Ewang cited the Nigerian military’s killing of unarmed protesters during the massive #EndSARS demonstrations against police corruption and brutality last year as well as cases documented by human rights organizations of abuses in the military’s campaign against Boko Haram.
“I’m sure it’s a difficult situation. There are so many conflicts springing up across the country now,” Ewang said.
“The authorities, I presume, are trying to do the best they can to save lives and properties. But this must be done in accordance with human rights standards. You can’t throw one out just to be able to achieve the other.”
July 28, 2021
US Senate confirms Michael Regan as first black man to lead EPA
The US Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Michael Regan as President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
With a bipartisan confirmation vote of 66 to 34, Regan will become the first Black man to lead the EPA in the agency’s 50-year history.
Mr Regan will join an administration that has pledged aggressive action on tackling the climate crisis, which the Donald Trump era failed to acknowledge.
Regan has been serving as the secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality having previously led the Environmental Defense Fund’s efforts to combat the impacts of the climate crisis and air pollution and also worked at the EPA during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
At the helm of the nation’s top environmental agency, Regan is now set to play a major role in the Biden administration’s climate efforts.
Biden issued a series of executive actions on the climate crisis within his first weeks in office, undertaking a “whole of government” approach to reducing the country’s carbon emissions, spurring job growth and fighting environmental injustices.
During his Senate nomination hearing in February, Regan pledged to “move with a sense of urgency” to address the climate crisis.
“Our priorities for the environment are clear: we will restore the role of science and transparency at EPA. We will support dedicated and talented career officials. We will move with a sense of urgency on climate change, and we will stand up for environmental justice and equity,” he said.
Regan also reflected during the hearing on his environmental career — which began with an environmental science degree and an internship at the agency he’s now tasked with leading.
“I knew I wanted to find a way to serve, and that led to my first summer internship at EPA. I spent nearly ten years at EPA under presidents of both parties,” Regan told the Senate panel.
“It’s an honour of a lifetime to be invited back,” he added.
March 11, 2021
US Senate confirms Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a veteran diplomat and Joe Biden’s nominee, has been confirmed as America’s next ambassador to the United Nations by the US Senate, adding a key member to the President’s national security team as it seeks to reengage with the world body.
The 100-member Senate on Tuesday backed Thomas-Greenfield by 78 to 20 votes to be US’ representative at the world body and a member of Biden’s Cabinet. Thomas-Greenfield, 68, is a 35-year veteran of the Foreign Service who has served on four continents, most notably in Africa.
Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to administer her the oath of office at the White House on Wednesday.
“Today’s Senate confirmation of Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations reinforces President Biden’s commitment to restore and expand American leadership on the global stage,” Secretary of State Tony Blinken said.
“Thomas-Greenfield is a seasoned diplomat, deeply committed to American values, and the right choice to rebuild our nation’s standing at the UN and in other multilateral venues. I congratulate her on her confirmation, and eagerly anticipate our partnership in serving the American people and their interests,” Blinken said in a statement.
A UN Spokesperson told reporters in New York that the UN Secretary General very much looks forward to working with the ambassador on issues of climate crisis, the recovery from COVID-19, and the many other global issues that are on their shared agenda.
Republican Senator Jim Risch, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Thomas-Greenfield had a long-standing record of service at the Department of State and is qualified for the role of US ambassador to the UN.
“As malign actors like the Chinese Communist Party ramp up their influence efforts at the UN and other multilateral institutions, it is critical that we have a UN ambassador that will be tough and will stand up for the American ideals of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law,” he said.
“As our nation confronts the greatest international health crisis of our generation alongside critical, long-term global threats such as human rights, rule of law and climate change, collaboration and coordination with the US allies has never been more pressing,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
A seasoned diplomat with over 30 years of experience – from working on global economic development to humanitarian issues in developing nations – Thomas-Greenfield brings the knowledge and experience needed to represent the US as its ambassador to the United Nations, she said.
Senator Ted Cruz, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, voted against her confirmation, citing his concerns with Team Biden’s rush to embrace the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“In the first weeks of the new administration, I have been deeply troubled by President Biden’s nominees’ dangerous rush to embrace the worst elements of the Chinese Communist Party.
“Ms. Thomas-Greenfield’s record shows a pattern of apologizing for China, praising their Belt and Road Initiative, failing to call out their human rights atrocities and political oppression, and downplaying the risk China poses to the security and safety of the American people,” Cruz said.
Cruz said he believed that Thomas-Greenfield’s decision to give remarks at an event sponsored by the Confucius Institute, a key propaganda platform for the CCP, should be disqualifying.
“The United States desperately needs a UN ambassador who will stand up to China and their pervasive influence at the United Nations. Due to her extensive record, I do not believe Ms Thomas-Greenfield is capable of doing so and therefore oppose her nomination. I remain dedicated to engaging vigorously with the Biden administration and State Department to combat China’s malign influence throughout the world,” Cruz said.
In his first major foreign policy address as the President this month, Biden said America cannot afford to be absent any longer on the world stage.
Declaring that “America is back,” Biden had said that his administration will “repair” the country’s strained relations with its allies during the previous Trump administration and engage with the world once again.
The Biden administration seeks to reengage with the UN after four years of former President Donald Trump’s “America First” posture left the US isolated internationally. PTI
February 24, 2021
Trump Acquitted In Second Impeachment Trial
Donald Trump survived a second impeachment trial Saturday when the US Senate acquitted him on the charge of incitement of insurrection, ending Democratic efforts to hold the former president accountable over the deadly US Capitol riot.
The five day trial, in which Democratic impeachment managers argued that Trump betrayed his oath of office by urging his supporters to storm Congress in a bid to block certification of the November election, concluded with an insufficient 57-43 majority of senators voting to convict.
It was the most bipartisan impeachment trial vote ever, with seven Republicans breaking ranks to join all 50 Democrats in seeking conviction — a dark and permanent stain on a former president who may yet seek to run for office again.
But two-thirds of the chamber, or 67 senators, is necessary to convict, and the Senate ultimately was not willing to punish the former president.
In Trump’s historic second impeachment trial, the senators for the first time ever were not only jurors, but witnesses to the assault at the heart of the charge against Trump.
Democrats argued that Trump’s behavior was an “open and shut” example of an impeachable offense, saying that as president he repeated the falsehood that the election was stolen, then whipped up supporters to attack Congress and stop the certification of the vote.
“He summoned his supporters to Washington, on the Ellipse, whipped them into a frenzy, and directed them at the Capitol,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote.
The defense team swatted such evidence away, insisting the Senate had no constitutional jurisdiction to try a former president. Most Republican senators agreed.
Trump, who has been secluded in his Florida club since leaving office on January 20, issued a statement in which he expressed thanks for the verdict, and called the proceedings “yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country.”
The 74-year old Republican also hinted at a possible political future, and at “continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people.”
“We have so much work ahead of us, and soon we will emerge with a vision for a bright, radiant, and limitless American future,” Trump said.
then-vice president Mike Pence and lawmakers in mortal danger.
But the defense team repeatedly proclaimed Trump’s innocence, insisting “the act of incitement never happened” and rioters acted alone.
With influential Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell revealing he would vote against convicting Trump, the case tilted even more solidly toward acquittal.
Before moving to final arguments, the proceedings were interrupted for a few hours when House impeachment managers, in a surprise move, said they wanted to call witnesses at the trial.
Lead manager Jamie Raskin, a Democratic congressman, said he wanted to call a Republican lawmaker as a witness but eventually agreed with Trump’s defense lawyers just to have a statement of hers entered into evidence.
Trump’s lawyers had threatened in response to call witnesses of their own, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and others in a process that could have prolonged the trial for days if not weeks.
Raskin had wanted Representative Jamie Herrera Beutler, a Republican who voted to impeach Trump last month, to testify after she released a statement about a notable exchange on January 6.
In her statement entered into the record, she said Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had made a frantic call to Trump while the attack was ongoing and implored him to call off the rioters.
Instead Trump falsely blamed other groups, not his own supporters, for breaching the Capitol, Herrera Beutler said.
“McCarthy refuted that and told the president that these were Trump supporters,” the congresswoman said.
“That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said: ‘Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,’” she said.
– ‘Willfully betrayed’ –
Democrats pounced on her statement.
“There can be no doubt that at the moment we most needed a president to preserve, protect and defend us, president Trump instead willfully betrayed us,” impeachment manager David Cicilline told the Senate, adding Trump “violated his oath” of office.
Trump was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House on January 13 for inciting the attack by his supporters, who were seeking to block congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s November 3 election victory.
Trump’s defense lawyers argued on Friday that the ex-president bears no responsibility for the attack on Congress and wrapped up their presentation in just three hours.
This followed two days of evidence from Democrats centered around harrowing video footage of the mob assault on the Capitol.
Trump’s defense lawyers called the impeachment unconstitutional and an “act of political vengeance.”
They argued that Trump’s January 6 rally speech near the White House that preceded the attack, when he told supporters to “fight like hell,” was merely rhetorical.
AFP
February 14, 2021
45 Senate Republicans vote to declare Trump’s impeachment trial illegal
Moments after senators were sworn in Tuesday as jurors in former President Trump’s impeachment trial, Republicans forced a vote on the constitutionality of the process that strongly suggested Democrats won’t be able to get the two-thirds support they will need for a conviction next month.
Forty-five Republicans supported a resolution by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that said the trial is unconstitutional because Trump is a private citizen and no longer president. Democrats had the votes to table Paul’s motion, with support from five Republicans.
Sen. Rand Paul – Trump’s impeachment trial illegal
But the level of GOP support for Paul’s effort underscored how difficult it will be to get 17 Republicans to join Democrats in voting to convict Trump.
“Forty-five votes means the impeachment trial is dead on arrival,” Paul said after the vote. “We’re excited about it. It’s one of the few times in Washington where a loss is actually a victory.”
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the theory that the Constitution prohibits a trial of a former official is “flat-out wrong by every frame of analysis.”
He pointed out that the Constitution allows the Senate to not only remove an impeached official from office, but also bar him or her from holding future office.
“If the framers intended impeachment to merely be a vehicle to remove sitting officials from their office, they would not have included that additional provision,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Republicans who joined Democrats against the Paul measure were Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Though many more GOP lawmakers have condemned Trump’s actions in inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the party has largely coalesced around the idea that an impeachment trial of a former president is unconstitutional.
Republicans say the fact that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is not presiding at the trial is proof that it is not valid. The Constitution says that the chief justice must preside at trials of a president. Roberts has reportedly signaled he does not want to be involved, and Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) will preside over Trump’s trial instead. Leahy, who has previously called on Trump to resign, will still get to vote.
“I think it’s a sham impeachment,” Paul said Monday. “If the chief justice isn’t coming over, it’s just a partisan farce.”
Democrats and several legal experts say there is a precedent for the Senate to conduct an impeachment trial after an official has left office. In 1876, the Senate held an impeachment trial of a war secretary who resigned immediately before he was impeached by the House.
Paul’s motion — while procedural — forced Republicans into a difficult position. While several Republicans agree that a trial is not valid, a few have left the door open to conviction.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), for instance, told his fellow Republicans in a memo two weeks ago — while Trump was still in office — that he would listen to the legal arguments in the case, raising the possibility that he might vote to convict. But Tuesday, he supported Paul’s motion.
Some Republicans privately interpreted McConnell’s comments earlier this month as a means of keeping the threat of conviction on the table while Trump was still in office. Now that the president is gone, Republican leadership may not be eager to divide members of their party with an impeachment trial.
Democrats cautioned against reading the vote on the Paul resolution as a precursor for the vote on Trump’s conviction, as did Republicans such as Toomey, who voted with Democrats, and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who supported Paul. “I’ve not made my mind up,” Portman said. “I’m a juror.”
But others are more skeptical. Sen. Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.) said the odds that Trump is convicted are “probably as close to zero as you can get.”
Murkowski said the 45 senators who supported Paul in Tuesday’s vote may find themselves boxed in and would have a hard time voting for a conviction, even if they believed it was appropriate.
“We don’t get a lot of credit and we don’t get a lot of allowance to change your mind around here,” she said.
The Senate was somewhat caught off guard by having to vote Tuesday on a trial’s constitutionality.
Murkowski said she didn’t even know about the vote until Tuesday morning. “It was a little unfortunate that we had this spontaneous vote on an extraordinarily significant matter,” she said. “People had to make really quick decisions.”
Unlike Trump’s first impeachment trial, when many Republicans said he did nothing wrong, GOP lawmakers this time are not defending Trump’s efforts to overturn the electoral college vote, his encouragement of protesters or his slow action to stop the attack that left five dead.
Instead Republicans are focusing on the precedent of holding an impeachment trial for a former president.
“I still have concerns about the constitutionality of this, and then the precedent it sets in trying to convict a private citizen,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said. “So in the future can this be used against President Obama?”
Senators were sworn in Tuesday, and a summons was to be issued for Trump. But the trial will essentially be paused for two weeks to allow both sides time to prepare. Oral presentations will begin no sooner than Feb. 9.
January 27, 2021
Trump Impeachment Trial At Senate To Begin February 8
Donald Trump’s US Senate trial will begin in the second week of February, days after a fresh impeachment case against the former president is transmitted by the House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday.
The newly announced schedule reflects a deal struck by Senate leaders to delay the substantive portion of the trial for two weeks so that the chamber may conduct other critical business including confirmation of President Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees.
The House of Representatives impeached Trump for a historic second time on January 13, just one week before he left office.
Schumer said the article of impeachment will be delivered and read out to the Senate on Monday at 7:00 pm (0000 GMT Tuesday). The chamber’s 100 members will be sworn in as trial jurors the next day.
The House members assigned by Speaker Nancy Pelosi as impeachment managers, and members of Trump’s yet-to-be-named defense team, will then be given time to draft their legal briefs.
“Once the briefs are drafted, presentation by the parties will commence the week of February 8,” Schumer told colleagues on the Senate floor.
During the two-week interim, the Senate will act on Biden’s cabinet nominations “and the Covid relief bill which would provide relief for millions of American who are suffering during this pandemic,” Schumer added.
“Healing and unity will only come if there is truth and accountability, and that is what this trial will provide.”
Members will deliberate whether to convict Trump on what the US Constitution describes as “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Trump was impeached on a single charge of “incitement of insurrection” for his role in whipping up his supporters during a speech in Washington on January 6, the day a pro-Trump mob stormed Congress and threatened the lives of lawmakers and then-vice president Mike Pence.
Five people died in the violence, including a police officer.
‘Unprecedentedly fast’
The delay is the result of a deal Schumer struck with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
McConnell was a close congressional ally to Trump during his term, but he severely reprimanded the outgoing president for repeatedly seeking to overturn results of the election and for his incitement of protesters, and he left the door open for voting to convict Trump.
But he had sought a delay in the trial until February, arguing Trump needs time to hire lawyers and mount a defense.
On Friday, McConnell appeared to express regret for the Democrats’ speedy timetable.
“As I understand, it must be headed our way Monday. By Senate rules, if the article arrives, we have to start a trial right then,” he said on the floor.
But the Senate can agree to its own parameters of the trial timeline.
McConnell spoke of the “unprecedentedly fast” process in the House, where Trump was impeached in a single day.
“The sequel cannot be an insufficient Senate process that denies former president Trump his due process or damages the Senate or the presidency itself,” he said.
Trump survived a first impeachment almost a year ago when the then Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him of abusing his office to try to get dirt on Biden’s family before the presidential election.
With the Senate now comprised of 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, and a two-thirds majority needed to convict Trump, at least 17 Republicans would have to vote against the former president to secure a conviction.
If that occurs, a subsequent vote would be held on whether to ban Trump from holding public office in the future.
A handful of Republicans have spoken out harshly against the president but it remains unclear if there would be enough GOP senators to vote for conviction.
AFP
January 23, 2021
US Senate confirms Lloyd Austin as Black Defence Secretary
The United States Senate has confirmed former army general, Lloyd Austin as defence Secretary, making him the first African American to hold the top Pentagon position.
Lloyd Austin, a recently retired army general, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on January 19 for screening.
Austin gained broad support from Republicans and Democrats alike in the Senate, winning confirmation by a 93-2 vote.
“General Austin is an exceptionally qualified leader with a long and distinguished career in the United States military,” said Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee.
Austin will take charge of the US Department of Defense “at a time when US strategic priorities have shifted to focus increasingly on near-peer competition with China and Russia”, Reed said.
Austin retired in 2016, fewer than five years ago, triggering the need for a congressional waiver to serve in that post.
January 23, 2021