Summary
It’s 4pm in DC. As we head into the weekend, here’s a look at the day’s biggest developments:
Senator Kyrsten Sinema has announced she is leaving the party and has registered as an independent. The dramatic news comes just three days after Raphael Warnock’s re-election in Georgia gave the Democratic party what they thought was a 51-49 majority in the chamber (which includes the two other Senate independents Angus King of Maine, and Vermont’s Bernie Sanders).
The White House said that Kyrsten Sinema’s defection “does not change Democratic Senate control” and did not reveal whether Joe Biden got a heads-up prior to her announcement. “We do not discuss private conversations that we have with members of Congress. [But] he sees, and we see, Senator Sinema as a key partner on some of the most historic pieces of legislation that you will all have covered in this administration. We understand her decision to register as an independent in Arizona. The way we see it and understand it, it does not change the new Democratic majority control of the Senate,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader, has issued a brief statement on the decision by Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema to sit in the chamber as an independent. “Senator Sinema informed me of her decision to change her affiliation to independent. She asked me to keep her committee assignments and I agreed. Kyrsten is independent; that’s how she’s always been. I believe she’s a good and effective senator and am looking forward to a productive session in the new Democratic majority Senate,” he said.
The Treasury Department announced on Friday that it is sanctioning a group of companies and people linked to illegal fishing operations and human rights abuses in Chinese waters. The Cayman Islands-registered fishing company Pingtan Marine Enterprise, Ltd, which maintains boats based in China and has stock traded on the Nasdaq, was identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control for sanctions. The US accuses the company of illegally shipping endangered species and abusing crew members through its subsidiaries and fleet of over 100 fishing boats.
Russia wouldn’t release Paul Whelan without the US setting free a former colonel from the country’s domestic spy organization currently in German custody, CNN reported on Friday, adding another twist to the Brittney Griner saga. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn’t confirm the story at her afternoon press briefing, but the network says Russia wanted Vadim Krasikov, who is serving a life sentence for murder.
Joe Biden plans to announce at next week’s US-Africa summit in Washington DC that he supports adding the African Union as a permanent member of the Group of 20 nations, the Associated Press reports, citing the White House. The African Union represents the continent’s 54 countries. The G20 is composed of the world’s major industrial and emerging economies and represents more than 80% of the world’s gross domestic product. South Africa is currently the only African member of the G20.
Updated
The Treasury Department announced on Friday that it is sanctioning a group of companies and people linked to illegal fishing operations and human rights abuses in Chinese waters.
One company is accused of maintaining working conditions so dangerous that five workers died after 13 months at sea, with three of the workers’ bodies dumped into the ocean rather than repatriated to their homes, the Associated Press reports.
The Cayman Islands-registered fishing company Pingtan Marine Enterprise, Ltd., which maintains boats based in China and has stock traded on the Nasdaq, was identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control for sanctions.
The US has accused the company of illegally shipping endangered species and abusing crew members through its subsidiaries and fleet of more than 100 fishing boats.
The Biden administration also says two individuals, Li Zhenyu and Xinrong Zhuo, along with Dalian Ocean Fishing Co Ltd. and other companies engaged in illegal unreported fishing.
A senior department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the US action, said on a call with reporters that Dalian employs crew members who work an average of 18 hours a day, live off expired food and drink dirty water.
The action on Friday identifies 157 Chinese fishing vessels in which sanctioned companies and people have an interest.
The sanctioned companies’ property and interests in the US will be blocked and American companies that do business with the sanctioned entities will have to wind down their ties with them.
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