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The Justice Department announced plans Wednesday to abandon lawsuits against police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, a reversal of Biden-era initiatives to reform policing in two cities that sparked a national reckoning around racial justice. The Civil Rights Division will be taking all necessary steps to dismiss the Louisville and Minneapolis lawsuits with prejudice, to close the underlying investigations into the Louisville and Minneapolis police departments, and to retract the Biden administrations findings of constitutional violations, the Justice Department said in a press release. The decision to back away from police reform comes just days before the five-year anniversary of George Floyds death. Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2021. The Justice Department also plans to throw out any findings of constitutional violations and close ongoing investigations into police departments in Phoenix; Trenton, New Jersey; Memphis; Oklahoma City; and the state of Louisiana. Reversing Bidens planned policing reforms Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, characterized the Biden administrations lawsuits as part of an anti-police agenda. Today, we are ending the Biden Civil Rights Divisions failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments with factually unjustified consent decrees, Dhillon said. The policy shift signals an aggressive return to the first Trump administrations disinterest in police oversight and a likely rollback of other federal reforms put in place over the last four years. In its waning days, the Biden administration rushed to finalize a Justice Department deal for police oversight in Minneapolis, securing unanimous approval from the Minneapolis City Council in early January. The agreement, known as a consent decree, was initiated in 2023 after a damning Justice Department report accused the Minneapolis Police Department of racial discrimination, First Amendment violations, and the unlawful use of deadly force. In both Minneapolis and Louisville, consent decrees still await a federal judges approval. A powerful tool for police accountability Consent decrees are one of the federal governments most powerful tools for holding police departments accountable for civil rights violations, dangerous policies, and the wrongful use of deadly force. The Department of Justice regularly pursues these long-term road maps for reform with law enforcement agencies facing federal lawsuits, creating a framework for oversight that can endure until a judge decides that its requirements have been met. During the the Obama administration, 15 law enforcement agencies entered into consent decrees with the Justice Department to resolve lawsuits around policingup from just three during the Bush era. During Trumps first term, the Justice Department introduced only one new investigation of its own and even made efforts to stall out planned reforms in Baltimore, though it ultimately failed. Most notably, Trumps then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions narrowed the scope of consent decrees, introducing new requirements for sunset dates and limiting the reforms they could require. Under Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland rescinded those sweeping Trump-era changes to consent reforms in 2021, clearing a path for the Justice Department to again leverage the powerful agreements when investigating law enforcement misdeeds and civil rights abuses. Trumps early agenda makes it clear that he plans to leave police departments to their own devices in the coming years. That hands-off approach puts the fate of some cities planned police reforms up in the air or, like much of Trumps agenda, up to the courts.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Senate unanimously passed the “No Tax on Tips Act” on Tuesday, a bill that would eliminate federal taxes on tips and that President Donald Trump made a campaign promise when running for reelection. It now goes to the House for a vote. If passed, the legislation would create a new tax deduction of up to $25,000 on income made from tips. The legislation comes as many Americans are feeling an added economic burden in the face of inflation, higher prices, and skyrocketing living costs. Here’s what you need to know. What is the No Tax on Tips Act? Bill S. 129, or the No Tax on Tips Act, creates a federal income tax deduction of up to $25,000 a year for certain types of cash tips for eligible employees. (These are cash tips that workers report to employers for withholdings on payroll taxes.) Who is eligible for for the tax break? The deduction applies to employees who earn up to $160,000 in 2025; that amount will likely increase with inflation in the years ahead and applies to tips received by an individual . . . in an occupation which traditionally and customarily received tips on or before December 31, 2023,” including tips via cash, credit and debit card, and check, according to The Washington Post. Who supports the bill? Both Republicans and Democrats support the bill. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas introduced it back in January. Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada brought the bill to the Senate floor, where it passed with unanimous consent, which usually happens with more routine legislative matters. Rosen, along with Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, also of Nevada, cosponsored the legislation. Who championed the No Tax on Tips Act? During the 2024 presidential election, both candidates Trump and Harris supported versions of the idea, with Trump making it a campaign promise during a June 2024 rally in Nevada, a state where 25% of workers rely on tips. According to The Hill, it was one way Trump set out to court working-class voters. What do critics say about the No Tax on Tips Act? The National Restaurant Association supports the bill; however, critics say eliminating taxes on tips is an empty win for many hourly workers who don’t make enough to pay federal income taxes. Critics also say it keeps workers at a lower overall pay rate, as opposed to creating a higher minimum wage. What happens next? The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for a vote. A version of No Tax on Tips is also included in Trump’s giant tax and immigration bill, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. On the Senate floor, Cruz said he was confident the bill would eventually pass either way.
Category:
E-Commerce
It was perhaps the worst kept secret in Silicon Valley. When he wasnt running his design firm LoveFrom, Jony Ive was building another new company, just around the corner in San Franciscos Jackson Square, called io. Focused on the future of AI hardwarewhat some have oversimplified as the iPhone of AIio was rumored to be the physical side of OpenAIs groundbreaking software. Now, the rumors are reality. OpenAI is acquiring io for $6.5 billion. From a news release: The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower, and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering, and product teams in San Francisco. As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io. LoveFrom will remain independent. It became clear that our ambitions to develop, engineer, and manufacture a new family of products demanded an entirely new company. And so, one year ago, Jony founded io with Scott Cannon, Evans Hankey, and Tang Tan. Scott Cannon led teams on the Mac and iPad development. Evans Hankey was a senior member of the Apple design team who took over Ives own role after he left Apple. Tang Tan led design on the iPhone for years. It takes no keen analysis to observe how proven and talented this team is at shipping impactful products. But what are they doing with OpenAI, exactly? The io team, focused on developing products that inspire, empower, and enable, will now merge with OpenAI to work more intimately with the research, engineering, and product teams in San Francisco. As io merges with OpenAI, Jony and LoveFrom will assume deep design and creative responsibilities across OpenAI and io. In other words, io will be making products, plural, for OpenAI, with an undisclosed timeline for release. What it all adds up to is, perhaps, the greatest called bluff in Silicon Valley history. Ive had already brought much of his design team with him when he founded LoveFrom. And others he brought to io. Now, the most hyped AI company of our age is teaming up with the makers of the most defining consumer hardware of the last century. Whatever they build together will define both of their legacies to come.
Category:
E-Commerce
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