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Stop senators from blocking federal judges

Last February, Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, abruptly decided to block a nomination for a federal judgeship, though Mr. Johnson actually recommended the nominee just eight months before. Why the reversal? It was never very clear. Mr. Johnson said it was because the candidate, Judge William Pocan of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, didn’t live in Green Bay, where the federal district is. But Judge Pocan didn’t live in Green Bay when Mr. Johnson first recommended him and, at any rate, offered to move to the city if he got the job. Was it because Judge Pocan had ...

Clean energy bill reasonable, necessary

The clean energy bill passed by the Minnesota Legislature with the support of Gov. Tim Walz has us imagining what a carbon free energy Minnesota will be like in 2040. That’s a positive thought that doesn’t come easily in today’s world. While many of us may not be around to see it, our children and grandchildren will, and finally, we can say we’re doing something for their future instead of leaving them a planet on fire. The legislation, whose chief Senate author was Sen. Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, stands as one of the most consequential efforts ever to preserve and ...

Rebuilding our trust

The news cycle continued to overwhelm us with apt outrage over Tyre Nichols’ fatal encounter with police officers in Memphis, Tennessee. The video is disturbing, sickening in its brutality. The five Black officers have been fired and charged with murder and other crimes in the Jan. 10 death of Nichols, a 29-year-old skateboarder and FedEx worker. He also was the father to a 4-year-old boy. The scenario has become far too common. According to The Associated Press, nationwide, police have killed roughly three people per day consistently since 2020, according to academics and ...

Keep working on police reform

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House in 2021 but stalled in the Senate, would not have prevented the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, who is being laid to rest Wednesday in Memphis. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) cites this as a rationale for inaction. “I don’t know that there’s any law that can stop that evil that we saw,” he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” This is the same excuse the country has heard to justify blocking sensible gun restrictions after countless mass shootings, and it’s just as lame. While there’s no ...

Paying nation’s bills responsible thing to do

After he was elected speaker on the 15th ballot, Kevin McCarthy promised that the U.S. House under Republican leadership would protect the national economy, saying that the party was committed to “stop wasteful Washington spending, to lower the price of groceries, gas, cars, housing, and stop the rising national debt.” But there is more to sound economic stewardship than controlling future spending. The government must also pay the bills Congress has run up in the past, even if that means further borrowing. McCarthy and his fellow Republicans need to recognize that reality and stop ...

Providing safe haven status to Hong Kong citizens right thing to do

Bravo to the Biden Administration, which on Thursday extended temporary safe haven status for another two years to Hong Kong citizens currently in the U.S. The decision will protect thousands of residents of the once autonomous city where dissent and support for democracy have been criminalized. The U.S. first offered safety to Hong Kongers in August 2021, with some 5,600 who were already here eligible. President Biden said on Thursday that Beijing “has continued its assault on Hong Kong’s autonomy, undermining its remaining democratic processes and institutions, imposing limits on ...