*By Brian Henry*
Now that Kamala Harris, a freshman senator and recent entrant to national politics, has joined the already-crowded 2020 race for president, political watchers are eager for clues about her ability to maneuver a high-stakes election. But Senator Harris has minimal experience on the national stage ー so her track record in California as an Attorney General will be essential evidence to Democratic voters.
"Her list of legislative accomplishments is rather thin," said Joe Garofoli, senior political writer at the San Francisco Chronicle.
"When you look at her AG career, she was sort of a mix of being bold and yet cautious and innovative," Garofoli told Cheddar.
One of her biggest victories came during the mortgage crisis. Harris pulled California out of the nationwide mortgage settlement talks.
"That was a gutsy move for a first term attorney general, California ended up with $20 billion dollars," Garofoli said.
As Attorney General, Garofoli said Harris also took a unique approach to criminal justice reform.
"She's offered implicit bias training at the Department of Justice and she focused on things like truancy issues. Most criminals are dropouts and she said, 'let's examine the root cause of this.'"
That victory aside, Harris has been criticized for neglecting to use the power of her office to investigate police shootings in California, and leaving it up to the locals instead.
Should she clinch the nomination, Harris will likely face questions over her record as San Francisco's District Attorney.
Harris, who opposed capitol punishment, chose not to pursue the death penalty after a police officer was shot in the line of duty by a gang member.
"There was a lot of blow back from law enforcement," Garfoli said. "You know President Trump is going to go after this one day one."
Even still, Harris' background gives her a distinct advantage over her progressive opponents.
"She's half-Indian American and her father was born and raised in Jamaica. She's the child of immigrants. She's a different face for voters, not just for Democratic voters but for all American voters."
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
