Biden White House tries to craft gun executive orders that can’t be undone

The White House is trying to craft a series of executive actions for President Joe Biden to sign to try to limit gun violence, hoping they cannot be quickly dismantled in court, according to aides and gun safety groups.

Among the measures being considered – and strongly encouraged by activists – is one directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reinterpret existing law on untraceable “ghost guns.”

So-called “ghost gun” kits are self-assembled from parts purchased online or at gun shows and are increasingly associated with crimes. But they are not classified as firearms and so can be legally sold without serial numbers or background checks.

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U.S. Supreme Court weighs taking up major gun rights case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday discussed taking up a major new gun rights case involving a National Rifle Association-backed challenge to a New York state law that restricts the ability of residents to carry concealed handguns in public.

It was among the cases on the agenda at the private weekly conference of the justices. There is heightened concern about gun violence in the United States following a pair of mass shootings in a span of a week, one in Georgia and the other in Colorado, that killed a total of 18 people.

Two gun owners and the New York affiliate of the NRA, an influential gun rights group closely aligned with Republicans, are asking the justices to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling throwing out their challenge to a policy that requires a state resident to show “proper cause” to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun outside the home.

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New York sues to shut down ‘fraudulent’ Coinseed crypto platform

New York’s attorney general filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to shut down the cryptocurrency platform Coinseed Inc for allegedly defrauding thousands of investors, including by charging hidden trading fees and selling “worthless” digital tokens.

Attorney General Letitia James said Coinseed traded cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin without registering as a broker-dealer, and sold “CSD” tokens without authorization to raise money for its mobile application startup.

James also sued Coinseed Chief Executive Delgerdalai Davaasambuu and Chief Financial Officer Sukhbat Lkhagvadorj, saying they overstated the midtown Manhattan-based company’s management experience, while Lkhagvadorj misrepresented himself as a former Wall Street trader.

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Biden $15 minimum wage plan would cut 1.4 million jobs in 2025: CBO

 U.S. President Joe Biden’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by June 2025 would reduce employment by 1.4 million jobs that year and increase the U.S. budget deficit by $54 billion over the 10 years from 2021 to 2031, the Congressional Budget Office said on Monday.

In its cost assessment of Biden’s “Raise the Wage Act of 2021,” the non-partisan legislative budget referee agency said that the minimum wage increase also would lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty in 2025.

The CBO said the wage increase proposal would increase, on net the cumulative pay of affected people by $333 billion over the 2021-2031 period but noted that this represented an increased labor cost for firms employing them.

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House Democrats ask Trump to testify at his impeachment trial

 The Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives who will prosecute former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial asked him to testify next week about his conduct before hundreds of his supporters launched a deadly attack on the Capitol.

The House last month impeached Trump on a charge of inciting insurrection in a fiery speech urging his followers to “fight” his election defeat shortly before they stormed the Capitol, fighting with police and sending lawmakers scrambling for their safety.

Trump’s attorneys this week rejected the charge, contending that he “fully and faithfully executed his duties as president” and asserting that his claims that his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud – which were baseless – were protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

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