President Biden dismissed Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul on Friday after he refused a request to resign, the Washington Post first reported.
Why it matters: Saul, who was nominated to the position by former President Trump in 2018, had a chaotic six-month term in the Biden administration, during which advocates for the elderly and the disabled urged the White House to terminate him over his anti-union stances and policies designed to restrict benefits.
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The Interior Department suspended nearly a dozen oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday, the agency announced.
Why it matters: The move, which will require a new environmental analysis, will undo former President Trump's most significant environmental actions in his final days in office.
General Motors plans to boost its cumulative investment in electric and autonomous vehicles to $35 billion from 2020-2025, a significant jump from a $27 billion target.
Driving the news: GM said this morning that the initiative will include building two new battery cell manufacturing plants in addition to the two already under construction in Tennessee and Ohio.
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) sent a letter to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency encouraging the group to rethink sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson's one-month suspension for recreational marijuana use.
What they're saying: "We urge you to reconsider the policies that led to this and other suspensions for recreational marijuana use, and to reconsider Ms. Richardson’s suspension. Please strike a blow for civil liberties and civil rights by reversing this course you are on," Ocasio-Cortez and Raskin said.
Venture capitalists invested $288 billion in the first half of 2021, an all-time record, per Crunchbase.
By the numbers: Venture capitalists invested $140 billion into U.S.-based startups in the first half of 2021, anall-time record, per Ernst & Young. At that pace, the 2020 total should be surpassed in a matter of days.
