Alejandro "Ale" Mayorkas is testifying on Capitol Hill today, as Biden's pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security - the 3rd largest federal agency.
It's not his first confirmation hearing -- previously nominated by Obama as Dep Sec in 2013, confirmed in 2014.
-FEMA should to ensure supply chain
-CISA (cyber security) should protect supply chain from cyber attacks and ensure other agencies' work protected
"the reach of the department is significant..."
"the threat of domestic extremism is one of the greatest challenges DHS confronts"
I&A (intel + analysis office) has critical role to play in partnering with state/locals to gather + share info
Mayorkas says wants to further "empower" I&A
Mayorkas: correct
Johnson: "There were children separated from their parents correct?"
Mayorkas: When I was Dep Sec, I "explicitly rejected" the policy to separate children from their parents.
(referring to border crossings)
Mayorkas: (whose prev boss, Sec. Johnson once said 1,000 crossings was 'bad day'-taxing resources) does not provide a number - says he looks forward to working with cmte in transparent way
Hassan: one thing to talk about info-sharing, another thing to coordinate. clearly we need to do better job of it.
Sen Scott, dialing into Mayorkas' confirmation hearing remotely, having audio issues
"can you hear me now?"
"maybe you can turn up your microphone? or come closer to the computer?"
Mayorkas: when I served as Dep Sec, met with Border Patrol...what I heard from them was we need a diverse approach to border security...in some instances, physical barrier, in others boots on the ground, in others tech, air + marine...
Mayorkas: Pres-elect Biden has committed to stop construction. Would be my responsibility to see through that. I have not looked at costs/benefits beyond that.
Mayorkas: ICE and CBP play critical roles in US govt and I would not abolish them
Says he looks forward to working towards reform of "broken" immigration system, as laid out in Biden's plans
(reimplementing DACA, strengthening TPS protections, etc)
"I am profoundly aware" of this growing threat
"My mother lost her paternal grandparents, 7 uncles, by reason of their Jewish faith, in the Holocaust. My mother fled her home, with her parents, because of the Holocaust."
"concerns about that...do you support mass amnesty, 11 million large number?"
Mayorkas:
Biden has committed to presenting Congress on Day1 with immigration reform bill to fix what we can all agree is broken system...
Mayorkas: i remember bipartisan legislation years ago with path to citizenship...spoke of certain requirements...(those who'd been here for years, had contributed to US, etc)...
More from Government
1 of 19) A number of tweets were posted by @LLinWood beginning late last night and into the morning. There are a total of 19. This thread has compiled all.
{“Shots fired across the bow”}
{Warning to traitors}
{Light will reveal the evil plans}
{You were warned traitors}
{“Shots fired across the bow”}
{Warning to traitors}
{Light will reveal the evil plans}
{You were warned traitors}
As background to tweets I am about to post, you should read this article carefully. I ask that you read each of my tweets carefully & decide if the information conveyed demands that Patriots rise up so that every lie will be revealed.@realDonaldTrumphttps://t.co/9KIX4DEtha
— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) January 4, 2021
Which metric is a better predictor of the severity of the fall surge in US states?
1) Margin of Democrat victory in Nov 2020 election
or
2) % infected through Sep 1, 2020
Can you guess which plot is which?
The left plot is based on the % infected through Sep 1, 2020. You can see that there is very little correlation with the % infected since Sep 1.
However, there is a *strong* correlation when using the margin of Biden's victory (right).
Infections % from https://t.co/WcXlfxv3Ah.
This is the strongest single variable I've seen in being able to explain the severity of this most recent wave in each state.
Not past infections / existing immunity, population density, racial makeup, latitude / weather / humidity, etc.
But political lean.
One can argue that states that lean Democrat are more likely to implement restrictions/mandates.
This is valid, so we test this by using the Government Stringency Index made by @UniofOxford.
We also see a correlation, but it's weaker (R^2=0.36 vs 0.50).
https://t.co/BxBBKwW6ta
To avoid look-ahead bias/confounding variables, here is the same analysis but using 2016 margin of victory as the predictor. Similar results.
This basically says that 2016 election results is a better predictor of the severity of the fall wave than intervention levels in 2020!
1) Margin of Democrat victory in Nov 2020 election
or
2) % infected through Sep 1, 2020
Can you guess which plot is which?
The left plot is based on the % infected through Sep 1, 2020. You can see that there is very little correlation with the % infected since Sep 1.
However, there is a *strong* correlation when using the margin of Biden's victory (right).
Infections % from https://t.co/WcXlfxv3Ah.
This is the strongest single variable I've seen in being able to explain the severity of this most recent wave in each state.
Not past infections / existing immunity, population density, racial makeup, latitude / weather / humidity, etc.
But political lean.
One can argue that states that lean Democrat are more likely to implement restrictions/mandates.
This is valid, so we test this by using the Government Stringency Index made by @UniofOxford.
We also see a correlation, but it's weaker (R^2=0.36 vs 0.50).
https://t.co/BxBBKwW6ta
To avoid look-ahead bias/confounding variables, here is the same analysis but using 2016 margin of victory as the predictor. Similar results.
This basically says that 2016 election results is a better predictor of the severity of the fall wave than intervention levels in 2020!
