Supreme court to hear challenges to Biden’s student debt relief plan – live

Signature policy at risk as conservatives argue president does not have authority to lessen debt burden

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Joe Biden’s plan to provide some student debt relief to tens of millions of Americans will be before the supreme court today, which will hear two cases brought by conservatives challenging the proposal. There’s no telling how the court – which is composed of six conservative justices and three liberals – will rule on the petitions, which argue the president does not have the legal authority to provide relief. But a ruling striking the program down or limiting it would be a major loss for the White House. We may get a sense of which way the justices are leaning in today’s oral arguments.

Here’s what else is going on today:

Republicans in the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would bar retirement funds from sustainable investing.

The House select committee on competition with the Chinese Communist party will hold its first hearing during the primetime TV hour, at 7 pm eastern time.

Biden is heading to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he’ll speak about his efforts to lower healthcare costs.

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Ohio toxic train derailment to face congressional scrutiny – as it happened

Democrats and Republicans in Senate and House have pledged to hold hearings on crash that has sparked major pollution fears

Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has made a surprise visit to Kyiv, where she’s underscoring Washington’s continued support for Ukraine one year after Russia invaded.

We at the Guardian have a separate live blog with all the latest Ukraine news, which you can follow along here.

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First lady signals Joe Biden will seek second presidential term – live

While Antony Blinken spoke highly of Ukraine’s will to fight in his interview with ABC News, he declined to say whether he thought the war would still be raging this time next year.

Here’s more from his appearance:

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Democrats condemn McCarthy for handing Capitol attack footage to Tucker Carlson – as it happened

The derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio has become a political football, but now we have an idea of what may have caused it: an overheating wheel bearing. Here’s more from the National Transportation Safety Board’s just-released interim report:

Crew members on the freight train that derailed in Ohio earlier this month, unleashing a huge blaze and spreading dangerous chemicals, tried to slow and stop the train after seeing an alert about an overheating wheel bearing, but it came off the tracks, according to an interim report released on Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

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Trump’s Ohio train derailment visit prompts questions on his environmental record – live

Former president heading to East Palestine, Ohio, after loosening safety regulations for rail operators

Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg will visit East Palestine, Ohio on Thursday, Politico reports.

He’ll receive an update from the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the freight derailment that spilled toxic chemicals in the community, according to the report, which cites a person familiar with his plans.

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Republican senator Tim Scott preparing presidential run – report

Only Black Republican in Senate set to challenge Donald Trump for nomination, Wall Street Journal says

South Carolina senator Tim Scott is reportedly taking steps to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

Reporting the news, the Wall Street Journal cited anonymous sources “familiar with his plans”. Jennifer DeCasper, a senior adviser, said the senator was “excited to share his vision of hope and opportunity and hear the American people’s response”.

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Biden administration forming team to study unidentified aerial objects – as it happened

US will have its experts try to understand unknown objects, including broader policy implications, says John Kirby

“I told you so”.

That’s more or less what Republican senator Marco Rubio has to say about the three downings of unidentified objects over North American skies over the weekend:

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Trump was issued subpoena for folder marked ‘Classified Evening Briefing’ discovered at Mar-a-Lago

Exclusive: Subpoena was issued last month after the folder was observed in Trump’s private quarters at the property

Donald Trump’s lawyers turned over an empty manilla folder marked “Classified Evening Briefing” after the US justice department issued a subpoena for its surrender once prosecutors became aware that it was located inside the private quarters of the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The previously unreported subpoena was issued last month, the sources said, as the recently appointed special counsel escalates the inquiry into Trump’s possible unauthorized retention of national security materials and obstruction of justice.

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US confirms ‘high-altitude object’ taken down over Alaska – as it happened

John Kirby says defense department was tracking flying object, and Biden ordered military to ‘down’ it

Reports are now confirming that the FBI is searching Pence’s Indiana home for additional classified documents.

CNN reported that “a source familiar with the situation” is confirming that the search is taking place and in relation to classified documents.

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US congresswoman poured coffee over attacker to deter him, chief of staff says

Man, 26, arrested after attack in elevator in Angie Craig’s Washington apartment building early on Thursday morning

Angie Craig, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota who was assaulted in her Washington apartment, reportedly deterred her attacker by pouring hot coffee over him, it emerged on Friday.

“Representative Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically OK,” her chief of staff, Nick Coe, said in a statement on Thursday.

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George Santos: puppy theft charge news follows Romney’s ‘sick puppy’ barb

Republican at centre of string of scandals was charged in Pennsylvania with theft over purchase of puppies in 2017

The New York Republican congressman George Santos, who is at the centre of a bizarre string of scandals and who the Utah senator Mitt Romney this week called a “sick puppy”, was charged with theft in Pennsylvania in 2017 – over a purchase of “puppies”.

The scandal, reported by Politico, is not Santos’s first involving dogs and his charity, Friends of Pets United. A New Jersey veteran alleges Santos raised money for an operation for his dog, then absconded with the money.

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US senator John Fetterman hospitalised after feeling ‘lightheaded’

Democrat who suffered a stroke while campaigning last year is in good spirits, says spokesperson

US senator John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke during his election campaign last year, was hospitalised after feeling lightheaded while attending a Senate Democratic event, his office said.

Fetterman’s communications director, Joe Calvello, said in a statement issued on Wednesday night: “Towards the end of the Senate Democratic retreat today, Senator John Fetterman began feeling lightheaded. He left and called his staff, who picked him up and drove him to the George Washington university hospital.”

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Ex-Twitter exec details ‘homophobic and antisemitic’ abuse over handling of Hunter Biden story

Yoel Roth testifies before congressional committee that Elon Musk’s release of company’s internal records led to harassment

A former Twitter executive testified on Wednesday that he was forced to leave and sell his home following a campaign of “homophobic and antisemitic” harassment over the company’s handling of a New York Post story about Hunter Biden.

Yoel Roth, the former head of safety at Twitter, made the comments while speaking to a committee in the newly Republican-controlled House of Representatives, at a hearing convened to scrutinize the social network’s handling of a 2020 report on Joe Biden’s son.

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George Santos is a ‘sociopath’, fellow New York Republican congressman says

Nick LaLota is one of a growing number of people from both parties to call on Santos to quit over made-up résumé and investigations

George Santos is a “sociopath” who thrives on negative attention, another New York Republican congressman said.

“He’s a sociopath,” Nick LaLota told CNN on Wednesday, after Santos’s confrontation with Mitt Romney at Joe Biden’s State of the Union address made headlines the night before.

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Republicans grill ex-Twitter executives over handling of Hunter Biden story

Company temporarily restricted New York Post article in 2020 about contents of the abandoned computer of Joe Biden’s son

US lawmakers held a combative hearing on Wednesday with former senior staffers at Twitter over the social media platform’s handling of reporting on Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.

The proceedings set the stage for the agenda of a newly Republican-controlled House, underscoring its intention to hone in on longstanding and unsubstantiated allegations that big tech platforms have an anti-conservative bias.

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‘Hot air’: Marjorie Taylor Greene in State of the Union balloon stunt

Republican extremist appears to reference Chinese surveillance dirigible by parading halls of Congress with white balloon

Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared to tee up a State of the Union stunt on Tuesday, patrolling the halls of Congress with a large white balloon in reference to Republican criticism of Joe Biden over his handling of a flight over US territory by a Chinese surveillance dirigible.

“Just an innocent white balloon everybody,” the Georgia extremist said, hours before Biden’s address to Congress, attempting to keep aloft the balloon saga which ended when it was shot down off the Carolinas on Saturday.

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McCarthy calls on Biden to accept spending cuts in debt ceiling fight

White House has said Biden will discuss issue after ceiling is lifted, while Republicans insist on cuts first

Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker, called on Joe Biden to agree to compromises and spending cuts, as the two remain deadlocked over raising the nation’s $31.4tn debt ceiling.

McCarthy spoke on Monday before Biden gives the annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, aiming to get ahead of the president and reinforce his role as the leading congressional negotiator.

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Trump documents: Congress offered briefing on records kept at Mar-a-Lago

Closed-door session could provide insight into the sensitivity of the documents Trump retained and possibility of indictments

US officials have offered to provide a closed-door briefing to congressional leaders about their review of about 300 classified-marked documents retrieved from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort last year, sources familiar with the matter said.

The precise nature of the briefing remains unclear. The offer from the justice department and the Office of the Director for National Intelligence (ODNI) was described as unofficial on Sunday and no date had yet been set, though the briefing could come as soon as this week.

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Ted Cruz wants two-term limit for senators – and a third term for himself

Texas senator says he ‘never said I’m going to unilaterally comply’ with his own proposed restriction

Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to limit US senators to two terms in office, thereby removing from Washington “permanently entrenched politicians … totally unaccountable to the American people”.

On Sunday, however, he said he saw no problem with running for a third term himself.

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New add to George Santos’s résumé: producer on Spider-Man musical

Reports emerge that the embattled New York congressman told donors of his role, which the lead producer denies

Just as it seemed the well of bizarre stories about George Santos might have begun to run dry, it was reported on Friday that the New York Republican congressman told potential donors he was a producer on the notoriously ill-fated Spider-Man musical.

Bloomberg News said: “The lead producer, Michael Cohl, denied Santos’s involvement, saying through an assistant that [Santos] wasn’t a producer on the musical. Santos’s name also never appeared in the playbills for the show.”

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