Politics

FLASHBACK: Ruth Bader Ginsburg opposed court packing, said ‘nine seems to be a good number’

Fox News @ Night – Wednesday, April 14

On today’s episode of ‘Fox News @ Night’, Shannon Bream tracks Democrats announcing legislation to expand the number of Supreme Court Justices; plus, the fourth night of unrest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

House and Senate Democrats are poised to introduce legislation to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court so President Biden can add several of his own picks — a practice known as court-packing — but the late liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once firmly came out against the idea.

In a 2019 interview with NPR, Ginsburg addressed the idea that has gained momentum among Democrats in recent years.

DEMOCRATS TO PROPOSE LEGISLATION EXPANDING THE SUPREME COURT

“I have heard that there are some people on the Democratic side who would like to increase the number of judges,” Ginsburg said. “I think that was a bad idea when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to pack the court.”

Roosevelt’s plan, she recalled, was for a president to be able to add a justice for every one on the court who stayed beyond the age of 70, which would have allowed him to immediately add six, bringing the roster to 15.

Ginsburg had noted that with no set number in the Constitution, the court has had as few as five and as many as 10 justices.

“Nine seems to be a good number, and it’s been that way for a long time,” she observed.

Ginsburg explained that expanding the Supreme Court so a president could load the bench with like-minded jurists would politicize the high court and erode its independence.

GOP REPS ANNOUNCE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO KEEP SUPREME COURT AT 9 ‘BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE’

“If anything would make the court appear partisan it would be that,” she said. “One side saying when we’re in power we’re going to enlarge the number of judges so we’ll have more people who will vote the way we want them to. So I am not at all in favor of that solution to what I see as a temporary situation.”

Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the current liberals on the Supreme Court, also argued against court-packing when addressing Harvard Law School earlier this month.

“What I’m trying to do is to make those whose instincts may favor important structural change or other similar institutional changes such as forms of court-packing to think long and hard before they embody those changes in law,” Breyer said.

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Breyer cautioned that such a move could damage the public’s trust in the court., which “is guided by legal principle, not politics.”

“Structural alteration motivated by the perception of political influence can only feed that latter perception, further eroding that trust,” he said.

Bernie Sanders says he disagrees with ‘Squad’ member who called for ‘no more policing’

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Wednesday said he doesn’t agree with Rep. Rashida Tlaib D-Mich., who called for “no more policing, incarceration, and militarization” following the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright in Minnesota.

“No I don’t,” Sanders told CNN.

“I think that what we need to do is to understand that there needs to be major, major police reform all across this country,” he continued. “We are tired of seeing the same thing, week after week and year after year. We do not want to see innocent African Americans shot in cold blood.”

ABC, CBS, NBC IGNORE RASHIDA TLAIB’S CALL FOR ‘NO MORE POLICING’ FOLLOWING DAUNTE WRIGHT’S DEATH

Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vt. on Wednesday responded to comments from Rep. Rashida Tlaib D-Mich, who called for ‘no more policing’ in wake of the Daunte Wright police shooting
((Drew Angerer/Getty Images), (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images))

His response came after Tlaib tweeted Monday that she was “done with those who condone government-funded murder.”

“No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed,” she wrote.

The “Squad” member also called policing in our country, “inherently & intentionally racist.”

This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi distanced herself from some in her party calling to end policing. She instead pointed out that all police cannot be painted “with the same brush.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki added that Tlaib’s tweet was “not the president’s view.”

Tlaib’s words were ignored by ABC, CBS and NBC during their nightly news programs Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a report from NewsBusters

PELOSI DISTANCES FROM TLAIB’S CALL TO END POLICING, JOINING OTHER DEMS IN CALLING FOR REFORM

Police shot and killed Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a routine traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on Sunday.

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Kim Potter has been charged with second-degree manslaughter.

Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Marisa Schultz contributed to this report

‘Street fighter’ Nancy Pelosi says she would’ve fought off Capitol rioters

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists would have “had a battle on their hands” if they encountered her — declaring she is a “street fighter.”

“That’s what they were setting out to do,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) told USA Today, acknowledging that rioters had intended to reach herself and other prominent targets, such as Vice President Mike Pence.

If they had, she continued, “Well, I’m pretty tough. I’m a street fighter. They would have had a battle on their hands.”

PELOSI BLASTS AOC, SQUAD MEMBERS IN NEW BOOK: ‘YOU’RE NOT A ONE-PERSON SHOW’

Members of Congress were forced to evacuate in gas masks after a violent mob of supporters of President Donald Trump overpowered Capitol Police and breached the building.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Pence, in his capacity as vice president, and thus president of the Senate, was presiding over proceedings to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral win at the time.

Richard “Bigo” Barnett, one of the alleged rioters, went viral for photos of him with his feet up on a desk in Pelosi’s office. The suspect, according to prosecutors, was carrying a stun gun.

Rioters also created a makeshift noose and table outside the Capitol and shouted “Hang Mike Pence” as they stormed the complex.

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Pence, Pelosi and other congressional leaders were all evacuated within moments of the building being breached.

The chaos resulted in five deaths, including that of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.

Another Capitol Police officer as well as a DC Metro Police officer committed suicide in the weeks that followed.

Judiciary Committee approves bill funding commission that could recommend reparations

The House Judiciary Committee voted 25 to 17 Wednesday night to approve H.R. 40, which would establish a body to review racial disparities and form a “national apology” to the Black community.

The committee’s vote pushes forward legislation that would allocate $20 million to create a 15-person commission to study the effects slavery and Jim Crow era laws have had on Blacks.

The body would then recommend “appropriate remedies” to Congress.

REP. BURGESS OWENS: ‘UNFAIR AND HEARTLESS’ FOR DEMOCRATS TO RAISE BLACK AMERICANS’ HOPES FOR REPARATIONS

Texas Democrat Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee introduced the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act in the House earlier this year, though H.R. 40 originally had been introduced by former Michigan Democrat Rep. John Conyers over 30 years ago, in 1989.

Jackson Lee called the legislation “long overdue” and said the measure would ensure Congress could develop reparation proposals to address “stark societal disparities.”

“Do not cancel us tonight, do not ignore the pain, the history and the reasonableness of this commission,” Jackson Lee said to the GOP members of the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday.

While the commission does not mandate reparations in the form of financial repayments, Jackson Lee told the committee it “provides a roadmap for the truth and the brutality” that slavery and Jim Crow era laws inflicted on the Blacks in the U.S.

REPARATIONS COMING? SHEILA JACKSON LEE REINTRODUCES BILL FOR EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE

But not all African Americans are in agreement over the importance of reparations and whether they will benefit Black communities.

Republican Rep. Burgess Owens, a Black man from Utah, argued that “reparations is divisiveness” and a policy that suggests Blacks need Whites in order get ahead in the U.S.

“We are not a hapless, hopeless race,” Burgess said before adding, “Blame the ideology…not White people.”

Burgess argued that requiring non-Black Americans to pay reparations is a “judgment” and racist.

“Saying that because of your skin color, you owe me – that is not the American way, we are not racist people,” he added.

Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy asked how a system of reparations could be fairly distributed, noting that there were White Americans who fought for the Union, advocating for the end of slavery. He further asked about Black Americans who also purchased slaves.

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Jackson Lee pointed out that reparations are about more than financial payments to black individuals, but are a means to evaluate how historical policies have affected Blacks today and their access to economic opportunities.

“H.R. 40 is to answer the question of perfection,” Jackson Lee said Wednesday, referencing the preamble in the Constitution that states the U.S. seeks “a more perfect union.”

The vote will head to the House chamber for its first floor vote since its introduction 30 years ago.

Daughter of fallen Capitol Police officer may long remember Rotunda tribute — thanks to a toy

It’s possible that 7-year-old Abigail Evans will always have that small, squishy, foam rubber souvenir of the Capitol Dome.

When she’s a teenager, perhaps 30 or 40 years from now, maybe even when Abigail’s a senior citizen. She’ll likely recall how she fiddled with that model of the Capitol Dome as she sat inside the Capitol Rotunda itself, and watched the nation salute her father.

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans gave his life defending the Capitol on Good Friday. Noah Green plowed a blue Nissan Altima over Evans as he guarded the north entrance to the Capitol. Green also hit USCP Officer Kenny Shaver, crashed the Altima into a steel barricade, and leaped from the vehicle, waving a machete.

SLAIN CAPITOL OFFICER WILLIAM ‘BILLY’ EVANS LIES IN HONOR AT ROTUNDA

Family members of U.S. Capitol Police Officer William Evans, including wife Shannon Terranova, their 9-year-old son Logan and 7-year-old daughter Abigail, watch as his casket is carried by a joint service honor guard down the East Front steps of the Capitol after lying in honor in the Rotunda on April 13, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)

Lord only knows what would come next.

Other officers shot and killed Green.

Shaver survived, but Evans did not. He was killed right there on the Senate concrete. The very post at which he stood daily, greeting senators, waving in staff members. Evans smiled at yours truly on his last morning on Earth as I trudged up Capitol Hill and flashed my orange press credential in his direction.

And so Congress paid Evans one of its highest homages inside the very Capitol he died protecting.

It was the second time the Capitol Rotunda shifted into a sanctuary for mourning this year. Another salute to an officer who died defending democracy. Evans became the sixth American to “lie in honor” in the center of the Capitol Rotunda. Protocol officials swaddled Evans’s casket with a crisp American flag, resting 180 feet beneath a fresco which depicts George Washington rising into heaven.

House Chaplain Margaret Grun Kibben delivered the invocation for Evans’ service. Kibben began with the same, polite petition she uses daily to begin daily House sessions.

“Will you pray with me?” asked Kibben of those in the Rotunda.

Evans’ body lay at the literal center of American democracy. It’s the same spot where his colleague, USCP Officer Brian Sicknick, laid in honor in February. Sicknick died from injuries the day after the January 6 riot. This is the same geometric spot where Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Henry Clay and Ronald Reagan also lay after they passed on.

“Sanctify this place, for this hallowed hall is stained with our tears. Its luster, dulled by our grief,” prayed Kibben in the Rotunda.

Evans’s daughter Abigail wore a crushed velvet dress. She sat in a black chair, feet straining to reach the marble floor. Abigail embraced her mother, Shannon Evans, wiping away her tears. Her nine-year-old brother Logan clutched a stuffed animal.

Capitol Police officers and National Guard troops saluted as an honor guard looked on at Evans casket.

During her remarks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D.-Calif., told the assembly that Evans’s mother expressed concern “for the children.”

President Biden made his second appearance in the Rotunda this year. He visited in February to honor Sicknick.

The President drew from tragedy that struck his own family over the years. He made it clear to the Evans family that their anguish was familiar.

“I have some idea of what you’re feeling like,” said Biden.

Mr. Biden’s 1-year-old daughter Naomi and first wife Neila died just before Christmas, 1972 in a car crash. His son Beau died from brain cancer in 2015.

“You know everybody means well. You feel like saying, ‘You have no idea,’” said the President.

Few grasp exactly how this anguished process unfolds better than the 46th President of the United States.

Virtually no one had heard the name of U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Kyle King. That was, until Biden spoke of King in the Capitol Rotunda.

“Sergeant Kyle King,” said Mr. Biden. “I’m sorry you had to make the call. That telephone call that every family dreads when they have a son or daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister in uniform. Every morning they pin that badge on, go to work and expect to come home. In the back of your minds, ‘We’ll never get that call.’”

The president told the Evans family to take note of a “fragrance” or a “memory” or a “circumstance.” It would remind them of Billy.

US CAPITOL SECURITY WORKED AGAINST ONE THREAT, BUT VULNERABILITIES REMAIN AGAINST A CROWD

“I promise you. It’s going to come. It just takes a while. It takes a while,” said President Biden. “But when it comes, you’ll know. Because he’s still with you. He’s still in your heart.”

As Pelosi spoke, Abigail toyed with her small, foam rubber Capitol Dome. Suddenly, the Dome spilled out of Abigail’s hands. It spiraled on the Rotunda floor like a top, finally resting near the President’s chair. Abigail went to grab it, but Biden sprung from his seat. Biden scooped the miniature Dome off the marble. He casually offered it back to Abigail like he was handing her a piece of chewing gum.

“A greater compliment does no one have than the President of the United States, looking after your toys,” observed Pelosi.

That’s the “fragrance” or the “memory” or the “gesture” Biden spoke of.

An older Abigail might place that souvenir Capitol Dome in a safe place at home. A cherished place. Perhaps next to a picture of her fallen father. Or by an American flag from his funeral. And Abigail will remember, that as her dad laid in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, she dropped that foam rubber replica on the floor.

And then the most powerful person on the planet handed the toy back to her.

This was a gesture Officer Evans may have appreciated. He liked to play and toys, too. Evans built with Legos. Dueled with lightsabers from Star Wars. Enjoyed mini golf.

“To know Billy Evans was to know – to borrow from Shakespeare – a ‘fellow of infinite jest,’” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “His childhood friends will tell you that Billy capitalized, literally, on every opportunity for a joke.”

Schumer observed that “through all of life’s tragedies, Billy could search every moment for that spark of joy. So can we.”

And there was that “infinite jest.” That “spark of joy.” An errant toy, rolling around on the Capitol Rotunda floor during a moment of grief – suddenly snatched up by the President of the United States – and returned to a sad, 7-year-old girl.

A squishy, foam rubber toy.

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Now, an indelible tribute, to a U.S. Capitol Police Officer and his defense of democracy.

Brooklyn Center mayor letting ‘political activists’ control him, police union leader claims

Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Mayor Mike Elliott, has been bowing to pressure from “political activists,” following Sunday’s police shooting death of Daunte Wright, a police union official claimed Wednesday.

Brian Peters, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, made the remarks during an interview on Minneapolis radio station WCCO-AM. Peters previously served as police commander in Brooklyn Center, the Twin Cities suburb where police said Wright, 20, was fatally shot by police Officer Kim Potter on Sunday.

“If you watch that press conference, you can see the community activists ran that press conference,” Peters said, referring to one of the mayor’s appearances before reporters this week.

BROOKLYN CENTER MAYOR DEFENDS MEDIA PRESENCE FOLLOWING DAUNTE WRIGHT SHOOTING, ONGOING RIOTS

“If I were the mayor, I would not allow the political activists [to] run the show,” he added.

“If I were the mayor, I would not allow the political activists [to] run the show.”

— Brian Peters, executive director, Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association

Peters asserted that departed City Manager Curt Boganey, who was fired this week, and police Chief Tim Gannon, who resigned, were “political pawns” used by Elliott, whom Peters claimed was in “way over his head” in dealing with the fallout from the Wright shooting death.

Boganey had been criticized for saying Potter was entitled to “due process,” while Elliott called for Potter’s firing. Gannon drew criticism for claiming the shooting was accidental.

Elliott, an immigrant from Liberia, has been Brooklyn Center’s mayor since January 2019.

Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Mayor Mike Elliott speaks to reporters April 12, 2021. (Getty Images)

“The decisions that this mayor is making is completely just nothing like I’ve ever seen,” Peters said.

In the same interview, Peters said Wright’s non-compliance with police officers set off “a chain of events” that led to his death after a traffic stop Sunday.

Potter, a veteran officer who resigned Tuesday, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death and was out on bond Wednesday night.

Wright should have ‘just complied’

During the radio interview, Peters said non-compliance from the public was a growing concern for police officers as they perform their duties.

“This is going to be an unpopular statement,” Peters said, according to WCCO. “Daunte Wright, if he would have just complied – he was told he was under arrest, they were arresting him on a warrant for weapons – he set off a chain of events that unfortunately led to his death.

“Daunte Wright … set off a chain of events that unfortunately led to his death.”

— Brian Peters, executive director, Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association

“I’m not excusing it,” Peters added, referring to Potter allegedly shooting Wright, which police have attributed to Potter mistaking her service weapon for a stun gun. “But we’re seeing in policing these days is that non-compliance by the public.”

Former police Officer Kim Potter, right, is facing criminal charges in the shooting death of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

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Peters added that many police officers in Minnesota have built up trust over the years with the communities they serve – and periodic police shootings, while tragic, shouldn’t negate the hard work that many officers have done.

“To cast a dark shadow over the majority of police officers in this state, I think, is unwarranted,” Peters told WCCO.

Cotton says Dems will do anything for power amid Supreme Court packing move

Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, took to Twitter late Wednesday to excoriate Democrats over their soon-to-be-announced plan to expand the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The move, although dramatic, has been somewhat expected.

COTTON: EVERY COP IN AMERICA SHOULD BE AFRAID OF BIDEN’S DOJ PICK

During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden was criticized by Republicans for appearing elusive when asked about whether he would pack the court. Biden said he would tell Americans after the election his position but eventually said that he is “not a fan” of the idea.

In January, he announced that a bipartisan group of scholars would study potential changes to the federal judiciary.

Cotton, who was once reportedly considered for the High Court during Donald Trump’s presidency, tweeted that packing the bench would “destroy” the institution.

“The Democrats will do anything for power,” he posted. Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, also tweeted, “The moderate left is gone.”

“This is who they are now,” he posted. “Open borders. Outlawing voter ID. Free healthcare for illegal migrants. And now court packing.”

The Intercept reported on Wednesday that the legislation—that will be unveiled Thursday– will propose expanding the court to 13 justices, from nine. The Supreme Court has had nine justices since the 19th century, though it is not required by the Constitution.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the commission a “direct assault on our nation’s independent judiciary.”

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Democrats were angered last year by Trump’s effort to push through Amy Coney Barrett as a replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the Nov. 3 election. She was eventually confirmed.

TOP SENATE JUDICIARY DEM BACKS DOJ CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION NOMINEE KRISTEN CLARKE AMID RESURFACED PAST COMMENTS

“That’s the court-packing the public should be focused on,” Biden said in October.

Fox News’ Brittany De Lea and the Associated Press contributed to this report

Minnesota Democrat group threatens government shutdown if police reforms aren’t passed: report

A group of Minnesota Democrats want to pass new restrictions on the state’s police departments following the shooting death of Daunte Wright – and they’re threatening to shut down the government in order to get their way.

The move by a dozen Democratic lawmakers from the People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus comes as legislators look ahead to a July 1 deadline for passing the next state budget, FOX 9 of Minneapolis reported.

If a spending plan isn’t approved by that date, the state government will shut down, according to the station.

State Republicans have already agreed to hold hearings on police accountability in the coming weeks but are not promising any changes to police policies, FOX 9 reported.

MINNESOTA PROTESTER TELLS FOX REPORTER: ONLY WAY THINGS CHANGE IS ‘IF PEOPLE START THRPOWING THINGS’

“I’m not promising that we’re going to do more reform,” GOP Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka told the station. “I’m promising to listen to see if something is warranted.”

“I’m not promising that we’re going to do more reform. I’m promising to listen to see if something is warranted.”

— Paul Gazelka, Minnesota GOP Senate majority leader

Police changes passed in 2020, after the police-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, seemed sufficient, Gazelka told reporters earlier in the week, FOX 9 reported.

The state’s two top Democrats – Speaker Melissa Hortman and Majority Leader Ryan Winkler – did not endorse the POCI plan outright, saying only “our caucus will work together to determine our next steps,” according to FOX 9.

On Wednesday morning, members of POCI gathered outside police headquarters in Brooklyn Center, the Twin Cities suburb where Wright was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop on Sunday. The officer who police say fired the shot has resigned and was free on bond Wednesday night after being arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter.

BEN CRUMP: POLICE, ESPECIALLY IN MINNESOTA, SHOULD BE ON ‘THEIR GREATEST BEHAVIOR’

“We don’t want fact-finding hearings, we want them to pass legislation,” state Sen. Patricia Torres Ray, a Democrat from Minneapolis, said at the news conference. She claimed Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, was “ready to support” the POCI proposals.

A crowd gathers outside police headquarters in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, April 12, 2021. (Associated Press)

Walz spokesman Teddy Tschann told FOX 9 the governor backed some portions of the plan, including creating a fund for supporting the family members of police shooting victims and bolstering community oversight of local forces.

According to FOX 9, the POCI lawmakers – members of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party – say they want to see numerous changes made to police policies and procedures in the state.

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For example, the lawmakers want a ban on traffic stops for vehicle equipment violations, such as excessive window tinting or busted tail lights. They’re also calling for limits on the use of so-called “no-knock” warrants.

The Democrats also are calling for an end to qualified immunity, which shields police officers from facing civil lawsuits in many situations.

The lawmakers also want police throughout the state to use standardized procedures regarding crowd control, according to FOX 9.

Sen. Kennedy urges public to ‘wait and try to get the facts about what happened’ in Daunte Wright shooting

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., joined “Hannity” Wednesday to respond to the death of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota and the arrest of former police officer Kim Potter on a charge of second-degree manslaughter.

KENNEDY: In terms of this entire discussion about police officers and race, it seems to me — I can tell you what I believe, Sean. I don’t think most or even many Americans are racist. I don’t think most Americans even think that much about race. I think they think about character. I don’t think that most cops are racist. In fact many of our police departments are majority-minority. I think they do the best they can.

This instance that happened, it was just horrible. It was horrible for the person killed, for the person’s family. It’s horrible for the police officer. I think we owe it to ourselves and to them to, let’s just wait and try to get the facts about what happened. It doesn’t appear to me that the officer did it intentionally. And I’m not pretending to be a criminal lawyer and saying she committed this crime or that crime. But I think we owe it to all of us, ourselves and them, to wait and let’s just get the facts.

…

You know, one other quick point. When a radical Muslim jihadist blows up a school, were always told, “Don’t judge all people of the Muslim faith by the acts of a few, and I agree with that. How come the same rule doesn’t apply to police officers?”

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US poised to announce sanctions on Russia: report

The Biden administration is preparing to announce sanctions in response to a massive Russian hacking campaign that breached vital federal agencies, as well as for election interference, a senior administration official said Wednesday night.

The sanctions, foreshadowed for weeks by the administration, would represent the first retaliatory action announced against the Kremlin for last year’s hack, familiarly known as the SolarWinds breach. In that intrusion, Russian hackers are believed to have infected widely used software with malicious code that enabled them to access the networks of at least nine agencies, part of what U.S. officials believe was an operation aimed at mining the secrets of the American government.

The measures are to be announced Thursday, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

BIDEN UN AMBASSADOR SAYS WHITE SUPREMACY ‘WEAVED’ INTO AMERICA’S ‘FOUNDING DOCUMENTS’

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Coordination Center of the Russian Government in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, April 13, 2021. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

It was not immediately clear what, if any, other actions might be planned. Officials had previously said they expected to take actions both seen and unseen.

The measures are intended to send a clear retributive message to Russia and to deter similar acts in the future. They come amid an already tense relationship between the U.S. and Russia, with President Joe Biden telling Russian President Vladimir Putin this week that the U.S. would “act firmly in defense of its national interests” regarding Russian intrusions and election interference. But it remained unclear whether the actions would actually result in changed behavior, especially since past measures by the U.S. have failed to bring an end to Russian hacking.

BIDEN PROPOSES SUMMIT WITH PUTIN IN COMING MONTHS

U.S. officials are still grappling with the aftereffects of the SolarWinds intrusion, which affected agencies including the Treasury, Justice, Energy and Homeland Security departments, and are still assessing what information may have been stolen. The breach exposed vulnerabilities in the supply chain as well as weaknesses in the federal government’s own cyber defenses.

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The actions would represent the second major round of sanctions imposed by the Biden administration against Russia. Last month, the U.S. sanctioned seven mid-level and senior Russian officials, along with more than a dozen government entities, over a nearly fatal nerve-agent attack on opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his subsequent jailing.

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Wright should have ‘just complied’

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