Joe Biden

53% of Georgia voters are unhappy with Joe Biden’s performance

President Joe Biden’s approval rating in Georgia – nationally regarded as one of several key swing states in the 2022 midterm election and the presidential race in 2024 – is declining, according to a new survey. A Civiqs survey released last week show 53% of Georgia voters disapprove of the job Biden is doing as president, compared to 40% who do approve and 7% nether approving nor disapproving. Nationally, 50% of voters disapprove of the job Biden is doing as president, while just 42% approve, and 8% neither approving nor disapproving. Civiqs surveyed 1,271 registered voters from Aug. 28-31, 2021. The survey…

Fightin’ Words: Kemp and Biden spar over vaccine mandates

The war of words between President Joe Biden and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp over new White House COVID mandates continued Friday afternoon, with Kemp accusing the administration of playing “pandemic politics.”“Look, the public already doesn’t trust the federal government because of the mixed messages about the coronavirus,” Kemp told Capitol Beat. “This is pandemic politics from a president who promised to unite the country, but instead is dividing us.”On Thursday, the Biden White House issued a new, six-pronged series of COVID mandates, including a requirement for all employers with more than 100 workers to mandate either vaccinations or weekly tests. “This…

As Biden mandates COVID vaccines, Kemp threatens to sue

Gov. Brian Kemp quickly vowed to go to court and other Georgia Republicans responded with angry charges of government overreach after President Joe Biden outlined a plan of expansive new federal vaccine requirements to attack the surge of COVID-19. More than 80 million employees of private businesses in the U.S. will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing as part of the Biden administration’s latest strategy for combating the still-surging coronavirus pandemic. The upcoming vaccine rule for companies with at least 100 employees is one plank of an increasingly aggressive effort by the White House to ensure…

How to watch Joe Biden’s speech on the pandemic today

As the delta variant of COVID-19 surges and hospitals overflow, President Joe Biden is set to address the nation Thursday at 5 p.m. to unveil his new six point plan to combat the virus. Details of the plan have not been released, but vaccine mandates are expected to play a prominent role. If you are planning to watch the speech, it should be carried on the major networks ABC, NBC, and CBS, as well as cable news stations like CNN. The White House will also be streaming the address live at this link. In Georgia, the pandemic has taken 20,298…

Georgians react to crisis in Afghanistan

President Joe Biden addressed the nation Monday and defended his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan despite the rapid takeover of the country by the Taliban. In Georgia, residents were quick to share their opinions of Biden's actions, the overall effort in Afghanistan and the Taliban's swift advance back to power. Below are some local reactions posted on social media. https://twitter.com/Meagan_M_Hanson/status/1426966946969526278 https://twitter.com/C4CEO/status/1427661774145339398 https://twitter.com/miltonlaura/status/1427638905088708608 https://twitter.com/DennisMurray/status/1427589653994119168 https://twitter.com/FlanaganLovesGA/status/1427578477839069187 https://twitter.com/ATramblay/status/1427569249086840833

Find out what Pete Buttigieg said in metro Atlanta today

The Biden administration Friday completed a weeklong push for a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure bill now before the U.S. Senate with the appearance of a third Cabinet official in metro Atlanta. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg toured the Curiosity Lab, a testing space for innovative automotive technology in Peachtree Corners, then stopped by the MARTA rail station in Doraville. “We see here how state and local partners, public and private, already are working to create our transportation future,” Buttigieg said at the Curiosity Lab. “It’s time for the federal government to step up, too.” The infrastructure bill includes $550 billion in…

Here’s how much Georgia candidates have raised in statewide races

The slow drip of campaign fundraising reports culminated Thursday with a few surprises as state-level politicking begins to ramp up again with Georgia poised for a return to the national spotlight. It’s still early to draw many conclusions, and some races – most notably, the governor’s race – are not even fully set. But Thursday’s campaign fundraising deadline gave some candidates a chance to flex their fundraising muscle as the 2022 matchups begin to take shape. Governor’s race: Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s is socking away millions in anticipation of a hard-fought reelection bid. He reported raising $3.9 million during the last…

Justice Department sues Georgia over voting restrictions

The U.S. Justice Department announced today that it plans to sue the state of Georgia over the state's new voting laws, which opponents of the law have called restrictive. The lawsuit is the latest chapter in the fight between Republicans and Democrats over voting laws and voting rights in Georgia. While Georgia's Republican Governor and Republican Secretary of State have stood behind the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, both have been ardent supporters of election reforms made by Republican lawmakers on the heels of the election. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp have…

Biden administration puts brakes on Georgia’s plan to ditch healthcare.gov

The Biden administration is sending a key component of Gov. Brian Kemp’s health-insurance reform plan back to the drawing board. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directing the state to revisit the data supporting a waiver Georgia is seeking from the Affordable Care Act that would substitute a private-sector alternative to the federal government’s healthcare.gov insurance exchange. The waiver won approval from then-President Donald Trump’s HHS last November. But in a letter to Kemp dated Thursday, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of HHS’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), pointed to changes in both policy and federal…

Biden halts immigrant detention at Georgia jail under investigation for inmate abuse

The Biden administration has ordered the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla and a second county jail in Massachusetts to stop housing immigrant detainees, The Washington Post reported Thursday. An order signed by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is part of a broader review of how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) handles immigrant detainees. Both the Irwin County facility and the jail in Bristol County, Mass., are under federal investigation following complaints of abuses of detainees. However, the decision was made to stop holding immigrants at the two sites because the number of detainees has declined,…

Georgia to unemployed residents: Get back to work

Georgia is joining a growing number of Republican-led states in cutting off federal unemployment benefits to incentivize out-of-work employees to return to work. Gov. Brian Kemp said in an interview with Fox News Thursday that the Georgia Department of Labor will stop issuing $300 weekly checks to jobless workers effective June 26. The governor’s remarks came three days after a coalition of statewide business organizations spearheaded by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce released an op-ed complaining companies can’t find workers for a growing list of job openings because unemployed Georgians are receiving more in state and federal jobless benefits than…

Here’s what Joe Biden said during his visit to Georgia Thursday

Marking his 100th day in office, President Joe Biden swung through metro Atlanta Thursday to highlight Georgia’s pivotal role in securing his election and easing passage of his legislative priorities. Biden, the first Democratic presidential nominee to carry Georgia since 1992, spoke at a drive-in rally in Duluth where he pressed for support to hike taxes on high-wage earners and corporations, plus national legislation to curb some impacts from Georgia’s recent controversial voting law changes. Biden was joined by First Lady Jill Biden and several Georgia leaders at the Duluth stop including U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, whose…

Joe Biden is coming to Georgia today. Here’s why

Joe Biden will make his way to Georgia this afternoon, where he plans to a drive-in car rally. Today officially marks Biden's 100th day in office, and he is returning to a state he turned blue in the November election to talk about the proposals in his American Families plan. Biden laid out many aspects of the plan during his Presidential Address Wednesday evening and now begins a campaign to sell the ideas to the public and to Congress, where he faces an uphill battle getting the plan to pass in the U.S. Senate. Prior to his speech, Biden and…

Georgians react to Biden’s presidential address

Marking his first 100 days in office, President Joe Biden gave his first joint address to Congress Wednesday night. The speech is usually called the State of the Union, but is called a Presidential Address when given during a president's first year in office. During the speech, Biden addressed a paired down House chamber with fewer members of congress, all of whom were socially distanced and wearing masks. Biden pitched his American Families Plan, the cornerstone project of his agenda. Highlights of the American Families Plan include: At least four years of free college educationDirect support for families who need…

Black faith leaders bash Abrams and Biden over election law statements

(The Center Square) – A group of Black ministers and pastors have published a full-page ad against President Joe Biden and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to combat their criticisms of the state's new election law. In the ad, which appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Conservative Clergy of Color accused Biden and Abrams of lying about the new voting rules passed in the Georgia Election Integrity Act of 2021. The law has received criticism and backlash from business leaders and community leaders since it was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp last month. Most notably, Major League Baseball pulled…